The electoral journey of L K Advani, the man who built the party came to an end, with the BJP announcing its list of candidates to fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. L K Advani The BJP fielded Amit Shah from Gandhinagar, a seat represented by Advani six times. Following the announcement, the Congress was quick to react. Party spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala said, ” first Advani was forcibly sent to the Margdarshak Mandal. Now even his parliamentary seat has been snatched. When Modi does not respect elders, how will he honour the trust of the people.”

The BJP in a late night development announced its list of 184 candidates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi would contest from Varanasi, the seat he had won in 2014. However there is no word as yet on whether Modi would contest from a second seat. Full list of BJP candidates for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 In the 2014 elections, Advani had won the Gandhinagar seat by a huge margin of 4.83 lakh votes. He defeated Kirit Patel of the Congress. However the victory was largely attributed to the Modi wave in 2014.

In 2014 there was speculation that Advani may be shifted to Bhopal, while Shah would be given the Gandhinagar seat. Advani who led the Ramjanmabhoomi movement had put the party in a commendable position. The party it may be recalled had won just two seats in the 1984 elections.

Agencies

Hassan (Karnataka), March 22 (Nasheman News) Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) President H.D. Deve Gowda’s grandson Prajwal Revanna on Friday filed his nomination to contest the Lok Sabha election from Hassan in Karnataka.

Accompanied by his father H.D. Revanna, the state’s Public Works Department Minister and uncle Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Prajwal filed his nomination at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Hassan, about 180 km west of Bengaluru.

Prajwal, 28, will be contesting against BJP candidate A. Manju, a former Congress leader.

Gowda, who hails from Holenarasipura in this district, is a six-time Lok Sabha member from the constituency. He first got elected in 1991.

He is yet to announce from where he will be contesting.

Lucknow, March 22 (Nasheman News) BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday taunted the BJP’s ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign, two days after she accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of changing his profile from ‘Chaiwala’ to ‘Chowkidar’ only to get votes in the Lok Sabha elections.

“BJP leaders are scrambling to declare themselves ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) for appeasement but people like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are in a fix on whether they should remain people’s representatives or become ‘chowkidars’,” Mayawati said in a series of tweets.

“They are free to do whatever in any fashion but must be committed to the Constitution and the rule of law… This is what the people of the country want.

“But in the process they (BJP) should not insult country and degenerate Constitutional posts in any way. Let Deputy Chief Minister (Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma), Chief Minister and Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) remain as per the provision of the Constitution. They can do ‘chowkidari’ (job of watchman) after losing the elections,” the four-time Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh added.

Taking a dig at the government over the alleged theft of Rafale fighter jet deal files, she said that that it was worrying that the union government was not allowing the release of data pertaining to employment, growing joblessness, increasing poverty, distress among farmers and labourers, just for the sake of losing votes and safeguarding their image.

“After all these are the issues related to image and vote. Does the country need such type of ‘chowkidar’?” she asked.

The Bahujan Samaj Party, which did not win any seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, is contesting the 2019 polls in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

The BSP is contesting on 38 seats while the SP and the RLD are contesting on 37 and 3 seats in the state, leving two to the Congress.

New Delhi, March 22 (Nasheman News) Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Geelani, who advocates Jammu and Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan, has been booked under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the Enforcement Directorate said on Friday.

Geelani had been fined Rs 14.40 lakh following the confiscation of unaccounted foreign currency from his premises in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, ED Director Sanjay Mishra said.

New Delhi, March 22 (Nasheman News) Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Friday joined the BJP in the presence of Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

On the occasion, Gambhir, 37, thanked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for giving him an opportunity to serve the country.

“I am joining this party (BJP) after getting influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision. I am honoured to get the opportunity. I will work to take this country forward and make it a better place to live in,” Gambhir told the media after joining the BJP.

Gambhir, a resident of Rajinder Nagar in Delhi, was a high-profile campaigner for Jaitley’s 2014 contest in Punjab’s Amritsar seat which the BJP lost.

The BJP did not declare the constituency from where Gambhir will contest but informed sources said he may contest from the New Delhi constituency currently held by BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi. 

Jaitley said the BJP had expanded in the last decade and that “we were called a cadre-based party and now we are cadre mass party”. 

Gambhir met BJP President Amit Shah after joining the party. 

Gambhir officially announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on December 4, 2018. 

He played 58 Tests, scoring 4,154 runs at an average of 41.95, including nine centuries and 22 fifties. He played 147 ODIs, scoring 5,238 runs at an average of 39.68 and a strike-rate of 85.25. 

Gambhir made his last appearance in the India jersey in the first Test against England (2016) in the home series.

He played a pivotal role in India’s historic victories in the inaugural edition of ICC World T20. In the ICC World Cup 2011, he played match-winning knocks of 75 (against Pakistan) and 97 (against Sri Lanka) which helped the men in blue to lift the world title.

New Delhi: Acting on Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu’s request, the Imran Khan-led government has decided to not build any structure on the fields surrounding the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara and preserve it as it is.

Punjab Local Bodies’ Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu had written to Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan, mentioning that the fields around Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara were cultivated by Guru Nanak Dev himself and should be retained.

Accepting Sidhu’s plea, the Pakistan government in its reply assured that no structure will be erected near the Gurudwara.

Sidhu, while reacting to the statement, released a statement saying, “Anything that fulfils the wishes of 12 Crore Nanak Naam Levas is exemplary and worth gratitude… The land that Baba Nanak ploughed with his hand will now inspire generations to come. His message “Naam Japo, Kirat Karo, Vand Sakho” is immortal. It is indeed a cup of joy for the Sikhs world-over!”

Earlier on Tuesday, India and Pakistan held a technical meet to discuss alignment of the Kartarpur corridor, the coordinates and engineering aspects of the proposed crossing points, government sources said.

They also conducted a survey of the site after a meeting of engineers and surveyors. The outcomes from the meeting and survey would be further discussed at the next meeting of the two sides on April 2.

The Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara in Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab province, located 4.5 km from the border near the Dera Baba Nanak town in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, is significant for the Sikh community as it is here that Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years of his life and is his final resting place.

The governments of India and Pakistan are trying to facilitate the travel of pilgrims to offer prayers at the Gurdwara — a demand made by the Sikhs for the past over 70 years.

Agencies