News Analysis India

Tag: MLA

  • “Muslims don’t worship Goddess Lakshmi, are they not…” Bihar BJP MLA sparks controversy

    By ANI

    PATNA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Bihar Lalan Paswan courted controversy by making bizarre statements about Hindu deities.

    Paswan’s statement sparked an outrage. People held a protest at Shermari Bazar in Bhagalpur and burnt the effigy of the BJP MLA.

    Paswan, who is an MLA from Pirpainti Assembly constituency in Bhagalpur district raised questions on Hindu beliefs and argued with evidence to prove his stance.

    He further raised questions on Lakshmi Puja on Diwali.

    Paswan said, “If we get wealth only by worshipping Goddess Lakshmi, then there would have been no billionaires and trillionaires among Muslims. Muslims do not worship Goddess Lakshmi, are they not rich? Muslims do not worship Goddess Saraswati. Are there no scholars among Muslims? Do not they become IAS or IPS?”

    The BJP leader said everything is people’s belief. He said the affair of “Atma and Paramatma” is just people’s belief.

    He said, “If you believe then it is a goddess and if not then it is just a stone idol. It is up to us whether we believe in Gods and Goddesses or not. We have to think on a scientific basis to reach a logical conclusion. If you stop believing, then your intellectual capacity will increase.”

    “It is believed that Bajrangbali is a deity with power and bestows strength. Muslims or Christians do not worship Bajrangbali. Are they not powerful? The day you stop believing, all these things will end,” added Paswan.

    Earlier, Paswan came to light when he allegedly leaked a personal conversation with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav (ANI)

    PATNA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Bihar Lalan Paswan courted controversy by making bizarre statements about Hindu deities.

    Paswan’s statement sparked an outrage. People held a protest at Shermari Bazar in Bhagalpur and burnt the effigy of the BJP MLA.

    Paswan, who is an MLA from Pirpainti Assembly constituency in Bhagalpur district raised questions on Hindu beliefs and argued with evidence to prove his stance.

    He further raised questions on Lakshmi Puja on Diwali.

    Paswan said, “If we get wealth only by worshipping Goddess Lakshmi, then there would have been no billionaires and trillionaires among Muslims. Muslims do not worship Goddess Lakshmi, are they not rich? Muslims do not worship Goddess Saraswati. Are there no scholars among Muslims? Do not they become IAS or IPS?”

    The BJP leader said everything is people’s belief. He said the affair of “Atma and Paramatma” is just people’s belief.

    He said, “If you believe then it is a goddess and if not then it is just a stone idol. It is up to us whether we believe in Gods and Goddesses or not. We have to think on a scientific basis to reach a logical conclusion. If you stop believing, then your intellectual capacity will increase.”

    “It is believed that Bajrangbali is a deity with power and bestows strength. Muslims or Christians do not worship Bajrangbali. Are they not powerful? The day you stop believing, all these things will end,” added Paswan.

    Earlier, Paswan came to light when he allegedly leaked a personal conversation with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav (ANI)

  • UP: BJP MLA, son booked after woman alleges rape, harassment 

    By PTI

    AGRA: A BJP MLA has been booked for harassment and his son for alleged rape after a 36-year-old woman lodged a complaint against them, police said on Wednesday.

    According to the FIR registered at Tajganj Police Station, the woman was allegedly raped by Laxmi Kant Verma, son of BJP MLA from the Fatehabad constituency Chhotey Lal Verma, back in 2003 when she was 17 years old.

    The woman was a friend of the MLA’s daughter and would visit their house frequently, she said in her complaint.

    On November 16, 2003, Laxmi Kant Verma gave her a drink allegedly laced with sedatives and after she fainted, he raped her, the woman said.

    She claimed that the accused recorded a video of the act and threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone about it, according to the complaint.

    The woman said sometime later, Laxmi Kant Verma married her at a temple and got her a job as a receptionist at a cyber cafe in Agra that was owned by him and his friend.

    The couple’s firstborn was a girl and as the accused wanted the second child to be male, he forced her to get an abortion.

    She later gave birth to a son, the woman said.

    In 2006, Laxmi Kant Verma married another woman from Rajasthan after forcing the complainant to sign divorce papers, according to the FIR.

