Report Wire

Category: Politics

  • Congress promises action after crossvoting in MLC polls

    Mumbai: It’s deja vu again for the Congress unit in Maharashtra as at least 78 party MLAs cross voted during the Friday’s MLC polls leading to the defeat of a candidate supported by the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance (MVA).

    Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole claimed the Congress MLAs who cross voted in favour of the ruling alliance candidates have fallen in a ‘trap’ laid by the party.

    Notwithstanding Patole’s claims of a trap laid for the MLAs, there are plenty of red faces in the Congress leadership in the state as this was the second occasion where the Congress MLAs cross voted. In 2022 there was cross voting for the MLC polls that precipitated the fall of the MVA government and led to a fullfledged inquiry by the Congress top brass that indicated that almost a dozen MLAs had cross voted.”The official candidate of our alliance is defeated, what kind of trap is this that has hurt us more than the offending MLAs.” said a Congress MLA and party leader.

  • Third Eye: Different priorities, seeking blessings, and mission mode

    Different priorities: After an electoral experiment between AAP and Congress proved unproductive in the LS polls, Congress started the disengagement process, with most party leaders losing enthusiasm in being cheerleaders for CM Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi liquor case. Thus, most Congress leaders remained lukewarm to SC granting interim bail to the CM in a case. But Kejriwal’s lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, a leading Congress spokesman and a prospective candidate for a Rajya Sabha seat, hailed Kejriwal’s interim bail and criticised CBI for arresting the CM in the same case. Some Congress campers tried to reason this mismatch by saying that the tribe of politician lawyers tend to pick clients randomly as these lawyers get cultivated by various parties in the season of growing highprofile cases involving leaders.

    Seeking Blessings

    Just as he completes six months in office, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnudeo Sai has decided to make the occasion auspicious. Sai and his ministers will spend the entire day in Ayodhya on July 13. The CM took oath on December 13 and the seventhmonth anniversary will be spent at Ram Temple. Mission Mode After becoming Rajya Sabha MP, BJP media incharge Anil Baluni decided to set up a planetarium and mountain museum in Pauri Garhwal. He dedicated the entire amount of Rs 17 crore for the project. A foundation stone was laid. Now, after becoming Lok Sabha MP from the same seat, Baluni recently met Union science and technology minister Jitendra Singh to speed up the project.

  • Oil refinery and petro complex in Andhra were UPA Govt’s commitment: Congress

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday said setting up an oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Andhra Pradesh was originally a commitment made by the Manmohan Singh government in the thirteenth schedule of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

    Taking note of an ET report about the Centre acceding to Andhra Pradesh chief minister and key NDA ally N Chandrababu Naidu’s demands on these projects, the Congress said that as per the 2014 Act, these projects were to be implemented within 10 years and that the Modi regime, having failed to do so, had “only initiated the feasibility study now”. It also said that with the BJP no longer in majority in Parliament, rapid implementation of the Act could now be expected.

    “An oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Andhra Pradesh was originally a commitment made by Dr Manmohan Singh’s government in the Thirteenth Schedule of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014,” Congress communications incharge Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X, attaching a copy of the Thirteenth Schedule of the Act.”In fact, the ‘ek tihayi’ Pradhan Mantri’s government was legally obliged to deliver the project within the last ten years, and IOC/HPCL were obliged to examine the feasibility of the project within six months…. The government, after failing to move for 10 years, has only initiated the feasibility study now,” Ramesh said.

  • View: Election Wheel Starts Rolling, Surprise factor, Minimum guarantee

    The countdown for yearend assembly elections has begun. Deputy election commissioners have already started heading to states to assess preparedness. Maharashtra is the first stop. An election panel team is already in the pollbound state and other teams will soon visit Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. CECled ECI brass is also likely to conduct field checks in August or September.

    After becoming Lok Sabha Speaker for the second time, Om Birla visited his Lok Sabha constituency KotaBundi. A huge roadshow was carried out and the skyline of the twintown of KotaBundi was dotted with BJP posters welcoming Birla. Besides BJP national leaders, Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s face was prominently displayed on these posters. A BJP leader pointed out that this region has a substantial population of Kirars, Chouhan’s caste.

    Karnataka Dy CM DK Shivakumar has demanded an explanation from BJP for alleged distribution of liquor at an event near Bengaluru — organised to celebrate a BJP leader’s victory in the Lok Sabha polls. Looking at the pictures of people waiting patiently in long queues to collect their bottles of booze, chief minister Siddaramaiah must be secretly smiling. The event at least ‘guaranteed’ inflow of taxes to his cashstrapped regime.

