News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • UP polls: BJP gave step-motherly treatment to Raebareli, says Sonia Gandhi

    By PTI

    RAEBARELI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday accused the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh of doing nothing in five years except dividing people, and claimed that it had meted out “step-motherly” treatment to her constituency Raebareli.

    In her maiden election speech for the ongoing UP polls, Gandhi also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, accusing them of mismanagement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “It’s going to be an important election because for the last five years you have seen a government which did nothing except divide people,” Gandhi said during a virtual address on the last day of campaign for the fourth phase.

    Gandhi is the Lok Sabha MP from Raebareli, where voting will take place on February 23 on all five assembly seats of Raebareli (Sadar), Harchandpur, Bachchrawan, Sareni and Unchahar.

    “We had brought several development schemes for you but the Modi-Yogi government banned all of them. Step-motherly treatment was meted out to Raebareli,” Gandhi said. “You have seen the politics of Congress which is based on service of people and giving rights to people,” she said.

    She said Congress workers have worked really hard in UP in the last five years and 8,000 party workers were jailed while fighting for the rights of the people in the state.

    “Brothers and sisters, I consider myself an inseparable part of your family. We are committed to pursuing a politics which makes your life better. We want to give you an MLA who works day and night for you, and makes policies that empower you,” Gandhi said.

    “In this election, strengthen the ‘hand’ (party symbol) of the Congress and select the politics which will make your future better. Ensure victory of all our candidates in Raebareli with a huge mandate,” she appealed.

    The Congress is faced with stiff challenge in Raebareli as its both MLAs (Aditi Singh from Raebareli and Sadar Rakesh Singh from Harchandpur) have crossed over to the BJP and are fighting on the lotus symbol.

    The five assembly seats have a combined voter count of over 17 lakh, including around eight lakh women. The district, adjoining Lucknow, has a population of around 30 lakh.

    After winning over Amethi, once a so-called bastion of the Congress, the BJP is making every effort to completely wash out the grand old party in Sonia Gandhi’s home turf of Raebareli in the 2022 UP polls.

    Noting that the Congress brought in a legislation like MNREGA to empower people with the right to work and help them have a better life, Gandhi said it is a pity that during a crisis (pandemic), the budget for MNREGA was reduced instead of being increased.

    She recalled how people faced difficult times during the peak of the Covid pandemic, unable to get oxygen, medicines and even beds in hospitals and many lost their loved ones.

    On the other hand, she noted that the pandemic also disrupted the work and business of many people while many endured the pain of having to walk for miles on foot during the lockdown.

    “The Modi-Yogi government gave proof of how irresponsible they are. They turned away their faces from your problems and shut their eyes to your woes. Not only this, their behaviour towards you was also not good during the lockdown. The government did not provide you any relief,” she said.

    She also targeted the Centre and the state government over the issues of farmers, youth and inflation. She said farmers work hard to grow crops for everyone but in the last five years they neither got an appropriate price for their produce, nor fertilizers or facilities for irrigation.

    “Farmers got under burden of debt while stray animals kept ruining their crops,” Gandhi said. Similar is the condition of the youth, who study hard and prepare for jobs but the BJP government forced them to sit at home, she said.

    “There are 12 lakh vacant government jobs in the state but you were not given jobs,” the Congress chief noted.

    She said the price of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and mustard oil have become unaffordable for people and running a household has become difficult, and added that inflation also hit women who somehow managed to save small amounts of money.

    Hitting out at the government over the unemployment situation, Gandhi said instead of reducing the burden of people, the government sold out many companies at low prices to its “friends”, which resulted in joblessness.

    She said the Congress party has come with a “new vision” for politics in Uttar Pradesh. “Jobs for youth, rights to women, facilities to farmers and relief to everyone from inflation are envisioned under this new politics,” Gandhi said.

    “We have prepared ‘shakti vidhan’ for women, ‘bharti vidhan’ for youth and ‘unnati vidhan’ for development of UP. I am happy that Priyanka has allotted 40 per cent of the party ticket to women candidates this time,” she added.

    The elections to the 403 assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh are being held in seven phases this time from February 10 to March 7. Results of all phases will be declared on March 10.

  • Twitter removes controversial caricature tweeted by Gujarat BJP, party says not against any religion

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: A day after Twitter removed a caricature tweeted by the Gujarat BJP unit on a court verdict sentencing 38 people to death in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts, the ruling party on Monday claimed the cartoon was based on real photographs and did not target any particular religion or community.