    The woman said the BJP MLA and other family members of the accused were responsible for destroying her and her two children’s lives.

    SHO Tajganj Police Station Bhupendra Baliyan said, “The complaint has been registered against Laxmikant Verma under sections 376 (rape), 313 (causing miscarriage), 323 and 328 (causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), 494 (bigamy) of the Indian Penal Code.”

    AGRA: A BJP MLA has been booked for harassment and his son for alleged rape after a 36-year-old woman lodged a complaint against them, police said on Wednesday.

    According to the FIR registered at Tajganj Police Station, the woman was allegedly raped by Laxmi Kant Verma, son of BJP MLA from the Fatehabad constituency Chhotey Lal Verma, back in 2003 when she was 17 years old.

    The woman was a friend of the MLA’s daughter and would visit their house frequently, she said in her complaint.

    On November 16, 2003, Laxmi Kant Verma gave her a drink allegedly laced with sedatives and after she fainted, he raped her, the woman said.

    She claimed that the accused recorded a video of the act and threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone about it, according to the complaint.

    The woman said sometime later, Laxmi Kant Verma married her at a temple and got her a job as a receptionist at a cyber cafe in Agra that was owned by him and his friend.

    The couple’s firstborn was a girl and as the accused wanted the second child to be male, he forced her to get an abortion.

    She later gave birth to a son, the woman said.

    In 2006, Laxmi Kant Verma married another woman from Rajasthan after forcing the complainant to sign divorce papers, according to the FIR.

    The woman said the BJP MLA and other family members of the accused were responsible for destroying her and her two children’s lives.

    SHO Tajganj Police Station Bhupendra Baliyan said, “The complaint has been registered against Laxmikant Verma under sections 376 (rape), 313 (causing miscarriage), 323 and 328 (causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), 494 (bigamy) of the Indian Penal Code.”

  • Three BJP MLAs marshalled out of Delhi Assembly after argument with Dy Speaker Birla 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Three BJP MLAs were marshalled out of the Delhi Assembly on Thursday following an argument with Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla who refused to accept their demand for a calling attention motion prior to debate and voting on the trust motion by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

    The rest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs walked out of the House soon after.

    Kejriwal tabled the confidence motion on Monday levelling charges of MLA poaching on the BJP to show that the alleged “Operation Lotus” of the party had failed in Delhi.

    ALSO READ | Delhi Assembly passes confidence motion tabled by Arvind Kejriwal

    Birla said no calling attention motion notice will be taken up till the debate and voting on confidence motion concluded.

    Protesting it, Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said there are a lot of issues to be discussed in the assembly — “there is shortage of drinking water, Delhi is the world’s most polluted capital there are health-related problems”.

    He said there was no need to enact a “drama” to prove Arvind Kejriwal enjoyed the support of 62 AAP MLAs.

    Birla said the confidence motion is important considering “whatever has happened in opposition-ruled states”.

    All issues of the Opposition will be taken up once the confidence motion process is completed, she said.

    When opposition members did not relent, Birla ordered that BJP MLAs Vijender Gupta, Abhay Verma and Mohan Singh Bisht be marshalled out. The rest of the BJP MLAs walked out of the assembly soon after.

    The special session of the House was postponed sine die by the deputy speaker after a vote division, in which 58 MLAs voted in favour of Kejriwal government.

    Birla, in the chair, did not participate in the voting. The BJP MLAs were not allowed to speak in the special session for the fifth consecutive day of the House, charged Bidhuri.

    The MLAs of the opposition party also staged a sit-in outside the chief minister’s residence in protest over muzzling of their voice in the assembly and corruption in the Kejriwal government, said BJP MLA Vijender Gupta.

    NEW DELHI: Three BJP MLAs were marshalled out of the Delhi Assembly on Thursday following an argument with Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla who refused to accept their demand for a calling attention motion prior to debate and voting on the trust motion by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

    The rest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs walked out of the House soon after.

    Kejriwal tabled the confidence motion on Monday levelling charges of MLA poaching on the BJP to show that the alleged “Operation Lotus” of the party had failed in Delhi.

    ALSO READ | Delhi Assembly passes confidence motion tabled by Arvind Kejriwal

    Birla said no calling attention motion notice will be taken up till the debate and voting on confidence motion concluded.

