News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • 2022 UP polls: BJP starts survey with Nishad party to finalise seat sharing

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: With the 2022 UP assembly polls in sight, the BJP and allies have started the preparatory process for seat sharing. In this connection, the saffron brigade has roped in Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (Nishad) party to conduct a survey in various districts of eastern and central Uttar Pradesh.

    The motive of commencing the exercise with the Nishad party is to identify the seats on which Nishad party nominees will be in a winnable position.

    According to Nishad party sources, the survey report would be submitted to BJP national president JP Nadda to finalise the seat-sharing formula for the election.

    Recently, Sanjay Nishad had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda in Delhi and had discussed with them a series of issues including seat-sharing in 2022.

     It was followed by a high-level meeting at the residence of Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Thursday. BJP national president JP Nadda, UPCM Yogi Adityanath, BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh, BJP state unit president Swatantra Dev Singh and the party’s state general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal were present at the meeting to discuss the strategy for the assembly election, the nomination of four MLCs and also the expansion of Yogi cabinet.

    As per the claims of the Nishad party, it has sway over around 160 assembly constituencies in eastern and central UP. The party had constituted committees in 70 constituencies for the election, said a senior Nishad party leader.

    ALSO READ | Expansion of Yogi cabinet by month-end, Jitin Prasada likely to get a ministerial berth

    After the meeting, Sanjay Nishad had said that he had told the BJP leaders that the Nishad party would field candidates in the assembly election. “It was decided that the party will field candidates on the seats where it is in a strong position,” said Nishad.

    The entry of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Bihar animal husbandry minister Mukesh Sahani, Jaalvanshi Morcha led by Gyanendra Nishad, Eklavya Sena run by Umed Singh, husband of bandit-turned politician Phoolan Devi, in the political landscape of UP and trying their luck at the husting as well as the advances of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to the Nishad party were believed to be a part of the discussion at the Thursday meeting.

    However, the Nishad party claims that a majority of the fringe organisations have no cadre, unlike the Nishad party which has a strong organisational set up in the districts of eastern UP.

    To counter the SP and the BSP, the Nishad party urged the BJP leaders and chief minister Yogi Adityanath to include the Nishad, Majhwar, Kewat, and Mallah communities in the list of scheduled castes and give them reservations in government jobs accordingly, the Nishad Party leader added.

    The party also reportedly kept forward its demands of fishermen getting back their rights on ponds, lakes, and rivers across the state that were withdrawn during the BSP rule, and withdrawal of the cases lodged against the Nishad community members during agitations. 

  • ‘Rahul Gandhi is of no use’: Union minister Raosaheb Danve likens Congress leader to stray bull

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Union minister Raosaheb Danve has criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying that he was of no use to anyone, and also likened him to a stray bull. The Congress objected to his “indecent and shocking” remarks and demanded his removal from the Union cabinet.

    Danve made the remarks while speaking at a public rally in Jalna district of Maharashtra as part of the ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ taken out by newly-inducted Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Karad.

    Giving his speech in Marathi, Danve said, “Rahul Gandhi is of no use to anybody. He is like a ‘saand’ (bull) dedicated to god. He roams everywhere, but is of no use to anyone. I have been in the Lok Sabha for 20 years and have seen his work.”

    It is a practice in rural Maharashtra and some other parts of the country to dedicate a newly-born male calf to a local deity. That bull is not used for any agriculture or transportation purposes.

    The Union Minister of State for Railway further said, “Even if such a bull enters a farm and eats the crop, the farmer forgives the animal saying it needs food. One should look at the great work being done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi…The government is spending money from its coffers as Railways does not generate enough revenue from various sources, including through the sale of tickets.”

    Reacting to his remarks, Congress’s state unit chief Nana Patole sought Danve’s resignation. “He (Danve) has crossed all the boundaries. His remarks are indecent and shocking. We demand his removal from Union cabinet for using such a foul language against Gandhi. It makes me wonder how he can be given such an important post in the cabinet despite his track record of using foul language,” he said.

  • Congress needs support of other parties to achieve its dynastic goals: BJP on Opposition meeting

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Taking on the Congress over a meeting of Opposition leaders called by its president Sonia Gandhi, the BJP on Friday said the party has now been reduced to a fringe element in national politics and needs the help of others to achieve its own dynastic goals.

