News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • BJP has completely different standard when it comes to hate speech from its leaders: Omar Abdullah

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: The BJP has a completely different standard when it comes to hate speech from its leaders, National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah alleged on Tuesday.

    Abdullah’s remark came after his party colleague Hilal Lone was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly delivering a “hate speech” at a rally during last year’s district development council elections in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora.

    “The BJP has a completely different standard when it comes to hate speech from its own leaders. They can call for hands to be cut off, people to be murdered and it’s fine. Hilal Lone makes a speech and anti-terror laws are used to book him,” Abdullah tweeted.

    The BJP has a completely different standard when it comes to hate speech from its own leaders. They can call for hands to be cut off, people to be murdered & it’s fine. Hilal Lone makes a speech & anti-terror laws are used to book him. https://t.co/L6ydSTZdI8
    — Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 16, 2021

    Referring to Lone’s arrest, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said there would not be enough room in the prisons of the country if the BJP’s ministers, lawmakers and members of its “IT Cell” were brought to book for inciting communal passions against minorities.

    ALSO READ | Omar Abdullah claims he, his family including father Farooq put under house arrest, cops refute

    “GOI (Government of India) continues to shamelessly book Kashmiri mainstream leaders under UAPA for ‘hate speech’.

    The truth is that there won’t be enough room in Indian prisons if their own ministers, lawmakers and noxious IT Cell were brought to book for inciting communal passions against minorities,” she said in a tweet.

    Lone, the son of National Conference’s Member of Parliament Mohammad Akbar Lone, was arrested on Monday from the MLA hostel here where he was being held captive since December last year, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

    He was booked under various sections of the UAPA in an FIR registered at a police station in Hajin in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.

    The official said the case relates to a speech he made during the public rally while campaigning in the DDC polls in Hajin.

    On December 25 last year, he was detained in Bandipora’s Sumbal area and then shifted to the MLA hostel here.

  • BJP announces candidates for bypolls for two Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat

    By PTI
    AHMEDABAD: The BJP on Tuesday announced the names of candidates who will be contesting the by-elections for two Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat, where polls will be held on March 1.

    The state BJP’s OBC Morcha president Dinesh Anavadiya and Ram Mokariya, the founder-chairman of a courier company, will contest the bypolls.

    Anavadiya, a senior party leader from Banaskantha district, has served as the director of the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation between 2014-17.

    While Mokariya said he has remained a dedicated party worker for over four decades.

    “I have been a party worker for the last 45 years and am happy that the party has nominated me as a candidate for the Rajya Sabha election,” he said.

    The by-elections for two Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat were necessitated following the demise of Congress leader Ahmed Patel and BJP leader Abhay Bhardwaj.

    The Rajya Sabha terms of Patel and Bhardwaj were to end in August 2023 and June 2026, respectively.

    However, both Patel and Bharadwaj died of COVID-19- related complications on November 25, 2020 and December 1, respectively.

    According to the Election Commission, polls for the two seats will be held separately on March 1 and counting of votes will take place the same evening.

    The BJP and Congress have 111 and 65 MLAs in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, respectively.

  • Disha Ravi arrest: BJP says opposition stands with ‘anti-India’ forces in its attack on PM Modi

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday launched an all-out counter- offensive against the opposition for its criticism of the government over the arrest of climate activist Disha Ravi, saying these parties, especially the Congress, have always stood with “anti-India” forces in their bid to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra cited the Delhi Police press conference to allege that Ravi’s arrest has totally exposed the “”nefarious conspiracies of the break India forces” to demean the integrity of India.

    With critics citing Ravi’s young age besides her background of environmental activism to slam her arrest, BJP leaders, including party general secretary B L Santhosh, wondered if these were credentials for becoming a part of “breaking India forces”.

    Several BJP leaders, including Union minister Prakash Javadekar, wrote about their work when they were 21, also the age of Ravi, to get back at the critics.

    “At 21 we in ABVP and other colleges were debating about how to take the country forward.

    We were engaged in all kind of constructive, nation-building work,” Javadekar said.

    ALSO READ | After opposition parties, now agitating farmer unions demand release of climate activist Disha Ravi

    He posted a group picture of his ABVP days, and noted that three of them are presently Union ministers, Prahlad Patel and Kishan Reddy besides him.

