News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • Patole’s phone-tapping allegation came nearly two years after MVA govt’s formation: BJP leader

    Patole had earlier alleged that his phone was tapped in 2017 when the Fadnavis-led government was at the helm.

  • BJP to contest all 117 assembly seats in Punjab: Party leader BL Santhosh

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: The BJP will contest all 117 assembly seats in the 2022 Punjab polls and will form government in the state, BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh said on Friday.

    Elections in the state are due early next year.

    Santhosh was here to attend a meeting of the BJP’s Punjab unit.

    He also held meetings with the party’s state leaders and others, and had a detailed discussion on Punjab politics.

    Addressing a gathering of party workers, he said that the entire opposition is trying to adopt every trick to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power and added that the BJP is the largest party in the world.

    The false propaganda of the opposition against the farm laws would soon collapse as farmers have realised that these laws will bring prosperity, Santosh said.

    Farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at Delhi’s borders against the three central laws enacted in September last year and demanding that they be withdrawn.

    Santhosh said that Modi has always been a supporter of farmers and the interests of the agriculture sector are paramount for him and his government.

    He said the Modi government has taken many steps to double the income of farmers.

    The BJP leader said that there is a wave of the party in the country and the people of Punjab also want a BJP government in the state, Santhosh said.

    He called upon party workers to take the policies of the central government to the people.

    Santhosh said the BJP will fight elections on all 117 seats on its own and will win the elections with public support in Punjab in 2022.

    BJP national vice president Saudan Singh said people are fed up with the Congress-led government in Punjab and they want to get rid of this “corrupt regime.”

    He said people want a change in the regime in Punjab and they are looking at the BJP as an alternative.

    On this occasion, party’s national general secretary Dushyant Gautam, Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma and other leaders were also present.

  • Mukul Roy appointed as chief of Public Accounts Committee in Bengal Assembly, BJP stages walkout

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Senior Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy, who recently switched over to the ruling camp in Bengal after winning the assembly polls on a BJP ticket, was on Friday appointed as the chairperson of Public Accounts Committee in the Assembly by Speaker Biman Banerjee.

    BJP MLAs, led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, staged a walkout in the Assembly, protesting against this decision. Roy, officially a BJP MLA from Krishnanagar Uttar, joined the TMC last month. However, he did not resign as an MLA, despite being asked to do so several times by the saffron party.

    The TMC leader was elected as a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in June. Adhikari said that an opposition MLA is usually appointed as the PAC chairman in accordance with the norm, but the TMC misused that rule to appoint Roy as its chairman.

  • Bhagwat Karad’s induction in cabinet aimed at ending Pankaja Munde’s political career: Shiv Sena

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Friday alleged that the inclusion of BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Bhagwat Karad into the Union council of ministers, instead of late leader Gopinath Munde’s daughter and two-time MP Pritam Munde, was a plan to finish off the political career of her sister Pankaja Munde, a former Maharashtra minister.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday carried out a major revamp of the Union Cabinet, as part of which Karad on took charge as the new Minister of State for Finance. Karad (64), a doctor by profession from Maharashtra, is a first-time Member of Parliament (MP) from the Rajya Sabha.

    There was a speculation Pritam Munde would be included in the new council of ministers, but she failed to find any place in it. In an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Shiv Sena said, “Bhagwat Karad has been made a minister of state. This is a move aimed at finishing off the (political career) of Pankaja Munde. Karad, who grew up in the shadow of BJP leader late Gopinath Munde, was made a minister instead of (Pankaja’s sister) Pritam Munde.”

    There is room to doubt whether the move is aimed at creating a division in the Vanjara community (to which Munde and Karad belong) and to each Pankaja Munde a lesson. “Also, the induction of Bharti Pawar and Kapil Patil into the council of ministers was like rubbing salt on the wounds of BJP loyalists,” it said.

    “Both- Pawar and Patil-had recently quit the NCP to join the BJP. This is the real shock treatment,” the ruling party in Maharashtra said. Maharashtra leader Narayan Rane has also found a place in the new cabinet is a good thing.

    Even he is not originally from the BJP as he was earlier with Shiv Sena and Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said. Rane has been given the charge of the MSME ministry. He has to take steps considering the present situation of this sector.

    The country’s commerce and industry has suffered setbacks. It added that the small units are finding it tough to survive. So what measures Rane takes remains to be seen. “All eyes were set on the expansion of the Union cabinet. This has been done before the monsoon session of the Parliament begins. It has been carried out as if it is a panacea to the problems like crumbling economy, the health crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic, chaos in education sector, inflation and unemployment,” the Sena said.

    Except for Rajnath Singh and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, all other ministers are new. Most of them are originally not from the BJP or the Sangh Parivar. “The new cabinet lacks the essence of the BJP or the National Democratic Alliance (NDA),” the party said.

    This exercise has been termed as a “mega surgery”. If it was really a surgery, then the Finance Minister and the External Affairs Minister would have been the first to be dropped. The present failure on the economic and foreign policy fronts was seen never before.

