News Analysis India

Tag: Amit Shah

  • Union Budget: Mamata says zero for common man, Amit Mitra calls it a hoax, BJP hits back

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Terming the union budget presented in Parliament on Tuesday as a “Pegasus spin budget”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said it has got nothing for the common people who are being crushed by inflation and unemployment.

    Banerjee’s principal chief advisor Amit Mitra claimed there is no direction for financial growth in the union budget and it is “either a hoax or lack of goodwill”.

    The opposition BJP supported the Union budget as “pro-people” and asked the TMC government to come out with a white paper on the amount of investment that has materialised in the state in the last ten years.

    Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting the union budget in Parliament said the country’s economic growth is expected to be at 9.2 per cent in the current financial year on the back of a sharp rebound in the economy.

    Criticising the budget, Banerjee said the Centre was lost in “big words signifying nothing”. “BUDGET HAS ZERO FOR COMMON PEOPLE, WHO ARE GETTING CRUSHED BY UNEMPLOYMENT & INFLATION. GOVT IS LOST IN BIG WORDS SIGNIFYING NOTHING – A PEGASUS SPIN BUDGET (sic),” she tweeted.

    Mitra, who was addressing a virtual press conference, said India is the only country globally with stagflation and the union budget will hit rural employment further with the reduction in allocation for the job guarantee scheme.

    “There is no allocation for social security schemes. The biggest thing is that there is no solution for middle class employees in the budget. Around 1.20 crore middle class people lost their jobs in lockdown. What is allocated for them in the budget? What is allocated in the budget for the families of those who lost their lives due to COVID? There is nothing,” he said.

    Mitra, a former finance minister of the state, said there is no direction of financial growth in this union budget. “The income tax structure remains unchanged. There is nothing for the poor and middle class. The Centre’s budget is either a hoax or a lack of goodwill,” he said.

    Mitra said the amount allocated for 100 days work had been reduced from Rs 98,000 crore to Rs 73,000 crore in this year’s budget, which is a “terrible thing”.

    The budget does not address the problem of 30 million unemployed people or inflation of 14 per cent of wholesale prices or 6 per cent of the increase in consumer prices.

    “It does not stimulate demand by putting money in the hands of the common people – something that all other countries are doing,” he said.

    The BJP on the other hand accused Mitra and the TMC government of destroying the state’s economy. “The union budget is a pro-people budget. The TMC has opposed it for political reasons. But before opposing it, TMC should answer why Bengal has been pushed to a debt trap. It should come out with a white paper on the investment the state has received and those which has been implemented on the ground,” BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.

    Criticising the union budget as “anti-people’, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said it is a “Sale India budget conceptualised by a party which has no contribution in either the country’s independence or nation building.” 

  • Goons, mafia of UP have fled, are in jail or appear in Samajwadi Party’s list of candidates: Amit Shah

    By ANI

    SAHARANPUR:: Taking a jibe at Samajwadi Party (SP) and lauding the work done by the Yogi Adityanath government, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the “goons and mafia” of Uttar Pradesh are either in jail or have fled away or are in the candidates’ list of the main opposition party for the upcoming assembly election.

    Campaigning in Saharanpur for Uttar Pradesh elections beginning February 10, Amit Shah accused Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav of speaking “lies” about the law and order situation in the state.

    He said the BJP government has chased away criminals and mafias who flourished during the earlier regimes.

    “He does not have shame and speaks lies in such a manner that it could be taken as truth. I have brought statistics with me and if you have the courage, hold a press conference with figures of your earlier government,” Amit Shah said.

    “Mafia Raj is over in Uttar Pradesh today. People like Azam Khan and Mukhtar Asari are in jail. The goons and mafia of Uttar Pradesh are either in jail or either fled away… or they figure in the list of Samajwadi Party,” he added.

    The Home Minister also referred to riots that took place during the Samajwadi Party rule in the state.

