Page 167 - Bjp

Naveen Patnaik likely to become leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly

BJD president and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik is likely to become the Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly as the regional outfit has scheduled its first legislature party meeting on Wednesday. This could be Patnaik's first time as leader of opposition (LoP) in his political career, which began in 1997. Patnaik served as the CM of Odisha five consecutive times from 2000 until June 2024. If Patnaik takes on the role of LoP, the party may elect a deputy leader to handle day-to-day activities in the Assembly, party sources said. In the 147-member Assembly, the BJP has 78 members, followed by the BJD with 51, Congress (14), CPIM 3, and Independents 3. In the last Assembly, the BJD had 113 MLAs. While Patnaik is expected to be unanimously elected as LoP, one of the senior leaders of the party is likely to be his deputy in the House. Given the saffron surge, many senior leaders lost their seats, but a few managed to retain it. Senior BJD leaders who won include Prasanna Ach

Highlights of the day: Rahul Gandhi to keep Rae Bareli LS seat, vacate Wayanad seat, says Kharge

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Atishi urges Haryana government to urgently release water in Yamuna river

Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Monday visited the Wazirabad barrage and appealed to the Haryana government to release water in the Yamuna river. Atishi said the Wazirabad barrage gets water from Haryana which goes to the water treatment plants of Chandrawal, Okhla and Wazirabad. "If no water is received, how will the water treatment plants work? We appeal to Haryana that the people in Delhi are worried and they should release water in Yamuna river, she added.

8-term Chhatisgarh MLA Brijmohan Agrawal resigns after being elected to LS

Chhattisgarh minister and MLA Brijmohan Agrawal on Monday resigned from the state Assembly after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Raipur in the recent general elections. Agrawal submitted his resignation to Speaker Raman Singh at the latter's residence in the presence of BJP leaders. Singh said Agrawal's resignation from the Assembly has been accepted. "It is an emotional moment for me as I have been an MLA in undivided Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh without a break for 35 years. In Parliament, I will raise issues of Chhattisgarh's development," Agrawal told reporters. He said he was starting a new innings with the blessings of everybody, adding that he had no regrets about anything. Agrawal won the Raipur Lok Sabha seat by defeating Congress's Vikas Upadhyay by a record margin of 5,75,285 votes. An eight term MLA, Agrawal had won from Raipur City South assembly seat in the 2023 polls with the highest victory margin of 67,719 votes. He has been undefeated in polls since 1990.

Yogendra Yadav, Suhas Palshikar object to their names in new NCERT books

Political scientists Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar on Monday wrote to NCERT objecting to new textbooks carrying their names even after they had disassociated themselves from the revisions and said they will be forced to take legal recourse if these books with their names are not withdrawn immediately. In their letter, Palshikar and Yadav said they do not want the NCERT to "hide" behind their names to pass on to students such textbooks of political science that are "politically biased, academically indefensible and pedagogically dysfunctional". Palshikar and Yadav, who were chief advisors for political science textbooks, had last year said that the rationalisation exercise has "mutilated" the books beyond recognition and rendered them "academically dysfunctional" and demanded that their names be dropped from the books. They had stated that the textbooks which were a source of pride for them earlier have now become a source of embarrassment. The revised version of the textbooks,

Akhilesh Yadav targets Modi govt over irregularities in competitive exams

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday lashed out at the Modi government over irregularities in competitive exams and said the ruling dispensation should at least keep matters of the youth free from its "all-round corruption". The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also termed the leaking of question papers of various examinations as a "mental tragedy". "Leaking of papers of various exams, rigging from exam centres to solvers, the work of the exam conducting agency coming under suspicion, manipulation of grace marks in results, getting desired centres, multiple candidates getting selected from the same centre and getting 100 per cent marks are not just problems of exam management. Above all, it is a mental tragedy that is affecting not only the youth appearing for the exam but also their parents," Yadav said in a post on 'X' in Hindi. "If other examinations like police recruitment, ARO, NEET, which have been rigged are cancelled and held again, then who will guarantee that

Trade bodies in Rajasthan seek budgetary, tax reforms to boost development

"This force should also be responsible for budgetary reforms of the state government," said Kailash Sharma, senior vice-president of ARTIA

New MP Ramvir Bidhuri urges BJP chief to relieve him as Delhi assembly LoP

BJP MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who was elected to the Lok Sabha, has requested party president JP Nadda to relieve him from the post of the leader of opposition in the Delhi assembly. Bidhuri contested the recently held general elections from the South Delhi parliamentary constituency. In a statement, Bidhuri said he has decided to resign from membership of the Delhi assembly following his election from the South Delhi seat and written to the BJP national president to be relieved from the post of leader of opposition in the assembly. He said according to rules, he needs to resign from either the assembly or the Lok Sabha within 14 days of the notification being issued. Therefore, he will be resigning from the membership of the assembly on June 18, Bidhuri said. The BJP has eight MLAs in the 70-member Delhi assembly. The number will come down to seven after his resignation. The party has yet to announce the name of next Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. Bidhuri said that as per

