Modi’s ‘personal connect’ with BJP’s grassroots functionaries and ‘keen understanding’ of developmental projects were on display during his interaction with party workers on Friday

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday celebrated its 38th Foundation Day across the country, exhorting its cadres to ensure that the party retains power at the Centre in 2019. The occasion was also used effectively to attack Opposition parties, especially the Congress, and mocking the efforts to forge a grand alliance for “survival”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the “heroic service and sacrifice” of millions of party workers and acknowledged their “efforts” to bolster its reach. “For BJP, the ‘Karyakartas’ are everything. They are the heart and soul of the party and their sweat has taken the party to new heights. It is due to their efforts that we have the honour to serve people all over India and fulfil their aspirations,” Modi said.

“The BJP is the party of a ‘New India’. We are privileged to receive the blessings of people of all age groups, across all sections of society. We are a party that believes in India’s diversity, our unique culture and, above all, the strengths of 1.25 billion Indians,” he added. Modi spoke on a host of topics – from using technology to election strategy. The prime minister also slammed the Opposition and said its “only aim is to defeat Modi”.

Modi’s “personal connect” with BJP’s grassroots functionaries and “keen understanding” of developmental projects were on display during his interaction – through video conferencing – with party workers from five Lok Sabha constituencies and all 734 district presidents on the ‘NaMo App’.

NaMo app booths were set up at 20 Assembly segments in the two Lok Sabha constituencies of Delhi. The North East Delhi MP and the president of the state unit of BJP, Manoj Tiwari, and New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi participated in the event along with senior party leaders and workers. The MPs of the five Lok Sabha constituencies chosen for the interaction with the Prime Minister were Lekhi (New Delhi), Tiwari (North East Delhi), Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh), Poonam Mahajan (North Central Mumbai), and Rajiv Pratap Rudy (Saran in Bihar).

Amit Shah, the party president, launched BJP’s election campaign for the 2019 polls in Mumbai, while Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani and Ravi Shankar Prasad exhorted party workers in Lucknow, Kolkata and New Delhi, respectively.

Here are the top 10 highlights of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah told BJP workers during their interaction:

1. Narendra Modi says my rivals are turning increasingly violent: Targeting rivals, Modi said their opposition to him is turning “increasingly violent” due to the fact that people born in backward castes are in the country’s top positions and also because of their discomfort with the BJP’s rising strength. Modi, who comes from Other Backward Classes (OBC), also invoked his humble background and said his rivals were unable to digest that a “son of a poor mother” had become prime minister.

He said while BJP is known for its “win after win”, the Congress-led opposition’s agenda was “remove Modi, snatch his chair” and its identity is “lie after lie”.

“You would have seen that the opposition (to Modi government) is becoming more intense and angrier. It is being seen now that it is turning more violent as well. The reason is not that we have made any mistake. The only reason is that our rivals are unable to digest the BJP’s rising strength,” he said.

2. No caste and communalism in ‘New India’, says Modi: The prime minister told BJP workers to redouble their efforts to build a ‘New India’ by 2022. Modi has spoken about his vision of a “new India’ that will provide all families a home and which will be without casteism and communalism.

3. Modi claims BJP was treated like untouchables: BJP leaders were almost forced out in 1977 and it was a case of political untouchability, he said. “People can now see where those are who practised this untouchability and those who were its victims,” he said in a reference to the party’s rise and the fall of socialist parties and the Congress.

4. Modi says BJP is truly democratic: The prime minister termed the BJP as a party that is “a true believer in democratic ethos”. Modi said that in the BJP there are “no divisions, no dynasty politics and no ‘I’ versus you”.

“It is truly democratic and a democratic political party can effectively serve a democratic nation,” added Modi.

5. ‘Life incomplete without technology’: Reshma from Mumbai wanted to know about the use of technology, to which the prime minister said: “Life without technology is a life incomplete and we must keep using technology for a better future.” He urged BJP workers to get more people to use the BHIM app.

