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Crime, National, Politics

Rahul granted bail in defamation case filed by BJP

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 The court accepted Rahul’s apology and granted him bail on a surety of Rs 75 lakh. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were also present in the court along with the Congress leader. 

PTI, 07 June 2024 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday was granted bail by a special court here in connection with a case filed by the BJP’s Karnataka unit for issuing “defamatory” advertisements in mainstream newspapers.


As reported by PTI, the advertisement ahead of Assembly polls last year accused the then BJP government in the state of indulging in large-scale corruption during its 2019-2023 rule.

The court had on June one granted bail to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the State Congress chief, after they appeared before it in connection with the defamation case, PTI reported.

Judge K N Shivakumar had directed Gandhi to appear before the court on June seven without fail.

In February, the Congress leader attended court proceedings related to the defamation case and was granted bail.

The complaint against Gandhi was lodged by BJP leader Vijay Mishra. Last December, a warrant was issued against Gandhi, prompting him to suspend his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Amethi and appear in court on February 20, where he obtained bail.

The complaint stemmed from remarks Gandhi made during a press conference in Bengaluru in May 2018, during the Karnataka elections. Gandhi’s comments referred to the BJP’s claim of upholding honest politics despite having a party president who was accused in a murder case.

Amit Shah was the BJP president at the time of Gandhi’s statement.

Four years before Gandhi’s remarks, Shah was acquitted by a special CBI court in Mumbai in connection with a 2005 fake encounter case during his tenure as Minister of State for Home in Gujarat.

Gandhi apologised to the court on Friday for seeking exemption from personal appearance in the last two hearings. The court accepted his apology and granted him bail on a surety of Rs 75 lakh.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were also present in the court along with Gandhi.

The BJP had in its complaint filed in June 2023 alleged that false and reckless allegations were made in the advertisements issued by the accused persons on May 5, 2023 in all the mainstream newspapers in Karnataka during campaigning for the Assembly polls, under the title “Corruption rate card”, and “40 per cent Commission Sarkara (government)”.

It was alleged in the complaint that the advertisements were issued by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee through Shivakumar, in his capacity as its president and by Siddaramaiah, as the then Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

Gandhi had put up a post of this “defamatory advertisement” on his social media ‘X’ account, it pointed out.

In a post on ‘X’ after Gandhi personally appeared before the court, the BJP said: “Accused out on bail in the National Herald case, Mr. @RahulGandhi, you are welcome to Namma Bengaluru. We also invite you to experience the consequences of Indian laws for all the misleading and defamatory advertisements you used against our leaders here in Karnataka, which you have failed to prove till today.”
National, Politics

Tharoor bats for Rahul as LoP; says he was ‘man of match’ of LS polls

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Shashi Tharoor said the message of the mandate was that the electorate has given a ‘comeuppance’ to the BJP’s ‘overweening arrogance’

PTI,  New Delhi, Jun 07 2024 : Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday hailed Rahul Gandhi as “the man of the match” of the Lok Sabha polls and said it would only be fitting that he takes on the mantle of the Leader of Opposition in the house.
In an interview with PTI after his fourth-straight Lok Sabha polls victory, Tharoor said the message of the mandate was that the electorate have given a “comeuppance” to the BJP’s “overweening arrogance” and its “my way or the high way attitude”.
“It will be a challenge for Mr (Narendra) Modi and Amit Shah who have not been used to consulting very much in running their government and I think this is going to test their ability to change their way of functioning and be more accommodative and more conciliatory within the government and also I hope with the opposition,” Tharoor said on the incoming coalition government of the NDA.
The former Union minister said this time the Modi-led NDA government could prove to be a ‘majboor sarkaar’ (helpless government) on some issues because the parties that are part of the NDA will have to agree on everything.
“Already we have questions being raised by one party on the Agniveer scheme, saying that it needs to be reviewed and they have been supported by a second party namely the JD(U) and Chirag Paswan. Both in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, there are leaders who have demanded special category status for their states which the BJP government had hitherto refused to grant, that will have to be re-examined,” he said.
Tharoor said suddenly now there will have to be a more consensual model governance coming up.
He accused the Modi government of treating Parliament like a notice board in the last 10 years and expecting it to be a rubber stamp for all their decisions which, he said, was not viable now with a robust opposition of more than 230 MPs.
Batting for Rahul Gandhi to take on the mantle of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor said the former Congress president was unquestionably the star of this Lok Sabha performance.
“He and Congress president (Mallikarjun) Kharge campaigned extensively throughout the country, but Mr Kharge is in the Rajya Sabha where he leads the Opposition and it would only be fitting that Rahul Gandhi does the same in the Lok Sabha. I have certainly conveyed my view both publicly and privately in that regard,” Tharoor said.
“I think we have a strong number now to stand up to the government and it (Leader of Opposition) should be a leader who is undoubtedly the most popular in the party,” he said, referring to Gandhi.
Using cricketing analogies, Tharoor further said Gandhi was “unquestionably, indeed the man of the match” of the polls and in a number of places the Congress “hit the ball out of the park”.
“In some places we had a tight finish. In my case there was a super over at the end of the T20 in my constituency. Lot of cricketing analogies all over the place but as we are seeing in the World T20, there are some concerns about the pitch we had to bat on and I would say that we had no choice but to play on the pitch we were given but it could certainly have been a far more level playing field than it was,” he said.
In Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor beat Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar by over 16,077 votes.
Asked about the close fight and if the Left made it difficult for him, Tharoor said the CPI candidate Pannyan Raveendran took two and a half lakh votes.
“But the other is the three areas that are represented by the CPI(M), the CPI candidate came last and the BJP candidate came first. There are some legitimate questions being asked as to how exactly and why exactly that happened. But you know at the end of the day, a victory is a victory and we are savouring it as sweet,” Tharoor said.
Talking about the message of the 2024 mandate, Tharoor said the message is very clearly that the Indian voter will not allow democracy to be taken for granted in this way.
“We’ve seen everything from the demonetisation, that was declared without the cabinet even been consulted or informed, to the stringent lockdown that came with a few hours’ notice, with not even the state chief ministers consulted. All of which suggest to me that we are looking at an end to a kind of autocratic rule that had brought discredit to our democracy, not just at home but internationally,” Tharoor said, adding that is the biggest take away.
The government is now a coalition and the prime minister will have to consult alliance partners before major decisions, failing which the government may not survive, the Congress leader said.
Hailing the gains made by the Congress that improved its tally to 99 in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor said it was a very good performance and the leaders were very pleased that the numbers showed up according to “what we saw on the ground”.
“As for what we can improve, there is always room for improvement. Certainly we did not expect to lose every seat in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Those are areas where there would need to be certain introspection within those state units as to what went wrong and headquarters will have to weigh-in as well,” he said.
“On the other hand, we have done well in most other places and if you look at the number of states we have improved our performance, we have vastly outstripped the number of states we remained stagnant in or we’ve gone down,” he said.
Tharoor also credited Gandhi’s two Bharat Jodo Yatras and its alliance strategies for the party’s performance.
National, Politics

Balance regional aspirations, national interests: TDP chief at NDA parliamentary party meet

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 7, 2024 : Key BJP allies — TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar — on Friday endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance with a message to balance regional aspirations and national interests.

