Tag: congress

Suppression Of Voice: Rahul On BBC Documentary

Suppression Of Voice: Rahul On BBC Documentary

By LokMarg

Attacking the centre in an interaction arranged by the Indian Journalists Association in London, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called the recent raids conducted at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offices across India a “suppression of voice”, alleging that BJP under its “new Idea of India” wants India to be “silent”.While speaking at the event, Rahul Gandhi was asked about the controversy regarding the BBC documentary, and centre’s allegations of a “colonial hangover”, to which Rahul Gandhi replied, “It’s sort of similar to Mr Adani, it’s also a colonial hangover.”

Addressing the event, Rahul Gandhi said, “You know every place there is Opposition, there is an excuse. You asked why we did the yatra, what was the idea behind the yatra. The idea behind the yatra was an expression of voice. And there is suppression of voice across the country. Example is the BBC, but BBC is just one element of it.”
“You found out, well, the BBC has found out now, but it’s been going on in India for the last nine years, non-stop, everybody knows about that. Journalists are intimidated, they (are) attacked, they are threatened. And you know the journalists who toed the line of the government, are rewarded. So it’s a part of a pattern, and I wouldn’t expect anything different,” he added.

The Congress leader said that BJP wants India to be “silent” under the “new Idea of India”.

“If the BBC stops writing against the government, everything will go back to normal, all the cases will disappear, everything (will) go back to normal. So this is the new Idea of India. BJP wants India to be silent. They want it to be quiet, the Dalits, the lower castes, the Adivasis, the media they want silence, and they want silence because they want to be able to take what is India’s and give it to their close friends,” he said.

He further added, “So that’s basically the idea right, distract the population, and then hand over India’s wealth to two, three, four, five big people. I mean we have seen this, we have seen this before also, but that’s not something.”

Responding to audience’s question regarding the BBC issue, Rahul Gandhi said, “The point I was making about the BBC was that anybody who supports the Prime Minister blindly is supported, and anybody who raises question on the Prime Minister is attacked, and that’s what happened with the BBC.

On being asked about the allegations of “defaming India on foreign soil” Rahul Gandhi said, “There’s nothing defaming India in my Cambridge lecture.”

He said, “Last time I recall the Prime Minister going abroad, and announcing that there’s nothing done in 60 years of Independence, 70 years of Independence. I remember him saying that, you know there is a lost decade of 10 years, there’s unlimited corruption in India. I remember him saying this abroad. These were not things he said in India, these were things he said abroad.”

Rahul Gandhi accused BJP of “twisting” his statements, and the media of “playing it up”.

“So, I have never defamed my country, I am not interested in it and I will never do it. Of course, the BJP likes to twist what I say, and that’s fine, and the media likes to sort of play it up. I mean, it gives TRPs and all, but the fact of the matter is the person who defames India is the Prime Minister of India.”

He further added, “You haven’t heard his speech? where he said nothing happened in 70 years, insulting every single Indian parents, Indian grandparents. The independence is washed away, if that is not insult, then what’s an insult? Or saying you know there was a lost decade, nothing happened in India for the last 10 years. So what about all those people who worked in India, who built India in those 10 years? He’s doing on foreign soil.”

On being asked about how the narratives gets built up, the Congress leader alleged that it happens because there is Mr Adani behind the narrative.

“Of course, it does (narrative gets built), because there’s money behind the narrative, there’s Mr Adani behind the narrative, there’s billions of dollars behind the narrative. And there’s a transfer taking place, and then India’s wealth is given to Mr Adani, so that’s the exchange, it’s a transfer. We don’t accept the transfer, we don’t do it, hence no narrative,” he further said.

The I-T officials surveyed the UK-based broadcaster’s offices over a charge of ‘deliberate non-compliance with Indian laws’, including ‘transfer pricing rules and the diversion of profits illegally.’

The BBC had in January this year released the documentary film titled ‘India: The Modi Question,” which features the Gujarat riots of 2002. The film caused controversy for alluding to the leadership of Modi as chief minister during the riots while disregarding the clean chit given by the Supreme Court. (ANI)

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Jaishankar Doesn’t Understand China Threat: Rahul

Jaishankar Doesn’t Understand China Threat: Rahul

By LokMarg

Attacking the NDA government at the Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar “does not understand the China threat,” adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that “nobody has entered Indian territory” is an invitation to the Chinese that they can do it again.

