Month: July 2022

On day 1 of the BJP national executive meeting in Hyderabad, while states were doing the presentation of the work and achievements, it was the turn of Gujarat to do the same.
With Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel down with Covid, the responsibility to talk about the achievements of the party as well as the government rested on the shoulders of BJP state president CR Patil.

He highlighted the achievements of the Gujarat government in implementing several programmes for all strata of society including women, widows, teachers, farmers, etc.

However, what caught everybody’s attention was when Patil mentioned the party’s initiative through the programme “One Day One District”. Sources say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the end of Patil’s presentation and said that it was such a good way to connect to people that it has the potential to be imbibed across the country.

It was highlighted that while the page committee was able to connect with people, it was only restricted to those who were page members. However, this ODOD Programme was an opportunity to cover the entire district and reach out to every stratum of society in one go.

Through this programme of ODOD, about 8 to 10 programmes were undertaken in one district. This programme would include holding a rally, holding smaller meetings, intellectual meetings, reaching out to the beneficiaries of the state & Central government schemes as well as one to one meeting to address grievances.

So far, the BJP state unit has carried out this programme in seven districts and soon the programme would be carried out across all the districts in Gujarat. This sort of programme has the potential to be carried out in the entire country is what Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted in his brief interaction as it helps in detailed organic connection with the public.

During the presentation by the Gujarat state unit, it was also highlighted as to how Gujarat continued with its growth journey both in the organisation as well as the government and the results are for everybody to see.

Gujarat has been in power in the state for the longest period with the saffron party looking forward to seeking a sixth term in office when the state goes into polls by the end of the year.

Gujarat has been the BJP’s bastion for the longest with the saffron party looking to seek its sixth term in office when the state goes into polls end of the year…. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been the longest-serving Chief Minister of the state from 2001 to 2014. (ANI)

National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu on Saturday visited Puducherry to seek support from the legislators of the ruling AINRC-led coalition in the Union Territory.

She met Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy and sought support for her candidature in the presidential election.

On Friday, Shiromani Akali Dal, which used to be an ally of the BJP, announced that it will support NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu in the presidential elections.

The BJP-led NDA had declared Droupadi Murmu as the presidential candidate on June 21.

Last month, Murmu had made calls to senior opposition leaders including Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to seek their support.

Murmu has also got support from Biju Janta Dal as well as YSR Congress.

BJP chief JP Nadda had also reached out to leaders of some opposition parties in an effort to build consensus on Murmu’s candidature. He spoke to Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah and former Prime Minister and JDS leader HD Deve Gowda.

The elections for the President of India will take place on July 18 and the results will be out on July 21. The term of President Ram Nath Kovind concludes on July 24.

Droupadi Murmu is the first presidential candidate from Odisha of a major political party or alliance. She continues to break barriers and was the first woman governor of Jharkhand. She served as Jharkhand Governor from 2015 to 2021.

Born in a poor tribal family in a village of Mayurbhanj, a backward district in Odisha, Droupadi Murmu completed her studies despite challenging circumstances. She taught at Shri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur.

Born on June 20, 1958, she pursued BA at Ramadevi Women’s College Bhubaneswar.

She started her political career as Rairangpur NAC vice-chairman. Droupadi Murmu was a member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Rairangpur between 2000 and 2004.

As a minister, she held portfolios of Transport and Commerce, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. She again served as MLA in the Odisha assembly from 2004 to 2009. (ANI)

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rahul Narwekar was elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Sunday as the special session began after the formation of new Eknath Shinde government in the state.

Narwekar received a total of 164 votes in support and 107 against him.
Soon after this, Narwekar took charge as the Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly amid chants of “Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji”, “Jai Sri Ram”, “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”.

During the session, Samajwadi Party (SP) abstained from voting against the BJP candidate. Both its MLAs Abu Azmi and Raees Shaikh kept sitting during the head count.

Notably, AIMIM also abstained from voting against BJP’s Narwekar.

A total of three MLAs abstained from voting in the Assembly including AIMIM’s Shah Farukh Anwar, SP’s two MLAs while one AIMIM MLA was absent from the House.

In the two-day special session of the Assembly beginning Sunday, the Shinde-Fadnavis government will have to prove its majority on the Floor of the House on Monday in Vote of Confidence.

