News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • Punjab polls: Channi, PM throw allegations at each other as election battle heats up

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday claimed that his chopper was not allowed to fly to Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar because areas were declared as no-fly zones amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state.

    Channi was to attend a poll rally along with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi at Hoshiarpur.

    Gandhi was to attend a second rally alone in Gurdaspur which he attended.

    PM Modi came to Jalandhar to address his first physical rally for the February 20 Punjab polls.

    Channi claimed that the permission given to his chopper to fly to Hoshiarpur from Chandigarh was cancelled.

    Channi was to fly to Hoshiarpur in a chopper shortly after addressing a press conference in Chandigarh to attend a poll rally there with Rahul Gandhi.

    “I had to fly at 11 am and I sat in the chopper. Suddenly I was told that the permission (for flying) has been cancelled and I could not go there,” the chief minister told reporters here.

    “My four hours got wasted. I could not attend Rahul Gandhi’s rally because the clearance was not given,” he said.

    He added that he was denied permission to fly as the area was made no flying zone because of the PM’s visit.

    Replying to a question, Channi claimed he had permission for flying and landing at Hoshiarpur which was later withdrawn.

    “People know everything about what politics they are playing with me,” he said.

    The CM later went to Sujanpur in Pathankot for an election-related programme.

    Channi, however, later complained that he was again denied permission to fly from Sujanpur to Jalandhar where he was to attend another poll-related programme.

    Then he travelled by road from Sujanpur to reach Jalandhar for attending a programme.

    He told a TV channel separately that he was the state’s chief minister and not a terrorist.

    “Why was I being stopped in such a way? What conspiracy is this? What politics is this?” he asked.

    He alleged that the reason for stopping him from flying was “purely political.”

    He said he had to travel through the road to reach Jalandhar.

    Notably, a month after he cut short his Punjab visit due to a security breach in Ferozepur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said in Jalandhar that he was unable to pay a visit to a temple there as local authorities could not make necessary arrangements.

    “Such is the situation of the government in Punjab,” the prime minister said addressing a poll rally in Jalandhar while attacking the Congress party.

    The Prime Minister said he would come to Jalandhar again and pay his obeisance at the Devi Talab Mandir.

    Modi was addressing a poll rally in person in Jalandhar, his first in Punjab after January 5 when he had to return from the state without attending any event, including a public meeting, after his convoy got stuck on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur.

    Recalling his 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaign as the BJP’s PM candidate, he said his plane was not allowed to fly as “the Congress’ namdar and its yuvraj (prince), who was just an MP,” had a programme near Amritsar.

    “I got delayed by more than an hour in reaching Pathankot. When I reached Pathankot, my helicopter was not allowed to fly. Why? Because their yuvraj was visiting some other place in Punjab,” Modi said in an apparent reference to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

    “Such misuse of power used to happen for one family. In 2014, my helicopter could not fly after sunset. My two programmes in Himachal Pradesh at that time had to be cancelled. It has been the deeds of the Congress to stop its opponents. For the last 50 years, it has been doing this against its rivals,” he said as he took a dig at the Gandhis.

    A month after he cut short his Punjab visit due to a security breach in Ferozepur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he was unable to pay a visit to a temple here as local authorities could not make necessary arrangements.

    Such is the situation of the government in Punjab, the prime minister said while hitting out at the Congress, and asserted that he will come to Jalandhar again and pay obeisance at the Devi Talab Mandir.

    Modi was addressing a physical poll rally in Jalandhar, his first in Punjab since January 5 when he returned from the state without attending any event, including a public meeting, after his convoy got stuck on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur.

    The prime minister said it was his desire to pay obeisance at the Devi Talab Mandir, but the police and the administration here said they will not be able to make arrangements”.

    “They said you leave by helicopter, such is the situation of the government here. But I will come here again and pay obeisance at the temple,” said Modi as he addressed the gathering ahead of the February 20 polls to the 117-member state assembly.

    Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi claimed that his helicopter was not allowed to fly for Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar because of the no-fly zone declared in the wake of Modi’s visit.

    Channi was to attend a poll rally by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Hoshiarpur.

    At his rally, the prime minister mocked the Congress over the infighting in its Punjab unit and said the party is “disintegrating” and its leaders are exposing it.

    Referring to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, he said the Congress instead of punishing the culprits, had rewarded them with ministerial positions, and it was the BJP government that put them in jail.

