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Tag: BJP

  • BJP expresses confidence about victory in West Bengal elections 2021

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A day after exit polls gave a divided opinion on the outcome of the West Bengal Assembly election, the BJP expressed confidence on Friday that it will form the next government in the state by winning a majority of the seats after the votes are counted on Sunday.

    “We will get a full majority and form the next government comfortably,” BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav, a key member of the party’s brain trust, said.

    Asked about a few poll forecasts that have given an edge to the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he exuded confidence that the saffron party will get people’s blessings.

    BJP’s IT wing head Amit Malviya, who was actively involved in the campaign as the party’s co-incharge for West Bengal, also expressed confidence about the saffron party forming its maiden government in the eastern state.

    ALSO READ | Exit polls 2021: West Bengal too close to call, DMK has cruising victory, LDF to enjoy second turn

    “We will win comprehensively,” he said and dismissed those exit polls that have put the TMC ahead, saying that is not going to happen.

    The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will very much form the next government, he added.

    The exit polls on Thursday forecast a tight contest between the incumbent TMC and the BJP in the high-profile West Bengal Assembly polls.

    India Today-Axis My India predicted a neck-and-neck contest, giving the BJP 134-160 and the TMC 130-156 seats.

    The Republic-CNX polls also gave the BJP a slight edge by projecting 138-148 seats for the party in the 294-member Assembly and 128-138 to the TMC.

    However, Times Now-C Voter predicted a clear majority for the TMC by projecting 158 seats for the party and 115 for the BJP.

    The Jan Ki Baat exit polls, however, predicted a strong majority for the BJP in West Bengal, giving it 162-185 seats, against 104-121 to the TMC.

    The TMC had won 211 seats and the BJP only three in the 2016 West Bengal polls.

    The Left-Congress alliance was forecast to be further marginalised in the fiercely bipolar contest.

  • CM Adityanath’s experiment to check Covid spread in UP with help of bureaucracy failed: BJP MLA 

    The fact that BJP ministers and MLAs are getting infected with coronavirus and unable to get proper treatment would be considered a shortcoming of the system in the state, Surendra Singh said.

  • Exit Polls 2021 | DMK set to win in Tamil Nadu, Pinarayi to retain power in Kerala

    By Online Desk
    Chances of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress retaining power in West Bengal appeared too close to call, while Assam is likely to give the BJP another shot at power, if exit poll projections on Thursday are anything to go by.

    In Tamil Nadu, exit polls predicted a crushing victory for the MK Stalin-led DMK, while the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF appeared comfortably ahead in the race to retain power in Kerala. As for Puducherry, exit polls put it in the BJP’s pocket.

    ABP News CVoter predicted the Trinamool getting between 152-164 seats, while BJP could get between 109- 121 in West Bengal. The Left alliance, including the Congress, is expected to get between 14-25. On the contrary, the Republic- CNX polls gave the BJP a slight edge by projecting 138-148 seats for the party in the 294-seat Assembly and 128-138 to the Trinamool.

    The eight-phase polls in West Bengal ended on Thursday evening. As for Assam, the BJP-led NDA is likely to beat antiincumbency to retain power. The India Today-Axis My India exit poll gave 75-85 of Assam’s 126 seats to the NDA.

    The Congress’s grand alliance is likely to win 40-50 seats, it predicted. In Tamil Nadu, the exit polls predict a landslide for the Opposition DMK alliance, giving it a staggering 165 of the 234 seats that went to polls.

    The AIADMK, which had the BJP as its ally, could end up end up with 66 seats. As for Kerala, the LDF is all set to retain power with the poll of polls predicting 84 to LDF, 54 to UDF and 2 to the BJP. If the India Today- Axis exit poll is to be believed, the LDF is expected to win around 104-120 seats, UDF 20-36, BJP 0-2 and others 0-2.

    West Bengal

    The exit poll conducted by ABP C-Voter has predicts TMC win in Bengal. While the TMC is expected to bag 152 to 164 seats, the BJP is expected to win 109 to 121 seats. The Congress-Left alliance will manage to win only in 14 to 25 constituencies, says the survey result.

    Meanwhile, an exit poll conducted by Peoples Pulse, an Hyderabad-based research organisation in association with ‘INDIA TV’ predicted BJP’s victory in Bengal.

