News Analysis India

Category: Politics

  • Piyush Goyal rejects speculations on change of leadership in Maharashtra BJP

    Union Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal rejected speculations on a change of leadership in the party’s Maharashtra unit following the party’s dismal performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

    Goyal said that the BJP leadership has no such idea and no such discussion has taken place in the party’s core committee meeting. There were speculations that Rao Saheb Patil would be made the state president.

    Earlier on Tuesday, a meeting of the Maharashtra BJP core committee was held at the BJP national headquarters under the leadership of BJP National President JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.According to sources, the party’s central leadership has given a road map for the assembly elections in Maharashtra. The reasons for losing the Lok Sabha elections were also discussed in the meeting, they said.

    After the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters that all such issues were discussed, including those that had impacted the Lok Sabha election results, and how to overcome those shortcomings in the upcoming assembly elections.

    Fadnavis said that the BJP will enter the fray to contest the assembly elections with full force.Union Ministers Bhupendra Yadav, Ashwini Vaishnav, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde, State President Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Pankaja Munde, Ashish Shelar, Chandrakant Patil, and Rao Sahib Patil were present in the meeting.During the meeting, Bhupender Yadav was appointed as the in-charge for Maharashtra and Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will be the co-in-charge for the state.

    The BJP dipped to nine seats in Maharashtra against 23 in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The vote share stood at 26.18 per cent. The Congress, on the other hand, marginally improved its seat share by securing 13 seats in the state.

    The Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won seven and one seats respectively, taking the total tally of the NDA to 17. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackrey) got nine seats while the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar won eight seats. (ANI)

  • Amit Shah chairs Maharashtra BJP core group meeting at BJP Headquarters in Delhi – The Economic Times Video

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday chaired the Maharashtra BJP core group meeting at BJP Headquarters in Delhi to discuss strategies regarding the upcoming polls in Maharashtra. BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Minister and co-incharge of Maharashtra Ashwini Vaishnav and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attended the meeting.

  • Naveen Patnaik: CM Majhi, DyCMs, Naveen Patnaik take oath as member of Odisha Assembly

    Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, deputy chief ministers – KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida – and BJD president Naveen Patnaik took oath as member of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. Pro-tem Speaker Ranenda Pratap Swain administered the oath of office to the newly elected MLAs including the chief minister and Patnaik here on Tuesday.

    The oath-taking by newly elected members will continue till June 19. The election for the Speaker will be held on June 20.

    As per tradition, the chief minister and other newly-elected MLAs paid floral tribute at the Mahatma Gandhi statue on arriving at the Assembly. In the recently concluded Assembly elections, the BJP secured a majority by winning 78 Assembly seats followed by BJD (51), Congress (14), CPIM (1) and Independents (3). In the 147-member Odisha Assembly, as many as 82 are first-time MLAs.

    While Majhi is the leader of the House, BJD president and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik is expected to be unanimously elected as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP).

  • “Right political decision”: Congress’ Pramod Tiwari lauds Rahul Gandhi’s decision to retain Rae Bareli seat

    Congress leader Pramod Tiwari lauded Rahul Gandhi’s decision to retain the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and called it the “right political decision.”

    Tiwari also thanked the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi for respecting the mandate of Uttar Pradesh.

    “I want to thank the national leadership of Congress and Rahul Gandhi. He (Rahul Gandhi) has taken the right political decision. Apart from this, he has also respected the mandate of Uttar Pradesh which gave 43 out of 80 seats to the INDIA alliance,” the senior Congress leader told ANI.”Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will win from Wayanad by 5 lakh votes,” he added.

    Meanwhile, Congress workers burst crackers and celebrated in Rae Bareli as Rahul Gandhi decided to retain the Lok Sabha seat.

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    Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge announced Priyanka Gandhi’s candidature from Wayanad at a special press conference on Monday. If Priyanka Gandhi wins from Wayanad, three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family will be in Parliament – Sonia Gandhi in Rajya Sabha and Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in the Lok Sabha.Priyanka Gandhi said on Monday that she will contest the bypoll from Wayanad but her decades-old association with Amethi and Rae Bareli will continue.”I am very happy to be able to represent Wayanad and I will not let them feel his (Rahul Gandhi’s) absence. I will work hard and I will try my best to make everyone happy and be a good representative. I have a very old relationship with Rae Bareli and Amethi and it cannot be broken. I will also help my brother in Rae Bareli. We will both be present in Rae Bareli and Wayanad,” Priyanka Gandhi said at the special press conference.