    The Congress has deep animosity with Punjab and Punjabis, and creates thousands of obstacles for those who want to work, he said, adding history is witness that the Congress can never work for Punjab.

    Asserting that the BJP-led alliance will form the next government in the state, he said a new chapter of development will start and it will make all efforts to give the people a brighter future.

    “In Punjab, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will form government. In Punjab, a new chapter of development will start. I want to assure people, especially the youth, that for their brighter future, we will not leave any stone unturned,” said Modi, who had on February 8 addressed a virtual rally for the polls.

    The country is moving ahead with the pledge of a new India and it can be realised when there will be a “Nawa Punjab”, he said.

    It will be that “Nawa Punjab in which traditions and development will go together, one which will be free from debt and full of opportunities, where every Dalit will get respect and honour and at every step there will be equal opportunity, that Nawa Punjab where there will be no scope for corruption and mafia, and rule of law will prevail,” he said.

    On the Congress infighting, Modi asked the gathering if those who fight among themselves can give a stable government.

    The Congress policies have destroyed industries and affected employment in Punjab, he said.

    He also attacked the AAP, saying some people have come here to play a game of lies and they talk about making Punjab drugs free but are experts in opening liquor vends on streets.

    Recalling his 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaign as the BJP’s PM candidate, he said his plane was not allowed to fly as “the Congress’ namdar and its yuvraj (prince), who was just an MP,” had a programme near Amritsar.

    “I got delayed by more than an hour in reaching Pathankot. When I reached Pathankot, my helicopter was not allowed to fly. Why? Because their yuvraj was visiting some other place in Punjab,” Modi said in an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi.

    “Such misuse of power used to happen for one family. In 2014, my helicopter could not fly after sunset. My two programmes in Himachal Pradesh at that time had to be cancelled. It has been the deeds of the Congress to stop its opponents. For the last 50 years, it has been doing this against its rivals,” he said as he took a dig at the Gandhis.

    The BJP is contesting the elections in alliance with Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt).

    Dhindsa and Singh were also present at the rally.

    Punjab is a border state and its security and peace is necessary for India’s unity and integrity.

    Hence, Punjab needs a strong government that can take serious steps for its and India’s security, he said.

    Referring to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Modi, without naming her, said she recently said Singh did not listen to the party and instead worked with the Centre.

    She had on Sunday at a rally said the Singh-led Punjab government had to be replaced as it was being run by the BJP and the BJP government from Delhi.

    “This is a clear admission of trying to remote control the state government,” Modi said, adding Singh worked with the Centre in true spirit of federalism, but when he refused to take the “family’s diktats”, it removed him.

    Singh was removed by the Congress as CM last year, and later after quitting the party, he formed the PLC.

    He was replaced by Channi.

    “There may be any (party’s) government in states, but we believe in the federal structure and it is the duty of the Centre to work for a state’s welfare. But if any family tries to run governments by remote control and not care about the Constitution, then it will create tension in the country. This family is doing just that,” he said.

    Modi said the Congress is getting punishment for its deeds.

    The BJP has kept Punjab’s interest above its coalition rights, he said and pointed out that in 2007, the SAD fell short of majority and the government would not have been possible without the BJP’s support.

    He said the coalition norms demanded that the deputy CM be from the BJP.

    “But Badal Sahab (Parkash Singh Badal) instead made his son (Sukhbir Badal) the deputy CM and the BJP accepted it in the interest of Punjab,” Modi said.

  • PM Modi’s remarks: Maha Cong puts off proposed agitation outside Fadnavis’s home

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Congress on Monday temporarily put off its planned agitation outside BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis’s official residence here citing inconvenience caused to motorists, but not before BJP functionaries took to streets to confront supporters of the ruling party.

    The proposed agitation was part of demonstrations that the Congress has planned across the state to demand an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly ‘insulting’ Maharashtra by some his comments made in the Lok Sabha recently in connection with COVID-19 pandemic.

    The Mumbai Police stopped Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, who was to lead the protest, outside his residence here and detained other workers of the party.

    BJP MLA Ashish Shelar claimed the Congress’s agitation had failed, and alleged that the police also detained some of his party leaders and workers who were waiting to confront Congress workers if the latter showed up outside the residence of Leader of Opposition and former CM Fadnavis.

    Fadnavis said there was no question of an apology from Modi, and rather the Congress should apologise for “ruining” the country.

    PM Modi had said in the Lok Sabha that during the first COVID-19 wave, when people were following lockdowns and pandemic norms, the Congress was standing at a Mumbai station and scaring innocent labourers into fleeing to their native states.

