Author: News Analysis India
Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha joined the Congress on Saturday at the party headquarters in New Delhi. He was with the BJP till recently. Hours later, the Congress announced his candidature for the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha cinstituency in Bihar to take on Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and in charge of party’s Bihar unit Shaktisinh Gohil welcomed Mr. Sinha into the party fold. Mr. Venugopal termed him the “best politician who was earlier with the wrong party“.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said a US report which found none of Pakistan’s F-16s “missing” vindicated the country’s stand that it did not use the jets in the aerial dogfight with India on February 27. The finding by the US on the ground in Pakistan “directly contradicts” India’s claim that its air force shot down an F-16 fighter jet during the offensive. The Indian Air Force on February 28 displayed pieces of the AMRAAM missile, fired by a Pakistani F-16, as evidence to “conclusively” prove that Pakistan deployed US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets during an aerial raid targeting Indian…
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday warned voters of the BJP’s “sinister” designs and claimed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is another ploy to turn legal citizens of this country into refugees. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi is returned to power, he will throw away the Constitution and change the country from a democracy to a totalitarian regime, she added at a rally in Cooch Behar. Union minister Smriti Irani today hit out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of betraying the people of Amethi by choosing to file his nomination from Kerala’s Wayanad. Irani, speaking from Gandhi’s turf…
The Bengal unit of the BJP has hired four special trains at a cost of Rs 53 lakh to bring in party workers and supporters to fill the iconic Brigade Ground where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a public rally, a Bangla news daily Anandabazar Patrika reported. The Brigade Ground is as iconic as it is unforgiving. On one hand, political rallies at the venue — where Mamata Banerjee held her united opposition rally — is emblematic of a party’s strength, on the other hand, the vastness of the venue implies that any empty spaces in the…
Alleging that Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee created obstacles impeding the speedy development that he delivered in other states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday described her as “speed breaker Didi” and urged the people to remove the hindrance from the way. “I have not been able to deliver development in Bengal at the pace that I have achieved in other states. This state has a speed breaker which is known as Didi,” remarked Modi. Incidentally, assembly elections will be held in Bengal in 2021 and BJP leaders have been saying in public rallies that the 2019 Lok Sabha polls will…
As the Congress announced its manifesto today, its soon-to-be recruit, actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, posted a series of tweets that were addressed to “Honble outgoing Sirji”. “Sir-ji” is how Mr Sinha addresses Prime Minister Narendra Modi in tweets that are extremely critical of him. Over the last two years, Mr Sinha has been highly critical of PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and his tweets over the last months have been increasingly provocative. Despite calls for action from the state party, the BJP had ignored the 72-year-old. Last week, after the BJP fielded Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna…
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined urgent hearing to Patidar leader Hardik Patel’s plea against his conviction so that he can contest Lok Sabha polls. Hardik Patel, who had recently joined the Congress, had filed a plea in the top court challenging the Gujarat High Court ‘sorder rejecting stay on his conviction in the 2015 Vispur rioting case. The matter was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra. The bench also comprising Justices M M Shantanagoudar and Navin Sinha told the counsel appearing for Patel that there was no urgency in hearing the matter as…
The railways found itself caught on the wrong side of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) yet again when passengers on Friday reported that tea was being served in paper cups with “Main Bhi Chowkidar” (‘I’m also a watchman’) written on them. As the image of the paper cup tweeted by a passenger on New Delhi Kathgodam Shatabdi Express went viral, the railways said its has withdrawn the cup and penalised the contractor. It has been claimed that tea was served in these cups twice. The advertisement on the cup was by Sankalp Foundation, an NGO. This issue comes days after the…
The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday attached hotel Holiday Inn, valued at Rs 120 crore, located in the upscale Aerocity area in the national capital, in connection with a money laundering case against alleged aviation lobbyist Deepak Talwar. Talwar, who was deported from Dubai in January this year and arrested by the agency, “beneficially owned” a company, Wave Hospitality Private Limited, that, the ED alleged, used tainted money to construct the hotel, next to the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The multi-storeyed plush hotel boasts of some of the most expensive boarding and dining facilities in the Aerocity complex that was constructed…
Running a coalition government, either in the states or at the Centre is not easy. There are many an example of how they collapsed at the whim of a party. Over time, we are seeing how challenging it is for even larger nationwide parties to sew up alliances, especially when the smaller parties at the states try, and succeed, in calling the shots. In Maharashtra, where the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena have tied up with a 25-23 Lok Sabha seat-sharing arrangement, the alliance is not out of the woods yet. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis — the key point…