    
Speaking at the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting here, BJP allies JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, NCP chief Ajit Pawar, HAM(S) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi among others supported the proposal moved by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to elect Modi as the leader of the NDA.
    
The meeting in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan, the old Parliament House, saw a lot of bonhomie as well as lighter moments among the leaders with Shinde describing the alliance as a “Fevicol bond”, Kumar trying to touch the feet of Modi, who stopped him midway and the prime minister patting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on his shoulder.
    
LJP(Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, who repeatedly referred to Modi as ‘Sir’ while supporting the resolution, received a warm embrace from the prime minister. Jana Sena Party Pawan Kalyan received a special mention in Modi’s speech when he said that “Pawan was not wind but a storm”.
    
Paswan credited Modi for the NDA victory, while Kalyan asserted that India would not bow down before anyone as long as Modi was the prime minister.
    
At the outset, as soon as Modi entered the Central Hall for the NDA meeting, he bowed before a copy of the Constitution placed there, and lifted it to his forehead reverentially.
    
Another ally, RLD chief Jayant Singh, who was seated in the audience with other leaders, later posted on X: “NDA (New – Developed – Aspirational India) has chosen our Prime Minister for a historic third term, Shri Narendra Modi ji!”
    
NDA coalition partners Kumar and Naidu wholeheartedly praised Modi for his leadership and also reminded him not to ignore the development of states.
    
“Balancing regional aspirations and national interests must run parallelly while ensuring holistic development for all strata of society,” Naidu said.
    
Naidu said Modi’s rallies in Andhra Pradesh helped the TDP win 16 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
    
“Today, India is having the right leader at the right time, that is Narendra Modi. This is a very good opportunity for India. If you miss now, you will miss forever. That is why we are having a wonderful opportunity today,” Naidu said.
    Kumar expressed confidence that Modi will develop India in a big way and also pay attenti
on to Bihar.
    
“We are confident that Modi will develop India and we will wholeheartedly support him every passing day,” Kumar said.
    
“All the pending works of Bihar will be done. It is a very good thing that all of us have come together and we will all work together with you. … we will all work under your leadership,” he said.
    
The Bihar chief minister slammed the opposition and expressed confidence that they will be defeated in the next Lok Sabha elections.    
    
“I have noticed that a few people have won (Lok Sabha elections) here and there by saying useless things. They haven’t done any work and never served the country. Next time when you win, they all will be defeated,” Kumar said.
    
Shinde said Shiv Sena and BJP were ideologically similar. “The Shiv Sena-BJP coalition forged under the leadership of Balasaheb Thackeray is a ‘fevicol bond’ which will not break,” he said.
National, Politics

NDA dispensation is strongest alliance govt opposition worked to erode faith in democracy :PM Modi

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 7, 2024 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the opposition of seeking to erode people’s trust in democracy and casting a shadow of defeat over the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s poll win, asserting that the ruling bloc scored a grand victory in the Lok Sabha elections.

    
“If you see in the context of alliances and statistics, then this is the strongest alliance government,” Modi said while addressing newly-elected MPs and leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from across the country following his election as leader of the ruling bloc ahead of his government’s swearing-in on Sunday.

He flayed opposition INDIA bloc leaders for casting suspicions on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the Election Commission throughout the poll process, alleging that they wanted to stoke fire across the country if the results did not suit them.

However, the EVMs silenced them by June 4 evening, he said in an apparent reference to the opposition’s better-than-expected showing.

Modi said the world will also be drawn towards appreciating the diversity and expansiveness of Indian democracy following these results.

The prime minister projected the results as a nationwide popular endorsement of his government’s agenda, moving to quell any sense of pessimism among his own party members after the BJP fell short of a majority.

He cited people’s increased support to the alliance in south India and Odisha, where the BJP is also set to form its maiden government, to laud its performance.

“The Congress has not got as many seats in three Lok Sabha polls since 2014 as we have got in these elections. It has not been able to touch even the 100 mark this time,” he said.

“People know that we had not lost and have not lost,” he said, adding that even a child would tell that it is the NDA that was in power before the polls and which is in power after the polls. “Where did we lose? The NDA was there yesterday, is there today and will be there tomorrow.”

By every parameter, the world recognises that the results reflect the NDA’s grand victory, he said.

At the ceremony held in the Central Hall of the Parliament complex, it was NDA all the way in optics as well as substance as nine leaders of as many allies flanked Modi, besides three BJP leaders on the dais.

It was the NDA that Modi repeatedly mentioned while highlighting his government’s policies and programmes, and how its different members, including the Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) N Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar, have ushered in development in their respective states.

After Modi’s election, leaders of different parties met President Droupadi Murmu to submit to her their letters of support to him.

In his speech, the prime minister claimed that attempts were made to not accept the NDA’s win and overshadow it with a sense of defeat.

Buoyed with its tally of 234 seats, the opposition alliance has projected the results as a defeat for Modi. The NDA tally stands at 293, comfortably above the majority mark of 272.

“I can see clearly, though the INDI Alliance does not know. They were earlier sinking slowly but are now hurtling down the abyss,” he claimed.

Modi said he asked someone on June 4 when the results were being announced if the EVM is “still alive or dead”.

These people (opposition) had made up their minds to ensure that people’s trust in Indian democracy is broken, he claimed.

“I thought they would take out a funeral procession for EVMs. However, as the results were declared by June 4 evening, they were silenced. This is the strength of Indian democracy, its objectivity, and the election system. I hope questions will not be raised on EVMs for five years. Probably, they may make a fuss again in 2029,” Modi said.

