News Analysis India

Category: Politics

  • PM Modi to reply on ‘Motion of Thanks’ in Rajya Sabha today

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

    President Droupadi Murmu had addressed the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on January 31, the first day of the Budget Session.

    PM Modi replied to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in Lok Sabha on Monday.During his speech, he said that the third term of his government is not far and this time the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will win 400 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party, individually will get 370 seats.

    “A Ram Temple of Lord Ram was built which will continue to give new energy to the great tradition of India. Now the third term of our government is not far. Maximum 100 days left. The whole country is saying that ‘Abki baar 400 paar’. I don’t go into numbers but I can see the mood of the country. It will make the NDA cross 400 and BJP will get 370 seats,” PM Modi said.

    “We all saw the abolition of 370. Article 370 was abolished before the eyes of these many MPs and with the power of their votes. Nari Shakti Adhiniyam became law in the second term. From Space to the Olympics, there is an echo of the power of women’s empowerment. People have seen the projects that were pending for years being completed,” he added.A general discussion on the Union Interim Budget 2024-25, and the Interim Budget on Jammu and Kashmir 2024-25 is also to be started in the Upper House today after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address.Apart from this, as per the List of Business in the House for the day, Rajya Sabha MPs Harnath Singh Yadav and Ram Nath Thakur will lay on the table, a copy of the statement showing action taken by the government on 62nd Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing on the action-taken by the government on the Observations/Recommendations contained in the Fifty-Third Report on ‘Demands for Grants (2023-24)’ of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (Department of Fisheries).

    MPs Satish Chandra Dubey, and Dr Ashok Bajpai will lay on the table, a copy of the following reports of the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (2023-24): Thirty Ninth Report of the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (2023-2024) on “Regulation of Weights and Measures with specific reference to Dispensing Machines at Fuel Stations” pertaining to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (Department of Consumer Affairs); and Fortieth Report of the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (2023-2024) on “Transforming Fair Price Shops” pertaining to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (Department of Food and Public Distribution).

    Union MoS, Danve Raosaheb Dadarao will make a statement regarding status of implementation of recommendations contained in the 37th Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel on ‘Import of Coal – Trends and issue of self-reliance (2022-23)’ pertaining to Ministry of Coal.

    The Budget Session, which began on January 31, will be spread over eight sittings spread over a period of 10 days and may conclude on February 9.

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  • BJP MLAs stage protest in Bengal Assembly on CAG report, allege “misappropriation” of MGNREGA funds

    Kolkata: The BJP MLAs on Tuesday tried to move an adjournment and demanded discussion on CAG report in the West Bengal assembly, which was turned downed by the Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay on Tuesday. Following the refusal, BJP MLAs staged a protest on the CAG report and alleged “misappropriation” of MGNREGA funds.

    “We were not even allowed to read our adjournment motion. We were not allowed to even discuss the CAG report in the assembly. The CAG report is not about advance adjustment as said by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee but also finds mention of multiple fraud accounts which have been discovered,” Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari told mediapersons.

    Meanwhile, West Bengal unit of BJP has decided to meet Governor CV Ananda Bose on CAG report issue on March 9 and urge him to send recommendations to CAG for filing FIR against state government on the issue.Trinamool Supremo Mamata Banerjee has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently on the CAG report issue and non-submission of utilization letter, which was raised by BJP state President Sukanta Majumdar. The BJP on January 31 cited a CAG report to allege that “mother of all scams” to the tune of about Rs 2 lakh crore had taken place in the Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal.

    The Speaker turned down the demand stating that the issue has no justification to discuss in the House, following which BJP MLAs protested inside the House.

    Anti-government slogans were shouted by the BJP MLAs- Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Chief Whip Manoj Tigga and Siligurj legislator Shankar Ghosh among others. They were carrying placards and protested outside the South gate of the assembly.“CAG reports has brought out details of many fake accounts, fund diversion issues, central government guidelines violation, misappropriation of funds. It shows corruption and theft of Trinamool Congress government,” Adhikari said.State Finance Minister (MoS) Chandrima Bhattacharya said, “There is no scope of discussion on CAG in the assembly. The report is from 2003 to 2021. The central government did not receive Utilization Certificates (UC) but have released funds. How were the funds released? How come the Centre announced that Bengal was the topmost performer in MGNREGA? And now the funds have been blocked.”

    After hearing that Mamata Banerjee will pay 21lakh workers under MGNREGA, BJP has lost their minds and made all these allegations,” Bhattacharya said.