    Gandhi held a virtual meeting with the leaders of 19 political parties, including the chief ministers of some Opposition-ruled states, to boost Opposition unity and evolve a common strategy to take on the BJP-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

    Taking a dig at the Congress, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said it has been reduced to a “virtual party”, which not only conducts virtual meetings but “literally exists only on the virtual platforms alone”.

    Asserting that the people of the country can see through the “much-hyped” Opposition unity, he said, “The Congress today has been reduced to a fringe element in national politics. The country had long lost its faith in the Congress. Today, it appears that the Congress has finally lost faith in itself and needs the help of other parties to achieve its own dynastic goals.”

    Hitting out at the Congress, Patra said it makes unnecessary noises at virtual meetings but sadly, drowns a “real Parliament” with its anarchy.

    Stating that the people of the country have full faith in the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said the Centre is following the mantra of “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas” and now, “Sabka Prayas” to establish a “new India of the 21st century”.

    The virtual meeting called by Gandhi was one of the biggest gatherings of Opposition leaders in recent times.

    It was attended by NCP’s Sharad Pawar, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray and DMK’s M K Stalin, among others.

  • Opposition parties to organise joint protests across country from September 20-30

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The leaders of 19 Opposition parties announced on Friday that they will organise joint protests and demonstrations across the country from September 20 to 30, even as they urged people to save India for a better tomorrow.

    After a virtual meeting of the Opposition parties, where they stressed on unitedly moving forward to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the leaders also put out an 11-point charter of demands before the government.

    The demands include a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the Pegasus snooping row and a high-level probe into the Rafale fighter jets deal, a repeal of three new farm laws, early elections in Jammu and Kashmir and the release of all political detainees in the Union Territory.

    “We will jointly organise protest actions all over the country from 20th to 30th September, 2021,” the leaders said in a statement after the virtual meeting convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

    They said the forms of these public protest actions will be decided by the respective state units of their parties, depending on the concrete conditions of the Covid regulations and protocols in the states.

    These forms, amongst others, may include dharnas, protest demonstrations and hartals, they said in the joint statement.

    “We, the leaders of 19 Opposition parties, call upon the people of India to rise to the occasion to defend our secular, democratic, republican order with all our might. Save India today, so that we can change it for a better tomorrow,” they said.

    Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Opposition leaders said his Independence Day address did not focus on a single issue concerning people’s miseries.

    ALSO READ | Opposition meet: Mamata moots panel of leaders to decide on programmes to fight BJP

    “The speech was full of rhetoric, empty slogans and disinformation. In fact, it was a repackaging of earlier speeches given in 2019 and 2020. This speech is an ominous warning that the lives of our people will continue to be ruined further,” the statement said.

    The leaders also strongly condemned the manner in which the Centre and the ruling BJP disrupted the Monsoon Session of Parliament, refusing to discuss the alleged illegal use of the Pegasus military spyware to conduct unauthorised surveillance, a repeal of the three “anti-farmer” laws, the gross mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and price rise as also the spiralling unemployment.

    All these and many other issues affecting the country and its people were deliberately ignored by the government, they alleged.

    “Apart from denying the Opposition their right to raise crucial issues concerning the country and the people, the government steamrolled legislations through the din of the disruption caused by its handling of both Houses of Parliament,” they said.

    Stating that the Centre should come clean on the Pegasus snooping issue, the parties also asked it to clarify on whether it bought the Israeli spyware and demanded a probe monitored by the apex court.

    “The government must answer and come clean. Such surveillance is not only a gross violation of people’s fundamental right to privacy but is an attack on Indian democracy and democratic institutions,” the Opposition leaders said.

    “Hold immediate Supreme Court monitored judicial enquiry into the use of Pegasus spyware for surveillance of people and a high-level investigation into the Rafale deal — the cancellation of the earlier order and placing of a new order at a higher cost,” the statement said.

    The leaders also attacked the government over the country’s economy and for allegedly pushing crores of people into joblessness, poverty and hunger.

    “We reiterate our support to the struggle launched by the farmers under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha,” they said.

    The parties demanded a repeal of the three “anti-agriculture” laws and a guarantee on MSP to farmers.

    The Opposition leaders also criticised the government over its handling of COVID-19 and called for an immediate ramping up of the vaccination drive to help prevent a third wave of the pandemic.

