Tag: Amit Shah

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh reponds to Home Minister Amit Shah’s “buy shares before June 4” remark

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has responded to Union Minister Amit Shah’s comments on the stock market’s future. Accusing Shah of inciting baseless fears about the INDIA government’s impact on financial markets, Ramesh said, “There is no basis to the fear-mongering, incited by the outgoing Home Minister, about the INDIA government in financial markets. The record of the Congress party in providing strong and inclusive economic growth speaks for itself.”

Our statement on the increasing market volatility of the last few weeks. There is no need for the fear-mongering that the Home Minister is inciting. The INDIA Coalition is coming to power, and it shall herald a new age of stable, predictable policymaking and overall prosperity pic.twitter.com/zsiPeuwbgp

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 19, 2024

Ramesh contrasted the economic performance under former PM Manmohan Singh’s leadership with that of the current Modi government, highlighting superior growth and investment during Singh’s tenure. “Economic growth and investment were much higher under Dr. Manmohan Singh than under the Modi government. Private investment and the share of manufacturing as a percentage were much greater under Dr. Singh than in the past decade,” he noted. Ramesh attributed economic disruptions to policies such as demonetisation, GST, and the poorly planned lockdown, alongside a climate of fear and uncertainty that he claimed has driven wealth creators abroad.

In outlining the INDIA government’s economic agenda, Ramesh emphasised the need to restore trust and cooperation between private enterprises and regulatory authorities. “Our most important contribution will be to remove the current environment of distrust and fear, and create a healthy ecosystem where private enterprises, regulatory authorities, tax authorities, and government will work in a spirit of mutual cooperation and respect,” he stated. He underscored the commitment to fair and consistent regulatory oversight as detailed in the party’s Nyay Patra manifesto.

Also Read: AAP protest walk: Arvind Kejriwal challenges BJP to arrest entire party, Delhi Police imposes Section 144

Ramesh also pledged a clear, transparent, and predictable tax regime, including the introduction of a reformed GST system and stable personal income tax rates. “We will eliminate ‘Angel tax’ and all other exploitative tax schemes that inhibit investment in new micro, small companies, and innovative start-ups,” he promised.

The Congress leader highlighted the party’s historical fiscal responsibility, citing a fiscal deficit of 4.5% of GDP at the end of Singh’s tenure compared to the 5.8% deficit under the Modi government in 2023-24.

His remark comes days after Home Minister Amit Shah’s comment on the Indian stock market in an interview with NDTV.  Reacting to the recent correct in the financial market, Shah said “Stock market crashes should not be linked with elections, but even if such a rumour has been spread, I suggest that you buy (shares) before June 4. It will shoot up.”

Shah stated that a stable government, such as one led by Narendra Modi, would help the market perform better. “Whenever there is a steady government, markets do well. That’s why I am saying we are going to get 400-plus seats and a stable Modi government will be in power. Therefore, the share market will certainly go up,” he said.

Also Read: Stampede-like situation disrupts Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav’s joint rally in Uttar Pradesh

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Gandhinagar Lok Sabha election: 55.65% turnout as Amit Shah eyes 2nd consecutive term

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Gandhinagar, one of the 26 parliamentary constituencies in Gujarat, has been a citadel of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 1989 and is currently represented by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. During the third phase of polling on Tuesday, the constituency recorded a voter turnout of 55.65%.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Shah is eyeing a second consecutive term in this seat and is pitted against Congress candidate Sonal Patel, who is the All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary. An architect by profession, Patel is also the party co-in-charge of Mumbai and western Maharashtra.

Voting for the 2024 elections in Gujarat is being held in a single phase on May 7 across 25 of the 26 seats after BJP’s Surat candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed after the nomination of Congress’ Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected while other candidates withdrew from the contest. The counting of votes will be done on June 4.

Gandhinagar, which encompasses seven assembly segments — all held by the BJP — holds a strong urban presence with a 79% urban electorate. This constituency reflects a significant Hindu majority demographic and has previously sent stalwarts like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and BJP veteran LK Advani.

Advani, first elected from here in 1998, represented the seat until 2019 when he was replaced by Amit Shah, who defeated the rival Congress candidate CJ Chavda by more than 5.57 lakh votes.

Voting date

Polling for the 2024 general elections in Gujarat will be held in a single phase on May 7. Till 9 am, the voter turnout in Gandhinagar was at 39.23%.

During the 2019 polls, Gandhinagar registered a total voter turnout of 66.08%.

