News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • Hurt over his removal as Uttarkhand CM, Trivendra Rawat compares himself with Abhimanyu

    By PTI
    DEHRADUN Uttarkahnd’s former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Friday gave voice to his apparent ‘hurt’ over his sudden removal from the post, indirectly comparing himself with Abhimanyu, a Mahabharata character killed by treachery.

    Singh made the comparison while addressing a large number of his supporters during a Holi Milan programme.

    “Draupadi did not grieve over the death of Abhimanyu because the Kauravas had killed him by treachery. Instead of grieving, she exhorted the Pandavas to avenge the killing,” Rawat said, addressing the programme at Balawala as the chief guest.

    One has to retaliate, not grieve, against those who commit treachery, he told the audience.

    Rawat, who was removed as the chief minister earlier this month nine days ahead of the completion of four years in the office, said as CM, he tried to focus on empowering women and the youth but that may not have gone down well with some people.

    “But I am happy that I have emerged untainted out of the dark tunnel of politics (four-year term as CM). I wouldn’t ever do anything that makes me incapable of seeing straight into the eyes of my people,” he said.

    The programme was held at Milan wedding point on Thursday where Rawat’s supporters had gathered in large numbers to listen to him and celebrate the festivals of colours.

  • Congress, BJP spar over PM’s ‘I did Satyagraha’ remark in Bangladesh

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress and the BJP on Friday sparred over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark that he did satyagraha for Bangladesh’s freedom, with the opposition party questioning the statement’s veracity and the ruling party asserting that it was true.

    Addressing the main golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh’s Independence and the birth centenary of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka in the presence of his counterpart Sheikh Hasina and President Abdul Hamid, Modi recalled the 1971 war and said the pictures of atrocities that the Pakistan Army inflicted on the people in then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) used to disturb people in India.

    “I must have been 20-22 years old when I and my colleagues did satyagraha for Bangladesh’s freedom,” he said.

    Tagging the prime minister’s remarks, Tharoor said, “International education: our PM is giving Bangladesh a taste of Indian ‘fake news’. The absurdity is that everyone knows who liberated Bangladesh.”

    Another Congress leader Jairam Ramesh shared a cartoon taking a dig at Modi and tweeted, “Entire Political Science by Narendra Modi.”

    BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya tweeted, “Was Prime Minister Modi part of satyagrah organised by Jana Sangha for recognition of Bangladesh? Yes, he was.”

    “A citation awarded by Bangladesh to Vajpayee ji speaks of the rally. PM Modi, in a book authored in 1978, also wrote about going to Tihar during Bangladesh satyagrah!” he said and shared a snapshot of the citation to Vajpayee.

  • BJP complains to EC over Trinamool candidate ‘distributing cash’ among voters

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The BJP on Friday drew the attention of the Election Commission to a video in which a Trinamool Congress candidate is seen allegedly distributing cash among the electorate.

    The BJP also made complaints about TMC workers “unleashing terror” in poll-bound districts in collusion with a section of the state police.

    In a letter to the poll panel, the saffron party attached links of the video, released on Friday, which showed an ex-minister and a TMC candidate from Purulia purportedly distributing cash among the voters.

    “It is a blatant violation of the model code of conduct that says all parties and candidates shall avoid scrupulously all activities which are corrupt practices and offences under the election law,” the letter signed by senior state BJP leaders said.

    The TMC denied the charge, alleging that the video was doctored and said it was the saffron party leaders “bringing in outsiders with bagfuls of cash to bribe the electorate”.

    The BJP also urged the EC to suspend four police officers.

    “They should be suspended forthwith for not executing their official work with due diligence, and helping the Trinamool Congress and its members in carrying out malpractice, irregularities,” it said.

    In another complaint to the EC, the BJP demanded immediate and necessary action against the “continuous targeted political killings of its workers to create fear psychosis and get electoral gains”.

  • Reject outsiders making daily trips to Bengal from Delhi to seek votes: Abhishek Banerjee

    By PTI
    TALDANGRA: Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee on Friday said that the upcoming assembly polls is about rejecting “outsiders” who are travelling to West Bengal from Delhi like daily passengers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    The TMC, which has made ‘Bengali pride’ its core poll plank, has tagged the saffron party as a “party of outsiders” as its top leaders hail from outside the state.

    “The daily passengers are claiming that they will make ‘Sonar Bangla’, but why could they not make golden Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh?,” Banerjee asked.