    Removing senior ministers Prakash Javadekar and Ravi Shankar Prasad from the cabinet is a blow to them. “We pray that they get strength to recover from this shock,” it said. When Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ was given the education portfolio in the earlier cabinet, the entire sector was on tenterhooks.

    In the past, this department had been handled by veterans like PV Narsimha Rao, Arjun Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi. Allotting the HRD ministry to Pokhriyal was a political mistake, it said.

    Now, he has been replaced with Dharmendra Pradhan, under whose tenure as Petroleum Minister, the fuel prices skyrocketed and the petrol prices crossed Rs 100 per litre. “Now what he does in education sector remains to be seen,” the Sena said.

    The party also said that it is being alleged that with the formation of new Union Co-operation Ministry, the Centre was trying to encroach upon the state’s rights as co-operation is a state subject. “This shouldn’t happen and the federal system shouldn’t be impacted,” it said.

  • Cabinet reshuffle: Increase visibility, BJP high command instructs new ministers 

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  In line with the reset mantra of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre to work closely with the organisation, newly sworn-in ministers headed for a meeting with BJP chief JP Nadda, besides heading to the party’s headquarters, on Thursday. 

    Later in the evening the Prime Minister presided over a meeting of the Council of Ministers, where the task was clearly spelt out that the ministers should quickly settle in their jobs and stay visible in front of the public in general.

    The likes of Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbanada Sonowal, Bhupender Yadav, Annapurna Devi visited the BJP headquarters. The newly sworn-in ministers called on Nadda at his residence, where the national joint general secretary of BJP, V Satish was also present along with other senior party functionaries.

    ALSO READ | Modi cabinet reshuffle: Here are the 11 women ministers

    The message to the new ministers has been clear. They have to closely work with the organisation and act on the feedback provided by the party leaders, sources said, adding that it has also been conveyed to them that they need to be visible.

    The major recast of the Council of Ministers was preceded by hectic parleys by Nadda and senior ministers with the Prime Minister during which the party’s organisational secretary BL Santhosh had also been present. The BJP leadership had grimly noted that disconnect of some of the ministers in the government with the people and the party had been contributing to the formation of a negative image of the Central government, sources said.

    The meeting of the Council of Ministers held in the evening was more of an orientation for the newly inducted members in the government, where the Prime Minister is learnt to have asked them to work on execution of agenda listed out for their respective ministries.

  • Union Cabinet reshuffle: Strategy evident in selection of four ministers from West Bengal

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  The Centre’s decision of axing two Ministers for State from West Bengal and drafting fresh four Bengal BJP MPs in the Union Cabinet appears to be well-designed, with an eye on balancing the caste and regional equations in the state.

    BJP did not do well in the recent Assembly polls. But around half of the 77 seats they won came from north Bengal and SC-dominated regions. The four new ministers represent various communities and ethnic groups. Two of them are from north Bengal. Cooch Behar MP Nisith Pramanik (Home Affairs and Sports) represents Rajbongshis, the largest faction of the state’s SC community. Alipurduar MP John Barla (Minority Affairs) is the tribal face of the tea garden region.

    Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur (Port, Shipping, Waterways) belongs to the Matua community, which is a Hindu religious sect of SC refugees from Bangladesh. Bankura MP Subhas Sarkar (Education) was the other one chosen. He is known to have done well for BJP in the Jungle Mahal belt.

    ‘‘Rajbongshis form around 40% of the electorates in north Bengal and the community has a stake of nearly 20% in the Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar regions. Selection of two MPs from this region clearly indicates that the party doesn’t want to lose its Rajbongshi and tribal vote share achieved since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,’’ said a BJP leader in Kolkata.

    North Bengal has proven to be the saffron camp’s stronghold in the last two elections. The region has 54 Assembly seats, of which BJP won 30. In the remaining 240, BJP secured victory only in 37.

    Barla recently raised a demand that north Bengal should become a separate Union Territory. Although the party did not officially endorse his view, naming him in the Cabinet suggests he remains an important figure in the scheme of things. “Separate statehood has been a long-standing demand of Gorkhas in the hills and Rajbongshis in the foothills. The inclusion of Barla in the Cabinet sends a message that the Centre is not ignoring local sentiments,” said the leader.

    Thakur had on several occasions expressed discontent over the issue of non-implementation of CAA, a promise BJP had made before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to grant Matua refugees citizenship. “BJP performed well in Matua strongholds. Since implementation of CAA seems impossible now, Thakur was rewarded to ease out the discontent of Matuas, who will be needed in 2024 LS polls,’’ said another leader.

  • BJP indulged in violence during nomination filing for kshetra panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav accused BJP leaders and workers on Thursday of indulging in anarchy and violence during the process of filing nominations for the election to the posts of chairpersons of kshetra panchayats and making a mockery of democracy.

    “The ruling BJP has held the law and order of Uttar Pradesh hostage. The people belonging to the ruling party are openly throttling democracy and the police administration is watching this murder of democracy as mute spectators. The ruling partymen indulged in anarchy and violence during the nomination-filing process held on Thursday and made a mockery of democracy,” he said in a release issued by the SP.

    Yadav said former Uttar Pradesh Assembly speaker Mata Prasad Pandey’s car was damaged in Siddharthnagar district’s Etwa block.