    Santhosh tweeted, “21 year old, environment activist, student. Are these credentials for becoming a part of breaking India forces? How does she get the access for editing toolkit? Why she is part of anti-national WhatsApp groups? Many questions but only one answer: 21 year old,” Santhosh tweeted.

    “Bengaluru, Greta Thunberg, Vegan, sole bread winner, student, 21 year old, passionate activist so many attempts to white wash a sin! Not one anarchist ready to answer the question. How 21 year old student got access to edit Toolkit,” he added.

    In a series of tweets, Santhosh also said, “as the the great drama of Toolkit unfolds many anarchists who are rallying behind Disha Ravi as 21 year old, sole bread winner, daughter of single mother, climate change activist will run for cover.

    WhatsApp groups, editing option, conversations will unravel many a characters”.

    Another party leader and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said if age is the criteria then Param Veer Chakra Second Lt Arun Khetarpal, martyred at 21 is who I am proud of.

    “Not some toolkit propagandists.”

    Patra in a statement said as far as the opposition, particularly the Congress, is concerned, in its attempt to attack Modi they have “always stood with anti-India forces”, he claimed.

    “Astonishingly for the opposition, Bharat Ratnas like Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar can be investigated but ‘break India forces’ should receive protection under the garb of freedom of expression.

    “These parties were crying ‘arrest the perpetrators’ on 26th January, but today when they are arrested, the same Congress cries foul,”Patra said.

    Attacking those accused of sedition by the police in the toolkit case, he alleged that they not only created a toolkit which perpetrated the January 26 disruption but also collided with a banned organisation “Poetic Justice Foundation” to promulgate the Khalistani design to belittle India.

    Reacting to Ravi’s arrest, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the country will not be silenced.

    “Your lips are free to speak. Say that the truth is still alive. They are scared, not the country. India will not be silenced,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

    Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “arrest of 21 year old Disha Ravi is an unprecedented attack on Democracy.

    Supporting our farmers is not a crime” while RJD leader Manoj Jha alleged that democracy was under threat.

    BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, “a criminal is a criminal, gender and age are immaterial if not a juvenile.

    Just for your knowledge, Kasab was 21 when he attacked Mumbai.”

    Supporting ‘farmers’ is not a crime but conspiring against India and inciting others surely is, he said.

    BJP’s IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya said, the Left has been using young impressionable minds as cannon fodder for their deranged politics for a long time.

    “From JNU to Jamia, AMU to Nadwa and now Disha Ravi, are all part of their sinister plot. Unfortunately they are abandoned soon after they have served their purpose,” Malviya said.

  • Our government committed to Assam’s welfare, Act East Policy to make state connected: S Jaishankar

    Jaishankar also highlighted how international partnerships can make a difference in the development of a state.

  • Police begins probe into bomb attack on TMC-turned BJP leader Firoze Kamal Gazi in Bengal

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Police on Sunday collected CCTV footage as part of the investigation into brutal attack on a TMC-turned BJP leader Firoze Kamal Gazi alias Babu Master who received splinter injuries in North 24 Parganas district.

    The leader, who had switched over to BJP from Trinamool Congress in December, was on his way to the city after attending a party meeting when miscreants attacked his car with crude bombs on Basanti Highway Saturday evening.

    He and his driver received splinter injuries in the attack and were admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata.

    Doctors said Gazi is out of danger but will be under observation.

    No arrest has been made so far in the incident, even as a team of forensic experts reached the spot Sunday evening, an officer said.

    According to a senior police officer, CCTV footage from the area has been collected and the investigation “is already on”.

    Investigators also opined that going by the circumstantial evidence, the attack on the BJP leader seems to be “a pre-planned one”.

    “We have not arrested anyone but hopefully may get hold of a couple of people who are involved with the attack.

    It seems to be a pre-planned one and there could be involvement of people from neighbouring states,” the officer told PTI.

    Samples from the area have been collected by sleuths of the forensic team as the vehicle, in which the leader was travelling, has been wrapped in a plastic cover “to prevent any damage to the evidence at the site”, he said.

    The incident coming ahead of the state polls has taken political colour.

    Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari visited Babu Master at hospital on Saturday evening.

    He alleged that criminal elements of Trinamool Congress attacked him.

    “Earlier this evening, visited my friend Babu Master in the Hospital.

    He was mercilessly attacked by criminal elements from the @AITCofficial,” Adhikari tweeted.