  • Militancy, dialogue cannot go together, Pakistan must stop sending terrorists: Abdullah

    Srinagar: Former CM of J&K, Farooq Abdullah, on Tuesday said that militancy and dialogue cannot go together and Pakistan has to stop sending intruders from across the border.

    Reacting to the attack in Kathua, he said militancy cannot change the border or the reality on the ground. “If the neighbouring country thinks it can change things on the ground by sending terrorists here, that will not happen. They will fail,” he said.

    “We will be forced to go to war. That country (Pakistan) is already a mess,” Abdullah said.

  • We struggle with allies comments: UP BJP spokespersons

    New Delhi: BJP’s spokespersons in Uttar Pradesh have told the party’s national general secretary BL Santhosh that they are finding it difficult to defend on public forums some of the remarks made by the NDA allies, people in the know said.

    The views were expressed at a recent closeddoor meeting in the state.

    Recently, three BJP allies in the stateAnupriya Patel of Apna Dal (S), Sanjay Nishad of Nishad Party, and OP Rajbhar of SBSPexpressed views which were seen as being against the government. Patel wrote a letter to chief minister Yogi Aditya Nath saying that students from the OBC community don’t get selected in interviews for state government jobs.

    After that, on the birth anniversary of party founder Soney Lal Patel, she alleged that applicants from the OBC community were not treated fairly during the drive to recruit 69,000 teachers in the state.

    Patel said the issue has not been resolved even after she requested the state government, and this damaged the NDA prospects in the recent Lok Sabha polls. Nishad blamed the state government for not getting enough Nishad votes. “The demand for reservation for the Nishad community in the SC category in the state has been pending for a long time. The community, which voted for the BJP in 2019 and 2022, felt that the government was not serious, and a section drifted away from the NDA,” he said.Similarly, Rajbhar said at a meeting that his party workers and cadre voted for NDA candidates, but there was a dent in the ModiYogi vote of the BJP and that resulted in loss in Uttar Pradesh.

    Several spokespersons said they find it difficult to respond to such statements from the allies and it gives the opposition a chance to attack the NDA.

    Some spokespersons also highlighted the criticism from within the party after the poor poll performance and asked the leadership on how these could be defended in public. Former Kannauj parliamentarian Subrat Pathak said the party lost due to paper leaks in recruitment and competitive examinations.

    Former BJP parliamentarian Ravindra Kushwaha alleged that his defeat from Salempur Lok Sabha seat was because of some party leaders. He alleged that state minister Vijay Laxmi Gautam and BJP Ballia district president Sanjay Yadav were part of a conspiracy behind his loss.

    The spokespersons were also asked about whether they are noticing a change in behaviour of news anchors and reporters after the Lok Sabha elections. Some spokespersons said the opposition leaders are more aggressive than before.

  • Ahmedabad: There is a need not to die but to live for the country: Union Home Minister Amit Shah

    Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said there is a need not to die but live for the country as he lauded the Kadva Patidar community for their role in the development of Gujarat. He was speaking at an event after inaugurating a hostel complex for students in Ahmedabad. “You may be a good IAS, IPS, CA, doctor, good citizen or housewife, but you need to work for the country,” he said.

  • Lok Sabha: Rahul Gandhi takes battle against Modi to Gujarat

    After challenging BJP that the opposition alliance will defeat the party in Gujarat in his maiden address in the 18th Lok Sabha early this month, Rahul Gandhi brought the political battle to the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

    Visiting Ahmedabad to meet the party workers and families of the victims of Rajkot fire tragedy, Vadodara boat tragedy and Morbi bridge collapse, Gandhi used the occasion to launch a severe attack on Modi and BJP.

    He harped on BJP’s defeat in Ayodhya (Faizabad constituency) in the recent Lok Sabha elections and underlined that the politics of the party was based on Ram Temple that had caught momentum with the Rath Yatra of LK Advani in 1990.

    Referring to his conversation with Avdhesh Prasad, the SP member of Lok Sabha from Faizabad, Gandhi said while the people of Ayodhya did not get compensation for their land requisitioned by the government for the development of the city, the poor people of Ayodhya were not to be seen during the inauguration of the grand temple though the industrialists were visible.

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    He claimed that Modi wanted to contest from Ayodhya but decided against it after conducting surveys thrice and all the three surveys indicated defeat for him. Hence the prime minister contested from Varanasi and barely scraped through, Gandhi claimed. (Modi’s victory margin came down to about 1.5 lakh votes from about 4.8 lakh votes in 2019.)The opposition India bloc has defeated BJP at Ayodhya and the next step would be to defeat them in Gujarat, Gandhi said. He said BJP has challenged Congress by attacking the Congress office in Ahmedabad and the party will respond by defeating BJP in Gujarat.

