West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed that if the BJP returns to power at the Centre, the government would hike the price of cooking gas cylinder to Rs 2,000. The chief minister was addressing a gathering at a government programme here in Jhargram district. "If the BJP wins the elections, they may hike the price of a cooking gas cylinder to Rs 1,500 or Rs 2,000. Then again, we will have to go back to the old practice of collecting wood to light a fire," Banerjee said. She also gave an ultimatum to the BJP-led central government to complete building houses under the Awas Yojana by April-end, claiming that otherwise her government would start constructing them from May. On Tuesday, Banerjee had set a deadline of April 1 for the central government to complete building houses for the beneficiaries or else her government would build around 11 lakh houses for them. Referring to her government paying MGNREGA workers their due wages which were ...
At the meeting, Party President JP Nadda along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and representatives and Chief Ministers of 16 states are present
Rajya Sabha member Syed Nasir Hussain has denied the allegations, clarifying that his supporters were chanting "Nazir saab zindabad" not "Pakistan zindabad"
Congress leader and former Union minister Ramakant Khalap on Wednesday said the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya will not help in the polarisation of votes for the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Talking to PTI, Khalap said the Congress is the oldest party and has acceptance across different sections of the people. It is "perfectly possible" for his party to win both the North and South Goa Lok Sabha seats in the coastal state, Khalap said, adding that he aspires to contest from the North Goa seat on Congress ticket. Though the Congress has only one MLA under the North Goa parliamentary constituency, the party has a huge following in the region, he claimed. The 76-year old leader had served as law minister in the central cabinet led by Deve Gowda. He had moved the women's reservation bill during his tenure as the Union law minister (in 1996-97). Khalap, who was earlier with the Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party (MGP), is currently with the Congress. To a question perta
Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on Wednesday suspended 15 BJP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, and adjourned the House. They were suspended for misbehaviour and shouting slogans in the House. "We are apprehensive that Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania might suspend the BJP MLAs so that the budget can be passed in the Vidhan Sabha," Thakur told reporters earlier in the morning. He said the Rajya Sabha election had made it clear that the Congress government was in minority and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. The move comes a day after the BJP on Tuesday won the state's lone Rajya Sabha seat with its candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating Congress stalwart Abhishek Manu Singhvi due to cross-voting by MLAs of the state's ruling Congress party.
Buoyed by the victory of its all eight candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP on Tuesday exuded confidence that it will win all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the elections due in April-May. Speaking to PTI Video, Sudhanshu Trivedi, one of the victorious candidates of the BJP, said, "It is a matter of immense happiness that all the eight candidates of the BJP have won. Definitely, this is an indication of the future. It will be 80 out of 80 (Lok Sabha seats) in UP, and 400-plus for NDA (National Democratic Alliance) nationally." To a question on some SP MLAs siding with the BJP, he said, "The SP should itself think about why such a situation has emerged." He said Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav talks about "PDA" -- "pichhda" (backward classes), Dalit and "alpsankhyak" minorities -- but fielded "FDA" candidates -- filmstar, dynast and "afsar" (bureaucrat). Another victorious candidate of the BJP, former Union minister R P N Singh, also exuded ...
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on the pleas by seven BJP MLAs challenging their indefinite suspension from the legislative assembly for interrupting Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena's address at the start of the budget session. Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the parties to file short written submissions, if any, within two days. The court was hearing petitions by the BJP MLAs -- Mohan Singh Bisht, Ajay Mahawar, O P Sharma, Abhay Verma, Anil Bajpai, Jitender Mahajan and Vijender Gupta -- challenging their indefinite suspension from the assembly till the conclusion of the proceedings before the privileges committee. Earlier, the court had asked the privileges committee of the Delhi Assembly to hold off its proceedings against the suspended MLAs in view of the pendency of the matter before it. The MLAs, represented through senior advocate Jayant Mehta, had contended their suspension till the conclusion of the proceedings before the privileges committee was in ...
