News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • BJP’s stand on CAA varies from state to state, claims Assam Congress

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The Congress on Tuesday wondered why the BJPs manifesto for the Assam assembly election is silent on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and claimed that the stand of the saffron party on the controversial Act varies from state to state.

    The party in a statement also alleged that Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah sought to deny the existence of those people who lost their lives during the anti-CAA agitation in the state.

    “Their (BJP’s) stand on the CAA is ambiguous. In West Bengal, they say they want it. In Tamil Nadu, they do not want it and in Assam they are silent. But the Congress has only one stand. We oppose the CAA and will leave no stone unturned to nullify it,” it said.

    In the BJP’s manifesto for West Bengal, the party promised to clear the implementation of the CAA in the first cabinet meeting of the new government.

    The saffron party in Tamil Nadu has forged an alliance with the AIADMK which in its manifesto said that it will urge the Centre to scrap the contentious law.

    However, in the manifesto released by BJP president JP Nadda for Assam earlier in the day, there is no mention of the CAA.

    In the statement, the Congress wanted to know the reason behind the omission.

    Nadda told reporters that the CAA has been passed by Parliament and will be implemented “in time”.

    The objective of the CAA is to grant Indian citizenship to people of minority communities Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who had come to India till December 31, 2014 due to religious persecution in these countries.

    Assam, ruled by a BJP-led coalition, witnessed violent protests against the CAA in 2019 and five persons lost their lives.

    The protestors saw the law as a threat to their cultural identity and livelihood.

    Three rail stations, a post office, a bank, a bus terminus, shops, dozens of vehicles and many other public properties were set ablaze or damaged during the anti-CAA protests.

    The statement of the state Congress signed by its media department chairperson Bobbeeta Sharma also condemned Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s assertion in election rallies in the state on Monday that no protests were held in the state during the last five years.

    “He wants to simply obliterate the anti-CAA uprising that happened in Assam. He wants to deny the existence of those young boys who lost their lives in police firing. What can be more unfortunate for the people of Assam than this?” the statement read.

    The BJP also failed in giving the people of Assam a foolproof National Register of Citizens (NRC) though the party’s governments are there at the Centre and in the state, the Congress said.

    The NRC, a database of Indian citizens living in Assam which was updated under the supervision of the Supreme Court and published on August 31, 2019, excluded names of over 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants.

    Almost all stakeholders and political parties criticised it as a faulty document, alleging exclusion of indigenous people and inclusion of illegal migrants.

    “The administration was under them, yet they could not give a proper NRC to people. Their (BJP’s) sincerity in solving the illegal migrants issue is questionable. What they could not do in the last five years, what guarantee is there that they will be able to do it in the next five years,” the Congress said.

    The party also described the BJPs claim that flood water of the Brahmaputra will be filled in ponds and reservoirs as “outlandish”.

    Referring to the BJP’s ‘Mission Brahmaputra’ mentioned in the manifesto, it said what the state government was doing during the last five years as dredging of the river was an ”old promise of the saffron party.

  • BJP’s Assam poll manifesto ensures inclusive growth of state: Jitendra Singh

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said the BJP’s manifesto for the Assam assembly polls focuses on inclusive growth of the state, its security, development and cultural identity.

    He also said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, consistent and diligent efforts were made to pull out Assam from the long nightmare of insurgency and violence into which previous Congress governments had thrown the state.

    “Now that development activities have been rolled out on a fast track, we are seeking a second term (in the state) to consolidate the gains of the last term and to embark on a quantum jump of growth,” said Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office.

    He said that Assam is the gateway to the Northeast and therefore, it would play a leading role in the future growth of India.

    “BJP’s poll manifesto will ensure inclusive growth of Assam with focus on its security, development and cultural identity,” Singh told PTI.

    BJP president J P Nadda on Tuesday released the party’s manifesto for the assembly polls in Assam.

    Polling will be held in 47 seats in Assam on March 27 in the first phase, while 39 and 40 constituencies will go to polls on April 1 and April 6, respectively.

    Singh said BJP leaders are not seasonal campaigners like those in the Congress, who come here only during election time and go straight to tea gardens for a Bollywood type photo-shoot and pose as sympathisers of tea garden workers.

    “We have been here on the ground and among the people 24X7 for 365 days for the last seven years ever since Narendra Modi took over as prime minister”, he said.

    Singh, who is the party’s co-incharge for Assam, said the BJP constantly interacts with the common people and it even did so when it was not in power in the state.

    “We have consistently worked hard, day and night, to win the confidence of the people,” he said.

    “Even when we did not have our government in Assam, the BJP karyakartas would set up relief camps in times of flood or any other calamity”, he said, adding that “we have shared the concerns of the common people and also celebrated their joys”.