Notably, Shinde, who led the revolt against Shiv Sena chief and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, was sworn in as the Chief Minister while former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who was seen as the front-runner for the top post in the government, was sworn in as Shinde’s Deputy.

The MVA fielded Shiv Sena MLA Rajan Salvi as a candidate for the Speaker election while BJP MLA Rahul Narwekar was chosen as a candidate for the post of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker.

The post of the Speaker went vacant in the Assembly after Congress’ Nana Patole resigned from the office in February 2021, to take guard as the party’s state unit chief. In the absence of a Speaker, Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal was playing the part of an acting Speaker in the House.

Meanwhile, a day after the resignation of Thackeray from the chief ministerial post, Shinde and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and staked claim to form the government in the state.

Fadnavis, who was Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2014-19, announced at a joint press conference in Mumbai on Thursday that he will not be part of the government. However, later, on the direction of the BJP’s central leadership, Fadnavis took oath as the Deputy CM. (ANI)

Taking a dig at the Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that he views his interrogation by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case “like a medal”.

Addressing a public rally at Wandoor in Malappuram in Kerala, Gandhi said he was not worried and accused the BJP-led government of using probe agencies against its political rivals.

“After I left, I was wondering why they only interrogated me for five days, why not 10 days. I thought maybe I’m not opposing them strongly enough…it is quite clear that anybody who opposes the BJP faces ED. I view my five days of interrogation like a medal, and I am hoping that they do it again 3,4,5,6,10 times,” Gandhi said.

“The BJP thinks that by interrogating me for five days asking me the same questions again and again for 55-60 hours, I will get worried,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi was questioned by ED for five days about the ownership of Young Indian Private Limited (YIL) by the Gandhi family and its shareholding pattern in Associate Journals Limited (AJL), the company that runs the National Herald newspaper.

Gandhi said that the Centre won’t use CBI, ED against Kerala CM because BJP and CPI-M “have an understanding”.

“Why the ED did not question the Kerala Chief Minister at all. I am being questioned for 5 days by ED and the Chief Minister of Kerala is not questioned at all? Why is it that the government of India which has ED, CBI, which uses these instruments against anybody who opposes them, why is it that they are not using them against the Chief Minister of Kerala?–because there is an understanding between the BJP and the CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist),” he said.

The Congress leader alleged that the government was keen on “capturing institutions”

“Anybody who stands against the ideology of the RSS of the BJP is attacked in the media by the ED, by the CBI, by the police. And the BJP and the Prime Minister think that they can frighten the people who do not agree with their ideology. But there are many, many people in the country, who are not frightened,” he said.

He accused the BJP of “spreading hate” and said people should fight against any effort to divide communities.

“You are all aware about what is happening in our country today. The more they try to divide society, the more they try to play one religion against another, the more we have to unify our country and bring people together,” he said.

He said employment opportunities have been hit by the government’s measures including demonetisation and “flawed” implementation of GST.

“If you look at the demonetization and you look at the way they have designed the GST, it is aimed at destroying small and medium businesses in our country, and ensuring that two or three big businessmen get all the benefits; and you can see the effect of this– airport after airport, port after port, infrastructure project after infrastructure project goes to the same business people, but it is small and medium businesses that provide jobs to our country,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi also referred to Agniveer scheme.

“When you see the youth of this nation protest against unemployment as they did just a few days ago when the government announced the Agniveer scheme, they are crushed by the BJP,” he added.

He said Congress ideology is the only solution to deal with the “disaster the BJP is creating”,

“It (India) is going to have to deal with the consequences of these actions and there is only one ideology that can deal with it– is the ideology of the Congress and the ideology of the UDF (United Democratic Front).”

“The choice is not between the BJP and the congress, it is between the Congress and disaster. The choice is between the Congress’ ideology and intense anger and hatred in the society.” (ANI)

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Saturday lashed out at the Shehbaz Sharif-led country’s government and said he did not come out to fight against the institutions in the country or to spread anarchy but to tell everyone that the nation will not accept the “imported government”.

He was addressing a public gathering of his party at Islamabad’s Parade Ground against inflation, political destabilisation, excessive load-shedding and continued hikes in fuel prices.

