News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • West Bengal post-poll violence: Calcutta HC orders police to register all cases

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on July 2, 2021, ordered the police to register all cases of the victims of the post-poll violence in West Bengal.

    The five-judge bench while passing orders on the post-poll violence in West Bengal directed the state government to ensure medical treatment of all victims and to ensure ration for the affected even if they do not have ration cards.

    West Bengal Chief Secretary has been directed to preserve all documents related to the post-poll violence.

    The court also ordered to conduct the second autopsy of BJP worker Abhijeet Sarkar at Command Hospital in Kolkata.

    It issued show-cause notice to DCP Jadavpur, Rashid Munir Khan IPS, asking them to explain why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him after the NHRC team was attacked in Jadavpur.

    The court also extended the National Human Rights Commission’s (NHRC) investigation to July 13 and posted the matter for the next hearing to July 13.

    Several incidents of violence have been reported at various places after the announcement of the Assembly poll results on May 2, after which a four-member team deputed by the Ministry of Home Affairs also visited the post-poll violence-affected areas. 

  • Ahead of UP Assembly polls, crucial RSS meet in Chitrakoot from July 9

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Months ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s four-day Prant Pracharak meeting will take place in Chitrakoot from July 9, 2021.

    The crucial meeting of the Sangh, which is an annual event, is being considered significant in the wake of Assembly polls in the state.

    While Sangh has always distanced itself from elections, sources stated that few crucial decisions regarding who will coordinate with Bharatiya Janata Party on Sangh’s behalf, across the country, can be taken.

    “Till now Krishna Gopal ji use to coordinate between Sangh and the BJP. A senior Prachark gets this responsibility in Sangh. It can be assessed whether this responsibility should remain with Krishan Gopal or given to someone else. There are possibilities of others getting new responsibilities as well,” said a senior functionary.

    Sources stated that this charge of new responsibilities can be effective at the state as well as national level.

    While Sangh functionaries are calling it a routine meeting, many in the political circles are viewing it as crucial ahead of Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

    A senior Sangh functionary when asked about the meet said there could be a reshuffling of responsibility but it’s still too early to confirm it.

    The four-day meet is likely to discuss the situation in Uttar Pradesh as the state heads into the 2022 Assembly polls. The meeting is also expected to discuss the roadmap for the year ahead.

  • BSP’s decision to not contest in Zila Panchayat polls may help BJP in Uttar Pradesh

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: The BSP’s recent announcement not to contest the Zila Panchayat chairperson polls could prove a blessing in disguise for the BJP in the July 3 polls, which are being seen as the semi-final before the next year’s assembly polls.

    Already, the BJP has won unopposed the Zila Panchayat chairperson posts in 21 out of the 75 districts, while the Samajwadi Party has retained Etawah. Of the 21 districts, where the BJP-backed candidates won unopposed, in at least two districts, Mau and Ghaziabad, it was the BSP’s decision not to field its candidate for chairman’s post (as the BSP-backed candidates had won a significant number of district panchayat member seats in both districts) that ultimately helped the BJP emerged winner unopposed.

    BSP sources said though the party finished third in the district panchayat polls with around 350 wins, the winner district panchayat members backed by it hold the key to deciding who, the BJP or the SP, will actually win in around 10-15 districts, including Agra, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur in west and east UP districts like Ballia and Ghazipur.

    Importantly, while the SP has fielded candidates for Zila Panchayat chairperson posts in all 53 districts, the BJP has fielded candidates in 51 districts and left two districts for ally Apna Dal (S). 

  • Development issues and not politics discussed in meeting with CM Uddhav: NCP chief Sharad Pawar

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: NCP president Sharad Pawar on Thursday said his recent meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray focused on how to expedite development programmes of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and maintained nothing else should be deciphered from it.

    Talking to reporters here, Pawar said, “No politics was discussed. Our view is that some decisions need to be taken fast. My meeting with the Chief minister was to deliberate on how to expedite the state government’s development programmes. There was no political discussion.”

    The NCP leader, whose party is a key constituent in the Shiv Sena-led MVA government, had called on Thackeray here two days ago amid speculation in political circles about differences among the ruling coalition partners.

    The Congress is the third partner in the MVA, a coalition of parties which have different ideologies.

