News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • Sushil Modi report gets Lalu’s daughter Rohini Acharya’s Twitter account locked; Deepa Manjhi also joins tussle

    By Express News Service
    PATNA: Acting after being reported by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi, the Twitter on Friday locked account of Rohini Acharaya, daughter of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.

    It was done after Rohini Acharaya’s series of tweets rebuking senior former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi in reaction against his tweet asking Tejashwi Yadav on not take services of two MBBS sisters in running the Covid Care Centre.

    Modi had tweeted soon after Tejashwi Yadav announced about the 50-bed Covid Care Centre set up at his govt bunglow. “Tejashwi Yadav has two sisters MBBS doctors in his family. Why were their services not taken during the Corona infection times? If the RJD leadership has so seriousness and readiness to serve the poor, permission would have been first taken from the government to start the hospital and its standards would have been followed”. Modi had tweeted.

    Irked over this tweet of Modi, Rohini Acharya made a series of tweet targeting Sushil Kumar Modi using abusive language against Modi. Modi taking the not of Rohini’s language, reported to twitter.

    Modi on Friday confirmed through a tweet: “Twitter account of one of very vocal female members of Lalu’s family has been locked by Twitter for using abusive and derogatory language against me.”

    Later, Rohini took it to Facebook and posted, “If this zeal were shown in hospitals, ambulances, oxygen supplies, medicine supplies, Bihar would have applauded you.”

    The escalated Twitter war took an interesting turn when daughter in-law of one of the NDA allies-HAM’s chief Jitan Ram Manjhi jumped in between Modi and Rohini Acharya.

    Taking to her twitter on Friday, Deepa Santosh Manjhi, wife of NDA minister Santosh Manjhi, reprimanded Rohini and started advising Rohini to live properly.

    Manjhi dubbed Rohini as fake Singaporean doctor and raised that how another daughter (estrange wife of Tej Pratap Yadav) was demanding justice, whose life was ruined by the Lalu family.

    In one day, Deepa Santosh Manjhi became an instant hit in the politics of Bihar through series of tweets  done attacking Rohini Acharya.

  • BJP spent over Rs 24 crore on star campaigners’ chartered flights in Bihar polls: Report

    In addition to it, the gross expenses made by the BJP #39;s Bihar unit during the election period stood at nearly Rs 28 crore, while a total of Rs 16.5 crore was given to the party candidates.

  • Twitter action validates our stand that BJP manipulated media: Congress on ‘Covid toolkit’ issue

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress Friday said its stand on the ‘Covid toolkit’ issue stands validated after Twitter used the ‘manipulated media’ tag for BJP leaders Sambit Patra’s tweets on the alleged Opposition party document on how to target the Centre over its COVID-19 handling.

    The Congress reaction came even as the government asked Twitter to remove the ‘manipulated media’ label, saying the matter is pending before the law-enforcement agency.

    Congress leader K C Venugopal said, “The Congress stand has been validated by Twitter’s action itself. What the Congress has been telling for the last so many days and years about the BJP’s false propaganda and spreading lies is actually validated by this single incident.”

    “We will take note of it and will take further action,” he said, when asked about the Congress’ follow-up action.

    Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said the world should see how India’s ruling party is “trying to create manipulative media during a pandemic without fulfilling its own duty”.

    “The people should see this,” he said.

    “The Congress has pledged that it will not ignore such things, as they (the BJP) have been doing so in the past too. We will reply emphatically.”

    He also said that the party would continue to pursue action on a police complaint against BJP chief JP Nadda, Union minister Smriti Irani and Patra, among others, for “peddling a false narrative” through social media.

    “The law will take its own course. We will continue with the legal remedies,” Khera said, when asked about the future of Congress’ police complaint.

    The Congress leader said it will also pursue with Twitter for further stricter action against the BJP leaders.

    The Congress had on Thursday written to Twitter asking it to permanently suspend the accounts Nadda, Irani, Patra and other BJP leaders for allegedly “spreading misinformation and unrest in the society”.

    Their communication to the social media site had come two days after they filed a police complaint against the BJP leaders after they tweeted a so-called ‘toolkit’, attributing it to the Congress, on how to target the Modi government over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    The Congress has said the document was “forged”.

