Archives for April 2018

The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Saturday staged demonstrations at various petrol pumps across Odisha protesting against the hike in prices of petrol and diesel.
Hundreds of activists of Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) and Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD), the youth and student wings of the ruling party, staged a peaceful demonstration at various petrol pumps.

In a bid to create awareness among the people on the frequent hike in the price of petroleum products, the party activists distributed leaflets to the public.

They alleged that the central government has failed to take steps to reduce the price of the petroleum products.

“The BYJD and BCJD have been staging protests against the oil price hike since long. But as they fail to have any impact on the people, we have decided now to make the people aware of all the hidden agenda of the Union government,” said BCJD president Rana Pratap Patra.

Reacting to the protest, state wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the naveen Patnaik government should press for inclusion of the petroleum products under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

“While the central government slashed tax on the fuel, the state government did not do so for the benefit of the public and it is protesting against the fuel price hike.

“It should request the GST council to include the petroleum products under GST ambit,” said BJP state general secretary Bhrugu Buxipatra.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said that he has never involved himself in caste politics and misused the opportunities given by the people.

Addressing to the leaders of the Vokkaliga community at a meeting here, Siddaramaiah said that he has confronted a few good and bad times in his 40-year political vocation.

Siddaramaiah said “I have never played caste politics. My political vocation resembles an open book. I have never affronted the public, who wished me great”. Safeguarding himself, he said a couple of political leaders have been leveling affirmations that Siddaramaiah is casteist.

“I have never indulged in caste politics throughout my life and the allegations are politically inspired,” he said.

Denying the bits of gossip that he won’t challenge from Chamundeshwari constituency, Siddaramaiah advised the party not to trust it. “I will challenge from the Chamundeshwari constituency in the forthcoming elections. Despite the fact that i have a pressure to challenge from north Karnataka, I have chosen to challenge from here,” Siddaramaiah said.

Dr Yathindra, son of Siddaramaiah, Congress leaders Sathyanarayana, Krishnamadegowda and others were also present at the event.

JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for misusing power to win elections and included that he would stage a protest with the Election Commission for damaging the model code of conduct.

“The state Intelligence division has given its report saying about the sheltered constituencies for the Chief Minister. He has acquired the Intelligence report even after the election schedule was declared. This is abundant proof of abuse of power,” he said.

“The Intelligence report, which is circulating in social media, has listed Siddaramaiah against challenging from Chamundeshwari consituency. It says that the JD(S) leaders, including the sitting MLA from the party G T Devegowda, are assembling Vokkaliga votes and that challenging from Chamundeshwari isn’t a suitable alternative for CM,” Kumaraswamy said

Alleging mental torture by KPCC working president Dinesh Gundurao, Minister for Bengaluru Development K.J. George and several police officers, former BBMP corporator and rowdy V. Nagaraj alias Bomb Naga tried to consume poison, while addressing the media here on Friday.

Nagaraj was rushed to St. Martha’s Hospital, where he is now said to be out of danger.
On Friday afternoon, Nagaraj had come prepared to the Press Club, and as he started addressing the media, he placed the bottle on the table.

Nagaraj alleged that Dinesh Gundurao, George and others were making life difficult for him and were trying different tricks to stop him from contesting the election from the Gandhinagar constituency.

He claimed that he is a winning candidate and Gundurao, George and others are stopping him by foisting false cases against him. He alleged that they are also threatening him that they would use the police against him.

After he finished his list of charges, he sipped a few drops of poison, and his followers and journalists who were at the press meet rushed to stop him.

In his ‘death note’, Nagaraj alleged that Dinesh Gundurao, scared of losing the Gandhinagar seat, has filed nine false cases against him and through the police opened rowdy sheets against his two sons, Gandhi and Shastri, who are students.

He said, “There is a gang of 80 people, including 50 policemen, who are troubling me and my family. I was planning to hold a press conference soon after my release on bail in September last year, but the police and politicians threatened me. Since the day I was released, they are mentally torturing me and my family members. They are speaking to me over phone every day and threatening me to leave Karnakaka and settle down in Tamil Nadu. They are also pressuring me to sell my property at 20 per cent of the market value. They have also threatened me that they will book me and my sons under KCOCA and Goonda Act, if I reveal to anyone about false cases foisted against me and my sons,” he alleged.

