Nasheman News : The Congress on Thursday won the Ramgarh Assembly seat in Rajasthan, taking its tally in the 200-member house to 100.

Congress candidate Shafia Khan won by a margin of 12,228 votes after polling 83,311 votes. Her nearest rival, BJP’s Sukhwant Singh, got 71,083 votes.

Jagat Singh of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) finished third with 24,856 votes.

An overjoyed Shafia Khan said: “This is a victory of the people. I congratulate the people for this victory.

“The BJP talks too much and does little. They closed the schools which we had started, they were biased in implementing the social welfare schemes and hence people wanted to come out of the polarized environment they had created. 

“So people have voted unitedly for the Congress,” she added.

While Shafia Khan got 44.77 per cent of all votes, the BJP’s vote share was 38.20 per cent.

Overall, 241 votes went to NOTA (None of the Above).

Senior Congress leader Suresh Chaudhary told IANS: “The Congress has built its credibility amongst voters by fulfilling all its promises made in its manifesto. People in the state are fed up with the polarization prank being played by the BJP.

“This broad margin of victory speaks the story,” he said.

Counting of votes was held at the Babu Shobharam Government Arts College in Alwar amid tight security, said Ramgarh Returning Officer Pankaj Sharma.

The election on this seat was scheduled on December 7 along with the rest of Rajasthan Assembly seats but was postponed after BSP candidate Laxman Singh died due to cardiac arrest.

Eventually, polling was held on January 28 with a high voter turnout.

There are 20 candidates in the fray but the main contest involved Shafia Khan, Sukhwant Singh and Jagat Singh.

The Congress aimed to win the seat to hit a century mark in the 200-member House. This win will limit its dependency on anti-BJP parties.

For a simple majority on its own, the party needs 101 seats. 

The tension between the coalition partners in Karnataka intensified with JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda entering the scene to defend his son and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, from the Congress’ onslaught.

Gowda, who for the last seven months had maintained that all was well with the alliance, however on Wednesday categorically warned the grand old party that “things may go out of control”, if its state leaders did not stop denouncing Kumaraswamy.

He also used the JD(S) Plenary Session as a platform to hit out at his former protégé and coordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah for creating hurdles for his son to function smoothly as the chief minister. He indirectly blamed Siddaramaiah for injecting a sense of instability in the coalition government for the past seven months.

Gowda was referring to the recent instances where followers of Siddaramaiah, including Congress legislators and Cabinet ministers, were seen publicly hailing the Kuruba leader as their chief minister. Kumaraswamy had not only lashed out at the Congress leaders, but he had also threatened to step down as chief minister.

The former prime minister indicated that Siddaramaiah was nursing a grouse on missed opportunities, which, he was now taking out against him and his son. Gowda said that Siddaramaiah had accused him of scuttling his chances of becoming chief minister twice (In1996-2004)

“What pains me is that he (Siddaramaiah) in an interview to a television channel said twice that I could have gone to Delhi and ensured that he became the chief minister and that I did not. He also said that I did not impress upon Sonia Gandhi

(then Congress chief) to make him the chief minister. He has been nursing this pain and anger for long now. But I have no hate. I am ready to discuss with him why I did not make him the chief minister on both occasions,” he added.

He also claimed that Kumaraswamy had no intentions of becoming the chief minister. “The Congress leaders put pressure on him to become the chief minister, though he was averse to the idea. But today, the Congress MLAs are complaining on a daily basis

that Kumaraswamy is not accessible. The same party, however, turned the Muslim votes against us. How long can you go on?”

Further, he attacked Siddaramaiah and his supporters for pulling down Kumaraswamy, every time he attained a milestone. “Every time Kumaraswamy does some good work the MLAs (Congress) start issuing statements in the media — this happens every day.”

He warned the Congress of consequences. “We have hit the last stage. I appeal to the Congress high command to put an end to this. If they (Congress MLAs) don’t stop talking lightly about Kumaraswamy, it may go out of control. The national leaders should unterstand this.

Unlike Gowda, who only attacked the Congress, Kumaraswamy chose to train his guns on the BJP. Reiterating that the BJP was trying its best to topple his government, he said that he was even prepared to face the no-confidence motion against him by the BJP. “The BJP has been continuously conspiring. I am even aware that the party is preparing to move a no-confidence motion against me. But the BJP will fail,” he added.

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Nasheman News :The BJP on Wednesday came down heavily on Congress President Rahul Gandhi after Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar accused him of using a visit to an “ailing man” for politicial end and alleged the Opposition leader of being insensitive.

Hours after, Parrikar wrote a letter to Gandhi, the BJP leaders took on twitter to attack him.

“Dear Rahul Gandhi, you showed how insensitive you are, by lying in the name of a person fighting a disease. The people of India are disgusted by your reckless behaviour. In his trademark style Manohar Parrikar ji sets the record straight,” BJP President Amit Shah tweeted.

Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Smriti Irani questioned Rahul Gandhi’s “Sanskar” and hit out at him for using the courtesy visit for politicial purposes.

