Page 10 - Opposition

INDIA alliance in electoral fray to create instability, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday targeted the opposition INDIA bloc, saying they are in the fray to create instability while the BJP-NDA alliance is dedicated to national interest. Asserting that his government is going to score a hat-trick, Modi said in the new government, he has to take many big decisions for the poor, youth, women and farmers, and for that he has come here to seek the blessings of the people of Barabanki and Mohanlalganj. Addressing an election rally, Modi said, "June 4 is not far. Today, the whole country and the world knows that the Modi government is going to score a hat-trick". "Today, on one side there is the BJP-NDA alliance dedicated to the national interest and on the other side, the INDI Alliance is in the field to create instability in the country. As the elections progress, these INDI alliance people have started collapsing like a pack of cards," Modi said.

Highlights: PM Modi addresses rally in Bengal, gives 5 guarantees to the state

Latest LIVE updates: Catch all the latest updates related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Bengal here

Cong claims Kharge's helicopter checked in Bihar, says EC targeting Oppn

Rathorre, who is the chief spokesperson of the Congress' Bihar unit, shared a video to claim that chief electoral officer of Bihar is herself monitoring checking of Kharge's helicopter in Samastipur

All Opposition leaders will be behind bars if BJP wins LS polls: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that all opposition leaders, including his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav, will be in jail if the BJP wins the Lok Sabha polls. Addressing his party workers at the AAP headquarters here, Kejriwal asserted the BJP will not return to power and said the INDIA bloc will form the government on June 4. "In last 20 hours after release from jail, I talked to poll experts and people and got to know the BJP is not going to form the government," said Kejriwal. "The AAP will be part of the government at the Centre. We will get full statehood for Delhi," he added. Kejriwal charged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is asking for votes for Union Home Minister Amit Shah. "These people ask INDIA bloc about their face. I ask BJP who will be their PM? Modi ji is turning 75 on September 17 next year. He had made the rule that people aged 75 will be retired. They retired

Election Commission's credibility at all-time low: Kharge to INDIA partners

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge writes a letter to INDIA alliance leaders raising concerns on voting data discrepancies and registered voters' list by the ECI

INDIA bloc PM will be first among equals, all parties will join: Tharoor

Opposition parties, campaigning together or against each other, will join hands after the Lok Sabha polls, says Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, asserting that the people will get a prime minister who is first among equals and listens to others with an INDIA bloc coalition government. Including the Trinamool Congress in his argument on opposition parties getting together after the day of reckoning on June 4, Tharoor said in an interaction with PTI editors at the news agency's headquarters that a coalition government is nothing to be afraid of. The growth performance of the Indian economy has been better under such dispensations than under single party governments, he said. In his view, this is an election for "change" and as of now the BJP has "lost its grip" on the narrative. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) member also defended the party's decision to not attend the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying it was right to turn down the invitation as it w

AAP event seeks votes for INDIA nominees, starts signature campaign

The AAP on Thursday held several public meetings across Delhi, urging the people to vote for the INDIA bloc candidates in the May 25 Lok Sabha polls in the city and launched a signature campaign against the arrest of party chief Arvind Kejriwal. Two whiteboards were put up at Lajpat Nagar for the people to write their messages for Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal who is lodged in Tihar Jail till May 7. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. AAP Jangpura MLA Praveen Kumar said the signature campaign will be conducted in different parts of the city to show the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the people of Delhi love their chief minister. "We have started this campaign from here and will take it to different areas. We will collect these signatures and send them to BJP to show how much the people of Delhi love Kejriwal," Kumar said. Slogans of 'Jail ka jawab vote se denge' and 'Arvind ...

Amit Shah hits out at INDIA bloc considering 'one year one PM' formula

Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc has not projected its PM face for the 2024 general elections

Can the Congress build on the BJP's fascination with its manifesto?

