Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly fanning violence during Amit Shah’s roadshow on Tuesday, saying it ‘was a murder of democracy.’

“It was a murder of democracy. This move by goons will end the TMC government in the state. In a few days, TMC goons will be searching for shelters to hide their faces. Mamata Banerjee is frustrated which is why she is taking such steps,” he said addressing a public rally in Barasat.

He also alleged that the Chief Minister is trying to block the term ‘Ram’ in the state and added, “She is emboldening goons.”

Yogi also rakes up the ban imposed on Durga Puja by the government last year saying, while the whole nation observed Durga Puja and Muharram together, as their dates had clashed, only West Bengal government banned the celebration of Durga Puja.

“The whole country including Uttar Pradesh observed Durga pooja and Muharram together. No violence took place in my state as I had given prior warning to people. Why could not West Bengal do the same? TMC government here is very undemocratic. I am sure that after May 23, a nationalist government will be formed and will rule West Bengal,” he said.

The Uttar Pradesh CM ended his speech shouting the slogan ‘Pura Bharat Dol Raha Hain, Modi Modi Bol Raha Hain’, indicating that his political quarter will sweep the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

Adityanath’s statement came just days before nine seats are scheduled to go to polls in West Bengal on May 19.

The counting of votes will take place on May 23. 

Agencies

BJP national president Amit Shah has rebutted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s charge that he is an “outsider” in West Bengal and said he has come to the state to campaign for his party.

Shah wondered if he is called an outsider for coming to West Bengal, “which is very much a part of India”, then why not Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee be labelled as an “outsider” when she visits New Delhi?

The BJP leader was addressing a meet of intellectuals in the city on Tuesday.

“I am president of a national party and I am here to campaign for my party. I am being called an outsider for coming to West Bengal. What kind of statement is this? If a person from West Bengal goes to Mumbai or Bengaluru, will he be called an outsider? When Mamata didi goes to Delhi will she be called an outsider?” Shah asked.

Shah’s remarks came following Banerjee’s repeated allegations about Shah being an “outsider” who comes to the state to “create division” among the people.

“If the BJP wins the assembly polls in West Bengal, a Bengali will be the chief minister. Neither I nor Kailash Vijayvargia will be the CM,” Shah said.

Vijayvargiya, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, is the BJP’s national general secretary, who is in charge of the saffron party in West Bengal.

Shah also criticized a section of the media for blaming BJP workers for Tuesday’s violence during his roadshow in north Kolkata.

“A section of media is presenting it in such a way as if we started the clash. The news should be that TMC goons attacked the convoy. But a section of news organisations are trying to paint it in a different way,” Shah said.

BJP and TMC supporters Tuesday fought pitched battles on the streets of Kolkata during a massive roadshow by Shah, who escaped unhurt but was forced to cut short the jamboree and had to be escorted to safety by police. 

Kalaburagi, May 14 : A host of senior leaders and office ?bearers from both Congress and BJP including Chief minister H D Kumarswaamy began their campaign in support of coalition candidate Subash Rathod of Congress in Chincholi Assembly segment which goes to by-poll on May 19 .
Chief minister H D Kumarswamy arrived in Kalaburagi on Tuesday and he first visited
Deval Ganagapur temple in Afzalpur and offered prayers at Dattatreya temple and performed puja to ‘Datta Suvarna Paduka ‘ later he began election campaign in Chincholi and addressed election rallies.
BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa is also camping in Chincholi since yesterday and is on a hectic campaign in support of BJP candidate Avinish Jadhav. Another BJP
leader k s Eashwarappa also jumped in election campaign since yesterday.
Chincholi by election was necessitated after two time Congress MLA Umesh Jadhav tendered his resignation to switch over to the BJP and is contesting against Mallikarjuna Kharge of Congress from Kalaburgi Lok Sabha segment.
Neither the scorching sun nor the severe heat wave conditions across the constituecny deterred the senior leaders from holding campaign meeting and continue their political attack against the opponents.
Congress in charge in Karnataka K C Venugopal also campaigned yesterday in Chincholi constituency, congress legislature parties leader Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief minsiter G Parameshwar were also campaigned in the high note Chincholi costituency
Kharge who was camping in the constituency since last one week today campaigned at Kodadur and came down heavily on the BJP leaders and particularly on Prime minister Narendra Modi. He criticised Modi for his comments flaying the Congreess parties .
BJP leader also held campaign meeting in the constituency since
Sunday , bjp leader like v somanna , MP Shobha Karandlagje , R Ashok
and other leaders already campained in the chincholi .

Bengaluru, May 14 : While refusing to speculate on the results of the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency, in which she had contested as an independent candidate, Cine star Sumalatha Ambharish, wife of film actor turned politician late Ambareesh, said that as per indications she might sail through at the husting.
Speaking to newsmen here on Tuesday, Sumalatha, who was here for release of trailer of the upcoming Kannada film ‘Daughter of Parvathamma’ said that “I have no faith in post-poll calculations on the possible results, but as per initial indications I have confidence to make it to the winning post”.
Denying that she had made a post poll assessment, she said that “several theories are being floating in the media about the results, however I have no faith in such predictions”.
“I have faith on the people of the Mandya and on that basis of I strongly believed that Victory will be mine” she added.
Stating that she had some anxiety in the beginning and had come out from it now, she said that “one thing is sure that there will be no impact on the alliance between the Congress and the JD(S)”.
Referring to the controversy on the participation of several Congress leaders attending a dinner at a private hotel in Bengaluru recently, she said that “It was a private function and one should not give political color to it”.
Replying to a question, she said that she has plans to settle down at Mandya and construct a house also.

