Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has accused the BJP and the AIMIM of being hand in glove with each other, and sought to know the source of funding of Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. He alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) instigates Hindus, while the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), headed by Owaisi, provokes Muslims, but they complement each other and work in tandem. Singh was addressing a gathering on Friday night at Susner under Agar Malwa district, falling under Rajgarh Lok Sabha seat. Singh is a Congress nominee from this seat. "Owaisi openly provokes Muslims in Hyderabad, the BJP provokes Hindus here. But I ask you where does the money come from to field Owaisi to cut the votes of Muslims? They always do politics together...They complement each other," Singh alleged. Singh alleged that democracy has been murdered in the country and people are being sent to jails. He said that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee rightly said the BJP has become a ...
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha poll campaign in Tamil Nadu, the Congress posed several questions to him on Saturday, asking why is he so eager to privatise the Salem Steel Plant and why the ruling BJP has not set up a single educational institute in the southern state. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also asked Modi whether the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Madurai is merely a publicity stunt. "Today's questions for the PM as he heads to Tamil Nadu: AIIMS Madurai: Premier institute or publicity stunt? Why hasn't the BJP set up a single premier educational institute in TN? Why was the PM so eager to privatise Salem Steel Plant," Ramesh asked in a post on X. Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of giving "jumlas" (rhetoric), he said the saffron party proudly announced the establishment of the AIIMS, Madurai in the 2015-16 Union budget and for four years since the announcement, no action was taken. "Then just before the 2019 electi
The opposition Congress in Kerala on Saturday claimed that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was attacking the grand old party and Rahul Gandhi to hide his government's administrative failures and to help the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan said that for the past more than 30 days, Vijayan has been reading out the same speech attacking the Congress and Gandhi, while avoiding the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Satheesan said that the Congress has only one question to ask the Marxist veteran -- "how will you defeat communalism and fascism at the national level without us?" "The Congress is leading the INDIA bloc. If the Congress is destroyed or weakened, whom will it help? That is our question to Pinarayi Vijayan. So, you (Vijayan) are speaking against Rahul Gandhi and the Congress to help the BJP," he said. Satheesan, the Congress MLA from Paravur assembly constituency, also alleged that since the CPI(M)-led stat
The Congress on Saturday accused the Centre of under-utilising the budget for the northeast and said it is the only political party that can deliver justice to the states in the region. "The Modi government's 'Bluff and Rule' policy continues to unravel. The Modi government has a history of allocating big budgets to the North East and then chronically underutilising these budgets in the last 10 years," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X. He said since 2014, the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has utilised the full budget for the northeast only on two occasions. "While the UPA consistently utilised around 90 per cent of the budget, the Modi government's utilisation falls to a mere 60 per cent regularly. "In FY23, the budget was Rs 2,755 crore. However, in June 2023, a report from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) revealed that the ministry utilised only Rs 989 crore (35.9 per cent) of its allocated budget," the former Union minister ..
Sonal Patel, whom the Congress has fielded against Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Gujarat's Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, said she was not at all hesitant to fight the upcoming election against the senior BJP leader. The 62-year-old leader, who is All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary and the party co-incharge of Mumbai and western Maharashtra, claimed that anti-incumbency prevails as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has failed to fulfil the aspirations of people. She also accused the ruling party of intimidating Congress workers in her constituency and sought a "level-playing field" in fighting elections. In an interview to PTI, Patel said, "I had not asked for a ticket from the party as I was busy with Congress's affairs in Maharashtra, where I am co-incharge of Mumbai and Western Maharashtra. But the party fielded me from Gandhinagar and I accepted it." "Our workers are being intimidated, nobody is ready to rent a space to us for organising meetings of party ...
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "fake Shiv Sena" remark, and said his party was not like "your degree". Speaking at a campaign rally at Boisar near Mumbai for his party's Palghar Lok Sabha constituency candidate Bharti Kamdi, Thackeray also claimed that the opposition INDIA grouping will cross the 300-mark and defeat the BJP. He also vowed to scrap the Vadhavan port project in Palghar district, which he said is opposed by local fishermen. Attacking the Union government and BJP, Thackeray alleged that good projects were being taken to Gujarat, while environmentally destructive projects were being introduced in Maharashtra. He also assured that a new airport will be built in Palghar. "The Shiv Sena, founded by the Shiv Sena pramukh (Bal Thackeray) to fight for the rights of sons of soil, is being called fake. It is not your degree to call it fake," Thackeray said. Earlier this week, at a rally in Maharashtra, Modi had
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Addressing an election rally in Barmer, Modi alleged that the Congress was standing with anti-national forces and hit out at the opposition INDIA bloc for "trying to weaken" the country
Prime Minister says abrogation of Article 370 has put an end to the 'long sufferings' of people of Jammu and Kashmir
A case has been booked against BJP state President and Coimbatore candidate K Annamalai and a few members of his party over an alleged poll campaign time violation, police said here on Friday. DMK workers and their allies, the Left parties, objected to BJP members campaigning beyond the Election Commission's stipulated time on Thursday night and this led to a quarrel between the two parties at Avarampalayam area, police said. Following a complaint lodged by a DMK member, Peelamedu police booked cases against four BJP functionaries under various sections of the IPC. Meanwhile, local DMK functionaries petitioned the district collector seeking action against the BJP candidate for allegedly campaigning beyond the deadline set by the Election Commission.
