News Analysis India

Tag: Vote bank

  • BJP trying to woo BSP’s dalit vote bank in Uttar Pradesh

    BJP, which has been constantly working to expand its base among the SC voters, finds itself in an advantageous position with the waning hold of BSP, which once enjoyed considerable support among Dalits in the state. As of now, BSP has not aligned with any party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and has decided to go solo on all 80 seats in the state.

    BJP, which won 62 seats in the 2019 LS elections in UP, is eyeing to maximise its tally in the state by crossing 70. To achieve that goal, BSP vote bank becomes crucial for the party. SCs account for 20% of the state’s population and BSP has more or less managed to hold on to this vote bank. However, in the 2022 assembly elections, BSP lost its vote share from around 19.43% in 2019 Lok Sabha to 13%.

    BJP’s internal calculation is that in the absence of any alliance, most BSP voters are looking for options and the saffron party considers itself the most suitable party.”SC community has got maximum benefits from Modi government’s schemes. The government policies are formulated keeping in mind the welfare of the SC community,” Lal Singh Arya, BJP SC Morcha president told ET. “If you look at the recent assembly elections, SCs have voted for BJP in large numbers. Now, our job is to convince SC voters that BJP should be their natural and preferred choice.”

    Starting from Ravidas Jayanti on February 23, BJP SC Morcha will kickstart ‘Basti Sampark Abhiyan’ in different parts of the state. As part of the campaign, BJP leaders will visit nearby SC areas to discuss Modi government’s welfare schemes and present a future roadmap for the development of their localities. The PM will visit Varanasi to take part in Sant Ravidas Jayanti programme on February 23.

    A national convention of BJP SC Morcha will take place in Agra in March which will be attended by BJP SC leaders, Union ministers and leaders from other states. BJP president JP Nadda will make a special address during the meeting. Agra has been chosen considering the high concentration of SC voters in West UP, where BSP performed well in last LS polls.

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  • RJD claims reservation within party structure is implemented

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Days after the patch-up with Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) claimed on Sunday to have become the first party in the country to implement ‘reservation’ in its organizational structure. This has been done at a time almost national and regional parties, especially in Bihar BJP included, are working on this equation to create a strong vote-bank on the basis of social engineering ahead of the 2024 LS and the 2025 assembly elections. 

    This reservation roster in the organisational elections of RJD will continue in effect further with an aim to make what RJD chief calls-‘samata-mulak samaj’.(egalitarian society).

    Sharing details with this newspaper here, Chittaranjan Gagan- assistant national chief electoral officer of RJD, said that reservation has been implemented in the party for organisational structure with the purpose of giving special representation to the most backward and scheduled castes and tribes in the organizational structure.

    “A provision has been made for special reservation for these classes in the constitution of RJD.  According to the constitutional provisions of the party, 28 per cent of posts of party office bearers at the block and district levels including the party district presidents have been reserved for the most backward classes and 17 per cent for the scheduled castes and tribes now”, he claimed.

    He further elaborated that the same roster of reservations has been implemented in the organizational election year 2022-2025, which was earlier implemented in the organizational election year 2019-2022.

    The category, for which the posts of block president and district president were reserved in the last organizational year, would continue same for the same category in this organizational year also. “There has been no change in the previous roster”, he said.

    At present, the RJD has around 50 organizational district units in Bihar. “Among these units, 17 district units, the party president post has been reserved for the most backward classes whereas in 7 district units, the president’s post has been reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

    Sharing details, he said that  Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Madhubani, Darbhanga,Samastipur, Begusarai , Supaul, Saharsa, Purnia, Purnia , Munger, Bhagalpur , Banka, Biharsharif , Jehanabad and Patna Mahanagar(metropolis) have been reserved for the most backward, whereas  Navgachia, Arwal, Kaimur, Nalanda, Araria, Siwan and Bagaha have been reserved for SC and ST.

    “Along with this, provision has been made for co-opted members to ensure proper representation of special interests in the organization.  Under which, out of the total co-opted members at various levels, except the initial unit, the participation of minimum of 25 per cent women, 25 per cent minorities, 30 per cent scheduled castes/tribes and the remaining 20 per cent of those sections which have not got representation will be ensured”, he added.  In the primary unit, one member of the SC/ST will be represented as a ‘sahvarit’ (co-opted) member.

    NEW DELHI: Days after the patch-up with Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) claimed on Sunday to have become the first party in the country to implement ‘reservation’ in its organizational structure. This has been done at a time almost national and regional parties, especially in Bihar BJP included, are working on this equation to create a strong vote-bank on the basis of social engineering ahead of the 2024 LS and the 2025 assembly elections. 