    The 80-year-old former Union agriculture minister refused to respond to questions on speculation that there was pressure on the NCP to withdraw from the MVA and that several firms belonging the Pawar family were being served notices by the ED.

    “This question is not relevant here,” he said.

    ALSO READ: MVA govt firmly in saddle, will respond to BJP’s ‘falsehood’, says Sena MP Sanjay Raut

    Pawar was talking to reporters here after a virtual inauguration of the DY Patil Agriculture University in Kolhapur.

    Asked about the election for the post of assembly speaker, Pawar said the MVA allies will discuss the candidate suggested by the Congress and take a decision.

    “When the MVA government was formed, the speaker’s post went to the Congress. Whichever candidate’s name the Congress gives, it should be finalised by all the allies after discussion,” the veteran politician said.

    The post fell vacant after Congress MLA Nana Patole resigned in February to take over as the party’s state unit president.

    Pawar said the Centre should hold talks with farmers from North India who are protesting against the new agriculture laws for the last seven months. 

    “The Centre should step up dialogue with them. Bringing political differences in the issue was wrong,” he added.

    The NCP leader said the Maharashtra government favours amendments in the three new farm laws enacted by the Centre last year before their implementation in the state.

    “A dialogue has begun in that direction. A cabinet sub-committee headed by Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat is looking into it. I am not sure whether amendments will be introduced in the two-day monsoon session of the state legislature beginning from Monday (July 5),” he said.

  • Bengal Post-poll violence: SC seeks Centre’s response for imposing President Rule in state

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a plea seeking direction to the Centre to impose President’s Rule in West Bengal in view of deteriorating law and order situation due to the post-poll violence which started on May 2, the day of assembly election results.

    The plea also sought direction to the Centre to deploy armed/paramilitary forces in the aid of the administrative authorities to bring normalcy in the state and to save it from internal disturbances.

    Besides, the PIL has sought setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for probing the causes and reasons of post-poll violence in West Bengal.

    A bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari issued notice to the Centre, West Bengal and Election Commission of India on the plea, which also sought to central and state governments to award compensation to the victims and their family members after ascertaining the nature of loss sustained by them in post-poll violence in the state.

    Advocate Hari Shankar Jain — appearing for petitioners Ranjana Agnihotri, a UP based practicing lawyer and social worker Jitender Singh — said that the plea is against post-poll violence in West Bengal.

    The bench said, “We are issuing notice to respondent number 1, (Union of India), respondent number-2 (West Bengal government) and Respondent number 3 (Election Commission of India).”

    The bench, however, did not issue notice to respondent number 4 — Mamata Banerjee as the president of Trinamool Congress Party (TMC).

    The plea filed through advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain said that the PIL has been filed in extraordinary circumstances as thousands of residents of West Bengal are being terrorized, penalised and tortured by the workers of TMC for supporting the opposition party- Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) during the assembly polls.

    “The petitioners are espousing the cause of thousands of citizens of West Bengal who are mostly Hindus and are being targeted by Muslims to take revenge for supporting BJP as they want to crush Hindus so that for years to come the power may remain with the party of their choice,” the plea said.

    The plea sought from the court “directing the central government to exercise its power conferred by Article 355 and Article 356 keeping in view the deteriorating condition posing a threat to sovereignty and integrity of India”.

    It said that soon after the declaration of assembly polls result on May 2, the TMC workers and supporters started creating chaos, unrest and setting the houses and properties of Hindus on fire, looting and plundered their belongings for the simple reason that they had supported BJP in assembly polls.

    The plea said that in an attempt to create terror and disorder in the society at least 15 BJP workers/ sympathisers/supporters have lost their lives and a number of them were seriously injured.

    “The government and administration remained silent spectators and no protection was provided to the victims by them.

    The government, officials and the administration and the police are supporting workers of TMC, due to which the life, liberty, prestige, dignity and modesty of women are being taken away as is evident from the fact that number of persons were harmed and mercilessly murdered and no steps were taken for their safety,” the plea said.

    It added that no appropriate action was taken against the culprits, due to which the life, liberty, dignity of the women and children are in peril and the future of Hindu residents is in jeopardy.