Water crisis in Delhi sponsored by BJP, says AAP leader Sanjay Singh

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Monday alleged that the water crisis in Delhi has been "deliberately created" by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to keep the people of the national capital thirsty. Addressing a press conference here, Singh accused the saffron party of hatching a conspiracy against the residents of the national capital. There was no immediate reaction from the BJP on the allegations. "We believe 'pyase ko paani pilane se zyada punya ka kaam nahi hota' and there is no bigger sin than stopping water," said Singh. "For the last several days, there has been a water crisis in Delhi sponsored by the Bharatiya Janata Party and when I am saying that it is a water crisis sponsored by the Bharatiya Janata Party, I want to tell you that the BJP people want that the people of Delhi do not get water and for this, the BJP people are trying their best to put Delhi in a water crisis by whatever means, whatever conspiracies, whatever methods they can," he alleged. The AAP leader

Address issues raised by OBC leaders on hunger strike: BJP leader Munde

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pankaja Munde on Monday asked the Maharashtra government to seriously address the issues being raised by OBC protesters Laxman Hake and Navnath Waghmare, who have been on a hunger strike here for the past five days. The protesters, from various OBC outfits, have sought the scrapping of the government's draft notification of 'sage soyare' (blood relatives) in connection with giving Kunbi certificates to Marathas to allow the community members to avail quota benefits. Taking to social media platform X, Munde expressed concern over the unequal treatment of protestors and urged the government to ensure equal rights for all. Pointing out to the deteriorating health of Hake and Waghmre, who have refused to even drink water, Munde said, "The government should not discriminate among protestors. Everyone has the right to be heard and treated fairly." Hake alleged the state government was giving preferential treatment to Manoj Jarange, who is leading a stir for

BJP declares name of candidates for by-polls to 4 Assembly seats in Bengal

The BJP on Monday announced the name of Kalyan Chaubey and three new faces for the four assembly seats in West Bengal where by-polls are slated to be held on July 10. The ruling Trinamool Congress has already announced its candidates for the by-polls a few days back. The BJP has fielded Kalyan Chaubey from Maniktala constituency in Kolkata, Manas Kumar Ghosh from Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, Manoj Kumar Biswas from Ranaghat Dakshin (SC) in Nadia district and Binay Kumar Biswas from Bagda (SC) seat. Both Manoj Kumar Biswas and Binay Kumar Biswas belong to the Matua community which has a significant chunk of voters in Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagda, both seats reserved for SCs. Chaubey had been defeated by TMC leader Sadhan Pandey in the 2021 assembly polls but the seat fell vacant after Pandey's death. The TMC has announced Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj, Mukut Mani Adhikari from Ranaghat-Dakshin, Supti Pandey from Maniktala and Madhuparna Thakur from Bagdah as their ...

BJP appoints incharges for poll-bound Maharashtra, Haryana, J'khand, J-K

BJP president JP Nadda on Monday appointed the party's election incharges and co-incharges for assembly poll-bound Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav has been appointed as the incharge for Maharashtra while Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will be the co-incharge for the state, according to a statement issued by the party. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been made the BJP's election incharge for Haryana and former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb the co-incharge for the state, it said. Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the election incharge for Jharkhand and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma the co-incharge for the state, the statement said. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy has been appointed as the incharge for Jammu and Kashmir, it said. While assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand are due later this year, the Supreme Court has ...

'Utter mismanagement' of railway ministry: Kharge on WB train accident

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday slammed the Modi government for "utter mismanagement" of the Railway Ministry as he condoled the loss of lives in the West Bengal train accident. "Extremely distressed by the Kanchanjunga Express train collision accident in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, where many people have lost their lives and several have been injured," he said. "The scenes of the accident are painful. Our heart goes out to the families of the victims. In this hour of grief, we express our solidarity and condolences to each one of them. We wish a speedy recovery to the injured. Immediate and full compensation must be provided to the victims," he demanded. Kharge alleged that in the past 10 years, the Modi government has indulged in "utter mismanagement" of the Railway Ministry. "As a responsible Opposition, it is our bounden duty to underline how the Modi Government has systematically converted the Rail Ministry into a platform of 'Camera-driven' self-promotion," the .