    This reservation roster in the organisational elections of RJD will continue in effect further with an aim to make what RJD chief calls-‘samata-mulak samaj’.(egalitarian society).

    Sharing details with this newspaper here, Chittaranjan Gagan- assistant national chief electoral officer of RJD, said that reservation has been implemented in the party for organisational structure with the purpose of giving special representation to the most backward and scheduled castes and tribes in the organizational structure.

    “A provision has been made for special reservation for these classes in the constitution of RJD.  According to the constitutional provisions of the party, 28 per cent of posts of party office bearers at the block and district levels including the party district presidents have been reserved for the most backward classes and 17 per cent for the scheduled castes and tribes now”, he claimed.

    He further elaborated that the same roster of reservations has been implemented in the organizational election year 2022-2025, which was earlier implemented in the organizational election year 2019-2022.

    The category, for which the posts of block president and district president were reserved in the last organizational year, would continue same for the same category in this organizational year also. “There has been no change in the previous roster”, he said.

    At present, the RJD has around 50 organizational district units in Bihar. “Among these units, 17 district units, the party president post has been reserved for the most backward classes whereas in 7 district units, the president’s post has been reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

    Sharing details, he said that  Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Madhubani, Darbhanga,Samastipur, Begusarai , Supaul, Saharsa, Purnia, Purnia , Munger, Bhagalpur , Banka, Biharsharif , Jehanabad and Patna Mahanagar(metropolis) have been reserved for the most backward, whereas  Navgachia, Arwal, Kaimur, Nalanda, Araria, Siwan and Bagaha have been reserved for SC and ST.

    “Along with this, provision has been made for co-opted members to ensure proper representation of special interests in the organization.  Under which, out of the total co-opted members at various levels, except the initial unit, the participation of minimum of 25 per cent women, 25 per cent minorities, 30 per cent scheduled castes/tribes and the remaining 20 per cent of those sections which have not got representation will be ensured”, he added.  In the primary unit, one member of the SC/ST will be represented as a ‘sahvarit’ (co-opted) member.

  • Opposition driven by ‘vote bank’ politics not country’s interest: PM Modi 

    By PTI

    AMETHI/ PRAYAGRAJ: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked opposition parties, saying guided by “vote bank and dynastic politics”, they have always sacrificed the interest of the country and the poor.

    Modi also questioned the “silence” of rivals over the court’s recent verdict on Ahmedabad blasts, saying, “Being hostage to vote bank politics, they would even not hesitate to insult the army or the police”.

    Modi was addressing a rally for nine constituencies of Amethi and neighbouring Sultanpur.

    The prime minister’s remarks came days after a special court in Ahmedabad sentenced to death 38 members of the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen in the 2008 serial blasts case.

    The court also sentenced 11 other convicts to life imprisonment.

    Modi started the day with the election rally in Amethi and later went to Prayagraj for his second public meeting.

    At the Prayagraj rally, PM Modi said two crore people visited Mecca and around one crore visited Vatican City in Rome in 2019.

    These countries had given facilities for the visiting devotees, he said.

    “But, if we do the same in India, these people see this through the lens of communalism,” he said attacking the rivals.

    Modi appealed to the youths to remain beware of dynasts who are “hostage” to vote bank politics.

    He also sought to puncture the euphoria of opponents over voting in the first four phases of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, saying “people have showered blessings on the BJP in abundance, proving that the rivals’ math on division of votes has gone wrong”.

    Assembly constituencies of Sultanpur were included in the first rally while BJP candidates of Pratapgarh were also present in the second meeting.

    The prime minister fondly remembered February 24, saying on this day, he had launched PM Kisan Yojna three years back and also became an MLA for the first time 20 years ago from Rajkot in Gujarat.

    Before independence, there was inner party democracy in the Congress and different people headed it but after the independence, the leadership of the party rested with only one family, the prime minister said at the rally in Amethi.

    “Other parties, including the SP, have copied this and the sequence of power transfer from father to son continues.

    The dynasts care only for their family interest and giving the interest of the poor and the country a go-by,” Modi said.

    “Whereas in the BJP, since the days of the Jana Sangh, has never been a ‘father-son Ltd company’ and different people hailing from varied regions have held the chair of party president,” he said.

    Modi said he took the Covid vaccine only after the jabs were given to health workers and others and so was his elderly mother.

    “Neither me nor my 100-year-old mother jumped the line and took the jab.