    They said the Centre must implement free cash transfers of Rs 7,500 per month to all families outside the income-tax bracket and distribute free food kits to all needy people, besides withdrawing taxes on petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders.

    Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were also present at the meeting.

    Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav wrote a letter to the Congress president and expressed his inability to join the meeting.

  • Post poll violence in West Bengal: PIL petitioner files caveat in SC

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: One of the PIL petitioners, on whose plea the Calcutta High Court ordered CBI probe into all heinous cases during the post poll violence in West Bengal, Friday filed a caveat in the Supreme Court urging that no order be passed without hearing him if the state or other litigant move appeals against the verdict.

    A five-judge bench of the High Court, headed by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, on Thursday ordered a CBI investigation in all alleged cases of heinous crimes like rape and murder, while accepting the recommendations of an NHRC panel, in West Bengal after the assembly poll results this year in which the ruling Trinamool Congress Party came back to power.

    The unanimous verdict came on a batch of petitions including the one PIL filed by lawyer Anindya Sundar Das raising the issue of violence taking place in various parts of the state after the state assembly elections.

    Das, in anticipation of the fact that the aggrieved parties, including the state government, may file appeals against the verdict, filed the caveat in the top court to ensure that he is heard before any order is passed on the pleas to be filed in the apex court.

    The high court bench, which also comprised justices I P Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Subrata Talukdar, has observed that there were “definite and proved” allegations that complaints of the victims of violence in the aftermath of the West Bengal assembly polls were not even registered.

    Ordering setting up of an SIT to probe all other cases, it has said that it will include Suman Bala Sahoo, Soumen Mitra and Ranveer Kumar, all IPS officers of the West Bengal cadre.

    “All the cases where, as per the report of the Committee, the allegations are about murder of a person and crime against women regarding rape/attempt to rape, shall be referred to CBI for investigation,” it said.

    The high court has also directed the NHRC committee, constituted by its chairman on a direction by the five-judge bench, and any other commission or authority and the state to immediately hand over the records of the cases to the CBI to carry forward the probe.

    The bench said it will monitor the investigations by both the CBI and the SIT and asked the two agencies to submit status reports to the court within six weeks.

    It has said that the working of the SIT will be overseen by a retired Judge of the Supreme Court for which a separate order will be passed after obtaining his/her consent.

    In its ruling, the bench has said heinous crimes such as murder and rape “deserve to be investigated by an independent agency which in the circumstances can only be Central Bureau of Investigation.”

    The bench has said the State failed to register FIRs even in some cases of alleged murder.

    “This shows pre-determined mind to take investigation into a particular direction.”

    “Under such circumstances investigation by independent agency will inspire confidence to all concerned,” it has noted.

    It said allegations that the police had not registered a number of cases initially and that some were registered only after the court had intervened or the committee was constituted were found to be true.

    It observed that the facts in relation to the allegations made in the PILs are “even more glaring” as the incidents are not isolated to one place in the state.

    The NHRC committee had on July 13 submitted its final report to the court.

    An interim report of the NHRC committee had mentioned that Atif Rasheed, a member of the committee, was obstructed from discharging his duty and he and his team members were attacked by some undesirable elements on June 29 in Jadavpur area on the southern fringe of the city, the court noted.

    The PILs had alleged that people were subjected to assault, made to flee homes and properties were destroyed during the violence in the wake of the assembly elections, sought impartial probe into all such cases, and demanded protection of life and liberty.

  • Onus on Congress for Opposition unity during Gujarat polls: NCP’s Praful Patel

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: The onus of keeping like-minded parties together to fight the BJP in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly polls was on the Congress, which had failed to do so in 2017, senior NCP leader Praful Patel said on Friday.

    Patel, who is the party’s Gujarat in charge, said people were against the BJP in the last polls but the Congress, despite winning 88 seats, could not dislodge the former as it had failed to take along other opposition parties.

    ‘To avoid repeating this in the 2022 Assembly polls, all like-minded parties must come together (to defeat the BJP).

    As always, the NCP will cooperate in this endeavor.

    But more importantly, being the largest opposition party, Congress needs to think over it,” Patel, a former Union civil aviation minister, said.

