Page 23 - Bjp Mlas

Pawar denies any association with BJP, refutes calling meeting of NCP MLAs

He further clarified that the Sharad Pawar-led NCP hasn't held any discussions with him in this regard

BJP begins 2024 preparations in Assam; visits by Shah, Nadda in May

According to sources, the party however may face a stiff challenge in four constituencies -- Dhubri, Kaliabor, Barpeta, and Nagaon

Karnataka polls 2023: From Shettar to Savadi, bigshots who abandoned BJP

The BJP has announced the names of 212 candidates so far and since the announcement, several leaders have resigned from the party

Despite all assurances, Jagdish Shettar chose himself over party: BJP

Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) on Saturday said that former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar has chosen himself over the party after he announced his resignation on Saturday from the party

Saddened by Laxman Savadi's decision to join Congress, says CM Bommai

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said he was "saddened" by the decision of former Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi to part ways with the BJP and join the Congress. "...I'm feeling very sad, we shared a close bond. Sometimes such political situations arise," Bommai said. "He might have found his political future in the Congress. We will do our job in our party." Rebelling against the BJP denying him the ticket from Athani in Belagavi district, Savadi on Wednesday announced his decision to resign from the primary membership of the party. Sitting MLA Mahesh Kumathalli, who was backed by BJP's Belagavi strongman and former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, was given the ticket in Athani. Savadi is a three-time MLA from Athani but lost in the 2018 elections to Kumathalli (then in the Congress). Kumathalli was among the group of 17 defectors, including Jarkiholi, who helped the BJP bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition and form its government under the leadership of B S Yediyurap

Arvind Kejriwal accuses ED of misleading court in excise policy case

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused the Enforcement Directorate of ''misleading'' the court with false evidence in the excise policy case. He was talking to reporters after attending the Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations at the Delhi Assembly. The ED is taking false statements by torturing people and pressuring them. Even in the case of Sanjay Singh, it has come to the fore that the accused gave a different statement and the ED has written something else in the charge sheet," Kejriwal said, replying to a question about the ED's charge that his former deputy Manish Sisodia destroyed his mobile phones. The chief minister said that the ED has claimed that Sisodia has broken his phones but many of those phones are in agency's custody. The ED is misleading the court with false evidence, torturing people, taking false statements. There is nothing in this whole matter, the whole matter is fabricated and is based on false evidence. This is not a good thing," he said. Kejriw

Denied ticket by BJP, former Karnataka deputy CM Savadi meets Cong leaders

Former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who announced his decision to resign from the primary membership of the BJP after being denied ticket to contest in the May 10 Assembly elections, on Friday met senior Congress leaders, including its state unit President D K Shivakumar. Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress general secretary and party in-charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala were among those present. Ignoring Savadi's request, the BJP had earlier this week gave the Athani seat in Belagavi district to sitting MLA Mahesh Kumathalli. Savadi, currently a BJP MLC, is a three-time MLA from Athani but lost in the 2018 elections to Kumathalli (then in the Congress). Kumathalli was among the group of defectors who helped the BJP to bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition and form its government under the leadership of B S Yediyurappa in 2019.

BJP Ministers file nomination ahead of Karnataka Assembly polls

Incumbent BJP ministers Murugesh Nirani, Dr K Sudhakar, S T Somashekar and V Sunil Kumar were among those who filed their nomination papers for Karnataka Assembly polls on Thursday. The poll process for the May 10 Assembly elections formally began today, with the issuance of gazette notification paving the way for candidates to file their nominations. Nirani is contesting from from Bilagi in Bagalkote, Sudhakar from Chikkaballapur, Sunil Kumar from Karkala in Udupi and Somashekar from Yashwanthapur constituency in Bengaluru. Similarly, S S Mallikarjun, who is trying his luck from Davangere North on Congress ticket, too filed the papers. According to the Election Commission, 27 Bharatiya Janata Party candidates, 26 Congress, 12 Janata Dal (S), 10 Aam Aadmi Party and one from the Bahujan Samaj Party filed the papers. There were 100 nominations by unrecognised parties and 45 independents. In all, 221 nominations were filed on the day the notification for the Assembly elections was ..