'Teary' PM said NDA couldn't win single Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu: DMK

DMK's Tamil mouthpiece 'Murasoli' on Monday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the recent meeting of MPs of the National Democratic Alliance had said with 'teary eyes' that they could not win even a single Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu. "He did not say why they could not win. He does not seem to have realised the reason for that. He will not spell out the reason even if he has realised and he cannot disclose that reason," Murasoli said in its editorial on June 17. The DMK-led INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu has been unmasking the BJP not only for electoral politics but it is being done ideologically and this alliance was not formed in the state just before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. "This alliance has been waging a democratic war against the fascist BJP for the past five years." The DMK and its allies could secure a landslide victory by its grassroots campaign that nurturing BJP would be dangerous for the whole of India. DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin's pitch of a vote

BJP protests against AAP on water crisis, says Haryana releasing full share

Delhi BJP leaders and MPs along with party workers on Monday staged demonstrations across Delhi slamming the AAP government over the water crisis in the city. Carrying bottles of dirty water, the BJP protesters raised slogans against the AAP government and smashed matkas' (earthen pitchers) as a mark of protest over water scarcity in the national capital. They also alleged that people were getting sick after being forced to drink dirty water from the taps. At a protest in Geeta Colony, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed that Haryana was releasing Delhi's full share of water into Yamuna. "This water gets stolen by tanker mafia after it enters Delhi because the ministers and MLAs of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party are hand in glove with them," Sachdeva charged. Party MPs Manoj Tiwari, Bansuri Swaraj, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Praveen Khandelwal and Yogendra Chandolia also took part in the protests held at different places.

Karnataka BJP stages statewide demonstration against fuel price hike

The opposition BJP in Karnataka on Monday staged a statewide demonstration against the hike in petrol and diesel prices. The Karnataka government on Saturday hiked sales tax on fuel, which will make petrol and diesel costlier. Petrol prices have gone up by Rs 3 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.5 per litre. The agitation took place at all the district headquarters of the state. In Bengaluru, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra led the agitation. He said the protest has been organised against the anti-people stand of the Congress government in Karnataka. He charged that the hike in petrol and diesel prices will have a direct impact on all the sectors. Due to the five guarantees, the state government was in a big financial burden. As a result, lot of development work had come to a halt, he said. "The government realised that stopping the guarantees would result in public outrage. To continue these guarantees, the government did not have money, so it hiked the petrol and diesel prices,"

Categorically refused to be Minister of State again, says BJP MP Kulaste

MP Faggan Singh Kulaste, who did not find a place in Modi 3.0 council of ministers, has said that he had categorically refused to be a junior minister for the fourth time. I was a Minister of State (MoS) three times. It is not good to become MoS for the fourth time. So, I flatly refused. I said it would be fine if I became a cabinet minister. I have nothing to harbour, said the BJP tribal leader who has won from the Mandla Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh seven times. The 65-year-old MP was on Saturday replying to a query about his exclusion from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers in the third term of the NDA government. He was at the Niwas area of Mandla where he had gone to thank voters. Kulaste was the MoS for Rural Development in the previous government. He was the MoS for Health and Family Welfare during the first of Modi as PM. Kulaste had served as MoS for Tribal and Parliamentary Affairs when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the PM between 1999 and 2004. He had ...

Political uproar over EVM 'unlocking'; Elon Musk joins debate. Key points

After claims that a relative of a Shiv Sena candidate used a phone to 'unlock' an EVM during vote counting, the poll body denied the allegations. Elon Musk's tweet on EVM hacking sparked a debate

Our govt has fulfilled 45% promises made in 'Sankalp Patra': Rajasthan CM

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma said Sunday his government has fulfilled 45 per cent of the promises made in the BJP's 'Sankalp Patra' ahead of the election. He said the empowerment of youths, farmers and women and the welfare of the poor through policies and schemes are priority areas for his government. Sharma said Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the 17th instalment of the Kisan Samman Nidhi soon after assuming office in his third term. The country will be prosperous and happy only with the prosperity of farmers, he added. The chief minister was addressing the felicitation ceremony of Union Minister of State for Agriculture Bhagirath Chaudhary in Kishangarh. He said the Rajasthan government is working for the all-round development of all sections. "Our government has sped up work on the ERCP project in view of the water requirement of eastern Rajasthan," Sharma added. He said work is underway to give concrete shape to the Yamuna Water Agreement for the Shekhawat

Suvendu Adhikari leads 'victims' of post-poll violence to governor's house

BJP MLA and leader of opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, led over 100 'victims' of post-poll violence to the Raj Bhavan on Sunday to meet Governor CV Ananda Bose. During the meeting, Adhikari briefed the Governor on incidents of violence against BJP party workers and urged him to ensure that central forces remain deployed in the state until Durga Puja, scheduled for early October. "I have informed the Governor that all four pillars of democracy in Bengal are affected. Ration cards of more than 5,000 people have been confiscated. Even cattle were taken away," Adhikari told reporters after the meeting. After individually listening to the alleged victims of post-poll violence, Bose assured them of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence in the state. At the meeting, the Governor said, "The Calcutta High Court has issued an order. They are surprised that the Governor is seemingly under house arrest, as those who were attacked could not meet him. We will ensure