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Tag: BJP

  • Mukul Roy’s return to TMC will make no difference for BJP: Dilip Ghosh

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Senior BJP leader Mukul Roy’s return to the TMC evoked mixed reactions in the saffron camp on Friday, with its state unit president Dilip Ghosh asserting that the move will have no impact on his organisation, and former MP Anupam Hazra claiming that “lobby politics at play is adversely affecting the party”.

    BJP state general secretary Joyprakash Majumder, on his part, extended his best wishes to Roy, and said that he should immediately quit all saffron party posts.

    “Mukul babu is a veteran leader, he is a known face in Bengal politics. We wish him the best in his new innings, but shouldn’t he forthwith quit from the primary membership and all other posts of the BJP? Shouldn’t he not resign as the MLA as he had won a seat on Lotus (BJP) symbol,” Majumder said.

    Roy along with son Subrangshu was on Friday cordially welcomed back to the TMC by party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other senior leaders.

    He had quit the TMC in 2015, after being removed from the post of the party’s national general secretary, and sucsequently joined the BJP two years later.

    Ghosh, while talking to reporters, said to he was not sure if the BJP would lose anything from Roy’s decision, given that he was “unsure whether we gained anything” from his entry three-and-half years back.

    “Right now, we are bothered about more serious issues as the cycle of violence goes on unabated in the state.

    We are bothered about the safety of our workers, who are being targeted by TMC activists,” he added.

    Hazra, earlier in the day, said lobby politics with the saffron camp has led to such a situation, hours before Roy made his re-entry in the Mamata Banerjee camp.

    Taking to Twitter, he contended that it was high time that the state unit of the BJP put an end to the practice and utilise leaders according to their merit.

    The former MP, who had switched over from the TMC to the BJP in 2018, however, asserted that he will continue to be a part of the saffron camp under all circumstances.

    “Too much importance has been accorded to one or two leaders while ignoring and humiliating the rest.

    That has led to the present sad situation.

    There is also no trace of the royal passengers who had taken a chartered flight,” the academic-turned-politician, who had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, said.

    Hazra was possibly referring to TMC turncoats Baishali Dalmiya, Rajib Banerjee and Prabir Ghosal, who had taken a chartered flight to Union Home Minister Amit Shahs residence in Delhi earlier this year.

    He further said, “Please don’t give me the tag of a disgruntled leader for this post. I am with the BJP and will remain in the BJP. But the dirty lobby politics should come to an end. This is all I want.”

    A section of state BJP leaders are of the view that Roy and other senior leaders, including Sabyasachi Dutta, were not accorded due importance by the saffron party top brass during the assembly elections, and only a handful of leaders, such as Suvendu Adhikari and actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty were given all responsibilities.

    Hinting he was not made a part of important meetings, Hazra said, “Hoping to get an invite to state unit meetings of the BJP as per protocol.”

  • Congress should get VAT on fuel reduced in states ruled by it: BJP 

    Ravi Shankar Prasad said Rajasthan, which is ruled by the Congress, is among the states with the highest VAT on fuel price.

  • Shiv Sena mocks BJP over induction of Jitin Prasada; advises Congress to create strong team

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Friday described as ”hilarious” the BJP’s celebration over the induction of Uttar Pradesh leader Jitin Prasada into the party fold, but also said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will have to create a strong team in his party.

    In a shot in the arm for the BJP, Prasada, a Congress leader joined the saffron party on Wednesday, months ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh scheduled for early next year.

    The 47-year former Union minister comes from a well-known Brahmin family of UP.

    In an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Shiv Sena said Prasada, a young leader, was of no use to the Congress and will remain so to the BJP.

    “Jitin Prasada, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin pilot were young leaders and there were high expectations from them. There is already a vacuum in the Congress after the death of Ahmed Patel and Rajeev Satav. It is not good that young leaders are going the BJP way,” the Sena said.

    “Prasada, who had faced defeat in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, has finally joined the BJP. Prasada’s family members were Congress loyalists. He was a minister in former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet. However, he kept losing Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has now started celebrating his induction into the party fold. The caste politics of Uttar Pradesh is behind it. Eye on UP’s Brahmin vote bank is being said to be behind Prasada’s induction into the BJP,” it said.

