Tag: General Elections 2024

Amit At IB Meeting

Bharat Jodo Yatra Wearing Foreign T-Shirt: Shah Takes Jibe At Rahul

By LokMarg

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday, took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, saying that the Congress leader is leading a campaign to unite the nation- the Bharat Jodo Yatra “wearing a foreign t-shirt”.

The BJP on Friday attacked the Congress on social media, claiming that Rahul Gandhi, who has been raising the issue of inflation during the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, was himself wearing a T-shirt worth Rs 41,257 and that too of a foreign brand when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been leading the mission of ‘make-in India’.
Reminding Gandhi of his speech in the Parliament where he said that “India is not a nation”, Shah said that lakhs of people have sacrificed their lives for this country, and asked the Congress leader to “study India’s history”.

“Rahul Gandhi has set out with Bharat Jodo Yatra wearing foreign t-shirt. I am reminding a speech by Rahul Gandhi and Congressmen in his Parliament. Rahul Baba had said that India is not a nation. Rahul Gandhi, in which book have you read this? This is the nation for which lakhs and lakhs of people have sacrificed their lives. Rahul Gandhi needs to study India’s history,” Shah said while addressing the Booth President Sankalp Mahasammelan in Jodhpur.

The Home Minister further hit out at Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over the “highest prices” of fuel in the state and said that his government did not reduce the taxes on petrol and diesel despite the Centre slashing the tax rates on them.

“The prime Minister reduced the tax on petrol recently, all the BJP-ruled states reduced it too, but Ashok Gehlot did not do it. The most expensive petrol and diesel in the country is sold in Rajasthan today. The most expensive electricity is available in Rajasthan. Who is responsible?” he said.

Shah urged the people to “uproot the Gehlot government” and said that the BJP government will reduce the taxes as well as the price of electricity.

“Congress government cannot do development work. Cannot build roads, cannot provide electricity, cannot provide employment. The Gehlot government can only do the vote-bank and appeasement politics,” he added.

Shah also targeted the law and order situation in the state and recalled the brutal murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal who was hacked to death in Udaipur earlier this year.

“Tailor Kanhaiya Lal was brutally killed, would you bear it? Would you tolerate the Karauli violence? Would you tolerate the demolishing of the 300-year-old temple in Alwar?” he said.

“The Congress had done the pre-planned riots of, Jodhpur, Chittoor, Nohar, Malpura and Jaipur. I want to tell Ashok Gehlot that if you can’t handle, then step down, people of Rajasthan are ready to bring the BJP. The cases against women have increased by 56 per cent. A woman teacher was set ablaze alive in Jaipur. Gau Mata is also not safe here. PM Modi approved 23 medical colleges in Rajasthan,” the Home Minister added launching a scathing attack on Gehlot.

Shah urged the people to vote the BJP to power in the 2023 Assembly elections which would pave the way to the party’s victory on all the seats in the state in the 2024 general elections in the state.

“We have to win all the seats in Rajasthan in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. 2023 elections come before the 2024 polls. If the government is not formed in 2023, then winning all the seats won’t happen. If you have to make us win all the seats in 2024, then you have to form the BJP government in 2023 with two-thirds majority,” said Shah.

Earlier today, Amit Shah laid the foundation stone for border tourism development work at Tanot temple complex adjacent to India-Pakistan international border, which lies around 120 km from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

The Home Minister laid the foundation stone of the project as part of his two-day visit to Rajasthan. He reached Jaisalmer on Friday evening. (ANI)

Tejashwi Yadav

Will Be Successful If All Oppstn Parties Unite: Tejashwi

By LokMarg

After Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s meeting with Opposition leaders, his deputy and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday said that if all the Opposition parties unite then they will be successful in defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 general elections.

“It is a good thing. It has been clearly said that if all of us are united, we will be successful (in defeating BJP)” Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav told media persons here when asked about CM Nitish Kumar’s recent meetings with Opposition leaders in Delhi.
Pertinent to mention, Nitish Kumar recently was on a visit to Delhi. During his Delhi visit, the Bihar CM met leaders of several parties in the country.

Nitish Kumar met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday and then met Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

He also met Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala. He also met with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Sharad Yadav in Delhi, who said, “It is necessary that the opposition parties come together. There is no better face (of Opposition) than Nitish Kumar.”

This came days after Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with the BJP in August and formed the government with RJD in Bihar.

Earlier Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had also visited Bihar and met Nitish Kumar, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as part of efforts towards forging opposition unity.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) meeting on Thursday announced that Nitish Kumar, Hemant Soren, and herself with other leaders will come together for the 2024 general election.

“Politics is not an easy thing to do, I remember working hard and fighting for winning the elections. People who were not present there will not understand how difficult it was”, said Banerjee. (ANI)

Rahul Pays Tribute To Rajiv Gandhi Ahead Of Bharat Jodo Yatra

By LokMarg

Ahead of starting the much-hyped ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attended a prayer meeting at the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial in Sriperumbudur on Wednesday.