    On Monday, Patole said considering the inconvenience caused to motorists, his party was putting off the agitation.

    “Modi insulted the culture of Maharashtra, the Maharashtra of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. We condemn the BJP’s culture of supporting Modi who insulted Maharashtra,” the Congress leader told reporters.

    Patole squarely blamed the BJP for causing inconvenience to the people as vehicular movement in parts of south Mumbai was affected. He claimed the BJP brought people on the streets by “paying them money to take part in the counter protest”.

    “The BJP is backing Modi who insulted Maharashtra. The party is ‘Maharashtra drohi’ (traitor). The BJP caused inconvenience to the people. We are putting off the agitation temporarily in view of that,” he said.

    Patole said the Congress’s agitation will continue outside the residences of BJP MPs in the state.

    Asked if the Congress could not go ahead with the protest due to the BJP’s aggressive stance, Patole replied in the negative. “We did stage a protest. Our people reached there (outside Fadnavis’s residence). Police detained our workers. But, it is the BJP which resorted to goondaism and stopped people on the roads,” Patole alleged.

    He said the Congress will not do anything that will insult Maharashtra and cause inconvenience to the people.

    Earlier in the day, several Varkaris (devotees of Lord Vitthal), playing clash cymbals, joined Patole outside his residence as he set out to lead the demonstration.

    Some of the Varkaris, including children, who had gathered there, appeared to be clueless about why the protest was called.

    Meanwhile, Fadnavis said there was no question of an apology from the prime minister.

    “Instead, the Congress should apologise to the country. It has ruined the country. Let people like Patole engage in drama to the extent they want. It will have no bearing (on the people),” he said.

    Shelar, who later visited the Malabar Hill police station in south Mumbai, accused the state MVA government (comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) of trying to suppress the agitation in a “dictatorial manner” by detaining BJP leaders like Gopal Shetty, Kalidas Kolambkar and others.

    The BJP MLA also claimed that Patole’s agitation had failed as there were “not even five people” with him. He also said the Congress’s Maharashtra and Mumbai units were not on the same page over the agitation.

  • BJP takes serious note of attack on party’s Punjab candidate; Shekhawat says violence is unacceptable

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Claiming that the BJP’s popularity graph in Punjab is rising and the opponents are feeling threatened, Union minister and party’s in-charge for Punjab, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday strongly condemned the attack on party candidate in Ludhiana district, Sucha Ram Ladhar.

    BJP candidate from Ludhiana’s Gill constituency Ladhar was injured and hospitalised after unidentified persons allegedly attacked his car Sunday evening, police had said.

    Ladhar was returning from a village in his constituency after campaigning.

    63-year-old Ladhar, a retired IAS officer, was later hospitalised in Ludhiana.

    Shekhawat said, violence in a civilized society is unacceptable.

    “Those responsible for the incident will be identified and strictly dealt with according to the law”, he said in a statement here, while adding, “we will not let our leaders and workers be threatened and intimidated by violence”.

    Shekhawat dared the Bharatiya Janata Party’s opponents to fight the battle with votes and not with violence.

    “These incidents are only an indication that the BJP candidates are leading everywhere and the opponents in sheer frustration are now trying to use violence to intimidate them”, he alleged.

    With Punjab going to polls on February 20 and Model Code coming into effect last month with announcement of polls, the union minister warned, “it is not the Congress rule in the state anymore where you will disrupt the Prime Minister’s programme”.

    “Everything is being noted and monitored to the minutest detail and everything will be taken to the logical conclusion”, he said, while warning, BJP will not take the attack on its candidates lying down.

    Shekhawat also asked the officials in the administration and police to perform their duty according to the law and not feel intimidated by anyone.

    “You are there to protect people and during current times, you have the added responsibility”, he asked the officials, while making it clear that they must not let themselves be influenced by anyone.

  • Can a state enact uniform civil code? Experts divided over Uttarakhand CM’s poll promise

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Experts are divided on whether a state has the power to bring a law on uniform civil code, a day after Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said if re-elected the BJP will set up a panel to prepare a draft of such a code.

    Constitution expert and former Lok Sabha secretary general P D T Achary told PTI that both the Centre and the states are empowered to bring such a law as issues like marriage, divorce, inheritance and property rights come under the Concurrent List of the Constitution.

    But former Union Law Secretary P K Malhotra was of the view that only the central government can bring such a law by moving Parliament.