“Mr Rahul Gandhi what type of human being are you? You went for an alleged courtesy visit to Goa CM Manohar Parrikar who is fighting a courageous battle against cancer and you used it for political purposes,” he said.

He said it was disgusting to use a courtesy visit to an ailing leader to propagate lies about Rafale which was never discussed during meeting.A

“We all believe Manohar Parrikar and he has rightly charged you with rank opportunism. Mr. Gandhi please maintain some standards of humanity,” he said.

Irani too slammed the Congress leader and his behaviour proved that he can stoop to any low for politicial gains.

“What kind of Sanskar you have shown by making an excuse for a courtesy call? This proves Rahul can stoop low for his political gains,” she said.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, “God Help Us! If what he said did not happen, why did he think it happened?”

“After being contradicted by an ailing Manohar Parrikar Ji almost immediately, the gentleman who is a habitual offender should know that credibility is a valuable asset in politics,” he tweeted.

Nasheman News :A very angry India told Pakistan on Wednesday to lay off on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir after a telephone conversation between Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood and conveyed New Delhi’s condemnation in “the strongest terms of this latest brazen attempt by Pakistan to subvert India’s unity and to violate our sovereignty and territorial integrity, by none other than the Pakistan Foreign Minister”, the Eternal Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

“The Foreign Secretary conveyed that this deplorable act has violated all norms for the conduct of international relations even by Pakistan’s own standards,” the statement said.

“The Pakistan Foreign Minister’s actions are tantamount to direct interference in the internal affairs of its neighbour,” it stated.

“Foreign Secretary underscored that by this action Pakistan has confirmed yet again that it officially abets and encourages individuals associated with terrorism and anti-India activities.”

Gokhale said that it has exposed to the entire international community Pakistan’s duplicity in professing their desire for normal relations with India on the one hand, while openly inciting anti-India activities on the other.

Gokhale also told Mahmood that “India expects Pakistan to desist forthwith from such actions”.

“He was cautioned that persistence of such behaviour by Pakistan will have implications,” the ministry statement said.

Gokhale made it clear that “Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and shall remain the integral part of India”.

New Delhi’s reaction came after Tuesday’s conversation between Qureshi and Farooq in which the former spoke about Islamabad’s efforts to “highlight” the situation in Jammu and Kashmir “internationally”.

New Delhi-Islamabad ties are frosted after repeated cross-border terror attacks from Pakistan-based terror outfits.

Nasheman News :  A meeting of Hindu seers and religious leaders — Param Dharma Sansad — on Wednesday announced they would march to Ayodhya on Basant Panchami day and lay the foundation stone for a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya on February 21. Office-bearers of the organisation said the ceremony would be replete with all rituals.

The decision was taken on the last day of Param Dharma Sansad at Kumbh. Shankracharya Swami Swaroopanand said that for the Ram temple even if they have to go to jail or face bullets, they will willingly do it. “We will face everything but ensure that Ram temple is built at that very place,” the seer said.

He warned that if any of “the three wings of power – executive, legislature and judiciary” tries to prevent them from doing so, the consequences will be grave. 

“We will perform all the rituals,” he said. Saying that the ‘Param Dharma Sansad’ had given adequate time to the government, after their meeting in Varanasi, for Ram temple construction “but there seemed an endless wait”, which was not acceptable to the Hindu community.

Swamy Avimukteshwaranad who conducted the proceedings of the ‘Sansad’ said that the move by the government to request the Supreme Court to hand over the land acquired outside the 2.22 acre stretch of the disputed land, was unacceptable.

Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Swamy Prnavanand of the Nirmohi Akhada said that Shri Ram Janmabhoomi belonged to the Hindus and nobody could take it away from them. Many other seers like Swamy Anand Giri of the Juna Akhada said instructions of Shankracharya would be complied with.

 Nasheman News : A major fire broke out in All India Industrial Exhibition here on Wednesday night, reducing over 150 stalls to ashes. There was no loss of life but traders suffered huge financial loss, officials said.

According to eye-witnesses, few people sustained minor injuries in a mild stampede after the fire broke out after 9 p.m. from a stall, reportedly due to short-circuit. Two persons who took ill were taken to a nearby hospital.

Thousands of people including women and children, who were present in the sprawling Exhibition Ground in Nampally in the heart of the city, ran out in panic.

Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali, who visited the accident site, told reporters that the situation was brought under control by fire services department, police and other departments.

Hyderabad Mayor B. Rammohan said 12 fire tenders and an equal number of water tankers battled the flames for over one hour to bring them under control.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner Dana Kishore, who was supervising rescue and relief operations, said all people were evacuated safely. He said no one was injured.

Over 30,000 people were present in the annual exhibition at the time of the fire accident.

Police diverted vehicular traffic on the roads surrounding the Exhibition Ground. Hyderabad Metro announced free travel and operated five additional trains from the nearby station to clear the rush.

Traders alleged that the authorities failed to act quickly resulted in huge losses to them. 