    When the government started giving booster doses, my mother who has no co-morbidity did not take it,” he said giving some examples.

    He further said during rules of the dynasts in Uttar Pradesh, ministers had not much relevance as the man at the helm in office used to “distribute districts and departments among family members”.

    “The officials knew very well that the ministers had not much importance and would follow the instruction of ‘super ministers’ (family members) to improve their CR so that they can get plum posting,” he said.

    In an apparent dig at Rahul Gandhi, he said the person whom the people had blessed here (Amethi) for long but “chased away” in 2019 to Kerala, did not miss an opportunity to question the wisdom of people here.

    Amethi Lok Sabha MP Smriti Irani and Sultanpur MP Maneka Gandhi were present on the dais.

    While Irani addressed the rally, Maneka Gandhi did not address the gathering.

    At the Prayagraj rally, Modi mocked the poll promises of the rivals on employment and said while only two lakh jobs were provided in 10 years before 2017 in Uttar Pradesh on the basis of “favouritism and bundle of notes”, the Yogi Adityanath government generated five lakh government jobs in as many years with complete transparency.

    BSP ruled UP from 2007-12 while Akhilesh Yadav was in power in the state from 2012-17.

  • There was ‘bahubali’ in every district under SP, but it is ‘Bajrangbali’ now: Shah

    By PTI

    ALIGARH/BUDAUN: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday targeted Samajwadi Party, saying if Akhilesh Yadav becomes the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, his government will show “red light” to development and green light to “mafia and musclemen”.

    “There was ‘Bahubali’ (musclemen) in every district under the previous regime, but in the present Yogi Adityanath’s regime, there is no such mafia. There is only ‘Bajrangbali’ now,” the BJP leader said addressing election rallies.

    Referring to the BJP’s poll symbol he said, “Goddess Lakshmi entered every household with the lotus and referred to welfare measures taken by the government, especially during the Covid pandemic.”

    Shah warned the voters that if the “mafia rule” returns in Uttar Pradesh, “industries will go”. 

    “If you search for the mafia, you can see it at three places in UP – they are visible in jail, second outside UP and third you will see in the list of candidates of Samajwadi Party,” he said.

    The BJP leader also accused the SP, BSP and the Congress of opposing the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, for their “vote bank” politics.

    “Had SP, BSP, Congress been in power, would they have withdrawn Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir? When Modi ji became PM for the second time, he withdrew it (Article 30) on August 5, 2019. Akhilesh Yadav was against it. Why do you do such vote bank politics?” he said.

    “He (Akhilesh) stood in front of me and said due to the decision (revoking Article 370) ‘khoon ki nadiya bahengi’ (rivers of blood will flow) but Akhilesh Babu leave that river of blood, no one had the courage to throw even a ‘kankad’ (stone),” Shah said, asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured the nation.

    He was addressing rallies in Atrauli, Aligarh, where Sandeep Singh, former UP CM Kalyan Singh’s grandson, is the party candidate and in Badaun. 

    “Akhilesh government will show red light to development and green light to the mafia and ‘bahubali’ (musclemen)”, Shah said, asking the people whether they wanted “red-light, green-light” government.

    ALSO READ: Goons, mafia of UP have fled, are in jail or appear in Samajwadi Party’s list of candidates: Amit Shah

    The SP flag has red and green colours. “For the 15 crore people of UP, this is not only the lotus flower but also mother Lakshmi, Ma Annpurna, which came to their houses. Modi fed their children for two years,” he said.

    He said that if “mafia rule” again comes into the state, people will hesitate to invest in the defence corridor in Aligarh, announced by Prime Minister Modi in 2018. Shah asserted that the general elections in 2014 and 2019 and the assembly polls in 2017 were for “changing the fortune (kismat) of Uttar Pradesh”.

    He said the SP and the BSP “gripped with casteist thinking” could never do any good for the state.

    “During SP and BSP rule, goondas (criminals) used to harass people and police used to run away from them, but under (CM) Yogi Adityanath regime, criminals and mafias are migrating out of the state,” he said.

    Shah alleged that the SP, the BSP, and the Congress cannot rule in a “transparent and corruption-free” manner “Only the BJP and lotus symbol could give corruption-free government under the leadership of Modi,” he said Polling will be held in Atrauli on February 10 in the first phase. BJP stalwart Kalyan Singh had represented this seat many times.

    On his relations with Kalyan Singh, Shah said, “In 2013, when I was sent as the in-charge of UP, I had visited Lucknow and Varanasi. I sought time from ‘Babuji’ (Kalyan Singh), he invited me for food at home and like a father held my finger and taught me about Uttar Pradesh politics. Kalyan Singh was the person who first talked about giving the backward society its due right,” he said.