Modi described technology as an effective way to communicate, and communicate the truth. He urged BJP workers to regularly use the various government sites and the Narendra Modi app for latest news about the government’s work.

6. Amit Shah compares Opposition to ‘snakes, mongooses, dogs, cats: “When there are huge floods all animals like snakes, mongooses, dogs and cats climb together on a single tree trunk for refuge, as there are deep waters below and they are scared of the rising waters,” he said.

“The political flood unleashed by (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi has made all these snakes, mongooses, dogs and cats, join together and unitedly contest the 2019 elections against him,” he added.

Earlier in his speech, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis compared the Opposition to “wolves” who posed no challenge to Modi.

7. Congress slams Amit Shah for likening Opposition to animals: The Congress’s Maharashta unit reacted sharply to Amit Shah’s remarks comparing the Opposition parties in the country with animals. In a strong statement, Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam said “the Opposition is an equally strong arm of the legislature as the ruling party and must be treated with the respect it deserved.

“In a democracy, we can’t stoop down to the level of being unparliamentary in our language. It (the Opposition) cannot be ridiculed to get cheap air time.”

8. Amit Shah retracts the dog-cat statement: Barely an hour after comparing Opposition parties with animals, Shah virtually backtracked on his comments. He clarified what he implied was parties with different ideologies joining together to fight the upcoming elections vis-a-vis the BJP and Modi. “What I intended was that the parties with opposing political ideologies which could never come together have united… They include BSP-SP (the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party), TDP-Congress, Congress-Trinamool Congress,” Shah told reporters later.
9. BJP will never scrap reservations”: Amit Shah said that the Opposition was responsible for the 10 lives lost during the Bharat Bandh protest. “BJP government will neither remove reservation nor will (it) let anyone end it,” said Shah. The BJP President also addressed an OBC convention in Karnataka today. On Thursday, Shah had tweeted that PM Modi had met members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to SC communities and assured them that the Government is doing everything to protect the rights and well-being “of our Dalit sisters and brothers”.

10. BJP a big platform for national unity, says Prasad: In Delhi, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad hit out at the Congress and other rival political parties opposed to its ideology and said in its journey spanning 38 years, the ruling party has emerged as a “big platform for national unity”.

“The BJP is a big platform for national unity. It has one voice, one slogan and one commitment – to make the country a super power. Today, the BJP is a party of all Indians with an all-India presence,” Prasad said. Recalling former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s lines that “the cloud will go away, the sun will come up, and lotus will bloom”, he said that the BJP at present rules the country with a clear majority and with its allies, it is ruling in 21 of the 29 states.

The Minister took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, saying if one has to grow in Indian politics, one has to embrace the country’s soil, its culture and tradition.

Siddaramaiah has a formidable twin challenge from BJP’s former CM and Lingahyat strongman BS Yeddyurappa and the Modi-Shah combine that has decimated almost all its opponents.

Karnataka’s forthcoming assembly election has not only become a challenge for political leaders of all the three major parties in the state, but also for national leaders of the Congress and BJP.
But the question remains, how a state assembly election can pose a challenge to either the Congress or BJP at the national level?
This is the first major election that Rahul Gandhi is spearheading after taking over the reins of the Congress party. For BJP, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and national president Amit Shah, wresting power from a firmly entrenched Congress in its last southern bastion, would provide the necessary momentum for a bigger battle in