    But, the opposition Congress and some social activists hailed Twitter’s decision to remove the cartoon, and claimed the BJP was trying to gain political mileage out of the court’s judgement.

    The cartoon depicted a group of bearded men wearing skull caps hanging by a noose.

    It had a tricolour and a drawing depicting the scene of a bomb blast in the background, with “Satyamev Jayate” written on its top right corner.

    It was posted on the Gujarat BJP’s official Twitter handle on Saturday, a day after a special court here sentenced to death 38 convicts and handed life terms to 11 others in the case of 2008 serial bomb blasts in which 56 people had lost their lives and over 200 were injured.

    The caricature is not available on either the Instagram or Facebook social media pages of the state BJP unit.

    “The sketch was based on real photographs of the convicts published by newspapers a day after the verdict. The Gujarat BJP or its social media team had no intention to target any particular religion or community through the sketch,” state party unit spokesperson Dr Rutvij Patel said.

    He said when (terrorist) Osama Bin Laden was killed by American soldiers, his sketch was also published in the US.

    “Our sketch was just an artistic expression shared on social media, nothing else,” Patel said.

    Gujarat BJP’s media coordinator Yagnesh Dave on Sunday said Twitter removed the caricature after “someone had reported against it”.

    Meanwhile, state Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi welcomed Twitter’s action.

    “We firmly believe that terrorism has no religion. The Congress had lost two if its leaders – Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi – fighting terrorism. The verdicts of courts must not be seen through a political prism,” he said.

    “But, the BJP tried to take political advantage out of this (2008 Ahmedabad blasts case) judgement. This is BJP’s old tactic to remain in power. Instead of indulging in such dramas, the BJP should focus on issues concerning the common man,” the Congress leader said.

    Social activist Mujahid Nafees, who also runs an NGO for the minority community’s welfare, claimed the BJP always targets the country’s minorities, mainly Muslims and Christians, for political gains.

    “The BJP had published the cartoon with the sole purpose of reigniting polarisation in Uttar Pradesh, where elections are underway. This is an attempt to communalise the issue of terrorism. The BJP believes in divide and rule,” he alleged.

  • UP polls: EC notice to BJP candidate Sharan Singh over inflammatory remark

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Sunday issued a notice to a BJP candidate in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly making an inflammatory statement, and said he prima facie violated the model code and the electoral law.

    The poll watchdog gave Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh, the BJP candidate from the Tiloi assembly constituency in Amethi, 24 hours to respond.

    According to the transcript of a purported video clip made part of the notice, Singh broadly said in Hindi that “If you have to live in India, (you will have) to chant ‘Radhey-Radhey’, else like all those who went to Pakistan during Partition, you can go too, you are not needed here.”

    The video is being circulated on social media, the EC said.

    The commission noted that an FIR was lodged against Singh on February 18 under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act.

    “Take notice that in the event of no response from your side within the stipulated time, it will be presumed that you have nothing to say in the matter and the Election Commission will take appropriate action or decision in the matter without making any further reference to you,” the poll panel asserted.

  • Cartoon posted by Gujarat BJP after Ahmedabad blasts verdict causes row, Twitter removes it

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: A caricature tweeted by the Gujarat unit of the BJP hailing the special court’s verdict sentencing 38 convicts to death in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case has been removed by Twitter after a row.

    “The post on the 2008 serial blasts verdict has been removed by Twitter after someone reported against it,” Gujarat BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said on Sunday, adding that the tweet was in response to the court’s judgement.

    The cartoon depicted men wearing skull caps hanging by the noose.

    It had a tricolour and a drawing depicting the scene of a bomb blast in the background, with “Satyamev Jayate” written on its top right corner.

    It was posted on the official Twitter handle of the Gujarat BJP on Saturday, a day after the special court sentenced to death 38 convicts and handed life terms to 11 others in the 2008 serial bombing case in which 56 persons lost their lives and over 200 were injured.

    The caricature is not available on either the Instagram or Facebook social media pages of the state BJP unit.

  • Phase–3 of UP polls registers 57.58 per cent voters’ turnout, lowest than 2017 polls

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: The third phase of UP elections over 59 constituencies across 16 districts comprising eight of central UP also known as Yadav land, four of Kanpur division and Bundelkhand each witnessed a moderate turnout of 57.58 per cent as per the figures released by State Election Commission till 5 pm on Sunday.