    “But if Prasada had a hold over the Brahmin votes, why these votes weren’t transferred to the Congress?” it asked.

    The Sena said that BJP’s traditional upper caste vote must be drifting away from the party.

    “Till now, the BJP did not require any arithmetic or face in UP. Narendra Modi was everything. Ram mandir or Hindutva were the issues to win votes. But now, the situation is so bad that it wants support of Prasada,” it said sarcastically.

    The Uddhav Thackeray-led party said the important issue is why are the Congress leaders jumping ship.

    Talking about the defection of Jyotiraditya Scindia to the BJP and the rebellion of Sachin Pilot, the Sena said that in Punjab, too, there is a rebellion in the Congress.

    It, however, said that rebellion and factionalism is not restricted to the Congress alone.

    “Despite being in position to win Kerala and Assam, the Congress couldn’t do so.

    It lost Puducherry.

    But there is no discussion on what the Congress should do next and how it should resurrect itself .

    Except in Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka, the Congress is fighting for its survival everywhere else.

    This political imbalance is harmful to the democracy,” it said.

    The Congress has done a lot of work in the pre-Indepedence era and even after that.

    The Congress has a contribution in building the nation.

    Even today, the ‘Nehru-Gandhi’ identity of the country cannot be obliterated…The Congress has a strong hold at the grass root level, it said.

    “Congress president Sonia Gandhi has ably carried out her responsibility in the party. Now, Rahul Gandhi has to create a strong team, which will be the answer to the challenge before the party,” the Sena added.

  • BJP leader Mukul Roy leaves for TMC Bhavan amid speculation of return to Mamata’s party

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: BJP national vice president Mukul Roy left his home for the Trinamool Congress headquarters here on Friday afternoon amid speculation that he might return to the ruling party in West Bengal.

    Roy, the former second-in-command of the TMC who joined the saffron party in November 2017, has been distancing himself from the BJP for the last several days.

    ALSO READ | Buzz grows on BJP vice-president Mukul Roy’s return to TMC after Abhishek Banerjee’s hospital visit

    Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee also left her Kalighat residence, as heightened security measures were noticed at the Trinamool Congress Bhavan off the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass here.

    Asked by reporters where he was going as he left his home, Roy answered “Trinamool Bhavan”.

  • Chhattisgarh: BJP MP falls victim to credit card fraud, loses around Rs 37,000

    By PTI
    RAIPUR: BJP’s Rajya Sabha member and former Chhattisgarh minister Ramvichar Netam has become a victim of credit card fraud as an unidentified person allegedly misused it and made a transaction of around Rs 37,000, police said on Friday.

    A complaint in this regard was lodged by the MP’s relative at Telibandha police station in Raipur on Thursday night, a police official said.

    “Unidentified conman has made a transaction of USD 508.92, around Rs 36,844 in Indian currency, by misusing an SBI credit card issued in the name of MP Ramvichar Netam. The transaction was made on February 24 this year,” said Station House Officer (SHO) of Telibandha police station, Sonal Gwala.

    Netam possessed that credit card, but its validity had ended in 2020, following which he had destroyed it.

    After that, Netam did not make any request for its renewal, he said.

    Without the permission and knowledge of Netam, an unidentified trickster fraudulently managed to get the credit card renewed and carried out a transaction of USD 508.92.

    The forgery came to light when the bank’s executive called Netam for payment of Rs 45,668 (which also includes taxes as well as interest against the transaction), he added.

    Initially, Netam told the bank that no such transaction was done by him and the credit card is also not available with him as its validity has ended.

    However, as he continued to get calls from the bank for the payment, he visited the bank, where he came to know about the transaction, after which a complaint was lodged, Gwala said.

    An offence under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered in this connection, he added.

  • Congress leaders hold protest against fuel price hike across the country

    By Online Desk
    Congress leaders and party workers on Friday held symbolic protests at petrol pumps in several parts of the country, demanding a complete rollback of fuel price hike.

    Party leaders K C Venugopal and Shakti Singh Gohil reached the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium petrol pump on a horse cart.