In a conversation with members of the Indian Journalists’ Association in London, the Wayanad MP also said that he supports Indian foreign policy and doesn’t have a huge disagreement with it with regard to India’s position on the Russia-Ukraine war.
“As far as Indian foreign policy is concerned, I support the Indian foreign policy and I am okay with it. I don’t have a huge disagreement with it,” he said when asked a hypothetical question that if China or Pakistan invaded India and since India hadn’t taken a position on the Russia-Ukraine war, it could also be ignored by the World if an invasion into India happened.

Gandhi said, “With regards to an invasion, we have already been invaded. We have got 2000 square km of our territory that is in the hands of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Prime Minister himself has stated that nobody has entered India, not a single inch of land has been taken and this destroyed our negotiation position because our negotiators are being asked what’s the fuss about.”

“Your Prime Minister says that no land has been taken. So that’s one aspect of it. The other aspect which I keep saying is India needs to be very, very careful with what the Chinese are doing at the border. The Chinese are acting in a hostile manner, in an aggressive manner and we need to be very very careful and I have been stating that again and again, I don’t think the penny has dropped in the government. I think there is a risk as you say,” added Gandhi.

Speaking about Congress’s China policy, Rahul Gandhi said that Congress’s policy was that they would not allow anyone to enter Indian territory.

“The Congress party’s policy on China is very clear, we do not accept anybody entering our territory and pushing us around and bullying us. It doesn’t matter who they are, that’s not acceptable to us and what has happened is that the Chinese entered our territory, killed our soldiers and the prime minister has denied it,” he said.

“That’s the problem. The idea, we have a relationship with the United States and we have a partnership with them and we have a shred democratic free idea. I think there is a coercive idea on a planet and there is a democratic idea on a planet and I think a democratic planet needs to be strengthened. But you will not strengthen the democratic idea unless you start to fundamentally think about things like production. The huge amount of inequality that is erupting in the West and India is a threat to the democratic idea. We have to think about that. We have to have a strategy for that and that’s not on the table,” he added.

When asked about how India should deal with military threats, the Congress leader said, “You have to deal with military threats militarily. But you have to understand the nature of the threat and you have to respond to the nature of the threat. I had one conversation with the Foreign Minister in my view he doesn’t understand the threat. The government is not understanding the actual threat from China. The Prime Minister stating that nobody has entered our territory demonstrates that he does not understand the threat because the message to China with that statement is you can do it again,” added Rahul Gandhi in an interaction at the Indian Journalists Association in London.

Earlier, hitting out at Rahul Gandhi who has been targeting the government over China’s aggression on the LAC in eastern Ladakh, Jaishankar said that it is not the Congress leader but Prime Minister Narendra Modi who sent the Army to the Line of Actual Control as a countermeasure to troop deployment by China and the opposition party should have honesty to look at what happened in 1962.

“When did that area actually come under Chinese control? They (Congress) must have some problem understanding words beginning with ‘C’. I think they are deliberately misrepresenting the situation. The Chinese first came there in 1958 and the Chinese captured it in October 1962. Now you are going to blame the Modi government in 2023 for a bridge which the Chinese captured in 1962 and you don’t have the honesty to say that it is where it happened,” said Dr Jaishankar in an interview to ANI.

“Rajiv Gandhi went to Beijing in 1988…signed agreements in 1993 and 1996. I do not think signing those agreements was wrong. This is not a political point I am making. I think those agreements were signed at that time because we needed to stabilise the border. And they did, stabilise the border,” said Jaishankar.

When asked that Rahul Gandhi thought S Jaishankar was insufficient. Jaishankar said that he was always open to listen. “I think he said this somewhere in a public meeting. It is probably in the context of China. All I can say in my defence is I have been the longest-serving ambassador in China. I have been dealing with a lot of these border issues for a very long time. I am not suggesting that I am necessarily the most knowledgeable person, but I would have a fairly good self-opinion of my understanding of what is up there. If he has superior knowledge and wisdom on China, I am always willing to listen. As I said, for me life is a learning process. If that is a possibility, I have never closed my mind to anything however improbable that may be,” said Jaishankar.