    “Have you forgotten the riots? If you make a mistake during vote, the rioters will come to power in Lucknow. If the SP-BSP government is formed, then once again mafia raj will come, casteism will come. But if you vote for BJP, we’ll make UP number one,” he said.

    He alleged that Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary are together only till election results are announced.

    “These days Akhilesh Yadaji and Jayant Chaudharyji are seen together. But this is only till the elections. If their government is formed by mistake, then Jayant Chaudharyji will not be seen anywhere again. Azam Khan and Atiq Ahmed will come in the forefront. Their candidates’ list says what will happen after elections,” said Shah.

    He urged people to give their full support to BJP for the continuous and rapid development of the state.

    “If the vote goes to SP, there will again be ‘mafia raj’ and if it goes to the BJP, it will help Uttar Pradesh become number one state in the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership,” he added.

    He urged the people of the state to trust, bless and encourage BJP and vote for party candidates. The BJP has fielded Jagpal Singh from Saharanpur.

    “Today I have come here to appeal for our candidate Jagpal Singhji to win. This in itself is a unique thing in Uttar Pradesh that in a general seat, BJP has done the work of giving tickets to a candidate from the Dalit community. This tells us that in Uttar Pradesh, BJP has worked for realizing the ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas’ mantra of Narendra Modiji,” he said.

    The Home Minister said that he cancelled his campaign in Deoband and Muzaffarnagar today due to a huge crowd that had gathered amid COVID-19.

    Uttar Pradesh will go for a seven-phase election from February 10. 

  • Uttarakhand polls: ‘You have to vote for good governance’, says Amit Shah in Rudraprayag

    By PTI

    DEHRADUN: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday held a door-to-door campaign and addressed poll meetings in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district, appealing to people to bring the BJP back to power in the state to ensure good governance for another five years.

    Shah, who also offered prayers at the Rudranath temple, distributed pamphlets listing the work done by the BJP government during its tenure and what the party plans to do during the next five years if it returns to power. He also targeted the previous Congress dispensation, describing it as a government of corruption and scams.

    Addressing a gathering of ex-servicemen, Shah said, “You gave your blessings to us in 2014 and 2019 by giving all the five Lok Sabha seats to us. Then you gave us a massive mandate in 2017, giving us 57 out of the 70 assembly seats. You have seen the work done by us. You have to vote for good governance for another five years so that the big projects already underway are completed.”

    The minister said that the soldiers from Uttarakhand are protecting the frontiers of the country from Ladakh to Kutch with great valour and dedication and they have to show the same dedication in protecting democracy as well.

    Citing Chardham all-weather road, Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail line, reconstruction of Kedarnath and Badrinath as major infrastructure projects on which substantial progress has been made in the last five years, Shah said a complete five-year tenure of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who has the blessings of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, will see their completion.

    Dhami took over as the Uttarakhand chief minister in July last year as his predecessor Tirath Singh Rawat resigned months after taking charge as the head of the state. Shah described the former chief minister Harish Rawat-led Congress government as a government of corruption and scams.

    He also challenged Rawat, who is contesting from Lalkuan assembly constituency in Nainital district, to show the infrastructure work done during his tenure. The elections to the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly will be held on February 14.

    The counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.

  • ‘Goonda raj’ to return if Akhilesh forms government in UP: Amit Shah

    By PTI

    MATHURA: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday attacked SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, saying “goonda raj” will return to Uttar Pradesh if his party comes to power in the Assembly polls.

    Addressing “influential voters” during a door-to-door campaign, he also accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BSP of promoting dynastic politics and casteism.

    Shah paid obeisance at the Banke Bihari temple before starting his door-to-door campaign for the state Assembly polls.

    Attacking the previous SP government, he asked, “Wasn’t there a goonda raj? Didn’t the bahubalis (strongmen) trouble people? Weren’t the sisters and daughters humiliated?” “Azam Khan was arrested and CrPC sections fell short under which cases were lodged against him,” he said referring to a Samajwadi Party leader.