Aam Aadmi Party workers on Friday held a protest outside Raaj Kumar Anand's Patel Nagar residence after he resigned from the Delhi cabinet and the party. "For the last four years, Anand has been working for the AAP. He had promised several development projects to those who voted for him. People of his constituency are feeling cheated," Ankush Narang, AAP worker said. Anand is an MLA from the Patel Nagar Vidhan Sabha constituency who won the 2020 Delhi Assembly Election by defeating Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Pravesh Ratn. In a jolt to the AAP, Anand, who was holding various portfolios, including Social Welfare, in the Delhi government, on Wednesday tendered his resignation from the cabinet and also quit the AAP, alleging corruption and that Dalits were not given representation in the party. The party workers claimed that some protestors were also detailed by the police. Narang further said that Anand decided to leave the party fearing Enforcement Directorate raids. "Today sev
"How can Kumaraswamy and Deve Gowda field their family members from the BJP and build the JDS party?" quipped DCM DK Shivakumar
People in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand say the Agnipath scheme and the Ankita Bhandari case would have a bearing on the electoral prospects of the BJP here since the youth is not happy for the last couple of years. Ankit Negi, a resident of the Chamoli district, said that choosing the Army as a career option was the primary choice of every youth here, especially those from the hills or rural areas. Eight years (from 17 to 25) are crucial for every youth who decides where they will head in life. It decides the future of the person and his family as well. However, after the introduction of this scheme, the youth is deeply agitated. The youth of hill areas are known for their physical strength. Every youth here used to be very enthusiastic about choosing the Army as their career option. The BJP is not focusing on this issue and it is also not in their election manifesto, due to which most of the youngsters here are not in favour of voting for the party, Negi said. Abhinav Patwal,
Congress leader Vilas Muttemwar has written a letter to the Election Commission seeking action against BJP activists for holding an agitation in front of his Nagpur home, calling the stir illegal and violation of the Model Code of Conduct in place for the Lok Sabha elections. The April 5 agitation also violated prohibitory orders enforced in the area where his residence is located, the former Union minister said. Muttemwar, in his letter to the EC, said as a Congress member he has been actively participating in election campaign of party candidate from Nagpur Lok Sabha seat Vikas Thakre and addressing poll meetings in his support. The Congress leader said he came to know from media persons that activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were planning an agitation in front of his residence for some statements made by him during the election campaign. "Around 6.30 pm on April 5, around 40 members the BJP came in groups and assembled at Shankar Nagar Square near my residence, ...
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A day after announcing his resignation as a minister in the Delhi government and quitting the AAP, Raaj Kumar Anand asserted on Thursday that he did not take the decision under any pressure but was unable to tolerate "injustice". The Patel Nagar MLA also kept people guessing about his next move by saying that "politics is a game of possibilities and no one knows what lies ahead in the future", even as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders have claimed that he might join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Anand is still "technically" a minister although he has resigned, officials said. "He has claimed to have sent his resignation to the Chief Minister's Office but the chief minister is in judicial custody. There is no possibility in the near future that his resignation letter will reach the chief minister for his approval," a senior Delhi government officer said on Thursday. The resignation letter of a minister, approved by the chief minister, has to be forwarded to the lieutenant governor f
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that the BJP does not discriminate between Hindus and Muslims and that the respect of women is of paramount importance to it, citing the ban on triple talaq. He was addressing a public meeting in Rewa Lok Sabha seat, where his party has fielded sitting MP Janardhan Mishra against Congress' Neelam Mishra. Singh also batted for the one nation, one election' idea and called the track record of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government remarkable. People say the BJP always talks of Hindus and Muslims. I want to say that we do not discriminate between Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Jews, Singh asserted. The defence minister said his party takes along with it all. We believe all born in Bharat are the children of Bharat Mata. We don't discriminate, he said. The allegations of bias against the BJP grew sharper after it declared its intention to ban triple talaq. We did not end it (instant triple talaq) by fooling people. It was our resolve
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had an opportunity to send a strong message to China, but his weak response will encourage China further
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