News Analysis India

Tag: Bharatiya Janata Party

  • MLA poaching claims: Delhi Police serves notice to Arvind Kejriwal over MLA poaching claims: Sources

    Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has recently found himself entangled in a political storm, as the Delhi Police Crime Branch delivered a notice to his residence following his claims of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attempting to sway seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs. This development comes in the wake of Kejriwal’s accusation that the BJP had offered a substantial ₹25 crore each to lure the AAP legislators, a claim that prompted the BJP to file a police complaint in response.Arvind Kejriwal made headlines when he publicly stated that the BJP was engaged in a dubious endeavor to “buy” seven AAP MLAs with an offer of ₹25 crore each. The BJP promptly responded by filing an official police complaint, setting the stage for a legal face-off. The accusations have created a political stir, putting the focus on the alleged attempts to destabilize the Kejriwal-led government.In a post on X, Kejriwal claimed that seven of his party MLAs had been contacted by “them”, or the BJP, and warned that he could be arrested soon. The MLAs were allegedly promised Rs 25 crore and a BJP ticket each to contest the elections after the toppling of the Delhi government, the AAP leader charged. Kejriwal added that all the seven AAP MLAs refused to quit the party.

    In a significant development, according to sources, a team from the Delhi Police Crime Branch visited the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to deliver a notice related to the AAP’s claims against the BJP. The police officials have explicitly requested the Chief Minister to provide evidence substantiating the serious allegations made by the Aam Aadmi Party.

    The situation intensifies as the Delhi Police, responsible for maintaining law and order in the capital, operates under the jurisdiction of the Union Home Ministry.

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  • Swati Maliwal: AAP nominates DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal for Rajya Sabha; renominates Sanjay Singh – The Economic Times Video

    NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to send the chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), Swati Maliwal, to the Rajya Sabha. Maliwal will become a Rajya Sabha member for the first time. AAP’s political affairs committee (PAC) has also chosen to nominate Sanjay Singh and ND Gupta for their second terms as members of the upper house, given that their current term concludes on January 27, 2024.

  • Cash for query case: House panel to hear charges against Mahua Moitra Nov 26

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Embroiled in an alleged ‘cash for query’ controversy, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Friday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing it of hatching a plot to expel her from the Lok Sabha and silencing her on the ‘Adani issue’. However, BJP leaders maintain that there is no scope for corruption in Parliament and the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee will take a call on the issue.  

    In a signed affidavit submitted to the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on Thursday, businessman Darshan Hiranandani claimed that he used Moitra’s Parliament login ID to ask questions targeting PM Narendra Modi and Adani Group. The committee headed by BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar is set to hear the ‘cash for query’ charges on November 26. 

    While the allegations pointed to a serious breach of rules by the parliamentarian, Moitra questioned the Ethics Committee chairman on how the affidavit was leaked. “Chairman of the Ethics Committee openly speaks to the media. Please see the Lok Sabha rules. How does the ‘affidavit’ find its way to the media? Chairman should first do an inquiry into how this was leaked,” Moitra posted on X. She was referring to Sonkar’s interview on TV channels, in which he said he has received Hiranandani’s affidavit.

    Moitra said that she is ready to face any inquiry by the CBI or Ethics Committee. “I welcome answering questions to the CBI and Ethics Committee (which has an absolute majority of BJP members) if and when they call me. I have neither time nor interest to feed an Adani-directed media circus trial or answer BJP trolls,” she said. 

    The BJP has upped the ante against the TMC leader. “There is no place for bribery in the parliamentary process. This matter is before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, which is doing its work,” said Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Speaking to this paper, an opposition leader said that he doesn’t want to comment as the matter is sub-judice.

    Moitra also cast doubts on the veracity of the affidavit. “Why would one of India’s most respected/educated businessmen sign a letter like this on white paper unless a gun was put to his head to do it?” Calling the content of the letter a “joke”, she alleged that the affidavit was drafted by “some half-wit in the PMO who doubles up as a creative writer in the BJP’s IT cell.”

    “If indeed he was to witness all of my corruption, why was he with me during the time, and why did he wait till now to make it public? If he wrote to the CBI and LS speaker, why out of the 543 MPs would he forward the letter to Nishikant Dubey, whom I have repeatedly exposed in the Parliament and the outside, and against whom I have filed pending privilege motions?” she asked.