    Protesting it, Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said there are a lot of issues to be discussed in the assembly — “there is shortage of drinking water, Delhi is the world’s most polluted capital there are health-related problems”.

    He said there was no need to enact a “drama” to prove Arvind Kejriwal enjoyed the support of 62 AAP MLAs.

    Birla said the confidence motion is important considering “whatever has happened in opposition-ruled states”.

    All issues of the Opposition will be taken up once the confidence motion process is completed, she said.

    When opposition members did not relent, Birla ordered that BJP MLAs Vijender Gupta, Abhay Verma and Mohan Singh Bisht be marshalled out. The rest of the BJP MLAs walked out of the assembly soon after.

    The special session of the House was postponed sine die by the deputy speaker after a vote division, in which 58 MLAs voted in favour of Kejriwal government.

    Birla, in the chair, did not participate in the voting. The BJP MLAs were not allowed to speak in the special session for the fifth consecutive day of the House, charged Bidhuri.

    The MLAs of the opposition party also staged a sit-in outside the chief minister’s residence in protest over muzzling of their voice in the assembly and corruption in the Kejriwal government, said BJP MLA Vijender Gupta.

  • Assam CM terms FIR by J’khand MLA ‘fake’; minister shares Himanta-Jaimangal photos on Twitter

    By PTI

    GUWAHATI: Terming the FIR against him by a Jharkhand Congress MLA as ‘fake’, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday raked up the Bofors scam to hit back at the opposition party.

    Congress MLA Kumar Jaimangal has filed a complaint against Sarma in Jharkhand, claiming that three party legislators who were arrested in Bengal with cash amounting to lakhs of rupees, had also offered him a visit to Guwahati to meet the Assam chief minister and strike a deal for toppling the JMM-led government in his state.

    A senior minister of Sarma’s Cabinet, Pijush Hazarika, however, tweeted photographs of the Assam CM and Jaimangal to claim that the two were regularly in touch and the Jharkhand MLA’s claims were “baseless”.

    “5 days before filing the fabricated FIR, Hon’ble CM Dr. @himantabiswa sir took him to the Residence of the Hon’ble Union Coal Minister Shri @JoshiPralhad ji at 9 am of 26th July, 2022 in order to help him in his trade union related matter,” Hazarika tweeted, sharing photographs of Sarma and Jaimangal with Joshi. He asserted that the Jharkhand MLA’s allegation that the three arrested legislators had lured him was false.

    Demanding action against Jaimangal, the Assam minister added, “Mr. @KumarJaimangal has been regularly meeting HCM Dr.@himantabiswa sir. He should face the law for making a fraudulent allegation against Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam and against those tribal MLAs.”

    Sharing his cabinet colleague’s tweet, Sarma wrote, “Fake FIR in #Jharkhand. The so-called FIR looks like @INCIndia asking Ottavio Quattrocchi to file a case against Bofors.”

    The Rs 64-crore Bofors payoff case involved the Congress-led Union government and members of Swedish government in a arms deal scam in the 1980s and 1990s, with Italian businessman Ouattrocchi figuring as a ‘middleman’ in the deal.

    Three Congress legislators — Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kachchap and Naman Bixal Kongari — were arrested in Bengal on Sunday after a huge amount of cash was allegedly seized from a car in which they were travelling.

    The Congress, which is part of the JMM-led government in Jharkhand, alleged that the BJP was trying to topple the government there by a offering ministerial berth and Rs 10 crore each as bribe to its MLAs.

    Jaimangal had filed a complaint in Ranchi on Sunday claiming that Kachchap and Bixal Kongari had asked him to travel to Kolkata and offered him money, while Ansari wanted to take him to Guwahati from Kolkata to attend a meeting with Sarma.

    Soon after the FIR was lodged, Sarma had told reporters here that Congress leaders stay in touch with him as friends owing to his over-two-decade-long association with the party.

    Sarma had joined the BJP in 2015 and had assumed the post of chief minister of Assam in May 2021.

    GUWAHATI: Terming the FIR against him by a Jharkhand Congress MLA as ‘fake’, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday raked up the Bofors scam to hit back at the opposition party.

    Congress MLA Kumar Jaimangal has filed a complaint against Sarma in Jharkhand, claiming that three party legislators who were arrested in Bengal with cash amounting to lakhs of rupees, had also offered him a visit to Guwahati to meet the Assam chief minister and strike a deal for toppling the JMM-led government in his state.