    While the Congress was seeking permanent suspension of the Twitter handles of the four BJP leaders, the micr0-blogging site labelled as “manipulated media” Patra’s tweet about the alleged toolkit.

    The government, while asking Twitter to remove the tag, made it clear that the social media platform cannot pass judgment when the issue is under investigation.

  • Sonia Gandhi slams Centre for ‘anti-people’ activities, ‘exploiting’ farmers

    By PTI
    RAIPUR: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of indulging in anti-people activities, playing with the future of farmers and acting against their interests by bringing new agriculture laws.

    She praised the Congress government in Chhattisgarh, saying that it was trying to bring about a change in the lives of common people, particularly farmers, by empowering them financially.

    Gandhi said this in a written message read out by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel at a function held at his official residence here to disburse cash benefits to farmers and cattle-rearers under two schemes of the state government on the occasion of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary.

    In her message, she hailed the Bhupesh Baghel-led dispensation saying that these schemes are a tribute in a true sense to Rajiv Gandhi.

    “In the current situation, when the BJP government at the Centre is involved in anti-people activities, playing with the future of cultivators, taking every steps against interests of farmers by bringing laws (referring to new farms laws) and exploiting them, I am satisfied that Congress government in Chhattisgarh has been seriously fulfilling its poll promises,” Gandhi said in the message.

    The government led by Baghel has been continuously making efforts to bring happiness and change in lives of common people, particularly ‘annadata’ (food providers), by economically empowering them, she said.

    “Rajiv Gandhi ji always kept the interest of common people in his thoughts and resolution.

    He wanted to see farmers, workers, poor and backward people economically strong and happy.

    The step by Chhattisgarh government (to provide cash benefit to farmer and cattle rearers) on his death anniversary is a tribute in a true sense to him,” she added.

    Virtually speaking on the occasion, AICC’s Chhattisgarh in-charge P L Punia slammed the Centre saying that while the Central Vista project is the priority of the union government, the Chhattisgarh government’s priority is its farmers and cattle-rearers.

    Due to the coronavirus crisis, the state government has halted several of its major projects, including the new state assembly building, Governor house and CM house buildings, but overcoming the challenges, it provided cash benefits to farmers, which reflects its concern for them, he said.

    On the occasion, Baghel transferred a sum of Rs 1,500 crore into bank accounts of about 22 lakh farmers as the first instalment of agricultural input subsidy under the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojna (RGKNY) for the kharif crop season 2020-21 for paddy cultivation.

    Besides, Rs 7.17 crore were also transferred into the accounts of cattle-rearers as payment against the dung procurement between March 15 and May 15 under the Godhan Nyay Yojana.

    The RGKNY scheme was launched on May 21 last year with an aim to encourage crop production in the state.

    Under this scheme, the state government had given Rs 5,628 crore at the rate of Rs 10,000 per acre to about 19 lakh farmers in kharif season 2019-20 in four installments for paddy cultivation.

    In kharif season 2020-21, farmers will be provided an input subsidy of Rs 9,000 per acre for paddy cultivation.

  • ‘Only CMs of BJP-ruled states allowed to speak’: Mamata calls PM Modi’s COVID meeting ‘super-flop’

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday complained that state chief ministers were reduced to being puppets and not allowed to speak at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting on the COVID-19 situation with district magistrates and officials despite being invited.

    Alleging that the Prime Ministers meeting was a “super flop”, Banerjee said that she along with her counterparts from many states were not allowed to speak, which was akin to insulting them.

    She also claimed that only CMs of the BJP-ruled states were allowed to speak at the meeting, while others were “reduced to puppets”.

    The Prime Ministers interaction was a planned event with district magistrates on the COVID-19 situation. However, several chief ministers, including those from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, where these officers are posted, were also invited.

    “This was a casual and super flop meeting. Only CMs of BJP-ruled states were allowed to speak and others were reduced to (being) puppets.

    “We feel insulted and humiliated. This is an attempt to bulldoze the federal structure of the country. PM Modi is so insecure that he did not listen to us,” Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat ‘Nabanna’.

    ALSO READ | BJP says Mamata Banerjee tried to derail PM Modi’s meeting with district magistrates

    BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari counter-attacked his former mentor, tweeting today our respected CM has once again shown her total disinterest in administration.

    True to her style, she has politicised a meeting Honble PM held with district officials, where grassroot level practices to fight COVID-19 were being discussed.

