News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • Nails on roads for farmers will turn out to be nails in ‘political coffin’ of BJP: Jayant Chaudhary

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Asserting that farmers will not settle for anything less than the repeal of the new farm laws, RLD vice president Jayant Chaudhary on Friday said the government’s “strong arm tactics” will not work against the tillers and the nails being laid on roads for them would turn out to be the nails in the “political coffin” of the BJP.

    Chaudhary, who has participated in a number of ‘kisaan panchayats’ in western Uttar Pradesh and is campaigning aggressively against the Centre’s farm laws, said the government must immediately withdraw the legislations and draft them afresh after taking the consent of farmers.

    In an interview with PTI, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) vice president alleged that the current leadership of the country is far removed from sentiments and is not perturbed by riots, deaths or big agitations as it is “cocooned” in its own bubble.

    “It is a totalitarian administration. They are not even listening to their own political people on the ground. If you speak to BJP MLAs or MPs off the record, they are not happy and they can feel the angst rising in the people of India, in the common man who voted for (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi,” the former MP said.

    Chaudhary said he has been to almost every ‘dharna’ site of the farmers, has sat among them, spoken to them at different levels, addressed ‘kisaan panchayats’, and feels that the farmers have formed an emotional connect cutting across different states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

    “There is unity building, and I don’t think that these farmers are going to take anything less than what they have come this far for (which is repeal of the laws),” he said.

    The farmers have left their villages, walked for miles, have faced so many hardships with “about 150 of them even losing their lives” and they are still not willing to back down even in the face of the government hardening its stance, the RLD leader said.

    The farmers’ stance is very clear and they are saying that these laws are not made for them and they will not accept them, he said.

    It is always the prerogative of the government of the day to make laws but ultimately it is the people’s will that must prevail, Chaudhary asserted.

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    Asked about the multi-layered barricading and iron nails studded on roads at protest sites on Delhi’s borders, he said, “These are not nails being put on the roads going to Delhi, these are nails being put into the political coffin that is being made for the BJP.”

    “This is a very hurtful image that has gone out. These are the people who freed Delhi from the British, who fought against the Mughals, whenever there was a crisis in Delhi, it was the farmers close to Delhi in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh that were first there.

    Today, the Kisan Ghat (memorial of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh), Parliament and Rajghat are in Delhi, and you are forbidding these farmers from even entering Delhi,” he said.

    On the government’s offer to suspend the farm laws for 18 months, he said the offer has not found favour with either the protesting farmer organisations or with the farmers themselves.

    The questions the farmers are asking is why 18 months suspension and why the Supreme Court is being involved in the work of Parliament or the government, he said.

    After 18 months again the same problems will arise and the government will say “we have given an undertaking in the Supreme Court, so therefore, we cannot do anything about it”, Chaudhary said.

    “So in a way it will create disharmony between the judiciary and the role of the executive in Parliament,” he said.

    “My suggestion is that they (government) should completely do away with these laws and communicate more effectively, reach out to the farmers, if they feel there is a reform that is needed, take their consent and then draft anew,” he said.

    People are not liking the government’s approach in dealing with the agitation, Chaudhary asserted.

    “These strong arm tactics — please use these strong arm tactics with the nation’s enemy China or with other countries you are in conflict with, do not use these tactics with the citizens of India,” the former MP said.

    Asked about his father and RLD chief Ajit Singh announcing support to the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) in their protest, Chaudhary said it is not just an alliance with the Tikaits (Naresh and Rakesh), but is an expression of solidarity with farmers.

    “We are facing the regime of Yogi Adityanath (in UP) where any sort of dissent is crushed by immoral use of power.

    That is why Chaudhary Ajit Singh reached out to the Tikaits and said ‘we are with you, don’t back down.

    That had a huge impact and that has led a lot of people to come out in support,” he said.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the rollback of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations.

    However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.

  • Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge dismisses govt claim of doubling farmers’ income

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said the government claims increasing the minimum support price for crops and doubling farmers’ income, but data suggests otherwise.

    Participating in the discussion on a motion thanking the President for his address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the Budget Session, Kharge said the schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, mentioned in the President’s speech, was actually a “punjipati munafa yojana (a scheme for profit of capitalist)”.

    Terming the government’s claim of doubling farmers’ income a “jumla” (rhetoric), the Congress leader said the Narendra Modi dispensation never gave 50 per cent profit over cost to farmers on agricultural produce.