Opposition parties tried to obstruct the Election Commission’s work by filing many petitions in the Supreme Court, he said, adding that it showed how despondent they were in the electoral field.

They conspired to defame India globally, he said. “The country will never forgive them.”

Modi said the opposition parties belong to the last century in their mindset as they are opposed to any technological intervention, be it UPI or Aadhaar. “The INDI Alliance is fundamentally opposed to progress, modernity and technology.”

While he is beating the drum about India being the “mother of democracy”, the opposition is telling the world that there is no democracy in India, Modi added.

He accused his rivals of making comments between the last day of polling on June 1 and the counting day on June 4 as part of a conspiracy to stoke violence.

Attempts were made to mislead and divide people, he claimed. 
National, Politics

Did BJP strike rate improve after Modi’s ‘anti-Muslim’ rhetoric? Here’s how it fared in all 7 phases

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 Overall, BJP won 240 of 440 seats it contested in 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This meant a cumulative strike rate at 54.5 percent.

AMOGH ROHMETRA, The Print, 06 June, 2024: New Delhi: BJP’s strike rate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls held in seven phases over 44 days ranged from 35 to 70 percent, declining between the third and seventh phase, an analysis by ThePrint shows.

The Opposition attributed this decline to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “anti-Muslim” rhetoric and the BJP’s showing in the 77 seats it contested in the first phase. Of these 77, the BJP won 30 — a strike rate of 39 percent.

Also important to note is that Tamil Nadu, where the BJP has been a marginal player, was among the states where all seats went to the polls in the first phase. If one were to discount the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, of which it contested 23, BJP’s strike rate in the first phase was 55 per cent. 

Referring to the speech Modi made in Rajasthan’s Banswara on 21 April, two days after the conclusion of the first phase, the Opposition claimed then that Modi’s “anti-Muslim” rhetoric was prompted by low voter turnout and the BJP’s “poor” performance in the first phase.
As ThePrint reported earlier, there was also a decline in the mention of BJP’s “400 paar” slogan in Modi’s speeches after the first phase.

In the second phase, the BJP’s strike rate increased by 35 percentage points to 67 percent — it won 47 of the 70 seats it contested in this phase. This included all 20 seats in Kerala, of which the BJP secured one.

In the third phase, the BJP improved its strike rate further to 70 percent. This was highest for the BJP among all seven phases. Its strike rate in this phase can also be largely attributed to Gujarat, where it won 25 of 26 seats.

However, from the fourth phase onwards, the BJP’s strike rate began to decline — barring one exception. In the fourth phase, the BJP’s strike rate declined, by 15 percentage points from the previous phase, to 55 percent.

This decline continued in the fifth phase, where its strike rate was only 45 per cent. Of the 40 BJP candidates in the fray in this phase, only 18 won.

The sixth phase was where the party managed to stage a revival of sorts by winning 31 of the 51 seats it contested in this phase — a strike rate of 61 percent.

But it could not keep up the momentum in the seventh phase where its strike rate declined, by 26 percentage points from the previous phase, to 35 percent. It won only 18 of the 52 seats it contested in this phase.

Overall, the BJP won 240 (including Surat) of the 440 seats it contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections — a cumulative strike rate of 54.5 percent.

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Crime, National

Newly elected MP Kangana slapped by woman CISF constable at Chandigarh airport

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PTI, Chandigarh/New Delhi, Jun 06 2024 : Actor and BJP MP-elect Kangana Ranaut said she was hit in the face and abused by a woman CISF constable during security check at the Chandigarh airport on Thursday, the ugly fracas breaking out two days after she was won from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh.

 
Constable Kulwinder Kaur, who appeared to be upset with Ranaut over her stance on the farmers’ protests, was suspended and an FIR lodged against her, officials said.
 
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), tasked with providing security at airports, has also ordered a court of inquiry into the incident.
 
In a video statement titled “Shocking rise in terror and violence in Punjab” posted on X after she landed in Delhi, the “Queen” actor said she was safe and fine.
 
Recapping in detail what had happened, Ranaut said she had been getting a lot of calls from the media and her well-wishers.
 
The constable, she said, came towards her from the side. “She hit me in the face and started abusing me. I asked her why she did it and she said she supports the farmer protests.” “I am safe but my concern is that terrorism is increasing in Punjab… How do we handle that?” Another video doing the rounds of social media showed an agitated Kaur talking to people presumably after the incident.
 
“Kangana made a statement that farmers were protesting in Delhi because they were paid Rs 100 or Rs 200. At the time, my mother was one of the protesters,” she said in the purported video.
 
Kaur joined the CISF in 2009 and has been with the aviation security group of the force at the Chandigarh airport since 2021.

She has had no vigilance inquiry or punishment against her in the force till now, the officials said, adding her husband too is posted at the same airport. Terming the incident a serious matter, National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma called for serious action and said the panel had taken up the matter with the CISF.

Those responsible for security at airport are themselves breaching security, she said in a post on X.
 
Leader of the opposition and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur termed incident very unfortunate and condemned it.
 
“Such behaviour with an elected representative by security personnel at the airport is very unfortunate and calls for action,” he told PTI.
 
State Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh, who lost to Ranaut in the elections, said, “The incident is unfortunate and we condemn it.” He also said action should be taken against the constable.
 
Making her political — and electoral debut — Ranaut defeated her nearest Congress rival Singh by over 74,000 votes from Mandi in her home state.
 
The four-time National Award winner has been a high profile, prominent voice supporting the ruling party on issues like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019-20 and farmer protests in 2020-21.
 
During the agitation against the three farm laws, Ranaut allegedly misidentified a woman farmer from Punjab and called her Bilkis Bano, an octogenarian who had made international headlines during the anti-CAA protests earlier in the Delhi neighbourhood of Shaheen Bagh.
 
She had then shared a tweet alleging that the ‘Shaheen Bagh dadi’ also joined the farmers’ agitation over the new agriculture laws at various border points of the national capital. She retweeted the post with pictures of two elderly women and wrote that the “same Dadi” who featured in Time Magazine was “available in 100 rupees”.
 
The actor later deleted the tweet after Twitter users pointed out that both the women were different.
National, Politics

Modi’s allies want funds, cabinet positions as NDA gears to form new govt

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 Besides special status and cabinet positions, TDP is also seeking more funds for irrigation projects in Andhra Pradesh and to complete the building of its new capital, Amaravati
Reuters, Jun 06 2024 :  Parties in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alliance on Thursday demanded more funds for their regional states as well as federal cabinet positions as negotiations began to form a coalition government.
 