    A senior minister of Sarma’s Cabinet, Pijush Hazarika, however, tweeted photographs of the Assam CM and Jaimangal to claim that the two were regularly in touch and the Jharkhand MLA’s claims were “baseless”.

    “5 days before filing the fabricated FIR, Hon’ble CM Dr. @himantabiswa sir took him to the Residence of the Hon’ble Union Coal Minister Shri @JoshiPralhad ji at 9 am of 26th July, 2022 in order to help him in his trade union related matter,” Hazarika tweeted, sharing photographs of Sarma and Jaimangal with Joshi. He asserted that the Jharkhand MLA’s allegation that the three arrested legislators had lured him was false.

    Demanding action against Jaimangal, the Assam minister added, “Mr. @KumarJaimangal has been regularly meeting HCM Dr.@himantabiswa sir. He should face the law for making a fraudulent allegation against Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam and against those tribal MLAs.”

    Sharing his cabinet colleague’s tweet, Sarma wrote, “Fake FIR in #Jharkhand. The so-called FIR looks like @INCIndia asking Ottavio Quattrocchi to file a case against Bofors.”

    The Rs 64-crore Bofors payoff case involved the Congress-led Union government and members of Swedish government in a arms deal scam in the 1980s and 1990s, with Italian businessman Ouattrocchi figuring as a ‘middleman’ in the deal.

    Three Congress legislators — Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kachchap and Naman Bixal Kongari — were arrested in Bengal on Sunday after a huge amount of cash was allegedly seized from a car in which they were travelling.

    The Congress, which is part of the JMM-led government in Jharkhand, alleged that the BJP was trying to topple the government there by a offering ministerial berth and Rs 10 crore each as bribe to its MLAs.

    Jaimangal had filed a complaint in Ranchi on Sunday claiming that Kachchap and Bixal Kongari had asked him to travel to Kolkata and offered him money, while Ansari wanted to take him to Guwahati from Kolkata to attend a meeting with Sarma.

    Soon after the FIR was lodged, Sarma had told reporters here that Congress leaders stay in touch with him as friends owing to his over-two-decade-long association with the party.

    Sarma had joined the BJP in 2015 and had assumed the post of chief minister of Assam in May 2021.

  • Haryana Cong MLAs reach Delhi from Raipur, to arrive in Chandigarh hours before RS polls Friday

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Haryana Congress MLAs who were lodged in a resort in Chattisgarh’s Raipur reached Delhi Thursday evening and are expected to arrive here Friday morning to cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections, sources said.

    The ruling BJP-JJP MLAs remained lodged at a resort here for the second day as both sides braced for a keen contest on one of the two seats going to the polls.

    #WATCH | Haryana Congress MLAs arrive in Delhi, from Raipur in Chhattisgarh, ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/MT4jNPiox8
    — ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2022
    In a late-evening development, lone Indian National Lok Dal MLA Abhay Singh Chautala declared his support to Kartikeya Sharma, who has entered the fray as an Independent candidate backed by the BJP-JJP combine and most Independents.

    The BJP has fielded former minister Krishan Lal Panwar while Ajay Maken is the Congress nominee. The Congress had shifted its MLAs to Raipur a week ago fearing poaching of its legislators.

    Sources said they left the resort there on Thursday evening and reached Delhi. They are expected to reach Chandigarh in the morning. After reaching Chandigarh, they will have breakfast at Hooda’s residence here and proceed from there to cast their votes, sources said.

    Speaking to reporters in Delhi, senior Congress leader Vivek Bansal, who is the party’s Haryana affairs incharge, exuded confidence that Ajay Maken will win comfortably.

    Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda also said the party candidate will win comfortably.

    Senior party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had been in Delhi for the past few days, reached here on Thursday evening. It is learnt that both Hooda and party leader Kuldeep Bishnoi reached here in the same flight from Delhi.

    Earlier, Bishnoi, who is the MLA from Adampur in Hisar, did not go to Raipur as he was reportedly upset with the party for ignoring him in the recent reshuffle in its state unit. He had lobbied for the post of the state unit chief, which went to former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda loyalist Udai Bhan.