    The Union home minister said for ‘Ramjanmbhoomi’, Kalyan Singh had resigned as the chief minister and “our PM (Modi) has laid the foundation of Ram temple”.

    Shah urged the people to once again vote the Yogi Adityanath government to power and also ensure the victory of Sandeep Singh. 

    ALSO READ: UP polls: Voting for SP-RLD alliance will lead to ‘reign of terror’, cautions Amit Shah

    Alleging that Akhilesh Yadav misled the people on the Covid vaccine, Shah said, “He used to say it’s BJP’s vaccine, I will not take it.vHe misled the people of UP and the country.vHe, however, out of fear took the vaccine himself. Had you all not taken the vaccine, would you be able to save yourself in the third wave? Narendra Modi secured 130 core people by getting them vaccinated,” he said.

    Shah also hit out at Congress, saying when there was “Sonia-Manmohan” government at the Centre, anyone used to enter India from Pakistan and cut off the heads of soldiers and the prime minister at that time would not react. “‘Mauni baba’ (Manmohan Singh) used to remain silent.

    “When the Modi government came, Pakistan-sponsored terrorists did not know that the government changed. When they attacked in Uri and Pulwama, within 10 days there was a surgical strike and terrorists were eliminated inside Pakistan,” he said.

    Taking a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Shah said he did not know about Kharif and Rabi crops and ”if someone would tell him to talk about potato growers in Aligarh he would say he will open a potato factory here.” 

    “Can a person who does not know that a potato is grown in a field and not a factory resolve problems of farmers,” he said.

    Refuting Akhilesh Ýadav’s claim of bad law and order in the state, Shah said as compared to the previous regime, dacoity cases have been reduced by 70 percent, loot by 69 percent, murder by 29 percent, kidnapping by 35 percent, and rape by 30 percent.

    He said people like Azam Khan, Atiq Ahmad, and Mukhtar Ansari, who are seen with Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, are in jail.

  • Article :- Ram Mandir Banaane ke lie Modi Sarakaar la Sakatee Hai Vidheyak, Sangh de Chuka hai Ishaara

    On the Modi Government, the all-round pressure of construction of the Ram temple is going on day by day. Since there was also a futuristic Ram temple in the larger promises of coming. The Modi government is going to complete its five-year term even after forming a government with full majority. And the government has not taken any special hand in the Ram temple issue, as well as 2019 elections and the Modi government wants a return in Sanaa, in such a situation the government has to take major steps towards the Ram temple.

    There is pressure on the government to bring legislation to the temple for the construction of Ram Temple and clear the path to construct a temple on Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya. The last stamped on this possibility is the statement of Mohan Bhagwat in the Vijayshashmi program of the RSS. He said that law should be made for Ram temple, if Bhagwat is saying this thing then he is pointing directly to the government, keeping in mind the support of RSS and BJP supporters and those who believe in Ram The Modi government should bring a law to the Ram temple in the house.

    On the other hand, saints have also started encircling the government on the issue that they will not tolerate delay in construction of the temple. Saints say that or the BJP has forgotten its own promise of construction of the temple and the statement of the Supreme Court’s verdict is being repeatedly given to the party. Let the guests associated with the Ram temple movement announce the construction of a temple in Ayodhya from December 6 this year. Sant Samaj says that he will start the construction of the temple, if the government wants to stop, stop it.

    Bill will bring government? In such a situation, the government now seems to have survived one way and it is that for the establishment of its commitment to the Ram temple, Modi Government will keep the Ram temple bill in the upcoming winter session of the House. This also benefits the BJP. First of all, that the government will succeed in establishing people right before the election that their intent is towards Ram temple, they will be able to tell their voters that at least BJP and Modi are committed to building Ram temple in Ayodhya .

    The second advantage is that it will not be a comfortable situation for the opposition. The Opposition will break on it, it will not be easy for the Congress to confront the proposal on Ram temple and put all its efforts in Hindutva into the soil. This will also cause scarcity in the Opposition and parties like SP BSP will also get a kick in the vote-bank.

    It is important for the government to believe in the faith of Ram Mandir right before the election, it is to see the extent to which the government goes to convey the belief. Keep in mind that this is an important and last chance in front of the Modi Government just before the election to deliver messages between saints and voters. Even during the Kumbha, which started in Prayag from January, the government will have to clarify its accountability to the temple in front of Sant Samaj.