    ‘Ready for inquiry’Mahua Moitra said she is ready to face any inquiry. “I welcome answering questions to the CBI and Ethics Committee (which has an absolute majority of BJP members) if and when they call me. I have neither time nor interest to feed an Adani-directed media circus trial or answer BJP trolls,” she said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

    NEW DELHI: Embroiled in an alleged ‘cash for query’ controversy, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Friday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing it of hatching a plot to expel her from the Lok Sabha and silencing her on the ‘Adani issue’. However, BJP leaders maintain that there is no scope for corruption in Parliament and the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee will take a call on the issue.  

    In a signed affidavit submitted to the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on Thursday, businessman Darshan Hiranandani claimed that he used Moitra’s Parliament login ID to ask questions targeting PM Narendra Modi and Adani Group. The committee headed by BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar is set to hear the ‘cash for query’ charges on November 26. 

    While the allegations pointed to a serious breach of rules by the parliamentarian, Moitra questioned the Ethics Committee chairman on how the affidavit was leaked. “Chairman of the Ethics Committee openly speaks to the media. Please see the Lok Sabha rules. How does the ‘affidavit’ find its way to the media? Chairman should first do an inquiry into how this was leaked,” Moitra posted on X. She was referring to Sonkar’s interview on TV channels, in which he said he has received Hiranandani’s affidavit.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Moitra said that she is ready to face any inquiry by the CBI or Ethics Committee. “I welcome answering questions to the CBI and Ethics Committee (which has an absolute majority of BJP members) if and when they call me. I have neither time nor interest to feed an Adani-directed media circus trial or answer BJP trolls,” she said. 

    The BJP has upped the ante against the TMC leader. “There is no place for bribery in the parliamentary process. This matter is before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, which is doing its work,” said Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Speaking to this paper, an opposition leader said that he doesn’t want to comment as the matter is sub-judice.

    Moitra also cast doubts on the veracity of the affidavit. “Why would one of India’s most respected/educated businessmen sign a letter like this on white paper unless a gun was put to his head to do it?” Calling the content of the letter a “joke”, she alleged that the affidavit was drafted by “some half-wit in the PMO who doubles up as a creative writer in the BJP’s IT cell.”

    “If indeed he was to witness all of my corruption, why was he with me during the time, and why did he wait till now to make it public? If he wrote to the CBI and LS speaker, why out of the 543 MPs would he forward the letter to Nishikant Dubey, whom I have repeatedly exposed in the Parliament and the outside, and against whom I have filed pending privilege motions?” she asked.

    ‘Ready for inquiry’
    Mahua Moitra said she is ready to face any inquiry. “I welcome answering questions to the CBI and Ethics Committee (which has an absolute majority of BJP members) if and when they call me. I have neither time nor interest to feed an Adani-directed media circus trial or answer BJP trolls,” she said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

  • 63 BJP leaders booked for Patna violence

    Express News Service

    PATNA: Patna police booked 63 leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 7,000-8000 unknown persons involved in attacking Patna police during the ‘Vidhan Sabha march’ organised by the saffron party in the state capital on Thursday.

    The march was organised against the new appointment policy of teachers in government-run schools.

    Additional district magistrate, Law and Order, Patna, Shashibhushan Kumar lodged an FIR against 63 BJP leaders at the Kotwali police station of the state capital.

    The FIR, based on the statement given by Kumar, includes names of former union minister Ram Kripal Yadav, former deputy chief ministers Tar Kishore Prasad and Renu Devi, Aurangabad MP Sushil Kumar Singh, former Bihar ministers Nitin Nabin, Shahnawaz Hussain and Mangal Pandey.

    In the application given to the station house officer (SHO) of Kotwali police station, Kumar said that he was deputed for maintaining law and order during the BJP’s assembly march. He claimed that suddenly a crowd of BJP workers started raising slogans.

    As per the FIR, a crowd approached Dak Bungalow, broke the barricades, and attacked the deployed police with banners and sticks. They also sprinkled chilli powder on the faces of the policemen while raising slogans.

    In the meantime, some other workers got furious and started hitting the barricades with sticks and confronted the police by climbing over the barricades.

    To normalise the situation, the police personnel and officials used water cannons and resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd and the people who were pelting stones at the police.

    During this attack, a total of 60 BJP leaders and workers were detained by the police. They were released on personal bonds.

    Meanwhile, BJP has formed a four-member team to probe the use of alleged excessive force during the assembly march on Thursday.

    BJP president J P Nadda has made former Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das the convener and Manoj Tiwari, Vishnu Dayal Ram and Sunita Duggal as the members of the team. The team is likely to reach Patna on Sunday.

    PATNA: Patna police booked 63 leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 7,000-8000 unknown persons involved in attacking Patna police during the ‘Vidhan Sabha march’ organised by the saffron party in the state capital on Thursday.

    The march was organised against the new appointment policy of teachers in government-run schools.

    Additional district magistrate, Law and Order, Patna, Shashibhushan Kumar lodged an FIR against 63 BJP leaders at the Kotwali police station of the state capital.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The FIR, based on the statement given by Kumar, includes names of former union minister Ram Kripal Yadav, former deputy chief ministers Tar Kishore Prasad and Renu Devi, Aurangabad MP Sushil Kumar Singh, former Bihar ministers Nitin Nabin, Shahnawaz Hussain and Mangal Pandey.

    In the application given to the station house officer (SHO) of Kotwali police station, Kumar said that he was deputed for maintaining law and order during the BJP’s assembly march. He claimed that suddenly a crowd of BJP workers started raising slogans.

    As per the FIR, a crowd approached Dak Bungalow, broke the barricades, and attacked the deployed police with banners and sticks. They also sprinkled chilli powder on the faces of the policemen while raising slogans.

    In the meantime, some other workers got furious and started hitting the barricades with sticks and confronted the police by climbing over the barricades.

    To normalise the situation, the police personnel and officials used water cannons and resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd and the people who were pelting stones at the police.

    During this attack, a total of 60 BJP leaders and workers were detained by the police. They were released on personal bonds.

    Meanwhile, BJP has formed a four-member team to probe the use of alleged excessive force during the assembly march on Thursday.

    BJP president J P Nadda has made former Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das the convener and Manoj Tiwari, Vishnu Dayal Ram and Sunita Duggal as the members of the team. The team is likely to reach Patna on Sunday.

  • BJP faces rebellion ahead of Gujarat Assembly polls; 5 leaders threaten to contest as independents

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: At least one sitting Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and four former legislators have threatened to contest as independents after being denied tickets by the BJP for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.

    While some of these disgruntled leaders have said they will make their next move after consulting supporters, former BJP MLA and the party’s known tribal face Harshad Vasava already filed his nomination papers on Friday as an independent from Nandod seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates.

    Vasava is the president of Gujarat BJP’s Scheduled Tribe Morcha and represented the erstwhile Rajpipla seat between 2002 and 2007 and from 2007 to 2012.

    Nandod in Narmada district is currently held by the Congress. The BJP has fielded Dr Darshana Deshmukh from the seat.

    Unhappy over the announcement, Vasava resigned from his post in the BJP and submitted his nomination papers for the Nandod seat on Friday.

    Elections for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

    “There is an original BJP and a duplicate BJP here. We will expose those who have side-lined committed workers and given key posts to newcomers. I have sent my resignation to the party. People of this area know how much work I have done as an MLA between 2002 and 2012,” Vasava told reporters after filing his nomination as an independent.

    In the neighbouring Vadodara district, one sitting and two former BJP MLAs are up in arms against the party after being denied tickets.

    Six-time MLA Madhu Shrivastav from Vaghodia, who has been denied a ticket, said he will contest as an independent if his supporters want him to.

    The BJP has fielded Ashwin Patel from the seat.

    Another former BJP MLA Dinesh Patel aka Dinu Mama of Padra seat in Vadodara district has also said he would contest the election independently.

    The BJP has given the ticket to Chaitanyasinh Zala. The seat is held by Congress. In Karjan, former BJP MLA Satish Patel is unhappy after the BJP decided to repeat sitting legislator Akshay Patel.

    Akshay Patel won on the Congress ticket from the seat in 2017. He joined the BJP in 2020 and won the subsequent bypoll.

    ALSO READ | BJP’s internal strife over ticket distribution grows stronger after second list announcements in Gujarat

    “Everyone knows what Akshay Patel did as an MLA. My supporters and cooperative sector leaders of Karjan have asked me to fight this election, even as an independent. I was not consulted before the party decided to give the ticket to Akshay Patel,” Satish Patel told reporters in Karjan.

    “In fact, 80 per cent of the workers and office-bearers of the BJP had recommended my name during the ‘sense’ exercise. But, I was rejected in the end. We would have accepted any other person as a candidate, but BJP workers and local leaders can never accept Akshay Patel,” he claimed.

    In a damage control exercise, state BJP general secretary Bhargav Bhatt and Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi on Saturday visited Vadodara and met local party workers.

    Bhatt exuded confidence that the BJP will win all the seats of Vadodara.

    “We will convince Dinu Mama not to go ahead with his plans. There is still scope. He has always remained with the BJP and we are sure he will come back. He has yet not filed his nomination as an independent,” said Bhatt.

    Speaking on the issue, Sanghavi said, “The BJP is like a family and all members of this family are united. We all are one and the BJP will win the election with the support of the people.”

    Meanwhile, Arvind Ladani, former BJP MLA of Keshod seat of Junagadh, announced on Saturday that he would fight the polls as an independent after the party gave the ticket to present MLA Devabhai Malam.

    “People of Keshod are angry because I was denied the ticket by the BJP. People know how much work I have done for Keshod. Thus, people as well as my supporters have asked me to fight as an independent. I will file my nomination on November 14,” said Ladani, who was the MLA from 2012 to 2017.

    The BJP has so far named candidates for 166 Assembly seats out of the total 182.

    AHMEDABAD: At least one sitting Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and four former legislators have threatened to contest as independents after being denied tickets by the BJP for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.

    While some of these disgruntled leaders have said they will make their next move after consulting supporters, former BJP MLA and the party’s known tribal face Harshad Vasava already filed his nomination papers on Friday as an independent from Nandod seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates.

    Vasava is the president of Gujarat BJP’s Scheduled Tribe Morcha and represented the erstwhile Rajpipla seat between 2002 and 2007 and from 2007 to 2012.

    Nandod in Narmada district is currently held by the Congress. The BJP has fielded Dr Darshana Deshmukh from the seat.

    Unhappy over the announcement, Vasava resigned from his post in the BJP and submitted his nomination papers for the Nandod seat on Friday.

    Elections for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

    “There is an original BJP and a duplicate BJP here. We will expose those who have side-lined committed workers and given key posts to newcomers. I have sent my resignation to the party. People of this area know how much work I have done as an MLA between 2002 and 2012,” Vasava told reporters after filing his nomination as an independent.

    In the neighbouring Vadodara district, one sitting and two former BJP MLAs are up in arms against the party after being denied tickets.

    Six-time MLA Madhu Shrivastav from Vaghodia, who has been denied a ticket, said he will contest as an independent if his supporters want him to.

    The BJP has fielded Ashwin Patel from the seat.

    Another former BJP MLA Dinesh Patel aka Dinu Mama of Padra seat in Vadodara district has also said he would contest the election independently.

    The BJP has given the ticket to Chaitanyasinh Zala. The seat is held by Congress. In Karjan, former BJP MLA Satish Patel is unhappy after the BJP decided to repeat sitting legislator Akshay Patel.

    Akshay Patel won on the Congress ticket from the seat in 2017. He joined the BJP in 2020 and won the subsequent bypoll.

    ALSO READ | BJP’s internal strife over ticket distribution grows stronger after second list announcements in Gujarat

    “Everyone knows what Akshay Patel did as an MLA. My supporters and cooperative sector leaders of Karjan have asked me to fight this election, even as an independent. I was not consulted before the party decided to give the ticket to Akshay Patel,” Satish Patel told reporters in Karjan.

    “In fact, 80 per cent of the workers and office-bearers of the BJP had recommended my name during the ‘sense’ exercise. But, I was rejected in the end. We would have accepted any other person as a candidate, but BJP workers and local leaders can never accept Akshay Patel,” he claimed.

    In a damage control exercise, state BJP general secretary Bhargav Bhatt and Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi on Saturday visited Vadodara and met local party workers.

    Bhatt exuded confidence that the BJP will win all the seats of Vadodara.

    “We will convince Dinu Mama not to go ahead with his plans. There is still scope. He has always remained with the BJP and we are sure he will come back. He has yet not filed his nomination as an independent,” said Bhatt.

    Speaking on the issue, Sanghavi said, “The BJP is like a family and all members of this family are united. We all are one and the BJP will win the election with the support of the people.”

    Meanwhile, Arvind Ladani, former BJP MLA of Keshod seat of Junagadh, announced on Saturday that he would fight the polls as an independent after the party gave the ticket to present MLA Devabhai Malam.

    “People of Keshod are angry because I was denied the ticket by the BJP. People know how much work I have done for Keshod. Thus, people as well as my supporters have asked me to fight as an independent. I will file my nomination on November 14,” said Ladani, who was the MLA from 2012 to 2017.

    The BJP has so far named candidates for 166 Assembly seats out of the total 182.

  • BJP worker moves Mumbai court over Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘uncharitable’ remarks on Droupadi Murmu

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: A man claiming to be a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker has moved a court in Mumbai against filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma alleging he had passed “uncharitable” remarks about National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu.

    The complaint seeking action against Varma for offences under sections 499 and 500 (defamation), 504 (intentionally insulting a person), and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was filed by Subhas Rajora before the metropolitan magistrate court in suburban Bandra on July 14, the complainant’s lawyer D V Saroj said on Saturday.

    The magistrate has adjourned the matter to October 11 for taking cognisance of the complaint, he added.

    The complaint stated that Varma had made “derogatory” statements through his Twitter handle which outraged the respect of women on social media. His tweets are tantamount to disrespecting the scheduled caste (SC) people.

    MUMBAI: A man claiming to be a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker has moved a court in Mumbai against filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma alleging he had passed “uncharitable” remarks about National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu.

    The complaint seeking action against Varma for offences under sections 499 and 500 (defamation), 504 (intentionally insulting a person), and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was filed by Subhas Rajora before the metropolitan magistrate court in suburban Bandra on July 14, the complainant’s lawyer D V Saroj said on Saturday.

    The magistrate has adjourned the matter to October 11 for taking cognisance of the complaint, he added.

    The complaint stated that Varma had made “derogatory” statements through his Twitter handle which outraged the respect of women on social media. His tweets are tantamount to disrespecting the scheduled caste (SC) people.

  • Nadda to interact with 13 foreign envoys today, as part of ‘Know BJP’ initiative

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda will meet the envoys of 13 foreign countries at the party headquarters in the national capital as part of the “Know BJP” initiative on Saturday.

    Nadda will interact with 13 foreign envoys including the UK, Spain, Finland, Croatia, Serbia, Nepal, Thailand, Mauritius and Zamaika at the BJP office at 4 pm today.

    Under the “Know BJP” programme, Nadda briefs the foreign envoys about the party and a short documentary on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s journey since 1951 is also shown to them.

    Notably, this will be Nadda’s third interaction with foreign envoys as part of the ‘Know BJP’ initiative. He has so far interacted with a total of 34 foreign envoys.

    The BJP chief interacted with envoys of Laos, Russia, Cuba, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey on Saturday. The previous meeting that took place earlier this month, lasted for three hours.

    “India’s global recognition has increased under the Narendra Modi government and there was a need to familiarise the envoys with the party’s history and vision,” BJP’s foreign affairs wing chief Vijay Chauthaiwale told ANI after the interaction.

    He had also said the party will have interactions with more envoys. “We will have three or four interaction sessions this month. There is also a plan to enhance party-to-party interactions,” Chauthiwale said.

    In his interaction, Nadda elaborated upon the BJP’s expansion, growth in membership and structure, and the role of BJP’s departments and frontal organisations.

    After Nadda’s remarks, the envoys spoke of the significance of their countries’ bilateral relationship with India. 

  • BJP leader Kirit Somaiya files complaint against Maharashtra govt, Mumbai police over his detention

    By ANI

    MUMBAI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya on Wednesday filed a complaint against the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai police at Navghar Mulund East Police Station over his alleged detention at Karad Railway Station.

    Speaking to the media persons after filing the complaint, Somaiya said: “Mumbai Police was indulged into wrongful confinement, abuse of power to stop me from visiting Kolhapur. I was stopped from stepping out of my residence on the day of Ganesh Visarjan. They stopped me at Karad Railway Station.”

    “I submitted a legal notice to Mulund and MRA Marg police stations under section 149, 340, 341, 342 of Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Mumbai Police and Maharashtra government have to apologise to me within 24 hours,” the BJP leader said.

    Somaiya was detained at Karad Railway Station in the Satara district of Maharashtra in the early hours of Monday. He was expected to visit Kohlapur on September 20 and was en route to the district via train.

    Ahead of his visit, Kolhapur District Collector had issued prohibitory orders against him and imposed Section 144, prohibiting gatherings on September 20 and 21.

    The BJP leader was scheduled to visit the properties owned by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif in which he claims corruption has taken place. Somaiya had also levelled allegations of money laundering against Maharashtra Cabinet Ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Anil Parab.

    BJP slammed the Maharashtra government over Somaiya’s detention and had alleged that the leader was being targeted because he was exposing scams related to corrupt ministers of the government.

    Earlier in the day, Mushrif said that he will file a Rs 100 crore defamation suit against Somaiya.

    “The allegation which is being made by Kirit Somaiya is part of BJPs big conspiracy and Chandrakant Patil is the mastermind of this. I have been very vocal about the Centre using central agencies against Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and on the issue of Parambir Singh. It is the reason I am being framed by BJP through Kirit Somaiya to stop me,” he stated.

  • Kaliaganj BJP MLA Soumen Roy returns to Trinamool Congress

    By ANI

    KOLKATA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Soumen Roy joined Trinamool Congress on Saturday.

    Roy, who was earlier associated with TMC joined BJP before the West Bengal Assembly polls. He is an MLA from Kaliaganj Assembly constituency in Uttar Dinajpur district.

    He rejoined TMC in presence of state minister and party leader Partha Chatterjee in Trinamool Bhavan in Kolkata.

    ALSO READ | BJP MLA Biswajit Das returns to TMC, says ‘felt uncomfortable’

    “I had to contest from Kaliaganj on the BJP ticket due to some circumstances. But my soul and heart belong to TMC. I joined the party again to support Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s efforts. I am apologetic to the party for the time I was not here,” Roy told mediapersons after joining TMC.

    West Bengal has been witnessing a reverse trend of leaders rejoining TMC from BJP after assembly elections results. Earlier, BJP heavyweight Mukul Roy and his son Subhranshu Roy joined TMC.

    The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC registered a landslide victory in polls winning 213 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly. Despite aggressive campaigning, the BJP lost the polls but emerged as the second-largest party with 77 seats. 

  • Assam Assembly polls: BJP to announce candidates today, hopeful of NDA securing 100 seats

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party will announce the list of its candidates for the first and second phases of the Ass am Assembly elections on Friday, said BJP Assam chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass. He also claimed that BJP and its allies would secure at least 100 seats out of a total of 126 seats in the state Legislative Assembly.

    The party leaders informed that the list of BJP’s candidates that are going to polls in two phases will be announced by today evening.

    However, the candidature of the seats that have gone to its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) will be announced by the respective parties later.

    ALSO READ: Sarbananda Sonowal, Himanta Biswa Sarma will contest Assam Assembly polls, says Jay Panda

    Speaking to ANI, Dass confirmed that the list of candidates will be out by today evening.

    “The list of candidates for seats going to polls in first and second phases will come out today. BJP’s list will come out today whereas the AGP and the UPPL will declare their candidates after presidents of both parties announce the seat-sharing agreement which would be finalised very soon,” he said.

    Dass also said that a detailed discussion on seat sharing and alliance took place on Thursday under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Jagat Prakash Nadda.

    “We had discussed 86 Assembly seats that will go to polls in two phases. We held discussions over seats of BJP, AJP and UPPL. We have left the AJP seats to them for the announcement. We have given them a satisfactory number of seats,” added the BJP leader.

    “BJP and its allies would secure at least 100 seats out of a total of 126 seats,” he asserted.

    ALSO READ: BJP, allies finalise sharing of 86 out of 126 seats

    In 2016, BJP had won 60 of 84 seats it had contested. He also believes that the AGP will retain its 14 Assembly seats which it had won in the last elections.

    “96 lakh people benefitted from government schemes. We can get 1 crore votes and out of 50 lakh members we have in the state and if they bring in one extra vote even then we get 1 crore votes. Total votes polled are approximately 1.60 crores and if we get 1 crore votes, who will form the government then? We have 60 seats plus add 14 seats of the AGP that it will retain,” added the BJP Assam President.

    “We will add a few seats that were contested by Bodoland People’s Front in the last elections. We have a chance to touch 100 seats,” he added.

    Out of 126 seats in Assam, 86 seats will be contested in the first two phases scheduled on March 27 and April 1 whereas the polling for the third phase will be held on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

    In 2016, the BJP scripted history and formed the government for the first time in the state ending Congress’s 15-year rule. BJP and its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) won a combined 86 seats in the 126-member Assam Assembly. BJP bagged 60 seats, AGP 14 and BPF 12 seats.

    This time the BPF announced to join the Congress-led coalition ‘Mahajath’ after breaking away with the BJP-led alliance.