Month: March 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address BJP workers from the party headquarters here on Thursday evening, sources said.

The BJP is poised for impressive victories in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur in the results of five assembly polls declared on Thursday. It is also on course to forming government in Goa. The party has created several records with its performance in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address BJP workers at around 7 pm.

BJP president JP Nadda has reached the party’s central office here. (ANI)

Bhagwant Mann will take oath as Punjab’s Chief Minister at the birthplace of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

Mann, whom the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded as their Chief Ministerial candidate, said that his swearing-in ceremony will be held not at Raj Bhavan but at Khatkar Kalan where the revolutionary freedom fighter was born in 1907.
“I will take CM’s oath from Khatkar Kalan, the birthplace of Shaheed Bhagat Singh,” said Mann while addressing party workers from the terrace of his Sangrur residence, as his mother emotionally hugged her soon-to-be Chief Minister son.

The AAP is set to sweep the Punjab state, with initial trends in the day showing surge of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.

Mann, who won from the Sangrur district’s Dhuri constituency, also announced that the AAP government in Punjab will not hang his photos on the walls of their offices.

“We will take a decision that the photos of Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar will be installed in Government offices instead of mine,” said Mann.

The stand-up comedian turned politician added that governance will be done from the villages of Punjab and not from the palatial houses of politicians.

“We have to run Punjab together, earlier Punjab used to be run from the big houses of leaders but not will be run from wards, villages and cities of Punjab,” said Mann.

Taking a dig at opposition leaders, the AAP leader said that they “made a personal attack on me and Arvind Kejriwal. Forgive them for that but from now onwards they will have to respect 2.75 crore public of Punjab.”

According to the Election Commission of India, the AAP has won 20 seats with leading on 71 others at 2:40 PM on the 117 seat Punjab assembly.

As AAP wins Punjab, it will be the party’s maiden victory in the state and a vast improvement from its performance in the 2017 elections when it had finished second behind Congress.

The Congress went into the polls, battling factionalism and anti-incumbency. The party changed its Chief Minister in September last year even as the party’s new state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu hinted about his own Chief Ministerial ambitions. Congress finally declared Charanjit Singh Channi as the first Dalit Chief Minister of Punjab, endorsing him for the Chief Ministerial face days before the polling on February 20.

The Shiromani Akali Dal, which had broken off the alliance with the BJP over the three farm laws that were eventually repealed, tied up with Bahujan Samaj Party for the Assembly elections.

It is the first time that the BJP fought on over 65 seats in Punjab. It tied up with former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (Sanyukt) led by SS Dhindsa.

Punjab recorded an average voter turnout of 65.50 per cent on February 20 compared to over 77 per cent in 2017. (ANI)

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday termed the massive victory of his party in Punjab as ‘Inquilab’.

Addressing a people after the massive victory of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Kejriwal said, “‘Punjab waalo tussi kamaal kar ditta’ (Punjab you did amazing), we all love you, Punjab. The results show massive ‘inquilaab’ (revolution), big seats have shaken up.”

He further said that Punjab has done amazing, aam aadmi defeated big leaders like Sukhbir Singh Badal, Captain Amrinder Singh, Punjab has done amazing., Parkash Singh Badal, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Bikram Singh Majithia in the elections.

“The people’s verdict is that Kejriwal is not a terrorist. The Delhi chief minister said that ‘Inquilab’ will spread across India and urged all women, youngsters, farmers, workers to join AAP,” said Kejriwal.

Kejriwal said that the people of Punjab have made the impossible possible.

“The public has given a befitting reply to leaders of all the parties that had joined forces to corner AAP,” said the AAP chief said, while adding “People have spoken, they call me a terrorist, but the truth is, I am a patriot,” Kejriwal said.

Slamming the Opposition parties in Punjab, Kejriwal said in the last 75 years, these parties and leaders had the same British system, they were looting the country, no schools and hospitals were made.

“Bhagat Singh once said if we don’t change the system after the British leave, nothing will happen. Sadly in the last 75 years, these parties and leaders had the same British system, they were looting the country, no schools and hospitals were made. AAP has changed the system,” said Kejriwal.

The Delhi Chief Minister said that his party will make India where no student has to go to Ukraine to study medicine.

“We will make an India where no student has to go to Ukraine to study medicine…With these results people showed that Kejriwal is not a terrorist but a real ‘Desh Bhakt’,” he added.

“I’d like to congratulate my younger brother Bhagwant Mann for becoming Punjab Chief Minister. AAP has crossed over 90 seats, results are still coming; people have put a lot of faith in us, we won’t break it. We will change this country’s politics,” said Kejriwal.

He further added that the man who defeated Channi works in a mobile shop.

“Labh Singh Ugoke, the AAP candidate who defeated CM Charanjit Singh Channi in Bhadaur, works in a mobile shop. His mother is a sanitation worker in a government school and his father is a farm labourer. Similarly, the woman who defeated Navjot Singh Sidhu is a normal AAP worker. When the Aam Adami gets up, he can bring revolution,” said Kejriwal.

AAP won 40 seats and is currently leading on 52 seats while Congress has won 4 seats and is leading on 14 seats.(ANI)

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kailash Vijavargiya on Thursday said that the party’s performance in the state’s polls was anticipated, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi fulfilled the promises he made to the people of the state.

The BJP National General Secretary added that the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami resolved the issues of people in the last six months.

Talking to ANI, he said, “We already knew that we will form the government as PM Modi fulfilled all the promises he made to the people of Uttarakhand and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami too resolved issues of the people in the last six months.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comfortably crossed the majority mark in early trends and now leads on 44 seats in Uttarakhand Assembly elections, as per the Election Commission Data by 1 pm.

The counting of votes for the recently held elections for the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly commenced at 8 am on Thursday.

