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Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM wins 7 seats in Ahmedabad civic body on Gujarat poll debut

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Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM wins 7 seats in Ahmedabad civic body on Gujarat poll debut

Ahmedabad: Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) marked its debut in Gujarat polls by winning seven seats in the civic body of Ahmedabad.

Results of polls to six municipal corporations were declared on Tuesday, and AIMIM, which fielded 22 candidates in six wards, ended up with seven wins in two wards.

In Gujarat, each ward of a municipal corporation has four seats.

While a panel of four candidates won in Jamalpur ward, three out of its four contestants won in Maktampura ward in Juhapura area of the city.

Those who won in Jamalpur included former Congress corporators Mohammad Rafiq Shaikh and Mushtaq Khadiwala, while the third victor, Bina Parmar, was a new face.

The AIMIM did not field candidates in Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar, which also witnessed civic polls on February 21 along with Ahmedabad.

Owaisi had addressed a large gathering here as part of AIMIM’s campaign.

BJP sweeps polls to municipal corporations in Gujarat; setback for Congress

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Ahmedabad: The BJP on Tuesday swept elections to six municipal corporations in Gujarat by winning 483 out of 576 seats.

The ruling party retained power in all the six municipal corporations in the state — Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar. The polls had been held on February 21.

The main opposition Congress got a drubbing, as it won only 55 seats and failed even to open account in Surat.

On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) put up an impressive show by winning 27 seats, all in Surat, and emerged as the main opposition in the Surat Municipal Corporation.

The AAP had for the first time fielded 470 candidates across all the six corporations.

The BJP won 159 out of 192 seats in Ahmedabad, 68 out of 72 seats in Rajkot, 50 out of 64 seats in Jamnagar, 44 out of 52 seats in Bhavnagar, 69 out of 76 seats in Vadodara and 93 out of 120 seats in Surat.

Congress, on the other hand, won seats in single digit in three corporations, and drew a blank in Surat.

The party won 25 seats in Ahmedabad, four in Rajkot, 11 in Jamnagar, eight in Bhavnagar and seven in Vadodara.

Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, which also contested local body polls in Gujarat for the first time, won seven seats in Ahmedabad’s Muslim-dominated Jamalpur and Maktampura wards.

Three candidates of the Bahujan Samaj Party won in Jamnagar, while an independent candidate won only in Ahmedabad.

The BJP had won 389 seats and Congress 176 across these six municipal corporations in the 2016 elections.

The saffron party gained 94 seats while Congress lost 121 seats this time.

In a series of tweets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people of Gujarat and BJP workers for the victory.

“Thank you Gujarat! Results of municipal elections across the state clearly show the unwavering faith people have towards politics of development and good governance.

“Grateful to the people of the state for trusting BJP yet again. Always an honour to serve Gujarat,” he said.

He also appreciated the efforts of party workers and said the state government’s pro-people policies have had a positive impact on the entire state.

“Today’s win across Gujarat is very special. For a party that is serving in a state for over two decades to record such a phenomenal win is noteworthy. It is heartening to see widespread support from all sections of society, particularly the youth of Gujarat towards BJP,” Modi said in another tweet.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on a visit to Ahmedabad, congratulated Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and state BJP chief C R Patil on BJP’s victory.

In a tweet, Shah, who himself voted in Ahmedabad on February 21, congratulated the people of Gujarat “for once more believing in the BJP’s symbol of development and progress in the metropolitan local body elections.”

Chief Minister Rupani took the opportunity to attack the Congress. In his address to newly elected corporators and party workers in Ahmedabad, he said the voters “mercilessly thrashed” Congress, with many of its candidates losing their deposits and several leaders facing defeat.

“Its performance is so bad that even we feel bad about it,” he said, and added that the real picture will be seen in 2022 when the state Assembly elections will be held.