    Venugopal said that under the UPA government, the tax on petrol and diesel stood at Rs 9.20. Now, it is Rs 32.

    “The government should stop imposing excise duty on petrol and diesel. It should come under the purview of Goods and Services Tax. We demand a complete rollback of fuel price hike,” Venugopal, who is the Congress general secretary, said.

    Ajay Maken led a protest against rising fuel prices at petrol pumps in Rajinder Nagar and Janpath.

    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday tweeted, “GDP crashing, Unemployment soaring, Fuel prices skyrocketing. In how many more ways is #BJPlootingIndia?”

    Petrol and diesel prices were hiked again on Friday by 31 paise per litre and 28 paise per litre, respectively.

    “At least Rs 25 can be reduced in fuel prices by cutting excise duty. Where are those who once used to criticise UPA govt over fuel price hikes? With rising fuel prices, consumer goods are also getting expensive,” said Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in Bhopal, according to ANI.

    Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Congress president KS Alagiri along with party workers held protests in Kilpauk, Chennai against the rising fuel prices.

    Punjab, Rajasthan, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka are among the other states that took out protests in solidarity with the national party’s stand.

    Petrol prices have crossed the Rs 100 per litre mark in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Ladakh.

    (Inputs from agencies)

  • Shocking that Param Bir Singh has no trust in state police now, says Supreme Court dismissing transfer petition

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday said it is “shocking” that former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, who has served the state for over 30 years, is now stating that he has no trust in state police and is seeking transfer of all inquiries against him to an independent agency outside Maharashtra.

    “It is commonly said, the person who lives in glass house should not throw stones at others,” said a vacation bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian while hearing Singh’s plea seeking transfer of inquiries against him outside Maharashtra.

    After the apex court observed that it will pass an order dismissing the petition, Singh’s counsel said he would withdraw the plea and would avail other appropriate remedy.

    Singh, a 1988-batch IPS officer, was removed from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner on March 17 and was made the General Commander of Maharashtra State Home Guard after he levelled allegations of corruption and misconduct against the then Home Minister and senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh.

    Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for Singh, said the petitioner can’t keep on facing one case after the other just because he is a “whistleblower” in the matter.

    He said Singh is seeking directions for transferring all inquiries which are already ordered against him outside the state and also that the investigation be transferred to an independent agency like the CBI.

    “This is surprising us. You have been a part of Maharashtra state cadre and served it for over 30 years. Now you are saying that you have no trust in your own state police. This is shocking,” the bench observed.

    During the hearing conducted through video-conferencing, Jethmalani said that the Bombay High Court had ordered a CBI probe into allegations of Singh against Deshmukh.

    He argued that Singh has been pressurised by the inquiry officer to withdraw his letter in which he had levelled allegations against the former minister.

    “These are two different things. The inquiry against the former minister is different and the inquiry against you (Singh) is different. You have served in the police force for over 30 years. You should not have doubt on the police force. You cannot say now that you want inquiries to be done outside the state,” the bench said.

    Jethmalani told the bench that Singh is not living in a “glass house” and false cases have been lodged to frame him.

    The Bombay High Court had earlier ordered a CBI probe into allegations of Singh against Deshmukh who had to resign as the minister.

    In his plea filed in the apex court, the senior police officer has alleged that he has been made to face several inquiries by the state government and its instrumentalities and sought their transfer outside Maharashtra and a probe into them by an independent agency like the CBI.

    Singh has been facing inquiries, including the one under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in a case of 2015 and he has termed this as a witch-hunt by the state agency.

    Singh, in his earlier plea filed before the top court, had sought a CBI probe against Deshmukh who, he claimed, had asked police officers, including Sachin Waze, to extort Rs 100 crore from bars and restaurants.

    The top court had then asked him to go before the Bombay High Court which later ordered CBI probe into Singh’s allegations.

    The state government and the NCP leader subsequently filed an appeal in the apex court but failed to get any relief against the high court order.

    Deshmukh denied any wrongdoing and had said there was not an iota of substantive evidence to even prima facie establish that any of the allegations made by Singh had an element of truth.

