News Analysis India

Tag: Amit Shah

  • Amarinder meets with Amit Shah, Nadda in Delhi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Former Punjab chief minister and leader of the newly floated Punjab Lok Congress Amarinder Singh on Monday met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda here.

    The BJP has announced that it will contest the Punjab assembly polls in alliance with Singh’s party.

    The meeting is underway at Shah’s residence where all three are present.

    Singh has been meeting various BJP leaders to chalk out a strategy for the Punjab elections.

    Both parties are expected to take various offshoots of the Akali Dal on board and forge a bigger alliance.

  • Panel to look into withdrawal of AFSPA from Nagaland, says Amit Shah

    New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with Nagaland Chief Minister on Sunday and said a committee will be formed to look into the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland.

    A statement released after the meeting stated that the committee will be chaired by the additional secretary-NE, MHA and will include the chief secretary and director general of police Nagaland. IGAR (N) and representatives of CRPF will also be part of the committee, which will submit its report in 45 days. It also added that the withdrawal of Disturbed Area and AFSPA from Nagaland will be based on the recommendations of the committee.

    The controversial Act gives powers to the armed forces to detain and arrest people without a warrant in areas designated as “disturbed”.

    Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio, his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma, Nagaland deputy CM Y Patton and NPFLP leader TR Zeliang were also present.

    A court of inquiry will initiate disciplinary proceedings against Army personnel who were directly involved in the killing of 14 civilians in a botched anti-terrorist operation earlier this month.

    The state government said it’ll also provide government jobs to the next kin of the deceased. To initiate this process, the deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police of Mon district will carry out necessary procedures in consolation with the concerned village councils and government jobs will be given on compassionate grounds on the basis of eligibility.

  • Amit Shah to participate in UP BJP’s Jan Vishvas Yatra on Sunday

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be participating in the Jan Vishvas Yatra to be taken out by the BJP on Sunday.

    Shah will also address public rallies in Kasganj and Jalaun.

    In a statement issued here, the Uttar Pradesh BJP said that Union Minister Shah will be participating in the Jan Vishvas Yatra and address public rallies in Kasganj and later in Jalaun.

    Shah will tour the state in the coming days and will cover more than 140 constituencies, sources said.

    Keeping caste equations in mind, each programme will be attended by people from three OBC-dominated constituencies, two urban constituencies, one scheduled caste-dominated constituency and one minority-dominated constituency, they said.

    Among the key features of Shah’s visit will be his late evening meetings with party workers to deliberate on strategies for the upcoming elections, they said It was under the leadership of Shah as BJP chief that the party had won a massive majority in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, and won 67 Lok Sabha seats out of 80 in 2019.

    In 2014, when he was Uttar Pradesh in-charge, the BJP had won 73 Lok Sabha seats.

  • Modi has redefined governance by giving say to common man: Amit Shah

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the Modi government has taken decisions that are good for the people and not which people would like, even at the cost of political damage.

    Addressing a function organised on the occasion of Good Governance Day, Shah said people have long been waiting for good governance which was delivered by the Modi government in the last seven years.

    “People have kept saying that we have got independence (swaraj) long ago but when will we get good governance (su-raaj),” he said.

    Shah said because of lack of good governance, people’s faith in the country’s democratic system is gradually eroding.

    But Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought back people’s faith in democracy by taking the good governance up to the grassroots level, he said.

    According to Shah, people have realised that Modi came to power in 2014 not to run the government but to provide a clean, transparent and welfare administration, thus changing the face of the country.

    He said people’s faith in democracy has enhanced since 2014 as they started getting benefits of development undertaken by the Modi government.

    “Before 2014, many governments have changed. Many government have come, many have gone. But when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, people have realised that his government has come not to run the government but to change the country,” he said.

    Shah said some earlier governments on some occasions took decisions keeping the vote banks in mind.

    “But Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the Modi government has never taken decisions which the people would like (jo logon ko acche lagen). He has taken decisions which are good for the people. (jo logon ke liye achhe hon). There is a big difference between the two. Some decisions may bring you popularity for a short time but this means keeping the country in problems,” he said.