The Opposition, especially the Congress, will have to go much beyond press conferences and urban election meetings by taking these issues to voters in the rural hinterland

DD News comes under Opposition fire over new saffron logo ahead of LS polls

On Tuesday, national broadcaster DD News launched its new logo, which was changed from ruby red to saffron

Leaked report alleges Maldives Prez corruption, Oppn demands probe

The allegations soon created a political storm with several reactions pouring in on various social media channels. News portals and newspapers, however, tread with caution

Those against nuclear weapons can't protect India: PM Modi to 'INDIA' bloc

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at the opposition INDIA bloc over one of its constituents being in favour of nuclear disarmament and said they cannot protect the country. Addressing a rally at Pipariya town in Madhya Pradesh's Hoshangabad Lok Sabha constituency, Modi taunted Rahul Gandhi over his will eradicate poverty with a single stroke remark, saying the country doesn't take him seriously. He also said the Congress always insulted Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, but the BJP government has honoured him. Without naming any party, Modi said a constituent of the INDIA bloc has called for nuclear disarmament -- referring to the CPI(M) manifesto. He asked the people whether in today's world the country needs a nuclear weapon or not, especially when its enemies have so much of power with them. "In the manifestoes of INDI alliance partners, a number of dangerous promises were made. One of its partner's manifesto said that it will denuclearize the country," he said. "We should h

INDIA leaders abusing, threatening me to stop nation's development: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at the opposition INDIA alliance saying its constituents were working to protect the corrupt and abusing and threatening him to stop the country's development. Addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat district, Modi said the upcoming Lok Sabha election was a mission for building a new India and sought the people's blessings to take big and historic decisions in the ruling NDA's third term. He said the "sea of saffron" gathered to hear him shows what the poll results will be on June 4. PM Modi said leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc were abusing and threatening him to stop the country's development. The opposition parties were working to protect those indulging in corruption, he said. When Modi gives a guarantee of the country's security, they abuse me. When Modi fulfills the guarantee of abrogating Article 370 (which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir), they start talking in the language of Pakistan, he said. "We h

Modi ki guarantee means putting Oppn leaders behind bars: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of taking action against the corrupt after June 4 meant that opposition leaders would be imprisoned post Lok Sabha elections. Results of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections from April 19 to June 1 will be announced on June 4. Addressing a rally at Bankura, the TMC chief alleged that the National Investigation Agency had gone to Bhupatinagar in Purba Medinipur district without informing the local police. "The Prime Minister is coming to West Bengal to address election rallies. I have no issues with that. But the way he is saying that stern action will be taken against the opposition over corruption after the Lok Sabha poll results is unacceptable," she said. Modi, while addressing an election rally in Jalpaiguri on Sunday, had claimed that while he says "remove corruption", the opposition says "save the corrupt", promising more stringent action against the corrupt after June 4.

LS polls: Oppn missed chances, BJP may win 300 seats says Prashant Kishor

Validating the BJP's claims, eminent political strategist Prashant Kishor said the ruling party will add significantly to its seats and vote share in south and east India, the two regions where its hold is weak-to-non-existent, barring Karnataka. In an interaction with PTI editors, Kishor also said despite the BJP's apparent dominance, neither the party nor Prime Minister Narendra Modi is invincible, pointing out that the opposition had three distinct and realistic chances of stopping the BJP juggernaut but frittered away the opportunities because of laziness and misplaced strategies. "They (BJP) will either be first or second party in Telangana which is a big thing. They will be number one in Odisha for sure. You would be surprised as, in all likelihood, to my mind, the BJP is going to be the number one party in West Bengal," he said. In Tamil he said, BJP's vote share may hit double-digit percentage. Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Kerala ...