    In its 52-page judgement passed earlier, the high court had said that Singh’s allegations against Deshmukh had put at stake the citizen’s faith in the state police.

    Such allegations, made by a serving police officer, against the state home minister could not be left unattended, and were required to be probed into, if prima facie, they made a case of a cognisable offence, the high court had said.

    The high court’s verdict had come on three PILs including one filed by Singh seeking several reliefs as also a CBI probe into the matter.

  • CM Yogi Adityanath calls on PM Modi amidst chaos in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Friday.

    Adityanath met Modi at his residence, a day after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

    The chief minister, who is on a two-day visit to the national capital from Thursday to meet the BJP top brass, is also scheduled to meet party president JP Nadda in the afternoon.

    His visit comes close on the heels of the party holding a series of review meetings in Lucknow, which had fuelled speculation of a ministerial reshuffle in the state.

    During his meeting with Shah, Adityanath presented a copy of the report ‘Solution of Migrant Crisis’.

    His visit to the national capital started a day after Jitin Prasada quit the Congress and joined the BJP.

    After Adityanath met Shah, Prasada called on the Uttar Pradesh chief minister here.

    ALSO READ: MLAs feel CM Yogi Adityanath aloof, relies more on babus

    BJP MLC A K Sharma, a former IAS officer who is seen as a trusted hand of Modi, is also in Delhi to meet party leaders and allies.

    Though there is no official word on whether there will be a Cabinet expansion in Uttar Pradesh, sources said Prasada, who comes from a noted Brahmin family of the state with political heft, and Sharma may be accommodated in such an eventuality.

    BJP’s general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh had earlier this month visited the state to review the party’s preparations for the assembly elections and held meetings with key ministers and organisation leaders.

    Senior BJP leader Radha Mohan Singh, who is in-charge of the party’s affairs in Uttar Pradesh, had also visited the state.

  • West Bengal BJP divided over call for President’s rule

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  A division within the West Bengal unit of the BJP over the question of imposing the president’s rule in the state has come to the fore in recent days.  While a section of BJP functionaries is in favour of imposing Article 356 in the state citing incidents of post-poll violence, others, including party state unit head Dilip Ghosh, want to strengthen the party’s organisation at the grassroots level by organising mass movements.

    Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and three BJP MPs from the state-Nishith Pramanik, Saumitra Khan and Arjun Singh-met the party’s central leadership and placed their demand for president’s rule in West Bengal. After meeting Amit Shah, Adhikari said on Tuesday the post-poll violence in West Bengal is much worse than the situation that deserves Article 356 to be imposed in any state. 

    Meanwhile, Ghosh, addressing a meeting of the party organisation told the party workers to fight against the TMC politically.  Those who are against imposing Article in 356 say it would be a wrong decision. ‘’The ruling party has come to power with massive support of the state’s voters. If we derail the government, it would be an insult to people’s verdict. Instead of doing this, we should build up movements involving common people at the grassroots level on different issues,’’ said a senior BJP leader.

    BJP leader Rajib Banerjee, too, came out against the idea of imposing Article 356 in the state. ‘’Repeated demands for the imposition of presidential rule will not go down well. It will be a foolish act,’’ he said in a social media post. Another BJP leader, who is close to Ghosh, said, “If we repeatedly demand for Article 356, common people will think that we are power-hungry. Besides, we may receive a blow in the court as well.’’

    Another section within the party is prepared to use all means necessary to get the president’s rule imposed, including implementation of the CAA in the state. “West Bengal government will not allow it since Mamata said on a number of occasions that she will never allow the CAA in Bengal. When the state administration will be against the CAA, it can be easily used as a tool to impose Article 356 in Bengal,” said a BJP functionary.

  • Kapil Sibal slams fellow letter writer Jitin Prasada for switching to BJP, says it’s ‘politics of prasada’

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Kapil Sibal, a prominent member of the Congress’ group of 23 leaders who wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking organisational overhaul last year, on Thursday slammed fellow letter signatory Jitin Prasada for crossing over to the BJP and said it represented politics of “prasada” or personal gains.

    The veteran Congress leader also said hypothetically if his party thinks of him as “dead wood” or of no utility, he may think of leaving, but would never join the BJP, asserting that such a switch could only happen “over my dead body”.