List of candidates

A total of 14 candidates are in the fray for the Gandhinagar seat in the 2024 general elections. Here’s a look at some of the prominent names on the list:

2019 results

BJP’s Amit Shah registered a landslide victory from Gandhinagar in the 2019 elections, bagging 8,94,624 votes. Congress’ CJ Chavda could only manage to get 3,37,610 votes.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Seats to date, all you need to know about third phase of voting

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elaborate arrangements have been put in place as India gears up for the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, May 7, covering 93 parliamentary constituencies spread across 11 states and Union Territories.

More than 1,300 candidates are in the fray in the third phase, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Vidisha), Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Union Minister Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad), ex-chief minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai (Haveri), and AIUDF’s Badruddin Ajmal (Dhubri) among several others.

Earlier, 94 seats across 12 states and Union Territories were scheduled to vote in the third phase on May 7. However, BJP’s Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Gujarat’s Surat seat. Meanwhile, polling in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri constituency was deferred to May 25. Besides them, Betul in Madhya Pradesh, which was earlier supposed to vote during the second phase on April 26, will now conduct polling in the third phase.

Among the seats going to polls in the third phase are four in Assam, five in Bihar, seven in Chhattisgarh, two in Goa, 25 in Gujarat, 14 in Karnataka, nine in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, 10 in Uttar Pradesh, four in West Bengal and two seats of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

Voting for the first and second phases of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in India were conducted on April 19 and April 26, respectively. While the first phase recorded a total voter turnout of 66.14%, the second phase witnessed a voter turnout of 66.71%, according to the official data shared by the Election Commission.

After the third phase on May 7, voting for the fourth phase will be conducted on May 13, the fifth on May 20, the sixth on May 25 and the last phase on June 1. The counting of votes for all the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country will be held on June 4.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Rahul will be forced to take out ‘Congress Dhoondho Yatra’ after June 4: Amit Shah in Bareilly

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday attacked Rahul Gandhi, saying he started his party’s campaign with Bharat Jodo Yatra that will end with a ‘Congress Dhoondho Yatra,’ suggesting that the party will get a severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections. Addressing an election rally in Bareilly, Shah alleged that Rahul, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and SP’s Akhilesh Yadav did not attend the Ram Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya fearing this may alienate their vote bank.

“The ‘shehzade’ (prince) of ‘ghamandia’ INDI Alliance started his election campaign with Bharat Jodo Yatra but on June 4 (counting day), it will end with a ‘Congress Dhoondho Yatra’,” Shah said. “In the first two phases, Congress is nowhere, while Narendra Modi has made a century and taken a lead in the ‘400 race’ (race to 400 seats),” he said.

He said that this election is for ending terrorism and Naxalism and making India the third major economy globally. Shah hit out at the INDIA bloc partner Samajwadi Party, saying it indulges in dynastic politics, for its president Akhilesh Yadav has given tickets to five members of his family in the current election.

Also Read: Lok Sabha elections 2024: Pallavi Dempo, Jyotiraditya Scindia among richest candidates in third phase

He said that while Akhilesh is contesting from Kannauj and his wife Dimple Yadav is in fray from Mainpuri, Akshay Yadav, Aditya Yadav, and Dharmendra Yadav, all three his family members, are contenders from Firozabad, Budaun, and Azamgarh. “Had he given a ticket to some Yadav youths, it would have been better,” he said. Shah said that for the past 70 years, Congress was stalling the Ram Temple construction, a task completed by the BJP.

“When you made Modi PM for the second time, within five years, we won the case, did the groundbreaking, and performed the consecration ceremony of the temple on January 22. Samajwadi Party chief Akhliesh Yadav, Dimple, Rahul and Priyanka, all were invited by the temple trust but they did not attend the consecration ceremony because of the fear of their vote bank,” Shah said. “You all know who their vote bank is,” he added.

On revoking Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, he said, “Congress president asks what do people of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have to do with Kashmir. He doesn’t know that for Kashmir, every child of Bareilly can sacrifice his lives In Kashmir, our tricolour is flying with pride.” On the “surgical strike” after Pulwama attack, Shah said that under the past Congress governments, there was no reprisal for such acts and anyone could enter the country and do bomb blasts. “We did a surgical strike inside Pakistan to get rid of terrorists.” He praised the Narendra Modi government’s successful Covid vaccination of 130 crore people.