Modi was named leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Wednesday, after his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost its outright majority and found itself reliant on support from regional parties – mainly the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United).
 
The NDA won 293 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament, where 272 constitutes a simple majority.
 
But Modi’s BJP won only 240, making TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U) head Nitish Kumar, also the chief minister of the eastern state of Bihar, kingmakers in the alliance with their 16 and 12 seats respectively.
 
TDP also won a regional election in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh and Naidu is set to become chief minister there.

Both parties are pushing longstanding demands to grant special status to their states, according to one TDP spokesperson and five NDA sources.
 
Special status allows states to receive more federal development funds, and on simpler terms. While Bihar is India’s poorest state, Andhra Pradesh lost some of its resources in 2014 when the new state of Telangana was carved out of it.

Besides special status and cabinet positions, TDP is also seeking more funds for irrigation projects in Andhra Pradesh and to complete the building of its new capital, Amaravati, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
 
“This is not the first time we are in NDA, so we are confident that we will get what is due to us,” TDP spokesperson Jyothsna Tirunagari said.
 
“In our earlier terms with NDA, we had ministerial berths and also the Lok Sabha [lower house] speaker from our party. This time we are a strong partner and share a clear vision for the country,” she said.
 
JD(U)’s Kumar also wants support for new industrial projects in Bihar along with federal cabinet positions, one NDA source said.
 
COALITION NEGOTIATIONS SET TO START
 
Top BJP leaders were due to discuss ministerial portfolios with the allies on Thursday, a day before Modi is expected to meet President Droupadi Murmu to present his claim to form the next government, one BJP source said.
 
The negotiations are a throwback to an era before 2014 – when Modi swept to power with an outright BJP majority – in which alliance partners haggled for positions and benefits in exchange for supporting coalition governments.
 
The BJP’s loss of its majority unnerved markets and raised the prospect of a government less stable and sure-footed than the outgoing one.
 
But Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a top BJP leader and newly elected lawmaker, told the CNN-News18 TV channel that Modi’s new government would last its full five-year term and “come back with a better performance”.
 
A survey published on Thursday suggested that a lack of jobs, high inflation and falling income had cost Modi votes, even though he personally still commanded wide support.
 
Some 30% of voters said they were worried about inflation, compared to 20% prior to the election, according to the Lokniti-CSDS post-election survey published by the Hindu newspaper.
 
In a survey for the Hindu conducted before the election, unemployment had been the main concern of 32% of respondents.

Decreasing income and the government’s handling of corruption and fraud were other issues of concern, according to the survey.
National, Politics

NDA MPs to meet today to elect Modi as their leader

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 Preparing to take oath for a third straight term as the head of a coalition government, Modi had on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the ruling alliance’s members who unanimously elected him as its lead

PTI,  New Delhi, Jun 06 2024  : Newly elected MPs of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance are expected to meet on Friday to elect Narendra Modi as their leader, paving the way for him to take oath as prime minister for a third term.
Sources said after Modi’s election as the leader of NDA MPs, senior members of the alliance like TDP’s N Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar will join the prime minister for a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu to present her the list of parliamentarians supporting him.
He may be sworn in over the weekend, possibly Sunday, they added. The NDA has 293 MPs, comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
Senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, held deliberations through the day on Thursday as the party set in motion government formation efforts.
They met at BJP president JP Nadda’s residence in what was seen as part of the party’s exercise to reach out to allies over issues like their share of ministerial berths and pick the probables from within their party for the coalition government.
Preparing to take oath for a third straight term as the head of a coalition government, Modi had on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the ruling alliance’s members who unanimously elected him as its leader.
Leaders of the BJP’s ally Janata Dal (United) also held deliberations with party president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Though the regional party has not said anything officially on the issue, sources said it is looking to get some key ministerial berths to reclaim some of the lost ground in Bihar where it has performed well after being seen to have fallen way behind the BJP and the RJD over the last few years in political strength.
With 12 MPs, the JD(U) is the second biggest BJP ally after the Telugu Desam Party’s 16. The new BJP-led government will depend critically on these two parties for survival.
Naidu is keen that the Centre provide Andhra Pradesh financial assistance in building its capital in Amravati. He also wants the new government to take steps to fulfil the Centre’s commitment to the state when Telangana was carved out of it, sources said.
National, Politics

NDA allies seek their pound of flesh: Unfamiliar terrain for Modi, hard bargaining begins

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A BJP statement released after the afternoon meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence said Modi had been ‘unanimously’ chosen leader, with the partners hailing his ‘hard work and efforts (at) nation-building’

J.P. Yadav, TT, New Delhi, 06.06.24 ; Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar.: File Photo.
An NDA meeting on Wednesday endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the alliance leader as hard bargaining by partners for key portfolios and concessions for their states played out in the background, sources said.

A BJP statement released after the afternoon meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence said Modi had been “unanimously” chosen leader, with the partners hailing his “hard work and efforts (at) nation-building”.
Modi will be formally elected leader of the NDA at a meeting of the newly elected MPs on Friday, and is likely to be sworn in for a third term on Saturday, BJP leaders said.

Sources within key partners Telugu Desam Party and JDU, however, revealed the hard bargaining — the hallmark of a coalition government — that lay behind the leaders’ smiling faces at the meeting, thereby indicating the unfamiliar pressures Modi 3.0 is up against.

Desam boss Chandrababu Naidu, a master at extracting his pound of flesh in a coalition government, wants the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post for his party in addition to “special category status” for his state Andhra Pradesh, his party sources said.

They added that Naidu had also demanded the home and defence portfolios, held by Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, respectively, in the outgoing government.

Bihar chief minister and JDU leader Nitish Kumar too pressed for a similar concession for his “backward state”, smelling an opportunity like never before to realise
a longstanding demand, sources said.

A JDU leader said that Nitish also wants the central government to carry out a countrywide caste census, similar to the one he has conducted in Bihar.

The Desam’s 16 MPs and the JDU’s 12 are crucial for the BJP, which has only 240 seats in a House where the majority mark is 272.

Naidu, set to become chief minister of Andhra, had walked out of the NDA in 2018 over the issue of special category status, which ensures a state gets more central funds, grants-in-aid, and industrial incentives.