    “In these circumstances, immediate intervention of the court is required and the court may issue command to the opposite parties is required and the court may issue command to the opposite parties so that the government of West Bengal functions in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and in case of continued violation the government of India may be directed to take appropriate action under Article 355 and 356 of the constitution,” it said.

    The plea alleged that during the assembly elections which were held in April, the TMC party had contested the polls purely “on communal basis arousing the feelings of the Muslims and appealing to them to remain united and vote for their party for their better future”.

    It said that subsequently BJP made a complaint to ECI against the communal appeal made by TMC party and the poll panel failed to hold free and fair election conforming the democratic norms and failed to enforce the mandatory provision of section 123 of Representation of People Act which has to be implemented during the election.

    The plea said that a seven-judge bench of the top court had in 2017, in the Abhiram Singh case, ruled that no person can be allowed to contest election by making religious appeal.

    “The election commission remained a silent spectator and the provision (of RP Act) was flagrantly violated”, it said, adding that the Muslim population is about 30 per cent in West Bengal due to “illegal Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingia Muslims have been registered as voters without making any proper scrutiny and enquiry and in about 100 constituencies Muslims votes decide the fate of the candidates.

    The top court is already hearing a batch of pleas related to post-poll violence in the state and seeking probe by an independent agency into the alleged killing of BJP workers and sympathisers.

  • MVA govt firmly in saddle, will respond to BJP’s ‘falsehood’, says Sena MP Sanjay Raut

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday said the BJP in Maharashtra was under the wrong impression that it can shake the state MVA government by levelling “false allegations” against legislators and ministers.

    The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA- comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) has “decided to fight back” and respond to such tactics to ensure stability in the state, Raut, who is in New Delhi, told a news channel.

    He said NCP president Sharad Pawar was like a “father figure” to Maharashtra Chief Minister and Sena head Uddhav Thackeray, amid speculation in state political circles over differences among the MVA allies.

    “Delhi has been dug up for the Central Vista project and traffic routes have been changed, but the BJP should know that the path of the Maharashtra government cannot be changed,” the Rajya Sabha member said.

    Notably, the state BJP unit recently wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah for a CBI investigation against Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena minister Anil Parab into the allegations levelled against them by dismissed Mumbai cop Sachin Waze.

    Referring to it, Raut said if the BJP feels it can destabilise and weaken the MVA with such tactics, “it is wrong”.

    “It is impossible to weaken the MVA by implicating legislators and ministers in false cases with the help of central investigating agencies,” the Shiv Sena’s chief spokesperson asserted.

    He said there are no problems among the MVA partners.

    “The MVA has become stronger after the one-on-one meeting of Uddhav Thackeray with Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

    Asked about the meeting between Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray held earlier this week, Raut said it has been decided to fight back all false allegations and respond to the charges (levelled by opposition).

    Likening the MVA allies to ‘Pandavas’ (characters of the epic Mahabharat), the Sena leader said “the Pandavas were guided by Lord Krishna and stood for the truth, while ‘Kauravas’ stood for falsehood and sought power by any means”.

    Asked if he was calling the opposition BJP as ‘Kauravas’, he said, “The Kauravas were a symbol (of falsehood). I am not referring to them as Kauravas.”

    When asked if he had come to Delhi to meet the Congress leadership, Raut replied, “I may meet, but all these meetings are invisible.”

    To a query on why Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari has to remind the state government to hold the Assembly Speaker’s election, Raut quipped, “I wonder why Governor Koshyari forgets to sign the appointments of 12 members to the state Legislative Council (under the governor’s quota).”

    The MVA government and the governor have been at loggerheads over the appointment of members of the Legislative Council (MLCs), with the former accusing Koshyari of purposely sitting on the file cleared by the state Cabinet in November last year.

    In a letter dated June 24 this year, Koshyari asked CM Thackeray to extend the duration of the upcoming monsoon session of the state legislature and fill the post of the Assembly Speaker urgently, citing demands raised by a BJP delegation.

    In February this year, the then Speaker Nana Patole quit after he was appointed as the president of the Maharashtra Congress unit.

  • Dust off inertia: Modi’s message to his ministers ahead of Cabinet reshuffle

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday presided over a marathon meeting with his Council of Ministers, dropping hints that a Cabinet reshuffle is round the corner and that non-performers may be eased out.

