BJP – Page 23

BJP's controversial ad campaign shows Anna Hazare dead

January 30, 2015 by Nasheman

New Delhi: AAP leaders on Friday slammed BJP over the latter’s controversial ad campaign attacking AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and showing Anna Hazare dead.

BJP had unveiled its new advertisement campaign that targetted Kejriwal and shockingly showed Hazare with a garland on his photo.

Arvind Kejriwal, the chief of the Aam Aadmi Party, tweeted on Friday that the BJP should apologise for “killing Anna” in a campaign ad.

“Nathuram Godse killed Gandhiji on this day in 1948. BJP has killed Anna in its ad today. Shudn’t BJP apologise?” Arvind Kejriwal said in a tweet.

AAP leaders questioned the ruling party on its acts and said that they should apologize in public for showing a living man dead in the ad.

Delhi will go to vote for a new government on February 7. The results will be declared on February 10.

(ANI)

Delhi polls: BJP ropes in star campaigners, 70 MPs to prepare ground for Mission 60

January 29, 2015 by Nasheman

New Delhi: With less than two weeks to go for the Delhi polls, BJP today distributed charge of the constituencies here among as many as 58 Union ministers and MPs as it eyes a win here after a gap of 16 years.

The charge of the constituencies was allotted by the BJP’s central leadership and the leaders were tasked with looking after the party’s campaign and garnering support among the people.

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal has been asked to look after the campaign in the Model Town constituency while Shahnawaz Hussain will bolster its efforts for the poll in the minority-dominated constituencies of Matia Mahal and Okhla.

“Today, around 58 Union ministers and MPs took charge of Delhi constituencies. More than 70 MPs have been assigned to oversee preparations for the Feb. 7 polls to the 70-member Assembly,” said a senior BJP leader.

Most of the leaders were given charge of one constituency each.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who has been asked to look after the management of Delhi BJP, today visited the state unit’s office and took the stock of poll preparations.

Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Anant Kumar, too, has been asked to look after the overall management of the party in Delhi.

Senior BJP leader and MP Kirit Somaya will oversee the party’s campaign in New Delhi constituency where Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal is one of the contestants.

Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Mahesh Sharma have been asked to push BJP’s cause in the Babarpur and Laxmi Nagar constituencies, respectively.

(PTI)

Anna Hazare attacks Modi govt on black money repatriation

January 29, 2015 by Nasheman

Ralegan Siddhi: Anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare today attacked the Narendra Modi government for its ‘failure’ to bring back black money stashed in tax havens abroad and said people will teach it a lesson for the “fraud” perpetrated on them.

The 77-year-old Gandhian also refused to be drawn into the subject of political slugfest going on between his two former proteges– Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and BJP’s Kiran Bedi– in the Delhi assembly elections.

“People were promised during Lok Sabha elections that black money will be brought back within 100 days (of BJP forming its government), that Rs 15 lakh will be deposited in the accounts of every citizen, but not even Rs 15 have come.

“People have become aware now of the fraud perpetrated on them. They will teach a lesson (to the BJP-led government) the way they taught one to Congress. The masses have awakened after 2011 movement against corruption,” he told NDTV in an interview.

Asked about his views on Kejriwal and Bedi, both his proteges in the India Against Corruption campaign, crossing swords for chief ministership of Delhi, the anti-graft crusader said he would not talk about politics.

“I don’t want to go into these things. Ask me about other things, ask me about the country. An Arvind or a Kiran is not important,” he said.

Questioned whether he was angry with them for entering politics against his advice, Hazare said, “No,no. The question of getting angry arises when you have expectations that are not fulfilled. I don’t have any expectations from anybody, so where is the question of anger?”

He also refused to hazard a guess about who– Kejriwal or Bedi– will emerge triumphant in the polls.

“I don’t know. Ask them,” he retorted when persistently questioned about his views on Delhi elections and asked, “Why are you pushing me into the cesspool?”

Hazare said no change can be brought through party politics and that there was no mention of politics in the Indian Constitution.

