News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • Those saying Abhishek will be next Bengal CM are trying to create confusion: Trinamool hits back at Shah

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress said on Sunday that Mamata Banerjee will be the chief minister of West Bengal for the third time when the party is voted to power, asserting that those suggesting her nephew Abhishek Banerjee will be appointed to the top post are trying to create confusion.

    Speaking to reporters, senior TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy said that the party has made it clear time and again that it is contesting the upcoming elections with Banerjee as the chief ministerial face.

    “Everyone knows that Mamata Banerjee will be our chief minister for the third time. How can Amit Shah make such a claim? There has been no talk in the party to appoint Abhishek as the future CM. Such claims are only aimed to create confusion,” Roy said.

    Addressing a BJP rally in Howrah virtually, Shah claimed that the agenda of the TMC dispensation is to make Banerjee’s nephew the next chief minister of the state.

    Hitting out at BJP leader Rajib Banerjee, Roy said that people like him are certainly “traitors” as they enjoyed every benefit of staying in power and deserted the party just before the elections.

    Rajib, who switched over to the BJP from TMC on Saturday, told the rally in Howrah that the more the leaders who changed sides are called traitors, the more they will get people’s support.

    Speaking at a press conference, TMC leader and state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said that leaders who are coming to the state ahead of the elections to “mislead the people” are justly called “outsiders”, in an apparent reference to Shah.

    She said people of different communities living in the state are not branded “outsiders” by her party, but those coming to the state for making false claims.

    Without naming anyone, Bhattacharya said MPs from Uttar Pradesh, “an unemployed” politician from Madhya Pradesh, a leader from Gujarat are coming to the state before the polls to mislead the people.

  • BJP ally Nishad Party asks Centre to resolve farmers issue soon

    By PTI
    BALLIA: Nishad Party president Sanay Nishad has advised ally Bharatiya Janata Party to resolve the farmers issue soon with talks.

    He said that BJP did not follow its promise of providing reservation to the Nishad community, the issue for which it joined hands with the saffron party in 2019.

    “We are an ally of the BJP. I want to ask it to soon resolve the farmers’ issues by talks. Politics is being played with farmers who are foodgrain producers,” Nishad told reporters in Ballia on Sunday evening.

    “CM Yogi Adityanath has assured reservation for the Nishad community. It has been over one-and-a-half years with the BJP, but he is feeling neglected. We will field our candidates in panchayat polls,” he said.

    Nishad Party or Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal wants reservation and SC certificate for the Machuara and other castes of the fisherfolk.

    Sanjay Nishad’s own son Praveen Nishad is the sitting BJP MP of Sant Kabir Nagar.

  • UP MLA receives messages from Pakistan number threatening to kill her, PM, BJP leaders

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh’s BJP legislator Sadar Sarita Bhadauria has received multiple messages on WhatsApp from a Pakistani number threatening to kill her, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and senior BJP and RSS leaders, police said on Monday.

    The MLA from Etawah Sadar has told police that she received the messages on WhatsApp with the logo of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI.

    According to her, the first message was received on Saturday around 11 pm.

    By Sunday morning she had received eight messages threatening to kill her, the prime minister, and senior BJP and RSS leaders, police said.

    Senior Superintendent of Police of Etawah Akash Tomar said, “The MLA has received messages on her WhatsApp. I have seen the message. It has come from a mobile number of Pakistan starting with +92. We are probing the matter and also reviewing security arrangements for the legislator.”

    Bhadauria had won 2017 Assembly election from Etawah Sadar by defeating Kuldeep Gupta of Samajwadi Party by 17,342 votes.

    She came into politics after the murder of her husband Abhayveer Singh Bhadauria in 1999.

    The MLA said she would continue to fight for the people and would not get intimidated by any such message.

  • Jyotiraditya Scindia, loyalists not feeling insecure in BJP: Muralidhar Rao

    By PTI
    INDORE: BJP’s Madhya Pradesh in-charge P Muralidhar Rao has termed Jyotiraditya Scindia as the “leader of the entire BJP”, and said the Rajya Sabha member and others who had joined the saffron party along with him do not have any feeling of insecurity.