    Exit Poll Report. Gives the expected outcome seat wise.BJP:173-192;TMC:64-88;LF+:7-12There are 2 mistakes in the report: one, mentions total tally of 291 seats rather than 292 which went to poll. Two, the seat tally of BJP is one less than the actual one.https://t.co/3P51WhWSf1
    — Sajjan Kumar Singh (@sajjanjnu) April 29, 2021

    According to the exit poll results, the BJP will win with comfortable margin in West Bengal with 172 to 191 seats. It gave Mamata Banerjee-led TMC 64 to 88 seats, and Left Front+ 7 to 12 seats.

    The Republic-CNX polls gave the BJP a slight edge by protecting 138-148 seats for the party in the 294-seat assembly and 128-138 to the TMC.

    However, Times Now-C Voter predicted a clear majority for the TMC by projecting 162 seats for the party and 115 for the BJP.

    Assam:

    As per the India Today-Axis My India exit poll for Assam Assembly election, the BJP is expected to get 75-85 seats out of the total 126 seats being contested. On the other hand, the Congress is predicted to get 40-50 seats and others may get 1-4 seats.

    Today’s Chanakya predicted 70 seats for the saffron alliance and 56 for the Congress-led opposition.

    However, As Per the Post Poll Survey conducted by ‘Peoples Pulse’, BJP would get 43-48 seats and the Congress seems to attempt to be closing in with 38-43 seats. 

    The survey said the AIUDF would get about 16 -19 seats and the BPF would get around 7 seats. AGP 7 to 9 seats, AGM 0 to 1 seat, CPM 1 to 2 seats, AJP 0 to 3 seats, RD 0 to 1 seat, UPPL 4 to 5 seats respectively. In this election, the maximum gainer is AIUDF and maximum loser is AGP.

    Tamil Nadu 

    The results of exit polls conducted by Republic TV-CNX has predicted victory of Stalin’s DMK with 160 to 170 seats in the 234-member Assembly.

    Here are the results 

    AIADMK alliance-58-68

    DMK alliance-160-170

    AMMK alliance-4-6

    P-MARQ

    AIADMK alliance-40-65

    DMK alliance-165-190

    AMMK alliance-1-3

    Kerala:

    The India Today-Axis My India exit poll result pedicted that the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left government stands a good chance to create electoral history by becoming the first government to retain power.

    Kerala went to the polls on April 6 to elect 140 legislators and counting will take place on Sunday.

    Here are the results 

    LDF: 104-120UDF: 20-36NDA: 0-2

    Republic-CNX 

    LDF: 72-80UDF: 58-64NDA: 1-5

    Puducherry

    In Puducherry, the NDA will capture power by winning 21 seats in the 30-member House, said Times Now-CVoter opinion poll.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • ‘Trinamool linking COVID surge with polls sensing defeat’: Dilip Ghosh attacks Mamata

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The BJP’s West Bengal president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday claimed that the Trinamool Congress is linking the spike in COVID-19 cases with the eight-phase assembly election in the state as the ruling party has sensed imminent defeat.

    West Bengal is in the eighth spot among the 10 worst coronavirus affected states and none of the other nine experienced polls, he said.

    Chief Minister and TMC supremo had repeatedly urged the Election Commission (EC) to club the last three phases of the polls as COVID-19 cases surged and indicated that the poll panel did not do it at the behest of the BJP.

    The eighth and final phase of polling was held on Thursday.

    “Sensing imminent defeat, the TMC is desperately targeting the Election Commission linking the coronavirus surge with the multiphase polling which was required to ensure free and fair voting,” the Medinipur MP told reporters.

    If large rallies and the multiple-phase election really contributed to the spike, a surge in COVID-19 cases would have been seen at Haldia where Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally in March, or in the Jangalmahal region which went to polls in the initial phases, Ghosh said.

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah also held rallies at various places but no surge was found in those areas, the BJP leader said.

    Asserting that he had addressed numerous meetings throughout all the phases and tested negative for the virus several times, he said, “There cannot be a definitive link between coronavirus surge and polls and crowding. Many people including editors of media houses who sit in sanitised cabins with all precautions have been infected.”

    He asked people not to be swayed by the TMC’s propaganda blaming the EC, BJP and the polls, as it was aimed at creating panic among voters.

    “Let there be more in-depth studies about the reasons behind the sudden spike in COVID cases. Let doctors, experts deliberate and guide us about how to fight this menace unitedly,” he said.

    Ghosh held the TMC government responsible for the lack of health consciousness among a large section of the public who do not wear mask in public places.

    “The casual approach of the Mamata Banerjee government during last year’s lockdown, the frequent changing of lockdown dates and the whimsical relaxations proved that this government was not serious in tackling the issue. This resulted in lack of discipline on hygiene issues among a large section of people,” he said.