    Achary said state assembly can make laws for the community living in that state.

    “That means local variations can be recognised through a law made by the state government,” he said.

    He said a uniform civil code covers personal laws — statutes on marriage, divorce, inheritance and property rights.

    But Malhotra opined that since Article 44 of the Constitution refers to all citizens throughout India, only Parliament is competent to make such a law.

    Responding to a question on Goa having a uniform civil code, Malhotra said according to his understanding, the law was already in existence before Goa became part of India.

    Article 44 of the Constitution provides that the State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.

    Dhami had on Saturday said the panel on Uniform Civil Code will comprise legal experts, retired people, intellectuals and other stakeholders.

    The state goes to poll on Monday.

    The ambit of the committee will cover issues related to marriage, divorce, landed property and succession, Dhami had said in a video statement.

    The uniform civil code has been a part of the BJP’s successive election manifestos.

    Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had recently told a BJP MP in a letter that given the “importance” of the subject of a common code, sensitivity involved and the need for an in-depth study of the provisions of various personal laws governing different communities, a proposal to examine issues relating to uniform civil code and to make recommendations was forwarded to the 21st Law Commission.

    However, the term of the 21st Law Commission ended on August 31, 2018.

    “The matter may be taken up by the 22nd Law Commission of India,” Rijiju had said while responding to the issue of the need for a uniform civil code raised by the member in the Lok Sabha.

    After detailed research and many consultations held over two years, the 21st Law Commission had issued a consultation paper on reforming family laws in India.

    The law panel advises the government on complex legal issues.

  • Civic polls: Trinamool on course for big win in four municipal corporations in Bengal

    By PTI

    KOLKATA; The Trinamool Congress on Monday was ahead in all the four municipal corporations in West Bengal where polls were held on February 12, as per data available on the State Election Commission’s website.

    In Bidhannagar, the TMC won 24 of the 41 seats and was ahead in 10, while the Congress won in one ward, according to the SEC website at 11 am.

    The ruling party clinched 10 of the 47 seats in Siliguri and was leading in three wards, and both the BJP and the CPI(M) have won two seats each.

    #WATCH | TMC workers celebrate in North 24 Parganas as the party sweeps the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation election. #WestBengalCivicPolls pic.twitter.com/aZxFkd6PFB
    — ANI (@ANI) February 14, 2022
    In Chandannagar, the TMC bagged 12 out of 32 seats and was ahead in nine, while the CPI(M) won in one ward.

    The TMC pocketed 28 of 106 seats in Asansol and was leading in seven wards, the data showed, adding, the BJP emerged triumphant in three wards and the CPI(M) in two.

    Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee thanked people for her party’s “thumping win” in the civic polls, calling it a victory of the masses.

  • Yogi, Akhilesh two sides of same coin: Owaisi attacks Samajwadi Party, BJP

    By PTI

    FARRUKHABAD: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday dubbed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav as “two sides of the same coin”.

    Owaisi, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief and Hyderabad MP, made the remark while addressing an election rally here.

    “Yogi (Adityanath) and Akhilesh (Yadav) are two sides of the same coin,” said Owaisi while seeking votes for the candidates of Bhagidari Parivartan Morcha so that former UP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha could be made the UP CM.

    While likening Akhilesh Yadav to Yogi Adityanath, Owaisi did not explain how the two leaders were similar.

    He, however, had been asserting in the past that both Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav could become UP CMs on “charity votes” of 19 per cent Muslims, far outnumbering the votes of nine per cent Yadavs.

    The Bhagidari Parivartan Morcha was launched as a pre-poll alliance of AIMIM with little-known Jan Adhikar Party of former Uttar Pradesh minister Babu Singh Kushwaha and an all-India body of government employees of the backward, Dalits and minority community, founded by Kanshi Ram in the 1970s.

    Farrukhabad goes to the polls in the third phase of the seven-phase UP assembly elections and votes on February 20.

    While addressing the meeting, Owaisi termed elections as a battle for social justice and said, “We have to win this battle (for social justice) through voting.”

    Attacking the BJP, he accused the party of meting out step-motherly treatment to Farrukhabad district.

    Despite all the MLAs of the district belonging to the BJP, no development work was carried out by this double-engine government in the district, Owaisi alleged.

    Owaisi had launched the new pre-poll front, Bhagidari Parivartan Morcha on January 22, promising two chief ministers and three deputy chief ministers for Uttar Pradesh, if the new front is voted to power.