In his list of 80 people who were targeting him, he has named Gundurao, his wife Tabu, K.J. George, IGP Hemant Nimbalkar, his wife Anjali Nimbalkar, DCP (West) Ajay Hilori, around 45 policemen, including ACPs and police inspectors, and others. The police raided Nagaraj’s house in April 2017 and seized Rs 14.80 crore in demonetised currency. Nagaraj who was evading arrest had released a video, levelling serious allegations against the police department. He had claimed that the money found at his house belonged to IPS officers and the chief minister’s special PA.

Amit Shah today said he is a “Hindu Vaishnav”, refuting Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s claim that the BJP chief is a Jain.

Shah, while speaking to reporters after a rally to mark the BJP’s 38th foundation day here, also said, “I maintain that the Karnataka government’s move to give Lingayats a separate religion status is a move to divide the Hindus.”

“The UPA government had rejected the recommendation (to give Lingayats the status of a minority group) in 2013. The present decision has only been taken to stop Yeddyurappa from becoming the CM. This is an election gimmick,” Shah said.

When asked about the Karnataka chief minister’s comment last month that Shah is a Jain, the BJP chief said, “I am not a Jain, but a Hindu Vaishnav.”

Responding to Shah’s barb that Siddaramaiah is not an ‘AHINDA’ (a Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) leader but ‘AHINDU’ (non-Hindu) leader, the Karnataka chief minister had said last month in Mysuru that Shah should first clarify whether he himself is “AHINDU or not”.

“Amit Shah is a Jain. He needs to clarify first whether he is AHINDU. Jain is a separate religion. How can he talk about me like that,” Siddaramaiah had said.

Ahead of the Assembly elections, the Congress government in Karnataka on March 19 decided to recommend to the Centre that Lingayats and Veerashaiva Lingayats should get the status of religious minority.

Modi’s ‘personal connect’ with BJP’s grassroots functionaries and ‘keen understanding’ of developmental projects were on display during his interaction with party workers on Friday

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday celebrated its 38th Foundation Day across the country, exhorting its cadres to ensure that the party retains power at the Centre in 2019. The occasion was also used effectively to attack Opposition parties, especially the Congress, and mocking the efforts to forge a grand alliance for “survival”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the “heroic service and sacrifice” of millions of party workers and acknowledged their “efforts” to bolster its reach. “For BJP, the ‘Karyakartas’ are everything. They are the heart and soul of the party and their sweat has taken the party to new heights. It is due to their efforts that we have the honour to serve people all over India and fulfil their aspirations,” Modi said.

“The BJP is the party of a ‘New India’. We are privileged to receive the blessings of people of all age groups, across all sections of society. We are a party that believes in India’s diversity, our unique culture and, above all, the strengths of 1.25 billion Indians,” he added. Modi spoke on a host of topics – from using technology to election strategy. The prime minister also slammed the Opposition and said its “only aim is to defeat Modi”.

Modi’s “personal connect” with BJP’s grassroots functionaries and “keen understanding” of developmental projects were on display during his interaction – through video conferencing – with party workers from five Lok Sabha constituencies and all 734 district presidents on the ‘NaMo App’.

NaMo app booths were set up at 20 Assembly segments in the two Lok Sabha constituencies of Delhi. The North East Delhi MP and the president of the state unit of BJP, Manoj Tiwari, and New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi participated in the event along with senior party leaders and workers. The MPs of the five Lok Sabha constituencies chosen for the interaction with the Prime Minister were Lekhi (New Delhi), Tiwari (North East Delhi), Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh), Poonam Mahajan (North Central Mumbai), and Rajiv Pratap Rudy (Saran in Bihar).

Amit Shah, the party president, launched BJP’s election campaign for the 2019 polls in Mumbai, while Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani and Ravi Shankar Prasad exhorted party workers in Lucknow, Kolkata and New Delhi, respectively.

Here are the top 10 highlights of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah told BJP workers during their interaction:

1. Narendra Modi says my rivals are turning increasingly violent: Targeting rivals, Modi said their opposition to him is turning “increasingly violent” due to the fact that people born in backward castes are in the country’s top positions and also because of their discomfort with the BJP’s rising strength. Modi, who comes from Other Backward Classes (OBC), also invoked his humble background and said his rivals were unable to digest that a “son of a poor mother” had become prime minister.