    After the BJP government takes over, it will deal with the second wave of the pandemic in a serious manner and take steps in consultation with experts, Ghosh said.

    He praised the EC for holding “a peaceful election in a free and fair atmosphere”.

    “Excepting a single firing incident, the polls were not marked by violence,” Ghosh said apparently referring to the firing by CISF personnel at Sitalkuchi constituency in Cooch Behar district during the fourth phase of polling on April 10, in which four persons were killed.

    “That incident, though unfortunate, had instilled fear among trouble makers and contributed to largely peaceful elections in later phases,” he said.

    Ghosh, who predicted that the BJP will win more than 200 seats in the election for the 294-member assembly, sidestepped a question on who will be the chief minister if the saffron party forms the government.

    “It will be decided by the party after the results are announced,” he said.

  • ‘How did you procure Remdesivir surreptitiously?’ HC asks Maharashtra BJP MP

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday raised objection over BJP Lok Sabha MP Sujay Vikhe Patil allegedly procuring Remdesivir from New Delhi surreptitiously and unofficially and noted the anti-COVID-19 drug is supposed to be distributed equally among needy patients.

    The Aurangabad bench of the HC said while the action of Vikhe Patil, the MP from Ahmednagar in western Maharashtra, might have saved the lives of poor and needy patients, the path he chose was wrong and “this cannot be a Robinhood situation”.

    The court said the entire issue needs to be investigated but it was refraining from doing so at this stage though it pulled up the Ahmednagar district collector for “giving a clean chit” to the Member of Parliament.

    “A wrong path followed is ultimately termed as impropriety. Remdesivir injections are supposed to be used and distributed equally among all and not like this, said a division bench headed by Justice Ravindra Ghuge. We only want to know how he (Vikhe Patil) procured the vials? How did this man procure the Remdesivir vials surreptitiously and unofficially? Justice Ghuge asked.

    The bench was hearing a petition filed by four agriculturists seeking criminal action against Vikhe Patil for alleged unauthorised procurement of 10,000 Remdesivir injections from Delhi and its distribution in Ahmednagar.

    The anti-viral drug, widely used to treat critical coronavirus patients, is in high demand nationwide after the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

    The court, in its order, noted that the Lok Sabha MP had uploaded video recordings and photographs on his social media account showing him in a charted flight and landing at the Shirdi airport and unloading boxes of Remdesivir.

    The HC directed the state’s Principal Secretary (Home) to provide details of landing and take-off of all private and chartered flights from the Shirdi airport in Ahmednagar district from April 10 to April 25.

    The bench also ordered that CCTV footage of the airport, including the cargo area, be preserved.

    “We would not tolerate any excuse of any footage being lost or the details of the landing and take-off of private flights not available, the court said and posted the matter for further hearing on May 3. The court refused to accept arguments made by advocate V D Hon, who said he was appearing for a few patients who were given the Remdesivir injections procured by Vikhe Patil. We are sure lives were saved and the poor and needy benefitted by the actions of the MP. But this cannot be a Robinhood situation where you steal from one group and distribute among another group,” the court observed.

    The HC said it has been informed that 300 Remdesivir injections were handed over to the Ahmednagar district hospital, while an undisclosed number of vials was given to the Sai Baba trust-run hospital in Shirdi.

    The court said the issue needs to be investigated but said it was refraining from doing so at this stage.

    Though we are at this stage refraining from forming any final opinion and ordering investigation, we are of the prima facie view that the administration is trying to protect the MP, the court said.

    The bench was irked when it was informed by the petitioners advocate, Pradnya Talekar, that on Wednesday Ahmednagar Collector Rajendra Bhosale told the local press that the district hospital had asked Vikhe Patil to procure 1,700 vials of the medicine.

    There seems to be some cover up operation.

    Why is the collector going to the press and giving a clean chit to the MP? This officer (Collector) should be immediately transferred out of Ahmednagar.

    “The collectors duty is towards the citizens or the MP?” Justice Ghuge asked.

    Public prosecutor D R Kale submitted to the court a note prepared by the collector on the issue.

    As per the note, the 1,700 vials of Remdesivir procured by the district government hospital from Vikhe Patil came from a medical firm in Pune and not Delhi.

    The court noted that at this stage it was refraining from forming any final opinion and permitted the collector to file an affidavit clarifying his stand.

    The bench noted that if the local police and administration cannot be trusted with an inquiry, the court would consider directing the CBI or the state CID to investigate the matter.

  • ‘Despite price slash, states to pay double that of Centre for COVID vaccine’: Abhishek Banerjee

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday said that the price of COVID-19 vaccine for states has been reduced by Rs 100, but still they are forced to part with double the amount of what the Centre will pay to the manufacturer.

    Serum Institute of India (SII) — the maker of Covishield, the most used vaccine against coronavirus in the country — on Wednesday announced a cut in price of the jab it plans to sell to states to Rs 300 per dose from the earlier Rs 400.

    This follows widespread criticism of its pricing policy as it has sold the initial doses of Covishield to the central government at Rs 150 per dose.

    “After great embarrassment over vaccine prices, the Centre has reduced it for the states from Rs 400 to Rs 300. However, the Centre is still procuring the vaccines for Rs 150, and the states have been forced to pay double the amount. This differentiation is unjustified,” the TMC MP from Diamond Harbour tweeted.

    “Is the PM creating this unjust difference because 63% of India never voted for him?” he asked.

    Banerjee, the president of the youth wing of the Trinamool Congress, also alleged that the Narendra Modi government “is looting the states and taking cut money from vaccines meant to save the people of our country from this devastating pandemic”.

    Interestingly, the BJP during the election campaigning in the state has repeatedly alleged that people of West Bengal have to pay “cut money” (bribe) to get government benefits under the TMC regime.

    Banerjee also demanded one price for vaccines for the entire country.

    The SII, which manufactures the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at Pune, had on April 21 announced a price of Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals and at Rs 400 for state governments and for any new contract by the Centre.

  • COVID: UP registers highest daily deaths; HC judge, BJP MLA succumb to the virus

    By PTI
    ALLAHABAD: Justice Virendra Kumar Srivastava of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court died of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

    He was 59.

    Srivastava, who had tested positive for coronavirus, was undergoing treatment at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute (SGPGI) in Lucknow.

    While giving this information, Allahabad High Court Registrar (Protocol) Ashish Kumar Srivastava said that Justice Srivastava died at SGPGI on Wednesday.

    The Allahabad High Court and its Lucknow bench will remain closed on Thursday to mourn the death of Justice Srivastava.

    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed grief over the death of Justice Srivastava, the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement issued in Lucknow on Wednesday.

    Kesar Singh Gangwar, the sitting BJP MLA from Bareilly’s Nawabganj constituency, on Wednesday succumbed to COVID-19.

    He was 64.

    Family sources said that Gangwar was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Noida for the past few days, where he died.

    He had recently tested positive for coronavirus.

    Gangwar is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son.

    He was a member of the Legislative Council from the BSP in 2009, and in 2017 he joined the BJP, and won the Assembly election from Nawabganj.

    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and state Legislative Assembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit condoled his death, while state BJP chief Swatantradev Singh and general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal expressed their sorrow.

    Gangwar is the third MLA in the state who succumbed to the virus in the second wave.

    Before this, BJP MLA from Auraiya Ramesh Chandra Diwakar (56) died on April 23 in Meerut, while Suresh Kumar Srivastava (76), the BJP MLA from Lucknow West, succumbed to the viral disease on April 23.

    The state on Wednesday recorded the highest single-day rise in its COVID-19 death toll with 266 more people succumbing to disease, while 29,824 new cases pushed the tally to 11,82,848.

    The death toll in the state now stands at 11,943.

    A total of 35,903 COVID-19 patients were discharged after recovery in the past 24 hours.

    Of the 266 fresh deaths, Allahabad recorded 21 deaths, followed by 15 in Hardoi, 14 in Varanasi, 13 each in Lucknow and Kanpur, 12 each in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad, 11 in Gorakhpur and 10 in Agra, the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement here.

    Of the new cases, Lucknow reported 3,759 cases, followed by 1,909 in Varanasi, 1,650 in Kanpur, 1,355 in Meerut, 1,261 in Allahabad, 1,076 in Agra, 1,045 in Gorakhpur and 1,041 in Bareilly.

    A total of 8,70,864 COVID-19 patients have been discharged after recovery so far.

    The total number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 3,00,041, the statement said.

    In the past 24 hours, more than 1.86 lakh samples in the state have been tested for COVID-19, taking the total samples tested so far to 4.03 crore.

  • ‘Ill thought out’: Trinamool hits out at EC COVID guidelines for agents, candidates

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The TMC has termed a recent Election Commission notification listing COVID protocols for counting agents in the ongoing Assembly polls as “ill-thought out”, pointing out several contradictions in the order.

    In the order, the EC has given directions for submission of a negative COVID test report of an election agent, counting agent and/or candidate before they are permitted to enter the counting hall.

    “However, the time mandated for providing such a negative report has been stated as within 48 hours of start of counting, which effectively means by May 4, 2021.

    Please clarify your intentions,” the TMC said in a letter addressed to the poll body.

    It also said that while the EC has mandated candidates to submit a list of counting agents by 1700 hours on April 29, as per directions, there is a provision for replacement of such counting agent “in case report is positive”.

    “In other words, if one of the counting agents whose name has been given as per directions is found to be COVID-19 positive, in such a case please clarify what would be the procedure and time frame for replacement of such counting agent.

    “We call upon you to immediately address the aforesaid concerns and clarify the same,” the Bengal party said.

    Candidates or their agents will not be allowed inside counting halls without a negative coronavirus report or without having both COVID-19 vaccine doses, the Election Commission said on Wednesday in its latest guidelines for counting of votes on May 2.

    Issued amid spiralling coronavirus cases, the guidelines bar public gatherings outside venues during the counting process, but allow candidates to name a fresh agent if the first one tests positive for COVID-19.

    Counting of votes for assembly polls in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, besides various other assemblies and Lok Sabha bypolls begins at 8 am on May 2.

    “No candidates or agents will be allowed inside the counting hall without undergoing RT-PCR/RAT test or without having two doses of vaccination against COVID-19 and will have to produce negative RT-PCR report or RAT report or vaccination reports within 48 hours of start of counting,” the guidelines read.

  • People should win, says Bangladeshi MP, original creator of Trinamool’s ‘Khela hobe’ slogan

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A political game will be successful only if there is no loss of life and people smile in the end, believes Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League MP Shamim Osman, considered the creator of the ‘Khela hobe (game will happen ) slogan, used amply by the Trinamool Congress during the ongoing assembly elections in West Bengal.

    The two-word slogan ‘Khela Hobe’ of the TMC has become so popular during the high-octane campaigning that even the BJP, which is trying to dethrone the Mamata Banerjee government, has used it in its own way.

    Talking to PTI from Dhaka in an exclusive interview, the MP of Narayanganj-4, said that he started using the slogan in 2016 in an entirely different context, when they were fighting “anti-independence forces” in Bangladesh, but will be happy if the people on the other side of the border win the ‘khela’ and there is no bloodshed.

    “I have heard that politicians in Bengal have been using the Khela hobe slogan. But I do not know in what context they are using it. It will be the asol khela (real game) if the people of Bengal win it,” the sexagenarian politician said.

    Asked in what context he had coined the ‘Khela hobe’ slogan in 2016, Osman said that it was used against the anti- liberation forces of Bangladesh.

    The senior Awami League leader alleged that the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) were against the nation’s freedom but they got a chance to be in full-fledged politics.

    “The Jamaat along with the BNP had carried out destructions in Bangladesh for at least three months during 2013-14. People will not forget that. It was at that point of time we coined the khela hobe slogan (at a public rally).”

    “You want to play, okay fine. let’s play. We wanted to show them who has the support of people. The game was between those who were against independence and those who were in favour of independence, in favour of peace. And it was proved that people were with us,” Osman said.

    This year, The TMC’s Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal first started using the slogan and later the party’s theme song was written with the two words coming as a refrain.

    After that, every TMC leader including Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee was heard uttering ‘Khela hobe’ in their public meetings.

    “In India, people who are into politics were never against the independence of the country and they all wanted the country to stay together. But in Bangladesh, this was not the case. That’s the beauty of Indian politics,” he said.

    Osman said he had shared a very cordial relationship with India’s former President Pranab Mukherjee and ex-chief minister of West Bengal Jyoti Basu.

    “I was very close to Pranab Mukherjee and Jyoti Basu. Pranab-babu was like a father figure to me. And I have seen how cordial these politicians were towards each other despite their ideological differences,” the Awami League MP said.

    He expressed hope that India will achieve the status of a superpower.

    “We, who are in the Sheikh Hasina government, want the Indian democracy to flourish more. The more India will be powerful, Bangladesh will progress. India is trying to be a superpower whereas we are developing,” he signed off.

  • Centre and EC have the blood of COVID-19 patients on their hands: TMC

    TMC MP Sougata Roy told reporters here that in April, PM Modi and minister Amit Shah had addressed 50 poll rallies with two meetings held on an average daily despite the surge in COVID-19 cases.