News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • Amit Shah isn’t God, his prediction of BJP ruling for 50 years an exaggeration: MNF

    Mizo National Front, a constituent of the BJP-led NEDA, dismissed saffron party chief Amit Shah’s remarks that the party will rule India for the next 50 years if it wins the 2019 general elections, saying he is not a God and the prediction is an exaggeration.

    The principal opposition party in Mizoram is, however, confident that the Congress or the UPA will not come to power at the Centre in the next year’s general elections.

    Former chief minister and MNF chief Zoramthanga told PTI in an interview that his party and the BJP can never be allies in the hill state because of the saffron party’s Hindutva politics.

    “I doubt. He (Shah) is not a God. He cannot predict that in politics. Even Modi cannot predict that. That is his wishful thinking. Nobody can predict that,” he said, when asked about Shah’s claim of BJP ruling for the next 50 years.

    The Congress is not coming to power again in 2019 at the Centre and nobody can predict how many decades it will take to form the next government, the veteran politician from the north-east said.

    “For decades, he (Shah) may predict that Congress will not come to power. But to predict for 50 years or 100 years, it is rather an exaggeration,” Zoramthanga said.

    In September, Shah had said at the BJP’s National Executive meet that the party will win the 2019 elections because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hard work and then no one can dethrone it for the next 50 years.

    Talking about the relations between the MNF and the BJP, the two-time chief minister said he was completely against the BJP as far as the ideology and other things are concerned.

    “Because we are Christians. They want to promote the Hindutva. We cannot be together as far as these things are concerned. We have a different ideology.

    “But as far as the country is concerned, the NDA is better than the UPA and that is why we joined them at the Centre. But ideologically, the MNF and the BJP are poles apart. The BJP knows it very well,” he said.

    In the recently held Assembly elections in Mizoram, the MNF contested alone against the ruling Congress and the BJP. Both the Congress and the MNF contested in all the 40 constituencies, while the BJP fought in 39 seats.

    The Congress has been in power in Mizoram since 2008 and is eyeing a third consecutive term. In the 2013 elections, the Congress had won 34 seats, while the MNF got five and Mizoram People’s Conference one.

    Mizoram went to polls on November 28 and counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

  • Gehlot accuses BJP of misleading people by ‘jumlas’

    Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP on Thursday of governing and misleading people by ‘jumlas’ (rhetoric).

    Gehlot launched the attack at the BJP at a poll rally in Rajasthan ahead of the State Assembly elections.

    “The BJP Government had promised to deposit Rs 15 lakh in everyone’s bank account and bring black money. It was a ‘jumla’ and they are master in that. No one got the money,” Gehlot said.

    He accused Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of not taking plight of people in the last five years.

    He alleged that the BJP government stalled and delayed various public welfare schemes, including a petroleum refinery in Pachpadra, the Banswara-Dungarpur rail route, Jaipur metro and irrigation projects in Hadoti region.

  • 16% Maratha quota Bill OK’d

    In a development that will fetch political dividends to the ruling BJP in forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the State, both the Houses of the Maharashtra Legislature on Thursday passed a Bill according reservations 16 per cent reservations in education and Government jobs to the community in the State, thus paving way for enactment of a law.

    Given that reservations will go up to 68 per cent in the State after the impending enactment of the new law, it remains to be seen if the new law — to be known when enacted — as the Maharashtra State (of seats for admission in educational institutions in the State and for appointments in the public services and posts under the State) for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018, will stand the scrutiny of the Supreme Court which has put a 50 per cent on reservations.

    While Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis introduced the Maratha reservations bill in the State Assembly, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil tabled it in the State Legislative Council. Both the Houses passed the bill unanimously, without a debate on the contents of the bill, amidst chants of “Chharpati Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai”.

    Thanking the members in both the Houses of Maharashtra Legislature for passing the Maratha reservations bill without any discussions, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on the floor of the two Houses that the elected representatives had shown that they could come together to find a solution to the social issue like the Maratha reservations.

    After both the Houses of the State Legislature passed the Maratha reservations bill, the Vidhan Bhjavan complex reverberated to the echoes of slogans like ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai’, ‘Jai Bhawani, Jai Shivaji’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ raised by elected representatives belonging to all the political parties. Legislators of BJP and Shiv Sena, many of whom wearing saffron phetas (headgear), were seen distributing sweets. There were celebrations in front of the Maharashtra BJP headquarter, which is just a stone’s throw away from the State Legislature.

