Page 243 - Bjp

38 corporates donated Rs 2,004 cr to BJP via electoral bonds: Priyanka

She added for the first time in the country's history, a sitting government turned all the agencies at its disposal, as well as the entire system of the country into an 'extortion racket'

FM rubbishes K'taka's claim of injustice in fund's release from Centre

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday rubbished the Karnataka government's claim that the Centre was not releasing its due share of special grants' as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission. She denied that there was any recommendation by the Finance Commission. Karnataka government claims that Rs 5,495 crore special grant was not released to Karnataka and this is totally false. The Finance Commission did not in its final report recommend any such special grant, the Finance Minister claimed. Sitharaman's statement came a day after Karnataka filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court requesting a direction to the Centre to immediately release grants under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the state, which is reeling under acute drought. In February, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar, Congress MLAs and other Congress leaders at the central level staged a demonstration in New Delhi alleging that the Centre was apathetic towa

Overseas Friends of BJP launches 'Modi for 2024' campaign in Australia

The campaign is aimed at drumming up overseas support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) going into the Lok Sabha elections in the country

BJP slams Kerala CM on anti-CAA protests, says fostering communal division

As the ruling Left party in Kerala intensified its protest against the implementation of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the BJP on Sunday attacked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and said he was making statements with the intention of fostering communal division. BJP state chief K Surendran, while addressing the media here, said the decision to withdraw cases registered against the anti-CAA protestors was taken to appease a particular community. He said the chief minister was violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by withdrawing the cases and his party will approach the Election Commission of India (ECI). "The chief minister in the name of CAA is spreading fake narratives and is attempting communal polarisation. The CM is claiming that Muslims are being targeted. What is the basis of this allegation? CAA does not deny citizenship to any one particular community," Surendran claimed. The CAA grants citizenship to undocumented migrants of all religions -- exce

BJP criticises Kerala govt's move to approach SC against President Murmu

The BJP on Sunday criticised the Left government in Kerala for its move to approach the Supreme Court against President Droupadi Murmu saying that it reflected the Marxist party's discrimination towards women and tribal communities. The CPI(M) has always adopted an "anti-woman" stand and they had even opposed when Murmu had been nominated to the supreme post of the country, senior party leader and Union Minister V Muraleedharan alleged. To prove his argument that the Marxist party's fundamental stand was anti-woman, he said there was no woman member in the Left party's polit bureau till 2022. The saffron party's criticism came a day after the LDF government justified its move to approach the apex Court against Murmu for withholding assent to four bills passed by the state assembly, saying her action has "significant constitutional implications." "If we look back into history, we can understand why the Marxist Party is moving against President Murmu...The innate objection of the CPI

TMC won't last till 2026 if BJP gets even one more seat than them: Sukanta

Exuding confidence in the party's prospects for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said the TMC government will not complete its full term till 2026 if the saffron party gets even one more seat than the Mamata Banerjee-led party. Claiming that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is an ideological issue for Bengal BJP akin to the Ram Mandir issue for the central unit, Majumdar said the Act will help the party sweep the elections in the state. In an interview with PTI, Majumdar said the people of the state have decided to defeat the corrupt and anarchic TMC in the LS polls. "We have set a target of winning 35 seats from Bengal. We are confident about it. If we get even one more seat than that of the TMC, which we will get, the Mamata Banerjee government will not complete its full term till 2026. Its government would collapse," he said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah in April last year had set a target of winning 35 out of the 42 Lok Sabha

Bawankule accuses Sharad Pawar of spreading rumours, calls it unfortunate

Bharatiya Janata Party's Maharashtra chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday said it was unfortunate that senior leaders like Sharad Pawar were part of the group spreading rumours that the BJP intended to change the Constitution. The country's Constitution is very strong and no one can change it, the BJP leader said, adding that people should not fall prey to the "false narratives" of leaders, including NCP (SP) head Pawar. In a social media post, Bawankule said, "Rumours are being spread about BJP's intentions to change the Constitution because of the various guarantees offered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is unfortunate to see senior leaders like Sharad Pawar joining the herd." "No one can change the Constitution of the country. It is very strong. Sharad Pawar would definitely know the number of times the Congress party amended the Constitution," he said. Contrary to such record, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government always respected and honoured the Constitutio

BJP spreading lies against Rahul Gandhi over his 'shakti' remark: Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed the BJP was spreading a false narrative against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi while targeting him over his "shakti" remark. In his weekly column "rokhthok" in the party mouthpiece Saamana, Raut said during his Mumbai rally, Gandhi had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is just a mask and the opposition has to fight the "shakti" behind it. "Gandhi meant 'dhan shakti' (money power) against which the opposition has to fight. PM Modi immediately said this was an attack on Hindutva and women power. People who consider themselves as the avatar of Lord Vishnu were shocked by Gandhi's 'shakti' attack and started spreading a false narrative against him. There is also a shakti behind this false propaganda machinery," the Rajya Sabha claimed. "The BJP has become a mental illness patient," he alleged. Raut also wondered why a hospital whose income is generated from patients should purchase electoral bonds. "The Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital .

LS polls: Discontent grows in TMC, BJP in Bengal over ticket distribution

Discontentment seems to be increasing by the day in sections of the BJP and the TMC in West Bengal with several leaders of both camps expressing displeasure over the selection of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Several TMC leaders aspiring for tickets have openly voiced their unhappiness over not being nominated for the seats they eyed. The BJP has witnessed similar dissatisfaction among some influential leaders over candidate selection. At least five senior TMC leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Mausam Benazir Noor and party spokesperson Santanu Sen, who were seeking nomination from Malda North and Dum Dum seats respectively, have expressed dissatisfaction after being denied tickets. Even Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's younger brother, Babun Banerjee, voiced his displeasure after not being nominated for the Howrah seat, in which the TMC gave its ticket to sitting MP Prasun Banerjee. The CM disowned her brother following his outburst. Sitting BJP MP from Barrackpo

LS elections: Congress, AAP come together to put up tough fight in Gujarat

The Congress-Aam Aadmi Party tie-up in Gujarat is hoping to challenge the electoral hegemony of the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, while the ruling party is confident the opposition alliance will not affect its prospects. The Congress-AAP alliance this time aims to give a tough fight and stop the division of anti-BJP votes. In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won all 26 seats parliamentary seats in Gujarat, which is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, garnering more than 60 per cent of the vote share in both the elections. In the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections, the Congress and the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP contested separately, resulting in the division of opposition votes and leading the BJP to a huge win by bagging 156 out of the 182 seats in the state. The BJP received around 51 per cent of the votes, the Congress secured 27.5 per cent votes and 17 seats, while the AAP got around 13 per cent votes and five seats. A .

Barring agony, fear, nothing done by Owaisi for Hyderabad: BJP candidate

BJP's rookie contestant, 49-year-old K Madhavi Latha, is unperturbed by sitting Hyderabad MP and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi's "larger than life image," and claims all he has given to the constituency is agony, fear and injustice. A classical dancer and entrepreneur, the 49 year-old Latha is set to take on Owaisi in his stronghold in the May 13 General Elections. In an interview to PTI, she lambasted the AIMIM chief for the alleged lack of development in the constituency though he has been representing it since 2004. She is not perturbed by the larger than life image of the strident BJP critic in the constituency. Asked how she takes on her main rival Owaisi as she is a new entrant into politics, she shot back, asking what kind of an image does Owaisi have. "You say larger than life image. It matters what kind of an image. If you have a larger than life, a negative image, it doesn't require more than a pebble to shatter it. For example, if you have made a cascade with playing

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita meets him at ED office

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal on Saturday evening met him at the ED office where he is lodged under custody in connection with the excise policy-linked money laundering case. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) had allowed Sunita Kejriwal and Bibhav Kumar (Kejriwal's personal assistant) to meet him every day for half an hour between 6-7 pm, apart from his lawyers. Sunita Kejriwal met her husband at the ED office at A P J Abdul Kalam Road as per the court's order, officials said. Wearing a salwar suit and holding some papers, she was captured by news cameras while exiting the ED office and boarding a car with some staff. Arvind Kejriwal, also the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was arrested by the ED on March 21 under the anti-money laundering law after conducting searches at his official residence in the Civil Lines area of the national capital. Sunita Kejriwal (58), a 1993-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of

Rajinder Rana hints at more Congress MLAs joining BJP in Himachal Pradesh

More legislators are feeling suffocated in the Congress and would also show courage to leave the party in the coming days, said Rajinder Rana, one of the six disqualified MLAs who switched to the BJP on Saturday. The Congress rebels and three independent MLAs, who had voted in favour of the BJP in recently concluded Rajya Sabha polls, were given a rousing welcome by the BJP on their arrival here after joining the party in New Delhi. "More legislators are feeling suffocated in Congress and are in contact with us. They would also show courage to leave Congress in the coming days," Rana told reporters here. He blamed the Congress leadership for the "political disaster" in the hill state and claimed the state government 'is on a ventilator". The BJP workers and supporters of these leaders danced to the traditional folk tunes while welcoming them here on Saturday night. The three independents are Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur constituency), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh) ha

Highlights: PM Modi, other BJP leaders meet to pick candidates for LS polls

From Kejriwal's arrest to portfolio allocation in Haryana govt, catch all the latest news from around the world here