    While the PM asked his ministerial colleagues to make the vaccination drive a resounding success, it is reliably learnt the ministers were told some of them were not seen doing enough in their respective spheres. 

    The meeting was seen part of the exercise at the level of the PM to review the performances of the ministries with his senior Cabinet colleagues during which BJP chief J P Nadda was present.

    It is also learnt that the ministers were asked for better coordination with the BJP, with a few leaders singling out lack of team work for the “excessive negative buildup of perception against the government during the pandemic”. 

    “The meeting also gave a sense that Modi wants the governance to be seen in tune with business as usual after a long spell of the Covid9 shadow. The government is confident of the success of the vaccination drive, but the focus also needs to return on other aspects of the governance,” a source added.  

    That the PM is holding a number of review meetings point to the urgency at the top level for return to normalcy in governance for setting the mood ahead of the 2024 polls, sources added.

  • Assam Congress slams BJP chief JP Nadda over ‘political tourists’ comment

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The Congress’ Assam unit on Wednesday slammed BJP president JP Nadda for his statement that opposition parties in the state are “political tourists”, saying that such a comment is not expected from a senior leader like him.

    In a statement, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Ripun Bora also said that the party is not answerable to the BJP on what it is doing during the Covid situation. “Nadda should remember that the BJP was born in 1980 while the Congress was born in 1885. How can a party that has been in existence for 136 years, that brought freedom for its people from British domination and that ruled India and contributed towards nation building be termed as ‘political tourist’?” Bora said.

    While addressing the BJP’s state executive meeting virtually on Tuesday, Nadda said that the Congress and other opposition parties are political tourists who are seen only during elections and they are in quarantine during the second wave of the pandemic.

    Just because the Congress lost the assembly elections in Assam, one cannot pass such a derogatory comment against it, Bora said. “Does it mean that wherever the BJP has lost elections – in Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu- it has become ‘political tourists?” he asked.

    Bora also asked where the BJP leaders were when Assam was ravaged by floods in 2017 and 2018. “While Prime Minister Narendra Modi could make out time to come to Assam umpteenth times for election campaigns, why couldn’t he find time to be near the people of the state during the floods?” the Congress leader said.

    The people of the state know that it is due to the faulty Covid policy of the BJP-led government at the Centre led by Modi that they are not getting an adequate number of vaccines, he said.

    “Instead of discussing the Congress party in his virtual meetings with his party members, Nadda should ensure the safety of the people of Assam from Covid by facilitating quick availability of vaccines as the longer the delay, the greater is the threat to people’s lives”, Bora said.

  • Pre-poll act of deceit by BJP: Mayawati on foundation laying of Ambedkar Cultural Centre in Lucknow

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: BSP president Mayawati on Tuesday said the laying of the foundation of the Ambedkar Cultural Centre here was a pre-poll act of “deceit” and “deception” by the ruling BJP to serve its electoral interest.

    Had it not been “deceit”, “deception” and “drama” before the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, “the president would have been inaugurating the centre and not laying the foundation stone”, she said.

    Reacting to Mayawati’s allegation, Uttar Pradesh Labour Minister Swami Prasad Maurya told reporters that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo should feel happy that by the efforts of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the foundation of the Ambedkar Cultural Centre was laid.

    Questioning the timing of the event, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief OP Rajbhar said, “When the Assembly polls are barely six months away, you are laying the foundation stone of the Ambedkar Cultural Centre, installing idols of Suheldev. These are only attempts by the BJP to grab votes.”

    Reacting to the allegations of the BSP chief, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said, “Till now, the panchteerth — the five places associated with Babasaheb Ambedkar — used to be discussed. Lucknow is going to be the sixth ‘teerth’ for Babasaheb and it should have been welcomed. Mayawati should stop wearing a political lens.”

    The BSP supremo sought to undermine the Adityanath government’s move, asserting that this regime is no different than the previous ones led by Akhilesh Yadav and the Congress in denying the rights of Dalits and backward class people.

    She made these allegations in a series of tweets soon after President Ram Nath Kovind laid the foundation stone of the memorial, to be named after Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar, which is to come up on a sprawling plot measuring nearly 5,500 square metre in the state capital.