“I knew there would be anarchy that evening and people would have come face to face with the police and the rangers. The nation, the police and the rangers are mine. I don’t want to spread anarchy within my nation. I had set out just for one slogan- imported government unacceptable,” Khan said.

During the rally at the federal capital after leading a rally from Rawalpindi, the former Prime Minister said that he did not protest against the coalition government on May 26 because he knew no one would come out after what transpired during the “Azadi March”, Geo Tv reported.

Khan had announced the protest rally on last Saturday, saying that the demonstration would be held for Islamabad locals and those from Rawalpindi, while people from other major cities would have their own local protests, as per local media.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah today said that he will use “fresh” and “updated” tear gas against PTI supporters if needed.

In a veiled warning, the federal minister advised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters not to give cause to such a situation, Dawn newspaper reported.

His remarks come as preparations are underway for the party’s power show at the capital’s Parade Ground today. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan will lead a caravan from Rawalpindi to the venue in Islamabad.

Earlier PTI accused Islamabad Police of using expired tear gas against the party supporters during the rally in the federal capital on May 25.

Quoting Akbar Nasir Khan, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad had said that tear gas used on the protesters had caused irritation in the eyes only.

“Expired tear gas shells were not used. No other chemicals were used to disperse the crowds on May 25,” the IGP had said.

During the press conference today, Sanaullah said that the expired tear gas, which he claimed was bought by his “predecessors”, had finished.

“Now they will get everything effective, fresh and updated if the need arises. But it would be better if they don’t create a situation,” the Interior Minister said.

Sanaullah also said that the government was motivated to end “police culture” in the capital and was giving 100 per cent coverage to safe city cameras, which won’t just be installed on roads but also in police stations to ensure punishment for perpetrators.

He also condemned the attack on journalist Ayaz Amir in Lahore last night and gave assurances that the police was pursuing the case. (ANI)

Delhi Police IFSO unit on Saturday said that it noticed during the social media analysis that the Twitter handles that had tweeted in support of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair after his arrest in connection with a case related to an alleged objectionable tweet, were “mostly” from middle eastern countries” and Pakistan.

“During social media analysis, it was noticed that Twitter handles supporting Mohammad Zubair after his arrest, were from Pakistan and mostly middle eastern countries like UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait,” said the IFSO unit official.

The police further said that from the analysis of the reply received from Razorpay Payment gateway, various transactions, with phone numbers or IP addresses outside India, were from locations including Bangkok, Manama, North-Holland, Singapore, Victoria, New York, England, Riyadh Region.

The other locations, as stated by the police, include Baladiyat ad Dawhah, Sharjah, Stockholm, Aichi, Central, Western and Eastern Provinces of UAE, Abu Dhabi, Washington DC, Kansas, New Jersey, Ontario, California, Texas, Lower Saxony, Bern, Dubai, Uusimaa, and Scotland.

“A total of about Rs 2,31,933 have been received by Pravda Media, Alt News parent company,” the police said.

Delhi Police have added three new Sections – 201 (for the destruction of evidence – formatted phone and deleted tweets), 120-(B) (for criminal conspiracy) of IPC and 35 of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, in the matter.

The accused was produced before the Patiala House court in Delhi today after the end of his 4-day police remand.

The FIR against Zubair was lodged on June 20 based on the complaint filed by the Duty Officer of the IFSO unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell which tackles cyber crimes.

Zubair was arrested and sent to one day of police custody after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him based on a Twitter posting, which another Twitter handle alleged “hurt Hindu sentiments.”

Delhi Police said that Zubair was evasive during questioning and did not cooperate in the investigation. “He was evasive on the questions and neither provided the necessary technical equipment for the purpose of the investigation nor cooperated in the investigation,” said Delhi Police senior officials. (ANI)

Electricity workers in Pakistan have protested in Lahore against inflation and rising poverty and unemployment in the county.

The demonstrators were carrying national flags, and banners and demanding to reduce prices of essential commodities of daily use, including petrol, diesel, gas and electricity, Dawn newspaper reported.
Pakistan’s inflation rate increased to 21.32 per cent in the month of June, the highest in over 13 years, a media report said on Friday.

