Suresh Prabhu said he had asked the civil aviation secretary to take necessary steps to protect passenger rights and safety.

Earlier today, the Election Commission had handed similar orders to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Mayawati.

[Nasheman news]

NEW DELHI: 

After Yogi Adityanath and Mayawati, the Election Commission barred two more senior political leaders for violation of the Model Code of Conduct this evening.  Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has been barred from campaigning for three days starting tomorrow for his “indecent and derogatory” comment against Jaya Prada, the Election Commission order said. Another senior political leader, the BJP’s Union minister Maneka Gandhi, has been barred from campaigning for 48 hours for communal comments, the Commission said.

The Commission’s action came hours after the Supreme Court pulled it up for failing to take action in cases of Model Code violation and questioning if it knew what powers it has to punish errant political leaders.

Maneka Gandhi, the BJP candidate from Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, had asked a gathering of Muslims to vote for her, saying otherwise else she might not be inclined to be responsive to their requests.

In a clip of her speech, the lawmaker from Pilibhit can be heard saying: “If my victory is without Muslims, I won’t feel that good… Then when a Muslim comes to me for work, I think, ‘Let it be, how does it matter’? It’s all give and take, isn’t it? We aren’t all sons of Mahatma Gandhi, are we? (laughs). It’s not that we keep on giving and then losing in the election. This victory will happen with or without you”.

The Commission said the minister  who handles the Women and Child Development portfolio, violated the rules that bar appeal to caste and communal feelings, as well as one that bans “corrupt practices” like bribery and intimidation.

In case of Azam Khan, the Commission said his comments on electoral rival Jaya Prada “may be construed as being repugnant to the hour and dignity of women”. Taking note of a ban on the leader in 2014, the Commission said he has not “changed his way of campaigning and he is indulging in using very objectionable language”.

The three-day ban on Azam Khan will cut down heavily on the Samajwadi leader’s campaign time. Elections in Rampur will be held on April 23 and the campaigning has to end by the evening of April 20. It would leave him only two days to campaign.

Elections for Sultanpur, from where Maneka Gandhi is contesting, will be held on May 12.  

Earlier today, the Commission had handed similar orders to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Mayawati.

At a recent meeting in Deoband, Mayawati had warned the Muslim community not to “split votes” between the Congress and her alliance. Appealing to caste or communal feelings to secure votes is a no-no under the model code, which is a series of dos and don’ts for political parties ahead of elections.

Days later, hitting out at Mayawati, Yogi Adityanath said, “If the Congress, the SP and the BSP have faith in Ali, then we too have faith in Bajrang Bali” – a comment that triggered outraged protests from the opposition. While Ali is revered by Muslims as Prophet Mohammad’s successor, Bajrang Bali is another name for Lord Hanuman.1

While neither of them are contesting in the election, Mayawati was expected to address a rally in Agra on Tuesday. Yogi Adityanath, the star campaigner of the BJP after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would miss a couple of rallies in Uttar Pradesh and several outside the state.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra referred to farmers from different parts of the country marching to Delhi and attacked the government for not listening to them.

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[Nasheman news]

LUCKNOW

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, campaigning in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur Sikri today, mounted a two-point attack on the ruling BJP focusing on the narrative around nationalism and the state of potato farmers in the region. “If the government is nationalist then it should respect the fallen soldiers, whether they are Hindus or Muslims. If it is nationalist, it should stop disrespecting freedom fighters who laid the foundation of this country,” Priyanka Gandhi said, sharing the stage with her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is in charge of Uttar Pradesh along with her.

“If it is nationalist, it should stop talking about Pakistan in the election rallies. Instead, it should tell the youth, women and farmers of India as to what it is going to do about them,” said Priyanka Gandhi, one of the two Congress general secretaries in charge of UP.

She referred to farmers from different parts of the country marching to Delhi and attacked the government for not listening to them.

“If it is nationalist, why didn’t the government meet and listen to the farmers who came barefoot from different parts of India? If it is nationalist, then when people were killed in the name of religion why didn’t it share the grief of the victims, instead of honouring the victims’ murderers? If it is nationalist, why is it afraid of people raising their voice? It feels as if this government is neither proud of democracy nor our institutes nor people of the country. If it is a real nationalist then it would have been on the path of truth. But, it drifted away from it long ago.”

The Congress has fielded Raj Babbar, its UP chief, in Fatehpur Sikri, the town of Sufi saint Salim Chishti, who famously guided Mughal Emperor Akbar in his hour of need. Raj Babbar faces a BJP candidate from the Jat community, Rajkumar Chahar. In this seat, the mahagathbandhan candidate Shreebhagwan Sharma aka Guddu Pandit is seen to be a minor player, making it a BJP vs Congress fight.

Priyanka Gandhi referred to the BJP’s publicity machinery saying it is drowning the truth.

“I have seen the reality in the eyes of youth who complain about jobs, seen it in the eyes of potato growers who come to Raebareli and Lucknow to talk about their loans and the high costs that they have to bear,” she said.

She spoke about a farmer who reportedly sold his produce for Rs. 490 and sent the money to PM Modi as a mark of protest. “He sent this money to the PM to show him the truth of the country and its farmers,” she said.