    Senior Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Food and Supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick denied Adhikari’s allegations on the attack.

  • Criminals committing crime under patronage of BJP: Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday hit out at the ruling BJP over the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that criminals are coming crime under its patronage.

    In a statement issued here, Yadav also accused the government of disrupting the harmony in society, instead of punishing those involved in criminal activities.

    “The criminals are openly committing crime in the state under the patronage of the ruling party. The confidence of the criminals is high because of the working style of the government.

    The height of poor law and order is that even policemen are being attacked,” the SP chief alleged.

    “The aim of the government should be to punish those indulging in crime and anarchy.

    But when the agenda of the BJP government is to disrupt the harmony in society, then how will the rule of law be established,” he added.

    Yadav also claimed that the anger among the public against the BJP is building and people are ready for a change.

  • Mend your ways or face retribution: BJP leader Dilip Ghosh tells TMC workers

    By PTI
    MIDNAPORE: Those trying to harm BJP workers in West Bengal should mend their ways or face retribution, the party’s state unit president Dilip Ghosh warned on Sunday.

    Addressing a public meeting at Keshpur in the West Midnapore district during the BJP’s Parivartan Yatra, Ghosh accused the ruling TMC of atrocities against workers of his party at different places of the state.

    “There is two-three months’ time before the elections and by then they (TMC workers) should start behaving like gentlemen, else they will face retribution,” he said.

    ALSO READ | PM Modi to visit West Bengal on Feb 22, to address rally in Hooghly’s Chinsurah

    “Your game has ended, now we will play and you will watch from the gallery,” he said, in an indirect reference to the popular “khela hobe” slogan of the TMC, meaning game on.

    “There will be change and also retribution,” Ghosh asserted at another rally in the district, claiming that the BJP will win the upcoming assembly elections in the state.

    Former state minister Rajib Banerjee, who recently switched over to the BJP from the TMC, claimed that the slogan ‘khela hobe’ indicate that the ruling party is trying to play a “dirty game” during the upcoming elections, which he said is against the culture of Bengal.

  • 2021 Assam elections: Twin challenges for BJP in the form of Congress allies and regional parties

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI:  The BJP, which heads Assam’s three-party ruling coalition, is faced with an uphill task to achieve its goal of winning 100 out of the state’s 126 seats in the upcoming Assembly polls. Cashing in on the Modi wave, the saffron party and its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) had bagged 86 seats in the 2016 elections.

    It had also reaped the dividends of antiincumbency and alleged large scale corruption during the previous Congress regime. The scenario this time around, however, is completely different. The primary challenge for the BJP is tie up of Congress and minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).

    These two former foes have formed a six-party grand alliance ahead of the polls. The BJP had contested in 84 seats in the 2016 elections, bagging a vote share of 29.5 per cent, less than that of the 31 per cent of the Congress, which had won 26 seats out of the 122 contested seats.

    The combined vote share of BJP-AGP-BPF was 41.9 per cent, which was less than that of the Congress-AIUDF’s vote share of 44 per cent. In 17 constituencies where the BJP had won, the combined vote share of Congress and AIUDF was more than that of the saffron party.

    Also, the combined vote share of Congress and AIUDF was more than that of the AGP in two seats which were among the 14 seats that the regional party had won. The Congress and the AIUDF did not have any alliance in the last election.

    Now that they would fight together and would have a seat-sharing arrangement, the split of anti-BJP votes is likely to be prevented Secondly, the AGP had dished out a spectacular performance in the last election by riding piggyback on the BJP. It had won 14 of the 24 seats it contested.

    However, the birth of two regional forces – Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and Raijor Dal – is expected to cost the AGP dear. That the BJP and the AGP are nervous following the AJP’s emergence in the political spectrum is evident from their constant vitriol of the regional party.

    Political scientist Akhil Ranjan Dutta of the Gauhati University said the Congress- AIUDF alignment will have an impact in Central Assam. “The AJP will target the votes of the AGP and the BJP. I feel they (AJP) will cause damage to both BJP and AGP to some extent. The AASU said it would support the AJP. If they do it, both BJP and AGP will suffer,” Dutta observed.

    He said the BJP was distributing its resources in a targeted manner, particularly targeting the tea community. “They have a substantive presence in tea areas. Not only are they distributing the resources, they are also giving overriding priority in political representation. Pallab Lochan Das, Rameswar Teli and Kamakhya Prasad Tassa, all of them from the tea community, are now MPs,” Dutta said.

