Author: News Analysis India
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will on Thursday visit a woman who was gang-raped in Alwar in Rajasthan last month by six men who also beat up her husband. The April 26 incident has provoked anger and protests across the state and, in the middle of a fierce election campaign, attacks on the Congress government by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as BSP chief Mayawati. Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to visit Alwar this morning, but due to bad weather his helicopter could not land. The woman, a Dalit, was riding with her husband on a motorcycle when a group of…
Shah’s rally was scheduled for Monday in Jadavpur, which goes to polls on May 19 in the last phase, but permission for it was denied at the last minute by the state administration, the BJP claimed on Monday. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is also scheduled to address three public meetings in Neemuch, Ujjain and Khandwa. His sister, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, is expected to address meetings in Shimla, Bhatinda and Gurudaspur. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will today hear the plea of Priyanka Sharma, a BJP activist who was arrested on Friday in West Bengal for allegedly sharing a…
Facing a mounting attack from the BJP, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Monday again rebuked his party’s overseas unit chief Sam Pitroda, saying he should be “ashamed” for his “totally wrong” remarks on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and should seek apology from the country. His remarks came at his first poll rally in Punjab in an apparent damage control exercise after an uproar over Pitroda’s “hua to hua” response to a query on the riots. He had earlier tweeted his disapproval and the party had distanced himself from Pitroda’s remarks. “What Sam Pitroda said about 1984 was totally wrong and he…
Getting personal in an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Monday asked how a man, who had abandoned his “innocent wife” for “political selfishness”, be expected to respect women. Ms. Mayawati’s strong words came in the context of the rape of a Dalit woman in Alwar, Rajasthan. Mr. Modi had referred to the incident at a rally in Uttar Pradesh and asked Ms. Mayawati why she was still supporting the Congress government in Rajasthan where the incident took place. “What will he understand the honour of other’s sisters and daughters,” she said. She accused…
The Capital’s political grapevine is abuzz with possible scenarios after the election results on May 23. Some like TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu are already active. The Congress camp believes that if the party crosses 125 and the BJPgets less than 200 seats, the BJP cannot stake claim to form government. The Congress, as the largest party in the anti-BJP coalition, will take the lead in spearheading a mahagathbandhan government with Rahul Gandhi as potential prime minister. If the Congress gets less than 100 seats, then regional party leaders will stake their claim to head an anti-BJP coalition. However, if the BJP…
At his Ghazipur rally, prime minister Narendra Modi blamed the Congress government in Rajasthan for shielding the Alwar gang-rapists because they did not want the news to come out during the polls. In sharp language, Modi also attacked what he called the “award wapsi gang” and said the light of their protest candles have long since gone out. A BJP youth leader in West Bengal’s Howrah, Priyanka Sharma, was detained and remanded in 14 days’ police custody after a complaint was lodged with police over a meme she had posted, where TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s face was morphed onto a…
Earlier, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that ‘red cards’ are being issued only to the SP and BSP, adding that BJP is conspiring to scare people against voting. The SP chief also predicted that the BJP and Congress would win zero number of seats in Sunday’s phase six polling while the BJP would win just one seat in the seventh and final phase. Meanwhile, the opposition’s mega meeting to strategise on government formation may not take place on May 21 as several regional leaders now wish to wait for the election results on May 23. According to reports, PM…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s allegation – that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had used the Navy’s aircraft carrier INS Viraat as a personal taxi for going on a family vacation – has been strongly rebutted by the Congress. It is PM Modi, the Congress said, who uses Air Force jets as his “own taxi”, paying “as low as Rs. 744” for trips during the election. The Prime Minister, the party said, is “scared’ of his “own sins” and is pointing fingers at others. Citing a media report at a press conference today, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “You have made Indian Air Force jets…
Union minister Arun Jaitley on Friday launched a blistering attack on Congress over Sam Pitroda’s remarks on the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, saying it was reflective of a “lack of remorse”. The finance minister also dared Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to sack “his guru” for the statement. Pitroda had kicked up a storm when asked about the 1984 riots in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination, saying “hua toh hua”. As the BJP latched onto his statement in the middle of a slugfest over Rajiv Gandhi’s legacy, Pitroda sought to clarify his comment. Truth is being distorted, lies are being…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday dared West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to arrest him for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’, a day after three people were taken into police custody in Ghatal Lok Sabha seat for allegedly mouthing the slogan as her convoy passed by.A video showing Banerjee fuming at some villagers in West Midnapore district for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ along a highway on Saturday afternoon has gone viral on social media. Addressing a rally here, the prime minister also slammed CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury for his “derogatory” remarks against Ramayana and Mahabharata.”It has become a fashion for communists to use derogatory language against Hindu religion,” he said.Yechury…