The power workers demanded the Shehbaz Sharif-led government check the rising high prices of items of daily use for the ease of the common people. They urged the federal finance minister to impose taxes on the feudal lords and elite of the country instead of wage earners.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has stated that in May, the inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 13.76 per cent. The inflation increased by 6.34 per cent month-on-month (MoM) and reached 21.32 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in June, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Friday’s rally was addressed by Khurshid Ahmad, the general secretary of the All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union, Haji Younas, Osma Tariq, Nosher Khan, Rana Shakoor, Haji Liaqat, Malik Zahid, Liaqat Ali Gujjar and other representatives of the union, Dawn reported.

Earlier, the highest inflation stood at 23.3 per cent in December 2008.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to hold a huge public gathering at Parade Ground in the capital city of Islamabad today amid the worsening economic crisis in the country.

This rally comes as Pakistan stands on the brink of financial collapse. The Shehbaz Sharif government on Friday said the energy prices will keep increasing in the country for the next three to four months due to policies implemented by Imran Khan.

Addressing separate pressers in Islamabad, the Pakistan energy ministers — Khurram Dastgir and Musadik Malik — said the downward trend will not start before November-December this year. (ANI)

History was created by Jasprit Bumrah on Saturday as the stand-in India captain took a world record 35 runs from Stuart Broad in an over in Test cricket.

Bumrah displayed his prowess with the bat by taking 35 from Broad’s final over in the first innings as India’s tail wagged to help them amass a score of 416 in the fifth and final Test on day two at Edgbaston.
After the demolition of Broad by Bumrah, the cricket world was in awe of India’s stand-in skipper.

“Kya yeh Yuvi hai ya Bumrah!? 2007 ki yaad dilaa di.. @YUVSTRONG12 @Jaspritbumrah93 #ENGvIND,” Sachin Tendulkar tweeted.

Stuart Broad has conceded a 36 runs over in T20Is and a 35 runs over in Test cricket – both came against India. In the 2007 T20 World Cup, it was India maverick all-rounder Yuvraj Singh who smashed six sixes off Broad’s over and today it’s Bumrah at Edgbaston.

“Old habits die hard?” said Amit Mishra.

“You can’t be serious. 35 runs of that over, most of it courtesy Jasprit Bumrah,” Ian Bishop wrote.

“BOOM What play, captain saab! @Jaspritbumrah93 Kamaal karta. 35 runs off Broad’s over in a Test match!” shared Harbhajan Singh.

Bumrah quick hit Broad for two massive sixes (one came from a no-ball), four boundaries, a single and was helped with five wides in the record-breaking over. Broad conceded a total of 35 runs of which 29 runs went to Bumrah’s account. Thus the star Indian bowler surpassed the previous record held by West Indies great Brian Lara, Australia’s George Bailey and South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj.

Lara took 28 off one Robin Peterson over back in 2003, while Bailey (2013) and Maharaj (2020) also shared the record.

Bumrah finished unbeaten on 31 – the highest score for any debutant captain batting at No.10 – as Mohammed Siraj eventually holed out to James Anderson. (ANI)

The Bhartiya Janata party’s National Executive meeting began on Saturday in the presence of the party’s top brass and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the two-day meeting starting today, both the political and economic agenda of the party would be discussed.
Under the political agenda, the party is likely to hold discussions over their presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu and the recently formed BJP government in Maharashtra, according to the sources.

Strengthening the Indian economy is another agenda of the party which is likely to be discussed today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda, Chief Ministers of 19 states and other BJP senior leaders are present at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre .

PM Modi is expected to address the national executive on Sunday.

The Prime Minister is expected to give a roadmap for the party in the coming times especially when they look at Assembly elections in the big states like Gujarat.

On Sunday afternoon, the Prime Minister will address a public rally at the Parade grounds.

This is the first time that a meeting is taking place with complete participation by the BJP national executive members since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The last meeting which took place in November 2021 happened in a hybrid manner in which leaders were present physically as well as joined virtually.

The entire city of Hyderabad has donned a saffron hue with the BJP flags and banners ahead of the party’s mega show. The posters showcase the achievement of the central government.

Every nook and cranny of the city is decked up with big cutouts and banners of top BJP leaders.

There will be a photo exhibition where the senior leaders and photos from the earlier national executive meet and important events will be exhibited today at 6 pm. (ANI)