“For the TDP, a special category status for Andhra is a must as the state has been left high and dry after Telangana was carved out of it (in 2014),” a Desam leader said.

The Desam is firm on its demand for the Speaker’s post since it knows how adept the BJP is at breaking parties to acquire a majority of its own, sources said. When members defect, the Speaker decides on disqualification.

Less than a month after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, four of the six Desam members in the Rajya Sabha had joined the BJP — a history that appears to be very much on the Desam’s mind.

The Desam had been given a cabinet post and a junior minister’s berth in the first Modi government of 2014, but it now wants a bigger share of the pie given the BJP’s dependence on its support.

Nitish too is learnt to be eyeing a few important ministries that would help him get projects to Bihar, particularly in the fields of agriculture and rural development.

Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, which has five MPs, wants the railways, a portfolio his late father Ram Vilas Paswan held for a long time.

The BJP leadership has assigned Rajnath, Shah and party president J.P. Nadda to hold talks with the allies and work out the contours of the government.
National, Politics, Regional

Congress wins both Lok Sabha seats in strife-torn Manipur

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PTI, NEW DELHI, 5 June 2024: The Congress on Wednesday said the long-suffering people of Manipur have sent a “very powerful signal” by electing its leaders as MPs in both constituencies of the state, and asserted that this was a tribute to Rahul Gandhi’s visits to the violence-hit state.


The Congress won both the Lok Sabha seats in strife-torn Manipur on Tuesday.

Alfred Kanngam S Arthur won the Outer Manipur seat by 85,418 votes, defeating his nearest rival Kachui Timothy Zimik of the NPF.

In the Inner Manipur seat, Angomcha Bimol Akoijam defeated his nearest rival Thounaojam Basantakumar of the BJP by 1,09,801 votes. Akoijam got 3,74,017 votes andSingh received 2,64,216 votes.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The long-suffering people of Manipur, whose resilience and strength has been under major strain since the state began burning on the night of May 3rd 2023, have sent a very powerful signal by electing Congress MPs in both Inner and Outer Manipur.”
It is also a tribute to Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Manipur on June 29 and 30, 2023, and to the launch of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on January 14, 2024 from Thoubal, when the state government refused permission for it to start from Imphal, Ramesh said.

“It is also a tight slap on the face of Mr. Narendra Modi, who simply refused to reach out to the people of Manipur and did not visit the state even for a few hours,” the Congress leader said.

The two Congress MPs have a huge responsibility, and with their election, hopefully, the process of reconciliation will get a big boost, Ramedh added.


Manipur has been strife-torn since May last year when ethnic violence broke out after a march by Kuki tribals in the hill districts to protest against the valley-dominant Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribes status.

Since then, over 220 people belonging to both the communities, including security personnel, have been killed in the continuing violence.

BJP-led government has been in power in the state since 2017.

After the results were announced, state Congress president K Megha chandra said Chief Minister N Biren Singh should take responsibility for what has been happening in the state and resign on moral grounds. 

“We are victorious because of the support of the people who have been suffering. We are thankful to the people for showing their trust in our two candidates who have won with massive margins,” he told reporters at the state Congress headquarters. 

Meghachandra said corruption was the root cause of the prevailing situation in Manipur. “The people have given a strong message through this election. We will definitely make sure that the trust reposed on us by the people will be transformed into work, and we will do what we have said in our manifesto,” he added.

” The government should take responsibility for the present conflict. The chief minister should take moral responsibility and resign,” he said. 

After his victory, Akoijam said his top priority was to ensure that the people displaced in the conflict returned to their homes and lived a normal and dignified life. 

“It is a clear mandate against those people who have threatened Manipur. This is a clear message by the people not to take the state for granted. The people have spoken. I have fought this election for my state. Now we should all come together,” he said. 

“We have a crisis in the state for the one last year. People are homeless. My top priority is to ensure that those people go back and live a normal and dignified life, and this crisis is resolved,” said Akoijam, a professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. 

He urged his supporters to restrain themselves from celebrating the victory as along with the conflict the state was hit by a flood. Akoijam’s rival Basanta kumar is a state cabinet minister, holding the portfolios of Education, and Law & Legislative Affairs.
National, Politics

Kharge invites parties to join INDIA bloc after meeting with alliance leaders

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Kharge invites parties to join INDIA bloc

PTI, New Delhi, Jun 5, 2024 : The INDIA bloc would welcome all parties that share a fundamental commitment to the values enshrined in the Preamble of Constitution, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Wednesday at the first meeting of the opposition grouping after its impressive gains in Lok Sabha polls.

     
Addressing the opposition leaders who converged at his residence, Kharge said all INDIA alliance partners fought well, unitedly and resolutely.
     
“The mandate is decisively against Mr Modi, against him and the substance and style of his politics. It is a huge political loss for him personally apart from being a clear moral defeat as well. However, he is determined to subvert the will of the people,” he said.
     
“The INDIA alliance welcomes all parties which share its fundamental commitment to the values enshrined in the Preamble to our Constitution and to its many provisions for economic, social and political justice,” the Congress chief said in his opening remarks.
     
Thanking the INDIA bloc partners, he said, “I welcome all INDIA alliance partners. We fought well, fought unitedly, fought resolutely.”
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Modi all set for 3rd term as PM: NDA leaders meet at his residence

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 The resolution said the NDA government will continue working to lift people’s living standards for the country’s all-round development while conserving its heritage


PTI, New Delhi, Jun 05 2024 : Preparing to take oath for a third straight term as the head of a coalition government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s members who unanimously elected him as its leader.
 
NDA MPs will meet on June 7 to formally elect Modi as their leader and the alliance leaders will then go to the President to submit their letters of support, HAM (Secular) leader and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said after attending the meeting.
 
The new government may be sworn in over the weekend, some sources said, adding that there is a view to wrap up the formalities quickly to not allow any mood of uncertainty to build up, something a buoyant opposition may push.
How soon the BJP and its allies reach an agreement on matters like the share of ministries each party may get and other terms of negotiations could also be a factor in deciding the timing of the swearing-in or they could put off the tricky issues for resolution at a later stage.

TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, LJP(R) leader Chirag Paswan, JD(S) leader H D Kumarawamy, Jana Sena’s Pawan Kalyan, AGP’s Atul Bora and NCP’s Praful Patel were among the 21 leaders from 16 parties who attended the meeting besides Modi and BJP’s Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and J P Nadda.
 