AAP asks ED to file case against BJP, alleges it received crores in scam

The AAP asked the ED on Saturday to file a case against the BJP, alleging that the saffron party received crores of rupees from an accused in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam through electoral bonds. Addressing a press conference, Delhi minister Atishi asserted that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not been able to establish a money trail against any Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader despite multiple raids, arrests and two-year-long investigations in the alleged liquor scam. "Two days ago, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in connection with the alleged liquor scam on the basis of Sarath Reddy's statement. On November 9, 2022, Reddy had said he did not know Kejriwal. After the ED arrested him, he changed his statement, saying he knew Kejriwal," Atishi said. Reddy of Aurobindo Pharma was arrested by the federal agency in November last year in connection with the excise policy case. Atishi alleged that Reddy donated crores of rupees to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJ

PM Modi, other BJP leaders meet in Delhi to pick candidates for LS polls

The BJP's Central Election Committee met here on Saturday to finalise the party's candidates in several states for the Lok Sabha polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president J P Nadda were joined by other CEC members as they went over the list of probables to take a final call. The states for which candidates were tipped to be discussed include Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The CEC has met twice earlier and has named candidates for 291 Lok Sabha seats so far, including in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Kerala and Telangana among others. The BJP is yet to announces candidates for many seats in some of these states. At least three of the declared candidates, including Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh, have withdrawn from the fray after their names drew some controversy or other. The names of the leading figures of the party, including Modi, Shah, Rajn

Opaque electoral bond scheme ensured bribes through banks, says Congress

Stepping up its attack on the BJP-led government over the electoral bonds issue, the Congress on Saturday said the "opaque scheme" ensured that prepaid, postpaid and even post-raid bribes could be routed through the banking channel. The opposition party also reiterated its demand that there should be a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry into the issue. At a press conference, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that this is the prime minister who gave a guarantee of 'bringing back black money' and instead "legalized corruption and is then desperately trying to hide it". The opposition party also released a "python code" due to which, it claimed, it took less than 15 seconds to match the donors with political parties, "exposing the brazen and ridiculous claim of the SBI that it would take months to provide the data asked by the Supreme Court". The Congress has highlighted four patterns of "blatant corruption" in the electoral bonds scam -? "Chanda Do, Dhanda Lo i.e. Prepaid

Uttarakhand govt to translocate four tigers to Rajasthan, says official

The Uttarakhand government has agreed to translocate four tigers to Rajasthan following a request from the authorities of the western state. The process of selecting the tigers for relocation to Rajasthan has already begun, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Sameer Sinha told PTI on Saturday. The tigers to be sent to Rajasthan will not be captured from the protected forest area but from the buffer zone, according to guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), he said A similar request for the relocation of three tigers to Odisha has also been received and it is under consideration, Sinha said. The requests from the Rajasthan and the Odisha governments for the translocation of tigers were received following the successful operation of the tiger relocation project in Uttarakhand under which four big cats were translocated from the Corbett Tiger Reserve to Rajaji Tiger Reserve, the official said. A fifth tiger can be brought from Corbett to the Motic

Union minister Pramanik has 14 criminal cases against him: Affidavit

Union minister Nisith Pramanik, who has been renominated by the BJP in Cooch Behar seat for the Lok Sabha elections, has 14 criminal cases pending against him, according to an affidavit filed by him along with his nomination paper. Of the 14 cases pending against the Union Minister of State for Home, nine were registered between 2018 and 2020. The other cases were filed between 2009 and 2014, as per the affidavit. He joined the BJP in 2019 after he was expelled from the Trinamool Congress in 2018 over allegedly putting up several independents in that year's panchayat polls in the state against party-nominated contestants in Cooch Behar district. Claiming that the criminal cases were politically motivated, a district functionary of the BJP said that most of the FIRs against Pramanik were registered after he cut off ties with the ruling TMC in West Bengal and thereafter joined the saffron party. The cases registered against the Union minister range from attempt to murder and rioting

Cong like well-established firm with fluctuating mcap; BJP startup: Jairam

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh likened his party to a "well-established company" whose market capitalisation keeps fluctuating and asserted that it will stage a comeback. In an interaction at the PTI office here, Ramesh also dismissed suggestions that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma that was responsible for the BJP's electoral performance and stressed on the importance of organisational strength. The idea of a charismatic leader was a "dangerous concept" to believe in as one doing so, automatically believes in a "demagogue", the Congress general secretary in charge communications asserted. Talking about the need for bringing in new faces, Ramesh, however, noted that this was difficult in the Congress because people have been in the party for long. "It's easier for the BJP. Because, you know, the BJP is a startup in many states. You look upon the BJP as a startup. The Congress is not a startup. The Congress is a well-established ...