    He said the NCP had taken the lead (to form such an alliance) in Maharashtra as it was powerful there, while in Gujarat this onus fell on the Congress as it was the principal opposition party.

    The people of Gujarat were suffering from poverty, unemployment, poor law and order under BJP rule, Patel claimed.

    The NCP and Congress were in a seat sharing agreement in the 2017 Assembly polls, but the former had also claimed it was not given enough seats to fight.

    On the NCP’s lone MLA in the state, Kandhal Jadeja, openly defying the party whip and voting for the BJP instead of the Congress in the last Rajya Sabha polls, Patel said it was Jadeja’s personal issue and did not reflect his party’s stand.

  • ED officer Rajeshwar Singh applies for retirement; may contest UP polls under BJP ticket

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: ED officer Rajeshwar Singh has applied for retirement from government service and is expected to join the BJP and contest the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, official sources said on Friday.

    Singh is currently posted as the joint director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at its zonal office in Lucknow.

    A BTech and PhD in police, human rights and social justice, Singh joined the federal anti-money laundering investigations agency in 2009 on deputation from Uttar Pradesh where he was serving as a state police service officer.

    Sources told PTI that Singh has applied for retirement from government service.

    They said there are chances he may join the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh and also contest the assembly polls in the central Indian state expected to be held early next year.

    The application is yet to be accepted, they added.

    His sister Abha Singh, a lawyer based in Mumbai, also posted a message on her Twitter handle with a photograph of her and Singh stating: “Congratulations to my brother #RajeshwarSingh of the #ED for opting for early retirement to serve the country. Nation needs you.”

    Singh, who hails from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was permanently absorbed into the ED cadre in 2015.

    He has headed some important and high-profile investigations like the 2G spectrum allocation case, 2010 Commonwealth Games alleged irregularities, and money laundering probe against former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda.

    He also headed the headquarters investigation unit (HIU) of the ED located in the national capital that probes sensitive money laundering and foreign exchange violation cases including those with political links.

    Meanwhile, the officer has had his share of controversies.

    In June, 2018 the Union finance ministry had submitted a secret report to the Supreme Court apparently carrying details of a phone call received by Singh from Dubai.

    The report is said to have been prepared by country’s external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and handed over to the Department of Revenue in the finance mnistry, under which the ED functions.

    The then ED Director Karnal Singh had issued a press statement, saying the said overseas call received by Singh pertained to an “ongoing investigation” and he was a responsible officer with outstanding career records.

    The government had subsequently launched an investigation against Singh for writing a letter in which he had made a scathing attack on the then revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia questioning him if he has developed animosity against him by “siding with scamsters and their affiliates”? Singh was subsequently issued a notice seeking an explanation for alleged “insubordination” in context of this letter by the revenue department, to which he had replied with a “regret” and explained his side of the story.

    That letter, sources had said, was sent through “official channels” to the agency’s chief (Karnal Singh) but it was never forwarded to Adhia.

    Accusations of certain other alleged irregularities made against Singh were probed by the ED, CBI and CVC, and a report was sent to the court and the government stating that there was “no merit” in the allegations and hence the enquiry was closed.

    Singh, who carried out numerous encounters during his stint in the uniform, is married to IPS officer Laxmi Singh who is currently serving as the Inspector General of Lucknow range.

  • CBI seeks from Bengal DGP details of cases reported during post-poll violence

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The CBI has written to the West Bengal director general of police to provide details of all cases of murder, attempt to murder and rape reported during post-poll violence in the state, officials said on Friday.

    The agency sought the details of such cases from the director general of police in line with a Calcutta High Court order that directed the CBI to take over cases related to murder, rape and atrocities against women during the violence.

    The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has set up four teams, each headed by joint directors Ramnish, Anurag, Vineet Vinayak and Sampat Meena, to probe the political violence which ensued after the victory of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on May 2 in a bitterly fought eight-phase assembly poll in West Bengal.

    Each team will have about seven members, including a deputy inspector general and about four superintendents of police, called from across the country, the officials said.

    The overall probe will be supervised by Additional Director Ajay Bhatnagar.

    The Calcutta High Court on Thursday had ordered a CBI inquiry into alleged killings, rape and crimes against women during post-poll violence in West Bengal.