    Earlier, ahead of introducing the Marataha reservations bill, the chief minister tabled the Action Taken Report (ATR) on the report of the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission (MSBCC) which has recommended 16 per cent reservations to the Marathas in education and government jobs.

    Currently Maharashtra has 52 per cent reservations in jobs and educational institutions. Of the total 52 per cent reservations, SCs and ST communities account for 13 and 7 per cent, respectively, while OBCs have 19 per cent per cent reservations, Together, Special Backward Class and Nomadic Tribes account for 13 per cent.

    The Marathas, who have now been accorded 16 per cent reservations in education and government jobs, account for nearly 33 per cent of the total 11.25 crore population of Maharashtra.

    Once the Maharashtra State SEBC Act comes into force, then the total reservations in the State will go up to 68 per cent — next only to Tamil Nadu that has 69 per cent.

    By seeking to enact a law granting 16 per cent reservations to Marathas and in the process exceeding the 50 per cent cap on reservations imposed by the Supreme Court, Maharashtra has taken the Tamil Nadu route of attempting to circumvent the apex court’s cap on reservations.

    Though Devendra Fadnavis dispensation has not clarified as to how it face the scrutiny of the new law in the Supreme Court, it looks like the Maharashtra government will take the route taken by the Tamil Nadu government under late chief minister Jayalalithaa, which achieved its objective of increasing reservations to 69 per cent by passing the Tamil Nadu Act of 1994 and adding the 1994 Act to the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

    Article 31B of the Constitution stipulates that the legislations in the Ninth Schedule cannot be challenged in courts. However, in 2007, the Supreme Court in IR Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu ruled that even those laws which are placed in the Ninth Schedule are subject to judicial review if the laws violate the basic structure of the Constitution. Interestingly enough, a petition challenging the Tamil Nadu Reservation policy is expected to come up for hearing before the Supreme Court in the near future.

  • BJP coins new ‘gotra’ for Rahul, calls it ‘gotra Itlus’

    The BJP on Thursday coined a new ‘gotra’ for Congress president Rahul Gandhi, mocking his Italian lineage through his mother and party leader Sonia Gandhi.

    Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey called it “gotra Itlus”. This is the latest remark in the row over Gandhi’s gotra. A priest at Pushkar lake in Rajasthan recently said Gandhi gave out his gotra during a ritual as “Dattatreya”, who are Kashmiri Brahmins.

    Some BJP leaders challenged the “claim”, reminding that Gandhi’s paternal grandfather was a Parsi, not a Hindu with a ‘gotra’.

  • BJP alleges TRS hand in Rohingyas’ inclusion in Hyderabad voter lists

    A BJP delegation led by Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday met top officials of the Election Commission and submitted a memorandum alleging that names of Rohingya Muslims had been illegally included in the voter lists of 15 Assembly constituencies in Hyderabad in Telangana as part of a “joint conspiracy” of the ruling TRS along with AIMIM and the Congress.

    The BJP demanded a probe by the Commission.

    After the meeting, Naqvi told reporters that despite clear instructions of the Union Home Ministry that Rohingya Muslims are not Indian citizens, they have been registered as voters in Telangana. The delegation also included  general secretary Arun Singh and its national media head Anil  Baluni .

    “The registration of Rohingya Muslims as voters is a clear violation of laws of the land. The Election Commission may institute a special investigation team to probe the matter,” the BJP said in its memorandum to the Commission.

    Naqvi blamed the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Congress for inclusion of these names in the assembly constituencies in Hyderabad.

    “It is a combined conspiracy of TRS, AIMIM and Congress against the people of a particular religion,” he alleged.

    The party also demanded that electoral rolls of 15 assembly constituencies in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation be “rectified” before the assembly election, which is barely nine days away. Telangana is scheduled to go to polls on December 7.

    The BJP has also alleged that there has been an inordinate increase in number of voters and volatile fluctuations in their numbers. Eom

  • BJP runs Govt ‘comparatively better’ than Cong: Rajnath

    Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday claimed that the BJP has run the Government “comparatively better” than the Congress and blamed the Opposition party for a “credibility crisis” in politics after Independence.

