Polling for the 576 seats in 144 wards across six civic bodies – Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar – was held on Sunday.
Tag: BJP
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Smriti Irani buys land in Amethi to make house for herself, takes a dig at Rahul Gandhi
By PTI
AMETHI: Union minister Smriti Irani on Monday bought a plot of land in Amethi to make a house for herself and, in an apparent dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, said no MP from here ever made the constituency his house.Without taking any name, she said the history is witness to the fact that no Amethi MP ever made his house here and stayed.
“The people of Amethi always wondered if their MP would ever reside here after making his house,” she claimed while talking to reporters.
Irani had won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi after defeating the then MP, Rahul Gandhi.
“During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, I had promised that I would make my house here and do all my work from here. For this I have got a plot of land registered,” she added.
Irani bought the land at Medan Mawai area of Gauriganj in Amethi for a sum of Rs 12 lakh and got it registered here on Monday.
“I have been residing in a rented accommodation here till now,” she said, adding she would invite all the people from her constituency during the “bhoomi poojan” for the construction of her house here.
She said she had promised to set up a medical college and an army school in Amethi besides getting built a bypass road for the city.
She said she has fulfilled all her promises till now.
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Ex-BJP MP, two others booked for COVID-19 norm breach at reception
By PTI
PUNE: Police have registered a case against Maharashtra BJP leader and former MP Dhananjay Mahadik and two others for violating COVID-19 norms at a marriage reception here, said an official.According to the police, the marriage reception of Mahadik’s son was held on Sunday evening at Laxmi Lawns in Pune’a Magarpatta area, where over 1,000 people attended the ceremony.
Authorities have put a limit of 200 people at social gatherings, including ceremonies related to marriage, as part of steps to enforce COVID-19 norms and avoid crowding.
Along with Mahadik, the owner and the manager of the premises, where the event was organised, were also booked, they said.
“We have registered a case against Mahadik and two others – the owner and the manager of the lawn – under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC,” said Balkrushna Kadam, senior inspector, Hadapsar police station.
In view of a spike in COVID-19 cases in parts of Maharashtra, the state government has asked district officials to strictly enforce protocols related to face masks, social distancing and crowding.
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BJP, RLD supporters clash in UP’s Muzaffarnagar in presence of union minister
By PTI
MEERUT: A clash broke out between supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal in Muzaffarnagar’s Soram village on Monday when Union minister Sanjeev Balyan turned up there for a programme.Local police station incharge Sanjeev Kumar told PTI that three people were injured in the clash.
A war of words also broke out between BJP leader and Union minister Sanjeev Balyan and RLD vice-president Jayant Chaudhary over the clash.
The clash took place when Union minister Balyan was in Soram to pay homage to a deceased local but supporters of his party and the RLD had an argument over the ongoing farmers’ protest against new central farm laws.
“Clash between BJP politicians and farmers in Soram village, several injured. If there’s no talk in favour of farmers, at least have a good attitude towards them. Respect the farmers! Now farmers will have to tolerate hooliganism of government’s representatives who are telling pros of the new laws,” Chaudhary tweeted.
Responding to the charges, Balyan said he was in the village to pay homage to a deceased local.
“Some five to six Lok Dal politicians started misbehaving and hurling abuses. Some locals intervened and sent these people away,” he tweeted in Hindi.
“The way Lok Dal party is trying to disrupt harmony by hiding behind farmers is condemnable,” he added.
Soram in Muzaffarnagar is the epicentre of the influential Balyan Khap, which is headed by Bharatiya Kisan Union president Naresh Tikait.
Tikait’s brother and BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, meanwhile, appealed to people to maintain harmony.
“If a public representative comes to your village, do question him but keep it in a dignified manner. Everybody has a right to put forth their views in a democracy and a public representative must also keep public’s sentiments in mind,” Tikait said in a statement.
He said the government should consider farmers’ request.
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Modi’s charges a bag of lies, owes people explanation on fuel price hike, farmers protests: Trinamool
Modi during his visit to the state during the day sought to punch a hole in TMC #39;s main poll plank of Bengali pride by pointing to the quot;utter neglect quot; to Bengali icons and its culture.