Rahul Gandhi paid floral tribute at his father’s memorial. Sriperumbudur is where his father Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in a bomb blast on May 21, 1991, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls.

Local Congress leaders including Karnataka state party chief DK Shivakumar were present at the prayer meeting.

After the prayer meet, Rahul Gandhi left for Kanyakumari where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin will present him the Tricolour. The Congress leader will address a rally while officially kickstarting the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

In what is being seen as a Congress’ “masterstroke” to take on the Narendra Modi government in the upcoming 2024 elections, the party is launching the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ today in which Rahul Gandhi will start the 3,570 km journey lasting about 150 days from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

As the party begins the nationwide yatra, some pertinent questions arise about the lodging and flooding of Rahul Gandhi. However, the party has made it clear that he will not stay in any hotel but rather will complete the entire journey in a simple manner.

Rahul Gandhi is going to stay in the container for the next 150 days. Sleeping beds, toilets and AC are also installed in some of the containers. During the journey, the temperature and environment will differ in many areas. The arrangements have been made keeping in view the intense heat and humidity with the change of places.

“About 60 such containers have been prepared and sent to Kanyakumari where a village has been set up in which all these containers have been placed. The container will be parked in a new place every day in the shape of a village for night rest. Full-time Yatris who stay with Rahul Gandhi will eat together and stay close,” said the sources.

The sources further said that Rahul Gandhi considers the Bharat Jodo Yatra journey as a way to connect with the common people.

“So he wants to complete this entire journey in a simple way away from the glitz and glamour. Rahul Gandhi calls it a journey but political analysts consider it a preparation for 2024,” the sources added.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress party’s general secretary, on Tuesday asserted that through the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ people will be united on issues like inflation, and unemployment among other matters of public importance.

“We are starting a positive politics. We want to hear from you, we want to solve your problems. We want to unite our beloved country. Let’s unite India together,” Priyanka said in a Facebook video.

Politics today has turned a blind eye towards people and their issues, she added.

“Political discussion today isn’t focusing on the people of the country, it has taken a different turn altogether. Politics today has turned a blind eye towards people and their issues. Through this ‘yatra’ we want to bring out the problems and concerns of the common man,” Priyanka said.

The senior Congress party leader urged people to join the ‘yatra,’ adding that people should unite to make the country prosperous.

The yatra will proceed mainly through 12 states, including Himachal Pradesh, where Assembly polls are due later this year. (ANI)

Nitish Has Played His Last Card; JD(U) Will Soon Collapse

By LokMarg

Abhishek Anand, an advocate in Patna High Court, reveals that there was a rush for bank lockers in Bihar on the day Nitish reunited with Lalu Yadav’s RJD

To the political observers in Delhi, what happened in Bihar’s power corridors – when Nitish deserted the BJP-led NDA and united with Lalu Yadav’s RJD – was shocking and unexpected. But these armchair observers have no knowledge of Bihar’s ground situation.

Patna’s legal fraternity, which also includes members of political legal cells, always knew the divorce between the BJP and Nitish Kumar was a surety. It was only a matter of WHEN, not IF. The BJP wanted to get rid of JD(U) before 2024 General Elections; only that Nitish Kumar pulled the rug before the BJP could do it.

However, Nitish has little political capital left after the recent switchover. He is holding on to the CM’s chair only to save his party. Once he is no longer the CM, his party will disintegrate. Now, the onus to sustain his government lies solely on RJD. BJP knows this as much as Nitish.

I will also tell you an interesting development on the day JD(U) and RJD reunited. My wife works in a bank. On the day of JDU-RJD coalition, there was a rush at her branch for bank lockers. People wanted to lock their belongings securely. You can draw the conclusion about the reputation of the new coalition now.

There is always a section of voters which is not completely loyal to one party or ideology. This section swings depending on the popular sentiment. The recent political development has not being taken kindly by this swinging voter.

ALSO READ: Patna Paradigm – Why Allies Jumping NDA Ship

My joint family has elders supporting for Upendra Kushwaha while the younger lot is inclined towards the BJP. However, as soon as Kushwaha left the alliance in the last assembly elections, he wrote his own obituary. All the caste-voters which previously supported the RLSP decided to vote in favour of the larger partner BJP. Kushwaha is now with JD(U) but his vote-base by and large has gone to BJP. The same is going to happen now with the JDU voters in 2024. This is my belief.

BJP also has the backing of the media, often referred to as ‘godi media’. Tejashwi Yadav or Nitish Kumar lack such backing. The BJP is shrewdly waiting for the new alliance to make one bad move and then put it to a media trial. That is why there was an internal diktat to RJD workers on the day of joining the government that the cadre should celebrate in moderate way, avoid any kind of hooliganism.

The speculation of a larger opposition unity with Nitish at the centre is a bogus premise. Congress is never going to do this. Let us first wait and see if this government lasts its full term. I feel the BJP will perform better in 2024 by going solo because a large part of JD(U) voters will shift to the saffron outfit. Nitish has played his last card, to save his chair and public image only.

As told to Abhishek Srivstava