The External Affairs Minister stressed that when other countries’ demands are not reasonable, the government will not be able to come to an agreement.

Asked about the Congress party’s allegation that the Modi government is defensive and reactive on the China issue, Jaishankar dismissed the claims saying there is currently the largest peacetime deployment along the China border.

“If I would have to sum up this China thing, please do not buy this narrative that somewhere the government is on the defensive…somewhere we are being accommodative. I ask people if we were being accommodative who sent the Indian Army to the LAC (Line of Actual Control). Rahul Gandhi did not send them. Narendra Modi sent them. We have today the largest peacetime deployment in our history on the China border. We are keeping troops there at a huge cost with great effort. We have increased our infrastructure spending on the border five times in this government. Now tell me who is the defensive and accommodative person? Who is actually telling the truth? Who is depicting things accurately? Who is playing footsie with history?”,” added Jaishankar in an interview to ANI.

Asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks that S Jaishankar did not know much about foreign policy and needed to learn a little bit more, the External Affairs Minister took a veiled dig and said he is willing to listen to the Wayanad MP if he has “superior knowledge and wisdom” on China. (ANI)

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Anurag Thakur

Pegasus In His Mind: Anurag On Rahul’s Fresh Snooping Charge At Centre

By LokMarg

Lashing out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his claim of being snooped on through Israeli spyware Pegasus, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday said it is his habit to raise unfounded allegations and ‘defame’ India on foreign shores.

The Union minister’s statement comes in the wake of Rahul Gandhi claiming, in a lecture at Cambridge University, that his phone was being spied on through Pegasus, and that he was warned by Intelligence officers to be “careful” about what he says on the calls.
“I had Pegasus on my phone. A large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones. I have been called by Intelligence officers who told me, ‘Please be careful about what you are saying on the phone because we are sort of recording the stuff’. So this is the constant pressure that we feel. Cases on the Opposition. I have got a number of criminal liable cases for things that should under no circumstances be criminal liable cases. That’s what we are trying to defend,” the Congress leader said in his address.

Hitting back at Rahul, Thakur asked why he did not submit his phone for examination before the Supreme Court-appointed committee, which was set up to look into the snooping allegations against the government.

“What was his compulsion that he could not submit his mobile phone (before the committee) to have it checked for Pegasus spyware? He is already on bail in a (National Herald) corruption case. What was there in his phone that he needed to hide? Why did he and other leaders (who Rahul claims were allegedly spied on) not submit their phones? It has become his habit to defame India on foreign shores,” Thakur said.

While not naming billionaire investor George Soros, who was recently in the news over his statement against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a security conference in Munich, Thakur said, “It could be Rahul Gandhi’s hatred towards the Prime Minister (that makes him raise such allegations). But it also raises larger questions on the Congress’ agenda to defame the country repeatedly from a foreign land, sometimes from a foreign friend. Has Congress lost its faith in our constitutional institutions? Will Congress continue to raise questions about India’s democracy? Rahul Gandhi left no stone unturned in defaming India on foreign land,” the Union minister added.

Thakur said the Congress MP has Pegasus in his mind and nowhere else.

“As the election results (in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland) showed yesterday, the Congress has been wiped out again. Hence, this is just Rahul Gandhi ranting against our government in frustration. He knew how his party was going to fare in the elections. Pegasus is in his mind, nowhere else. World leaders are commending India’s growth and how the country’s image and position has been elevated on the global platform under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If not someone else, Rahul Gandhi could have listened to the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting on Thursday). Maybe, Rahul Gandhi could not accept this (Meloni’s praise for PM Modi), and neither could he accept the mandate of the people,” the Union Sports minister said.

On Rahul allegations of rising attacks on minorities in India, Thakur said the Congress resorted to ‘Divide and Rule’ when in power, and while the country, under PM Modi, has shed its colonial baggage and mindset, the grand old party doesn’t seem to have done the same.

“The Congress has divided people on the basis of caste, religion and community which was born out of a mindset of ‘Divide and Rule’. However, the country has now shed this colonial mindset,” he said.

Meanwhile, dismissing the allegations raised by the Congress MP against the government on Friday, Union Telecom minister Ashwni Vaishnaw told ANI, “What can I say on his remarks? His needle seems to have got stuck somewhere. He needs to move on from this.”