    It will also have a 25-foot-high statue of Ambedkar.

    The cost of the project is estimated to be over Rs 45 crore.

    “The laying of the foundation of a cultural centre in the name of Babasaheb now, when the Assembly polls are nearing — what is it, if not a drama, after neglecting crores of Babasaheb’s followers for almost the entire period they have been in power?” Mayawati asked.

    In another tweet, she said, “The BSP is not against the setting up of any centre in the name of the highly venerable Babasaheb, but doing all this now for the sake of electoral interest is a gross deception.”

    “Had the Uttar Pradesh government done this work earlier, the president would have been inaugurating the centre and not laying the foundation stone,” the former chief minister said.

    She did not spare the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) or the Congress governments either.

    “By the way, in resorting to such deceit and drama, no one is any less than the other — whether it is the BJP government or that of the SP or the Congress,” Mayawati said.

    “In crushing the rights of Dalits and backwards and heaping injustice and atrocities on them, they all are the same — this is known to all and very unfortunate.

    “As a result, lakhs of government posts reserved for Dalits and backward class people are lying vacant,” she said.

    Mayawati also lamented that “the world-class grand buildings and parks built by the BSP government in the name of their saints, gurus and great men in Uttar Pradesh have been grossly neglected since the previous SP regime took over and the situation continues under the BJP government”.

    This trend is commendable, she said sarcastically. Swami Prasad Maurya said, “Mayawati is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party, which was formed as a part of Dr B R Ambedkar’s mission.

    She should feel happy that by the efforts of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the foundation of the Ambedkar Cultural Centre was laid today.”

    “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given respect to Babasaheb by developing five memorials in the form of pilgrimage spots at places associated with him.

    These five spots are in Ambedkar’s birthplace in Mhow, Deeksha Bhoomi in Nagpur, Parinirvaan Sthal in Delhi, Chaitanya Bhoomi in Mumbai and the Ambedkar Memorial Home in London,” he added.

  • Shatrughan Sinha calls pro-Modi tweet ‘humour’; not leaving Congress

    By PTI
    PATNA: With his recent pro-Modi tweet seen as an attempt of “ghar wapsi” in the BJP, actor and Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha on Tuesday dismissed the speculations, saying he made the comments as a “humour” and there is no desire to change sides.

    Sinha had said in his tweet in Hindi on Sunday that apart from three kinds of COVID variants, there was a fourth type of variant “of people being ‘dukhi’ (unhappy) with Modi without any reason”.

    दुनिया में चार तरह के दुःखी लोग होते हैं..१. अपने दु:खों से दु:खी,२. दूसरों के दु:ख से दु:खी,३. दूसरों के सुख से दु:खी,और*New Variant*४. बिना बात खामखां मोदी से दु:खी! 
    — Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) June 27, 2021

    “It was a Sunday humour for entertainment. I make some tweets for fun every Sunday and no political meaning should be derived from them.

    “Neither do I have any feeling to leave Congress and rejoin BJP nor a wish in this regard,” the actor-politician told PTI over the phone from Mumbai.

    Sinha, who served as a union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, had left the BJP and joined the Congress on the eve of 2019 Lok Sabha polls and had unsuccessfully contested from his native Patna Sahib constituency on a Congress ticket.

    Sinha popularly known as “Bihari Babu”, had twice won with a handsome margin from the seat on a BJP ticket in 2009 as well as 2014.

    However, he lost with a big margin to Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from the constituency in 2019.

    Before walking out of the saffron party, Sinha had made several veiled remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah.

    He used to say that BJP has become “one-man party and two men army” without naming anybody.

    With the Congress party losing elections after elections and Sinha himself not seen in any significant role in the grand old party, his comment on Modi is being viewed in political circles as an effort of reaching out to his old party.

    The actor-turned-politician still says that he has been baptised in politics in the BJP and has many “good friends” in the saffron party.

    “I had left the BJP disagreeing with the leadership on certain issues like demonetisation and rollout of complicated GST and still stand by it,” he said.

    About the future of the Congress party, he said “we should not write off the grand old party on the basis of having lesser numbers of MPs in the last two Parliamentary elections. Congress can bounce back to power. One should not forget that BJP was also a party of two MPs at one time.”