    A five-judge bench, passing a unanimous judgment on a batch of PILs seeking an independent probe into incidents of alleged violence after the polls which the ruling TMC won by an overwhelming majority, also ordered constitution of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe all other cases.

    The SIT will include Suman Bala Sahoo, Soumen Mitra and Ranveer Kumar, all IPS officers of the West Bengal cadre.

    The bench will monitor the investigations by both the CBI and the SIT, and it has asked them to submit status reports to the court within six weeks.

    It said that the working of the SIT will be overseen by a retired judge of the Supreme Court for which a separate order will be passed after obtaining his/her consent.

    In its ruling, the bench said heinous crimes such as murder and rape “deserve to be investigated by an independent agency which in the circumstances can only be Central Bureau of Investigation.”

    The bench said the state failed to register FIRs even in some cases of alleged murder.

    “Rather the violence which erupted after polls and declaration of results was state-wide. Number of persons had died. The women were raped. The house of certain persons who had not supported the party in power were demolished. Their other properties were damaged. Their belongings were looted including the chattels,” the court observed in its order.

    The bench said there are allegations that the complainants are being threatened to withdraw the cases and a number of cases of murder being claimed as natural death without recording FIRs and conducting investigation according to the procedure established by law.

    Noting that the West Bengal Police has not properly responded to allegations of inaction and tried to downplay them, the bench said, “It certainly needs investigation by an independent agency.”

    It said three months have lapsed since the matter was taken up by the court, but “no concrete action has been taken by the State, which could inspire confidence except filing affidavits and placing on record thousands of papers.”

    The bench ordered the West Bengal government to pay compensation to the victims of crimes in accordance with the policy of the State, after due verification.

    The compensation amount will be directly transferred to their bank accounts.

    The National Human Rights Commission committee had on July 13 submitted its final report to the court.

  • Opposition meet: Mamata moots panel of leaders to decide on programmes to fight BJP

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday proposed to form a core group of opposition leaders to decide on joint movements against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

    Virtually attending a meeting of opposition parties convened by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, the Trinamool Congress supremo asked the opposition leaders to keep aside differences and put up a united fight against the saffron party.

    “Let us forget who is the leader, let us keep our personal interests aside. Every opposition party should be brought in. People are the leader. Let us set up a core group and work together to decide on the next line of action and programmes,” a senior TMC leader quoted her as saying at the meeting.

    Banerjee also raised the issue of how “impartial institutions like the NHRC has been misused by the central government to malign opposition ruled state governments”.

    She also raised the farmers’ issue and torture allegedly unleashed by the Centre against states ruled by opposition parties, another TMC leader said.

    It is time to rise above political compulsions to realise the “ultimate goal” of winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Congress president Sonia Gandhi told top Opposition leaders on Friday as she pitched for a broad unity of the anti-BJP forces.

    The Congress will not be found wanting while working towards this goal, she said at a virtual meeting of the leaders of 19 Opposition parties, adding that the 75th year of independence is an apt occasion “to reaffirm our individual and collective resolve”.

    “Of course, the ultimate goal is the 2024 Lok Sabha election for which we have to begin to plan systematically with the single-minded objective of giving a government to our country that believes in the values of the freedom movement and in the principles and provisions of our Constitution,” Gandhi said.

    “This is a challenge, but together we can and must rise to it because there is simply no alternative to working cohesively.

    We all have our compulsions, but clearly, the time has come when the interests of our nation demand that we rise above those,” she added.

    Noting that the 75th anniversary of the country’s independence is indeed the most appropriate occasion “to reaffirm our individual and collective resolve”, Gandhi assured the Opposition leaders, saying “the Indian National Congress will not be found wanting”.

    The virtual meeting — one of the biggest gatherings of Opposition leaders in recent times — was attended by NCP’s Sharad Pawar, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray and DMK’s M K Stalin among others.

    Banerjee also urged the parties to keep their differences aside and work towards defeating the BJP in 2024.

    She proposed setting up of a core group to chalk out joint Opposition programmes.

    The meeting convened by Gandhi came after the washout of the recent Monsoon Session of Parliament due to a united Opposition’s demand for a discussion on the Pegasus snooping controversy, which the government declined.

    The Congress chief said the Monsoon Session of Parliament was a washout entirely due to the government’s “obstinate and arrogant unwillingness to discuss and debate urgent issues of public importance” such as the Pegasus row, a repeal of three “anti-farmer” laws, price rise, the assault on federalism and the institutions of democracy that affect each and every citizen of the country.

