Varanasi, May 27 : Days before taking the oath of PM for the second term on May 30, Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi worshiped at the Kashi Vishwanath temple here on Monday in his parliamentary constituency.
Mr Modi went for a special prayer and with the assistance of 11 priests did ‘ Rurda Abhishek’ of Lord Shiva during his 30 minutes prayer.
BJP president Amit Shah and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath was also present on the occasion.
Modi offered Gangajal, cow milk and honey on the shivling for Rudra Abhishek, admist chanting of sholakas and hymn by the priests in the background. Later in a special prayer, the PM designated, offered a 108 lotus garland to the Shivling.

It might be mentioned here that Lotus is the election symbol of BJP.

At the end of the Puja, the head priests put Chandan on the forehead of the PM, Shah and Yogi and gave them prasad and Rudraksh mala. PM too gave some dakshina to the priests for performing the prayer for him.
The PM and other dignitaries also went for the parikarma of the temple premises amid raising of Har Har Mahadev and Modi-Modi slogans by the people.

Modi left for Deendayala Hastkala Shakul at Bara Lalpur, after worshiping at the Kashi Vishwanath temple by road where he will address the party workers.

Earlier, Modi was given a rousing welcome on his first arrival to his parliamentary constituency after making a record margin victory in the Lok Sabha polls to get the second term.

During his short travel by SUV throughout the city, the people showered flower petals and raised Modi-Modi slogans amid severe heat wave conditions.
At the airport Mr Modi was welcomed by UP governor Ram Naik, BJP president Amit Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Mr Modi’s arrival in Varanasi is being considered as a thanksgiving visit before taking oath of the PM for the second term on May 30. Mr Modi won the Varanasi parliamentary seat by a huge margin of 4,79,505 votes, defeating his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of the Samajwadi Party.

New Delhi, May 27 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh, who served as Union Home Minister in the previous BJP-led NDA government, on Monday greeted former BJP president Nitin Gadkari on his 62nd birthday.
In the previous BJP-led NDA government, Mr Gadkari was holding the portfolio of Road Transport and Highways.
”Greetings to my valued colleague @nitin_gadkari Ji on his birthday. Gadkari Ji has made a mark as a good organiser, who has strengthened BJP at the grassroots and an effective minister, who has contributed to creating new infrastructure. Praying for his long and healthy life,” Mr Modi tweeted.
”Warm greetings and my best wishes to Shri @nitin_gadkari on his birthday. Known for able administration and result oriented work he is also an amazing person. Nitinji has played an important role in transforming India’s infrastructure. I pray for his good health & long life,” Mr Singh tweeted.

A day after a historic sweep in the Lok Sabha elections that brought the BJP-led NDA government to power a second time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday credited party veteran LK Advani for the win.

A day after a historic sweep in the Lok Sabha elections that brought the BJP-led NDA government to power a second time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called on party veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi at their respective residences.

The PM credited Advani for the win and said that the 91-year-old BJP veteran “spent decades building the party”.

“Called on respected Advani Ji. The BJP’s successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people,” Modi tweeted after meeting Advani at the latter’s residence on Friday.View image on Twitter

Called on respected Advani Ji. The BJP’s successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people.

Modi visited Advani’s residence where the two leaders engaged in a conversation. Modi also touched Advani’s feet.

Accompanied by BJP president Amit Shah, who replaced five-time MP Advani from Gandhinagar constituency, was also present at the meeting. Shah won the seat by a margin of 557014 votes.

After his meeting with Advani, PM Modi also met party veteran Murli Manohar Joshi at the latter’s residence.

The PM praised Joshi for his contribution to the Indian education system.

“Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi is a scholar and intellectual par excellence. His contribution towards improving Indian education is remarkable. He has always worked to strengthen the BJP and mentor several Karyakartas, including me. Met him this morning and sought his blessings,” he said in a tweet.

The BJP on Thursday recorded a stunning victory in the Lok Sabha elections.

PM Modi returned to power with a historic mandate, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sweeping over 300 seats on its own.

Modi thus became only the third Prime Minister in India and the first non-Congress leader to be elected for a second consecutive time after completing a five-year term.

Addressing supporters at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday, the PM thanked the people of India and BJP workers in his victory speech

“We went to the people of the country for a new mandate in the 2019 Lok Sabha. Today we can see that the crores of people in the country have filled the sack of this fakir,” he said amid ‘Modi-Modi’ chants.

Before the PM’s speech, Amit Shah hailed the victory as a victory of the people.

Beginning his speech with ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, Shah said that the mandate reflected the victory of the policy of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ and PM Modi’s popularity.

Agencies

Hubballi, May 24 (UNI) Karnataka Congress Campaign Committee Chairman H K Patil has decided to step down owing moral responsibility for the debacle the party suffered in in the just concluded Lok Sabha election in the State.
The Congress could win only one seat out of 21 seats it contested after allocating seven seats to its coalition partner JD(S) 7 seats. But the two parties could manage to win a mere one seat each with sitting Congress member D K Suresh, brother of Minister D K Shivakumar, retaining Bengaluru Rural and Prajwal Revanna of JD(S) winning from Hassan.
Speaking to newsmen here on Friday, Patil said that “we have to accept the people’s verdict and I own moral responsibility for the defeat of my party in the polls and will be sending my resignation letter to AICC President Rahul Gandhi and KPCC President Dinesh Gundurao.”
AICC President Rahul Gandhi had appointed Patil as KPCC Campaign Committee Chairman before the party launched its campaign in a bid to muster power at the Centre, but the calculations went wrong as Congress could win only one seat against nine seats it had won it had won in Karnataka, in 2014 Lok Sabha election.
In his resignation letter addressed to Rahul Gandhi, he stated that “as a President of the KPCC Campaign Committee, I had the privilege to take policy decisions and sent message of my esteemed party to the people. In view of the debacle, I feel it my moral duty to own-up the responsibility. Hence, with all humility I submit my resignation to the post of President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Campaign Committee.”
Patil further stated that “this is crucial and delicate time for the party and to the polity. I pledge to the party to plut in my sincere efforts to build and bring back the glory of our great party.”