Shah claimed that Uttar Pradesh was riven with communal riots till 2017, when Yogi Adityanath came to power and made it riot-free and stopped residents’ exodus from western UP. “In Yogi’s regime, it is the hooligans who are migrating,” he said. In Samajwadi Party’s UP, factories prepared country-made pistols, but now they manufacture tanks and missiles that will be fired on Pakistan, he said. Claiming that the Opposition’s INDIA bloc is torn with internal differences, he said, “Akhilesh wants to become chief minister. Sonia ji wants his son (Rahul Gandhi) to become prime minister. Those who are working to make their family members PM and CM, can they think of poor welfare?” Bareilly will go to poll in the third phase on May 7.

Also Read: Exclusive | NDA will cross 400 mark before 12:30 pm on June 4, can win all 80 seats in UP, says Amit Shah

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Exclusive | Rahul, Priyanka do not have self-confidence to fight from ancestral seats: Amit Shah

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief strategist Amit Shah attacked Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for having the self-confidence to fight Lok Sabha elections from ancestral seats — Amethi and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress is still undecided on candidates for the party’s traditional seats even as the window for filing nominations ends on May 3.

“These people have lost their self-confidence. They don’t have the self-confidence to fight even from their ancestral seat. If they didn’t want to fight, why have they kept the decision on the seat pending for so long? If they had given it to a worker, at least he could have done some public outreach. This confusion somewhere reflects the lack of self-confidence,” Shah said in an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor Rahul Joshi.

PTI quoted sources saying Rahul is likely to contest from Rae Bareli. Priyanka is also keen on contesting from the Rae Bareli seat, but Rahul Gandhi is not favourable to the idea.

The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul since 2004 and he remained a member of Parliament from the constituency till 2019. BJP’s Smriti Irani defeated Rahul in the 2019 General Elections. The Rae Bareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024. Before that, Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics in 1999. She is now a Rajya Sabha MP.

The Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.

Also, Shah claimed that the NDA can win all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the state with the highest number of Lok Sabha seats. “In Uttar Pradesh, we will increase our seats by five to seven. If everything goes well, we can win 80 out of 80,” Shah said. In 2019, the NDA won 64 seats in Uttar Pradesh down from 73 in the 2014 elections.

If Shah stands true, then Samajwadi Party stalwarts will also face the brunt. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting from Kannauj, and his wife Dimple is contesting from Mainpuri. Apart from this, his family members are in the fray from Firozabad and Azamgarh.

“They are forced to field family members. It is their compulsion. That’s their main character. They don’t have anything else. To fight for family members and to make family members fight in elections — that’s the game,” he had said.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha election is underway and the voting is over in the first two phases. The polling for the third phase is on May 7. Uttar Pradesh is voting in all the phases.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

‘Will country run on basis of Sharia?’ Amit Shah says Congress ‘outsourced’ manifesto to minorities & Left | Exclusive

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Congress seems to have outsourced the making of its manifesto to minorities and people from the extreme Left, Home Minister Amit Shah said as he tore into the Grand Old Party for promoting personal laws and taking the country back to politics of appeasement.

In an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Shah said the BJP had raised the manifesto issue to expose the intentions of those contesting against it.

“Tell me, in this era, can any political party talk of personal laws? Will the country run on the basis of Sharia? On the one hand, in our manifesto, in our Sankalp Patra, we talk about bringing a Uniform Civil Code. Congress is saying that it will promote personal laws. The Congress must answer because this is a very important issue,” Shah said.

Reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stand that the Congress manifesto bore the imprint of the Muslim League, the home minister said: “They are saying that for the contracts of the country, they will give priority to minorities. Who is the first lowest, what is the past performance, whether they have the capability to do the work or not, will contracts be decided on the basis of this or on the basis of religion? How do they want to run the country? The people of the country will have to decide. After a long time, Narendra Modi-ji has taken the country out of the politics of appeasement. They want to take it back in the same direction again because the Congress does not have the confidence to win.”

Shah said there was no ambiguity over where the resources would come from for distribution among minorities. “It comes from the statement of the then Prime Minister of the country, Manmohan Singh, which was a very famous statement that the minorities have the first right to the resources of this country, and among the minorities, particularly Muslims. Now when it comes to distributing wealth, it will be from resources only. The government will distribute it by taking people’s property. And I say that if this is not true, then the Congress party should clarify what this means.”

On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s idea of a ‘nationwide X-Ray’ to determine the socio-economic status of the people and redistribute wealth accordingly, the home minister said: “That’s his thinking. I think that such an old party has outsourced the making of its manifesto to minorities and people from the extreme Left.”

Also Read: Exclusive | NDA will cross 400 mark before 12:30 pm on June 4, can win all 80 seats in UP, says Amit Shah

Asked about the BJP and PM Modi’s “Mangalsutras will be snatched” assertion, Shah said the issue of wealth included people’s savings, property and ‘Streedhan’.

