Author: News Analysis India

Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi, who had expressed her displeasure against the party in a tweet, on Friday joined the Shiv Sena. She sent her resignation to Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday evening.

At a press conference she addressed along with Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai, Ms Chaturvedi said, “Happy that the Sena has taken me in as a family member. I am thankful to Uddhavji and Adityaji.”

Mr. Thackeray said, “No need to introduce Priyankaji. She confidently defended her party. She thought that the Sena is best choice. I welcome you to the Sena family.”

Earlier, as Ms Chaturvedi put her resignation letter on her Twitter handle, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Rout told reporters that the former Congress spokesperson from Mumbai would be joining their party.

In her resignation letter, Ms Chaturvedi said, “In the last few weeks, certain things have convinced me that my services are not valued in the organization and I have reached the end of the road. At the same time, I also feel the more time I spend in the organization will be at the cost of my own self respect and dignity.”

The letter, copied to K.C. Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala, read, “What saddens me is that despite the safety, dignity, empowerment of women being promoted by the party and has been your call to action the same is not reflected in the action of some of the members of the party.” 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed anguish over loss of lives in various parts of Gujarat due to unseasonal rain.

“Authorities are monitoring the situation very closely. All possible assistance is being given to those affected,” he tweeted.In another tweet, the prime minister’s office said, Modi has approved an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to unseasonal rain and storm in various parts of Gujarat.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Wednesday reached out to the people of Wayanad, saying he did not want to make false promises,but was committed toresolving their issues after hearing their “heart and soul”.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said he was not here to tell his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ but to understand the difficulties, including the night travel ban, man-animal conflicts and lack of medical facilities, being faced by the people here.

“I am not like the Prime Minister.. I am not here to tell you that I will give you 2 crore jobs, Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts. I will give farmers and give them whatever they want.. I am not going to lie to you.. Because I respect your intelligence.. your wisdom,” Gandhi told a rousing crowd of thousands here.

“I just don’t want to have a relationship of just few months. I want a lifelong relationship with you. I want the sisters of Wayanad to say that I am like their brother, fathers and mothers to say that I am their son,” he said.

The Congress chief said he wanted to represent Wayanad as the “beautiful place” symbolises different ideas, cultures and that the rest of the country can learn from Kerala and Wayanad.

“Once I decided to fight election from south India, I realised that Wayanad was the best place. Because it represents many many different ideas, cultures.

Visit New Delhi during the election season, and there’s one boredom you’ll have to suffer. Everybody, from colleagues and concierges to acquaintances and drivers, is obsessively breaking words on the electoral fortunes of one state: Uttar Pradesh. All talk revolves around the toxicity of the narrative, and attempts to communally polarize the electorate there. The only other state that perhaps competes for mind space is Bihar.

If you are lucky to be in slightly eclectic company, then the spoils of West Bengal may get discussed because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is competing hard there. But otherwise, it is as if there is no election happening anywhere else in the country. As if the numbers from other states don’t really add up to 545.

One expected that with Congress president Rahul Gandhi filing his nomination from Wayanad in Kerala, there would be sufficient curiosity about southern Indian states, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. There may be a slight academic interest, but if you confuse that for genuine enthusiasm, and start reeling out ethnographic details of the state, disinterest becomes palpable. Or they come up with fatuous questions, like what I was asked the other day in a lounge in Lutyens’ Delhi: “What’s the difference between Kerala communists and Bengal communists?” I replied: “Kerala communists are fighting, Bengal communists have retired.”

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to consider Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s plea against the 48-hour ban on campaigning imposed by the Election Commission.

Mayawati had moved the top court against the poll body’s order on the ground that it was “taken under pressure” from the ruling dispensation.

“All citizens have the rights to move about and put forth their point of view. But here, the Election Commission has suddenly given an order which has cruelly deprived me of my rights on the basis of wrong facts. This order will be remembered in the history of Election Commission as a black day,” said Mayawati on Monday reacting to the EC order.

The poll body has imposed a nation-wide ban on Mayawati restricting her from campaigning in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission had found her remarks made at a poll rally in Uttar Pradesh. Some other political leaders were banned from campaigning for their “provocative” remarks, which the EC said had the “propensity to polarise the elections”.

At an election rally in Deoband last week, Mayawat had appealed to Muslim voters to vote for the grand-alliance of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party and not for the Congress to ensure that anti-BJP votes are not divided.