While talking about the Congress manifesto, she mistakenly said: “There are schemes in the manifesto through which you will get free health (swastha) in government hospitals).”

She smiled and corrected herself. “Swastha nahin… matlab swastha ki jaanch aur swastha ka ilaj muft milega (Not swasth (health)…I mean diagnosis and treatment will be free). It will be great if health can be given for free),” she quipped.1

Fatehpur Sikri will vote in the next round of the national election on Thursday. The results will be announced on May 23.

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Naveen Patnaik, who is contesting from two assembly segments, Hinjili and Bijepur, tops the list of rich candidates with total assets worth Rs. 63 crore.A

Ruling BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is the richest among the 244 candidates contesting the assembly elections, in the 2nd phase, scheduled on April 18, a report released by Odisha Election Watch said Monday.

[Nasheman news]

BHUBANESWAR

The Odisha Election Watch is a part of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

“Of the 244 candidates in the fray for the 35 assembly segments, 70 are crorepatis,” said Odisha Election Watch Convenor Ranjan Mohanty, adding that 13 candidates have assets worth Rs. 5 crore and above, and 24 others have assets between Rs. 2 crore and Rs. 5 crore.

While Mr Patnaik, who is contesting from two assembly segments, Hinjili and Bijepur, tops the list of rich candidates with total assets worth Rs. 63 crore, BJP candidate KV Singhdeo contesting from Patnagarh segment in Bolangir district stands second with total assets worth Rs. 37 crore, the report said.

BJD’s Jharsuguda candidate, Naba Kishore Das, is in the third place with total assets worth Rs. 33 crore, it said.

Mr Das is followed by BJD candidate Saroj Kumar Meher of Patnagarh seat with total assets worth Rs. 31 crore.

Other rich candidates are BJP’s Bijay Kumar Swain (Rs. 15 cr), BJD’s Arkesh Narayan Singhdeo (Rs. 15 crore), BJD’s Nandini Devi (Rs. 11 crore), BJP’s Dinesh Jain (Rs. 8 cr), BJP’s Pitamber Acharya (Rs. 7 crore) and BJD’s Kishore Kumar Mohanty (Rs. 7 crore), the report added.

BSP candidate Narayan Versa contesting from Bhatli assembly segment only has Rs. 8,044.

Incidentally, KV Singhdeo’s wife Sangeeta Singhdeo was also on the top of the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha with assets worth Rs. 37 crore.

Of the 35 candidates contesting for five Lok Sabha seats in the second phase of the elections, 11 are crorepatis, he said.

“Tomorrow, whatever may be the case on the numbers required to form the government, there will be no relationship with those who talk of dividing the nation. And those who have ruined three generations of Kashmiris will not get a place in the cabinet of the BJP-led NDA government.

:

[Nasheman news] Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for strongly rebutting those parties echoing separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, the Shiv Sena said on Tuesday that the prime minister must commit that Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP, Omar Abdullah’s National Conference and Sharad Pawar’s NCP will, under no circumstance, be a part of the NDA government after elections, even if it is short on numbers.

The Shiv Sena, in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, said while it is good that the prime minister has spoken against those attempting to divide the country, he needs to give people two assurances.

“Tomorrow, whatever may be the case on the numbers required to form the government, there will be no relationship with those who talk of dividing the nation. And those who have ruined three generations of Kashmiris will not get a place in the cabinet of the BJP-led NDA government,” the Sena said.

The Sena further said PM Modi’s stand against Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, for “supporting” those who want to “divide” the nation, should remain the same even after polls.

“Those dividing the country and those supporting them should not get a place in politics in future. If those supporting anti-nationals today sit with nationalists for political reasons, it will be an insult to our jawans (soldiers),” the Sena said.

The Sena said while National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah has made remarks about Jammu and Kashmir having a separate PM, it will not be a reality even after 100 generations have passed.

The Sena claimed Article 370 gives special privileges to Jammu and Kashmir, and the law of the country does not apply there, and therefore, there have been demands from many years to abolish the Constitutional privilege to the state.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party sought to remind the BJP that Mr Abdullah was a minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government and the National Conference was a part of the NDA, adding that his party’s policy towards Article 370 and 35 (A), both of which give special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was age old.

“Yet we keep kissing their furry caps to achieve the numbers in Parliament. This is nationalism of convenience,” the Sena alleged.

The Shiv Sena added that People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti has a similar stand on the Constitutional provisions for Jammu and Kashmir and she has warned that the state “will not remain with India if its special status is revoked.”

“Until yesterday, the same person was chief minister with support of the BJP. Even her anti-national mindset is old. Yet, the BJP got friendly with them while we kept opposing their alliance,” it said.

The Shiv Sena went on to say that “(Narendra) Modi has spoken with grit – the way an Indian prime minister should have spoken. He has spoken about how three generations have been destroyed under Abdullah and Mufti’s regimes,” the Shiv Sena said.C“PM Modi has also spoken about displacement of Kashmiri Pandits. However their ghar wapsi (return to their homes) couldn’t happen in the last 5 years,” the Sena said.