    The home minister said Modi took everyone along and made the efforts of making good governance a reality. Giving example of good governance, he said there has not been a single corruption charge against the Modi government in last seven years as it is a clean and transparent administration.

    Shah said in the last seven years, the government has taken the benefits of development to 60 crore population who were otherwise deprived of all welfare programmes in last so many decades.

    He said the Modi government has provided toilets to the poor, constructed houses, given electricity and gas connections free of cost.

    Shah said the government has framed such policies through which the problems could be rooted out.

    He said there should always be a government which is sensitive and accountable to the people.

    “People should have faith in the government and at the same time government should have faith in the people.

  • Women commandos to protect Shah, Sonia

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  The first batch of 32 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) women commandos will soon be deployed for the protection of Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and other Z-plus protectees such as former prime minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur. 

    The women commandos will be deployed for multiple duties, which could include accompanying the VIP politicians during their campaigning for the upcoming Assembly polls in five states, sources said. The commandos had completed their 10-week training on December 10 in rendering VIP security duties, unarmed combat, body frisking and special weapons firing. They will now be deployed on the ground around the second week of January 2022, sources said.

    Initially, these commandos will be deployed with CRPF’s Z-plus category protectees based in Delhi. According to sources, over a dozen protectees will have the CRPF’s new women commando contingent on a rotational basis. 

    The commandos will be deployed as part of the house protection team of the VIPs and they will also accompany the personalities, if required, during the upcoming polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.

    As part of the house protection duties, the commandos will frisk female visitors and  they will also be part of the overall security detail of the VIP’s house during tours. Sources added that the newly trained commandos will also provide proximate security to the protectees, especially in the case of Sonia and Priyanka. 

    Like their male counterparts, the women CRPF commandos will also carry arms, ballistic protection and other gadgets as required on the job.  Elections in five states are expected to be held in February-March next year and a hectic political campaign is likely with politicians, party leaders and ministers gearing up to make whirlwind tours. 

  • UP polls: Amit Shah to hold programmes to scale up BJP’s campaign; Modi to visit Varanasi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: To scale up the BJP’s campaign for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Union Minister Amit Shah will tour the state in the coming days and will cover more than 140 constituencies, sources said on Tuesday.

    During his trip, which will span over a week starting December 24, Shah, the party’s key strategist will travel to at least 21 different locations in the state and in each location, he will hold a programme for seven cluster constituencies, they said.

    Keeping caste equations in mind, each programme will be attended by people from three OBC-dominated constituencies, two urban constituencies, one scheduled caste-dominated constituency and one minority-dominated constituency, they said.

    Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are due early next year.

    Among the key features of Shah’s visit will be his late evening meetings with party workers to deliberate on strategies for the upcoming elections, they said It was under the leadership of Shah as BJP chief that the party had won a massive majority in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, and won 67 Lok Sabha seats out of 80 in 2019.

    In 2014, when he was Uttar Pradesh in-charge, the BJP had won 73 Lok Sabha seats.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Varanasi on Thursday and launch multiple development initiatives, including inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of 22 projects worth over Rs 870 crore, his office said on Tuesday.

    It has been the constant endeavour of the prime minister to work for the development and economic progress of his Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.

    Moving ahead in this direction, he will visit Varanasi and launch multiple development initiatives at around 1 pm on Thursday, it added.

    The prime minister will lay the foundation stone of the “Banas Dairy Sankul” at the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority Food Park, Karkhiyaon, Varanasi.

    Spread across 30 acres of land, the dairy will be built at a cost of about Rs 475 crore and will have a facility for processing five lakh litres of milk per day, the PMO said.

    This will strengthen the rural economy and help the farmers of the region by creating new opportunities for them, it added.

    Modi will also digitally transfer a bonus of about Rs 35 crore to the bank accounts of more than 1.7 lakh milk producers associated with the Banas Dairy.

    He will lay the foundation stone for a biogas-based electricity generation plant for a Milk Producers’ Cooperative Union plant in Varanasi’s Ramnagar, the statement said.

    It will be a key step towards making the plant energy self-sufficient, the PMO said.

    Modi will also launch a portal and a logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) with the help of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

    The unified logo, featuring both the BIS logo and the NDDB quality mark, will simplify the certification process for the dairy sector and reassure the public about dairy product quality.

    In another effort to reduce the number of land ownership issues at the grassroots level, the prime minister will virtually distribute the rural residential rights record, “Gharauni”, under the Swamitva scheme of the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj to over 20 lakh residents of Uttar Pradesh, the PMO said.

    The programme will also witness Modi inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of 22 development projects worth over Rs 870 crore, it said, adding that this will further strengthen the ongoing 360-degree transformation of Varanasi.

    The prime minister will inaugurate multiple urban development projects, including six projects of redevelopment of the Old Kashi wards, a parking-and-surface park at Beniabag, the beautification of two ponds, a sewage treatment plant in Ramna village and the provisioning of advanced surveillance cameras at 720 locations under the Smart City Mission.

    Projects in the education sector that will be inaugurated by the prime minister include the Union Education Ministry’s Inter University Centre for Teachers Education, built at a cost of around Rs 107 crore, and a teachers’ education centre at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, built at a cost of over Rs 7 crore, the PMO said.

    Further, residential flats and staff quarters at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and the ITI, Karaundi will also be inaugurated by the prime minister.

    In the health sector, a project comprising a doctors’ hostel, a nurses’ hostel and a shelter home, amounting to Rs 130 crore, at the Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Centre will be inaugurated by the prime minister.

    He will also inaugurate a 50-bed Integrated Ayush Hospital at Bhadrasi, the statement said.

    The prime minister will lay the foundation stone of the Rs 49 crore Government Homeopathic Medical College in Pindra tehsil under the Ayush Mission.

    In the road sector, Modi will lay the foundation stone of two “four-to-six lane” road-widening projects for Prayagraj and Bhadohi, the statement said.

    This will improve the connectivity of Varanasi and will be a step towards resolving the problem of the city’s traffic congestion, it added.

    To give a fillip to the tourism potential of the holy city, the prime minister will inaugurate the first phase of the tourism development project related to the Shri Guru Ravidas Ji Temple, Seer Govardhan, Varanasi.

    Other projects to be inaugurated by the prime minister include a speed breeding facility at the International Rice Research Institute, the South Asia Regional Centre, Varanasi, a regional reference standards laboratory in Payakpur village and an advocate building in Pindra tehsil, the PMO said.

  • Shiv Sena members meet Shah, seek sedition charges for alleged desecration of Shivaji Maharaj statue

    By PTI

    PUNE: A group of Shiv Sena leaders in Pune on Sunday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah here and sought sedition charges be invoked against those responsible for the alleged desecration of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Bengaluru.

    The delegation led by Sena’s city unit president Sanjay More handed over a memorandum to Shah in the evening during the latter’s visit to the city, where he attended several programmes.

    “We met Amitji today and handed over a memorandum seeking to register an offence under the charges of sedition against those who are responsible for the incident that took place in Bengaluru,” said More.

    He added that they also demanded to rein in Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for his remarks, in which he allegedly dubbed the incident as “trifle”.

    The Sena delegation pointed out that it was quite ironic that while Shah was in Pune to lay the foundation of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue, a condemnable act has happened in the neighbouring state.

    “In the letter, we stated that such acts are happening in Karnataka repeatedly and it should be stopped somewhere and such tendencies should be nipped in the bud,” he said.

    Tension had prevailed in Belagavi bordering Maharashtra on Saturday after alleged activists of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti vandalised a statue of Kannada freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna, following news that a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was desecrated in Bengaluru.

    CM Bommai on Sunday appealed to people to respect iconic personalities and avoid lending ears to rumours.

  • Unlike other countries, PM Modi involved people in govt’s fight against Covid: Amit Shah

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has involved common people in the government’s fight against COVID-19, unlike other countries.

    Speaking at an award distribution ceremony organised by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India here, Shah said while the pandemic situation is fluctuating in many countries, India is steadily coming out of it.

    “Many governments fought against COVID-19 in the world but in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured that people would join the government’s fight against the pandemic. Even at present, many countries are reporting ups and down in COVID-19 cases, but India is steadily coming out of it,” Shah said.

    The Union minister also said that everyone in the world had expressed concerns over India’s population and the existing health infrastructure.

    However, we comparatively incurred fewer losses from COVID-19, he added.

    He said India’s economic growth while coming out of COVID-19, has been promising.

    “The current growth rate is in a single-digit but I can assure you all that it would be in a double-digit by March 22. It is because we were trying to win the war against COVID-19 but the economic reforms that we had envisioned would need to overcome various challenges posed by the pandemic,” Shah added.

  • Nagaland killings: Konyak Union demands apology from Amit Shah, retraction of ‘misleading’ Parliament statement

    By PTI

    KOHIMA: Konyak Union, a tribal body in Nagaland, on Saturday demanded apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah and retraction of his “misleading” statement in Parliament, while rejecting the term “mistaken identity” and that the forces had opened fire on civilians in “self-defence”.

    Shah had earlier said in Parliament that six civilians mistaken as insurgents were killed by security forces on December 4 after the pick-up truck they were traveling in did not stop when signalled to, and later seven more people were killed after forces opened fire in self-defence when they were attacked by a mob near Oting village in Mon district.

    An uneasy calm prevailed in Mon district as the Konyak tribe entered the sixth day of mourning.

    The union threatened to take their agitation beyond the district and the state if their demand for repeal of AFSPA and justice in the killing was not heeded by the end of the mourning period on December 13.

    Konyak Union spokesperson T Yanlem said that there was no question of acting in “self-defence” because those killed were unarmed civilians.

    “The 21 Para commandos, an elite force, did a blunder without asserting anything. They killed six young boys…they were innocent villagers returning home,” he said.

    The union’s another spokesperson Yingphe Konyak said that Shah’s “misleading statement” in the Parliament was “shameful”.

    “AFSPA is a law of torture, rape and killing. Stop treating Nagas and the Northeast as the fourth gender. The entire episode can’t be forgiven on the pretext of mistaken identity.

    “How can Union Home Minister Amit Shah give such a statement without checking the facts? How can he be so wrong?” she said, adding that he owes an apology to Konyaks and people of Nagaland.

  • Government framed new policies, changed existing ones to restore pre-pandemic economic growth: Amit Shah

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: The Narendra Modi government framed new policies and amended the existing ones to bring back pre-pandemic levels of economic growth, Union Minister Amit Shah said here on Saturday.

    The projects worth Rs 361.5 crore which he inaugurated or for which he laid the foundation stone in his Lok Sabha constituency Gandhinagar during the day were testimony to the Gujarat government’s commitment to keep up the pace of development despite the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

    “To accelerate the economy, policies were framed after hours of brainstorming and studying all the aspects. And the policies which became hurdles in bringing industry, affected ‘Make In India’ or obstructed ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ were changed during the coronavirus period,” he said.

    He cited examples such as opening up of the space sector for private players and new policy for the use of drones framed during this period.

    “The result is that while several other countries are struggling with slowdown, India has achieved pre-coronavirus economic figures,” the Union Home and Cooperation Minister said.

    He praised Prime Minister Modi for ensuring that poor households did not suffer from hunger during the pandemic by providing them 5 kg of foodgrains free.

    He also hailed Modi’s leadership for making available Co-WIN app free for streamlining vaccination, and said even foreign countries are using this app.

    During his visit here, Shah inaugurated projects worth Rs 112 crore including a four-lane flyover bridge and railway overbridge in Ahmedabad.

    He also laid foundation stones for projects worth Rs 250 crore.