  • NRC correction, flood control, protection of rights find place in BJP’s poll manifesto for Assam

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: BJP national president J P Nadda on Tuesday released the party’s manifesto for Assam assembly polls, promising to protect the political rights of people through a delimitation exercise.

    The party also made ‘ten commitments’ in the manifesto — one of which is initiation of a process to “correct and reconcile” the entries made as part of the Supreme Court- mandated National Register of Citizens exercise, as it seeks to “protect genuine Indian citizens and exclude all illegal immigrants”.

    The manifesto underlined that the BJP, if voted to power, will provide free education to every child, make arrangements to control floods and ensure that the state achieves “self-sufficiency” when it comes to production of essential items.

    It further gave assurance that payments made to women under ‘Orundoi’ scheme will be increased to Rs 3,000 from the current Rs 830, and eligible residents would be empowered with land rights.

    Nadda, after releasing the document, said that Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be implemented in Assam when the time is right.

    Taking a dig at the Congress, he said, “The party had been claiming that it wouldn’t allow implementation of CAA, which is a central legislation.They are either ignorant or trying to fool the people of the state.” 

  • BJP announces 11 more candidates for Bengal assembly polls, changes nominees in two seats

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The BJP on Tuesday announced another list of candidates for 11 seats for the assembly elections in West Bengal and also changed its nominees in two other constituencies.

    The party continued with its strategy of fielding personalities from different walks of life as it nominated former Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen (retd) Subrata Saha from the Rashbehari seat in South Kolkata.

    Former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahiri, who was earlier pulled out from the Alipurduar seat in north Bengal after local party workers held a protest against his candidature, will now contest from Balurghat as a BJP candidate.

    Lahiri was replaced with local leader Suman Kanjilal from the Alipurduar seat last week.

    The saffron party also fielded new candidates from Chowranghee and Kashipur-Belgachia seats, after its earlier nominees had refused their tickets.

    Nominations were given to Sikha Mitra, wife of former state Congress president Somen Mitra, from Chowranghee and Tarun Saha, husband of TMC MLA Mala Saha, from Kashipur- Belgachia.

    In an embarrassment for the BJP, both Sikha Mitra and Tarun Saha had refused their tickets and said they did not join the party.

    The BJP has been facing protests and resignations as many of its aspiring old-timers did not find their names in the list of candidates.

    Despite protests over recruits getting more importance than old-timers in the candidates’ list, the party gave a nomination to Biswajit Das, who was a TMC MLA from Bongaon (Uttar) and had joined the BJP some time ago.

    Das will contest from Bagda constituency as a BJP candidate.

    Subrata Thakur, brother of BJP MP Santanu Thakur, was given a nomination from Gaighata.

  • Police gives Guard of Honour to Uttarakhand BJP chief; official cites ‘misunderstanding’

    By PTI
    DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand BJP president Madan Kaushik was given a Guard of Honour on Monday by the state police in Bageshwar in violation of protocol, with a senior official saying it happened due to a “misunderstanding”.

    Pictures of the state BJP chief being given the Guard of Honour on his arrival at Bageshwar were shared on social media.

    Kaushik, who was a member of former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat’s cabinet, was recently appointed president of the state BJP.

    Admitting that the Guard of Honour given to the state party president was wrong, Deputy Inspector General (Law and Order) Neelesh Anand Bharne said it was due to a “misunderstanding”.

    “The official responsible for it had just returned from leave and was not aware of the recent changes in government in the state,” he said.

    Trivendra Singh Rawat had tendered his resignation earlier this month, and Tirath Singh Rawat was sworn in as the state’s chief minister on March 10.

    Kaushik, who represents Haridwar in the state assembly, was appointed state BJP president on March 12 replacing Bansidhar Bhagat who is now a minister.

  • COVID-19: Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil, workers booked after Pune protest

    By PTI
    PUNE: Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil and some 40-50 of his party workers were booked for alleged violation of COVID-19 norms during a protest held at Alka Chowk here, police said on Monday.

    The protest demanding the resignation of state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who is facing corruption allegations from IPS officer Param Bir Singh, was held on Sunday and was led by Patil.

    A case was registered against Patil and 40-50 party workers on Sunday night for unlawful assembly, flouting COVID-19 norms and violating orders under IPC, Disaster Management Act and Mumbai Police Act provisions, an official said.

  • Gujarat Assembly: Three tribal Congress MLAs walk out over Deputy CM’s ‘Adivasi’ remarks

    By PTI
    GANDHINAGAR: Three tribal Congress MLAs on Monday walked out of the Gujarat Assembly during a heated debate with the ruling BJP over the sudden rise in coronavirus cases.