    Another senior leader, Kiran Choudhary, too, did not go to Raipur reportedly due to health reasons. “We have got sufficient numbers and our candidate will win comfortably with 31 votes,” Hooda had told PTI on Wednesday.

    The BJP-JJP too had shifted their MLAs to a resort in Chandigarh. They are attending a “training session” in connection with the voting process, Haryana BJP chief O P Dhankar had said.

    BJP’s senior leaders, including Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Dhankar, too had joined them.

    While the BJP with 40 MLAs has sufficient votes to win one seat, the contest has spiced up for the second seat with the entry of media baron Kartikeya Sharma. He is also supported by most Independents and Gopal Kanda, lone MLA of the Haryana Lokhit Party. A candidate needs 31 votes to win the elections.

    Indian National Lok Dal MLA Abhay Singh Chautala on Thursday declared his support to Sharma after a meeting of his party.

    Replying to a question, Abhay Singh Chautala said the media baron’s brother Manu Sharma, who had helped his father in the past, approached him for support. Now, by supporting Kartikeya Sharma, he is repaying the debt, he said.

    Chautala said there is no question of supporting the Congress, “which has looted the country”. “For me, there is also no question of voting for the BJP candidate as the party pursued anti-farmer policies,” he said.

    He said if he abstains from voting, then it would mean benefitting the Congress candidate in the fray, which he can never do.

    The INLD leader also lashed out at Bhupinder Singh Hooda, saying he can go to “any extent to serve his political interests”.

    Independent MLA Balraj Kundu, who is yet to make his stand clear on whom he will support, was on Thursday evening approached by Sharma’s father and former Union minister Venod Sharma, who sought support for his son.

    Venod, who had also remained a minister in the erstwhile Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government, had floated his own outfit Jan Chetna Party. The media baron’s father-in-law Kuldeep Sharma is a senior Congress leader and a former speaker of the state Assembly.

    On Thursday, Balraj Kundu told reporters that he will reveal his strategy on Friday.

    Kundu took a dig at the BJP, saying its leaders used to take potshots at the Congress for lodging their legislators in a resort over fears of poaching but now they too have done the same thing. “Why the BJP and the JJP are lodging their MLAs in a resort here. One thing is clear from this that both outfits don’t have faith in their MLAs and they fear cross-voting,” he said.

    Haryana Assembly Secretary and Returning Officer for the polls R K Nandal said on Thursday the polling will be held from 9 am to 4 pm. The votes will be counted soon thereafter.

    The votes will be marked by a special pen provided by the Election Commission. Each MLA after casting his vote will hand over the pen to the officer deputed by the poll body, Nandal told reporters.

    Nandal said that Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer and one central observer, who is Manipur’s Chief Electoral Officer, will be present to oversee the poll process.

    In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the BJP has 40 MLAs while the Congress has 31.

    The JJP, which is an ally of the BJP, has 10 legislators while the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party have one each and seven are independents.

    Two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana will fall vacant in August with the terms of media baron Subhash Chandra and BJP leader Dushyant Gautam expiring.

  • Ensure your vote doesn’t turn invalid due to some mistake: Fadnavis tells party MLAs on RS polls eve

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: On the eve of elections to six Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday held a meeting here with the MLAs of his party, where he advised them to ensure that their votes do not turn invalid due to some mistake.

    The former chief minister was speaking to the BJP MLAs at a hotel. “You have been instructed on how to exercise the preferential voting for the Rajya Sabha. You will have to ensure that your vote will not become invalid due to some mistake,” the Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly said.

    “We have told you how to vote and you should do it accordingly,” he added.

    Union Railway Minister and election in-charge for the BJP Ashwini Vaishnav was also present at this meeting.

    Fadnavis, who tested negative for COVID-19 on Thursday, days after being found infected, joined the meeting and addressed the MLAs.

    After more than two decades, Maharashtra will witness a contest in the Rajya Sabha polls as there are seven candidates in the fray for six seats.

    Polling will be held at the Vidhan Bhavan, the state legislature complex, here between 9 am and 4 pm.

    Union minister Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde, Dhananjay Mahadik (BJP), Praful Patel (NCP), Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar (Shiv Sena) and Imran Pratapgarhi (Congress) are in the fray for the six seats of the Upper House of Parliament.