    Abhishek, the nephew of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, said at an election rally here in Bankura district that the PM along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states have been embarking on daily visits to the state from the national capital to campaign for the BJP.

    Highlighting that Mamata Banerjee has already turned the state into ‘Sonar Bangla’ by providing free education, health and ration to the people, the Diamond Harbour MP asked the voters to show gratitude by casting their votes in favour of TMC candidates.

    Alleging that Modi did not keep his assurances like providing jobs and Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of people, the TMC leader said that the chief minister, however, has fulfilled all her promises.

    He said, “the BJP does not have candidates of its own and waits for those thrown out by the TMC for nominating them”.

    Accusing the BJP of copying the TMC’s manifesto, Banerjee said “They are stealing our leaders, manifesto and even songs.”

    The TMC leader claimed that the BJP has promised ‘Annapurna Canteen’ for people by copying the concept TMC’s ‘Maa Canteen’ providing food at Rs 5 per plate, which has already been operationalised.

    The BJP in its election manifesto gave an assurance that ‘Annapurna Canteens’ will be set up in the state to provide cooked food three times a day at Rs 5 per meal.

    Claiming that the central government is selling off enterprises like Air India, Railways and BSNL, he said that “the BJP will sell off the assets of the state if it comes to power in Bengal.”

  • BJP providing shelter to criminals in Purba Medinipur, Trinamool tells EC

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Friday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission accusing the BJP of providing shelter to miscreants in parts of West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district to create violence on polling days.

    TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’ Brien and Lok Sabha MP Kakali Ghosh Dastidar told reporters they have several reports about “miscreants being brought to Purba Medinipur from neighbouring districts and Kolkata ahead of the polls”.

    “We have information that criminals are being brought to Patashpur, Egra, Bhagabanpur, Khejuri to foment disturbances. Many outsiders are staying at local houses. This is a violation of the poll guidelines,” Ghosh Dastidar said after meeting the EC officials.

    They sought deployment of additional central forces in constituencies of the district where assembly elections will be held on Saturday.

    “We have received inputs that at Kanthi (Uttar and Dakshin), Bhagabanpur, Khejuri, Egra, Ramnagar and Patashpur, there is going to be considerable violence planned by the BJP on the day preceding the poll as well as the polling days,” the ruling party in West Bengal said in a letter to the EC.

    The party also alleged that deployment of central armed forces is “significantly less” in these areas, which it suspects is “out of the failure of local intelligence collection, or ignoring the inputs or deliberate avoidance to blatantly favour the BJP”.

    Ghosh Dastidar also said TMC candidate from Khejuri was attacked by his political rivals on Thursday.

    “We have also information that miscreants are being brought to Nandigram to create disturbances in the constituency on April 1, the day of polling, and before that. We urge the EC to ensure free and fair elections,” she said.

    The Trinamool Congress has accused BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari of “harbouring armed criminals” in Nandigram.

    Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is pitted against Adhikari, her former confidante who joined the BJP some time ago, in the high-profile Nandigram seat.

    The TMC also alleged that outsiders of the constituency have been staying at nine locations there.

    The party accused the local police of not taking any action against the BJP and sought the Election Commission’s intervention into the matter.

    “We call upon you to immediately intervene and direct necessary steps to be taken by the police under your supervision to forthwith apprehend all such armed criminals hired and harboured by Suvendu Adhikari,” the letter said.

  • Gadkari takes on Congress for its guarantee to nullify CAA in Assam if voted to power

    By PTI
    DHARAMPUR/GOLAKGANJ/GUWAHATI: Senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari Friday lashed out at the Congress for its “guarantee” to the people of Assam of bringing in a legislation in the state assembly to nullify the Citizenship (Amendment) Act if voted to power in the state.

    The union road transport minister said Congress is engaged in opportunistic vote bank politics and has compromised the country’s security by its minority appeasement.

    Without taking any name, he said some people and some party have supported infiltration in Assam and tried to give the infiltrators voting rights, which is not beneficial for the country.

    BJP’s political agenda on the other hand is development, unity and security of the country and the party is fully committed to it, he said addressing poll rallies at Dharmapur and Golakganj and at a press conference here.

    “The CAA is a central law. No one can change it in an Assembly. Rahul Gandhi does not know that or what?” he said.

    Gadkari’s comment follows the one by BJP national president J P Nadda, who while releasing the party’s Assam poll manifesto earlier this week had said CAA had been passed by Parliament and would be implemented in the country.

    It had trigerred state-wide protests by political parties and the All Assam Students Union, which had been in the forefront of the 2019 agitation against CAA.