“(The term) Anti-incumbency is being used by our opponents, but the election has proved there is no such word in Gujarat. BJP follows the process of development, and is not affected by anti incumbency. People are with the BJP because of its work, and their trust in BJP increases day by day.

“We have established Gujarat as a BJP stronghold.

It is just a fight, the real picture will be seen in 2022,” he said.

Elated by his party’s good showing in Surat, AAP leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has decided to hold a road show on February 26 to thank people of the city, party leaders said.

Mathematician Anand Kumar’s “inspiring work” lauded in Canadian Parliament

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A Canadian MP has praised Super 30 founder and educator Anand Kumar’s “inspiring work” with underprivileged children as a successful model for education.

Giving an account of education projects being taken up in his federal district in the Canadian Parliament on Monday, MP of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows in British Columbia, Marc Dalton, said, “The inspiring work of Super 30 in helping the students from the underprivileged sections of society to overcome all obstacles to reach premier institutions of India.”

Dalton said Biju Mathew, a resident of Maple Ridge, had written a book on Kumar, the Bihar-born mathematician which is a greatly inspiring read for educationalists.

Super 30, a highly acclaimed educational programme founded by Kumar, trains 30 underprivileged students every year for Indian Institutes of Technology entrance examination, without charging any fee.

Kumar has earlier been felicitated in Canada in 2012 at a state-level function. The then Minister of Advanced Education, government of British Columbia, Naomi Yamamoto, had termed Kumar a gifted’ teacher.

Bail reinforced our faith in the system: Disha Ravi’s parents

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Bengaluru: Parents of climate activist Disha Ravi, who was granted bail by a Delhi court, on Tuesday said it has reinforced their faith in the system.

“I am happy that she got bail. It has reinforced our faith in the system,” Disha Ravi’s mother Manjula told reporters here.

Disha’s father Ravi was also present.

Manjula said their daughter had been repeatedly telling them to stay stronger.

“Now, she will come out,” she said.

Insisting that her daughter has not done anything wrong, Manjula expressed her gratitude to all those who stood by her daughter in the critical moment.

Disha Ravi was arrested on February 13 by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police from Bengaluru and brought to Delhi.

383 new Covid-19 cases in Karnataka, 4 deaths

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Feb 23: 383 new Covid-19 cases in Karnataka, 4 deaths

Bengaluru: Karnataka recorded 383 new cases of COVID-19 and 4 related fatalities on Tuesday, taking the total number of infections to 9,48,849 and the death toll to 12,303.

The day also saw 378 patients getting discharged after recovery, pushing the tally to 9,30,465, the Health department said in its bulletin.

It said, out of 6,062 active cases, 5,940 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and stable, while 122 are in ICU.

A total of over 1,84,31,322 samples have been tested so far, out of which 50,827 were tested on Tuesday alone, and 5,649 among them were rapid antigen tests, according to the bulletin.

All the 4 deaths reported today are from Bengaluru Urban.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 240, Mysuru 26, Shivamogga 18, Dakshina Kannada 17, Tumakuru and Udupi 12, Belagavi 10, followed by others.

Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 4,04,183, followed by Mysuru 53,967 and Ballari 39,226.

Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban tops the list with 3,95,344, followed by Mysuru 52,764 and Ballari 38,596.

Travel from Kerala not stopped, only test report mandatory: K Sudhakar

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BENGALURU: Dismissing allegations that Karnataka has prohibited people coming from Kerala, Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that the state has not prohibited inter-state travel, but has only made it mandatory to produce RT-PCR negative certificate at the time of entry to the state.“Karnataka has not prohibited inter-state travel between Karnataka and Kerala. However, as a precautionary measure, guidelines have been issued that travellers entering Karnataka from Kerala must mandatorily possess a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 72 hours,” Sudhakar tweeted.

According to health department officials, the clarification came after the Wayanad district panchayat reportedly wrote to Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to lift the restrictions that have also impacted the movement of goods between the two states. While northern Kerala depends on Karnataka for vegetables, farm labourers from bordering areas of Karnataka travel regularly to Kerala’s plantations in Wayanad.