The Election Commission, following a Supreme Court remark to act tough against those violating the poll code, cracked its whip against some of the top politicians. The poll panel imposed a nationwide campaign ban on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and SP candidate Azam Khan for 72 hours, and on Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and BSP chief Mayawati for 48 hours beginning Tuesday morning.

We would like to appeal SBI to release Rs 1,500 crore funds for the airline to help it continue operations. We also appeal Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save 20,000 odd jobs at the airline,” National Aviator’s Guild (NAG) vice-president Adim Valiani told reporters at the airline’s headquarter, Siroya Centre, here on Monday.

Earlier, the airline’s pilots, engineers and cabin crew members assembled at the headquarters to show their solidarity.

The airline’s pilots along with engineers and senior staff were last paid for December, 2018. This apart, the airline has also defaulted on the March salary of other categories of employees as well.

The 2019 Lok Sabha results will be announced only on May 23, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi, confident that he will return, has already asked the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Niti Aayog and the Principal Scientific Adviser to prepare the agenda for the first 100 days of the next government, with a focus on double-digit GDP growth in the next five years.

According to three top officials in the Modi government, in the midst of hectic election campaigning, the PM has tasked his office, Vice Chairman Niti Aayog and Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) Prof K Vijayraghavan to chalk out an agenda on the scale of Swacch Bharat with sweeping economic and bureaucratic reforms.

“The focus is on freeing the key sectors — oil and gas, minerals, infrastructure and education — of red tape so that the foundation for India becoming a developed country in 2047 is laid in the coming 100 days. We believe that by removing red tape in core sectors we can easily boost the GDP growth by 2.5%,” said one of the three officials who asked not to be named.

The Election Commission on Monday “censured” UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath & BSP chief Mayawati for their communal remarks during campaigning and barred them from holding any public meetings, road shows, giving interviews and public utterances in media including social media, for 72 hours and 48 hours respectively.The period of their debarment — which as per EC order prohibits them from holding any public meetings, public processions, public rallies, road shows and interviews and public utterances in media (electronic, print, social media) etc in connection with ongoing elections – starts at 6 am on Tuesday (April 16). This means that while Yogi has to stay away from campaigning till 6 am on April 19, Mayawati can resume campaign after 6 am on April 18.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the opposition today, saying the DMK, Congress and their “mahamilavati” friends cannot accept strides India has made and therefore were “unhappy” with him.

Taking a swipe at the DMK-Congress combine at an election rally in Tamil Nadu, he said those who were “sworn enemies” have joined hands, despite the national party having “humiliated” its southern ally in the past.

“Today India is rapidly making a mark in the world. The Congress, DMK and their mahamilavati friends cannot accept this. That is why they are unhappy with me,” he said at an election rally here.

The prime minister has been describing the opposition “mahagatbandhan” (grand alliance) as “mahamilavati,” meaning ‘majorly adulterated’.

Taking a jibe at DMK president MK Stalin’s proposal naming Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate, PM Modi said there were no takers for this among the opposition “because they are in line to be PM and dream of the post.”

“Some days ago, DMK chief (MK Stalin) projected the naamdar (dynast) as PM (candidate) but no one was ready to accept it, not even their mahamilavati friends, because they are in line to be PM and dream of the post,” he said, without naming anyone.

Despite past “bitterness”, the Congress and DMK have joined hands, he said and recalled that the national party had “humiliated” the southern ally earlier, apparently referring to the dismissal of the DMK government in the past.

Even during the 2G spectrum allocation scam, centered around then Telecom Minster A Raja of DMK, the party’s leaders were criticising the national party, which was leading the ruling UPA, he pointed out.

“In an attempt to mislead the people, all the corrupt have ganged up in an attempt to defeat Modi,” he added.

Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Smriti Irani declared in her nomination affidavit on Thursday that she is not a graduate, PTI reported. Irani is contesting against Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

In her affidavit form, Irani said she passed secondary school examination in 1991 and senior secondary school examination in 1993. In the category of highest educational qualification, Irani’s form says “Bachelor of Commerce Part-1” from the School of Open Learning (Correspondence) University of Delhi with “three year degree course not completed” in brackets. Reports said that this is the first time Irani has specified that she had “not completed” her three-year degree course.