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Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will have to prove a thing or two. He has to contend with the truism of no ruling party returning to power since 1985. Along with this three-decade-old jinx, the CM has a formidable twin challenge from BJP’s former CM and Lingahyat strongman BS Yeddyurappa and the Modi-Shah combine that has decimated almost all its opponents.
To make matters worse, the third major political player JD(S) under the indefatigable leadership of former PM HD Deve Gowda and his wily ex-CM HD Kumaraswamy has tied up with Mayawati’s BSP to become the king-maker if not the king.
What makes the contest from BSY with Modi-Shah and the well-oiled BJP-Sangh Parivar network and the Vokkalinga-Dalit partnership of JD(S)-BSP that much more intense for the Karnataka CM and the Congress is that there is little to expect from the party’s national leadership. In fact, Rahul Gandhi’s vote-gathering abilities are suspect as can be judged from the almost gleeful response from the BJP leaders notwithstanding the party’s fine performance in the Gujarat assembly polls.
If Siddaramaiah has publicly declared that this will be his last assembly election, 75-year-old BSY is in the game merely because of his adulatory following among the politically powerful Lingayat community predominant in the Northern Karnataka region and holds sway in around 100 out of the 224 assembly constituencies. For JD(S), this is possibly a do-or-die battle as the 85-year-old party supremo is well past his prime while HD Kumaraswamy is not in the pink of health having already undergone open heart and valve replacement surgeries.
That brings us back to Siddaramaiah or Siddu. Although he had been ridiculed by his political rivals as “Niddreamaiah” (he is known to be suffering from sleep apnea) due to his tendency of dozing off often, he has proved himself to be a shrewd and smart political player by his clever and tactical moves, particularly since last year.
Assiduously cultivating his AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minority, backward classes and Dalits) votebanks, Siddu has fared rather well in implementing developmental programmes and national schemes while seeing to state’s rise as the hot investment destination in the country. It fared rather well in all parameters in the recent survey conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), scoring above 7 out of 10 points on most issues suggesting that there is no visible anti-incumbency sentiments against Siddu’s rule and most sections of people are generally happy with the pro-poor, farmer-friendly and populist schemes, especially the plethora of Bhagyas and Savi Ruchi or Indira Canteens.
More importantly, instead of the post-2014 electioneering practice of Modi setting the agenda by raising issues forcing the opponents to respond and catch up, it is Siddu who has been leading all the way.
He took up the cudgels for the State’s official language of Kannada when the Centre sought to impose Hindi and saw to it that Kannada signboards were back in the Namma Metro Rail stations. Going a step further, Siddu opted for a separate Kannada flag for the state as part of the Kannada identity politics knowing there is no constitutional bar.
Siddu also taunted the Centre to waive the farm loans having already waived off all cooperative agricultural loans. Even BSY, who as CM refused to bite the bullet saying he did not have currency printing machines, was silenced.
BJP’s ploy to escalate the Mahadayi issue backfired as Goa CM Manohar Parikkar refused to oblige. Modi’s attacks on corruption or the charges of “10% Commission” government did not stick as there were no serious corruption charges against Siddu or his ministers. On the contrary, CM confronted Modi with BSY’s record while in power or the meteoric business rise of Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, the Nirav Modi scam as also why Bengaluru-based HAL was kept out of the Rafael fighter jet manufacturing in favour of the Ambani company formed hardly 15 days before the deal with France was struck.
Even as the Modi-Shah firepower failed to inflict any serious damage, Siddu’s most astute and politically shrewd move was to drive a wedge in BJP’s hold over the Lingayat community by recognising the long-pending demand for a separate religion status and according the minority religious tag to the Lingayat community. The very fact that BSY himself had signed the petition from the Akhila Bharat Veerashaiva Mahasabha along with many other BJP leaders from the community proved a red-herring.
Adding insult to injury, Siddu recognised even Veerashaivas following the teachings of 12th Century social reformer Basavanna, who is paid paeans by Modi-Shah-BSY and even Rahul. Siddu is also obviously aware of the fact that Manmohan Singh-led UPA regime has rejected the Mahasabha’s demand in the past. But this time round, the government submitted its recommendation after getting it examined by a committee headed by a retired High Court Judge Nagamohan Das, and the onus for accepting or rejecting the demand is on Modi.
Clearly, Modi has met a worthy opponent in Siddu in Karnataka. Whether Modi will still triumph or Siddu survives to have the last laugh remains to be seen.
The author is a senior journalist based in Bengaluru.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over an alleged scam in the Rafale fighter aircraft deal with France.