Opposition, activists express solidarity with Newsclick founder Purkayastha

The opposition leaders and activists on Saturday expressed solidarity with Newsclick founder Prabir Purkayastha and accused the ruling BJP of crushing dissent. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, party leader Brinda Karat, CPI general secretary D Raja, AAP leader Gopal Rai, former IAS officer and activist Harsh Mander, and senior journalist P Sainath were among those who expressed solidarity with Purkayastha, who was arrested in October 2023, following raids on Newsclick. Yechury said that his friendship with Purkayastha goes back to his days in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and recalled he was also arrested during emergency. "We are not just here to express solidarity with a person... he has played an important role in all people's movements," Yechury said. "In my last speech in the Parliament, I said it's our responsibility not to make India a Hindu Pakistan. We have to save ourselves. Voices like Prabir are needed to ensure that," he added. Yechury said arrests ar

Oppn concern is 'Hindi, Hindutva, Hindustan' agenda, won't support: Tharoor

With BJP leader Jyoti Mirdha issuing a clarification over her "samvidhanik badlav" remark, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said the opposition's concern stems from the "Hindi, Hindutva, Hindustan" agenda of the proponents of Hindu Rashtra. The Congress had on Tuesday said that after Anantkumar Hegde, another leader of the ruling BJP, Jyoti Mirdha, openly said that the party's aim is to change the Constitution The Congress said the remark exposed the "deliberate strategy" of the BJP. Tharoor on X shared an undated video of Mirdha, the BJP candidate from Rajasthan's Nagaur in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, showing her purportedly talking about the need for the saffron party to secure a majority in both houses of Parliament to be able to make constitutional amendments. Mirdha later in a post issued a clarification saying that she made the comment in a public meeting on March 31, and that it was "unnecessarily blown out of proportion by some honourable leaders of the ...

Oppn leaders join BJP as their parties face leadership crisis: UP Dy CM

Opposition leaders are coming to the BJP fold as the leadership of their parties is changing "colours like a chameleon" and has no regard for core ideology, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has said. In an interview with PTI, he said the BJP never compromises with its ideology and those joining the party know this. They too have to strictly adhere to "our ideology", Maurya said. The BJP leader also dismissed as "far from the truth" the allegations of opposition parties that the Narendra Modi government is misusing central probe agencies to intimidate and poach their leaders and that those facing corruption charges come out clean from the "BJP's washing machine" after they join the party. The leaders of opposition parties that have formed a "ghamandia gathbandhan" are levelling such allegations against the BJP-led government at the Centre as part of their strategy to prepare a "script" in defence of their imminent defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, Maurya said. H

Cracks in Oppn as Vijayan rakes up Congress' role in probe against Kejriwal

The unity among 18 anti-BJP parties, who gathered in New Delhi to protest the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, showed signs of fracture a day later when veteran CPI(M) leader and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday accused the Congress of demanding the ED probe into the Delhi liquor excise policy case. Addressing a press conference amidst his Lok Sabha poll campaign, seeking votes for LDF candidates, who are in direct fight against the Congress-led UDF in many constituencies, Vijayan alleged that it was the grand old party which levelled the allegations against the Delhi government, demanded the ED probe, and lodged a complaint regarding the matter. The Marxist veteran said the huge participation of people in the INDIA bloc rally held in New Delhi a day ago was a strong warning for the BJP. He, however, added that the Congress should also learn a lesson from the rally. Referring to the stand taken by the Congress in the Delhi liquor excise policy case, h

Huge public participation in INDIA bloc rally, a warning to BJP: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said the huge participation of people in the INDIA bloc rally held in New Delhi a day ago was a strong warning for the BJP. Addressing the media here, Vijayan also attacked the Congress party and said it was the steps taken by the grand old party which led the Enforcement Directorate to probe the Delhi liquor excise policy case. AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested recently by the ED in the liquor policy case. Aam Aadmi Party is part of the INDI Alliance. "The huge participation of people in the INDIA bloc rally held in Delhi on Sunday gives a strong warning for the BJP," Vijayan said. A day after 18 anti-BJP parties came together in New Delhi to protest against the arrest of Kejriwal, he said that the Congress should also learn a lesson from the rally. The grand old party should introspect on their stand when it comes to attacking non-Congress parties across the country, he said. "Steps taken by Congres