Janata Dal (United) leader Sanjay Jha, who was present in the meeting, said the formalities related to the formation of the government at the Centre under Modi are expected to be over soon.
 
All parties expressed confidence in Modi’s leadership, he added.
 
A resolution passed at the meeting said the NDA government will continue working to lift people’s living standards for the country’s all-round development while conserving its heritage.
 
“We are all proud that the NDA fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls unitedly under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and won. We all NDA leaders unanimously elect Narendra Modi as our leader,” it added.

The resolution also said that people have seen the country being developed in every sector in the last 10 years due to the pro-people policies of the NDA government under Modi.
 
The NDA has won 293 seats in the Lok Sabha election, comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member House, paving the way for Modi to take the oath for a third consecutive term, a first for any ruling alliance since 1962.
 
However, it will be a different act for him this time as the BJP has fallen well short of the majority and depends on allies for the government-formation after enjoying a comfortable majority on its own in the previous two terms of his government.
 
Hosting the meeting, the BJP presented a picture of collective partnership with its allies with Naidu, Kumar and Shinde seated to the left of Modi while Nadda, Singh and Shah flanked the prime minster on his right.

In terms of their parties’ strength, Naidu, Kumar and Shinde are the three biggest NDA constituents in that order after the BJP.
The parties of Naidu and Kumar, who together command the support of 28 MPs, have rubbished speculation on their future moves. Naidu has reiterated his support to the BJP, a view echoed by JD(U)’s Jha as well.
 
Asked by a reporter if he is in the NDA, Naidu shot back,”We contested the elections together. Why do you doubt.” All leaders congratulated the PM for his leadership and the strides our nation has made under him. They appreciated the PM’s hard work and efforts in nation-building, he said.

Modi said at the meeting that it was a historic mandate for the NDA’s third consecutive government which, he noted, was last received in the country over 60 years back.
 
His allies lauded Modi for his clear vision for “Viksit Bharat” and asserted that they are partners in this goal.
 
They also praised him for enhancing India’s pride in the world, besides his efforts towards poverty eradication and pledged to continue the good work, the sources said. 
National, Politics

Elected in numbers: An inspired Opposition

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Modi is still leader of the treasury benches in the Lok Sabha but the electorate has sent him back leashed by the limitation of his numbers and at the mercy of his allies
Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi flash the victory sign after Rahul won from Rae Bareli and Wayanad on Tuesday.: PTI picture

Sankarshan Thakur, TT, 05.06.24 : PEOPLE’S POWER: Hubris has a habit of returning to haunt. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who proclaimed himself “not biological” but “sent by God” mid-May, has been found to be a mortal among us, shrinkable at no more than a jab of the finger. Modi’s “400-paar” vanity has been shredded, the NDA lost wind short of 300, the BJP has lost its majority in the Lok Sabha.

Modi is still leader of the treasury benches in the Lok Sabha but the electorate has sent him back leashed by the limitation of his numbers and at the mercy of his allies.

The Indian voter has heaved out a breath; that breath has punctured the pretence of Modi’s invincibility and scattered the ambitions of cultist absolutism. The 2024 verdict has effected corrections on the democracy scale, bringing in a spirited and inspired Opposition which may yet not count itself out of the power stakes in New Delhi.

The Congress, spearhead of the INDIA bloc, has not overruled the possibility of adventurist intervention in the rattled NDA ranks, trying to wean away Modi allies like Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh and Nitish Kumar of Bihar, and leaving him even more emaciated.

But Modi, diminished beyond expectation, emerged from daylong silence betraying not a shaken nerve, wearing a brave demeanour instead and brazenly claiming a historic win.

“People have placed their faith in the NDA for a third consecutive time!” he exclaimed on X. “This is a historical (sic) feat in India’s history. I bow to the Janata Janardan for this affection and assure them that we will continue the good work done in the last decade to keep fulfilling the aspirations of the people.”

The Prime Minister arrived at the BJP headquarters in Delhi mid-evening to a surreal, almost farcical, tableau of celebration that must have been curated in the expectation of a huge mandate. Modi, his face frown-ridden, his margin of victory in Varanasi drastically slashed, walked up to the stage, waving to gathered party workers in a hail of rose petals and golden confetti. The tone of the evening beggared the tone of the verdict.

Modi must be acutely aware, though, that his forthcoming stint in power will be unlike any other terms he has held, either as chief minister of Gujarat or as Prime Minister since 2014. Few would dispute that his persona and political mien — unlike the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s — are not tailored to the demands of coalitions and consensus-building. Neither is going to be easy with an Opposition that has rediscovered spirit and heft.

The Opposition waged its campaign pushed to the wall and braving unprecedented odds.

Two chief ministers were arrested as electioneering gathered momentum, the threat of raids or arrest by agencies like the ED and CBI hung over many others in the INDIA ranks.

The Congress’s bank accounts were briefly frozen and IT indemnities slapped on the party, formations like the Shiv Sena and the NCP were splintered and verdicts twisted in smash and grab adventures.

But they stayed the course, determined not to be trapped into the BJP’s discourse, intent on voicing their own concerns — the peril to the Constitution if the BJP was granted its “400-paar” demand, the hollowing out of key institutions and agencies, the fraud pulled off by the now-scrapped electoral bonds scheme, the many concerns over national security including the reverses in eastern Ladakh and the rollout of the Agnipath scheme.

The Prime Minister and his senior colleagues — Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda in the main — lavished disdain upon the Opposition and made arrogant claims of a sweeping victory way ahead of the the pronouncement of the people.

The night the laughably off-the-mark exit polls were broadcast, Modi claimed from his off-shore retreat in Kanyakumari: “I can say with confidence that the people of India have voted in record numbers to elect the NDA government…. They have seen our track record and the manner in which our work has brought about a qualitative change in the lives of the poor, marginalised and downtrodden.”

People in large parts of the nation have rebuffed that claim and posted their rejection. Nowhere as emphatically as in the key heartland state of Uttar Pradesh, land of the Ayodhya temple and chief minister Adityanath’s unabashed majoritarian bulldozer politics.

Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) scored a spectacular rally in UP and, in league with the Congress, left the BJP licking sore wounds. Akhilesh and wife Dimple won their seats handsomely; the Congress’s Kishori Lal Sharma, a relatively unknown manager of the Gandhi family interests in their pocketborough, drubbed the fancied Smriti Irani, and Rahul Gandhi took Rae Bareli.