    While the Congress blamed the India-England cricket series held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera area of Ahmedabad, Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel refused to buy the argument and said cases are also emerging in Surat and other districts as well as other states like Maharashtra where no cricket matches were played recently.

    The Deputy CM even asked why the opposition Congress was not questioning its own government in Maharashtra where over 40,000 new coronavirus cases are emerging daily.

    Enraged by some remarks made by Patel about “Adivasis” during the heated discussion, tribal Congress MLAs Anand Chaudhari, Punabhai Gamit and Sukhram Rarhva walked out of the House as a mark of protest.

    Speaker Rajendra Trivedi expunged the remarks made by Nitin Patel.

    Patel had asked Chaudhari, who represents Mandvi (ST) seat of Surat, to prove if anyone from his constituency had come to Ahmedabad to watch the cricket match.

    In his address, Congress MLA from Ahmedabad Gyasuddin Shaikh claimed the “third wave” of coronavirus is mainly due to the cricket matches played in the Narendra Modi stadium.

    “While Namaste Trump in February and Diwali in November last year were responsible for the first and second wave, cricket matches at Motera were responsible for the third wave of coronavirus,” said Shaikh.

    “Despite claims of social distancing, we saw how 70,000 spectators were sitting inside the stadium without following such norms,” alleged Shaikh.

    Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani slammed the BJP government in Gujarat for “allowing” the cricket series and gathering over 70,000 people at one place, and said it should be ashamed of such an act which had “resulted in sudden spike in cases”.

    Patel, however, said there was no connection between the cricket matches and sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in Gujarat.

    “As against Gujarat (where cases are comparatively low), thousands of cases are emerging every day (in other states). Namaste Trump or cricket has to do nothing with spike in cases in Gujarat. While the stadium is in Ahmedabad, cases are also emerging in considerable numbers in Surat and Rajkot. Do you have any explanation for that?” asked Patel.

    “The Congress only tries to incite people. If you are so concerned, why don’t you give advice to your government in Maharashtra, where 45,000 cases are emerging daily. Why don’t you seek explanation about an extortion of Rs 100 crore there,” asked Patel.

    When Chaudhari, an MLA from Surat district, objected to Patel’s logic, the BJP leader asked him to show one person who had gone to Ahmedabad from his constituency to watch the match.

    Upset over some specific remarks made by Patel about “Adivasis”, Chaudhari and two other tribal MLAs staged a walk out in protest.

    Later, Patel urged the House to close the chapter as he inadvertently made those remarks and did not want to hurt anyone.

  • Rajasthan BJP has received feedback reports from bypoll constituencies: Poonia

    Poonia said that the BJP has already completed its groundwork in the constituencies before the announcement of the by-elections.

  • Amit Shah returns to Guwahati by road following technical problem in helipcopter

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The helicopter in which Union Home Minister Amit Shah was scheduled to travel from Udalguri to Guwahati developed a technical snag forcing him to take the road on Monday, party sources said here.

    Shah had addressed an election rally at Udalguri, the third during the day in Assam, and was informed about the snag before he boarded the flight.

    He later left by road for Guwahati, abround 70 km, where he was scheduled to address party workers in a closed door meeting.

    An Udalguri district official said that the snag was detected during a routine checkup before the VIP boarded the helicopter.

    Shah had arrived here in the afternoon and addressed rallies at Jonai, Majuli from where Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was contesting and Udalguri in Bodoalnd Territorial Region (BTR).

  • Level of violence in Bengal unprecedented: BJP spokesperson lashes out at Mamata

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The BJP’s national spokesperson for economic affairs Gopal Krishna Agarwal on Monday claimed that West Bengal had registered the maximum number of political murders in the country in 2019 and the level of violence in the state was “unprecedented”.

    Citing the National Crime Record Bureau data of 2019, the Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC) report, titled ‘Political Violence in West Bengal’, noted that the state registered the maximum number of political murders in the country.

    The report also claimed that West Bengal registered the highest number of dowry cases, cases of grievous hurt, and attempts to murder.

    “The level of violence is unprecedented along with stunted industrial development despite the state’s huge potential. The people will keep in mind these factors before voting,” Agarwal said.

    Citing the report, he claimed that the rate of killing and abduction in West Bengal was five times more than that of Tamil Nadu, which has almost equal population.

    Sumeet Bhasin, the director of PPRC, said that despite having a woman as chief minister, West Bengal has registered the highest number of crimes against women on several parameters, “be it dowry or suicide cases among women”.

    “Further, West Bengal registered the highest number of cases of grievous hurt, highest number of attempts to murder cases in the country. According to the Economic Survey 2020-21, the proportion of households with health insurance increased in Assam, Bihar and Sikkim by 89 per cent while it decreased by 12 per cent in West Bengal between 2015-16 to 2019-20,” Bhasin said.