Shah also weighed in on the inheritance tax debate as he took a dig at Sam Pitroda, US-based president of the Congress’s overseas wing, who had recently spoken about inheritance tax in the US while delving into the issue of redistribution of wealth.

“I feel that Sam Pitroda is living in an ivory tower. He has no connection with the culture of this country, the mood of the people, and the traditions of this country,” he said.

Asked if the BJP would never bring any inheritance tax, the home minister said: “We have placed our Sankalp Patra in front of the people with total transparency. All the facts are there. We will not do anything covertly.”

The sentiment was echoed by PM Modi in his exclusive interview with Network18 when he said BJP’s vision for the country is clearly laid out in its manifesto and indicated that inheritance tax is not remotely part of it.

“What the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to do is written in our manifesto… The ideology of the BJP is clear. We go before the country with our manifesto and works. Please don’t impose their great thoughts on us,” he said.

“I am talking about development and inheritance and they are talking of plundering that inheritance. Their history till date is about doing what they have mentioned in the manifesto. It is my responsibility to tell the countrymen that they are taking the country in this direction. Now you decide whether you want to go or not. But it is my responsibility that on the basis of facts and importance, I should tell you [the truth],” the prime minister had said.

Also Read: View | Congress manifesto vs BJP’s wealth redistribution narrative — is it something out of nothing

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Exclusive | NDA will cross 400 mark before 12:30 pm on June 4, can win all 80 seats in UP, says Amit Shah

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief strategist Amit Shah made a bold prediction that the National Democratic will win 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections before 12:30 pm on June 4, the day of the result. In an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor Rahul Joshi, Shah gave a state-by-state analysis of NDA’s performance and predicted the alliance winning all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Even though questions are being raised on the lower voter turnout in comparison to the 2019 General Elections, Shah said Narendra Modi will become Prime Minister again. “NDA winning 400 seats is absolutely on track. You will see on counting day, before 12.30 pm, NDA will cross 400, Modi ji will again become Prime Minister. There are many reasons for the lower turnout. After twelve years, the electoral rolls have been revised. The second reason is that there is no contest from the other side, which affects the turnout in a way. My party’s team and I have done a detailed analysis. We are moving towards the third phase with well over 100 seats from the first two. I don’t see any problem in crossing the target of 400.”

The voter turnout in the second phase was 66.7%, which was less than the figures of the 2019 parliamentary polls. In the first phase, the turnout was 65.5% as compared to 69.43% in the phase one of the 2019 parliamentary polls.

The NDA won 352 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and this time the BJP is aiming to win 370 seats and NDA to cross the 400 mark. Statewise, Shah said the NDA can win all the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the state with the highest number of Lok Sabha seats. “In Uttar Pradesh, we will increase our seats by five to seven. If everything goes well, we can win 80 out of 80,” Shah said. In 2019, the NDA won 64 seats in Uttar Pradesh down from 73 in 2014 elections.

Shah is confident of NDA winning of at least 40 seats in Maharashtra, the state with second highest number of Lok Sabha seats at 48. “Sure, the figure of 41 may become 40 or 42, but the result will be more or less the same,” he said even though the alliance is struggling to find candidates on a few seats. The NDA won 41 seats in the last polls.

The NDA won all seats in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand. “We will repeat the results there,” Shah addded.

In Gujarat, Kshatriyas are unhappy with the candidature of Union Minister Purshottam Rupala from Rajkot. “We will get all 26 seats in Gujarat. And the margins will also be higher than in the 2019 elections for all seats. We are constantly communicating with Kshatriyas. I have full faith that everything will be fine. We will win all 26 seats and our margins will also go up,” Shah said.

Shah is confident of NDA winning at least 12 out of 14 seats in Assam, 30 out of 42 seats in West Bengal and 16 out of 21 seats in Odisha. In 2019 polls, the NDA won nine seats in Assam, 18 in West Bengal and eight in Odisha. “Assessment is still ongoing. I have only had one round, assessment will happen, but I can say with certainty that the people of Odisha will bless the Bharatiya Janata Party this time,” he added.