    The bye-election in the seat was necessitated after Rahul Gandhi decided to retain Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli seat, which he won along with Wayanad in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.

  • Yadavs, Muslims must not expect me to be of any help: JD(U) MP

    Patna: A newly elected MP of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) on Monday found himself at the centre of a controversy for laments about “Muslims and Yadavs” not voting for the BJP-led NDA. In a video clip that has gone viral on social media, Sitamarhi MP Devesh Chandra Thakur can also be heard ruing that “NDA’s own voters” gravitated towards the opposition RJD.

    Thakur, 71, a former chairman of the state legislative council, made his parliamentary debut in the recently held Lok Sabha polls, winning the seat by a modest margin of less than 55,000 votes.

    “I did not get votes of Suris (a fishing community) and Kalwars. Even the Kushwahas deserted me. Just because respected Lalu Prasad (RJD supremo) gave tickets to many Kushwahas. Could a Kushwaha elected from elsewhere be of any help to members of the community in my constituency?” Thakur could be heard asking in the video, which was not independently verified by PTI. Later, he said, “I have made it clear that Yadavs and Muslims must not expect me to be of any help to them. They will be treated with due respect, even offered tea and snacks, when they call on me. But I will not take up any of their problems.”

    The JD(U) MP added that he had expressed the sentiment before a “Muslim” who visited him after the elections.

    “I asked the Muslim brother how can you expect me to work for you when you did not vote for me just because my party is aligned with the BJP,” said Thakur, claiming that the visitor agreed with the contention and went back feeling regret for his electoral choice. Often called “Ajaatshatru” in political circles because of his friendly disposition, Thakur retained the seat for his party which chose to drop sitting MP Sunil Kumar Pintu. Thakur defeated his nearest RJD rival Arjun Roy, who is a former MP from the Lok Sabha seat.

    The JD(U) leader’s outbursts met with disapproval from the RJD as well as ally BJP, leaving the party to fend for itself.

    “The remarks made by Thakur are objectionable. An MP is the representative of all sections of society in his constituency,” said Bhai Virendra, the RJD’s chief spokesperson and an MLA.

    BJP OBC Morcha national general secretary Nikhil Anand also came out with a strongly worded statement, but without mentioning Thakur by name.

    “Giving vent to frustration in a manner that smacks of caste prejudice is shameful and deplorable in politics. The BJP takes all social segments along. In Bihar, no political party can succeed if it tries to marginalise Yadavs, who are 14 per cent of the total population,” said Anand.

    The BJP leader underscored “27 OBCs, four of them Yadavs” in the Union Council of Ministers and claimed that it was proof of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to “social harmony”.

    JD(U) chief spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar responded to the criticisms, saying, “It is unthinkable that Thakur will discriminate against any section of society. He was just expressing his pain at not getting votes of even those whom he may have helped him personally but who got swayed by other considerations.”

  • Kanchanjunga Express accident: Mallikarjun Kharge slams Modi govt, says ‘utter mismanagement’ of railway ministry

    NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday slammed the Modi government for “utter mismanagement” of the Railway Ministry as he condoled the loss of lives in the West Bengal train accident. “Extremely distressed by the Kanchanjunga Express train collision accident in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, where many people have lost their lives and several have been injured,” he said.

    “The scenes of the accident are painful. Our heart goes out to the families of the victims. In this hour of grief, we express our solidarity and condolences to each one of them. We wish a speedy recovery to the injured. Immediate and full compensation must be provided to the victims,” he demanded.

    Kharge alleged that in the past 10 years, the Modi government has indulged in “utter mismanagement” of the Railway Ministry. “As a responsible Opposition, it is our bounden duty to underline how the Modi Government has systematically converted the Rail Ministry into a platform of ‘Camera-driven’ self-promotion,” the Congress chief claimed.

    “Today’s tragedy is yet another reminder of this stark reality,” he alleged.

    “Make no mistake, we will remain persistent with our questions and shall make the Modi Government accountable for its criminal abandonment of the Indian Railways,” Kharge said. At least 15 people were killed and around 60 others injured after a goods train collided with the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Express near Rangapani station in West Bengal on Monday, police said.