    Taking a jibe at the prime minister, Gandhi said if Modi had such a direct connection with God, how could he lose Ayodhya.

    He further alleged that no one in the BJP leadership actually wants Modi as the leader but nobody in BJP has the courage to stand by their conviction.

    “In Congress, neither our workers are scared to talk to the leadership nor the leadership is afraid to hear the workers,” Gandhi said.

  • Rahul Gandhi: “Why has Rahul Gandhi not visited victims of Kallakurichi liquor tragedy?” BJP on LoP’s Hathras visit

    New Delhi: When Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi visited Hathras to meet the grieving families who were affected in the stampede, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lambasted the Congress MP for being selective and not finding the “empathy” to visit the families of those who lost their lives in the Kallakurichi illicit liquor tragedy in Tamil Nadu.

    At least 121 devotees lost their lives owing to a stampede at a religious ‘Satsang’ event of selfstyled godman Suraj Pal alias ‘Bhole Baba’ in Fulari village in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras on Tuesday.

    BJP leader CR Kesavan said that neither Rahul Gandhi nor Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin have consoled the families of the victims of the Kallakurichi illicit liquor tragedy.”Why has Rahul Gandhi not found the empathy to visit the families of innocent people who lost their lives in the Kallakurichi illicit liquor tragedy?… Neither Rahul Gandhi nor MK Stalin have consoled the families of these victims…,” Kesavan said in a video statement on Friday.

    Accusing Rahul Gandhi of making false statements on compensation to Agniveer Ajay Singh, Kesavan said, “Rahul Gandhi misled the people by making false claims about compensation provided to Agniveer Ajay Singh…Rahul Gandhi’s falsehoods will always be defeated…He should stop politicizing the martyrdom of Agniveers…He should apologize to the families of Agniveeers and the Indian Army…”

    Uttar Pradesh Minister Baby RMaurya claimed that Rahul Gandhi had only gone to Hathras for his political gains adding that the state government has constituted a committee to probe into the incident.”… The CM has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of a retired judge . Legal action would be taken according to the report of the Committee… He (Rahul Gandhi) had only gone for his politics… When such huge events are organised, the government and the administration have to think whether permission should be given or not. I believe that such huge events should not be organised where there is a chance of loss of life…,” Maurya said. BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed that Rahul Gandhi has been engaging in the “politics of fear and confusion” ever since he was appointed the Leader of Opposition.

    “Rahul Gandhi since he has become the LoP, he is doing the politics of fear and confusion. Yesterday, we have seen how he lied on Agniveer issue. Today, on this heartwrenching accident of Hathras, the politics that he is trying to do is very sad. Such incidents should be seen with utmost sensitivity,” Trivedi said speaking to ANI on Friday.

    Questioning Rahul Gandhi’s silence on the Kallakurichi liquor tragedy in Tamil Nadu, Trivedi said that he should not view any incident with “vulture eyes”.

    “I want to ask him that more than 50 people have died in Tamil Nadu ruled by his friends in INDI alliance, most of them were from SC community, leave aside going there, you haven’t even spoken about it…One shouldn’t see any incident with ‘vulture eyes’ for political benefits…,” Trivedi said.

    Uttar Pradesh Minister Sandeep Singh took a dig at Rahul Gandhi saying that instead of consoling the stampedeaffected victims in Hathras, the Congress MP was seen taking “selfies” with them.

    “This is a very serious incident… The compensatory cheques have also been distributed to almost all the families… Some people are doing politics even in such a serious matter… Rahul Gandhi met the family today and instead of consoling them, he was seen taking selfies…,” Singh said.

    The Minister said that the central and the state government have announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs each for the bereaved families. The development comes after Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi met with the victims’ families in the Hathras stampede incident.

    “The Prime Minister and the state government, both have announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs each for the bereaved families, the total is Rs 4 lakhs. The task of transferring this amount to the accounts of the people has already started. The BJP will help these families in any manner required,” he said.

    Singh said that the volunteers of the Baba were handling the responsibility of security and didn’t allow the police to enter the premises.

    “The security arrangements were made. The volunteers of the Baba took the responsibility of security and they do not allow the police to enter their premises. Police and firetenders were present at the venue. They have always been disallowing the police from entering the premises,” he said.

    Union Minister Nityanand Rai on Friday said the central government has extended cooperation to the Uttar Pradesh government in the investigation into the stampede in Hathras in which 121 people died.

    “It is a very sad and sensitive incident and that is being investigated thoroughly and whatever facts come out after the investigation, certainly the state government is keeping an eye on it and the Prime Minister is very sensitive towards such incidents,” he said during an event here.

    “The cooperation which should have been given by the Central Government has been provided at that time and whatever elements will come out in the investigation, the state government will act on that,” the Union Minister added.