Voting for 56 Rajya Sabha seats from 15 states, which are falling vacant in April, will be held today
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in the country, the outcome of the polls to the Rajya Sabha is likely to have an impact in the politically crucial state
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday told the Supreme Court that he made a mistake by retweeting an allegedly defamatory video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee related to the BJP IT Cell. A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, without issuing notice on a plea of Kejriwal challenging a Delhi High Court order which upheld summons issued to him as an accused in the criminal defamation case, asked the complainant whether he wanted to close the matter in view of the chief minister's apology. The bench also asked the trial court not to take up the defamation case involving Kejriwal till March 11. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, said, "I can say this much that I made a mistake by retweeting." In its judgement dated February 5, the high court had said that reposting alleged libellous content would attract the defamation law. The high court had said a sense of responsibility has to be attached while retweeting content about which one do
The opposition Congress and AIUDF staged walkouts from the Assam Assembly on Monday, protesting the decision by the state Cabinet to repeal the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935. The AIUDF had moved an adjournment motion to discuss the cabinet decision, which was rejected by Speaker Biswajit Daimary. The Congress maintained that amendments could have been made to the original bill without repealing it altogether. The Assam Cabinet on Friday had approved the decision to repeal the Act in a bid to end the social menace of child marriage in the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Responding to the opposition parties' criticism, Sarma asserted in the House on Monday that the bill will be repealed as it is a step towards abolishing child marriage. "Till I am alive, I won't allow child marriage to happen in Assam," he said. The Congress walked out of the House for 10 minutes, against the Cabinet decision. AIUDF legislators initially raised slogans
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that the party's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra-led by Rahul Gandhi, has given confidence that there is strong opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party."Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra has given confidence that there is a strong opposition to the BJP. If there is anyone who is playing the role of opposition, it is Rahul Gandhi. The way BJP is targeting the opposition with IT & CBI, many opposition leaders are not able to do their work..." Gogoi said on Sunday.Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi resumed the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Agra which was also attended by Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi.Meawnhile, Rahul Gandhi assured the farmers that if the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc comes into power at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections this year, then it won't take "more than a minute" to implement legislation on the Minimum Support Price (MSP).Addressing a public rally in the Yatra, ...
Jawahar Yadav said that the government understands the seriousness of the matter and is taking the appropriate actions
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In a key huddle ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, BJP national president JP Nadda is holding a meeting along with party's election in-charges and co-in-charges of all states, top sources informed.The meeting is being held at the national party headquarters in Delhi, the sources said.The election in-charges at the ongoing huddle include Baijayant Panda (UP), Dushyant Gautam (Uttrakhand), Tarun Chugh (J & K), Vinod Tawade (Bihar), and Biplav Deb (Haryana), among others.Further, according to sources, the meeting will feature extensive deliberations on ways to boost the party's prospects in seats where the BJP is a laggard or is considered weak.The agenda for the meeting also includes devising a comprehensive plan to achieve the target of 370-plus seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.Apart from electoral strategies, the leaders at the meeting will also assess and take stock of ongoing programs and central schemes for targeting beneficiaries across a cross-section of ...
The Congress on Friday alleged that probe agencies were "misused" to extort donations for the BJP from private companies and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter. Addressing a press conference, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh alleged that at least 30 companies, which donated a total of nearly Rs 335 crore to the BJP between financial years 2018-19 and 2022-23, faced action by central agencies during that period. Ramesh said Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal on Friday wrote to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the issue. Ramesh also asked if the government would come up with a "white paper" on the BJP's finances, not just the sources, but how corporate firms were "coerced" to donate, by misusing investigative agencies against them. "If you have nothing to hide, then are you willing to present a point-by-point rebuttal on the 'chronology' of events which led to the filling of BJP's treasury," h
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India is moving rapidly on the path of development by adopting the messages of Sant Ravidas. Modi was speaking at a function here to commemorate the 647th birth anniversary of Sant Ravidas. Varanasi is Modi's parliamentary constituency. "On the pious occasion of the birth anniversary of Sant Ravidas, I welcome you all to his birthplace. You have come from far-off places on this occasion, especially my brothers and sisters from Punjab... Varanasi seems to have become a mini-Punjab," he said. In his address, the prime minister also hit out at the opposition 'INDIA' bloc, claiming that its members were exploiting people in the name of casteism. "They care for the well-being of their families, cannot think about the welfare of Dalits and tribals," Modi added. Earlier, the prime minister inaugurated a newly installed statue of Sant Ravidas in Varanasi.
A delegation of BJP women activists was on Friday stopped by the police from visiting restive Sandeshkhali in West Bengal. The BJP team, led by Locket Chatterjee and Agnimitra Paul, both general secretaries of the party's state unit, were stopped by the police, citing prohibitory orders, "We were denied entry to Sandeshkhali by the police citing prohibitory orders. The state government is trying to hide the truth," Paul claimed. A large number of women in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district had accused Trinamool Congress strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of "land-grab and sexually assaulting" them under coercion. Shajahan has been absconding after a mob, allegedly affiliated to him, attacked Enforcement Directorate officials who had gone to search his premises in connection with a ration scam on January 5.
Minister for Transport, Ramalinga Reddy alleged that BJP is 'anti-Hindu' adding that the party which was in power in 2011 had made the amendments to the Bill
The AAP accused the BJP of being "happy" about the woes of people over its members giving a miss to an all-party meeting on the proposed 'one time settlement' scheme, which is aimed at correcting inflated water bills. Interacting with reporters here, the party's national spokesperson and Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the BJP "boycotted" the meeting that was called by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to address this "pressing issue". He alleged that the BJP was making a "lot of efforts through officers" to stop the scheme. Earlier in the day, the Delhi BJP in a statement said, the party "will not attend the all-party meeting", adding it will "surely attend" the meeting if Kejriwal is ready to discuss all the alleged irregularities, including those linked with the Delhi Jal Board. During the all-party meeting, Kejriwal said the BJP's absence from the meeting "indicates their opposition to the 'one time settlement' scheme, which aims to provide relief to lakhs