BJP MP Srinivas announces retirement, says will not contest 2024 LS polls

BJP MP and former Union Minister V Srinivas Prasad has announced his retirement from politics, and said he would not be contesting in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. During an election campaign in favour of Gundlupet BJP candidate C S Niranjan Kumar, who will contest the May 10 Assembly election, the 75-year-old said the current term in the Lok Sabha would be his last. According to sources close to him, the six-time Chamarajnagar MP made the announcement as "there is an unofficial age bar (75 years) in the BJP for leaders to contest in polls or hold official positions". He quit the Congress in 2016 after being dropped as a minister in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet and joined the BJP. He resigned from the Assembly seeking a fresh mandate on a BJP ticket but lost the contest. The veteran MP successfully contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket.

BJP continues to face heat over ticket distribution in Karnataka polls

The BJP continued to face heat and resorted to fire-fighting following the announcement of 212 candidates for the May 10 Assembly polls in two lists, with disappointed aspirants raising a banner of revolt. After a series of deliberations, the BJP on Tuesday announced its first list of 189 candidates and a second list of 23 on Wednesday night. With a total 224 seats in the Assembly, the party is yet to name contestants for 12 seats. Mudigere BJP MLA M P Kumaraswamy and Haveri MLA Nehru Olekar on Thursday announced their resignation from the primary membership of the party, after they were denied tickets. "Some aspirants and legislators have announced their resignation, a few have resigned. We are speaking to workers and leaders and things will be resolved by and large. I'm speaking to seniors (who are disgruntled), also our high command will be speaking to them. I'm confident things will be resolved," Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said. Speaking to reporters in the coastal town of

BJP follows AAP, launches free pilgrimage programme for Delhi's elderly

The BJP on Thursday launched a free pilgrimage programme for the elderly and women with Virendra Sachdeva, the party's Delhi unit chief, flagging off four buses ferrying devotees to Mathura-Vrindavan. The BJP's free pilgrimage programme is modelled on the AAP government's Mukhya Mantri Teerth Yatra Yojna, under which elderly citizens are sent on pilgrimages for free across the country. The four buses, flagged off on Thursday from Kondli here, ferried around 200 elderly citizens and women to Mathura, Vrindavan and Govardhan. The soul of India resides in places of pilgrimage and we are alive as long as our religion and culture are alive, Sachdeva said. Vishnu Mittal, the BJP's Delhi unit treasurer, said two buses would set off for different pilgrimage sites with senior citizens and women from the city every week. There are many devotees who are going on a pilgrimage for the first time and rickshaws have been arranged for those pilgrims who face difficulties while walking. They are a

PM refers to Raj Cong crisis, thanks CM Gehlot for attending train launch

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot a "friend", thanking him for attending the launch here of a Vande Bharat Express even when he is going through a "political tussle" in the state. Flagging off the state's first Vande Bharat train virtually, the prime minister thanked Gehlot for being present at the event in Jaipur. "I express my special gratitude to Gehlot ji. During these days of political struggle when he is going through several crises, he took out the time for development work and participated in a railway programme. I welcome him," Modi said. On Tuesday, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot observed a daylong fast in Jaipur, targeting the Gehlot government over "inaction" in alleged cases of corruption when the BJP ran the state. Earlier, during his address at the launch event, Gehlot raised demands related to the railways in Rajasthan, and mentioned that for the first time since independence, the Union railway minister is fr

BJP protests near AAP HQ on Wednesday, demands of Kejriwal's resignation

Scores of BJP leaders and workers staged a protest near the AAP office on DDU Marg here on Wednesday, and demanded resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over charges of corruption against its leaders. Addressing the protesters, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva alleged that the AAP government was a government of "criminals" and cited names of its former ministers currently in jail over corruption charges. Kejriwal said that he was missing Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, Sachdeva told the gathering, referring to the AAP national convener's speech at a function to mark its national party status. "I want to assure Kejriwal, he will soon join Sisodia and Jain. There is a long list of AAP leaders who have been in jail over criminal charges and the BJP will expose the party by reaching out to every household in the city in next three months," the Delhi BJP president said. Sachdeva also claimed that two other ministers - Gopal Rai and Kailash Gahlot - were also under scanne