    The five Lok Sabha constituencies of Tezpur, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Kaliabor have 48 Assembly segments. The tea workers have a huge influence in 35-37 of them.

  • ‘Didi’s messenger’ hits road to counter BJP blitzkrieg ahead of West Bengal Assembly polls

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: After  more than one lakh persons downloaded and accessed Trinamool Congress’ app called Didir Doot (Didi’s messenger) in the last one week, the ruling party flagged off a vehicle under the same banner on Saturday.

    It is said to be CM Mamata Banerjee’s initiative to blunt the impact of BJP’s ‘rath yatra’ held recently under the banner of Parivartan Yatra across the state. The vehicle will travel to all districts in the state and district-level functionaries will play the role of Didi’s messengers.

    “Didir Doot application, which was launched on February 4, has been installed by more than a lakh users in just eight days. It’s a first-of-its-kind mobile application designed for the people of West Bengal to directly connect them to Didi (Mamata Banerjee) and contribute in achieving her mission and vision for the state,” TMC said in a statement.

    ALSO READ| TMC MP Mahua Moitra writes to Delhi Police chief, asks him to withdraw security personnel from her home

    A ruling party leader said users can directly connect with the CM via streaming and video conferencing. “People can stay updated with the CM’s initiatives and recent events. Users can be updated with latest developments through news feeds, photos, videos and infographics,” he said.

    This is not only meant to be an outreach drive but also an initiative to showcase the development work carried out by the regime of Mamata. Slugfest in the cyber world is becoming intense everyday ahead of the upcoming elections.

    Union Home minister Amit Shah, during his visit to the state on February 11, instructed party workers to circulate at least 50 lakh content per hour on the party’s social media platforms.

  • TMC appeals to Left Front-Congress to fight ‘bigger evil’ BJP, gets rejected

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Saturday appealed to the Left Front-Congress alliance not to invite the “bigger evil” BJP to settle scores with it in the poll-bound state.

    The Left and Congress, however, rejected the appeal outright and termed TMC as the “B team” of the saffron camp in Bengal.

    This is the second time in the last one month that TMC has appealed to the Left and Congress to put up an united fight against BJP in the coming assembly polls in the state.

    BJP has expressed elation over the proposal and said it proves that the saffron party is the only alternative to TMC in the state.

    Election to the 294-member state assembly is due in April-May.

    “If the Left Front and the Congress are genuinely anti-BJP they should be behind Mamata Banerjee in her fight against the communal and divisive politics of the saffron party,” West Bengal Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Tapas Roy said here.

    “While opposing Mamata Banerjee and TMC they should not commit the mistake of inviting the bigger evil BJP in Bengal. They should look at the situation in Tripura and decide what to do,” he said.

    This is not the first time that TMC has spoken in favour of a united platform of the party along with the Left and Congress to fight BJP.

    Several other TMC leaders had done so earlier.

    Reacting to TMC’s proposal, state senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan blamed the party for the growth of BJP in Bengal.

    “We are not interested in aligning with the TMC. Why is the TMC now interested in an alliance with us after poaching our MLAs for the last 10 years? It is due to Mamata Banerjee that the BJP has gained strength in Bengal,” he said.

    Senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said both BJP and TMC are trying to woo Left votes after branding the Left and Congress as a negligible political force in the state.

    “Both TMC and BJP are now either praising the Left or are seeking our support. It only reflects that we are still a force to reckon with,” he said.

    The Left and Congress will defeat both TMC and the BJP in the next elections, Chakraborty asserted.

    The BJP in its turn said TMC’s appeal proves that the ruling party in West Bengal cannot put up a fight against the saffron party on its own.

    “It also proves the desperation of TMC. They can’t fight against us on their own so they are seeking help from other parties. It also proves that BJP is the only alternative to the TMC,” BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said.

    The Left and Congress had aligned to fight against BJP and TMC in Bengal after being pushed to the corner in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

    The CPI(M)-led Left Front had drawn a blank and the Congress had managed to bag just two out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

    The BJP had on the other hand bagged 18 seats – four less than TMC to emerge as the prime challenger to the ruling party in the state.

    In the 2016 assembly polls, the Left and Congress had come together and bagged 76 seats.

    TMC had bagged 211 seats.