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Setback for Chirag Paswan as lone LJP MLC in Bihar crosses over to BJP
By PTI
PATNA: Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party on Monday received yet another setback when its lone member in the Bihar legislative council, married to a BJP minister in the state, crossed over to her husbands party.Nutan Singh, whose husband Neeraj Kumar Singh alias Bablu was inducted into the state cabinet earlier this month, joined the saffron party in presence of her husband and state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal.
“My husband has been with the BJP. I thought it would be proper if both of us work together for the progress of the state”, the MLC, whose tenure expires in July this year, told reporters on the occasion.
The LJP, which has in the past few months gone all out against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his JD(U), much to the embarrassment of the BJP which shares power, refrained from commenting though a party functionary said on condition of anonymity “she was previously with the BJP.”
“Her husband has been with that party all through. So the development comes as no surprise”.
Singh was elected from the local bodies quota as a nominee of the LJP in 2015 when the LJP was headed by its late founder Ram Vilas Paswan and Kumar was out of the NDA, finalising a tie-up with arch rival Lalu Prasad and the Congress which met with electoral success, but was short- lived.
Chirag, who pulled out of the NDA ahead of the assembly elections, has been claiming unflinching loyalty towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nonetheless, the JD(U) which bore the brunt of his rebellion, has been insistent that the BJP distance itself sufficiently from the LJP.
The LJP had fielded its candidates in all seats contested by the JD(U).
In many places, Chirag Paswans party had given tickets to BJP rebels.
Prominent among them was three-term former MLA Rameshwar Chaurasia who quit the LJP last week.
This was followed by the JD(U)s claim that it has won over more than 200 middle and lower rank LJP leaders.
The LJP has, however, come out with the counter claim that many of its “so-called former members” were never with the party and the JD(U) was resorting to “fraud” in a bid to brush under the carpet its diminished numerical strength.
The JD(U)s tally in the assembly, in the elections held recently, plummeted to 43 from 71 five years ago.
Nitish Kumar, its de facto leader, has returned as Chief Minister but the party is mortified by having ceded the upper hand to the BJP.
The LJP has only one MLA in the 243-member Bihar House.
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Robert Vadra rides bicycle to office as protest against rising petrol, diesel prices
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra rode a bicycle from his residence to office on Monday, marking his protest against the rising petrol and diesel prices.Vadra was, however, trolled on social media, including by some BJP leaders, for wearing a suit while riding the bicycle with his luxury vehicle and securitymen in tow.
“I do what I say. A long bicycle ride from home to office on a Monday morning amidst a lot of traffic. I feel for the masses and understand what they must be going through daily due to petrol and diesel price hike. The government must roll back fuel prices,” Vadra said on his unverified Twitter handle.
Vadra said he was speaking for the common people who were upset due to the rising petrol and diesel prices in the country, even though crude oil prices were on the decline.
He also demanded a rollback of the hike in petrol and diesel prices.
BJP general secretary C T Ravi took a dig at Vadra, the husband of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, saying he was wearing an expensive suit while riding the bicycle with his “diesel guzzling Land Cruiser” in tow.
“Sonia Gandhi’s ‘Damad’ Robert Vadra goes cycling wearing an expensive suit with his diesel guzzling Land Cruiser trailing him. So much for protest against fuel hike,” he wrote on Twitter.
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Unnao teenage girls’ death: Congress slams Yogi government over FIRs against its leaders, scribes
By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Congress Monday condemned the Uttar Pradesh government for booking its leaders and some journalists over their tweets on the death of two teenage girls in Unnao earlier this month, and accused the ruling BJP of “strangulating” democracy.Congress chief spokesperson and general secretary Randeep Surjewala alleged the UP government targets the media and political leaders rather than going after the perpetrators of various crimes, as he demanded an immediate withdrawal of the “politically motivated” FIRs.
He said the registration of FIRs against Congress leader Udit Raj, web portal ‘Mojo story’ and other individuals “is yet another instance of brazen harassment and bullying by the power-drunk BJP government to silence the contrarian or dissenting voices”.
“The FIR filed against the former MP and Congress Spokesperson Shri Udit Raj, a media portal and some individuals is a clear cut instance of strangulating democracy by the BJP and its leaders,” he said in a statement.