The counting started at 8 am and all the results would be declared later in the day.

The exit polls on Monday predicted a close race in Uttarakhand, with many of them giving an edge to the BJP to form the government.

Some exit polls have also predicted that Congress would finish ahead and cross the halfway mark in the 70-member Assembly.

Polling in Uttarakhand took place on February 14 and the counting of votes has begun today. (ANI)

After Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) crossed the majority mark of 202 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, BJP MP from Mathura, Hema Malini, on Thursday said that “nothing can come in front of a bulldozer”.

“Bulldozer” is a reference to the action taken by the Yogi government to vacate illegally occupied land and properties using the machine Bulldozer.

The actor-turned-politician said that the BJP workers worked for the development of every sector in Uttar Pradesh.

“We already knew our government will form; we have worked for every developmental aspect, which is why the public trust us… nothing can come in front of a bulldozer, as it can finish everything within a minute, be it cycle or anything else,” Malini told ANI.

According to official trends, BJP is leading in 258 constituencies and Samajwadi Party is ahead in 112 assembly seats.

Following these trends, celebrations kicked off at the BJP office in Lucknow as State Assembly polls counting indicated that BJP is set to retain power in Uttar Pradesh with the party crossing the majority mark of 202 seats.

BJP workers were seen holding party flags playing Holi at the party office in Lucknow. They were raising slogans “UP mein ka ba? UP mein Baba”.

The counting of votes began at 8 am and will continue till the final results. (ANI)

India reported 4,184 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Thursday.

On Wednesday, India had reported 4,575 new COVID-19 cases. With a single-day rise of 4,184 infections and 104 fatalities, India’s COVID-19 tally of cases has been pushed to 4,29,80,067 and the death toll to 5,15,459, the government data said.

The country’s active caseload currently stands at 44,488 and accounts for 0.10 per cent of the total cases.

The recovery rate of those infected with the virus is currently at 98.70. 6,554 recoveries were reported in the last 24 hours. The total recoveries have reached 4,24,20,120.

As many as 8,73,974 tests have been conducted in the last 24 hours, thereby taking the total COVID-19 tests in the country to 77.60 crore approximately. Of the daily tests conducted, a daily positivity rate of 0.48 per cent was observed.

Under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive, 179.53 cr vaccine doses have been administered so far, the ministry said. (ANI)

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yogi Adityanath is leading from Gorakhpur Urban Assembly constituency, according to the early trends of the Election Commission of India.

Adityanath is leading against the Samajwadi Party candidate Subhawati Upendra Dutt Shukla with a margin of over 8,000 votes.
Meanwhile, the BJP has crossed the halfway mark with leads on 241 seats in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, as per official data.

The counting of votes began at 8 am today and will continue till the final results.

Adityanath represented the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat until 2017 when he was chosen as the UP Chief Minister after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s landslide victory in the state polls.

The Gorakhpur Sadar seat had also been a bastion of the BJP, which the party had never lost since 1967 since the days of the Jan Sangh.

The Samajwadi Party had fielded Subhavati Shukla, the widow of the late BJP leader Upendra Dutt Shukla against Adityanath. The Congress fielded Chetna Pandey and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) pitched a first-timer Khwaja Shamsuddin in the fray. Azad Samaj Party’s Chandra Shekhar Azad ‘Ravan’, a young Dalit leader with a base in western Uttar Pradesh is also in the fray for the seat.

Gorakhpur is a city on the banks of River Rapti with a population of more than 6,73,446, the city is home to the popular Gorakhnath Math, a Gorakshanath temple. (ANI)

In early trends, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu and Punjab Lok Congress leader Amarinder Singh are trailing from Chamkur Sahib, Amritsar East, and Patiala seats respectively.

As per the Election Commission of India, Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate Charanjit Singh is leading with 8785 votes followed by Congress candidate and incumbent CM Charanjit Singh Channi on 6852 votes on Chamkaur Sahib seat at 9:50 am.
On the Bhadaur seat also Channi is trailing behind Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate Labh Singh Ugoke.

On the Amritsar East seat, Aam Aadmi Party candidate Jeevan Jyot Kaur is leading with 3058 votes followed by Shiromani Akali Dal’s candidate Bikram Singh Majithia with 2468 votes and Congress’ Navjot Singh Sidhu on 2091 votes.

On former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh’s Patiala seat, Aam Aadmi Party’s Ajit Pal Singh Kohli is leading with 12,693 votes followed by Singh with 4926 votes.

The early trends show that the AAP in Punjab has crossed the halfway mark in Punjab.

It is leading on 79 seats, followed by Congress (14) and SAD (7).

Students of Sumy State University in Ukraine showed their gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making efforts for the safe evacuation of Indian Nationals from the war-torn country.

“We want to thank PM Modi for making efforts for taking us safely back to India,” said the group of students who reached Poland after evacuating from Sumy in Ukraine.

The students also thanked the Indian World Forum, People and Government of Ukraine, Government of India, RedCross and Embassy of India in Kyiv for their contribution to Operation Ganga.

“After this fourteen-day of miserable war and wait, we reached Poland. In this situation, we want to thank the Indian World Forum, People and Government of Ukraine, Government of India, RedCross and Embassy of India in Kyiv for making the Operation Ganga successful,” exhilarated the students upon reaching Poland.

Operation Ganga to evacuate Indians from Ukraine amid Russian military operations is another feather in India’s cap regarding the most challenging evacuation operations carried out by New Delhi so far.

This comes after more than 18,000 Indians have been safely evacuated back to their home country via special flights over the last week, reported Vietnam times.

Under the central government’s ‘Operation Ganga’, 76 flights were sent to Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova to rescue Indian citizens stuck in Ukraine.

Russia launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine’s breakaway regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent entities. (ANI)