    However, the voting continued till 6 pm and the final figures will be revised by the state election commission on Monday.

    The voters’ turnout in the third phase of the current elections is lower than the corresponding phase of 2017 Assembly polls as it was 62.98 per cent. Of the total 59 seats which went to polls on Sunday, at least 28 seats had a dominant Yadav population.

    In the third phase, of 59 seats up for grabs across Mainpuri, Etawah, Kannauj, Firozabad, Farrukhabad, Auriayya, Jhansi, Mahoba, Lalitpur, Hamirpur, Hathras, Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Kasganaj, Etah and Jalaun, 49 were bagged by the ruling the BJP which succeeded in breaching the Yadav citadel. The Samajwadi Party had won eight seats and one each had gone to BSP and Congress.

    The district which locked the highest percentage of voting in the third phase on Sunday has been Lalitpur in Bundelkhand with 67.38 per cent (72.02% in 2017) and the district which registered the lowest polling percentage has been Kanpur Nagar with 50.76 per cent. It had recorded the lowest 57.26% voting in 2017 as well.

    In phase-3, the fate of a total of 627 candidates including 97 women was sealed in the EVMs. Around 2.16 crore voters of which 1.07 crore were men and over 99,79,704 women exercised their franchise to elect their favourite MLA.

    The prominent names in the fray in phase–3 included SP chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav from Karhal, Shivpal Singh Yadav contesting on SP symbol from Jaswantnagar, Satish Mahana of BJP from Mahrajpur of Kanpur, Asim Arun of BJP from Kannauj Sadar, Ramveer Upadhyaya of BJP from Sadabad, Nilima Katiyar, Yogi Minister from Kalyanpur in Kanpur Nagar, Rakesh Sachan of BJP from Bhognipur and Ravi Sharma of BJP from Jhansi.

    During more or less peaceful voting in the third phase, a 25-year-old BJP worker was killed in the Hathras district on Sunday. The deceased was identified as Krishna Yadav, a general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).

    Local police first received information about the murder around 2.30 pm on Sunday. Krishna Yadav was shot inside his house in the Gausganj Mohalla area of the Sikandra Rao assembly constituency. Relatives rushed the 25-year-old to the trauma centre in Aligarh where he was declared dead upon arrival. The victim’s sister said he suffered a bullet injury to the head.

    Hathras police in a statement said spots of blood were found on the first floor of Yadav’s residence. A homemade pistol and an empty cartridge have also been recovered from the scene of the crime.

  • Akhilesh took oath to protect Constitution, but tried protecting terrorists: BJP chief

    He told the gathering that “if you want to get employment and a fear-free Uttar Pradesh, then the only way for that is to vote for BJP candidates”.

  • BJP govt stalled UP’s development, will be removed from power: Akhilesh

    Claiming that his party has already won majority in Uttar Pradesh polls, Yadav said BJP leaders have lost all hopes after the first two phases of polling.

  • Lakshmi does not ride bicycle or elephant, visits people on lotus: Rajnath Singh

    By PTI

    AMETHI: Goddess Lakshmi does not visit people on a bicycle or an elephant but goes around sitting in a lotus, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said here on Sunday, seeking to link peoples’ prosperity and state’s development with the BJP’s poll symbol.

    Addressing an election rally in Jagdishpur near here, Singh said only the BJP is the true well-wisher of the poor and the weak.

    “Goddess Lakshmi never goes to anyone’s house riding a cycle or an elephant or on (someone’s) hand. Goddess Lakshmi visits people only sitting on a lotus,” said Singh.

    “The PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, Ujjwala Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are the indicators of goddess Lakshmi’s arrival,” he added.

    The defence minister said even international agencies have said only the BJP is running a good government in India. The BJP has fulfilled whatever promises it had made, he added.

    Attacking the Samajwadi Party, he said, “Socialism (Samajwad) has not even touched the Samajwadi Party. Socialism makes the society free from the fear and crime which is what the BJP is doing,” he said.

    Without naming any political party, he said, “Had the previous governments honestly fulfilled their announcements, our country would not have lagged. They have breached the trust of the people. But will not break the faith that the people have reposed in us. The country is moving ahead at a fast pace today,” the defence minister said.