The incident pertains to three girls — aged 14, 15 and 16 — who had left their homes in Babuhara village in Asoha, around 36 km south of Lucknow, to collect fodder on last Wednesday evening.
As they did not return for some time, their family members went out to search, and found them in a field.
“The Congress party demands the immediate withdrawal of all politically motivated FIRs, for such arm twisting will not be able to silence the voice of our leaders, who are committed to the cause of the weak, deprived and marginalised,” Surjewala said.
The Congress leader alleged that the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh has “completely collapsed” as the state government has “failed” in its duty to safeguard the people, particularly the women and poorer sections of the society.
“Instead of going after the perpetrators and the culprits of various crimes, the UP government has a unique modus operandi to target the media and political leaders by shamelessly resorting to registration of false FIRs and using other coercive measures to threaten and intimidate the people bringing the truth to light,” he said.
An FIR has been lodged against eight Twitter handles for allegedly propagating fake news in connection with the Unnao incident, the police had earlier said.
The Twitter handles include those of news portal ‘Mojo Story’, led by senior journalist Barkha Dutt, who has termed the FIR a case of brazen “harassment and bullying”.
The case was registered at the Sadar Kotwali police station area in Unnao on Sunday against seven more Twitter accounts: Janjagran Live, Aazad Samaj Party spokesperson Suraj Kumar Boudh, Nilim Dutta, Vijay Ambedkar, Abhay Kumar Azad, Rahul Diwakar, Nawab Satpal Tanwar.
On Saturday, Congress leader Udit Raj was also booked for allegedly propagating fake news through a tweet in which had claimed that the teenagers were raped and their bodies cremated against the will of their family.
The FIR has been lodged for propagating “fake and misleading news” regarding the incident, Assistant Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Pandey said on Monday.
After the three girls were found, the villagers informed the police and rushed the girls to a local hospital where two of them were declared brought dead.
The third girl, the eldest among them, was rushed to the Unnao hospital and later referred to Kanpur.
The last rites of the deceased girls were performed Friday morning amid tight security arrangements.
The Unnao police has held two people in this connection, accusing them of murder over a one-sided love affair.
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Modi government looting people: Pilot lashes out at BJP on rising fuel prices
By PTI
JAIPUR: Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Monday questioned the silence of BJP leaders on inflation and rising fuel prices.“The central government is looting people of their hard-earned money by unexpectedly increasing the prices of petrol, diesel, and domestic gas,” the Congress leader said in a tweet in Hindi.
He said during the tenure of the Congress-led UPA government, BJP leaders used to “make a lot of noise” over the issue of inflation but now they are silent.
In 12 days, retail petrol prices have risen by Rs 3.63 a litre, a record since the pricing was deregulated in 2010, and diesel rates have gone up by Rs 3.84.
Petrol price has already surged past the Rs 100-mark in some places in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which levy the highest VAT on the fuel.
On Saturday, petrol price touched an all-time high of Rs 97 per litre in Mumbai while diesel rate crossed Rs 88-mark.
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BJP candidates win both Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat
By ANI
GANDHINAGAR: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates Dineshchamdra Jemalbhai Ananvadiya and Rambhai Harjibhai Mokariya won both Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat on Monday.The seats had fallen vacant following the demise of Congress MP Ahmed Patel and BJP MP Abhay Ganpatray Bhardwaj.
Two separate bypolls were held to fill two seats due to demise of Patel and Bhardwaj.
Last Thursday was the last date for filing nominations but Congress had not fielded any candidate. The two nominees of BJP were already expected to get elected unopposed from the state.
Patel had been elected to the Upper House five times from Gujarat, his native state, and served the Congress in various capacities including its treasurer. Patel had been elected to Rajya Sabha in 2017 in a hard-fought contest that evoked wide interest. He had suffered complications due to COVID-19 and died in November last year in a Gurgaon hospital.
Abhay Bhardwaj, a BJP MP and a practising lawyer from Rajkot who was elected to the upper house in June 2020, died in December while undergoing treatment for COVID-19.
Sources said Congress decided not to put a candidate as it did not have the numbers after the Election Commission’s decision to hold “two separate byelections” to fill the vacancies from the state.
In the 180-member Gujarat assembly, Congress has 65 MLAs while BJP has 111.