Bengaluru, May 24 : Two Congress stalwarts in Karnataka, including Congress group leader in the 17th Lok Sabha, Mallikarjuna Kharge and former Union minister K H Muniyappa, who never lost any elections in their career, succumbed to the BJP opponents, who were first timers in seeking entry to the Lok Sabha.

Mallikarjuna Kharge, had never lost any elections since his debut to the politics in 1972 and won as many as 11 elections to the Karnataka Assembly and two times for the Lok Sabha, before tasting the first electoral defeat on May 23 from Kalaburagi Lok Sabha seat.

The Congress leader, met his Waterloo at the hands of Umesh Jadhav, a former Congress MLA, and changed colours to the saffron Saffron party, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections by a margin of over one lakh votes.

The BJP leaders including Narendra Modi, had targeted Kharge, before the Elections, had arranged a huge public rally, at Kalaburagi, the bastion of the Congress and succeeded and Umesh Jadhav embered as the giant slayer.

This led to the BJP sweep across all regions of Karnataka taking 25 out of 28 seats and another independent in key Mandya supported by it, Sumalatha win against JD(S) candidate Nikhil K, son of chief minister H D Kumaraswamy. Earlier, in the Assembly elections, JD(S) had won all seven seats in this Lok Sabha seat.

Meanwile, Umesh Jadhav, riding on the strong Modi Wave, delivered a strong blow on congress defeating his one-time mentor Mallikarjuna Kharge, the Congress Party leader in the Lok Sabha till now, by a huge margin of over one lakh votes on Friday.

Similarly, former Union minister and 7-time MP, K H Muniyappa, who also had never lost any elections, was also served a surprise defeat by the BJP by fielding another greenhorn Muniswamy, a Corporator in the Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Muniyappa had lost the seat to the BJP candidate with a margin of over two lakh votes.

Muniyappa was representing the Kolar Lok Sabha reserved for SC, since 1991 had never lost any elections before.

He had also served as Union minister of state for Railways and Surface Transport in the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh.

Bengaluru, May 24 : Riding high on its spectacular performance in the Lok Sabha election in Karnataka, the State BJP is expected to out-perform the JD(S) and the Congress in the May 29 elections to over 63 Urban Local bodies in Karnataka.
According to party sources, the saffron party is expected to repeat its Lok Sabha election performances in the Urban Local bodies elections, which include 8 City Municipal Councils, 33 Town Municipal Councils and 22 Town Panchayaths.
The BJP had won 25 out of 28 segments in the recent Lok Sabha election and in Mandya, Sumalatha, supported by the party had also won.
On the same day the State Election Commission is also holding by-elections to two Wards of the Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Kaveripura and Sagayapura, to fill the vacancies caused by the death of the incumbent local body members.
The ULB elections will be held in towns in Bengaluru Rural, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Kolar, Chickballapur, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Mandya, Chamarajanagara, Vijayapura, Dharwad, Haveri, Uttara Kannada, Bidar, Ballari and Yadgir districts.

Bengaluru, May 24 : After receiving a severe drubbing in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections, the JD(S)-Congress leaders are holding series of parleys to decide future course of action.

Senior Congress leaders, including former chief minister Siddaramaiah, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao, and senior Ministers in the coalition government are meeting at the residence of Siddaramaiah and working out strategies to be taken in the event of the Opposition BJP is pressing hard to topple the one-year-old JD(S)-Congress coalition government.

The Congress leaders who were in shock after witnessing one of the worst backlash in the Lok Sabha elections, however, maintained that the verdict in the Lok Sabha should not be seen as against the mandate of the state government.

In his immediate reaction over receiving the drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections, the former chief minister Siddaramaiah, had maintained that the Lok Sabha results was a mandate for Narendra Modi and people have not voted against the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka.

He had also rubbished the demand of the State BJP president B S Yeddyurappa for the resignation of the coalition government owning moral responsibility.

Meanwhile Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had convened an informal meeting of the state Cabinet, today, reportedly to decide the future course of action, in the backdrop of the humiliating defeat of the Alliance partners, the Congress and the JD(S).

According to JD(S) sources, Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, who was deeply saddened with the political setback in the Lok Sabha elections, in which his son Nikhil was also lost to an independent candidate in Mandya, is reportedly not keen to continue in the office.

He had also convened a meeting of the JD(S) legislators meeting after the Cabinet meeting and take their views on continuing alliance with the Congress, which had been flopped badly.

It may be recalled that both the Congress and the JD(S) which had a pre-poll alliance had fought the Lok Sabha elections jointly, sharing the seats among themselves.

While the Congress had chose to contest in 21 seats, it had allotted as many as 7 remaining seats in Karnataka to its new-found political ally JD(S).

When the results were announced both the Congress and the JD(S) had to content with bagging one seat among themselves, in the total number of 28 Lok Sabha seats.

The Congress and the JD(S) had formed the government in 2018 May, with alliance, as no parties got clear majority, and the Opposition BJP had emerged as the single largest party by bagging 106 seats in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly.

Both the Congress and the JD(S) parties, leaving aside their rivalries had come together for the first time in Karnataka and the JD(S) which had won only 37 Assembly seats had formed the Government with the Congress, which had secured 80 seats in the Assembly elections.