He said while BJP is known for its “win after win”, the Congress-led opposition’s agenda was “remove Modi, snatch his chair” and its identity is “lie after lie”.

“You would have seen that the opposition (to Modi government) is becoming more intense and angrier. It is being seen now that it is turning more violent as well. The reason is not that we have made any mistake. The only reason is that our rivals are unable to digest the BJP’s rising strength,” he said.

2. No caste and communalism in ‘New India’, says Modi: The prime minister told BJP workers to redouble their efforts to build a ‘New India’ by 2022. Modi has spoken about his vision of a “new India’ that will provide all families a home and which will be without casteism and communalism.

3. Modi claims BJP was treated like untouchables: BJP leaders were almost forced out in 1977 and it was a case of political untouchability, he said. “People can now see where those are who practised this untouchability and those who were its victims,” he said in a reference to the party’s rise and the fall of socialist parties and the Congress.

4. Modi says BJP is truly democratic: The prime minister termed the BJP as a party that is “a true believer in democratic ethos”. Modi said that in the BJP there are “no divisions, no dynasty politics and no ‘I’ versus you”.

“It is truly democratic and a democratic political party can effectively serve a democratic nation,” added Modi.

5. ‘Life incomplete without technology’: Reshma from Mumbai wanted to know about the use of technology, to which the prime minister said: “Life without technology is a life incomplete and we must keep using technology for a better future.” He urged BJP workers to get more people to use the BHIM app.

Modi described technology as an effective way to communicate, and communicate the truth. He urged BJP workers to regularly use the various government sites and the Narendra Modi app for latest news about the government’s work.

6. Amit Shah compares Opposition to ‘snakes, mongooses, dogs, cats: “When there are huge floods all animals like snakes, mongooses, dogs and cats climb together on a single tree trunk for refuge, as there are deep waters below and they are scared of the rising waters,” he said.

“The political flood unleashed by (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi has made all these snakes, mongooses, dogs and cats, join together and unitedly contest the 2019 elections against him,” he added.

Earlier in his speech, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis compared the Opposition to “wolves” who posed no challenge to Modi.

7. Congress slams Amit Shah for likening Opposition to animals: The Congress’s Maharashta unit reacted sharply to Amit Shah’s remarks comparing the Opposition parties in the country with animals. In a strong statement, Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam said “the Opposition is an equally strong arm of the legislature as the ruling party and must be treated with the respect it deserved.

“In a democracy, we can’t stoop down to the level of being unparliamentary in our language. It (the Opposition) cannot be ridiculed to get cheap air time.”

8. Amit Shah retracts the dog-cat statement: Barely an hour after comparing Opposition parties with animals, Shah virtually backtracked on his comments. He clarified what he implied was parties with different ideologies joining together to fight the upcoming elections vis-a-vis the BJP and Modi. “What I intended was that the parties with opposing political ideologies which could never come together have united… They include BSP-SP (the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party), TDP-Congress, Congress-Trinamool Congress,” Shah told reporters later.
9. BJP will never scrap reservations”: Amit Shah said that the Opposition was responsible for the 10 lives lost during the Bharat Bandh protest. “BJP government will neither remove reservation nor will (it) let anyone end it,” said Shah. The BJP President also addressed an OBC convention in Karnataka today. On Thursday, Shah had tweeted that PM Modi had met members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to SC communities and assured them that the Government is doing everything to protect the rights and well-being “of our Dalit sisters and brothers”.

10. BJP a big platform for national unity, says Prasad: In Delhi, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad hit out at the Congress and other rival political parties opposed to its ideology and said in its journey spanning 38 years, the ruling party has emerged as a “big platform for national unity”.

“The BJP is a big platform for national unity. It has one voice, one slogan and one commitment – to make the country a super power. Today, the BJP is a party of all Indians with an all-India presence,” Prasad said. Recalling former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s lines that “the cloud will go away, the sun will come up, and lotus will bloom”, he said that the BJP at present rules the country with a clear majority and with its allies, it is ruling in 21 of the 29 states.

The Minister took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, saying if one has to grow in Indian politics, one has to embrace the country’s soil, its culture and tradition.