Issuing a “Modi Scam Alert!” Gandhi tweeted: “$15 billion fighter jet deal re-tendered. Prime Minister’s friends race to tie up strategic partners.

“RAFALE, (Rs) 40,000 crore loss to exchequer was “Sayonara” (bye bye in Japenese) money to French, so Prime Minister could re-tender contract and favour friends.”

Gandhi’s comment came in the wake of a news report which stated that India is looking to buy more than 100 new fighter jets which were eventually expected to cost upwards of Rs 100,000 crore or about $15 billion.

His party has been long alleging that the deal of 36 Rafale fighter jets with the French government was finalised by the the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Centre at a higher price than the previous deal for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) negotiated by the Congress led-United Progressive Alliance government.

The Congress has been pushing the Centre to reveal the price of the deal, but the Modi government has not relented. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the price cannot be revealed due to national security issue.

India and France signed an agreement in March on the Exchange and Reciprocal Protection of Classified or Protected Information during the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, replacing an earlier pact signed in 2008.

It defines the common security regulations applicable to any exchange of classified and protected information between the two countries.

The important meeting on the ticket for Mysuru division which has created a lot of speculations and curiosity will be held on April 7th at Ramanashree Resort at Yelahanka in Bengaluru. Each day is dedicated for a meeting on individual division.

Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shimoga, Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and other district presidents, chief secretaries, committee representatives who represent the districts at state and national levels will take part at this meeting of Mysuru division. National president Amith Shah is already staying at the resort and conducting daily meetings. At the meeting, he will collect gather the opinions of district leaders and reach the final decision.

The district committee has recommended one name for Udupi, Karkala, Kundapura constituency from Udupi district and two names for Kaup and Byndoor constituency. But it cannot be said that the high command will not correct the candidate list. Amidst this, RSS is playing an important role in the distribution of tickets for coastal Karnataka’s two districts.

Big Boss fame, Sandalwood actress, Jayalakshmi joined Mahila Empowerment Party (MEP) officially on Friday, April 6 in a ceremony at Leela Palace Hotel in the city. She was welcomed into the party by Dr Nowhera Sheik, national president of MEP.

After her joining Jayalakshmi spoke to the scribes and said, “I have joined the party with the intention of conveying the ideology of MEP and the works done by Dr Nowhera Sheik, national president of the party to the commoner. Today politics has stoped to a very low level. The representatives we have elected and sent are busy abusing each other. In the coming Karnataka assembly elections, the role of MEP will be a deciding factor regardless of any party forming the government. I will contest from any constituency which the party assigns me.”

Speaking on the occasion Dr Nowhera Sheik said, “We will release the list of our party candidates very soon. We have the intention of fielding able candidates in 224 legislative constituencies. Out of the 35% will be represented by women,

The Supreme Court today did not agree to the fervent plea of an original litigant that the Ayodhya land dispute should be immediately referred to a larger bench as the issue was far more important than that of polygamy among Muslims, for which a constitution bench was constituted.

A special bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, made it clear to senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, representing M Siddiq, that it will decide whether to send the matter to the larger bench only after hearing all parties to the litigation. Siddiq, now deceased, is one of the original litigants in the Babri Masjid-Ram Temple land dispute.

“You (CJI) sent pleas to strike down polygamy immediately to the Constitution Bench, but you are reluctant to send the Babri Masjid case to the Constitution Bench. Is polygamy more important than the right of Muslims to worship in a mosque,” Dhavan posed before the bench which also comprised Justices Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.

Former Attorney General and senior advocate K Parasaran, appearing for a Hindu group, opposed the plea and said it was the prerogative of the apex court to decide on which bench would hear the case.

