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Tag: INDIA block

  • Jairam Mahto, a Newcomer to Politics, Keenly Watched By All

    Ranchi: The supporters of Jairam Mahto are quick to show a video on their mobile phones. ‘Tiger Jairam Mahto’, as they call him, is addressing a rally in rain in Dumri addressing a thin crowd.

    “He speaks for us and that’s why people listen to him even if it is raining,” Hikim Mahto, a farmer in Jojodih village of Tamar assembly constituency, told ET.

    Jairam Mahto, a 30yearold who belonged to a village in Dhanbad district, was first noticed in January 2022, when he started the Jharkhand language movement against the government decision to notify Bhojpuri and Magahi as regional languages ​​in the state. He started a movement for Jharkhand language and rights of the people of the state and became popular in Dhanbad and nearby areas. In the recent general election, he formed the Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) party and contested eight Lok Sabha seats out of 15. in the state. Mahto himself got more than 300,000 votes in Giridih and was leading in two assembly segments despite finishing third.

    “In all eight seats we got around nine lakh votes. This was just the beginning, and our presence will be visible in the assembly election,” Mahto told ET.

    He is contesting from two assembly seats Dumri and Bermo and his party is contesting 69 seats out of 81 in the state.Mahto comes from the influential Kurmi community, which accounts for about 15 per cent of the state population, the second largest block. after the tribal community.Largely he is finding a support base among the Kurmi community. “We have tried everyone. This time our boy is contesting the election. We are willing to give him a chance,” said Gulab Mahto, a tea shop owner in Hanthi Tand, Kharsawan.

    Jairam Mahto claims that he is getting support across communities.

    “Our Lok Sabha candidate in Ranchi got 132,000 votes. How is it possible without the support from all the communities?” he said.

    Mahto was silent about alliance prospects and said he wanted to be equidistant from both the NDA and INDIA bloc.

    “We are trying to give a new alternative to the people of the state. Let the result come and these things can be discussed later. Our ideology is the development of people of Jharkhand,” he said.

    His party is being keenly watched by both the NDA and INDIA bloc. For AJSU leader Sudesh Mahto, Jairam Mahto is a direct competitor with appeal in similar voter groups.

    “Jairam Mahto may have influence in a few regions, and he is trying to emerge on the political scene. But his politics is dividing the people among caste groups. He won’t succeed as BJP talks of unity among the people,” Pradeep Sinha , state BJP spokesperson, told ET.

    INDIA alliance parties are also working on strategies to reduce the JLKM impact in the upcoming polls.

    On Thursday, JKLM candidate from Gandey, Aqeel Akhtar alias Rizwan Krantikari, joined the JMM in the presence of Hemant Soren. Akhtar was a close friend of Jairam and the Muslim face of his party. The JMM has fielded Kalpana Soren from Gandey seat with a sizable Muslim population.

    “Everyone is targeting us. They have power and money. We have people’s support. We are not afraid, and no one can stop us,” said Jairam Mahto.

  • India bloc to move adjournment motions over NEET paper leak

    New Delhi: The inaugural session of the 18th Lok Sabha is set to turn stormy with INDIA bloc deciding to move adjournment motions on Friday to discuss NEET paper leak.

    The Opposition will move the motions under Rule 267. The decision was taken at a meeting of floor leaders of INDIA bloc parties held at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday. The Opposition parties unanimously decided to raise NEET, Agniveer, unemployment and other issues in Parliament. According to sources, a uniform strategy will be employed in both Houses.

    Both Houses are scheduled to debate the motion of thanks to the President’s address on Friday. While Rajya Sabha’s business advisory committee has allotted 26 hours for this discussion, the Lok Sabha is likely to allot a similar time. The business advisory committee of the Lok Sabha has not been formed yet.The INDIA bloc decided that if the motions were not allowed, MPs would first protest inside the Houses and force adjournments. According to sources, both Houses will face disruptions on Friday. Following the adjournment, Opposition parties will protest outside the Houses in Parliament complex.