But there was a larger message ringing out of UP — that divisive politics predicated on minority bashing doesn’t always pay dividends, especially not in the absence of essential delivery to the people.

As reporters of The Telegraph reported consistently from multiple datelines during the campaign, there was extreme distress and unease on the ground — over unemployment, over prices, over the widening gulf between the rich and the poor, which has become easily visible thanks to communication technology.

In several pockets, such as eastern UP, where Modi himself contests from, the anger was palpable. “Modi ki guarantee” had become a slogan that not only evoked ire on the ground, it became a thing to mock.

As an entrepreneur in Varanasi told me: “How long can one live off lies and promises? How much more of this mandir-masjid must be fed? Okay, forget the Rs 15 lakh in each account, accepted it was a jumla; but what happened to achchhe din? Don’t know what will happen in this election, but things are no longer the same.”

Likewise, a youngster in Gh­azipur close to Varanasi said: “Lagega jhatka, time aagaya vote ka tamacha lagane ka, bhaashan, bhaashan, bhaashan.”

Now we know.
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BJP wins 240 seats, Congress 99, all Seats Declared,

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Results and trends indicate that the National Democratic Alliance is set to secure 291 Lok Sabha seats, while the INDIA alliance is expected to have a tally of 234.

PTI  |  June 05, 2024, New Delhi  :

 The Election Commission of India has declared results for 542 of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, with the BJP winning 240 seats and the Congress 99.
The result for the Beed constituency in Maharashtra — where the NCP (Sharad Pawar) candidate Bajrang Manohar Sonwane is leading the BJP’s Pankaja Munde — is still awaited.

While the Lok Sabha has 543 members, counting was held for 542 seats after the BJP’s Surat candidate Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed.

According to the results declared early on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.

The BJP, whose candidates contested in the name of Modi, won in 240 seats, falling short of the 272 majority mark and needing the support of allies in the party-led NDA for government formation, a far cry from the 303 and 282 seats it had won in 2019 and 2014, respectively, to have a majority on its own.
With support from key allies N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), which won 16 and 12 seats in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, respectively, and other alliance partners, the NDA crossed the halfway mark.

The Congress, which is part of the opposition INDIA bloc, won 99 seats compared to 52 it won in 2019, eating into the BJP’s share in Rajasthan and Haryana.

As the Samajwadi Party kept the INDIA bloc’s morale high in Uttar Pradesh with 37 seats, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), another key member of the opposition alliance, won 29 seats in West Bengal, higher than its 2019 tally of 22. The BJP, which had won 18 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections, won 12 seats.

The results did not throw up a landslide victory the BJP-led NDA had hoped for and what was projected by the exit polls.
More than 640 million votes were to be counted in the world’s largest democratic exercise, conducted from April 19 to June 1 in seven phases.
National, Politics

Priyanka: Cong talisman who countered Modi

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 4, 2024 : She scoffed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s barbs by delivering her own piercing jibes. She revived painful memories of her father’s assassination to emphasise her family’s sacrifices and patriotism. Drawing immense crowds in rally after rally, she emerged as the mobiliser-in-chief for her party.


With the Congress putting up a surprisingly good show in the Lok Sabha polls, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has cemented her position as her party’s talisman.

“The Congress for a long time was in search of an effective campaigner and in the 2024 elections Priyanka Gandhi has been a revelation in the way she has responded to Modi. Priyanka Gandhi showed Modi can be countered and played a key role pan-India,” said Rasheed Kidwai, who has authored several books, including “24 Akbar Road: A Short History Of The People Behind The Fall And Rise Of The Congress”.

The INDIA bloc may end up falling short of the magic mark to form government but gave the country an opposition to contend with. At 3 pm, trends showed it ahead in 230 seats and the Congress leading in 98 seats, almost double of what it got last time. Priyanka Gandhi in large part was at the centre of the Congress’ action, giving a number of enduring images from this election campaign.

Who can forget her emotional outburst in Bengaluru when she lashed out at Prime Minister Modi over his “gold and mangalsutra” remarks, saying her mother Sonia Gandhi sacrificed her “mangalsutra” for the country.

The speculation was intense as was the spotlight on everything she said. But the Congress general secretary did not take the electoral plunge this time, opting instead to be the party’s go-to star campaigner and anchor for the elections in Rae Bareli, from where her brother contested, and Amethi, where the family’s aide Kishori Lal Sharma took on Union minister Smriti Irani.

Irani was trailing behind Sharma by more than 95,000 votes, giving the relatively unknown Sharma an easy win. Rahul Gandhi was poised to win with trends showing him ahead by 2.86 lakh votes.

Much of this is attributed to Priyanka Gandhi, who stayed camped in the two family bastions of Rae Bareli and Amethi for two weeks. If there was ever a non-playing captain in the rough and tumble that is the electoral arena it has to be the leader who was here, there and everywhere in the two constituencies.
     
Discussing her childhood, the pain of her father Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and her mother’s grief, she steered the Congress campaign, adroitly walking the tightrope between striking a familial chord and discussing national level issues.

The spotlight firmly on her, Priyanka Gandhi was strategist, orator and mass mobiliser.

As the curtains came down on Election 2024, analysts totted up the numbers. She took part in 108 public meetings and roadshows. She also gave more than 100 media bites, one TV interview and five print interviews during her marathon election campaign.

She campaigned in 16 states and one union territory. Priyanka Gandhi also addressed two conferences of workers in Amethi and Rae Bareli.

At a packed party workers’ meeting in Amethi, the Congress leader narrated the story of a woman sitting in the audience who wanted to educate her daughter but her father-in-law was against it. Undeterred, she stitched sari falls to fund her daughter’s education and managed to make her a graduate.

Priyanka Gandhi told the woman that she was inspired by her and then called her over to sit on stage. There were plenty of smiles all around and a few cheers too as the audience responded to a meeting that appeared to go beyond being just politics.

It was just one of the many instances in the campaign during which Priyanka Gandhi went on a charm offensive with speeches centred around anecdotes from past elections — when she campaigned for her mother Sonia Gandhi or brother Rahul, or from her childhood when she accompanied her father Rajiv Gandhi who fought multiple elections from Amethi.

In one meeting, she said she would fast for her father’s safety after he lost power and was in the opposition.