    In spite of this, the session was marked by the determined unity that all the Opposition parties demonstrated for over 20 days in both the houses, she said.

    “We functioned in a coordinated manner with daily discussions among our floor leaders.”

    “I am confident that this unity will be sustained in the future sessions of Parliament as well, but the larger political battle has to be fought outside it,” Gandhi said.

    She claimed that it was entirely due to the Opposition parties that the Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill was passed to restore the long-standing rights of the states to identify and notify the other backward classes (OBCs).

    The Congress chief blamed the government, saying the bill was required to rectify the mistake it committed three years ago and a subsequent ruling of the Supreme Court.

    She also said after their intervention, crucial changes were made in the policy of procurement of Covid vaccines, but as always, someone else has taken the credit.

    Gandhi said Pawar has raised with the government the issue of creation of the Ministry of Cooperation, which is a blatant interference in the constitutional rights and responsibilities of the states.

    The meeting was part of the Congress leadership’s efforts to unite various Opposition parties on key issues before the country, including the upcoming Assembly elections in some states and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

    Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D Raja and Sharad Yadav of the Loktantrik Janata Dal were also present at the meeting.

    In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the Opposition parties said they will jointly organise protests all over the country from September 20-30.

    “The forms of these public protest actions will be decided by the respective state units of our parties, depending on the concrete conditions of the Covid regulations and protocols existing in the states. These forms, amongst others, may include dharnas, protest demonstrations, hartals etc.”

    “We, the leaders of 19 Opposition parties, call upon the people of India to rise to the occasion to defend our secular, democratic, republican order with all our might. Save India today, so that we can change it for a better tomorrow,” they added.

    The leaders who took part in the meeting were from TMC, NCP, DMK, Shiv Sena, JMM, CPI, CPI(M), NC, RJD, AIUDF, VCK, Loktantrik Janata Dal, JD(S), RLD, RSP, Kerala Congress (Mani), PDP and IUML.

    Leaders of AAP, BSP and SP were not present at the meeting.

  • Nagaland’s united govt leaves BJP’s central leaders jittery

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: The recent formation of the “Nagaland United Government” (NUG) has left the BJP worried so much that its central leadership called Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and the state’s BJP leadership to Delhi.

    Rio’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) headed the People’s Democratic Alliance government which is now NUG. With 12 MLAs in the 60-member House, the BJP is a key component of the alliance.

    The Naga People’s Front (NPF), which was the state’s only opposition party with elected members (it has 25 MLAs), was inducted into the government on Monday to make it an “all-party” government.

    The BJP is, however, jittery. It fears that by bringing the NPF on board, Rio is trying to finish off the saffron party in the Christian-majority state which will go to the polls in early 2023.

    According to BJP insiders in the state, the CM was nervous about a possible threat to his chair from a section of saffron party leaders and this made him cozy up to the NPF that he had built brick by brick until deserting it ahead of the 2018 elections.

    ALSO READ | Naga People’s Front joins govt, Nagaland House becomes ‘Opposition-less’

    “Rio has the blessings of the BJP’s central leaders and he is, in any case, going to complete the current term. However, since an attempt is being made to topple his government, he became nervous,” a BJP insider said.

    “The NPF was in the ICU. By inducting it into the government, the CM has revived it,” the BJP insider said, adding, “But this may have dangerous ramifications. The friendship between NDPP and NPF might cost the BJP dear in the 2023 elections.”

    Sources said the BJP state unit had endorsed the all-party government without the approval of the party’s central leaders. The state leaders, however, said the decision was made due to local compulsions.

    “We had to join the all-party government due to certain compulsions. If we had not joined it, people would have said we don’t want a solution to the Naga political problem,” a BJP leader, who is a member of the delegation that is in Delhi, told this newspaper.

    He said they would share everything with the party’s central leadership and abide by its directions.

    The all-party government was formed to facilitate the Naga political issue and achieve a solution that is honorable and acceptable.

    However, as a matter of fact, the Nagaland government hardly has any role to play in the Naga issue which is being negotiated by the various insurgent groups. Opposing NUG, a section of BJP leaders said the united government or opposition-less government has nothing to do with the Naga political solution.