  • Delhi water crisis: Police patrol Jal Board pipelines, secures against theft and leakages – The Economic Times Video

    With the water supply crisis deepening in the city, police officials inspected the Jal Board pipelines in the Yamuna Khadar area of northeast Delhi on June 16 and said that there’s no leakage. After inspecting the pipeline, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Lokendra Sirohi said, “There is no leakage here. If there is any leakage, we will inform the Jal Board and our control room.” This comes after Delhi Minister Atishi on Sunday wrote a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, urging the deployment of police personnel to protect major pipelines in the national capital.

  • Mumbai crime branch arrest Rajasthan man over video threatening to kill Salman Khan – The Economic Times Video

    Mumbai, June 16 (ANI): Mumbai Crime Branch brought accused Banwarilal Laturlal Gujar from Rajasthan to Mumbai. Earlier, Mumbai Cyber Police had registered an offence against an individual who, through a video on the YouTube channel “Are Chhodo Yar,” discussed the Bishnoi Gang and mentioned plans to kill actor Salman Khan. Mumbai Crime Branch arrested the accused, Banwarilal Laturlal Gujar from Boarda village, Rajasthan. Further investigation is underway.

  • Suresh Gopi on Indira Gandhi: Suresh Gopi clarifies ‘mother of India’ reference about Indira Gandhi

    A day after his reference to former prime minister Indira Gandhi as “mother of India” received widespread attention, Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Sunday clarified that he called the late leader the mother of the Congress party in the country and his remarks were misinterpreted by the media.

    The actor-turned-politician said he was a person talking from the heart and he firmly believed that there was nothing wrong in what he said about Indira Gandhi.

    While addressing the media here, the BJP leader asked the reporters whether they don’t understand the “contextual meaning of language.” “What did I say? As far as the Congress is concerned…whether anyone likes it or not… K Karunakaran is the father of the Congress party in Kerala. In India, its mother is Indira Gandhi. I said this from my heart,” Suresh Gopi said.

    The minister of state for petroleum and tourism, however, continued to lavish praises on Indira Gandhi on Sunday as well.

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    “Indira Gandhi is the real architect of India post independence and until her demise. I have to make these attributions anyway. I cannot forget a person who had worked sincerely for the country only because she belonged to the political rival party,” he added. While visiting the memorial of late Congress Chief Minister K Karunakaran in Thrissur on Saturday, Gopi had described Indira Gandhi as the “mother of India” and Karunakaran as a “courageous administrator”. The BJP leader had also said that he considered Karunakaran and Marxist veteran E K Nayanar his “political gurus”.

    Gopi said as he viewed Indira Gandhi as “bharathathinte mathavu” (mother of India), Karunakaran was the “father of the Congress party in the state” for him.

    He explained that describing Karunakaran as the “father” of the Congress in Kerala was not a disrespect to the founders or co-founders of the grand old party in the state.

    Gopi won the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat recently, opening the BJP’s electoral account in Kerala. Thrissur had witnessed a three-way contest for the Lok Sabha polls, with major candidates from the Congress, BJP, and CPI locked in a neck-and-neck battle.

  • Vice President Dhankar to inaugurate Prerna Sthal in Parliament House Complex today

    Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha will inaugurate the newly constructed Prerna Sthal in the presence of the Speaker of Lok Sabha, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs on Sunday evening.

    According to an official press release, all Members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha have also been invited to the programme.

    The statues of great leaders and freedom fighters are installed inside the Parliament House Complex. These great Indians made significant contributions in the history of India, cultural renaissance and the freedom struggle. These statues were located at different places in the complex, which made it difficult for visitors to properly see them.Therefore, with the aim of installing these statues in one place inside the Parliament House Complex, the Prerna Sthal has been constructed so that dignitaries and other visitors coming to the Parliament House Complex could conveniently see and pay tributes at these statues at one place.

    An action plan has also been made to make the life stories and messages of these great Indians available to visitors through new technology so that they could get inspiration from them, the press release said.

    It may be recalled that even before this, during the construction work of the new Parliament Building, the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru and Chaudhary Devi Lal were shifted to other places in the complex.Lawns and gardens have been laid around the statues at Prerna Sthal. Here, dignitaries and visitors will be able to easily pay their tributes to them and also take inspiration from their lives through QR codes.After the unveiling of the Shilapatt (headstone) during the inauguration programme, dignitaries will offer floral tributes to the statues.