The BJP has focussed on southern states this time with Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting as many times in the last few months. The BJP is hopeful of opening its account in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

“In the south, all four states combined, we will be ahead of Congress. We have fought a very good election and will open our account. But estimating the seats there is a problem because there are very close fights. We have an alliance in Andhra Pradesh. We are fighting a very good election. It is just the beginning. We should perform very well in the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana. We could win our highest seats so far from there,” he said.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha election is underway and the voting is over in the first two phases. The polling for the third phase is on May 7 and the fate of Amit Shah from Ahmedabad seat in Gujarat will be sealed.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Baramati to Mainpuri, key battles in phase 3

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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With two phases of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 concluded, India is now headed to the third phase scheduled for May 7. As many as 1,351 candidates from 12 states and Union Territories are in the fray for the next phase. These include eight candidates from Madhya Pradesh’s Betul seat, where the election was supposed to be held in the second phase but was postponed to the third following the death of the BSP candidate. Meanwhile, BJP candidate from Gujarat’s Surat seat Mukesh Dalal has been elected unopposed.

The Election Commission received a total of 2,963 nominations for 95 seats, including Betul. Of these, 1,563 were found valid after scrutiny.

Here’s a look at some of the key contests in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections:

1. Gandhinagar

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is looking forward to a second consecutive term from this crucial seat in Gujarat, which was earlier held for a long time by BJP stalwart LK Advani. Shah is competing against Congress candidate Sonal Patel, who is the All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary and an architect by profession. In the 2019 elections, Shah defeated rival Congress candidate CJ Chavda by more than 5.57 lakh votes.

2. Mainpuri

A stronghold of the Samajwadi Party, this seat in Uttar Pradesh is currently represented by former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav after she won the 2022 by-poll necessitated by the demise of SP stalwart Mulayam Singh Yadav. Dimple Yadav is fielded against BJP’s Jaiveer Singh and Shiv Prasad Yadav of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

3. Baramati

Baramati in western Maharashtra has majorly favoured veteran leader Sharad Pawar and his family over the past few decades. However, the situation is quite different in the 2024 general elections as Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar rebelled against him and joined the Eknath Shine-led Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state. Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, a three-time MP from this seat, is facing a direct contest from Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra this time.

4. Shimoga

Shimoga is one of the most talked about seats in Karnataka as children of two former CMs are locking horns here. While the BJP has fielded BY Raghavendra, the son of sitting MP and veteran leader BS Yediyurappa, the Congress has named former CM late S Bangarappa’s daughter Geetha Shivarajkumar, who is married to film star Shivarajkumar and is daughter-in-law of Kannada thespian late Rajkumar. Also, in the fray is BJP rebel leader KS Eshwarappa.

5. Bharuch

Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Dediapada MLA Chaitar Vasava is up against six-time sitting MP Mansukhbhai Vasava from this seat in Gujarat, a stronghold of the saffron party. This is one of the two seats the Congress has set aside for its INDIA bloc partner in the state. Bharuch was earlier represented by the late Ahmed Patel.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Amit Shah deepfake video: Mumbai police begin probe, Home Minister slams Congress

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Mumbai West region cyber police have initiated a probe after registering an FIR in connection with an alleged deepfake video involving Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The doctored video, which gained traction across various social media platforms, depicted Shah addressing a rally in Telangana and purportedly stating that if the BJP were to form the government, they would abolish the reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC).

However, clarification has since emerged that the original speech delivered by Shah had a different context. Shah said that if the BJP came to power, they would eliminate what he termed as an “unconstitutional reservation” extended to Muslims, emphasising the rights of SC, ST, and OBC communities in Telangana.

The complaint highlighted the dissemination of the deepfake video and also implicated 17 links associated with Twitter handles, purportedly belonging to members of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). These accounts were reported to have shared the manipulated video, indicating a potential motive behind the dissemination of misinformation.

In response to these developments, Shah condemned the circulation of the doctored video, attributing it to the Congress party’s efforts to undermine the election campaign out of panic and a fear of defeat.

The Congress has now resorted to misleading citizens with fake videos out of panic and fear of defeat.

The right to reservations in the country belongs to SC, ST, and OBC brothers and sisters, and as long as the BJP government is in office, no one can change it. The INDI… pic.twitter.com/8KwNaxbY4N

— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) April 30, 2024

Shah’s remarks came after the Delhi Police summoned Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in connection with the case. Additionally, the Assam Police took action by arresting a Congress worker in Guwahati for posting the video on social media platform X, seizing relevant electronic devices for investigation.

While Shah had previously articulated the BJP’s stance on reservation policies, particularly regarding Muslim reservations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the emergence of the deepfake video raised concerns about the manipulation of digital content for political gain.

The Mumbai police, in collaboration with relevant authorities, have initiated a comprehensive investigation into the matter, leveraging both legal provisions under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act. The probe aims to ascertain the origin of the deepfake video, identify the individuals involved in its creation and dissemination, and take appropriate action.

Also read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Amit Shah promises end to Muslim reservation in Telangana if BJP comes to power

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow