News Analysis India

Tag: BJP MLA

  • Language of intimidation won’t be tolerated: Thackeray warns opponents

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: In a veiled attack on the BJP, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the language of intimidation will not be tolerated and a befitting reply will be given to those speaking it.

    He made the statement in the wake of BJP legislator Prasad Lad’s reported remarks that if needed, the Shiv Sena Bhavan, the headquarters of Thackeray-led party in central Mumbai, would be demolished.

    However, he had later retracted the remarks and expressed regret saying they were presented out of context by the media.

    Speaking at the inauguration of the BDD Chawls redevelopment project here, Thackeray referred to his three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation as a ‘triple seat’ government (with NCP and Congress being the other constituents).

    Recalling a dialogue from Hindi blockbuster ‘Dabangg’ – “Thappad se dar nahi lagta (not scared of being slapped)” – the chief minister said, “Nobody should speak the language of slapping us as we will give back such a tight slap that the other person will not be able to get back on his feet.’

    Asking the beneficiaries of the chawls redevelopment project not to fall prey to allurement once the project gets over, he said, “Marathi culture must be protected in the redeveloped constructions at any cost as the chawls had a historic legacy, where revolutionaries had laid down their lives and also were witness to the Samyukta Maharashtra movement.

    NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who was also present at the event, said the legacy of BDD Chawls should be protected and the Marathi-speaking people must stay back in the redeveloped houses, which would be given as part of the project being overseen by Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).

    He also praised Thackeray for efficient handling of the COVID-19 situation and the recent floods in several parts of the state caused by torrential rains.

    State Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat said, despite natural calamities, the MVA government had not allowed development work to suffer or stall.

     

  • BJP MLA files complaint against NCP’s Nawab Malik over ‘false’ statement

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar on Monday filed a complaint against Maharashtra Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik for allegedly spreading panic through false information.

    In a letter, the Member of the Legislative Assembly from Kandivali East said, that two days back Minister Nawab Malik has made a statement in the media that the Central government is threatening companies, producing Remdesivir injections, not to supply the injection doses to the state or their licence would be cancelled.

    “It is nothing but a statement prejudicial to national integration because the same creating rift between the Central government and State government, and is causing public mischief with an intent to create ill-will panic and hatred in classes of people,” Bhatkhalkar said.

    He further added that due to which crowd is gathering at several railway stations and the same has added to the already tense situation in Maharashtra.

    Malik on April 17 had alleged the Centre was blocking the supply of Remdesivir medicine to the state. He also questioned the Centre’s allocation of oxygen to states amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    In a tweet, the NCP leader asked Union Minister Piyush Goyal to ‘set the record straight’ and asked how much oxygen was has been given to Maharashtra.

    “Mr. @PiyushGoyal ji Please enlighten us with some facts, How many metric tons of Oxygen is produced in our country and how much oxygen has the central government given to Maharashtra? Details given by you will clear all doubts and set the record straight,” Malik tweeted.

  • BJP MLA terms Maharashtra govt anti-Hindu over ‘Holika Dahan’ restrictions

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ram Kadam on Sunday slammed Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray government over restrictions on the occasion of ‘Holika Dahan’ amid COVID-19 and asked why the state government is against Hindus.

    Taking to Twitter, the BJP leader said: “According to Thackeray government, you cannot burn Holi outside your houses. If you are found doing so, the Police will take action against it. If the Holi does not burn outside the houses then should it be burnt inside? Have they (government) lost senses? People can understand the restrictions over playing Holi with colours as there will be a crowd.”

    The MLA also said: “But by maintaining social distancing and following the rules, if the Hindu brothers celebrate the festival of ‘Holika Dahan’ then why this government is objecting? At the same time, other religions are allowed for their festivals. Is Covid is a special relative of them or this government’s?”

    “Why Thackray government is against Hindus continuously,” asked the BJP leader.

    Maharashtra reported 35,726 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of cases to 26,73,461 in the state, as per the health bulletin on Saturday.

    According to the state health bulletin, as many as 14,523 people recovered in the state from the disease in the said period. With this, the total number of recoveries in Maharashtra goes to 23,14,579 so far.

    However, the active cases of COVID-19 stand at 3,03,475. The state reported 166 deaths yesterday due to COVID-19, taking the cumulative death toll to 54,073. 

  • 17 farmers booked after protest outside BJP MLA’s residence

    By PTI
    AMBALA: Police on Friday registered a case against 17 farmers after they allegedly held a demonstration against Ambala City BJP MLA Aseem Goel.

    Three of the accused have been identified as Malkeet Singh, Jai Singh and Gulab Singh, police said.

    BKU activists and farmers had demonstrated outside the residence of Aseem Goel and also burnt his effigy against his alleged “anti-famer” remarks during his speech in the Assembly on Wednesday.

    Meanwhile, the MLA issued a clarification that he had not said made any objectionable statement against farmers in the Assembly.

    If still they feel that I have hurt their sentiments, I have no objection to beg pardon for it, Goel said.

  • Maharashtra Assembly: BJP MLA highlights lack of facilities for women MLAs

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: BJP MLA Madhuri Misal on Friday raised the issue of lack of facilities for women legislators at the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan.

    Speaking in the Assembly, Misal, a three-time MLA from Pune, lamented that restrooms for women legislators in the 20 -storey building were not more than 60 to 70 feet.

    “There are more than 20 women in the state Assembly and they don’t have a decent restroom.

    The condition of toilets is also bad,” she said.

    The MLA also pointed out the poor state of furniture kept there.

    In response to this, deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal directed that the required arrangements be made.

  • Himachal Pradesh BJP MLA deposits part of service tax after seizure of bank accounts

    By PTI
    SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh BJP MLA Balbir Singh Verma has deposited a part of the service tax levied on the properties that he sold across Shimla after authorities seized his bank accounts.

    Verma, who is also a real estate builder, told PTI here on Thursday that the remaining tax will be deposited with the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIT) shortly.

    On February 24, the CBIT had seized all bank accounts of the ruling party legislator over his failure to deposit tax against several flats sold in various parts of Shimla.

    However, Verma said he could not deposit the complete amount due to a technical glitch.

    According to the BJP leader, he had received a notice from CBIT in 2016 for depositing service tax of Rs 9.50 crore against several flats sold in 2010, he said.

    Subsequently, the two-time MLA filed an appeal with the department and the service tax was reduced to Rs 1.72 crore on December 31, 2019.

    The tax was further reduced Rs 86 lakh under the new ‘Sabka Vikas’ scheme, he added Verma said he tried to deposit the tax online but the required form number 3 could not be downloaded.

    As a result, I could not pay the entire tax, he said.

  • Rajasthan BJP MLA demands removal of facts from NCERT textbook glorifying Aurangzeb

    By ANI
    JAIPUR: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Vasudev Devnani on Thursday raised objection to the “glorification” of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the Class 12 NCERT textbook, claiming that the contents were beyond historical facts and demanded its removal.

    “It (glorification of Aurangzeb) is beyond historical facts and it is wrong to glorify on the basis of appeasement. These false facts should be removed from the NCERT book so that the younger generation can know the reality of history,” Devnani said while addressing the 10th budget session of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.

    The MLA also urged the state government to provide relief to people in school fee amid the pandemic.

    Devnani further informed that he received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and urged people to get vaccinated to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

    “The COVID-19 vaccine has arrived and is available for many. I got vaccinated yesterday. Everyone should also get the shot,” he said. 

  • Gujarat polls: BJP MLA Madhu Shrivastav threatens reporters over son’s nomination

    By PTI
    AHMEDABAD: A BJP MLA in Gujarat on Monday threatened to “finish off” reporters when they sought his reaction on whether his son, who had filed nomination papers for upcoming elections to Vadodara municipal corporation, has three children which is the violation of poll norms.

    The nomination of Deepak Shrivastav, son of the MLA Madhu Shrivastav, was finally rejected on Monday evening over the issue of the number of children, a poll official said.

    Deepak Shrivastav had filed the nomination papers as an Independent candidate from Waghodia ward in Vadodara city, after he was refused a ticket by the BJP.

    “Nomination of Deepak Shrivastav was declared invalid over the issue of the number of children,” said Vadodara’s assistant returning officer MS Solanki without elaborating.

    BJP candidate Ashish Joshi had raised objection to Deepak Shrivastav’s nomination before the returning officer, claiming the MLA’s son had three biological children but he showed having only two children in his nomination form.

    The Gujarat Local Authorities (Amendment) Act, 2005, prescribes disqualification as well as rejection of nomination forms for local body elections if a candidate has more than two children.

    “If you again tell me that my son has three children, then I will sue you. He has only two children and not three. He had one child when he won an election for the second time, and now he has two children,” MLA Shrivastav told reporters hours before his son’s nomination was declared invalid.

    “He does not have three children. Bring me the proof if you have. Think before you talk….Better do not ask this question, otherwise I will not even let you stand here. Be careful….Do not ask anything, otherwise I will finish you here. I will ask somebody to finish you off, so be careful,” the MLA told reporters.

    He said his son had submitted proof to back his claim.

    Deepak Shrivastav was denied ticket as the ruling BJP had decided against fielding relatives of the party leaders for the civic elections.

    The MLA had earlier expressed his displeasure over the BJP’s decision to not give the ticket to his son.

    The BJP had also declared that it will not give tickets to candidates above the age of 60 years and those who have completed three terms as councillors.

    Elections to six municipal corporations, including Vadodara, are scheduled to be held on February 21.

  • Rape accused BJP MLA gets more time for giving DNA testing sample

    By PTI
    NAINITAL: A BJP MLA facing allegations of raping a woman and being the biological father of her daughter on Wednesday escaped for the time being from undergoing a DNA test aimed at proving the charge against him.

    MLA Mahesh Negi from Dwarahat assembly segment got the temporary relief as Justice N S Dhanik of the Uttarakhand High Court recused himself from the bench hearing the lawmaker’s plea challenging a magisterial court’s order to him to undergo the test.

    With Justice Dhanik recusing himself from the bench, the plea will now be referred to the chief justice of the high court who will subsequently assign it to some other bench and the MLA will not have to undergo the crucial test till then.

    The Dehradun chief judicial magistrate had earlier ordered Negi to give his blood sample to forensic experts for his DNA testing but on the MLA’s plea, the high court had stayed the magisterial court’s order till the next hearing of his plea by it on Wednesday.

    The high court had stayed the trial court’s order while seeking the stands of the alleged rape victim and the prosecution on the MLA plea.

    The woman who has accused Negi of raping her has also alleged that he is the biological father of her daughter.

    The case is being investigated at present by the Women’s Police Station, Srinagar, Garhwal.

    The Dehradun CJM had ordered Negi to give his blood sample for the DNA test earlier and the MLA was to appear in the CJM’s court for sample collection.

    But he had avoided to appear before the court citing ill health following which the court had set January 11 for the sample collection and ordered the Doon Hospital management to send its team for collecting the sample.

    Negi, meanwhile, had approached the high court and was able to secure time till Wednesday which will now continue until the next hearing.

  • BJP MLA from Bihar Vinod Kumar Singh died, minister in Nitish government

    Vinod Kumar Singh, a minister in the Bihar government and a BJP MLA, has died at Medanta Hospital in Delhi. Vinod Kumar Singh was ill for the last several days. He was admitted to the hospital a few days ago following a complaint of brain hemorrhage. The death of Minister Vinod Singh has been given by his PA Rajiv Ranjan himself.

    Minister Vinod Kumar Singh was originally from Katihar in Bihar and was counted as the strongest leader of the Bihar BJP. Bihar government minister Vinod Kumar Singh was a BJP MLA in Pranpur assembly constituency of Katihar. A few days ago he had a corona with his wife, after which he became healthy, but after this, his health deteriorated again due to which he had to be sent from Patna to Delhi with the help of air ambulance for treatment.

    In the elections in the year 2010, Vinod Kumar Singh defeated the four-time MLA Mahendra Narayan Yadav from Pranupur seat in Katihar district and fed lotus again in Pranpur. In 2015, again Vinod Kumar Singh defeated NCP candidate Ishrat Praveen and reached the assembly. He was given the responsibility of the Minister of Mining and Ghosts in the Nitish government and later the Ministry of Backward and Extremely Backward Welfare.