A trader said he lost goods worth Rs 2 crore while another said he suffered a loss of Rs 6 lakh. They said only one fire engine was stationed at the venue and it proved inadequate to douse the fire immediately.

The traders vented their ire over the officials for not taking precautionary measures. One of them said there was hardly any water in the fire engine stationed there and the personnel failed to act on time. 

Shocked over the huge loss, some traders broke down. Others demanded compensation from the government.

Mahmood Ali assured the traders that the government would extend them all possible help. He denied that the fire services department failed to act promptly to control the fire. He also said an inquiry would be ordered into the fire accident.

All India Industrial Exhibition Society President and former minister E. Rajender said there was no need for panic as the situation was completely brought under control. He asked the society secretary to conduct the investigation.

The 78th All India Industrial Exhibition was inaugurated on January 1 and had over 2,500 stalls. Popular as ‘Numaish’, the annual event started in 1938 during the Nizam era to promote locally made goods.

Traders from various states set up their stalls in the annual exhibition, which continues for 45 days. Thousands of people throng the sprawling Exhibition Ground in the heart of the city every evening for shopping and amusement rides.

Considered as mother of all carnivals, ‘Numaish’ is an integral part of Hyderabad’s rich culture.

Every day, 40,000 to 50,000 people visit ‘Numaish’. The numbers reach one lakh on week-ends and holidays.

Nasheman News :  Stepping his barbs at Congress leaders, firebrand Union Minister from Karnataka Anantkumar Hegde on Wednesday mocked its President Rahul Gandhi as a hybrid breed, born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother.

“Rahul Gandhi’s father is a Muslim and mother a Christian and son is a Brahmin. How does it happen? You will not find such a hybrid breed anywhere,” said Hegde in Kannada at an event at Karwar in Uttara Kannada in the state’s northwest region.

Hegde, 50, is Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and a BJP Lok Sabha member from the Uttara Kannada constituency, about 530 km from Bengaluru.

Hegde’s reference to Rahul’s father Rajiv Gandhi as a “Muslim” is because the latter’s father was Feroze Gandhi, a Parsi from Gujarat. Rajiv’s mother was Indira Gandhi.

Accusing Congress leaders of having no sense of religion, Hegde told the gathering that they continued to lie.

“Rahul knows nothing about India and there is no question of he knowing anything about religion (dharma). Look, how they lie. You cannot get such a hybrid breed in world’s any laboratory but in our country’s Congress laboratory,” said Hegde.

Hegde’s remarks that Rahul is a “Brahman” is in the backdrop of a priest at Pushkar lake in Rajasthan ahead of its state assembly elections declaring that the latter’s gotra was ‘Duttatreya’ and he was a Kashmiri Brahmin.

Hegde has been making controversial remarks since he became minister in September 2017, with the latest being on Sunday when he said at Madikeri in the state’s southwest region that “a hand that touches a Hindu girl’s body should not be there”.

He was also locked in a Twitter war on Monday with Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao over their respective achievements.

Responding to Hegde’s tweet that he knew Rao as “a guy who ran behind a Muslim lady”, the latter retorted that it was sad to see the Central minister stoop to such “low levels as to bring in personal issues”.

Rao, a Congress lawmaker from Gandhinagar assembly segment in Bengaluru central, is married to Tabu, a Muslim.

Demanding sacking of Hegde from the cabinet post, Rahul Gandhi tweeted that “this man is an embarrassment to every Indian. He is unfit to be a Union Minister deserves to be sacked”.

If it is Monday, it will be Prime Minister Mayawati. If it is Tuesday, it must be Akhilesh Yadav. With his “prime minister of the day” jibe, Amit Shah today scorned the opposition’s “gathbandhan” or alliance attempts ahead of the national election, due by May, saying too many candidates for the top job had left the parties in chaos.

“We are very clear about our PM – the NDA’s choice is (Narendra) Modi-ji. What about you,” the BJP president scoffed, addressing a meeting of BJP workers at Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur.

“Let me tell you how it will be if the gathbandhan comes to power,” he said, and went on to list six candidates for six days.

“On Monday, it will be Behenji (BSP chief Mayawati).On Tuesday, it will be Akhilesh Yadav. On Wednesday, it will be Mamata-didi (Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee). On Thursday, it will be Sharad Pawar. On Friday it will be Deve Gowda. On Saturday it will be (Mohammad) Salim. And on Sunday, the country will go to sleep,” Amit Shah said to loud cheers from his captive audience.

“They don’t know who their leader is. This sort of alliance cannot make the country great. Only a person with a 56-inch chest, like Modi-ji, can take the country forward.”

After Mamata Banerjee’s mega opposition unity show in Kolkata earlier this month, the BJP chief had made the same point using different stats.

“There were 23 parties and nine prime ministerial candidates in that rally,” Amit Shah had jeered.

Amit Shah’s address to thousands of polling booth level workers at what is dubbed a “Trishakti Sammelan” is meant to galvanise cadre ahead of the national election. It is the first in a series of such BJP meetings across India’s most political crucial state with 80 parliamentary seats.

Agencies