Earlier, in his lecture, Rahul Gandhi had shared a picture of himself in the presentation slide in which he is seen being held by police personnel, claiming that the Opposition leaders were “locked up” for “just standing” in front of the Parliament House to raise some issues, while also alleging that such incidents have happened “relatively violently”.

“In the Constitution, India is described as a Union of States, and that Union requires negotiation and conversation. It is that negotiation that is under attack and threat. You can see the picture that was taken in front of our Parliament House. The Opposition leaders, including myself, were just standing there, talking about certain issues, when we were detained and put in jail. That’s happened 3 or 4 times. It has happened relatively violently. You have also heard of the attacks on minorities and the press. This does give you a sense of what’s going on (in India),” Rahul claimed.

In August last year, the Supreme Court-appointed committee to look into snooping allegations against the government concluded that the spyware was not found in the 29 mobile phones examined by it, but malware was found in five mobile phones.

Reading the report of the committee, the bench had said, “We are concerned about the technical committee report… 29 phones were given and in five phones some malware was found but the technical committee says it cannot be said to be Pegasus.” (ANI)

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I Had Pegasus On My phone, Indian Democracy Under Attack: Rahul

I Had Pegasus On My phone, Indian Democracy Under Attack: Rahul

By LokMarg

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack at the Centre during a lecture at Cambridge University, alleging that an attack has been unleashed on the basic structure of Indian democracy while also claiming that Israeli spyware Pegasus was being used to snoop into his phone.

Rahul claimed that he had been warned by the intelligence officers to be “careful” while speaking on the phone as his calls were being recorded.
Congress leader and ex-advisor to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sam Pitroda shared the YouTube link of Rahul Gandhi’s address to MBA students at Cambridge Judge Business School on the topic of ‘Learning to Listen in the 21st Century’, on Twitter.

“I myself had Pegasus on my phone. A large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones. I have been called by intelligence officers who told me, ‘Please be careful about what you are saying on the phone because we are sort of recording the stuff. So this is the constant pressure that we feel. Cases on the Opposition. I have got a number of criminal liable cases for things that should under no circumstances be criminal liable cases. That’s what we are trying to defend,” the Congress leader said in his address.

In August last year, the Supreme Court-appointed committee, set up to look into the allegations of the government allegedly using Pegasus for snooping, had concluded that the spyware was not found in the 29 mobile phones examined by it, but the malware was found in five mobile phones.

Reading the report of the committee, the bench had said, “We are concerned about the technical committee report… 29 phones were given and in five phones some malware was found but the technical committee says it cannot be said to be Pegasus.”

Rahul alleged further that constraints were being put on the Parliament, press and the Judiciary in the country.

“Everybody knows and it’s been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space. The institutional framework which is required for a democracy — Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around — all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy,” the Congress MP alleged.

Sharing a picture of himself in the presentation slide in which he is seen being held by the police personnel, the Congress leader claimed that the Opposition leaders were “locked up” in jail for “just standing” in front of the Parliament House to talk about some issues, while also alleging that such incidents have happened “relatively violently”.

“In the Constitution, India is described as a Union of States, and that Union requires negotiation and conversation. It is that negotiation that is under attack and threat. You can see the picture which is taken in front of Parliament House. The Opposition leaders were just standing there talking about certain issues, and we were put in jail. That’s happened 3 or 4 times. It has happened relatively violently. You have also heard of the attacks on minorities and the press. You get a sense of what is going on,” Rahul claimed. (ANI)

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Rajnath about Rahul Yaan

Cong Is Digging Its Own Grave: Rajnath

By LokMarg

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday took a swipe at the Congress saying that the party is not digging the Bharatiya Janata Party’s grave as it says, but its own.

“Every day youth leaders of the Congress are launched. They have stooped so low that they say, Modiji, your grave will be dug; they themselves are digging their own graves. The more mud Congress throws, the more the lotus will bloom,” Singh said, addressing a rally after launching the second Vijay Sankalp Rath Yatra at Nandgad village in Belagavi.
Singh was speaking after inaugurating the ‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’ in the poll-bound state of Karnataka.