    In an interview with PTI, Sibal said if Jitin Prasada would have left the party unhappy over the response of the leadership on the concerns raised by the letter writers that would have been his personal choice and he was entitled to leave, but wondered why he decided to join the BJP.

    “What is the rational basis for that except for ‘prasada (personal gain) politics. We see this happening around the country,” Sibal asserted.

    Asked about the reforms not being implemented which he along with 22 other leaders had sought from the party, Sibal said that is for the top political leaders to decide and that at this stage he has no comments to offer.

    “As long as we are in the Congress and we continue to embrace its ideology, I think all 22 of us, now that we are 22, and many more who were not part of the signed document will continue to raise our issues to strengthen the Congress and where we want the party to go and be the grand old party it was,” he said.

    “And if they tell me at any point in time that they don’t need me, I will decide what to do, but as I said I will not join the BJP over my dead body,” the senior Congress leader asserted.

    In a tweet earlier, Sibal had said the question is will Jitin Prasada get “prasada” from the BJP, or is he just a ‘catch’ for UP elections.

    In such deals if ‘ideology’ doesn’t matter changeover is easy, he tweeted.

    Slamming Jitin Prasada’s switch to the BJP and his hailing the saffron party, Sibal told PTI that the norm in politics now is “Prasada will go for prasada”.

    “From Aaya Ram Gaya Ram we are into ‘prasada (personal gain) politics. We saw this happening recently in West Bengal where en-masse people left the TMC and joined the BJP in the hope that they will contest on a BJP ticket and win because Amit Shah was claiming 200 plus for the BJP. When they faced defeat, they all want to go back to the TMC,” Sibal said.

    ‘Aaya Ram Gaya Ram’ was an expression used widely in politics in the 1990s referring to the frequent floor-crossing and switching of parties.

    Hitting out at switchovers by leaders to the BJP in various states, Sibal said all this shows that there is no concept of principled politics in this country as witnessed in West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, among other places.

    “It is all about prasada. How much prasada you are going to get, no regard for ideology. My criticism of what he (Jitin) has done is not that he has left the party; I cannot criticise him for that, that is his personal decision. But how does he justify to himself joining the BJP,” he said.

    “This is a party he (Jitin) abused for decades. He himself said that his association with the Congress and its ideology was for several decades. How then does he justify joining an ideology which he has opposed for three decades,” Sibal asked.

    The former Union minister said what concerns him is the way ideology is being put aside across the country.

    He cited the example of Haryana and the absence of any rationale in the coalition of the Chautalas and the BJP.

    It is just lust for power, he alleged.

    Pressing his point, Sibal cited the example of the US and the UK, saying the Republicans may be in trouble at this moment but they are not joining the Democrats in America and the same was true of the Labour party and the Conservatives in the UK.

    “Members of Parliaments in Europe do not indulge in such acrobatic switches for personal gain. Those too are functional democracies. Democracy in this country has become dysfunctional because it is not based on ideology,” Sibal said.

    The fight for power should be based on the clash of ideologies and not on personal “prasadas”, he asserted.

    Asked if he could ever think of leaving the party he has been with for decades, Sibal said “If the party considers that I have no value for it I might think of leaving it, but I would never join the BJP. This is because I am wedded to a particular ideology”.

    “Politics is not for personal gain, embracing ideologies which members of a party do not believe just for a Rajya Sabha seat or a position in the party or some other position. That is not my idea of politics,” he asserted.

    Expressing concern over the increasing trend of leaders switching between diametrically opposite ideologies, Sibal said the other real problem is that when people look at politicians behaving in this fashion they believe that these politicians are untrustworthy, unprincipled and have no ideology.

    This has nothing to do with value-based politics.

    If workers see their leaders jettisoning value-based politics they too will do the same, Sibal argued.

    “That weakens the foundations of democracy, the trust of the people in democratic principles and if the foundations of democracy get weakened, the structure one day will collapse. My worry is that my worry is not Jitin Prasada moving away from the Congress,” he said.

    Sibal also slammed the BJP for welcoming ‘prasada politics’.

    Its actions are equally unprincipled, he added.