    AAP and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha proposed that the Opposition bloc raise the issue of arrests of their leaders, Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren. It was agreed to raise this next week.

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    Following the meeting, DMK MP T Siva said: “We will give notices (in Parliament) on the NEET issue on June 28.” President of Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, Hanuman Beniwal, said: “The Opposition is united and it will raise the issues of NEET, Agniveer, inflation and unemployment and MSP in the Parliament.”Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that several issues were discussed. “There will be a debate on all the issues in Parliament, whether the President’s address or the election of the Deputy Speaker,” he said.

  • 'Kaan Khol Ke Sun Lo…': PM Modi's message to INDIA block over 'Parivarwaad' in politics

    'Kaan Khol Ke Sun Lo…': PM Modi's message to INDIA block over 'Parivarwaad' in politics

  • AAP-Congress Alliance In Delhi Uncertain: ‘Let’s See,’ Says Kejriwal After Blaming Delays |

    New Delhi: The AAP and the Congress were “too late” in their talks over seat sharing in Delhi for Lok Sabha polls, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday, amid reports by sources in both sides that the prospects of an alliance have faced a setback. On Tuesday, Kejriwal had said that talks for seat sharing in the national capital were in “final stages” and a partnership between the two parties would be declared soon. There are seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi currently held by the BJP.

    News agency PTI citing sources in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) reported that if the alliance did not materialize with the Congress, the party could announce its candidates in the next few days. When questioned by reporters on the likelihood of alliance with the Congress in Delhi, Kejriwal said, “It is too late, it should have occurred much earlier. Let us see what happens in the next one-two days.”

    Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely said that the party is ready for elections on all the seven constituencies in Delhi. “The committee headed by Mukul Vasnik is constantly talking to the members of the INDIA bloc. It would not be proper for me to comment about that,” he told reporters.

    Sources said despite several rounds of talks between the leaders of two parties, a consensus over number of seats to be fought by them was yet to be reached. Congress sources claimed that the party wanted to fight four of the seven Lok Sabha seats and leave the rest for the AAP.

    “This is justified as in the 2019 polls, the Congress candidates were second on six of the seven seats in Delhi while AAP candidates were on third place except for South Delhi constituency,” said a senior Delhi Congress leader.

    Although AAP leaders remained silent on seat sharing, sources in the party said, “The Aam Aadmi Party wants to fight four seats – North East Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and North West Delhi.” The AAP earlier said it was holding talks with the INDIA bloc partners for a pact in Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, and Goa. The party has already decided to go alone in Punjab.

    AAP national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak recently said that the party has demanded eight out of 26 Lok Sabha seats from the Congress in Gujarat. He said that the AAP won five seats by polling a total 13 per cent votes in the last Assembly polls in Gujarat and claimed eight Lok Sabha seats in the state for the upcoming polls, while offering remaining 18 to the Congress.

    He had also offered one Lok Sabha seat in Delhi to the Congress saying it did not merit even that based on its previous election track record. The Congress currently does not have any Lok Sabha MP or MLA from Delhi. The AAP has so far unilaterally declared its candidates in two seats each in Gujarat and Assam and one in Goa.

    Pathak had said that if a decision was not soon taken on seat-sharing in Delhi, his party would declare its candidates. The BJP won all the seven seats in Delhi consecutively in 2014 and 2019 elections. Interestingly, the BJP candidates in 2019 polled more votes than the combined tally of Congress and AAP candidates.

  • ‘This Time They Will Be Wiped Out Of Parliament’: Mallikarjun Kharge On BJP’s ‘400 Seats’ Claim |

    NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday claimed that the Narendra Modi-powered BJP won’t be able to cross 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and it will be wiped out of Parliament. Speaking to reporters in Amethi, Kharge said, “I said – they (BJP) keep saying that they will cross 400 (LS seats), but this time they will be out of Parliament.” The Congress president hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his guarantee is not for the farmers, labourers, Dalits, tribal and backward people of the country.