On Monday, tension prevailed across Kasargod, Kannur and Wayanad borders where people from Kerala blocked incoming traffic from Karnataka via the Bavali border check-point in Wayanad district. It was alleged that heaps of mud were dumped across inter-state roads to stop traffic from Kerala.

“Even ambulances carrying non-Covid patients from Kasargod to Dakshina Kannada were not given entry. We have faced this situation last year and know how difficult it is,” said Manoj Nair, an ambulance driver at a private hospital from Kasargod.However, a senior officer said, “We have to stop everyone (travelling across the border) for RT-PCR certificate. This is being done to ensure that cases don’t surge in Karnataka. It is a precautionary measure.”

Maharashtra again reports over 6,000 cases; Centre asks five states to expedite vaccination

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NEW DELHI: The Union health ministry on Tuesday asked Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh to expedite the vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers so as to confer immunity in the shortest possible time-frame in the wake of a rising trend of COVID-19 cases and positively rate in some districts.

In a letter to the Maharashtra government, Additional Secretary in the health ministry Manohar Agnani said a rising trend of COVID-19 cases and the positivity rate has been observed in six districts — Pune, Nagpur, Mumbai and Suburban, Amravati, Thane and Akola — over the past few days.

Similarly, in a letter to the Madhya Pradesh government, he said a surge in the number of cases and the positivity rate has been observed in three districts — Indore, Bhopal and Betul.

In Punjab, Agnani said an increase in the number of cases and the positivity rate has been observed in three districts — SBS  Nagar, Kapurthala and Sri Muktsar Sahib — while the same has been witnessed in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir and Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh.

“Hence, it is advised that the vaccination of HCWs and FLWs in these districts is expedited so as to confer immunity in the shortest possible time-frame, as they are also involved in containment, surveillance and management of COVID-19 cases.

“You are requested to kindly direct the district officials concerned to immediately undertake measures for the maximum coverage of HCWs and FLWs with the COVID-19 vaccine at the earliest,” the letter stated.

Meanwhile, after slipping below 5,000 for a day, new COVID-19 cases again crossed the 6,000-mark in Maharashtra on Tuesday on the back of a spike in the Akola division, while 51 patients died, a multi-week high, in the state, the health department said.

The state reported 6,218 new COVID-19 cases, up from 5,210 on Monday, taking the tally to 21,12,312, it said.

The state — which has witnessed an upsurge in COVID- 19 cases since February 10 — reported 6,112 infections on February 19, followed by 6,281 on February 20 and 6,971 on February 21.

Also, Maharashtra on Tuesday reported one of the highest fatality counts in recent times at 51, taking the death toll to 51,857, said a health department official.

Out of these 51 deaths, 32 occurred in the last 48 hours and 12 in the last week.

Remaining seven deaths occurred in the period before the last week, he said.

The Akola division in Vidarbha reported the highest number of cases in the state at 1,392, leaving behind the Mumbai division, which usually leads the daily infection tally, at 1,250.

The Akola division, which consists of Amravati, Yavatmal, Buldhana, Washim and Akola districts, has emerged as the new COVID-19 epicentre in Maharashtra.

Mumbai city reported 643 new cases, taking the cumulative COVID-19 tally to 3,20,532.

Eight more deaths pushed the citys toll to 11,454, the official said.

With 1,250 new cases, the Mumbai divisions tally increased to 7,16,299, while 11 fresh deaths took the toll to 19,768.

The Pune division also reported higher number of cases than the Mumbai division.

With 1,288 cases, the Pune divisions tally reached 5,17,760, while the fatality count stood at 11,716.

“Pune city alone reported 679 cases, highest by a municipal corporation in the state. With this, the citys cumulative COVID-19 figures reached 2,05,437, while the death toll stood at 4,566,” the official said.