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  • Can implement UCC in BJP-ruled states, won’t happen in Bengal: TMC MP Saugata Roy

    On the day when the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill was tabled in the Uttarakhand State Assembly, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saugata Roy said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can do so in states ruled by their party but it will not be possible in West Bengal.

    “They can implement UCC in BJP-ruled states but it will not happen in West Bengal,” Roy said speaking to reporters at the Parliament premises on Tuesday.

    Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami tabled the Uniform Civil Code 2024 Bill in the State Assembly in Dehradun on Tuesday. The ongoing special four-day session of the assembly began on Monday.Speaking on the ongoing raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi, Roy said that it is an “old game” of the ruling government and it is their “main arm”.

    “That is an old game. ED is the main arm of the government. So they will continue to do so, so far they have not been able to prove any case,” the TMC MP said.

    The Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches at nearly 10 locations, including the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal secretary, among others connected to the Aam Aadmi Party.According to sources the raids are part of a money laundering probe being conducted by the agency. ED raid is also reportedly underway at the residence of AAP MP ND Gupta in Delhi.Speaking on the One Nation, One Election proposal sent by former President Ramnath Kovind, Roy said, “No. We have said that we are not (supporting One Nation One Election).”

    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was scheduled to attend a meeting on One Nation One Election on Tuesday, cancelled her trip citing the state budget.

    Earlier this month, Banerjee launched a scathing attack on the BJP’s proposal of ‘One nation, One election’, asserting that it would pave the way for “dictatorship and erode India’s diversity.”

    “Are you moving towards a presidential form of government? To put it clearly, it would mean that there is one king, one man, one ruler, one nation, one language, one food, and everything is the same,” CM Banerjee said.

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  • Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter on Rahul Gandhi: 'Congress should think about their party’s face'

    Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter on Rahul Gandhi: 'Congress should think about their party’s face'

  • Mamata Banerjee to skip meeting on simultaneous polls in Delhi

    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday said she would skip the meeting of the ‘one nation one election’ committee in New Delhi on Tuesday, citing engagements related to the upcoming state budget. The TMC supremo said she has communicated to the committee chief, former President Ramnath Kovind, about her inability to attend the meeting. “I have cancelled my New Delhi trip… The state budget will be presented in the assembly on February 8, and there are only two days to go. In this situation, I had to call off the visit,” Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat. “I have already spoken to Kovind ji about this,” she said. The chief minister said TMC MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kalyan Banerjee will be present at the meeting in the national capital.

    The committee is mandated to examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats keeping in view the existing constitutional framework.

    Banerjee had last month written to the panel members, expressing her disagreement with the concept of simultaneous polls, contending that it would be against the basic structure of “constitutional arrangements”.

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  • Jharkhand floor test: CM Champai Soren-led govt wins trust vote with 47 MLAs support – The Economic Times Video

    The Champai Soren-led government won a vote of confidence in 81-member Jharkhand Assembly on Monday, the first day of the two-day assembly session. The new chief minister was supported by 47 MLAs. A total of 29 MLAs were in opposition. The MLAs of the ruling JMM-led alliance had exuded confidence of winning the floor test, contrary to the opposition BJP’s belief that the coalition would be defeated.

  • PM Modi to reply on ‘Motion of Thanks’ in Lok Sabha today; BJP MPs asked to remain present in House

    New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in Lok Sabha on Monday. President Droupadi Murmu had addressed the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on January 31, the first day of the Budget Session.Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party has issued a three-line whip to all its MPs in Lok Sabha to be present in the Lower House on the fourth day of the ongoing Budget Session. Apart from this, as per the List of Business in the House for the day, Lok Sabha MPs Ravneet Singh and RamshiromVerma will lay on the table the minutes of the twelfth sitting of the Committee on Absence of Members from the sittings of the House held on December 14, 2023.

    MPs PP Chaudhary and NK Premachandran will present the 28th report of the Committee on External Affairs (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on the subject ‘Countering Global Terrorism at Regional and International Levels’.

    BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar will make a statement regarding the status of implementation of the recommendations contained in the 49th Report of the Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development on ‘Functioning of Directorate General of Training’ pertaining to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present a statement (Hindi and English versions) of estimated receipts and expenditure of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the year 2024-25.In Rajya Sabha, while the discussion over the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address is to resume, MPs Ashok Kumar Mittal and Prakash Javadekar will lay on the table, a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Twenty Eighth Report of the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on ‘Countering Global Terrorism at Regional and International Levels’ in the House today.

    Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav will introduce the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution)

    Amendment Bill, 2024 Bill in the Rajya Sabha today to amend the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

    The last session before Lok Sabha polls expected to be held in April-May this year will be spread over eight sittings spread over a period of 10 days and may conclude on February 9.