    Adhikari complained that while Banerjee had skipped several meetings with the PM, she now hijacks a PM-DM meet to say she was denied a chance to speak.

    Banerjee however complained that the prime minister neither asked how West Bengal is handling the COVID situation and nor enquire about the situation stock of vaccines or oxygen.

    “There was not a single question from the PM about the ‘black fungus’,” she said, adding that four such cases have been detected in the state.

    Referring to the PM’s claim that the COVID-19 caseload is reducing in the country, Banerjee asked, “If the total number of cases is declining, why are so many deaths due to the coronavirus infection being reported.”

  • Don’t blame Kumbh Mela for spread of COVID-19: Ravi Kishan to Opposition

    By PTI
    GORAKHPUR: BJP MP Ravi Kishan on Wednesday asked the Congress leaders and other opposition parties to stop blaming the Kumbh Mela for the spread of coronavirus in the country.

    In a video message, the Member of Parliament from Gorakhpur said the pandemic has engulfed the entire world and blaming Kumbh or Hinduism for its spread was wrong.

    “Please don’t do politics on the pandemic and come together and help people. You have been doing politics for the last 70 years and if you exist, you will do it in future but this is not the right time to play politics over deaths of people,” Kishan said referring to the Congress party.

    “Go and talk to those who lost their family members due to COVID-19. Please help in saving lives instead of doing politics,” he added.

    “The BJP is here for the service of the people and not for doing politics, and BJP workers, MPs , MLAs as well as RSS along with other organisations are continuously serving people,” he claimed.

    “You (Congress) are putting efforts to defame PM Narendra Modi and SP, BSP, Mamta ji (Mamata Banerjee) all are doing the same. Please spare Hinduism and Kumbh Mela as there is no Kumbh Mela in other parts of the world but the entire world is facing this pandemic,” he said.

  • Mukul Roy suppressed Narada case information in poll affidavit, claims Trinamool

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday alleged that while filing nomination for the recently held assembly election, BJP vice-president and West Bengal MLA Mukul Roy suppressed in the affidavit that he was an accused in the Narada sting tape case.

    Another BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari mentioned the Narada case in his affidavit, but he did not specify the sections under which it was filed, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed.

    While two TMC senior ministers and an MLA, besides a former party leader, were arrested by the CBI in the Narada sting tape case on Monday, Roy and Adhikari were not, though they too were accused in the case.

    The CBI also filed the chargesheet against the four in a special court on May 17.

    The TMC has claimed that the BJP is behind the episode.

    “It is necessary for a candidate to mention cases against him or her in the affidavit. Mukul Roy has suppressed the Narada case completely in his affidavit,” Ghosh said.

    ALSO READ | Narada case: Arrested Trinamool leaders to stay in jail; Governor raps Mamata government over protests in front of Raj Bhavan

    The TMC spokesperson wondered whether Roy had got the BJP’s assurance beforehand that he would not be touched in the Narada case.

    “In sharp contrast, our three arrested candidates – Subrata Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim and Madan Mitra – had referred to the Narada case in their affidavits,” he said.

    Ghosh said that the party will soon decide what steps would be taken on Roy’s “suppression of information in the affidavit”, but the BJP leader should resign from the assembly on moral grounds.

    Roy was not available for comments.

    The BJP-led government at the Centre has failed to control the COVID-19 pandemic and is now trying to divert peoples attention by “unnecessarily” arresting the leaders when coronavirus cases are surging, the TMC spokesperson claimed.

    Ghosh said that the TMC will not comment on the ongoing hearing at the Calcutta High Court on the Narada case and it has full faith in the judiciary.

    State BJP spokesman Shamik Bhattacharya said that the CBI was doing its job in the Narada sting tape case and the saffron party was unfairly being dragged into the issue.

    ALSO READ | CM Mamata, law minister Ghatak made parties in CBI petition before HC to transfer Narada case 

    The sting operation was conducted by journalist Mathew Samuel of Narada News, a web portal, in 2014 wherein some people resembling TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of favours.

    At that time, the four arrested politicians were ministers in the Mamata Banerjee government.

    The sting operation was made public ahead of the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal.

    The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the sting operation in March 2017.