    He also said the nomination papers of his party candidate in Hardoi’s Sandi block were torn while in Sambhal, Basti Ka Gaur, Jhansi’s Baragaon block, Sitapur’s Kasmanda block, Kanpur’s Bilhaur and Shivrajpur, Bulandshahr, Lalitpur, Unnao, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Mahrajganj’s Siswa, Paratawal, Paniyara, Sadar, Deoria’s Bhatni, Chitrakoot’s Manikpur and Karvi, Etah’s Marhra, BJP workers created hurdles in the nomination-filing process of the SP-backed candidates.

    The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister cited similar cases in Bahraich and Mahrajganj, where he said SP workers were beaten up when they protested against such tactics and were injured.

    Journalists were beaten up and taken hostage in Kannauj while covering the nomination process, he said, alleging that the administrative officers are working as the agents of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

    “This is an act of polluting the democratic system,” Yadav said.

    The SP chief also demanded fresh arrangements to give another opportunity to the candidates who have not been able to file their nominations or that the entire process is carried out again.

    “The BJP has done a lot of harm to democracy. Constitutional rights are being violated in Uttar Pradesh. Candidates are being threatened. In many districts, the BJP did not allow the nomination process. The nomination papers of the SP candidates were snatched,” he alleged.

    “There is a huge public anger against the BJP, they will do full justice in the Assembly polls in 2022,” Yadav added.

    The State Election Commission (SEC) had on July 5 issued the notification for the election to the posts of chairpersons of the kshetra panchayats in the state for which nominations were filed between 11 am to 3 pm on Thursday.

    The last date to withdraw the candidature is July 9.

    Voting will be held on July 10 from 11 am to 3 pm and the counting of votes will be held the same day after 3 pm.

    The chairpersons of the kshetra panchayats (block-level) will be elected members of the kshetra panchayats.

    The kshetra panchayat of Mujhena in Gonda district will not be participating in this election as more than six months of its tenure are left, a senior SEC official said.

  • TMC government’s performance better than Left’s: BJP MLA Ashok Lahiri

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: BJP MLA Ashok Lahiri said on Thursday that the Trinamool Congress government has fared well in terms of the development of West Bengal as compared to the previous Left Front government.

    Lahiri, a well-known economist who has served as the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, made the comment when asked about the performance of present Finance Minister Amit Mitra and his predecessor Asim Dasgupta.

    “This is a very difficult question to answer. I know both of them so well. But, I believe that West Bengal is doing better under the present Trinamool Congress government in terms of development,” he told reporters at the state Assembly.

    It was Lahiri’s first day at the Assembly after winning the state elections from the Balurghat seat.

    Speaking on the state Budget in the House, he said the West Bengal government has devised several welfare schemes for the people but should make the list of beneficiaries public.

    Audit of the accounts of the state government by CAG should also be done to reflect the real financial picture of the various departments, he said.

    The state government should also divulge the details of the Centre-sponsored schemes which are in force in West Bengal, Lahiri said.

    Meanwhile, BJP skipped the Business Advisory Committee meeting after their adjournment motion over the dubious vaccination camps case was not admitted by Speaker Biman Banerjee.

    Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikary said, “We did not boycott the meeting but remained absent since our adjournment motion was not admitted by the speaker. We did it for the sake of the common people. Everything should be reciprocal.”

  • BJP workers booked in Aurangabad for gathering to celebrate Bhagwat Karad’s appointment as minister

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: An offence was registered against at least 50 BJP workers in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad for allegedly faulting the COVID-19 norms by gathering to celebrate the appointment of Rajya Sabha MP Dr Bhagwat Karad as a minister in the Union cabinet, police said on Thursday.

    BJP workers had gathered the party’s divisional office in Osmanpura area to celebrate Karad’s induction into the Union cabinet as a minister of state for finance on Wednesday, an official said.

    An offence has been registered against the party’s district secretary Sameer Rajurkar, other local leaders and workers under section 188 (disobeying orders duly promulgated by a public servant) and other relevant provisions of the IPC, he added.

    “We had gathered for the celebration. We had followed COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and no traffic was disturbed. We don’t know why the police registered the offence,” Rajurkar said.

  • Subhas Sarkar: BJP’s Bengal organisation man finds place in Narendra Modi’s Cabinet

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A seasoned war horse of the BJP in West Bengal, Bankura MP Subhas Sarkar has been the saffron party’s organisation man in the state for long.

    On Wednesday, he found a berth in the Union Cabinet.

    He was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Bankura constituency in 2019, defeating Trinamool Congress (TMC) heavyweight and state Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee.

    Sarkar, who was the vice-president of the West Bengal BJP from 2013, was a contender for the state party chief’s post in 2015, but was made the general secretary instead.

    An organisational man, Sarkar was made the vice-president of the saffron party’s state unit again in 2017.

    After securing the third position in Bankura in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Sarkar went on to win the seat five years later, increasing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) vote share by nearly 29 per cent compared to the 20 per cent it bagged in 2014.

    Born in 1953, Sarkar is a doctor by profession and a permanent resident of Bankura.

    He is also a member of the Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare as well as the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.