He said that Prime Minister Modi believes that there is surely a cure for corruption unlike former PM Rajiv Gandhi who used to say that “corruption is incurable”.

Hitting out at the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra which concluded in December last year, Singh said, “I want to ask from where Bharat (India) is broken. They (Congress) are only doing politics.”

However, lauding the BJP Parliamentary Board member and former Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa’s contributions, the Defence Minister urged the people of Karnataka to fulfil the former BJP chief minister’s dream of achieving a clear majority in Karnataka in the upcoming state assembly polls.

“Yeddyurappaji has served the party and the state as a ‘son of the soil’ for several decades. Like PM Modi, Yeddyurappa also has the same desire that the BJP government should be formed again in Karnataka for five years so that the state can be made the number one state of South India in the next five years. Yeddyurappa ji is in most important parliamentary committee now,” he further said.

Singh further said that the party could never forget the services offered by Yediyurappa to Karnataka.

The Union minister said Yediyurappa had to step down as the chief minister due to health-related issues.

Current CM of the state Basavaraj Bommai succeeded Yediyurappa as the Karnataka chief minister in July 2021.

Singh also urged the people to take ‘Sankalp’ to make the BJP government in the state by a two-thirds majority.

On the occasion Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and state BJP president Nalinkumar Kateel were also present.

Earlier in the day Defence Minister arrived in Karnataka’s Belagavi to inaugurate the ‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’ in the poll-bound state.

Earlier on Wednesday, party President JP Nadda flagged off the ‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’ in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar.

Meanwhile, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will also flag off two ‘Vijay Sankalp Rath Yatra’ and inaugurate various projects in his day-long visit to poll-bound Karnataka on March 3.

He also hailed PM Modi’s leadership in the country and said, “Now India is becoming the world’s fastest-growing economy, India has also become the world’s fifth largest economy. Our Prime Minister provided free ration facilities to 80 crore needy people in the country. It has been considered the world’s largest food security scheme. Recently, a report has appeared that India has saved about 39 lakh people from dying in its vaccination program.”

Talking about the ‘success’ of the Digital India scheme, the union minister said that 782 crore UPI transactions were worth 12.82 lakh crore in the country in December last year.

“Today the common citizen is doing digital transactions through UPI. Only in the month of December, there have been 782 crore UPI transactions worth 12.82 lakh crore in the country. When digital payments were promoted, Congress leaders used to make fun of how poor people of the country would pay through mobile,” he added.

Commenting on the election results of three Northeastern states, he said that these results would have a bearing on the elections in Karnataka.

“In Tripura and Nagaland, the BJP is forming the government again, whereas, in Meghalaya, the number of seats won by BJP legislators has increased,” Singh added.

Speaking about the government’s achievement on the Defence front, he said, “Recently, when Air India placed an order for 470 aircraft with Boeing and Airbus, it was the biggest order in the aviation industry. All aerospace and software companies working in Karnataka will also benefit from this order.”

With the mission to win over 150 seats in the 224 member-Assembly seats, the ruling party is going to start its mega-election campaign.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, party national president JP Nadda and former Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa along with many other national and state leaders of BJP will join the ‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’ to reach out to the voters of the state.

The party has earlier launched two big campaigns in Karnataka – ‘Booth Vijay Abhiyan’ and ‘Vijay Sankalp Abhiyan’ and now it is going to start this campaign in the name of ‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’ in the state from March 1 to ensure the victory of the party. (ANI)

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Nagaland: BJP-NDPP Alliance Leading In 24 Seats; Cong In 1

Nagaland: BJP-NDPP Alliance Leading In 24 Seats; Cong In 1

By LokMarg

The ruling alliance of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the BJP was leading in 24 Assembly constituencies in Nagaland, nearing the majority mark of 31, as per the latest counting trends shared by the Election Commission at 11 am.

Polling for the 60 Assembly constituencies in the state was held on February 27.

The BJP was leading in 7 constituencies while the NDPP, led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, was leading in 17 constituencies, as per the latest trends shared by the poll panel.

Dimapur-I, Ghaspani-I, Seyochung Sitimi, Southern Angami-II, Tuensang Sadar-I, Tuli, Tyui, while the NDPP was leading in Chazouba, Chizami, Dimapur-II, Meluri, Northern Angami-I, Northern Angami-II, Peren, Phek, Pungro Kiphire, Sanis, and Western Angami constituencies.