    Congress in its “Five guarantees” to Assam promised that would nullify CAA in Assam by bringing in a legislation in the state assembly, besides providing five lakh government jobs to youths in five years, 200 units of free electricity for every household, increasing the daily wages of the tea garden workers to Rs 365 and Rs 2000 per month to homemakers if voted to power.

    Gadkari said, “This is a very important election. It is not to decide the future of Congress, but to decide the future of Assam. The BJP government did more work in the state in five years than what Congress did in 50 years.”

    “The difference between BJP and Congress is that the opposition party does opportunistic vote bank politics and has surrendered the country’s security for the sake of its appeasement politics. To appease the minorities, Congress is playing with the nation’s security,” Gadkari said.

    The union minister listed a host of projects that his ministry has implemented in the state and the north east.

    He said Assam will be one of the top states in India if BJP returns to power in the state.

    “During our tenure, road work of 30,000 crore have been completed in Assam. Sanctions for another Rs 50,000 crore for roads have been given. At present, work for Rs 35,000 crore is on. Assam will have completed roads of Rs two lakh crore in the next five years,” he added.

    Besides, the Centre has approved Rs 1,300 crore bamboo mission and other industries like an ethanol plant for the state.

    He said the northeast region will be developed as a manufacturing hub for incense sticks made of bamboo, besides creating waterways to connect the region with South East Asia.

    The government is at present developing a Rs 1,200 crore multi-modal logistic park spread across 317 acres at Jogighopa, which will create huge job opportunities.

    “What chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and (Assam minister Chandra Mohan) Patowary did for Assam in the last five years it was just a trailer. The actual film is yet to start,” he added.

  • SC stays HC order reviving criminal cases against Mamata’s election agent

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday stayed the operation of a Calcutta High Court order which resulted in the reinstitution of several criminal cases against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s election agent in connection with the Nandigram protests against land acquisition by the state government from 2007-09.

    A bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Krishna Murari said, “Since the order which affects the petitioner (election agent) herein was passed without hearing him, we deem it appropriate to pass an interim order staying the operation of the order dated March 5, 2021”.

    The petitioner, S K Supian, has challenged the order passed by the Calcutta High Court on two PILs against the withdrawal of prosecution in various criminal cases connected with the protests over the alleged improper acquisition of land by the state to create a special economic zone (SEZ) in Nandigram.

    Supian, represented by senior advocate Vikas Singh, has contended he was not made a party in the PILs and the reinstitution of the criminal cases has impaired his ability to discharge his functions as an election agent under the Representation of People Act 1951.

    Singh alleged that a PIL was “filed by a BJP person” in the high court which passed the interim order.

    “By an interim order, the case was revived,” he said, adding, “I (petitioner) am the election agent of the Chief Minister and because of this order, I am virtually disabled”.

    “It is unheard of. There is no question of revival of case,” Singh said, adding that his client was impleaded as a party in the matter before the high court, but after passing an interim order without hearing him.

    He said the cases relate to protests at Nandigram and later, the state government decided to withdraw these matters.

    “This high court order has to be stayed. Now, I (petitioner) have been impleaded as a party in the high court, I will go there and argue my case,” Singh said, adding the plea filed in the high court is “politically motivated”.

    Senior advocates A M Singhvi and Siddharth Luthra, appearing for the state, also opposed the high court’s interim order.

    Singhvi sought stay of the high court interim order and said it was passed on a PIL and that too, without hearing the person.

    “You must stay the order (of high court) completely,” Singhvi said.

    Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for a caveator, said both the petitions — one filed by the state and the other by Supian — should be dismissed with exemplary cost as they have “lied to this court”.

    The caveator before the apex court is one of the persons who filed the PIL in the high court.

    Rohatgi, during the hearing, claimed that both the state and Supian have argued that only agitation cases were withdrawn but there were some cases, including those under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code also.

    However, the bench said that the plea filed by the state is not before it.

    Singh said in Nandigram protest, there were allegations that some people had died in police firing and in some cases, allegation of murder was there.

    Rohatgi alleged that there are six cases against Supian and he was absconding for 13 years.

    “This is a shocking case where cases are withdrawn in stereotype fashion,” Rohatgi said, adding the petitioners before the high court are practicing lawyers.

    Rohatgi said the apex court can ask the division bench of the high court to hear the matter on Tuesday.

    Supian, in his plea, has claimed that he was discharged or acquitted in various cases, in relation to the protests against the land acquisition, in February and June last year.