Parasaran referred to the decision of the apex court that a five-judge bench would hear the petitions against the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) Act, despite the submission that earlier seven-judge benches had heard the second and the third judges cases that had brought the collegium system of appointment into force.

The hearing in the sensitive case began in the afternoon with an unusually unpleasant exchange of words between Dhavan and Additional Solicitor Generals (ASGs) Maninder Singh and Tushar Mehta. It started just after the bench assembled at 2 PM after ASG Singh apparently asked Dhavan, who was standing to advance his submissions, to move a bit.

“Sit down, Mr Maninder Singh,” Dhavan said at top of his voice, leading the ASG to retort by saying “behave yourself, Mr Dhavan”. Later during the day, Dhavan also made some uncharitable remarks against Parasaran, which led one of the lawyers to lodge a strong protest.

At the outset, Dhavan, who appeared for the legal representatives of the late Siddiq, referred to a recent apex court order by which the pleas, challenging the practice of polygamy and ‘Nikah Halala’ among Muslims, were sent to a five-judge constitution bench.

“A constitutional explanation was required…this (Ayodhya case) is far more important matter than the polygamy,” he said, adding that he was not required to advance the submissions for referring the case to a larger bench and it should be sent immediately.

“What is more important…The press is here, I am here, please say which is more important for you,” he asked, adding was it necessary to argue if the matter was going to be referred to a larger bench. “Why address the press in your arguments,” the bench asked.

“Because it is their right to know. I want the people of India to know. Press has the right to attend the hearing unless court makes it in-camera,” the senior lawyer replied, adding “the nation wants to know it”. Dhavan then referred to the 1994 verdict in the case of M Ismail Faruqui and assailed certain findings and observations like a mosque is not integral to the prayers offered by the followers of Islam.

The Faruqui verdict had dealt with the constitutional validity of the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act, 1993 by which the Centre had then taken over the disputed site and the adjoining land. The senior lawyer said, “the shadow of Ismail Faruqui has fallen on the minds of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court (which decided the Ayodhya title case).”

He said the Faruqui judgement was needed to be referred to a larger bench as it had said that mosques are not integral to Islam under the Muslim Law and hence, this will have a bearing on the present case as well. He also referred to some other verdicts in support of the arguments that this case should be sent to a larger bench.

Two ‘rath-yatras’ were taken out by BJP leaders that had led to the destruction of the mosque, he said, adding that the land, where the mosque is situated, belongs to the ‘Allah’ even after the demolition of the mosque. He also referred to the judgements that had said that some miscreants had demolished the mosque on December 6, 1992. The advancing of arguments remained inconclusive and would resume on April 27.

Earlier, the apex court had said it would decide on whether to refer to a larger bench the issue of reconsideration of the entire 1994 verdict dealing with the acquisition of the disputed land in Ayodhya or parts of it. The special bench of the apex court is seized of a total of 14 appeals filed against the high court judgement delivered in four civil suits.

A three-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had in 2010 ordered that the land be partitioned equally among three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

In the Karnataka Legislative Assembly there are 68 MLAs who have pending criminal cases against them. Out of this 35 MLAs have declared that they have serious criminal cases pending against them. Association for Democratic Reforms analysed the affidavits of 207 out of the 224 MLAs. The affidavits of 17 members were not analysed since they are not longer sitting members or due to badly scanned affidavits.

Party wise MLAs with Criminal Cases:
36(32%) out of 114 MLAs from Indian National Congress (INC),
13 (33%) out of 40 MLAs from Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP),
11 (31%) out of 35 MLAs from JD(S),
1(25%) out of 4 MLAs from KJP,
1(33%) out of 3 MLAs from BSRC,
1(100%) out of 1 MLA from SP,
1(100%) out of 1 MLA from KMP and 4(44%) out of 9 Independents MLAs had declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits. Party wise MLAs with Serious

Criminal Cases:
17(15%) out of 114 MLAs from Indian National Congress (INC),
8 (20%) out of 40 MLAs from Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP),
5(14%) out of 35 MLAs from JD(S),
1(100%) MLA each from SP and KMP and 3(33%) out of 9 Independents MLAs had declared serious criminal cases including cases related to attempt to murder, dacoity and kidnapping etc.