    The contest is for the sixth seat – between BJP’s Mahadik and Sena’s Pawar. Every vote has become crucial after BJP decided to field its third candidate in the election.

    The BJP has 106 MLAs in the lower house of the Maharashtra legislature while it claimed to have support of some independent and small parties as well.

  • RS polls: Uddhav, Pawar, Kharge meet MVA legislators

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: In a show of solidarity ahead of June 10 election for six Rajya Sabha vacancies from Maharashtra, Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge held a meeting with MLAs of the three parties here on Tuesday.

    As leaders of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition of the Sena, NCP and Congress held parleys with Independent MLAs and smaller parties to cobble up support, the Sena also decided to shift its legislators to a city hotel to thwart attempts of poaching.

    “The chief minister said during the meeting that our victory is certain and asked the legislators of the three parties to stay united,” Sena MLA and spokesperson Sunil Prabhu told PTI in the evening.

    MLAs of smaller parties like the Bachhu Kadu-led Prahar and Independent legislators also attended the meeting, Prabhu added. This was the first such meeting of the MVA MLAs and its leaders after the formation of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in 2019.

    In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly (which forms the electorate for the Rajya Sabha polls), smaller parties have 16 MLAs, while the number of Independents is 13.

    With one Assembly seat lying vacant and two NCP MLAs (Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik) in jail, the quota of votes per winning candidate is 41.

    Mumbai | Ahead of June 10 RS polls, meeting of Maha Vikas Aghadi partners begins- Shiv Sena, Congress, NCP discuss the strategy. Maharashtra CM & Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge among others present at Trident pic.twitter.com/JqPLg63saI
    — ANI (@ANI) June 7, 2022
    A total of seven candidates — three candidates of the BJP, two of the Shiv Sena and one each of NCP and Congress — are in the fray for six seats, which necessitated election for Rajya Sabha after more than two decades in Maharashtra.

    The contest for the sixth seat will be between the BJP’s Dhananjay Mahadik and Sena’s Sanjay Pawar. The BJP has asked its MLAs to come to Mumbai in the next two days.

    AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said the MVA should contact his party if they need support while the Samajwadi Party has sought Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s clarification on the Shiv Sena’s language of Hindutva and the government’s secular credentials.

    All 55 legislators of the Sena have been summoned to Mumbai and they will stay together till the polls on June 10, a Sena leader said.

    “We were at ‘The Retreat’ (at Madh island in northwest Mumbai) and all our ministers too were present there. That was part of our strategy. We will be moving to hotel Trident (in south Mumbai) today,” Sunil Prabhu had said earlier in the day.

    The Trident is a stone’s throw from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly where voting will take place.

    Senior Shiv Sena leader and minister Anil Parab said talks are being held with all parties, be it the AIMIM and Samajwadi Party, who have extended their support to the MVA government.

    The AIMIM and the SP each have two MLAs in the House. Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh also met Parab.

    Shaikh told reporters that the SP has written a letter to CM Thackeray, asking him to clarify the government’s secular credentials.

    “The Common Minimum Programme on which the government was formed and the language of Hindutva spoken by the chief minister in his speech. There is so much difference (between CMP and the Hindutva language). So (the CM should) clarify whether the government is secular or if Sena’s Hindutva credible or the BJP’s,” Shaikh said.

    What has the government done in the last 2.5 years? The minority commission and the Haj Committee have not been formed until now, Shaikh said. When asked whether the Samajwadi Party is with the MVA, Shaikh said, “We are with the MVA, but look at the demands. It is ideological.”

    BJP leader Girish Mahajan on Tuesday met Hitendra Thakur, seeking his support. Thakur’s Bahujan Vikas Aghadi has three MLAs and he is known as a supporter of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

    The Sena has fielded Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar while the BJP has nominated Union minister Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik. The NCP has fielded Praful Patel and Congress nominated Imran Pratapgarhi).

    Given its strength in the Assembly (106 MLAs), the BJP has enough votes to win two seats, while the Sena, NCP and Congress can win one seat each.

    The Sena (55), NCP (53) and Congress (44) — all constituents of the MVA-have enough votes together to ensure the victory for the second candidate of the Sena.