The Congress, Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party(Ram Vilas), National People’s Party, Nationalist Congress Party, and Republican Party of India (Athawale) were leading in 1, 2, 3, 2, 5, 2 Assembly constituencies respectively.

CM Rio, the NDPP candidate from the Northern Angami-II constituency, was leading by a margin of 6394 votes.

The BJP had opened its account in the Northeast state after its candidate Kazheto Kinimi won uncontested from the Akuluto seat. This after the Congress candidate, Khekashe Sumi, withdrew his nomination.

The withdrawal of candidature by Sumi reduced the total candidates in fray to 183. (ANI)

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Rajasthan

Sagardighi Bypoll: Cong’s Biswas Leading TMC’s Debashish

By LokMarg

Counting votes for the Sagardighi Assembly constituency in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district started on Thursday, with the Congress’ Byron Biswas over the ruling TMC’s Debashish Banerjee by a margin of 515 votes.

The counting votes will decide the electoral fates of three Sagardighi candidates — Congress’s Byron Biswas, BJP’s Dilip Saha and the Trinamool Congress’s Debashish Banerjee.
The bypoll for the Assembly seat was held on Monday.

The bye-election to the Sagardighi Assembly seat was necessitated following the death of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Subrata Saha in December 2022.

While the BJP is counting its electoral hopes in the constituency on Dilip Saha, the Left Front has put its weight behind the Congress nominee, Bayron Biswas.

Apart from Sagardighi, counting of votes are also underway for Assembly segments in four other states. (ANI)

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M’rashtra Bypolls: Early Trends Show Cong Leading In Kasba Peth

M’rashtra Bypolls: Early Trends Show Cong Leading In Kasba Peth

By LokMarg

The counting of votes for the Maharashtra bye-elections in Kasba Peth and Chinchwad Assembly segments began at 8 am with the early trends putting Maha Vikas Aghadi candidate in the lead in the Kasba Peth, the Election Commission informed on Thursday.

According to the EC, the Kasba Peth Assembly constituency was locked in a fierce two-way fight, with the Congress’s Dhangekar Ravindra Hemraj leading BJP’S Hemant Narayan Rasane by 1,637 votes.
The counting votes will decide the electoral fates of three leading candidates from the Chinchwad Assembly constituency — NCP’s Vitthal Kate, BJP’s Ashwini Jagtap and Independent Rahul Kalate.

The polling was held on February 27.

A two-way fight between the BJP and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will decide the poll outcome for Kasba Peth, with the latter pitting Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar against the BJP’s Hemant Rasane.

The heavyweights of the contesting parties, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar, Shiv Sena UBT’s Aditya Thackeray and Congress state chief Nana Patole, have been campaigning extensively and vigorously for their respective party candidates through roadshows, street corner meetings and public rallies in the poll-bound constituencies.

As per data released by the district information office, the total number of voters in the Kasba Peth constituency is 2,75,428 with 1,38, 550 women voters and 1,36,87 male voters and five transgender voters.

In the Chinchwad Assembly constituency, a total of 56,8954 eligible voters cast their votes across 510 pooling booths.

Around 1300 police personnel along with all senior officials of the police department were deployed for voting day by the Pune police.

The bye-elections were necessitated after the demise of BJP’s MLA Laxman Jagtap, from the Chinchwad Assembly constituency, and Mukta Tilak from the Kasba Peth Assembly constituency. (ANI)

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Tripura Polls: BJP Leads By 26 Seats, CPIM-Cong Alliance In 18, Tipra Motha 13 In Latest Trends

Tripura Polls: BJP Leads By 26 Seats, CPIM-Cong Alliance In 18, Tipra Motha 13 In Latest Trends

By LokMarg

The ruling BJP was leading in 26 seats, the CPI(M) in 12, Congress 6, and Tipra Motha Party in 11 seats, as per the latest trends in the ongoing counting of votes for the Tripura Assembly on Thursday.

According to the latest data shared by the Election Commission at 10.45 am, Congress candidate from Agartala, Sudip Roy Barman, was leading BJP’s Papia Dutta by 3,668 votes.
Tripura BJP president and the party’s candidate from Banamalipur constituency, Rajiv Bhattacharjee, was trailing Congress’ Gopal Chandra Roy.