    The defence minister said with the co-operation of Russia, AK-203 rifles and missiles will now be made in Amethi. The weapons for our armed forces are now being made in the country, he added.

    Amethi will go to the polls on February 27 in the fifth phase of the seven-phase UP assembly elections.

  • Who killed former Aliah University student Anis Khan? TMC, BJP trade charges

    By Express News Service

    KOLKATA: The death of a former student of Aliah University Anis Khan in Howrah district has triggered a political blame game between the ruling Trinamool Congress and its rival BJP as fired salvos at each other. 

    Anis Khan was allegedly thrown off the rooftop of his house by four men wearing a police uniform in the wee hours of Saturday. A group of Kolkata’s cultural figures visited Anish’s house and demanded the arrests of the perpetrators. Police, however, denied that any one of them had visited the house of Anis Khan.

    Anis Khan was associated with the newly formed Indian Secular Front (ISF), which was part of the alliance that fought against the Trinamool Congress and the BJP in the recent Assembly elections. Before that, he was a supporter of the CPI(M)’s students’ wing SFI. Anis had participated in a movement by students of Aliah University against the alleged poor functioning of the varsity.  

    The alleged murder of the student from the Muslim community triggered embarrassment for the TMC as the minority community is considered the party’s strong vote-bank.

    In a complaint lodged with Amta police station in Howrah, Anis’ father Salam Khan alleged four persons, one of them in police uniform barged into his house, asked about the whereabouts of his son. “When I said Anis was not at home, they ran upstairs and I heard a sound. I found Anis lying in a pool of blood below,’’ Salam said demanding a CBI probe.

    BJP’s national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said the TMC cadres were targeting their political rivals and now they are not sparing their own voters. ‘’We demand a high-level probe,’’ he said.

    TMC minister Firhad Hakim had yesterday said outsiders came from outside and the culprits might be from Uttar Pradesh. ‘’This is not the time to do politics. Let the police conduct an investigation to arrest the culprits,’’ he said on Sunday.

    The director-general of police ordered a probe led by an officer of the deputy superintendent of police rank.

    CPI(M)’s Rajya Sabha member Bikash Bhattacharya said Anis’s murder was fall out of a plan chalked out at the highest level.

  • BJP only working for ‘big businesses’: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi

    By PTI

    RAEBARELI: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said BJP has forgotten it’s “raj dharma” of serving the common people and is only working for big businesses.

    She said this while addressing a rally in Jagatpur area of Raebareli asking people to watch out for those who use “religion and caste” to get votes.

    “BJP leaders have forgotten their religion of serving people. The religion for them has become a means to instigate people to get votes. The government is not following ‘raj dharma’ of serving people,” Priyanka said.

    Talking about inflation, she said the prices of gas cylinder and musterd oil have gone up.

    “You earn Rs 200 daily and a bottle of mustard oil is of Rs 240,” she said.

    She spoke of unemployment among youths and the plight of farmers in the state accusing the government of stoking religious sentiments to divert people’s attentions from these issues.

    The leader also alleged unnecessary expenditure by the centre overlooking the money it owed to the farmers.

    “The entire due amount of sugarcane farmers is Rs 14,000 crore but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has bought two aeroplanes worth Rs 16,000 crore for himself. He is visiting the world in them but not paying the dues of the farmers,” she said.

    “Congress government waived of loans of farmers but these days the loans of big businessmen are being waived,” the leader said.

    Priyanka alleged people are forced to pay electricity bill in every situation even if they don’t get electricity.

    “The three major schemes of BJP are a free cylinder, free ration, and some money you get in your banks.

    “Can the future of your children be strengthened only by free gas cylinder, free ration, and some money. The government must provide jobs and support businesses, something that’s not being done,” she said The Congress leader accused the government of callousness saying Modi didn’t bother to meet victims of Lakhimpur violence, and came up with an apology to protesting farmers only when the election were round the corner.

    “Prime minister visited so many countries in the past few years including Pakistan but has not gone to meet the protesting farmers. The Prime Minister came and apologised for the farm laws just before elections.

    “Why did they wait for a year to do it resulted in death of 700 farmers,” she said.

    Priyanka also attacked Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, saying she never saw him working for people in her three years of work in Uttar Pradesh.

    “I have been actively working in UP for the last three years but never saw Akhilesh Yadav leave his house. Just before elections he has come out in his bus to seek votes. In the last three years Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati were nowhere to be seen.”