    The criminal cases had alleged that he had engaged in unlawful assembly and had participated in the violence in connection with the protests, his petition has said.

    He has claimed that he came to know the cases were reinstituted when the process to issue arrest warrants was initiated by the magisterial court on March 15.

    The magisterial court by its order of March 15 had also stayed its order of last year permitting withdrawal of the prosecution and reinstated the criminal cases.

    The matter was mentioned in the first half of the day before a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde by senior advocate Vikas Singh.

    The apex court, during the mentioning, said that “anything can happen in a political rivalry” and that it will see whether a special bench can be constituted depending on availability.

    Later, the matter was listed for hearing in the post-lunch session.

  • BJP has become ‘Borrowed Janata Party’, Trinamool’s victory will herald change in 2024: Yashwant Sinha

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Former Union minister and newly appointed TMC vice president Yashwant Sinha feels the BJP has become “Borrowed Janata Party” which is fighting elections with the hired leaders of other parties and said victory of Trinamool Congress in the West Bengal assembly polls will trigger a change in 2024 general election.

    Noting that BJP doesn’t have a credible face to counter Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and is dependent on outsiders “Shah-Modi”, Sinha said the desperation to win Bengal is driven by the fact that it has slim chances of winning polls in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory Puducherry and a victory in Assam, where it is in power, won’t be a big prize.

    He despised thinking that he joined TMC for the sake of getting Rajya Sabha membership, saying “it is a very cheap way to look at my decision”.

    Sinha, who served as finance and external affairs minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet, commented the present-day BJP is controlled by “two-people”, who call the shots.

    “The BJP has turned itself into a Borrowed Janata Party in Bengal. They are fighting elections with leaders and workers from other parties. They don’t have their own leaders to match Mamata Banerjee in Bengal,” he told PTI in an interview.

    Talking about the Bengal elections, Sinha said the saffron party would bite the dust despite creating an unprecedented hype around the state assembly elections.

    “Four states-West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Assam- and Union Territory of Puducherry are going to the polls this time.”

    “They are the ruling party in Assam already, so a win there won’t be a big prize. Therefore, the only real prize worth getting is Bengal, and that is why the BJP is putting most of its efforts there,” he said.

    Noting that the Bengal polls results will have national implications, Sinha said its a must to stop the saffron party for the sake of the country.

    “The BJP has created an unprecedented hype around the elections. They think they can overcome and overrun all the opposition in the country. But, despite all the noises they are creating, they don’t have a ghost of a chance in Bengal.”

    “The win of TMC in West Bengal assembly polls will ring the changes in 2024 general elections and defeat the BJP. The entire country is looking at this election, it will unite the opposition,” Sinha said.

    The veteran politician, who started his political career with Janata Party in 80s, feels the BJP lacks a credible face as a challenger to Mamata Banerjee in Bengal.

    “The fact that BJP doesn’t have a credible face in Bengal to counter Mamata Banerjee itself keeps TMC ahead of the BJP,” he said.

    Speaking on the insider-outsider debate in Bengal, Sinha said this ought to come up as BJP is seeking votes by projecting Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

    “Had the BJP projected any local leader as CM face, this narrative would not have come up in this election, as they could have easily said that they are here to assist the local leadership.

    “But the party is projecting Shah-Modi as its faces, and that is why they are termed as outsiders,” he said.

    When asked about he too being branded as an outsider in Bengal by the BJP leadership, he said, “I am not here to contest election neither I am projected as a face here. I am here to assist Mamata Banerjee and the TMC”.

    Sinha had joined TMC in mid-March to assist the feisty Bengal leader against the saffron party.

    The bureaucrat-turned-politician, a bitter critic of Modi and Shah, had left BJP in 2018.

    His son Jayant Sinha remains in the saffron party and is MP from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.

    Speaking about BJP projecting 88-year-old “Metro Man” E Sreedharan in Kerala, and a TMC turncoat Rabindranath Bhattacharya of the same age in Bengal, Sinha said, “it is a complete violation of its own policy that all leaders above 75 years should retire from active politics”.

    “They made this rule of people of above 75 year of age not being fielded in polls to corner senior BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and likes of them.

    “So once this was done, now the rule is of no use, and it can be broken. They are doing the same,” the octogenarian leader said.

    When asked why he decided to join the TMC, Sinha said his decision was prompted by the country’s situation going from “bad to worse”.

    “In 2018, I had decided not to indulge in party politics and would only speak on issues related to national importance.

    But, then circumstances changed, and things have gone from bad to worse.