    Out of the two CMs, one will belong to the backward classes and the other to the Dalit community, he said, adding the state will also have three Dy CMs, with one belonging to the Muslim community.

    Owaisi, however, had offered no explanation under what provision of the Constitution he will have two CMs for a state.

  • BJP candidate Sucha Ram Ladhar injured after attack on his car in Punjab

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: BJP candidate from Punjab’s Gill constituency Sucha Ram Ladhar was injured and hospitalised after unidentified persons allegedly attacked his car Sunday evening, police said.

    The attack took place when he was returning from a village in his constituency in Ludhiana after campaigning.

    Some people hurled bricks at Ladhar’s car and he sustained injuries in the attack, a police official from the area where the incident took place said over the phone.

    Ladhar was taken to Ludhiana civil hospital, he said, adding his condition is stable.

    “Further investigations are on,” the police official said.

    Ladhar, a 63-year-old retired bureaucrat, is contesting from Ludhiana’s reserved Gill assembly constituency for the 2022 Punjab assembly polls.

    Earlier in the day, he was present in a poll rally in Ludhiana which was addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

    Punjab will go to the polls on February 20 and the counting will take place on March 10.

  • Bank frauds of Rs 5.35 lakh crore occurred under Modi government: Rahul Gandhi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday alleged that bank frauds to the tune of Rs 5.35 lakh crore have taken place during the BJP government and that these are good days only for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “friends”.

    “Bank frauds of Rs 5,35,000 crore have happened so far during the Modi era — in 75 years there has never been such a fraud with the money of people of India,” Gandhi said on Twitter. “These days of loot and deceit are good days only for Modi’s friends. #KiskeAccheDin,” he also said, taking a swipe at the government over the ‘achhe din’ slogan.

    The Congress party has also accused the Modi dispensation of complicity, collusion and connivance in the alleged fraud of Rs 22,842 crore by the Gujarat-based ABG Shipyard, which it dubbed as “India’s biggest bank fraud”. The opposition party has been accusing the Modi dispensation of helping a select few big businesses.

  • Sena, Cong mock Maha BJP chief’s ‘political earthquake after March 10’ remark

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena and the Congress, part of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, have made light of BJP leader Chandrakant Patil’s reported prediction that there would be a “political earthquake” after results of Assembly polls in five states, including crucial Uttar Pradesh, are declared on March 10.

    Shiv Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said he sympathised with Patil, the state BJP unit chief, as “for the last two years, the BJP has been predicting dates on which the MVA government in Maharashtra will fall”.

    It is the BJP that will now fall, Raut added.

    Congress leader Sachin Sawant said a humour-laced and cartoon-filled book can be compiled of all the comments that Patil routinely makes, adding that it would let people know about the BJP leader’s contribution in keeping them entertained.

    Patil has reportedly said the MVA government will collapse on March 10 after Assembly poll results in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur are announced.

  • Congress MP Preneet Kaur attends BJP poll meet, seeks votes for husband Amarinder Singh in Punjab

    By PTI

    PATIALA: Congress MP Preneet Kaur on Saturday attending a meeting of the BJP here and sought votes for her husband Amarinder Singh in the Punjab assembly polls.

    Amarinder Singh had floated his own party Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) after he was unceremoniously removed as the chief minister by the Congress high command last year following a bitter tussle with party’s state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.

    Kaur, the MP from Patiala, attended the BJP’s meeting, which had been organised for the saffron party’s ally Amarinder Singh.

    Amarinder Singh-led PLC, the BJP and the SAD (Sanyukt) are fighting the state polls in alliance.

    The former chief minister is contesting the elections as Punjab Lok Congress nominee from his traditional seat Patiala (Urban).

    Saturday’s meeting was organised at Sirhindi Gate here.

    “I have come to you to appeal for Amarinder Singh as your family member,” Kaur said, seeking votes for her husband.

    The move of Preneet, who has been staying away from campaigning for the Congress, has raised speculations about her next political step.

    A few days ago, Congress nominee from Patiala (Urban) Vishnu Sharma had asked Kaur to either campaign for the party or resign.

    “I am with my family. The family is above everything,” Kaur had said on Thursday when reporters asked her why she was “silent” during the elections.

    The Congress had in November last year issued her a show-cause notice seeking an explanation from her for alleged “anti-party activities”.

    When asked about it, Kaur had told reporters on Thursday that she did not receive any such notice and had only read about it in newspapers and on social media.

    The notice should otherwise have come from the party general secretary, she had said.