Chief Minister Manik Saha was leading Congress’s Asish Kumar Saha by 337 votes.

Independent candidate Kartush R Marak was leading in the Baghmara constituency against BJP’s Brigady Napak Marak, by 904 votes.

Exit poll projections for Tripura, where the BJP created history in 2018 by wresting the state from the Left, put the rival parties ahead of its rivals.

The poll panel made elaborate security arrangements to ensure a smooth counting process. A three-tier security arrangement has been made with the required the deployment of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Tripura State Rifle (TRS) and Tripura Police. Sufficient security arrangements are there besides round-the-clock patrolling by 30 vehicles in which CRPF officers would be there.

“Counting of votes will take place at 21 counting centres. The EC has deployed 60 election observers. All counting staff have been trained. Security arrangements and CCTV coverage have been arranged outside and inside counting centres,” Kiran Gitte, Tripura’s Chief Electoral Officer said earlier.

Gitte said Section 144 has been imposed at certain locations in light of apprehensions over law and order.

The Northeast state saw a triangular contest as Congress and CPIM, which have been arch rivals for years, stitched a pre-poll alliance to defeat the ruling BJP.

While the BJP which is looking to retain the power contested in alliance with Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) and the Tipra Motha which is being seen as a kingmaker in case of a hung assembly scenario, emerged as an influential regional party floated by the royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma in 2021.

In the 60-member Tripura assembly, the majority mark is 30 and the exit polls predicted a clear edge for the BJP over its rivals in the state.

The BJP, which had never won a single seat in Tripura before 2018, stormed to power in the last election in alliance with IPFT and had ousted the Left Front which had been in power in the border state for 35 years since 1978.

The BJP contested on 55 seats and its ally, IPFT, on six seats. But both allies had fielded candidates in the Ampinagar constituency in the Gomati district.

The Left contested on 47 and Congress on 13 seats, respectively. Of the total 47 seats, the CPM contested 43 seats while the Forward Bloc, Communist Party of India (CPI) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) contested one seat each.

BJP won 36 seats in the assembly and got 43.59 per cent of the votes in the 2018 election. The CPI (M) won 16 seats with a 42.22 per cent vote share. The IPFT won eight seats and Congress could not open its account.

The CPI-M-led Left Front ruled the state for nearly four decades, with a gap between 1988 and 1993, when the Congress was in power but now both parties joined hands with the intention to oust BJP from power. (ANI)

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Sangh Parivar’s Callous Disregard For Humanity: Vijayan Remembers Jafri

Sangh Parivar’s Callous Disregard For Humanity: Vijayan Remembers Jafri

By LokMarg

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday remembered Congress former MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots, demanding “accountability” of the riot.

“Former MP Ehsan Jafri’s memory ignites our outrage over the 2002 Gujarat riots, a chilling reminder of the Sangh Parivar’s callous disregard for humanity,” CM wrote in his tweet.
https://twitter.com/pinarayivijayan/status/1630468501424197632?s=20

He further said, “Let’s stand with Zakia Jafri in her fight for justice and demand accountability for these unspeakable crimes.”

Jafri was a member of the 6th Lok Sabha. He was killed by a mob in the Gulbarg Society massacre on February 28, 2002, following the Godhra incident the previous day.

While on Facebook, Kerala CM said that Ehsan Jaffrey’s memory is a call to secular India to unite with Sakia’s fight against the “aggressive communism” of the Sangh Parivar.

“On February 28, 2002, when Sangh Parivar rioters attacked Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad, residents of the colony sought shelter at Ehsan Jaffrey’s house. Even though Jaffrey contacted the authorities over the phone to save those who rushed to his house for their lives, but the authorities refused to act. Then 69 people including Jaffrey were burnt to death in the Gulberg Society in a fire set by the Sangh Parivar,” he added.

He went on to say that the Gulberg Society witnessed the epitome of “minority hunting” that took place in Gujarat during the genocide.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President K Sudhakaran also took to Twitter to say, “Remembering Ahsan Jafri, Congress MP, who was brutally murdered on this day in 2002 Gujarat riots.” (ANI)

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