  • Ex-Cong MLA Manilal Vaghela joins BJP ahead of Gujarat Assembly polls

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: Former Congress MLA Manilal Vaghela, who was denied ticket by the party in the 2017 Gujarat Assembly elections, joined the BJP on Sunday along with several of his supporters, ahead of the state polls due in December this year.

    Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil welcomed Vaghela with a party scarf at the ‘Vijay Vishwas Sammelan’ in Vadgam town of Banaskantha district.

    Vaghela had won the 2012 state election on Congress’s ticket from Vadgam seat, but was denied ticket in the 2017 Assembly election after the party decided to support independent candidate and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, who won by defeating his BJP rival.

    Vaghela, who was associated with Congress for a long time, had resigned from the party in November last year, citing displeasure over the party sidelining him for Mevani. He had expressed objection to Mevani’s “provoctive speeches” and Dalit identity politics.

    Notably, Mevani was arrested a few days back by the Assam police from Palanpur town in Banaskantha over a tweet. He is currently in the Assam police’s custody after his bail plea was rejected by a court in the north- eastern state.

    Soon after joining the BJP, Vaghela criticised the Congress, terming it as a “direction-less party” with nobody to hear the grievances of Congress workers.

    Vaghela said he will ensure the BJP victory from the Vadgam seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.

    “I contacted people from the area and after visiting different villages and meeting sarpanchs and others, I decided to join the BJP. I will ensure that this seat is won by the BJP, irrespective of who gets the ticket to contest from the seat,” he said.

  • Fearing poaching, Congress, AAP may shift newly elected MLAs out of Punjab

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH:  Fearing poaching of MLAs by rivals once the Assembly results are declared on March 10, the Congress and AAP are likely to shift their newly elected legislators out of Punjab. While the grand old party may shift its Punjab MLAs to Rajasthan, the Delhi’s ruling party is expected to shift its MLAs to the national capital.

    While all parties are clamming that they will form the next government in the state, there are fears that the verdict will create a hung House. Sources said there are apprehensions that if nobody gets a clear majority, the SAD and its former partner BJP would try to form an alliance government and if they fall short of the required numbers, they would poach the legislators of Congress and AAP. 

    “There has been a decision to keep the newly elected Congress MLAs of Punjab in Jaipur as there is a Congress government in Rajasthan. As per internal surveys, the party might get around 50 seats in Punjab and fall short of majority,’’ said a party leader on condition of anonymity.

    SAD may approach BJP to form alliance govtThe AAP has made a plan so that their newly elected MLAs are not poached by other political parties. It is likely the AAP legislators might be taken to Delhi. Meanwhile, sources in the Shiromani Akali Dal said party president Sukhbir Singh Badal has been in Delhi for the last few days. As per an internal survey the SAD-BSP alliance might get around 35 seats. The SAD leaders are in touch with the BJP to form a post-poll alliance if they have the numbers to form government.

  • Snowfall throws life out of gear in higher reaches of HP; oppn Cong targets govt

    By PTI

    SHIMLA: Normal life remained out of gear in the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh, including in capital Shimla, on Saturday as most roads were blocked following the recent snowfall, and contractors tasked with clearing the snow staged a protest.

    Talking to the media here, Shimla Rural MLA Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress said the contractors brought forward their protest originally proposed for Monday, adversely affecting the snow clearance work from most of the roads in Shimla, Kullu, and Chamba districts.

    Blaming the Jai Ram Thakur-led BJP government in the state for the crisis, the Congress MLA said representatives of the contractors had met the chief minister several times in support of their demands for the release of their arrears and GST refunds but the issue was not resolved.

    The state government should immediately resolve their grievances to provide relief to the general public as the contractors with their men and machinery play an important role in clearing snow from the roads, he said.

    State Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore alleged that the state government has failed to restore normal life despite clear weather on Saturday. “People are suffering as the power supply in several parts has also been affected, and the state government has failed to restore it,” Rathore said.

    Meanwhile, Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj urged the contractors not to stop the work of clearing the roads. Contractors play a vital role in restoring normal life after a snowfall, and they should do so this time too, and the government will resolve their grievances at the earliest, he assured in a statement.

    The minister said the issue would be taken up with the chief minister after his arrival in Shimla, and it would be resolved accordingly. The chief minister was in his home district Mandi on Saturday and is likely to return to Shimla soon.