    Denying any rift with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, Kharge said, ‘”Everything will be alright. He has agreed and our people have agreed too. There is no problem.” Kharge on Saturday criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and described it as a ‘curse’ for the country’s farmers.


    #WATCH | In UP’s Amethi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge says, “I said – they (BJP) are saying that they will cross 400 (LS seats), but this time they will be out of Parliament.” https://t.co/mr3cU5wfmC — ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2024


    Interestingly, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav today made his participation in the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra conditional to a decision on seat sharing, saying that he will be joining it the moment the seats for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections are distributed between the two parties. . “Right now talks are going on, lists have come from their side and from ours as well, the moment the seats are distributed and decided, the Samajwadi Party will join Congress’s Nyaya Yatra,” Yadav said speaking to reporters on Monday.

    The Congress president accused the Modi government of treating farmers like enemies. Kharge asserted that only the Congress party can provide farmers with the legal right to a Minimum Support Price (MSP).

    “The Modi government is a curse for the country’s food-providing farmers. Due to the continuous false ‘Modi’s Guarantee’, first 750 farmers lost their lives, and now, yesterday, one farmer lost his life and 3 have lost their eyesight due to rubber bullets. The Modi government has treated farmers like enemies, Only Congress will give them the legal right of MSP!” he said in a post on ‘X’.

    Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his poll promises, Kharge said the former is the chief of all liars as he failed to even fulfill what he had promised during his 2014 poll campaign.

    “I want to ask him what happened to the promises he made during 2014–he never fulfilled those. Modiji jhuton ka sardar hai (PM Modi is the chief of liars),” Kharge said addressing party workers at an event hosted by Maharashtra Congress. in Pune.

    The Congress national president said people keep praising PM Modi despite the latter not doing much work in the last 10 years. Kharge cautioned that if such a scenario continues, the Constitution will “vanish”.

    “PM Modi keeps lying…you all know what he did in the last ten years. Still, people praise him…if this continues, then there will soon come a day when the Constitution will vanish. We are waging a fight to protect the Constitution and have to keep fighting,” he said.

    Describing Prime Minister Modi as “individualistic,” Kharge alleged that the former does not even take his party’s name while announcing his “guarantees.” “PM Modi keeps on saying that this is Modi ki Guarantee…he never uses his party name. He is very individualistic and full of himself,” the Congress president said.

    Claiming further that the BJP had no role in the country’s freedom struggle, Kharge added, “We are fighting for the country and its founding ideals all over again. The BJP had no role or contribution to our freedom struggle. We fought for the country. ”

    Taking a dig at the Congress, PM Modi earlier this month said that even Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge has predicted the return of the NDA government with over 400 seats.

    PM Modi made this remark during his response to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in Lok Sabha.

    During a session in the Rajya Sabha on February 2, Kharge inadvertently coined what would become a rallying cry for the BJP, stating “Abki Baar, 400 Paar,” which translates to “This time, over 400 seats.”

    “Our third tenure is not far away, a maximum of 100-125 days are left. The entire nation is saying ‘abki baar, 400 paar’. Even Kharge ji said that,” PM Modi said while replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in Lok Sabha.

    He expressed confidence that the BJP would not only secure a third term but also achieve an impressive victory by winning over 370 seats individually and crossing the 400 mark with the support of the NDA bloc. Modi’s remarks were met with laughter, including his own, as he acknowledged Kharge’s statement, suggesting that even the opposition leader seemed to predict the ruling party’s electoral success.

    Modi further criticized the Congress party, implying that they had become comfortable in their role as the opposition and were preparing to occupy the spectators’ gallery in Parliament. He also took a veiled swipe at Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party’s alleged nepotism, criticizing the repeated promotion of the same leadership without success.

    PM Modi indirectly referenced Rahul Gandhi by stating that the Congress is on the brink of shutting down its shop, emphasizing that they keep trying to relaunch the same product repeatedly.