    He mocked Akhilesh Yadav of his criticism of law and order, says he has not right to complain about it.

    “Chullu bhar pani mein doob maro,” he mocked in Hindi. “Akhilesh Babu you question law and order, you should drown in chullu handful of water. You have no right to speak on it,” he said targeting the Samajwadi Party leader.

    If Akhilesh Yadav comes to power, the “goonda raj” (rule of goons) will prevail, he claimed attacking the opposition party. But if the BJP returns to power, it will bolster development, he said.

    The union minister stressed that his party has run the government in a transparent manner and even political adversaries cannot accuse them of corruption.

    “Before the BJP, the state has seen SP and BSP governments, which worked for specific castes. None of them drew the plan of all-round development of the state. It was done by the governments led by (PM) Narendra Modi and (CM) Yogi Adityanath,” he said.

    “The BJP is not the party of a particular caste but the entire society,” he claimed, adding that in the 2017 Assembly polls, people have rejected casteism and dynastic politics.

    The previous SP and BSP government promoted casteism and dynastic politics while corruption was rampant, Shah said.

    “But in the past seven years of the Modi government and Yogi Adityanath rule, even Rahul Baba cannot level the charge of corruption,” he said referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

    “Akhilesh Babu stacks of notes are coming out from the houses of your supporters but there is no charge of corruption against the BJP,” he said, apparently referring to the seizure of cash and jewellery from two perfume traders in Kanpur and Kannauj.

    He also took a swipe at the SP’s promise of free power, saying why wasn’t it done earlier.

    He claimed his party worked for places of worship without caring for vote bank, citing the construction of Ayodhya’s Ram Temple and the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi.

    Earlier accompanied by party leaders, the minister distributed pamphlets in Satua village near Govardhan Road and got his photographs clicked with local workers.

    Amidst showering of petals by women, he was seen garlanding a beaming child in a woman’s lap.

  • ‘Doors are always open’: BJP offers ‘friendship’ to Jayant Chaudhary as it reaches out to Jat leaders

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary has chosen the “wrong home”, Union Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday as he reached out to Jat leaders at a meeting here ahead of the first phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP suggested that its doors were open for the RLD leader.

    According to sources, while talking to Jat leaders from western Uttar Pradesh, Shah said the ideology of both the party and the community is the same as both keep national interest first and have been fighting against ”invaders”.

    The meeting held at the residence of BJP MP Parvesh Verma was also attended by the party’s prominent Jat leaders including Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan who is an MP from Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh.

    Jats are a deciding factor in almost all the seats in western Uttar Pradesh, a region where the RLD enjoys influence among the community.

    The RLD, led by former prime minister Charan Singh’s grandson Jayant Chaudhary, has joined hands with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party this time.

    “In the meeting, we have suggested that people of the Jat community talk to Jayant Chaudhary. Doors of the BJP are always open,” Verma later told reporters.

    The BJP’s outreach is significant as there are apprehensions that the over year-long farmers’ agitation against the three agri laws, which have since been repealed, will affect its prospects.

    However, the RLD leader gave a terse response.

    “Invite those +700 farmer families which you have destroyed, not me,” he tweeted in Hindi.

    Talking about RLD, Shah said at the meeting that Jayant Chaudhary “has chosen the wrong house”.

    Citing the various steps taken by the Modi government for the community, Shah said the it appointed three Jat governors and has nine Jat MPs.

    Expressing gratitude towards the community, Shah said the BJP got the community’s blessings due to which the party could win in 2014, 2017, 2019 elections.

    “With your support, I believe you will again make us win this election as well,” he said.

    Shah said the BJP government named a university in Aligarh in Jat king’s name, has constructed expressways and brought in Jewar airport for employment and prosperity in western Uttar Pradesh.

    Pagdi, a symbol of Jat pride, was tied on the head of Shah in the meeting.

    Balyan said that Jats would never prefer SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

    The developments came a day before Shah and several other top BJP leaders, including Union Minister Rajnath Singh, were scheduled to visit western Uttar Pradesh.

    Shah held similar meetings with leaders from the Jat community ahead of the 2017 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

  • UP polls: NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Amit Shah to campaign in state

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: NCP supremo Sharad Pawar will lead the party’s campaign in Uttar Pradesh where the party is contesting the assembly elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.

    Besides Pawar, senior leaders and parliament members Praful Patel, Supriya Sule, Sunil Tatkare and Fauzia Khan have been named as star campaigners for the assembly elections.

    NCP has fielded party general secretary K K Sharma from Anupshahr assembly constituency in Bulandshahr district of western Uttar Pradesh.

    Maharashtra minister and NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik, former Rajya Sabha member Abdul Majeed Memon, Delhi NCP chief Yoganand Shastri are among others who have been named as star campaigners for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

    Elections for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.

    The results will be announced on March 10.

    SP is expected to field candidates on about 350 of the 403 seats, while the rest would be split among alliance partners.

    Jayant Singh Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal, Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party are other alliance partners of the Samajwadi Party.

    Opposition leaders are expected to hit the campaign trail in Lucknow in support of Samajwadi Party next month.

    Pawar had said that the BJP had not fulfilled the promises it had made to the people and that Uttar Pradesh will witness a change in government after elections.

    In his first political programme in Uttar Pradesh after the assembly poll dates were announced, Home Minister Amit Shah will be on a door-to-door campaign in support of the BJP candidate in the western UP constituency of Kairana on Saturday.

    The senior BJP leader, who is playing a key role in the party’s campaign in the politically crucial state, will also hold a meeting with party workers in Shamli and Baghpat, sources said, adding that he will later have an interaction with eminent citizens in Meerut.

    Shah’s choice of Kairana is significant as BJP leaders had alleged in the run-up to the 2017 assembly polls that a large number of Hindus were forced to migrate from the area due to threats.

    Uttar Pradesh will have seven-phase polls starting from February 10.

    Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday released the BJP’s song for the assembly polls and said rioters, who once enjoyed the patronage of previous governments and were a threat to the state’s peace, now have their posters pasted in public places.

    Adityanath released the song titled ‘UP Phir Mangein BJP Sarkar’ at the party’s state headquarters here in the presence of its Uttar Pradesh chief Swatantra Dev Singh, Deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur.

    Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said, “The rioters who were once a threat to the peace and harmony of the state and enjoyed patronage of previous governments, today have their posters pasted on roads and crossings.”

    “Taking the basic mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the aim of our government, we have worked for the development of all but appeasement of none,” Adityanath said and referred to the achievements of his government.

    Under the SP and the BSP governments sugar mills used to remain closed and arrears of sugarcane farmers were pending for years, Adityanath said, adding that his government made record payments to sugarcane farmers.

    “Our government also paid cane dues pending from the SP and BSP governments’ time,” he said.

    Adityanath said that his government has fulfilled the promises made by the BJP in its 2017 election manifesto.

  • N-E states once famous for corruption, now spend money for development: Shah

    The home minister said the plan for Tripura's development over the next 25 years has been laid out in a vision document 'Lakshya Tripura'.

  • Border issues: Assam CM Himanta and Meghalaya counterpart Sangma brief Amit Shah on agreement

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma on Thursday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the way forward to amicably settle decades-old inter-state border issues.

    On Wednesday, the two chief ministers had said that the Assam and Meghalaya governments had agreed to resolve the disputes and came to a consensus on the villages and identified natural boundaries such as rivers and forests.

    “I along with HCM Meghalaya Sri @SangmaConrad met Adarniya Griha Mantri Sri @AmitShah ji in New Delhi. We apprised Hon HM on the outcomes of discussions held between Assam & Meghalaya governments to resolve the border disputes amicably. We’re grateful for his guidance,” Sarma tweeted.

    On Wednesday, Sangma had said that the home ministry is expected to finalise a “conclusion” but more or less the structure has been reached after a long-drawn exercise. Sangma had said that the boundary demarcation will be done after the due procedure in Parliament.

  • Parl panel chairperson writes to Shah for taking effective steps to curb hate speech

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs Anand Sharma on Thursday urged Home Minister Amit Shah to take effective steps against hate speech and curb the practice.

    The senior Congress leader has written to Shah, asking him to sensitise chief secretaries and director generals of police (DGPs) of states to take prompt and firm action against those making such speeches.

    Sharma, who is deputy leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha, has also asked the home minister to consider taking legislative action, including amendments in the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, to effectively counter all manifestations of hate speech.

    Drawing Shah’s attention towards the “growing incidents of hate speech”, Sharma said these are aimed at targeting certain sections of citizens, especially minorities and women, which is a matter of serious concern.

    They are also inflaming passions in order to create an environment of insecurity and distrust, he said.

    “Hate speech is being used as a tool to promote enmity and disharmony among between different groups on grounds of religion, caste, ethnicity etc. In my opinion, if left unchecked, this will severely undermine the rule of law and threaten the fundamental right of life, liberty and dignity of our citizens,” Sharma said in his letter.

    “I, therefore, seek your urgent intervention. It is requested that the home secretary be advised to sensitise the chief secretaries and DGPs of states to take prompt and firm action to enforce law and secure order,” he said.

    “Further, the government may consider legislative action including amendments in the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure to effectively counter all manifestations of hate speech in the larger national interest,” the Congress leader said.

    The Parliamentary Committee’s chairman said recent incidents and orchestrated acts of violence, are making headlines in both national and global media.

    “They also tarnish the image of our great country, which is the world’s largest democracy. Free speech, through the quintessence of democracy and enshrined in the Constitution, cannot be allowed to be misused to advocate, incite, promote or justify hatred and violence against a person or community,” he said.

    It is imperative that the spirit of the Constitution is reaffirmed and protected, Sharma asserted.

  • ‘SP had set up a new LAB, it’s Loot, Aatankwaad and Bhrashtachar’: Amit Shah attacks rivals in UP

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday hit out at previous UP governments for failing to stop communal riots and claimed that under Yogi Adityanath, rioters could not dare to raise their eyes.

    In Aligarh, the city of locks and the seat of Aligarh Muslim University, Shah took a swipe at Samajwadi Party saying its government had set up a new ‘LAB’ in the state.

    Expanding the acronym ‘LAB’, Shah said: “In SP’s LAB, L stands for Loot, A for Aatankwaad and B for Bhrashtachar (loot, terror and corruption). The development of Uttar Pradesh is not possible under Samajwadi Party.”

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    Launching an attack on Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Shah took a dig at BSP chief Mayawati asking her to step out and campaign a bit as the elections were round the corner. “Sister’s cold has not gone away yet. Oh, sister! The election is here, come out a little bit,” exhorted Shah adding that else afterwards she would take the excuse of failing to do a campaign for losing elections.

    In the other public rally in Moradabad later in the day, the home minister coined another acronym — NIZAM — to launch a broadside on the previous Samajwadi Party government led by Akhilesh Yadav.

    “Nizam means governance but for Akhilesh Yadav, it means – N for Nasimuddin, I for Imran Masood, Z and A for Azam Khan, and M for Mukhtar Ansari,” elaborated Shah.

    He asked the people to choose between Akhilesh’s Nizam with that of Yogi-Modi’s development Nizam. Shah accused Azam Khan of grabbing 1,000 hectares of land illegally and cautioned the people that if they supported SP, Azam Khan would come out of jail.

    The tenure of the current Uttar Pradesh Assembly ends on May 14.