    “When Modi ji became Prime Minister in 2014, within a month on June 12, an order was issued to states that if any state government pays any bonus to the farmers above the MSP (minimum support price), then it would stop procurement on MSP from that particular state,” he claimed.

    Terming it a “shoshonkari aadesh” (order of exploitation), he said that after this, the state governments stopped granting a bonus to the farmers on MSP.

    Taking a jibe at the government, Kharge said, “This was done by you for the welfare of farmers”.

    “You have also conspired along with capitalist to capture farmers’ land,” he alleged.

    The government “never implemented the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission of A2+FL and C2…. If they have implemented the commission’s report, then we could say that the Modi government is working for farmers,” he added.

    The government did not add the comprehensive cost (C2) for arriving at MSP.

    A2+FL covers actual paid out cost plus imputed value of family labour in fixing MSP, while C2 covers A2 + FL + interest on the value of owned capital assets (excluding land) + rental value of owned land (net of land revenue).

    Though the Modi government always claims that the previous Congress government did not raise the MSP, but the truth is otherwise.

    “During the tenure of the Congress government, MSP of crops was increased up to 219 per cent.

    Just opposite to that under the Modi government, MSPs for main crops such as paddy and wheat have been increased by only 141 per cent,” he said.

    Citing data from the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Kharge said growth on MSP on paddy (general) under the UPA I was 10.92 per cent on average and under the UPA II, it was increased 8.9 per cent, while under the NDA increase was 4.30 per cent only.

    “These are your data and are published,” he said.

    “For how long you would be lying. How long you would survive by defaming Congress by asking as what it has done in past 60-70 years,” he said, suggesting the ruling party to speak the truth on MSP.

    On the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Kharge said, “A premium of Rs 99,073 crore was collected in the name of crop insurance and farmers were given only Rs 26,012 crore.

    ” On the Kisan Samman Nidhi, he said that agricultural cost has gone up by at least Rs 15,000 per hectare whereas the government is giving only Rs 6,000 annually to farmers under the scheme.

    Kharge said that this country is witness to several farmer movements in history.

    Participating in the discussion, Shamsher Singh Manhas of the BJP said the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was neglected by previous governments.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now working towards the development of Jammu and Kashmir and is ensuring funds are available for that.

  • JP Nadda to launch BJP’s ‘Poribartan Yatra’ in West Bengal on February 6

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: BJP president J P Nadda will inaugurate the party’s ‘Poribartan Yatra’ at Nadia in West Bengal on Saturday as it steps up its campaign to end the Trinamool Congress’ 10-year-old reign in the state.

    The party said in a statement that the yatra will be in five phases and cover all the 294 assembly constituencies in the state where polls are expected to be held in April-May.

    Prior to its launch, he is scheduled to attend a few programmes, including joining over 3,000 farmers for lunch at Shahpur village in Malda district.

    “He will then lead a grand road show at 12:30 pm in Malda from Foara Road to the statue of Shri Rabindranath Tagore,” the statement said.

    The BJP chief will also pay tributes to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a revered saint from the Bhakti movement.

  • BJP indulging in malicious propaganda over ‘rath yatra’ clearance in Bengal: TMC

    The All India Trinamool Congress said on Twitter that the state government has not denied permission to the BJP #39;s programme in contrary to the claims of the saffron party.

  • Shahnawaz Hussain, Kushwaha set to enter Nitish Kumar’s team in Bihar

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Senior BJP leader and recently elected unopposed to the Bihar legislative council Shahnawaz Hussain is expected to be inducted in the Nitish Kumar-led NDA ministry’s expansion due in the next few days.

    Hussain is likely to get either Home or Finance ministry. Nitish Kumar has held these posts since 2005. The BJP has staked its claim on the ministries and a disagreement with the JD-U over it was stated to be the cause behind the delay in the cabinet expansion.

    The Home department is considered the second most important wing because of its vast administrative powers, including those involving bureaucratic reshuffles.

    Sources said the BJP is learnt to have finalised a list of its prospective candidates. The Cabinet expansion is slated to be on the basis of equal number of ministerial berths between the alliance partners.

    However, JD-U sources say the ‘Luv-Kush’ equation could be followed by JD-U, which strongly indicates the return of Upendra Kushwaha-led RLSP. JD-U’s senior leaders are in talks with Kushwaha for an alliance or his party’s merger with the JD-U.