“No change can be brought through party politics. The Constitution also does not mention politics. It says any Indian citizen can contest elections. When 543 good individuals win and choose the Speaker of Lok Sabha and the Prime Minister and run the country, change will come,” he said.

Hazare, however, acknowledged that the task was daunting and will take long to achieve.

“It will take 10-12-15 years. When people will awaken and reject party politics and choose 543 good people as their representatives, then true democracy will come. People made sacrifices for independence but there has not been any struggle for democracy,” he said.

(PTI)

Kejriwal continues to be the most preferred CM; AAP gets an edge over BJP: Survey

January 28, 2015 by Nasheman

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party has managed to win back supporters in New Delhi and has now taken a lead over the BJP in the Delhi Assembly polls, a pre-poll survey conducted by ABP News – Nielsen shows.

According to the survey, 50 percent of those polled were likely to vote for the Kejriwal-led party, up 4 percent from the last survey conducted by the agency in the second week of January.

In bad news for the BJP, the survey, which was conducted on 24 and 25 January to ascertain what impact Kiran Bedi’s announcement had on the electorate, showed the party’s fortunes decline by 4 percent (now down to 41 percent) in what ABP-Nielsen states is an indication that Bedi is not helping the party bring in new voters.

The BJP, according to the survey, has a higher proportion of committed voters – 84 percent – who say ‘they shall definitely vote for BJP now’ that Bedi has been announced as CM candidate.

However, in terms of its Chief Ministerial choice, Delhiites seem to still prefer Arvind Kejriwal over everyone else. The AAP leader, according to the survey, is the most suitable candidate for the position of CM with a 51 percent vote share while Kiran Bedi managed to secure 40 percent. The Congress’s Ajay Maken finished third with just 8 percent.

The survey states that the AAP’s support base is largely made up of Muslims, SC/ST/OBC and lower income groups. In terms of income groups, a majority of respondents belonging to the lower income group favoured AAP, while those with income on the higher side (Rs. 25,000 per month and above) favoured BJP. For the BJP, the Modi factor still seemed to hold some ground with several respondents saying that they will vote for the BJP because they wanted to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The snap poll was conducted in 70 assembly constituencies of Delhi with 2262 respondents. You can read the entire findings here. Delhi goes to polls on 7 February and the results will be declared on 1o February.

IBN7 associate editor allegedly sacked for questioning channel's bias against AAP

January 24, 2015 by Nasheman

IBN7 Associate Editor, Pankaj Srivastava.

New Delhi: In a sudden, unprovoked and illegal move the management of IBN7 the Hindi News Channel owned by Network 18 has terminated the services of Associate Editor, Pankaj Srivastava on 21 January, 2015. The termination notice was abruptly served to Pankaj by Deputy General Manager, HR, Mayank Bhatnagar at 10 PM last night. The notice mentions that “services are hereby terminated with immediate effect”.

According to Srivastava, this termination was allegedly followed after a text message by Pankaj to Deputy Managing Editor Sumit Awasthi. The message stated —“ Aiysa lagata hai ki hum AAP ko harwaney mein jute hain yeh theek nahi hai, logo ka kehna hai ki Satish Uppdhyay ke bhai Umesh hamarey editor hain isliye aisa hai..ye patrakaron ke usoolon ke khilaaf hai, Pankaj Srivastava” (It seems that we have joined campaign to defeat AAP, this is unfair. Many people believe that this is happening because Umesh our Editor is brother of Satish Upadhyay. This goes against journalistic principles, Pankaj Srivastava). This mobile text message was sent by Pankaj at 8:48 from his official mobile number.

Srivastava claims, that the channel was biased against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and was only focusing on highlighting BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi.

According to a press release uploaded by him, he states that, “He has on number of occasions approached editors and tried to persuade that the practice of complete black out of Aam Admi Party is unethical and goes against established norms of journalistic propriety. Majority of journalists working with IBN 7 and CNN-IBN are not comfortable with internal censorship on many issues – particularly relating to Aam Admi Party and its convenor Arvind Kejriwal who is also Chief Ministerial candidate of the party. These issues were raised number of times during editorial meetings.”