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  • Delhi Minister Atishi criticises crime branch’s “interesting” notice, says it is “neither an FIR nor summons”

    Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi expressed skepticism regarding the nature of the notice served by the crime branch in connection with the poaching claim case on Sunday, highlighting that it lacked clarity.Atishi stated, “This morning around six officials from the Crime Branch came to my house, waited for 2-3 hours, and repeatedly went in and out. They had come to give a crime branch notice and wanted to hand it to me directly.””This notice is very interesting. It is neither an FIR nor summons. It does not have sections of IPC, CrPC, PMLA, or the Prevention of Corruption Act,” Atishi added.She mocked that the Delhi Police gave her and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a “letter”.

    “Overall, after almost 48 hours of drama, CM Arvind Kejriwal and I were given letters, and that’s all,” she said.

    The minister further reiterated her ‘MLA poaching’ remark and claimed that Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and 11 other MLAs are the ‘same people’ who break away AAP MLAs.”The people who came to take break Eknath Shinde and 11 other MLAs are the same people who came to break away AAP MLAs,” Atishi said.”I want to tell the heads of the Crime Branch that you already know the people who have been trying to break the Opposition governments (in states) for the past 7-8 years. These are the same people contacting AAP MLAs,” Atishi asserted.

    Earlier in the day, a Crime Branch team arrived at the door of AAP leader Atishi to serve a notice in connection with her claim that the BJP was trying to prise away the party’s MLAs through cash inducements and topple the government as part of ‘Operation Lotus 2.0’.

    The Crime Branch served a notice on AAP leader and minister Atishi in the poaching claim case, asking her to respond within three days.

    Meanwhile, Delhi Police Crime Branch served a fresh notice on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to respond to his charges of poaching attempts by the BJP with evidence by Monday.

    “An inquiry is being conducted by the Crime Branch of Delhi police, on a complaint received in respect of the allegations made by you that the BJP has offered Rs 25 crore each to the sitting MLAs of AAP for leaving the party and joining the BJP. These allegations were posted by you on X on January 27, 2024,” a letter undersigned by Pankaj Arora, ACP of Central Range Crime said.

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  • UP CM Yogi Adityanath underlines importance of addressing public issues with seriousness and sensitivity

    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday emphasised the importance of addressing public issues with utmost seriousness and sensitivity during the Janata Darshan here. The chief minister made this assertion while listening to the problems of about 350 people at the Janata Darshan held in Mahant Digvijaynath Smriti Bhawan on the Gorakhnath temple premises here this morning. Adityanath, according to a statement, was visibly moved after seeing two polio-affected brothers, who had come to the Janata Darshan from Deoria with their their grandmother. Witnessing the challenges faced by the family, the chief minister inquired about the treatment of the two boys Ayush and Piyush, aged 10 and 8, from their grandmother Bhagirathi Devi and assured her that there would be no compromise in the healthcare provided to them. Learning about the the condition of the boys, he queried about their ability to walk.

    The grandmother shared that they could manage ten to twenty steps only. Ayush also demonstrated, taking a few steps with a limp, prompting a compassionate response from the chief minister.

    Subsequently, Adityanath sought details about the ongoing treatment at the SGPGI Lucknow and directed the officials to ensure that the children receive the necessary care, instructing them to issue Ayushman cards if not already available. Bhagirathi Devi also raised a complaint regarding the investigation into her son Aditya Chauhan’s death in August 2023, the father of the polio-affected children. She said that she was receiving threats for demanding an enquiry into the incident.

    The chief minister promptly directed the police officers to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation, emphasising the need for appropriate action.

    Having listened patiently to the grievances, Adityanath provided necessary directions to the officials, pledging full support for those seeking financial assistance from the government for treatment.

    He underlined the importance of expediting estimates related to medical expenses and urged transparency and impartiality in matters related to revenue and police matter.

    During his visit to the Gorakhnath Temple, the chief minister actively participated in cow service (gauseva) at the temple’s Gaushala.

    Adityanath personally attended to the well-being of the cows, feeding them jaggery and chapati.

    Engaging with the Gaushala workers, he gathered information about the health and nutrition of each cow, highlighting his dedication to the animals’ welfare.

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  • CM Yogi congratulates LK Advani for Bharat Ratna, says ‘his works are inspirational for us’ – The Economic Times Video

    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani as PM Modi announced Bharat Ratna for former party president. “The decision of conferring Bharat Ratna to LK Advani is appreciable. For decades of work, commitment and nationalism, India’s highest civilian award will honour his legacy. His works are inspirational for us,” said CM Yogi.