New Delhi, May 14 : Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties consisting of commercially diverted land of 270374 square feet along with shopping mall in Nagpur worth Rs 483 crores of KSL and Industries Ltd, Mumbai under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in bank fraud case, the probe agency officials said on Tuesday.
Mumbai based KSL and Industries Ltd is one of the group company of Tayal group of Companies.
Central financial probe agency move under PMLA, comes after the registration of three FIRs by CBI against different companies of Tayal group of Companies namely Actiff Corporation Ltd, Jaybharat Textiles & Real Estate Ltd, KKTL and Eskay Knit (India) Ltd for cheating and fraudulently availing loans totaling to Rs 524 crore from Bank of India and Andhra Bank during the year 2008.
The probe agency investigation further revealed that during the year 2008, these Mumbai based companies availed loan to the tune of Rs 524 crore by defrauding the Bank of India and Andhra Bank by diverting these funds through of maze of shell companies.
“It was also found that for the purpose of money laundering, they had created a maze of shell companies which were used for routing of the diverted funds. Funds were routed through these shell companies to the companies of the said Tayal group and used up for creation of assets in the name of KSL& Industries Ltd ,Mumbai”, the officials said.
These immovable property were in form of a Mall situated at Nagpur having value of Rs 483 crore and it has been provisionally attached being proceeds of crime and are involved in money laundering, the ED official further said.
Earlier in another similar case involving UCO Bank properties worth Rs 234 crore of Tayal group was also attached. Total attachment is worth Rs 717 crore so far.
The Tayal group of Companies was promoted by Pravin Kumar Tayal and he was resorting to siphoning off funds obtained from UCO Bank and the accounts became NPA.
Money trails of the same were identified and prime properties at Mumbai having market value of Rs 234 crore were also attached under PMLA.
A Prosecution Complaint has also been filed in the matter before the learned Special Court under PMLA for commission of offence under section 3 of PMLA , the ED officials said.

Chandigarh/Amritsar: The rift between Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu is out in the open again. After it was reported that Navjot Singh Sidhu will be keeping away from campaigning for a while after suffering damage to his vocal cords, his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu has taken up the reins and upped the ante against the chief minister.

With barely a week left for the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, former state health minister, has claimed that it was Amarinder Singh and Punjab Congress affairs in-charge, Asha Kumari, who ensured she does not get a ticket from Amritsar. 

“Captain saab and Asha Kumari think madam Sidhu doesn’t deserve a single ticket. My ticket from Amritsar was cut on the pretext that after the Amritsar train accident, I can’t win from here. Captain Saab and Asha Kumari said it,” she said in Amritsar.

Indicating that Navjot Singh won’t be campaigning for the Congress in Punjab, she said, “Captain saab is our ‘chota’ (small) captain, while Rahul Gandhi is our ‘vadda’ (big) captain. When he has already said that he is winning all 13 seats, what is the need of campaigning for him?”

“There is no point doing anything for those who think we aren’t capable enough,” she added.

Taking another dig at Asha Kumari and Amarinder Singh, Sidhu said, “Captain saab is our senior leader, our captain. Asha Kumari is a star campaigner. They will do it (campaigning). Sidhu will campaign where Rahul ji has deployed him”.

Interestingly, Navjot Kaur had earlier stated that she and her husband had reused a ticket from Amristar when the party offered it to them. She had made the statement after Congress fielded Pawan Kumar Bansal from Chandigarh. Navjot Kaur was also vying for a ticket from the same city.

“I never wanted to contest from Amritsar. I had categorically said no to it. Amritsar is a big constituency and with my husband busy with poll campaigning across the country, it would have been difficult for me here,” she had said then.

Navjot Kaur’s name was previously doing the rounds for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat but the Congress re-nominated sitting MP Gurjit Singh Aujla instead.

This is not the first time Amrinder Singh has been accused by the Congress leader of keeping him away from poll rallies. On May 7, Navjot Sidhu had said that neither Amarinder Singh nor the state Congress president, Sunil Kumar Jakhar, asked him to campaign for the 13 party leaders contesting the elections.

“Neither Captain Sahib, nor the PPCC chief or (party’s Punjab affairs in-charge in-charge) Asha Kumari have called me to campaign (in Punjab),” the 55-year-old cricketer-turned politician had said.

Punjab goes to the polls in the last phase on May 19 for its 13 Lok Sabha seats.

Agencies

Priyanka Sharma shared on her Facebook timeline a photo in which Mamata Banerjee’s face has been photoshopped on the form of actor Priyanka Chopra at the MET Gala in New York.