“I started keeping ‘maun vrats’ and my father asked why I was doing it on Sundays and told me, ‘it is the only day when I get some time to speak with you’,” Priyanka Gandhi narrated.

In her well-attended corner meetings, she sometimes talked about her mother’s pain when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. “I have never seen my mother smile like she used to when my father was around.”

Most of her speeches were akin to a conversation with the crowd, establishing a connect and giving people the impression that this is someone they know, someone sharing her feelings and thoughts with them.

Accountability was a constant refrain in her campaign speeches across the country. In her campaign speeches, Priyanka Gandhi also made it a point to appeal to people to not vote on emotive issues based on religion and caste and vote for bread and butter issues to improve their daily lives.

Political observers say Priyanka Gandhi took on Modi and countered his attacks on the Congress during her whirlwind campaign.

Going forward, her role in the party would be in focus as the wait continues for her electoral debut. If the Congress has to build on its pluses this election, she will have to be more hands-on in future with a bigger organisational role perhaps. 
National, Politics

INDIA gains 11% in Hindi heartland, NDA loses 13% votes in West,

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INDIA gains 11% in Hindi heartland, NDA loses 13% votes in West,

PTI, New Delhi, Jun 4, 2024 :  The INDIA alliance made a major comeback in several politically crucial Hindi heartland states on Tuesday with its constituent Samajwadi Party registering a significant resurgence in Uttar Pradesh and the bloc making steady headway in Rajasthan, Bihar, Haryana and Jharkhand.


However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP-led alliance is set to retain power for a third consecutive term but not with an overwhelming majority as predicted by various exit polls.

According to results and trends, the National Democratic Alliance is set to get 291 Lok Sabha seats while the INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) is expected to have a tally of 234.

The most unexpected performance put up by the INDIA was in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh where Samajwadi Party has won in 30 seats and was marching ahead in seven more while Congress came out victorious in six constituencies.

The BJP won in 29 seats and is leading in four while its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal won in two constituencies and Apna Dal (Soneylal) and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) came out victorious in one each.

The opposition bloc’s performance in Uttar Pradesh is being seen as a big surprise for the BJP that had almost swept the polls in 2014 with a stunning performance of coming out victorious in 71 seats and held its ground in 2019 by winning 62.
    
In 2019, the Samajwadi Party won in five seats, Congress in one and Bahujan Samaj Party in 10.

The Indian alliance also made significant gains in Rajasthan, Haryana, Bihar and Jharkhand but could not spring a surprise in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh.

In Rajasthan, BJP won in 14 seats, while Congress came out victorious in eight while CPI(M), Rashtriya Loktantrik Party and Bharat Adivasi Party scored one seat each.

The BJP had won all the 25 seats in the 2019 polls.

The INDIA alliance also made inroads into Bihar with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) winning in two seats and marching ahead in two more while Congress emerged victorious in three seats and CPI(ML) in two seats.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won in 26 seats with BJP scoring 10 and ahead in two, JD(U) winning in 11 and ahead in 1 and Lok Janshakti Party(Ram Vilas) winning four and ahead in one seat.

In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA won 39 out of 40 seats in Bihar with BJP coming out victorious in 17 seats, JD(U) in 16 and Lok Janshakti Party in six.

In Haryana, both Congress and BJP won three seats each and ahead in two each. The BJP had won all 10 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

In Jharkhand too, INDIA alliance’s Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won one and three seats respectively. The Congress is ahead in one seat. BJP’s ally AJSU Party won one seat.

The BJP won six seat and ahead in two more.

The BJP won 11 seats in 2019 polls while its ally All Jharkhand Students Union came out victorious in one seat. The JMM and Congress won one seat each.

The NDA continued its dominance in Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Chhattisgarh.

The BJP won all 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh and all four seats in Himachal Pradesh.

In Delhi, it won five seats and is ahead in two.

The BJP is all set to sweep Uttarakhand as it won three seats in the state while marching ahead in the remaining two seats.

In Chhattisgarh, the BJP won eight seats and is leading in two more while Congress won in one.

In 2019, BJP won 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh while Congress won one. In that year, the BJP had won all four seats in Himachal Pradesh, all five in Uttarakhand, all seven in Delhi and nine out of 11 seats in Chhattisgarh.

Congress won two seats in Chhattisgarh in 2019.

In total, the Hindi heartland states comprise 225 Lok Sabha seats.
National, Politics

Poll results mandate against PM Modi Kharge

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 4, 2024 : Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections was a mandate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a political and moral defeat for him.

    
Addressing a press conference here, he termed the results as victory of the people and of democracy.

The BJP-led NDA was ahead in over 290 seats, while the opposition INDIA bloc was leading in 232 parliamentary seats.

“This is the victory of the people and that of democracy. We had been saying that this was a fight between the people and Modi. We humbly accept the people’s mandate,” Kharge told reporters at the AICC headquarters flanked by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

Kharge said the voters had not given a complete majority to any single party, particularly the BJP that sought votes on the basis of ‘one person, one face’.

“The voters have not given a clear mandate to any single party. This mandate is against Modi. This is his political and moral defeat. It is a big defeat for a person who sought votes in his own name. He has suffered a moral setback,” he said.

Kharge said Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra reached out to lakhs of people and supported the election campaign.

He said the Congress and INDIA bloc contested the elections in adverse circumstances and accused the BJP-led government of capturing constitutional institutions to create hurdles in the path of the opposition.

“Our bank accounts were seized and a campaign was launched against our leaders. Yet, the Congress carried out a positive election campaign raising issues such as inflation, unemployment, farmers’ and workers’ distress, misuse of Constitutional institutions,” Kharge said.

He said people connected with the Congress on these issues and clearly understood the campaign launched by the prime minister.

“People very well understood the lies spread by Modi about the Congress manifesto,” Kharge said.

He said the arrogance of the BJP led to the capture of constitutional institutions, which were used to target political opponents.

“Those who felt the pressure joined them, while those who resisted found their parties in disarray and leaders in jail,” he said.

“People were confident that if Modi was given another term, the next assault would be on the Constitution and democracy,” Kharge said, adding that the evidence of this will be seen in the upcoming Parliament session.

He thanked the INDIA bloc partners for standing together, campaigning jointly and helping each other.

“In the coming days, we have to fight to protect the rights of the people, to protect the Constitution and democracy, the progress of the country and to secure the borders. We have to ensure that Parliament runs smoothly and issues raised by the opposition get priority, they are discussed in parliament,” Kharge said.