    On the other hand, INDIA bloc partners claimed that being the Leader of Opposition, visiting Hathras after the stampede was a compassionate act on the part of Rahul Gandhi.

    Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary D Raja said, “Rahul Gandhi is the leader of the opposition. It is a good thing that he went and met the affected people and the victims.”

    In an attack at the state government, D Raja said, “Now the question is what is the responsibility of the Uttar Pradesh government?… The Uttar Pradesh government should be questioned… How are such things happening?…”

    Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also appealed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to provide compensation to the victims with an open heart. Supporting Rahul Gandhi, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said, “It’s a very unfortunate incident…The compensation for the bereaved families should be increased…”

    Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that if the state government cannot provide adequate compensation the central government should step up.

    “The compensation should definitely be increased. All of it should be provided by the Central government. If the Uttar Pradesh government has some economic issue, then the Central government should do it…,” Bharadwaj said.

    Maharashtra Assembly LoP Vijay Wadettiwar blamed the government for the incident and said that while people should be followers they should not be “blind followers”.

    “It was a tragic incident… People should be followers but, nowadays, they are blind followers. The government should look after the proper arrangements and administration of such programs. The government is responsible for this incident…,” Wadettiwar said.

    Calling for an investigation into the incident, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said that the government does not have any intention to make guidelines for events in which such huge crowds are expected to turn up.

    “There are no clear regulations in place and there is no intention of the govt to make guidelines for such events…A thorough investigation should be conducted into the incident and based on it strict action should be taken…,” Yechury said speaking to ANI.

    Congress MP Rahul Gandhi who arrived in Hathras early in the morning on Friday, met with the bereaved families of those who lost their lives in the July 2 tragedy.

    On his way to Hathras, the Congress leader also stopped in Aligarh to meet the victims’ families. He expressed his condolences and sought to understand their situation.

    “It is a sad incident. Many lives have been lost. I am not approaching this from a political perspective but addressing the deficiencies of the administration. The main priority should be to provide maximum compensation to the poor families affected by this tragedy. I request CM Yogi Adityanath to provide compensation with an open heart,” he said while speaking to the media.

    The Congress MP further said that the family members of the deceased informed him there was no police presence at the event, which contributed to the chaos.

    “If there is a delay in providing compensation, it will not help anyone. I spoke with the families, and they told me there was no police arrangement at the venue. They are in shock, and I wanted to understand their situation,” he said.

  • Naidu’s list: Budget for Andhra Pradesh, ministrylinked demands

    New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers on Thursday to push for specific budget and ministryspecific demands for the debtridden state.

    A key ally of the BJPled NDA government, Naidu is eyeing enhanced assistance for Andhra Pradesh as it is evident that a ‘special category’ status is unlikely to be granted. According to sources, Naidu met the PM for about 20 minutes.

    Naidu, whose Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is a vital partner in the NDA government, sought enhanced assistance for Andhra Pradesh if the special category status cannot be granted to the state.According to sources, Naidu discussed Andhra Pradesh’s high debt in his meeting with Modi while pointing out that the state’s debt had increased to over ₹13 lakh crore under the previous YSRCP government without creation of any vital infrastructure.

    Naidu also sought early release of Centre’s arrears in the Polavaram irrigation project a longstanding demand of the state since the scope of project has changed leading to cost escalation. Naidu specifically sought handholding of state finances in short term, support in commissioning of the marquee Polavaram project, comprehensive financial support for completion of the government complex and trunk infrastructure of the capital city of Amaravati, incentives for industrial development, consideration for an additional allocation under the scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment, targeting essential sectors such as roads, bridges, irrigation and drinking water projects, support to the backward regions of Andhra Pradesh on lines of Bundelkhand package and support to the state for development of Dugarajapatnam port.

    Naidu posted on X: “Today, I had a constructive meeting with the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri @narendramodi Ji, in Delhi to address important matters concerning the welfare and development of Andhra Pradesh. I am confident that under his leadership, our The state will reemerge as a powerhouse among states.”Andhra Pradesh runs a high debt of about 39% as a proportion of Gross State Domestic Product.The TDP chief, who is on a twoday visit to New Delhi, also held talks with Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal on statespecific issues. According to sources, Naidu took up specific highway projects with Gadkari. He praised the “spirit of cooperative federalism” after talks with Goyal.

    “I’m confident that together we shall take Andhra Pradesh further on the road to progress and prosperity,” Naidu tweeted after meeting Gadkari. After his meeting with Goyal, the CM said, “This wonderful spirit of cooperative federalism will help our state, Andhra Pradesh, unlock its full potential…”

    Naidu also met Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He is scheduled to meet several other Union ministers.