Priyanka Sharma was arrested after she shared a morphed photo of Mamata Banerjee.
NEW DELHI: 

BJP activist Priyanka Sharma, who was arrested last week for sharing a morphed photo of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Facebook, must apologise immediately after her release, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday. The 26-year-old was given a conditional bail after she approached the top court on Monday.

“Is there any difficulty in apologising? We are asking her to apologise for herself. Freedom of speech ends where it affects others’ rights,” the Supreme Court said. The court also issued notice to West Bengal Police over the way the the party activist was taken into custody.

Ms Sharma’s lawyer argued that “if one is asked to apologise for memes, will citizens come and apologise for a caricature”. Lawyer Neeraj Kishan Kaul said Priyanka Sharma did not create the morphed picture and she is being made to apologise only because of her association with the BJP. He said the order will have a “chilling effect on freedom of expression”. The court is being passed on the specific circumstances of the case.

Priyanka Sharma was arrested last Friday after she shared a photo in which Mamata Banerjee’s face has been photo-shopped on the form of actor Priyanka Chopra. In the original picture, the actor was photographed at the MET Gala in New York.

Ms Sharma was picked up by the police from her home and was sent to two weeks’ judicial custody. The charges cited on the complaint by a Trinamool Congress leader include “defamation and offensive messages”.

The Supreme Court bench, comprising comprising justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna, observed that since Priyanka Sharma is a member of a political party, the insinuation of posting such a picture will be different from those shared by common people.

BJP leader and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had met the BJP activist’s family on Sunday, welcomed the top court’s decision. “Bengal police should have lodged the FIR against the person who created the meme and who have subsequently shared it. But why are you singling out a young lady? That means vendetta politics is at its peak in Bengal,” he told NDTV.

The BJP youth wing activist’s mother had claimed her daughter’s arrest was politically motivated. The arrest had provoked anger and strong protests, not just by the BJP but also by other social media users.

“Humour, wit, sarcasm survive in a free society. They have no place in autocracies. Dictators laugh at people. They don’t like people laughing at them. Bengal, today is a case in point,” Union Minister Arun Jaitley tweeted on Tuesday.

In 2012, Ambikesh Mahapatra, a chemistry professor at Jadavpur University, was arrested for circulating an email with a caricature of Mamata Banerjee.

Agencies

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday responded to the “caste” jibe taken at him by BSP supremo Mayawati a few days ago, saying that his “caste” is “poverty”.

“I have only one caste – ‘poverty’; that is why I have rebelled against poverty,” the PM said at a massive election rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Balia.

Mayawati had on 10 May said that the PM is not an “OBC by birth”.

“These ‘mahamilavatis’ are asking ‘what is Modi’s caste?’. I’ve been CM of Gujarat for a longer time than both ‘Bua-Babua’ combined. I’ve contested and helped many in contesting elections, but never used my caste for support,” the PM said, taking a jibe at both Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Before becoming Prime Minister, Modi served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for 13-and-half years from 2001 to 2014.

Mayawati, a four-time Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, has been at the top post in the state for just around seven years, while Akhilesh Yadav served 5 years as the CM of the state till 2017.

This is the second time the PM attacked the alliance parties for taking a caste jibe at him.

On Saturday, 11 May, the PM, at a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Robertsganj, said that that he has “only one caste – the caste of the poor of the country”.

“The people of the ‘Mahamilawat’ recently started picking on my caste, I want to tell them that I belong to the caste of the poor of the country,” he said, adding, “I provided housing, water facilities, and gas facilities to the poor because I belong to them.”

Mayawati had said that Modi has not “suffered from the atrocities of casteism”.

“Entire country knows he isn’t an OBC by birth; he hasn’t suffered from the atrocities of casteism. So he shouldn’t say such lies about ‘mahagathbandhan’,” she had said in response to PM Modi’s remark that the SP-BSP ‘mahagathbandhan’ is casteist

“PM’s accusation that ‘mahagathbandhan’ is casteist is laughable and immature. How can those who suffered from casteism be casteist?” Mayawati added.

The remaining 13 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in the last phase of the elections, which will be held on 19 May.

Thane, May 14 : A 26-year-old Shiv Sena Corporator was booked by the Anti-Corruption Bureau(ACB) on Tuesday on the alleged charge of demanding bribe of Rs 1.50 lakh from a civic contractor.
ACB Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP) of Navi Mumbai Ramesh Chavan said the accused Gorakh Jadhav is the Shiv Sena Corporator from the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation(KDMC).
Quoting the complainant, the DSP said the civic contractor was awarded a Rs 9,49,638 contract for construction of roads as well as other developmental works in the Atali village of Kalyan city of this district.
The accused Corporator demanded a bribe of Rs 1.50 lakh for not impeding the contractor’s work,mentioned the DSP.
The DSP further said on February 13 the contractor lodged a complaint with the ACB and subsequently on March 2, the ACB confirmed the allegations levelled against the accused.
“An offence under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered on Tuesday against the Corporator with the Khadakpada Police Station,” stated the DSP.
“Further investigation into the case is underway and no arrest has been made so far,” informed the DSP.