A series of programmes like “Kiran Ka Karsihma” to highlight the BJP’s CM Candidate are being telecast in the channel are debated and criticised internally.

Srivastava is all set take the issue a step ahead. He is taking legal advice and within due course of time, he will challenge “his unfair and uncalled termination in the court of law.”

Pankaj Srivastava his began his journalistic career in 1997 with with Amar Ujala in Kanpur. After a brief stint with Samay channel, he joined IBN7 on March 10, 2008.

His sacking reflects the insight of electronic media which has been under-fire from many quarters particularly non-BJP groupings for bias and one-sided coverage.

Senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta has aptly described predicament of journalists in present time as he says, “It is not easy to be a journalist in India because you realise that it is not often easy to offer alternative narratives to challenge the orthodoxy and to raise questions”.

Finance minister to present budget for FY16 on Feb 28

January 22, 2015 by Nasheman

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with his Budget team leaves for Rashtrapati Bhavan in this file photo. Pradeep Gaur/Mint

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present his first full-year budget on February 28 for the 2015/16 fiscal year, a government official said on Wednesday.

The budget session of Parliament will begin on February 23, the railway budget will be presented on February 26 and the Economic Survey the next day.

The first part of the budget session will end on March 20. The second part will commence after a month-long recess on April 20 and the session will conclude on May 8, officials said.

Parliamentary committees will examine demands for grants of various ministries during the recess. The motion of thanks to the President’s address will be debated on February 24 and 25.

Bedi draws flak after putting scarf on Lajpat Rai statue

January 22, 2015 by Nasheman

BJP’s Delhi CM nominee Kiran Bedi on Wednesday came under fire from Arvind Kejriwal for putting her party’s scarf around a statue of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai. (ANI photo)

New Delhi: The BJP’s chief ministerial candidate for Delhi Kiran Bedi on Wednesday came under fire from AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal for putting her party’s scarf around the statue of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai in Krishna Nagar.

“I would like to request Kiran Bedi to spare our freedom fighters and not saffronise them. These leaders fought for independence for 120 crore Indians. There should be no politics over them,” said Kejriwal.

Bedi, who began her roadshow at Krishna Nagar from where she is contesting the Delhi assembly polls on February 7, paid tribute to Rai, cleaned his statue, put a garland and placed her Bharatiya Janata Party’s sash on it as well.

She also met tea and newspaper sellers in the area and enquired about the issues they were facing.

Although she removed the scarf later, Aam Aadmi Party chief Kejriwal did not let the opportunity to criticise her go by.

The garlands and flowers were also removed after Bedi left the place.

While on her way to file her nomination, Bedi led a road show through east Delhi, including the Krishna Nagar constituency, which is considered a BJP stronghold.

Kejriwal too will file his nomination papers from the New Delhi assembly constituency on Wednesday after he failed to meet the deadline for filing the nominations on Tuesday.

(With ANI inputs)

Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi file nomination

January 21, 2015 by Nasheman

New Delhi: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, BJP’s chief ministerial candidate in Delhi, filed their nomination from New Delhi assembly constituency for the Feb 7 polls.

Bedi reached the sub-divisional magistrate’s (SDM) office around noon. She was accompanied by senior leaders Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel, Maheish Girri and Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay.

Before filing her nomination, Bedi participated in a roadshow from the Lala Lajpat Rai chowk which culminated at the SDM’s office.

“I hope people will accept me and vote for the BJP,” Bedi told reporters before filing her nominations.

Aravind Kejriwal, the former Delhi chief minister, met with protests by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers as he reached the district magistrate office on Shahjahan Road at 11.20 a.m.

The BJP workers standing outside the district magistrate office shouted anti-Kejriwal and pro-Narendra Modi slogans. Then, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers also started raising anti-Modi slogans.

It took Kejriwal nearly an hour to complete the procedure.

‘It is people who have to decide who they need to vote for…In fact, they have decided that they have to vote for the AAP in full majority,’ Kejriwal said after filing his nomination papers.