    Speculation over Kushwaha intensified on Wednesday when former JD-U state chief Bashistha Narayan Singh told the media that talks were on over RLSP’s merger. However, RLSP termed it as a rumour.

  • Previous governments drafted Budget with eye on vote bank: PM’s jibe at Congress

    Modi also released a postage stamp to mark the beginning of the centenary celebrations of the historic Chauri Chaura incident.

  • Government committed to welfare of farmers: Scindia defends agri laws

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The ruling BJP on Thursday defended the three new farm laws in Rajya Sabha saying the government was committed to farmers’ welfare, and questioned the opposition parties for changing their stance on agricultural market reforms.

    Speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament, senior BJP member Jyotiraditya Scindia said the government is committed to the welfare of farmers and has taken a host of steps in the last six years to increase their income.

    Scindia, who was recently elected to Rajya Sabha, highlighted that the NDA government has been successful in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and also turning the crisis into an opportunity.

    The BJP leader spoke at length on the three new farm laws passed by Parliament in September last year, and said the Centre has held 11 rounds of discussions with farmer unions to break the deadlock and end the over-two-month-long protest at various borders of the national capital.

    Scindia attacked the Congress for changing its stand on the three legislations, saying that the Opposition party has favoured similar laws in its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

    He said NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who was agriculture minister in the erstwhile UPA government, had written to the chief ministers for reform in farm trade and the need for private sector participation in the agriculture sector.

    “Yeh Juban badalne ki aadat badalni hogi. Chat bhi mera pat bhi mera kab tak chalega (Opposition parties will have to change the habit of going back on words. Heads I win, tails you lose. For how long this will go on),” the BJP member said, and wondered for how long one would continue to hamper the interest of the country.

    Scindia, who quit the Congress in March 2020 to join the BJP, reeled out data to highlight that the procurement operation at the minimum support price (MSP) has grown significantly under the NDA regime.

    The MSP is being fixed at least 1.5 times of the production cost.

    He said the Centre is providing Rs 6,000 per year to farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme and claims worth Rs 90,000 crore have been cleared under the crop insurance scheme, besides setting up of Rs 1 lakh crore agri-infrastructure fund to create storage capacities and reduce post-harvest losses.

    “The NDA government was committed to farmer welfare, it is committed to farmer welfare and will remain committed to farmer welfare,” Scindia said.

    He also condemned the disrespect to the national flag and violence at the Red Fort during the farmers’ tractor rally.

    Talking about the violence at the Red Fort on January 26, he said one cannot forgot the disrespect to the national flag and violence against police personnel as they have etched into memories.

    Scindia said the opposition has insulted the President, the country and the democracy by boycotting the President’s address to both the Houses on January 29.

    He hailed the efforts of the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in checking the spread of the coronavirus when there were grim predictions of 80 crore infections and 20 lakh deaths.

    In a cricket analogy, Scindia said India played a hook shot and drove bouncer of corona out of the boundary.

    He also criticised opposition parties for first questioning the lockdown and then the unlocking process.

    In an apparent jibe at the Congress, Scindia said India voluntarily followed lockdown on the call of the prime minister to check spread of the coronavirus, but there was a lockdown during the Emergency in 1975 which was thrust upon the citizens and the entire country was converted in a jail.

    After the BJP member spoke, it was turn of senior Congress MP Digvijaya Singh which led to some lighter moments in the House.

    Earlier while speaking on the Motion of Thanks, Swapan Dasgupta (nominated) stressed on the need for upgradation in the agriculture sector.

    “If we can rise above this basic partisanship and welcome the Centre in the states and states with each other, I think we can be looking forward not merely to a 11 per cent (GDP) growth but a growth which can be 15 per cent which can be envy of the whole world,” he said.

    He also pointed that only 9-10 per cent of farmers get MSP for their crop.

  • Ram temple fund drive to ‘expose’ RSS: Congress’ student wing rejects ‘soft Hindutva’ angle

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR: Caught in a row over its donation drive for the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Congress’ student wing NSUI has sought to reject ‘soft Hindutva,’ saying its campaign would “expose” RSS affiliates.

    The NSUI in Rajasthan has launched a fortnight-long drive — Re 1 Ram Ke Naam — to collect donations for the Ayodhya temple. The special drive would seek a token one rupee from each student in schools, colleges and universities across the state.

    Critics have termed the drive as a ‘soft saffron’ approach to win Hindu votes. The NSUI, however, claimed it was meant to send a message that “God needs devotion, not money”.

    The NSUI sought to clarify that its aim was to tell the people that Lord Ram belongs to everyone and that people of all religions have equal faith in the Hindu god.

    “We want to expose the way people are being looted by groups affiliated to the BJP and RSS. They are pressuring the public to donate money in the name of Lord Ram. Our campaign is meant to tell the people that God doesn’t need money but needs devotion. If you donate one rupee out of devotion, it is as much as those donating crores,” said NSUI Rajasthan chief Abhishek Choudhary.

    He charged RSS groups with looting Rs 14,000 crore from people in the name of bricks for the temple between 1989 and 2000.

    “They continue to collect funds in the same fashion,” said Choudhary.

    “They never gave any account of how those funds were used to promote their political agenda. They have done nothing but divide people in the name of Ram. But we want to say that Lord Ram is not their monopoly; he belongs to all 135 crore people of the country,” he said.

    The Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, responsible for building Ram Temple, is conducting a nationwide fundraising campaign since January 14 for the construction of a grand Ram temple estimated to cost around Rs 1,100 crore. RSS-affiliates are collecting funds.

    They say all funds are being collected through receipt books and every rupee will be well accounted for. RSS leader (prant pracharak) in Jaipur, Dr. Shailendra said, “Our aim is not to collect big funds but to connect every citizen with construction of the temple. We have coupons of `10 and people can pay digitally too,” he said.

  • Rahul, Rihanna and racket: BJP says Congress MP conspires with foreigners

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  With many international personalities, including celebrities, lending their support to India’s protesting farmers, the BJP on Wednesday lashed out at “propaganda and fake narratives” and also attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, alleging that he conspires with anti-India elements during his trip abroad.

    “We stand together. We stand United against all attempts to malign India through propaganda and fake narratives,” BJP president J P Nadda tweeted as a storm brew over the issue.

    At a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra hit out at Gandhi over his attack on the government over the farmers’ issue.

    “He goes abroad to hatch conspiracy with anti-India elements as to how to defame India and drag the country into controversies,” he alleged.

    Be it Rihanna or Mia Khalifa or others like them who have tweeted, Rahul Gandhi meets these people for anti-India propaganda, Patra claimed.

    The title of this press conference is “Rahul, Rihanna and racket,” Patra said, accusing Gandhi of using farmers’ protests for his political interests and instigating people.

    He noted that farmers have been saying that they have nothing to do with politics, and said Gandhi has shown his “immaturity” by trying to talk on their behalf. 

    Gandhi on Wednesday said India’s reputation has taken a “massive hit” and its biggest strength, its soft power, has been “shattered” by the BJP and the RSS.

    He defended the massive barricading done by the Delhi Police to block farmers protesting at several Delhi border points from entering into the national capital, saying cops have taken measures to ensure that the violence which happened on January 26 is not repeated.

    Even the Congress and Gandhi had asked why farmers were allowed to enter Red Fort, and they are now upset at the Delhi Police for taking preventing measures, he said, adding that they want conflict and police firing so that there are dead bodies and they can do politics over it.

    Asked about Gandhi’s allegation that there is no leadership in India, Patra mocked him, saying he might have the Congress on his mind.

    To a question about Gandhi’s tweet, seen as a veiled dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wondering why the names of so many dictators begin with ‘M’, Patra noted that the names of former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Mahatma Gandhi also begin with the same letter.

    Patra also objected to the Punjab government and the Congress deciding to provide legal aid to those against whom the police has taken legal action for the Republic Day incidents in the national capital during the farmers’ tractor rally.

    “They were earlier alleging that BJP agents were responsible for the violence. And now they are providing them legal aid. There is no institution in the country that would stand with anarchists and the rioters of January 26. Are these people associated with Rahul Gandhi that he is ready to provide legal aid to them,” he asked.

    Attacking Gandhi for his allegation that the government wants to “kill” the farmers, he said the Delhi Police acted with admirable restraint and noted that over 28 farmers were killed in a police firing in 1998 in Madhya Pradesh when the Congress was in power.

    “You (Gandhi) have done politics over the dead bodies of farmers. You are spreading lies,” he said.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Not attending PM Narendra Modi’s public meeting at Haldia: Trinamool Congress MP Dev

    West Bengal BJP Yuva Morcha president Saumitra Khan had recently claimed that Dev and another TMC MP Sisir Adhikari, who is the father of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, will attend the public rally.