Crorepati MLAs:
Out of the 207 MLAs analysed, 193 (93%) are crorepatis.

Party wise Crorepati MLAs:
109 (96%) out of 114 from INC,
36(90%) out of 40 MLAs from BJP,
33 (94%) out of 35 MLAs from JD(S),
4 (100%) out of 4 MLAs from KJP,
2 (67%) out of 3 MLAs from BSRC,
1(100%) out of 1 MLA from KMP,
1(100%) out of 1 MLA from SP and 7(78%) out of 9 Independent MLAs had declared assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore.

Richest MLAs:
Priyakrishna of the Congress is the richest with assets worth Rs 910 crore.
Nagaraju N of Congress is second with Rs 470 crore worth assets.
Anil H Lad of the Congress has assets worth Rs 288 crore.
D K Shivakumar of Congress comes fourth with assets worth Rs 250 crore.
Santhosh Lad of Congress is fifth with assets worth Rs 186 crore.

Lowest assets:
H Rajesh of Congress has assets worth Rs 7 lakh.
D Ramakrishna of Congress has assets worth Rs 40 lakh.
G Ram Krishna of Congress comes third with assets worth Rs 50 lakh.
B B Ningaiah of JD(S) is fourth on this list with assets worth Rs 52 lakh.
Varthur Prakash an independent has assets worth Rs 66 lakh.

Party wise average assets:
Among major parties, the average assets per MLA for 114 INC MLAs was Rs.32.60 Crores, 40 BJP MLAs had average assets of Rs.13.23 Crores, 35 JD(S) MLAs had average assets of Rs.12.80 Crores, 4 KJP MLAs had average assets of Rs.2.99 Crores, 3 BSRC MLAs had average assets of Rs.2.92 Crores, 1 KMP MLA had average assets of Rs.145.21 Crores, 1 SP MLA had average assets of Rs.13.08 Crores and 9 Independents MLAs had an average assets of Rs.23.04 crores.

Age details of MLAs: 19 (9%) MLAs had declared their age to be between 25 and 40 years while 140 (68%) MLAs had declared their age to be between 41 and 60 years. 46(22%) MLAs had declared their age to be between 61 and 80 years and two MLAs had declared their age above 80 years. Gender details of MLAs: There are 6 (3%) women MLAs out of 207 MLAs analysed.

Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah is yet to take a call on whether to contest from two constituencies or not. While it is certain that he would be contesting from the Chamundeshwari constituency, a call on whether to represent Badami in North Karnataka is yet to be taken.

Siddaramaiah said that party leaders had invited him to contest from Badami or any other constituency in North Karnataka. “However I am yet to decide on this”, he also said.
While expressing confidence of a win from Chamundeshwari, he also accused the BJP and JD(S) of joining hands to try and defeat him. He said that they have tried this in the past as well, but failed.
He further refuted allegations that he was using the state machinery to win the elections. “I have not done it in the past and will not do it now”, he also said.
On his meeting with the actor, Sudeep, Siddaramaiah said that he had come to invite him to inaugurate a cricket tournament. “I have not invited him for the campaign”, Siddaramaiah also said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said she hoped Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins the trust, hearts and minds of the people of her state.

In her felicitation message on the BJP’s Foundation Day, the Chief Minister tweeted: “Hearty congratulations to BJP India on its Foundation Day.

“I sincerely hope that India under Narendra Modiji can truly exhibit the moral leadership of the region by winning the trust, hearts and minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”

The state is ruled by the PDP and the Bharatiya Janata Party in alliance. Their coalition was described as a meeting of the North and South Pole by the late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed.