Page 254 - Bjp

Gurugram Police issues traffic advisory for PM Modi's visit on March 11

In view of the inauguration of Dwarka Expressway by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 11, Gurugram Traffic Police has issued an advisory prohibiting heavy vehicles to ply on the road. A senior traffic police officer said the prime minister will also hold a rally on the same day near the Antariksh Chowk here, due to which traffic congestion is expected in the area. Therefore, it is advised that people going from Dwarka Clover Leaf towards IMT till 4 pm on March 11 use the Antariksh Chowk route only if it is absolutely necessary, he added. "Antriksh Chowk Road will be closed for some time due to crowd in the rally. On the other hand, movement of heavy vehicles on Dwarka Expressway will be prohibited from 5 pm on Sunday, hence all heavy vehicle drivers should use KMP during this period," read the advisory issued on Saturday.

Highlights of the day: Naidu-Pawan Kalyan seal alliance with BJP

From govt's decision to cut LPG cylinder prices to Rahul Gandhi's poll promises, catch all the latest news from around the world here

Chhattisgarh to roll out women-centric Mahtari Vandan Yojana on March 10

The BJP government in Chhattisgarh will launch its flagship Mahatari Vandan Yojana', under which a monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,000 will be provided to married women, an official said on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join the programme virtually and interact with the beneficiaries on the occasion, he said. About Rs 700 crore will be released as the first instalment under the scheme, which will benefit nearly 70 lakh women in the state, the official said. He said each registered woman will get Rs 12,000 a year, or Rs 1,000 a month. As part of another scheme, which will be launched on March 12, paddy farmers will be given financial assistance, he said. Under the scheme, Krishak Unnati Yojana', those farmers whose paddy has been procured at the minimum support price (MSP), fixed by the Centre, will get some additional amounts. Union Ministers Arjun Munda and Giriraj Singh will be present during the launch of this programme, he said. The Vishnu Deo Sai governmen

11 Himachal MLAs move to U'khand, Union minister says Sukhu govt will fall

Six Himachal Pradesh Congress MLAs who voted against party nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha elections, along with three Independent lawmakers, have shifted to a hotel in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand amid an ongoing rebellion against Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Two BJP MLAs Vikram Thakur and Trilok Jamwal from Himachal Pradesh were accompanying the legislators, who arrived in Rishikesh from Haryana's Panchkula by a chartered flight late on Friday and checked into Hotel Taj. Congress MLAs Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhuttu, Ravindra Thakur and Chaitanya Sharma have since been disqualified for defying the party whip on the state budget. They have approached the Supreme Court for relief in the matter. Three Independent MLAs Hoshiar Singh, KL Thakur and Ashish Sharma were also with them when they arrived. The Congress currently has 34 MLAs in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly while the BJP has 25. The three Independent MLAs had als

Rahul should contest Lok Sabha polls from seat challenging BJP: D Raja

Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja on Saturday said a leader of Rahul Gandhi's stature should contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from a seat where he can directly challenge the ruling BJP, even as he said it is a political party's prerogative to decide who would it field from a seat. The remarks came a day after the Congress announced that Gandhi will contest the parliamentary polls, likely to be held in April-May, from Wayanad in Kerala, the seat he currently represents in the Lok Sabha. CPI's Annie Raja, wife of D Raja, has been fielded as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate from Wayanad. Asked about the Congress's decision to field Gandhi from Wayanad, Raja said, "Within the LDF, the CPI has got four seats to contest and Wayanad is one of those, so we have announced our candidate. Secondly, it is the prerogative of any political party to choose its candidate from a constituency. In this case, it is the prerogative of the Congress." However, he pointe

PM Modi accuses Congress of ignoring development of Northeast for decades

Asserting that the Northeast's development is crucial to fulfil the objective of 'Viksit Bharat', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress of ignoring the region for decades. Addressing a public meeting at Meleng Meteli Pothar here, after unveiling projects worth Rs 17, 500 crore in Assam, he said heritage and development was the "mantra of double-engine government". He also alleged that the Congress government's "insensitive and unplanned conservation strategy" led to poaching in the Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Around 27 rhinos were killed in 2013 but the number of such poaching incidents came down to zero in 2022 due to the NDA government's policies, he said.

BJP following 'vinash' model, stamping out Oppn, toppling govts: Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the AAP government in Delhi was pursuing a model of 'vikas' or development while the BJP was following a model of 'vinash' or destruction with its stamping out of opposition parties and toppling of governments. Speaking in the Delhi Assembly over the 2024-25 budget of the AAP government tabled in the House recently, Kejriwal said it was such a good budget that people are now saying that the AAP-Congress combine will win all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. The chief minister said every woman in a family will receive Rs 1,000 each under the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojna announced in the budget. Kejriwal also remembered former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, presently in jail in an excise policy-related case. "I hope next year he will present the budget in the Assembly," he said. He also lauded Finance Minister Atishi for presenting a "magnificent" budget that took care of every section of the Society. Kejriwal lashed out at

Can PM promise LPG prices will not rise if BJP wins? asks Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram said on Saturday that he welcomed the Centre's announcement to reduce the LPG cylinder price by Rs 100 but said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should assure that the price will not be increased if his party comes to power again. Also, he sought to know if there was any budgetary provision for over Rs 5.90 lakh crore projects including Rs 17,300 crore projects for Tamil Nadu announced by the prime minister in a fortnight's time from February 22. Speaking to reporters at Satyamurthy Bhavan, the Congress state headquarters here, Chidambaram said his party leader Rahul Gandhi has given five guarantees to the nation ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, and that these will translate into poll assurances in the party's election manifesto. The guarantees include: An assurance on recruitment to eliminate the unemployment problem in the country by filling up nearly 30 lakh vacancies in the Central government, Right to Apprenticeship Law fo

Caste census, economic mapping will 'uproot' 50% reservation cap: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday underlined his party's resolve to conduct a caste census if voted to power, asserting that based on this right step along with economic mapping, the 50 per cent cap on reservation would be "uprooted". Gandhi said the Congress' slogan is "count" because that would be the first step towards justice. In a post in Hindi on X, the former Congress president said, "Have we ever wondered who is poor? How many are there and in what condition? Is it not necessary to count all this?" The caste survey conducted in Bihar revealed that 88 per cent of the poor population comes from Dalit, tribal, backward and minority communities, Gandhi said. "The figures from Bihar are just a small glimpse of the real picture of the country, we do not even have an idea in what condition the poor population of the country is living in," he said. "That is why we are going to take two historic steps -- caste census, economic mapping -- on the basis of which we will uproot

Cong played key role in developing country's infrastructure: Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said that although his party was instrumental in developing the country's infrastructure, the ruling BJP was trying to take credit for it. He also said the Congress can be strong at the national level only if it is strengthened in Mumbai, and added that the city unit has an enormous task of rebuilding the organisation. He was speaking after inaugurating via video link a day-long convention of Mumbai Congress workers. "It is the responsibility of each and every party worker in Mumbai to strengthen the Congress. Mumbai and Congress have an old relationship as the party was founded here on December 28, 1885. Several decisions like the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) were conceived in the state by the Congress before being adopted at the national level in the form of legislation," he said. "If you forget history, then you can't do anything in future. It is the responsibility of the Congress to tell the new generation about what it did

CM Yogi warns officials against negligence in resolving people's issues

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday warned the officials against any laxity or negligence in resolving the issues of people and emphasized that addressing the problems of the people and ensuring its prompt, transparent and satisfactory disposal is his government's priority. Adityanath issued these instructions to the officials while hearing the problems of around 500 people at the Janta Darshan held outside the Mahant Digvijaynath Smriti Bhawan in Gorakhnath temple complex here, the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement. Referring to the people's applications to the concerned authorities, Adityanath instructed for prompt disposal of all their issues. He assured the people that no injustice would be done to anyone during his tenure and underscored the government's determination to solve the problems of every victim. The chief minister also instructed the officials to take strict legal action against those bullying the poor and encroaching on the people's

HM Amit Shah, Naidu hold second round of talks over TDP-BJP alliance

Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu held second round of talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday as the two parties worked to seal their alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Lok Sabha and assembly polls will be held simultaneously in Andhra Pradesh. Rebel YSR Congress Party MP K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju said the alliance will soon be officially announced and said the coming together of the BJP, TDP, and Jana Sena Party is essential to rid the state of the "devil" ruling it -- a swipe at Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy-led party. Naidu, a former Andhra Pradesh chief minister, and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan had met Shah and Nadda on Thursday too. Senior TDP leader and Rajya Sabha MP K Ravindra Kumar had on Friday said that the BJP, the Jana Sena, and his party have decided in principle to work together for upcoming polls and the modalities are being worked out.

BJP discusses seat sharing agreement for Maharashtra with Sena, NCP

Union Home Minister Amit Shah held discussions for seat sharing in Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with coalition partners Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde and NCP president Ajit Pawar. Shinde and Pawar -- chief minister and deputy chief minister of Maharashtra -- held talks with Shah here late Friday. Senior BJP leader and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present in the meeting. Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Pawar-led NCP and the BJP will contest the Lok Sabha elections in alliance in Maharashtra which sends 48 members to the lower house of Parliament. BJP had won 23 of the 25 seats it had contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while its then alliance partner -- undivided Shiv Sena -- won 18 seats of the 23 seats it had contested. The undivided NCP, as part of the opposition alliance, had contested 19 seats and managed to win four. The Shiv Sena, which had joined hands with the Congress and the NCP to form a coalition government after the ...

PM unveils projects worth Rs 55,600 cr in Northeast, including Sela tunnel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday unveiled projects worth Rs 55,600 crore in the Northeast, including the strategic Sela tunnel which will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. The PM unveiled the projects spread across Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh at a programme in Itanagar. The Sela tunnel, constructed at a cost of about Rs 825 crore, is an engineering marvel. It will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang across Sela pass on the Balipara-Chariduar-Tawang Road in Arunachal Pradesh, a statement said. The project, the foundation stone of which was laid by PM Modi in February 2019, will not only provide a faster and more efficient transport route in the region but is of strategic importance to the country as it is located near the frontier with China. The PM inaugurated the Sela tunnel by flagging off an Arunachal Pradesh State Transport bus that went through it. In all, the PM unveiled development project

Cong leader Suresh Pachouri, ex-MP Rajukhedi to join BJP ahead of LS polls

Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Suresh Pachouri and ex-MP Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi will join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday morning, party sources said. Pachouri, who was close to the Gandhi family, was Union minister of state for defence (defence production and supplies), and also served as a four-time Rajya Sabha member of the grand old party. Rajukhedi, a prominent tribal leader, was elected as an MP from Dhar (Scheduled Tribes) seat on the Congress ticket for three terms. In 1990, he was elected as a BJP MLA, but later joined the Congress, the sources said.

Amit Shah to visit Bihar today, address public meeting of BJP's OBC morcha

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in Bihar on Saturday to inaugurate the memorial of a veteran BJP leader and address a public meeting of the party's OBC Morcha. According to state BJP spokesperson Manoj Sharma, upon arrival here, Shah will go to the Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI) on the outskirts of Patna. "A park named after late Kailashpati Mishra has been developed on two acres of land donated by ATARI. The home minister will inaugurate the park and unveil a statue of the late leader," said the BJP spokesman. Mishra was a senior leader of the Jana Sangh who served as a minister in the Bihar government headed by Karpoori Thakur, and later, became the BJP's first state president. After the function, Shah will leave for Paliganj where he will address a public meeting to be organised by the BJP OBC Morcha. The party's OBC Morcha president K Laxman said the programme at Paliganj is part of the "10,000 samajik sammelans" that the organisation will

Cong pins hopes on veterans like ex-CM Baghel for LS polls in Chhattisgarh

The Congress in Chhattisgarh has pinned its hopes on experienced leaders for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as its first list of six candidates included former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, two former state ministers and a sitting MP. The party released its first list of 39 candidates nationwide on Friday. In Chhattisgarh, where it lost power to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last year's assembly polls, the Congress announced candidates for six out of 11 Lok Sabha seats. Four of them are from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and one belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. Besides Baghel (Rajnandgaon seat), the Congress has fielded Vikas Upadhyay (Raipur), Tamradhwaj Sahu (Mahasamund), Shivkumar Dahariya (Janjgir-Champa), Jyotsana Mahant (Korba), and Rajendra Sahu (Durg). Baghel, 62, the foremost leader of the party in the state, is a Kurmi which is an influential OBC community, and a sitting MLA. A six-term MLA, he had unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha electio

LS polls highlights: Cong releases 1st list, Rahul to contest from Wayanad

Lok Sabha elections 2024 latest news : Catch all the latest updates on the announcements related to General Elections here

PM Modi pledges $15 bn spending splurge as Lok Sabha elections near

Modi's spending projects come days before the election announcement, after which he will not be not be allowed to try to pull in voters with big schemes

It would be privilege to contest upcoming Lok Sabha elections: Piyush Goyal

Union Minister Piyush Goyal, whose is among the high run ministers in the Modi government that are being speculated for contesting upcoming general elections, on Friday said he is ready to take the plunge but it is for the party to decide on the issue. Goyal, son of former BJP treasurer Ved Prakash Goyal, has been a three time Rajya Sabha member and if nominated, this will be his first Lok Sabha contest. In an interview to PTI, he said it would be a privilege to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, but a decision in this regard has to be taken by the BJP party leadership. On whether he would like to contest the elections from Maharashtra, he said it would depend upon the party. Goyal holds three portfolios - commerce and industry, textiles, and food and consumer affairs. At present, the minister is a Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra. "Of course, I am very excited, I am looking forward to a decision being made by the party leaders and I do hope that I (will) get an opport