    Talking to reporters in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Singh asserted that the country was currently witnessing “achchhe din” (good days) and it was a matter of perception how people saw it.

    He also defended BJP-led Government at the Centre over the Rafale jet deal row.

    “Indian economy is the fastest growing economy in the world due to the charismatic work of our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi). India (people) has accepted that BJP is a political party which runs the Government comparatively better than the Congress,” Singh told reporters here.

    “I said comparatively… No political party is perfect, neither are we, I never made such a claim. All political parties have shortcomings. But this (BJP) is a political party which works better, comparatively,” he asserted.

  • Voting on for last phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly polls, 24% voter turnout

    Polling continued on Tuesday for the second and concluding phase in 72 seats spread across 19 districts to elect a new Chhattisgarh Assembly, with nearly 24 per cent of the over 1.5 crore electorate casting their votes in the first four hours.

    Amid allegations of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) tampering and malfunctioning in several areas, an overall 23.71 per cent turnout was recorded till 12 p.m., according to the Election Commission (EC).

    EVM malfunctioning was reported from several booths across Dhamtari, Jashpur, Raipur, Ambikapur and Korba.

    The EC asserted that the faulty machines were promptly replaced and voting was not affected.

    The Congress, however accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of vitiating the poll process by EVM tampering.

    A Congress delegation led by senior leader P.L. Punia met the EC in the national capital over the alleged “attempts to misuse and tamper EVMs in Chhattisgarh”.

    Punia said the BJP “wary of losing the polls, was trying to influence and affect the polling process through electoral malpractices”.

    “Reports of EVMs malfunctioning are pouring in from across the state. In many places voting could not take place for over two hours because of faulty EVMs. Is malfunctioning of EVMs mere coincidence or a conspiracy to vitiate the polling process,” said state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel in Raipur.

    The EC however, has rejected the Congress’ allegations.

    The state, carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000, is for the first time witnessing a three-way contest with the ruling BJP fighting it out with the opposition Congress and the Ajit Jogi-Mayawati-led alliance emerging as a formidable third front.

    A total of 1,079 candidates are in the fray, with both the Congress and the BJP contesting all the 72 seats.

    The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is in the fray for 25 seats and its ally and former Chief Minister Jogi’s Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) is vying in 46 seats.

    The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded candidates in 66 constituencies.

    An electorate of over 1.5 crore, including over 77 lakh male and over 76 lakh female voters, are eligible to exercise their franchise.

    There are nearly 1,000 voters from the third gender.

    The highest number of 46 contestants are in the Raipur City South constituency, while the lowest number of six contestants are in the Bindranavagarh seat.

    Among the prominent faces in the fray in this phase for the Congress are Baghel (Patan), Leader of Opposition in the Assembly T.S. Singh Deo (Ambikapur) and former Union Minister Charandas Mahant (Shakti)

    For the BJP, the list includes state ministers Brijmohan Agrawal (Raipur City South), Rajesh Munat (Raipur City West), Amar Agrawal (Bilaspur), Prem Prakash Pandey (Bhilai Nagar).

    For the alliance, Jogi is in the fray from Marwahi, his wife Renu Jogi is contesting from Kota, while his daughter-in-law Richa Jogi is a BSP nominee from the Akaltara seat.

    Elaborate security arrangements, including deployment of helicopters and drones, have been put in place for the balloting which is taking place at over 19,000 polling booths. Over a lakh security personnel have also been positioned.

    Extra security was being maintained in Maoist-affected Gariaband, Dhamtari, Mahasamund, Kabirdham, Jashpur and Balrampur districts.

    The BJP is in power in the state since 2003.

    Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, a host of political leaders took to social media to urge voters to exercise their rights in large numbers.

  • Sushma Swaraj not to contest Lok Sabha poll due to health

    External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday said that she has decided not to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

    “Candidates are decided by the party. But I have made up my mind that I won’t be contesting in the next elections,” the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said on the sidelines of an event here.

    She also said that she has conveyed her decision to the party.

  • Mamata accuses BJP of destroying institutions

    Continuing her tirade against the BJP-led NDA Government for “taking India towards a political chaos,” Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said the saffron Government had ensured that the key institutions of the country were destroyed.

    In an apparent bid to catch the bull by its horn the Chief Minister also announced counter-Yatras in the wake of BJP’s much publicised Rath Yatras beginning next month. The TMC Yatras will follow the route of the BJP Yatras, she said.

    The Narendra Modi Government was tearing down the major institutions like Reserve Bank of India and Central Bureau of Investigation Banerjee said promising to do everything to protect these organizations.

    “They (Modi Government) are destroying all the key institutions of the country,” Banerjee who had earlier been critical of changing the Planning Commission into Niti Ayog said adding how the Centre was “trying to change the way the RBI and the CBI function.”

    The ruling outfit (read BJP) that was making “‘building statues’ its poll agenda will itself become a statue after the coming Lok Sabha elections,” Banerjee told a party meeting in Kolkata.

    Dropping hints that the Trinamool Congress was planning to take central stage in Delhi post 2019 general elections, Banerjee said the way the BJP was trying to divide the country and implementing regimes like the National Register for Citizens would force her party to “play a bigger role in the coming days.

    “We will not tolerate division in the society and persecution of innocent people in the name of NRC,” Banerjee said giving a call for “BJP Hatao Desh Bachao (save India by driving away the BJP)”.

    The Chief Minister who had called a mega rally in January to be held at the historic Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata where she had invited all the anti-BJP parties said “all parties barring a few have confirmed their desire to attend the rally,” adding the same will act as the final nail in the BJP’s coffin.

    Attacking the saffron outfit for reintroducing the age-old tactic of Rath Yatras to polarize the Hindu vote, Banerjee said, “the BJP is organizing the Rath Yatra to divide the people but we will organize similar Yatras which will be called “Ekta Yatra (Unity Rally)” on the same route that their Yatra follows.”

    The Trinamool Congress’ Yatra “is aimed at uniting and not dividing the communities,” Banerjee said.

    Incidentally the CPI(M) which was locked in a battle with the BJP for the second place in the State has also announced rallies following the same path that the BJP’s Yatra is like to take.

    The BJP is scheduled to take out three Yatras in December. While the first Yatra will start from Ganga Sagar (the southernmost tip of Bengal), the second one will commence from Tarapeeth in Birbhum district. The third Yatra will start from the northern most district o the State Coochbehar bordering Assam. The BJP’s chariots will converge at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on January 23 the birth day of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the party sources said.

    Enroute the Yatras will cover several thousand kilometers, during which 60 mass meetings will be held.

    Top BJP leaders including party president Amit Shah, Assam Chief Minister Sarwananda Sonowal and his UP counterpart Yogi Adityanath will address the BJP rallies sources said.

    “The Yatras will be taken out against Trinamool Congress’ reign of terror, its appeasement policy and its aiding the continuing infiltration through Bangladesh border,” BJP State Rahul Sinha said.

    However TMC MP and Chief Minister’s nephew said the Rath Yatra would in fact be a “luxury tour of the State in air-conditioned vehicles by the BJP leaders.”

  • Yogi to lead BJP bike rally in Varanasi

    Senior leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and party State president Mahendra Nath Pandey, will hit the road on Saturday by taking part in the Kamal Sandesh Bike Rally to make people aware of the achievements of the Central and the UP Governments.

    The bike rally, being organised in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, will be taken out in all the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state with Yogi leading the campaign in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will join the bike rally at Prayagraj (Allahabad) and Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma in Lucknow.

    BJP state president Mahendra Nath Pandey will lead the rally in his parliamentary constituency Chandauli and BJP general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal in Kannauj, the bastion of Samajwadi Party.

    BJP state general secretary and MLA Pankaj Singh, who is son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, will lead the bike rally in Gorakhpur, the native place of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

    The party leadership has directed the cadre and leaders to get at least five motorcyclists from each polling booth. All the party leaders, including parliamentarians, legislators and office-bearers, have been directed to ensure full participation in the rally, which will be a show of strength. There are about 1,60,000 polling booths in the 80 parliamentary and 403 assembly constituencies in 75 districts.

    The BJP leaders will highlight the flagship schemes like crop loan waiver, Ujjwala, Saubhagya, Swachh Bharat Mission and others among the people.

    “We are expecting participation of one lakh party workers and cadre in this mass mobilisation programme, which aims at creating awareness about the good works being done by the Central and the state governments,” senior leader and party state spokesperson Chandra Mohan said here on Friday.

    “We are expecting at least 10,000 bikes and over 15,000 partymen in the rally in every parliamentary constituency,” he said.