  • ‘Toolkit’ issue: NSUI files FIR against BJP leaders Raman Singh, Sambit Patra in Raipur

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress’ students wing, NSUI on Wednesday lodged an FIR here against former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra over the ‘toolkit issue’ for allegedly “forging” the letterhead of AICC Research Department and printing “false and fabricated” content.

    The BJP had hit out at the Congress on Tuesday over an alleged toolkit of the opposition party, saying it wants to tarnish the image of the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling the new strain of the coronavirus the “India strain” or the “Modi strain”.

    The Congress had accused the BJP of propagating a “fake toolkit” to defame it.

    The case for `spreading fake news’ and “promoting enmity between classes’ was filed at Civil Lines police station on the complaint of Akash Sharma, state chief of the National Students Union of India.

    Sharma alleged that BJP leaders circulated fabricated content using a fake letterhead.

    The purpose of spreading this fake content was to divert the attention from the Modi Government’s mammoth failure to help people during the coronavirus pandemic, alleged Sharma.

    The case was registered under IPC sections 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505(1)(b) (circulating rumour or report with intent to cause fear or alarm).

    The opposition BJP in the state said the Congress’s attempt to save its face by registering an FIR will not work.

    Senior BJP MLA Brijmohan Agrawal said the Congress had allegedly created a toolkit to defame the prime minister and the country.

    When it was exposed, it was trying to save its face by lodging FIRs, he said.

  • BJP Barabanki MP accuses Sunni Waqf Board of land-grabbing, backs mosque demolition

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: BJP’s Barabanki MP Upendra Rawat wrote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday, supporting the demolition of a mosque in the district and accusing the Sunni Waqf Board of grabbing government land.

    The Waqf Board has grabbed government land in the name of mosques and got them registered illegally, Rawat said, demanding a probe in the matter.

    The Barabanki administration had on Monday night pulled down the mosque at the Ram Sanehi Ghat tehsil, saying the construction was illegal and demolished on court orders.

    “I request the chief minister to probe the illegal grabbing of land by the Sunni Waqf Board in the name of mosques in districts and take strict action against those found guilty,” Rawat wrote.

    Speaking to PTI, the MP referred to the Sunni Waqf Board’s stand that the mosque was 100 years old and asked why it was registered in 2018 if it was that old.

    Waqf Board chairman Zufur Farooqui, meanwhile, said the board was ready for any probe in this matter.

    Asked about the Ram Sanehi Ghat mosque, he said it was registered in 1968 as a religious place.

    The All-India Muslim Law Board (AIMPLB) and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board on Tuesday demanded a judicial probe into the demolition.

    “The century-old Garib Nawaz mosque in Ram Sanehi Ghat tehsil was demolished by the administration without any legal justification on Monday night in the presence of police,” AIMPLB working general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani said in a statement.

    Barabanki District Magistrate (DM) Adarsh Singh, however, said the structure was illegal, and the tehsil administration got its possession on March 18.

    He said the the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had disposed of a petition filed in this connection on April 2, which proved that the construction was illegal.

    The DM said a case was then filed in the court of the sub-divisional magistrate of Ram Sanehi Ghat, and its orders were complied with on May 17.

    Farooqui said the Waqf Board will soon file a court case.

  • For 20 days, BJP believed that Mandal is distributing dried grains

    BJP Mana Mandal is continuously serving the people during the transition period of Corona. Since 20 days, dry grain is being distributed under Deendayal Food Assistance. The work is being done by the activists of Mana Mandal led by District Media In-charge Rajkumar Rathi and Divisional President Ravindra Singh Thakur. Mr. Rathi said that due to the closure of the temple in lockdown, food is not being arranged for the beggars who sit outside the temple. By identifying such people, dry grain is being distributed by BJP Mana Mandal. Information about this was given to BJP state cum office minister Chhagan Mundra today. Mr. Mundada praised the work being done by BJP Mana Mandal to motivate the general public to apply vaccine along with dry grains and help the elderly to reach the vaccine center. District media in-charge Rajkumar Rathi, Divisional President Ravindra Singh Thakur, BJP Youth Front State Treasurer Hemant Sevalani, Chhaya Councilor Vilas Sutar, General Secretary Meghuram Sahu, Dr. Vivek Shrivastava, Prem Tandon, Amlesh Singh were present on the occasion.