Veteran Karnataka BJP leader Eshwarappa 'retires' from electoral politics

Senior Karnataka BJP leader K S Eshwarappa on Tuesday wrote to party president J P Nadda opting out of contesting the May 10 assembly polls and said he was retiring from electoral politics. In his brief letter written in Kannada, the veteran legislator and former deputy chief minister, who has often been at the centre of controversies due to his statements and allegations levelled against him, said his decision was out of his own will. Eshwarappa would turn 75 in June, the unofficial age bar in the BJP for leaders to contest polls and hold official positions. Though there have been occasional exceptions as well. The BJP has not yet announced its first list of candidates for the election to the 224-member assembly.

BJP on Mission South, eyes bigger share of 130 LS seats in southern states

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has expanded rapidly in the last nine years. Recently, on the occasion of its foundation day on April 6

Cong has to be at the centre of coalition against BJP in 2024: Kapil Sibal

The Congress has to be at the centre of any coalition that would take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections and all Opposition parties should be more mindful of sensitivities as well as be circumspect in criticising each other's ideologies in order to build a strong alliance, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said on Sunday. Sibal, a prominent voice in the Opposition ranks, gave a clarion call to all political parties opposed to the BJP-led government to first find a common platform which, he said, could also be his newly-launched 'Insaaf' platform for fighting injustice. In an interview with PTI, the former Union minister said the leadership question of an Opposition coalition for 2024 need not be answered at this stage and also cited the example of 2004 when the incumbent Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was voted out of power despite the Opposition not having a declared face. He asserted that the Congress certainly has to be the fulcrum and at the centre of any coalition of Opposition

BJP candidates' list for Karnataka polls will have surprises: CM Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said the process of selecting candidates for the Assembly polls is being held in a democratic way and it will be completed smoothly with the list being announced after the party's central leadership finalises it on April 8. Asked by reporters if there will be surprise candidates in the fray from the BJP, he said: "Certainly, there is a plan for new experiments in certain constituencies and they will happen." Some seats will give a "surprise result", he said. "You are going to see it in the days to come. Both our workers and leaders are confident." He also said there are clear signs of BJP getting absolute majority and coming back to power. "Today's state election committee meeting is a continued part of the district-level core committee meeting that took place over the last couple of days; further screening would be done today and tomorrow before sending (the list of probable candidates) to the centre (central leadership). It wil

BJP's Biswa Bandhu Sen elected Tripura assembly Speaker, TMP skips voting

Ruling BJP MLA Biswa Bandhu Sen was elected the Speaker of the Tripura assembly on Friday defeating opposition CPI-M-Congress joint candidate Gopal Chandra Roy

BJP demands RaGa's apology, Rajya Sabha proceedings adjourned till 3:30 pm

Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 3:30 pm in the post-lunch session on Friday as ruling BJP members demanded an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his "democracy in danger" remark in the UK. When the Upper House of Parliament reassembled at 2:30 pm after an earlier adjournment, Deputy Chairman Harivansh tried to take up private members' business on further discussion on a resolution. However, treasury bench members created an uproar and demanded Gandhi's apology. The resolution, moved by IUML's abdul Wahab, was regarding the need to implement the recommendations of the Sachar Committee to help Madrasas to modernise and enact a legislation to prevent atrocities against minorities. The deputy chairman asked the members to maintain order but ruckus continued, and he then adjourned the House till 3:30 pm. In the pre-lunch session, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the House is in "disorder from both sides", amid sloganeering by ruling BJP and Opposition members over

Mamata Banerjee scared of losing popular support: BJP state President

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) West Bengal President Sukanta Majumdar said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scared that she would lose people's support