Within the Akola division, areas under the Amravati Municipal Corporation reported 515 cases and other parts of the district 271.

Akola city (121), Yavatmal (165) and Buldhana (161) were the other major contributors, the official said.

The COVID-19 tally in the Akola division rose to 88,761, while eight more deaths pushed the toll to 1,710, he said.

Also, 5,869 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the state’s recoveries to 20,05,851, the official said.

Maharashtra now has 53,409 active cases, he said.

Currently, there are 2,79,288 people in home quarantine and 2,484 in institutional quarantine.

With 67,488 more statewide coronavirus tests, the number of samples examined so far rose to 1,58,60,912.

Maharashtra’s COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases: 21,12,312, new cases: 6,218, death toll: 51,857, discharged: 20,05,851, active cases: 53,409, people tested so far: 1,58,60,912.

However, deaths from the infection dropped to a two-week low of 18 on Monday.

The state reported a drop in daily cases at 5,210 on Monday, after logging over 6,000 infections for three preceding days, while 18 more patients died, the lowest in two weeks, taking the toll to 51,806.

The daily Maharashtra tally of 5,210 was the lowest in five days.

Statewide deaths from the disease rose to 51 on Tuesday.

The state — which has witnessed an upsurge in COVID- 19 cases since February 10 — reported 6,112 infections on February 19, followed by 6,281 on February 20 and 6,971 on February 21.

On Tuesday, the state reported 6,218 new COVID-19 cases.

There has been a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases in the Vidarbha region, especially in Amaravati, Akola and Yavatmal districts, forcing authorities to bring back fresh curbs to limit movement of people and some commercial activities.

While strict measures have been taken in the last couple of days to curb the COVID-19 spread, health officials have not ruled out further rise in cases in the coming days.

I S Chahal, Mumbai civic commissioner, said, “Daily figures could rise in the coming days. We are taking steps to educate people about the importance of wearing face masks and following physical distancing norms.”

Travel restrictions to Parbhani district and closure of places of worship were among the measures taken on Tuesday by the Parbhani district administration to stem the recent spike of COVID-19 cases, a senior official said.

Travel from 11 districts in Vidarbha to Parbhani has been placed under certain restrictions so that the spike in cases in that part of the state does not have an impact here, Collector Deepak Muglikar told PTI.

“We have told private buses as well as those of MSRTC to not bring passengers from these parts to Parbhani. We have also ordered the closure of places of worship till February 28,” he said.

As per the order issued by the collectorate, the travel restrictions are applicable for people from Nagpur, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Yavatmal, Amravati, Akola, Washim, Bhandara, Gondia and Wardha etc though emergency movement will be permitted.

On the other hand, educational institutions were ordered to remain shut till March 31 in Jalna in view of rising COVID-19 cases in the district, an official said on Tuesday.

The decision was taken after a meeting during the day chaired by district collector Ravindra Binwade, he added.

However, school for classes XI and XII will function as usual, the official informed.

Permission for social, religious and political gatherings have been withdrawn, he added.

The district recorded 117 cases, including 28 in Jayde Wadi village in Bhokardan tehsil, taking the overall caseload to 14,782.

There are 112 cases in the village currently, the official said.

The administration ordered the closure of the famous Shri Rajur Ganpati temple in Bhokardan tehsil as part of measures to contain the spike.

Meanwhile, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Tuesday directed private hospitals in the city to reserve around 2,000 to 3,000 beds for infected patients.

In a virtual meeting with private hospitals, PMC commissioner Vikram Kumar and civic health officials instructed hospitals to reserve maximum beds for COVID-19 patients and not to turn any patient away.

“We have instructed hospitals to keep at least 2,000 to 3,000 beds for COVID-19 patients and also asked them not return anyone away,” civic health chief Dr Ashish Bharati, said.

Private hospitals will notify the civic body about the number of beds they have reserved and accordingly, the dashboard will be updated, he said.

Currently, the PMC has over 1,200 to 1,500 beds available at civic and government-run hospitals, the official said.

Apart from this, COVID-19 care centres in Pune are also being readied.

As many as 661 new cases and four casualties were reported in Pune city on Tuesday, a civic official said.

Gujarat municipal election results show beleaguered Congress yet to arrest poll slide

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NEW DELHI:  Amidst internal turmoil and leadership issues, the Congress remains beset with the challenge of electoral slide as seen in Gujarat where the party gave tough fight to the BJP in 2017 Assembly elections. The infighting in the Gujarat Congress has eroded its electoral base with several MLAs crossing over to the BJP since 2017.

The party even lost the hard fought Rajya Sabha seat of Ahmed Patel, who passed away last year, to the BJP. Many leaders questioned the ticket distribution and how various factions ensured that their aides bagged the seats over deserving candidates.

Calling it a worrying trend, a senior leader said at national level, the high command is struggling to firefight rebellion by some seniors seeking organisational elections and differences over leadership issues.

All eyes will now be on the elections in Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.  The setback in Gujarat comes a day after the party’s government fell in Puducherry. 

In the past few months, the party won local body polls in Rajasthan and Punjab while it was pushed to fourth position behind the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the BJP and the AIMIM in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls in December last year.

The underperformance by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), which is looking to form the government in Kerala, in the recently held local body elections is already worrying the state unit. 

In November last year, the Congress turned out to be weak link for the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. In 2020, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh fell following rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scindia and party MLAs. It failed to perform better in the bypolls.       

In Rajasthan, the Ashok Gehlot government was saved at the eleventh hour after the CM took control following a botched move by his deputy Sachin Pilot to topple the government on the lines of Madhya Pradesh. The party has failed to settle things between the two leaders.   

Uttar Pradesh college student found in semi-nude condition with severe burns

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LUCKNOW: A 21-year-old girl, who had disappeared from the campus of her college in Shajahanpur on Monday morning and was found in semi-naked condition with severe burns close to the Delhi-Lucknow National Highway in UP’s Shahjahanpur district, has made serious allegations.

She claimed that she was called by the brother-in-law of a friend, who tried to burn her alive but she somehow escaped.

The girl was pursuing an undergraduate course at SS College under the aegis of Mumukhsu Ashram, which is run by former Union Minister Swami Chinamayanand.

Police said the victim suffered 60 per cent burns, but regained consciousness and said she was stripped and set on fire by Manish, brother-in-law of her friend Pinki.

Shahjahanpur SP S Anand said the motive is a mystery and the girl’s statements are inconsistent. She had left her phone at home. She said Pinki knew everything but Pinki denied having any clue.

Madhya Pradesh MLAs flout COVID rules in Assembly premises

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The violators included BJP MLAs Usha Thakur, Ramesh Mendola, Yashpal Singh Sisodiya and former health minister Ajay Vishnoi.

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

BHOPAL: A day after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered compliance with mandatory use of face masks in Indore and Bhopal amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, many lawmakers were seen flouting the directive in the Assembly premises.

The violators included BJP MLAs Usha Thakur, Ramesh Mendola, Yashpal Singh Sisodiya and former health minister Ajay Vishnoi and Congress legislators Sunil Saraf, Siddharth Kushwah and Alok Chaturvedi. When questioned, the legislators made various excuses.

(From left) KP Singh, Rambai Thakur, Narottam Mishra

Usha Thakur, who is the minister of state for tourism and culture, said, “I regularly do yoga and blow conch.  So, there is less possibility of me being infected. I use my dupatta to cover my face when needed.”

BSP’s Rambai Thakur claimed she feels uneasy and nauseous on wearing mask while Kushwah claimed, “I’ve already had Covid-19 in the recent past, so I’ll not get infected again. Still, if you want to make it an issue, you’re free to do so.”

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