The AAP, which has announced to contest the 2022 Uttarakhand Assembly polls, is likely to name the CM candidate soon

DEHRADUN: The AAP, which has announced to contest the 2022 Uttarakhand Assembly polls, is likely to name the CM candidate soon, party insiders said.  

“We have discussed vital issues with Manish Sisodia ji, who had recently visited the state. He will be sharing the details of the visit with Kejriwal. The party will soon finalise the face for the CM candidate,” said a party insider in the state. 

According to political experts, the AAP is taking Uttarakhand seriously and is aiming to secure a few seats.  The analysts said if the AAP manages to eat into the vote share of both the parties, it will be a big loss to them.

Yogesh Kumar, a political commentator in Uttarakhand, said: “The AAP has done well in Delhi. Sisodia has already promised free electricity and water. Even if the AAP dents a marginal vote bank or bag one seat, it will be a wake-up call for both BJP and Congress.”

When the issue was taken to the notice of APT rancor Assistant Engineer Srinivas Reddy, he attributed the excess billing to technical glitch.

ANANTAPUR: K Nagamma, a daily labourer, was shocked on seeing the monthly power bill for her thatched house in Kanekal on Wednesday. The power bill for the small house located near the Zilla Parishad Boys High School in the mandal headquarters was a whopping Rs 1,49,034. The only electrical appliances in the house are a fan and a TV, besides a tube-light. Normally, her monthly power bill does not cross Rs 100. 

“I used to get a power bill of around Rs 100 month. The components of the bill include Rs 50 as minimum charges, Rs 25 as customer charges and another Rs 25 as late fee surcharge. But, the arrears from April to December in the bill were shown as Rs 1,48,934. Even if I have not paid the power tariff for the past seven months in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, it should not be more than Rs 1,000,” Nagamma lamented. 

When the issue was taken to the notice of AP Transco Assistant Engineer Srinivas Reddy, he attributed the excess billing to technical glitch. “We will resolve the matter if the consumer brings the power bill to us. Once the matter is resolved, the consumer will get normal bill like earlier,” he said.

NEW DELHI: Seeking to allay the fears of farmers over their landholdings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while making a strong defence of the Centre’s new farm laws, on Tuesday said that a conspiracy is afoot to confuse the farmers over the legislations and accused the Opposition of using the shoulders of protesters to fire their guns.

After performing virtual stone laying ceremonies for three projects in Kutch of Gujarat district — a hybrid renewable energy park, a desalination plant and a milk processing and packing unit — the PM said the laws include all the demands made by the farmers and the Opposition in the past to improve the agricultural incomes of the cultivators.  

“There’s an attempt being made to create fears in the minds of the farmers about the farm laws. Farmers are being told that their landholdings may be occupied by others,” the  PM said.

While the farmers’ unions have dug in their heels to demand the repeal of the three farm laws, the government has maintained that it’s willing to talk to the farmers. 

“The present agricultural laws had been the demand of farmers since a long time. Even those who are in the Opposition today were supporting these bills earlier when they were in power, but could never take a decision on them and pacified the farmers with false assurances. I want to reiterate that my government is ready 24 hours to resolve all your doubts,” Modi said.

He also gave the example of two sectors in Gujarat, which flourished without government intervention.

Modi said dairy and fisheries sectors grew exponentially without much intervention of the state government as the business is mainly handled by co-operative sector leaders and farmers.

Criticising Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said that earlier she did not sit with rich persons but now she does just that.

KALYANI: BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy claimed on Tuesday that TMC will not get even 100 seats out of the total 294 in the West Bengal assembly polls in 2021.

He said all those who are keeping themselves away from BJP because of misunderstandings must be convinced to return to its fold.

“With responsibility I am saying that TMC will not even cross the 100 seat mark in the coming state poll,” he told a meeting of BJP workers at Shimurali in Nadia district.

“Ask TMC to say how many seat they are going to win,” he said.

Asking party workers to convince those who were staying away from the party due to misunderstanding, Roy said “This is not the time for ego. There is big and strong fight before us and we have to win as Amit Shah Ji wants at least 200 seats in Bengal to turn it into Sonar Bangla and push TMC to the bottom like CPI-M.”

Criticising Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said that earlier she did not sit with rich persons but now she does just that.

He hit out at the state government for the power rates in West Bengal, which she said is the highest in the country.

Roy, who was earlier a prominent leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress, criticised the Mamata Banerjee government for misusing funds given by the Centre post Cyclone Amphan.

“In two phases Modi handed over Rs 3400 crore to the Bengal government for Amphan effected people. But the poor people remained in the same plight”, Roy iterated.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will arrive in Bengal later this week and address two rallies on December 19 and 20, he added.

MP agriculture minister Kamal Patel had said that the BJP would be organising farmer meets in the state from Tuesday to dispel “misconceptions” about the Centre’s new farm laws.

INDORE: The RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) said it would protest on Tuesday on two highways in Madhya Pradesh in support of the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism with over 10,000 farmers expected to take part, a functionary said on Monday.

Incidentally, MP agriculture minister Kamal Patel had said that the BJP would be organising farmer meets in the state from Tuesday to dispel “misconceptions” about the Centre’s new farm laws.

Those protesting against the three farm laws have claimed they are aimed at doing away with the MSP and mandi mechanisms and give corporates a dominant role in the sector.

“Farmers of western Madhya Pradesh, known for major cotton harvests, are forced to sell their produce below MSP. In this region, even the procurement centre of Cotton Corporation of India has not come up,” Kamal Singh Anjana of the BKS’ Malwa Prant (Indore and Ujjain divisions) said.

“Maize too is being sold below MSP in western MP. On the call of the BKS, over 10,000 farmers will protest on national highway number 3 (Mumbai-Agra road) in Dhar and on Indore-Icchapur state highway in Khandwa,” he said, adding that the BKS has already said some changes should be made in the new farm laws.

“For ensuring procurement through MSP and for other demands, we have written nearly four lakh letters to the president and prime minister from Madhya Pradesh,” he added.

Meanwhile, Khandwa BJP MP and former president of MP BJP unit Nandkumar Chauhan said at a press conference that the new laws were for the benefit of farmers.

Asked about farmers not getting MSP for cotton and maize, Chauhan said, “recent rains have made the produce moist and this has caused some hurdles in their procurement”.

To another query on the BKS’ protest, Chauhan said India is a democracy and if the RSS-backed BKS wants to protest on farmers’ issues, “it would manifest that it is an active organisation”.