    Talking to reporters on Sunday on the sidelines of first meeting of the state BJP’s newly formed executive committee, Rao said now Scindia is not just the leader of those who left the Congress along with him (last year) and joined the BJP.

    “He is the leader of the entire BJP. Scindia or those who have come with him to the party have no feeling of insecurity,” he asserted.

    “All these leaders may have come from anywhere, now they have gelled with the BJP,” Rao said.

    He was replying to a query on Scindia loyalists not getting adequate representation in the executive committee.

    “Tell me what is this adequate space? Have all our workers, who worked tirelessly to enrol one crore members in the (state) BJP got an opportunity (in the newly set up executive committee)?” he asked.

    “Please remember that we pushed behind our senior leaders to give ministerial berths to those who came to the BJP along with Scindia,” Rao said.

    Actually, there is no issue of giving more or less weightage to any leader in the BJP, he added.

    In March last year, 22 Congress MLAs, mostly Scindia loyalists, quit the party and resigned from their Assembly membership, causing downfall of the Kamal Nath government.

    The BJP then returned to power in the state under the leadership of Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

  • Haryana BJP leader Balwan Singh Daulatpuria quits party over farm laws

    By PTI
    FATEHABAD: Haryana BJP leader and former MLA Balwan Singh Daulatpuria on Sunday quit the ruling party in solidarity with the farmers who are protesting against the Centre’s new agriculture laws.

    Daulatpuria, who had joined the party ahead of 2019 assembly polls after switching over from INLD, announced his decision at a Panchayat held at his village Daulatpur here.

    Talking to reporters later, he said the three agriculture laws “are anti-farmer which should be repealed immediately”.

    “A Panchayat was held in my village. They directed that I should come out fully in support of the farmers who are protesting against these laws, after which I announced my decision to quit the party. I will fight shoulder-to-shoulder with farmers and also visit the Tikri border protest site,” Daulatpuria, a former MLA from Fatehabad, said.

    Meanwhile, some villagers in Sonipat’s Rai block took out a ‘tractor march’ in support of the farmers protesting against the farm laws.

    A “Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat” was organised by “Arhitiyas Association” in Palwal on the farm laws issue.

    A Mahapanchayat will be held in Jind early next month to mobilise support for the farmers agitating against the three farm laws, a farmer leader said.

    Earlier on Thursday, Haryana BJP leader and former chief parliamentary secretary Rampal Majra had quit the party over the farm laws issue.

    Majra, a three-time former MLA, had switched over to the BJP from the INLD just before the 2019 assembly elections.

    He had in September last year dubbed then Centre’s farm bills as “anti-farmer”, claiming that the apprehensions about the minimum support price (MSP) were not unfounded.

    In September last year, Haryana BJP leader Shyam Singh Rana had also quit the party over the agriculture laws.

    Rana, who was chief parliamentary secretary in the first term of the M L Khattar-led BJP government, had then said he was quitting the party keeping the farmers’ issue in mind.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a 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 (MSP) system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations.

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

  • Farmers protests: BJP leader smells ‘political conspiracy’ behind Republic Day violence

    By PTI
    INDORE: BJP’s Madhya Pradesh in-charge P Murlidhar Rao on Sunday suspected a “political conspiracy” behind the violence that broke out in Delhi during the farmers’ tractor rally last week.

    Thousands of protesting cultivators had clashed with the police on January 26 during the tractor rally called by farmers’ unions to highlight their demand for repeal of the Centre’s three new farm laws.

    Many protesters reached the Red Fort and entered the monument.

    Some even hoisted religious flags on its domes and the flagstaff at the ramparts, where the national flag is unfurled by the prime minister on Independence Day.

    Talking to reporters here, Rao said, “Gangsters and history-sheeters from Punjab were involved in rioting at the Red Fort on the Republic Day. Their videos are coming to light.”

    “In the federal structure, law and order is a state subject, but the Punjab government is not taking the January 26 incidents seriously. A thought strikes the mind after a serious consideration whether there was some political conspiracy behind the entire incident?” he added.

    The BJP leader said that the Congress government in Punjab cannot escape from the accountability over the Delhi violence.

    He alleged that the Congress has lost the political values and it was conspiring and spreading confusion over the three new farm laws.

    At the cost of maligning the nations image, it is trying to defeat (the Modi government), he said.

    “After losing elections in a row, the opposition parties are not capable of protesting directly. In such circumstances, they are leaning on others to fire,” he said.

    He also claimed that most of the farmers were with the government over the agriculture laws.

    Rao was here to attend a meeting of newly-formed state executive committee.

  • With Nadda, Shah at helm, BJP starts early to build Bengal poll campaign on ground

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Even as an internal assessment shows the party reaching the halfway mark in the 294-member Bengal Assembly, BJP strategists are acutely aware of the well-oiled cadre of the ruling Trinamool Congress. 

    The BJP has taken an early start to the campaign for the Bengal election which is due in April-May. Former BJP chief Amit Shah and his successor J P Nadda are leading the saffron charge, with the former pushing the party leaders with the target to win over 200 seats.

    “The assessment within the party currently is that reaching the halfway mark is within the reach in the prevailing situations. The exodus of TMC leaders is giving the BJP much attention in the state. But the real challenge lies when the electioneering in the real sense begins and the manner in which the TMC responds to the BJP’s campaign,” said a senior BJP strategist. 

    The BJP strategists are monitoring on the alignment of the TMC cadre and the possible understanding with the Left-Congress combine on the ground.

    “The principal challenge remains to build the campaign on the ground, particularly in rural areas. This may get a boost with the induction of the TMC veterans who are regional satraps. But the TMC has an edge because of the strength of its cadre and the appeal of Mamata,” added the BJP strategist.       

    Within the BJP, the party leaders are counting on two scenarios on hypothetical joining of the forces from the ranks of TMC and the Left and the Congress. 

    “Either the BJP may not be able to build the campaign on the ground, which may restrict the party to two digits, or the ideological contradictions in rival camps may give a groundswell to take it beyond 200 seats on the lines of Uttar Pradesh. The BJP will need to match up to the power of the Trinamool and the Left on the polling booth level,” said a senior BJP functionary.  

    The BJP campaign is currently seen around Shah and Nadda, with major thrust on promises to implement Central schemes, including PM-Kisan Nidhi, Ayushman Bharat and others.

  • Beware of anti-social elements misusing farmers’ stir: Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

    By PTI

    INDORE: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday appealed to BJP workers to beware of those elements, who he said were purportedly carrying out anti-national and anti-social activities by misusing farmers’ agitations in Delhi.

    “BJP workers should develop an understanding to identify such people,” Chouhan is quoted as saying in a release while speaking at the first meeting of the newly-formed BJP state executive committee here. Chouhan said that a good understanding existed between the state government and the BJP in Madhya Pradesh. “The BJP is going to better its tally in the upcoming civic polls,” the CM said.

    During their January 26 parade, scores of protesters had stormed the Red Fort in Delhi, with some of them hoisting religious flags on its ramparts.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and parts of UP have been protesting at Delhi’s borders for over two months now, demanding a 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 government has offered some concessions including keeping the new farm laws on hold for 1-1.5 years and the Supreme Court has set up a panel to look into the matter while keeping the contentious legislation in abeyance for two months.

    However, the agitating farmer unions have rejected both and intensified their stir.

  • Shame that BJP leaders sung national anthem ‘incorrectly’: Trinamool Congress

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Trinamool Youth Congress president Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday claimed that BJP leaders have sung the national anthem incorrectly at a public rally in Howrah, a charge denied by the saffron party.

    Taking to Twitter, the TMC MP said that “those preaching patriotism and nationalism cannot even sing the national anthem correctly”. “This is the party which claims to uphold India’s honour and pride! SHAMEFUL! Will @narendramodi @AmitShah @BJP4India apologise for this ‘Anti-National’ Act?” he wrote.

    Those preaching about Patriotism & Nationalism can’t even sing our National Anthem correctly.This is the party which claims to uphold India’s honour and pride! SHAMEFUL!Will @narendramodi @AmitShah @BJP4India apologise for this “Anti-National” Act?#BJPInsultsNationalAnthem pic.twitter.com/fgdCEMPisk
    — Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) January 31, 2021

    TMC secretary general and West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee also stated in a tweet that the BJP has disrespected the national anthem. “The whole country is astonished at this shameful act,” he posted on the microblogging site.

    The Left Front also slammed the saffron camp over the incident. CPM politburo member Md Salim said it is an irony that those who cannot sing the national anthem properly give sermons on nationalism.

    However, BJP leader Shamik Bhattacharya rubbished the allegations and said that the TMC was “indulging in politics over the national anthem, just like it did over Lord Ram and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose”. He said that it isn’t possible that so many senior leaders of the saffron party, including ministers, would together sing the national anthem wrong. “People will reject such politics,” he added.

  • West Bengal government’s health scheme a hoax: Ex-TMC MLA Rajib Banerjee after joining BJP

    By PTI
    HOWRAH: A day after joining the BJP, former West Bengal minister Rajib Banerjee on Sunday claimed that the Trinamool Congress government’s much-publicised “Swasthya Sathi” scheme is a hoax as funds are insufficient.

    Attacking the TMC government for launching public outreach programmes just months before the assembly elections, he said that the BJP, after coming to power, will ensure that services reach the doorstep of people throughout the year.

    “The funds required for the (Swasthya Sathi) scheme are much more than the West Bengal government’s annual budget,” Banerjee said on the free medical insurance scheme of Rs five lakh for each family in the state.

    “When someone joins the TMC from another party, it is claimed that the person has done so for the welfare of the state, Banerjee said adding that when someone leaves, he is termed a traitor. This is an indication of the beginning of the end for the TMC,” he said.

    There is no need for the TMC to remain in power as the party claimed long back that 99 per cent of development work had already been undertaken by it, Banerjee said in his first public meeting after being inducted into the saffron party in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Saturday.

    Though some work has been done in the state, a lot more is needed, he said adding that unemployed men and women still to go to other states in search of jobs. “I discussed with Amit Shah yesterday about the development of the state,” Banerjee said while addressing the meeting in Howrah, in which Union minister Smriti Irani and other BJP leaders were present.

    The former forest minister of the state said that he discussed a roadmap for the development of the state with Shah and for creation of jobs through setting up of industries. “We will work towards creating a Bengal where youths will get jobs in the state. They will not be forced to go to other states for work,” he said.

    Banerjee alleged that the TMC government’s opposition towards the Centre has cost the people of the state job opportunities. “If good relations are not there between the Centre and the state, the path of development cannot be smooth. I have told Amit Shah that the state needs a special economic package. He has said that their main aim is to develop of the state and turn it into Sonar Bangla (golden Bengal) again,” Banerjee said.

    Claiming that the TMC has not done anything for the development of minorities in the state, he alleged that the ruling party has used them as vote bank. He said that since the assembly elections are months away, the TMC government has introduced programmes like “Duare Sarkar” and “Paray Samadhan” in December last year.

    The Mamata Banerjee administration launched the “Duare Sarkar” drive to deliver benefits of 11 state-run welfare schemes to people, while local neighbourhood grievances will be redressed under the “Paray Samadhan” initiative.

    He said that the BJP, after coming to power, will ensure that services reach the doorstep of people throughout the year and not just before elections. Former minister Suvendu Adhikari said that they left the TMC because it has ceased to be a political party and has become a private limited company.

    Adhikari, who joined the BJP last month, claimed that the way TMC leaders and workers are joining the BJP, there will be no people to hold the flag of the ruling party. “Real parivartan (change) did not come in 2011, it will happen this time,” he said, asserting that in order to save the country, the BJP has to come to power in the state.

    The TMC formed the government in West Bengal in 2011 ousting the CPM-led Left Front which ruled the state for 34 years.