‘My biggest challenges are corruption and price rise. I accept that people were angry because of our resignation earlier, but now their anger is over and they have full faith in us,’ he added.

Delhi elections: BJP's Nupur Sharma to take on Kejriwal

January 21, 2015 by Nasheman

Nupur Sharma, a former Delhi University Students Union president, was associated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the BJP.

New Delhi: The BJP Monday fielded a young party member Nupur Sharma to take on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi seat in Delhi assembly polls. The party’s first list of 62 candidates included new entrants Kiran Bedi, Krishna Tirath and Vinod Kumar Binny.

The list includes former union minister and Congress leader Tirath from Patel Nagar. Tirath got the BJP ticket on the day she declared her association with the party, creating a record of sorts.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi, a former IPS officer, has been fielded from Krishna Nagar, a “traditional” seat of the party. Bedi joined the BJP Jan 15.

Binny, a former AAP MLA, will contest from Patparganj. He joined the BJP Sunday.

Briefing reporters after the meeting of party’s central election committee and parliamentary board, BJP leader and union minister J.P. Nadda said that party’s Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay will not contest the polls.

“He has a huge responsibility. He will not be fighting the election,” Nadda said.

Those fielded by the BJP also included Vijendra Gupta from Rohini, Jagdish Mukhi from Janakpuri, Karan Singh Tanwar from Delhi Cantonment and M.S. Dhir from Jangpura.

Dhir is a former speaker of Delhi assembly and had won the 2013 election as an AAP nominee.
Elections to 70-member Delhi assembly will be held Feb 7.

Nupur Sharma is a former Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) president. She was associated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the BJP. Her name was being considered by the party against Kejriwal even in 2013 elections.

On November 6, 2008, when she was DUSU president, she led an ABVP mob into an arts faculty seminar room in the university, where some students and teachers groups had invited Zakir Hussain College professor and former accused in the Parliament attack case SAR Geelani to participate in a seminar titled ‘Communalism, Fascism and Democracy: Rhetoric and Reality’.

While a number of them vandalised the venue, an ABVP activist spat on Geelani’s face. Sharma herself was seen heckling Geelani.

Late that night, she was on a popular television show where the anchor asked whether she, a student, would apologise to Geelani, the professor.

“I am not going to apologise… What for?” she quipped. Later in the show, she ventured, “I’ll take a stand. The whole country should spit at him. Who invited him to the university to speak on terrorism?”

(With inputs from IANS)

Filmmaker and BJP loyalist Pahlaj Nihalani appointed new Censor Board chief

January 20, 2015 by Nasheman

Pahlaj Nihalani. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

New Delhi: Bollywood film producer Pahlaj Nihalani, also brother-in-law of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union minister Shatrughan Sinha, is the new chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

Days after it accused UPA of politicizing the Censor Board, the BJP-ruled government chose to follow its predecessor and pack the panel with those who have links with the saffron party.

Among those appointed on the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) include an RSS ideologue, a BJP general secretary, the BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Howrah and a playwright who has scripted a movie on PM Narendra Modi.

The government appointed him within a week after Leela Samson resigned from the post accusing the government, politicians and religious groups of “coercing” the board to give certification to films.

Nihalani will hold the post in an honorary capacity from Monday for a period of three years or “until further orders, whichever is earlier,” the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting stated.

Known for producing several blockbusters, including Bollywood star Govinda’s 1992 mega-hit “Aankhen”, Nihalani also produced a full-length music video titled “Har Ghar Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi” ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The government also appointed nine new members as the posts fell vacant after the sitting members resigned. Almost all new members are associated with the BJP.

The newly appointed members will continue to hold the post for a period of three years or until further orders, the ministry stated.

Telugu actor-turned-filmmaker Jeevitha is one among the nine members. The actor, who landed in a controversy after getting embroiled in a check bounce case a few years ago, had joined the BJP ahead of the general election.

Former national secretary of the BJP Vani Tripathi Tikoo, George Baker, who contested the Lok Sabha polls from Howrah in West Bengal on a BJP ticket and Ramesh Patange, who has links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, have all been appointed members of the CBFC.

(Agencies)