    “I thought I could make a greater contribution if I join a political party; then I looked around and saw the kind of hype BJP has created around Bengal elections and felt it is only Mamata Banerjee who can stop the BJP,” he said.

    The 83-year old veteran politician also said that the “tipping point” was the attack on Banerjee in Nandigram that prompted him to join her.

    When asked about speculations that he might be the party’s nominee for the Rajya Sabha seat, which has fallen vacant after Dinesh Trivedi quit his post and party to switch over to the saffron camp, he said, “it is a very cheap way to look at my decision to join the TMC.

    “Let me tell you that I was offered Rajya Sabha seat a few years back by both the TMC and the AAP. I had declined both the offers”.

  • ‘BJP will leave no stone unturned to thwart Congress’ design to play with Assam’s identity’: Jitendra Singh

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Union minister Jitendra Singh on Friday said the BJP will leave no stone unturned to thwart the Congress party’s design to play with the identity of Assam for the sake of vote-bank politics.

    He said the protection of Assam’s civilisation is the first and most prominent highlight of the saffron party’s manifesto for the upcoming Assembly polls in the state.

    “It is a fight to protect civilisation from the Congress’s assault and the BJP will leave no stone unturned to thwart the Congress party’s design to play with the identity of Assam simply for vote-bank politics,” Singh told PTI.

    Polling will be held in 47 Assembly seats of Assam in the first phase on Saturday, while 39 and 40 constituencies in the northeastern state will go to polls on April 1 and April 6 respectively.

    Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), said the Congress, in its desperation, has gone to the extent of aligning with the “communal” outfit of Badruddin Ajmal, which is not only an affront to the people of Assam, but also to the legacy of the Congress leadership, represented by one of its tallest leaders, late Tarun Gogoi, who was always acutely sensitive about the civilisation and entity of the people of the state.

    The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), headed by Ajmal, is considered to have a large base among Assam’s about 35 per cent Muslim population.

    Singh, who is also the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) co-incharge for Assam, said the political interest of the people of the state will be sought to be guarded while protecting its civilisation.

    “For this, the BJP will favour a delimitation exercise to be undertaken in the state,” he said.

    The entire region was at the receiving end of the annual floods happening year after year, but unfortunately, the Congress governments both at the Centre and in the state did not address the issue for decades, Singh alleged.

    The BJP government has decided to launch the “Mission Brahmaputra” with the intent of limiting the losses to lives, livelihood and property due to the floods, he said.

  • Phone-tapping: Devendra Fandavis says fact-finding report full of fallacies

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: BJP leader Devendra Fandavis on Friday alleged that the fact-finding report submitted to the Maharashtra government by the state chief secretary Sitaram Kunte over the phone-tapping allegations is full of fallacies.

    Kunte had been asked to submit the report into the alleged police transfer racket by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in the wake of Fadnavis’s allegations that the state government suppressed IPS officer Rashmi Shukla’s letter or report, based on phone intercepts, on a “transfer scam”.

    Kunte’s report said, “Despite stamping the letter as TOP SECRET, Rashmi Shukla seems to have leaked the letter, which is very serious matter. If it is proved, she will be liable for strictest action against her.”

    Talking about it, Fadnavis said on Friday, “The Indian Telegraph Act quoted in the report is presented to public in a manner convenient to the government. The report in itself is full of fallacies. Although there are sufficient provisions to tap the phone calls, the government is not ready to accept it.”

    “The then DGP Subodh Jaiswal had recommended a CID probe (into the alleged transfer scam) based on the conversations among police officials and other persons involved in it. Then why no action was taken on his recommendations?” he asked.

    The Act empowers the official to intercept calls to avoid any possible offence that could happen, he said, adding that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Maharashtra police has all the rights to carry out phone-tapping.

    When asked about the leaking of ‘top secret’ report, the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly said, “I had only shared a two-page letter (related to Shukla’s letter), whereas it was state minister Nawab Malik who leaked some of its pages. I was even contacted by some journalists after they received the report from Malik.”

    If any action has to be taken, it should be against Malik, he added.

    “I think state ministers Malik or Jitendra Awhad had prepared the report and chief secretary Kunte must have signed it. I have enough proof with me. If there is a legal action, then I will produce it before the court,” he claimed.

    Out of all the names mentioned by Malik citing the list, 12 officials have received the postings as per their request, he claimed.

    Awhad had on Wednesday alleged that Shukla, then Commissioner of Intelligence, sought permission for intercepting the calls of certain persons, but actually the calls of some other persons were tapped.