Tag: Assembly elections 2021

Ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s visit, Congress loses majority in poll-bound Puducherry

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

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The Congress government lost its majority in the Union Territory of Puducherry after party MLA A John Kumar resigned on Tuesday from his post. Kumar won the Kamaraj Nagar byelection in 2019.

The strength of the ruling party has been reduced to 10 after Kumar’s resignation. Its ally DMK has three members and an independent also supports the government. The simple majority in the assembly with the reduced strength is 15.

This comes ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the poll-bound Puducherry on February 17 to kickstart the poll campaign.

Currently, Congress is heading the government in Puducherry under Chief Minister V Narayanasamy.

The exodus of Congress MLAs started with the resignation of then Minister A Namassivayam and E Theeppainjan last month with the two later joining the BJP.

Malladi Krishna Rao, also a Minister, resigned from the government and also as MLA on Monday. Another Congress MLA N Dhanavelou was disqualified for alleged anti-party activities in July last year.

Both Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are going to Assembly polls this year. However, the dates of the elections are yet to be announced.

Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) Sunil Arora has said that the election will be held at the same time in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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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

PM Modi launches multiple projects in Chennai, lauds TN farmers for record food grain production

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

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the Chennai Metro Rail Phase-I extension and laid the foundation stone for several others in different sectors, including railways, in Tamil Nadu.

The Rs 3,770 crore Chennai Metro Rail Phase-I extension was among the completed projects launched by the Prime Minister. Modi said that these projects are symbols of innovation and indigenous development.

“The world is looking at India with great enthusiasm and positivity. This decade is going to be India’s because of the hard work of 130 crore Indians,” he said.

He lauded the farmers of the state for record food grain production and good use of water resources. “We have to do whatever we can do to conserve water. Always remember the mantra of ‘Per drop, more crop’,” he said.

Modi added that the issue of Tamil rights has been taken up by the Central government consistently with Sri Lanka.

“We are committed to ensuring that they live with equality, justice, peace and dignity,” he said.

Handing over the Arjun Main Battle Tank to the Army, Modi said that Tamil Nadu should evolve as the tank manufacturing hub of the country like it has done in the case of automobiles.

The state-of-the-art Arjun tank has been indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO)’s Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) at Avadi along with 15 academic institutions, eight labs and several MSMEs.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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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

‘Suffocated’ TMC MP Dinesh Trivedi resigns from Rajya Sabha

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

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Ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi resigned as the Rajya Sabha MP on Friday. “I am resigning from Rajya Sabha today. There is violence happening in my state. We cannot speak anything here,” Trivedi said.

Thanking the TMC for his Rajya Sabha membership, Trivedi said, “Grateful to my party that they have sent me here. I’m feeling suffocated that we’re not able to do anything over violence in the state. My soul tells me that if you can’t do anything sitting here, then you must resign. I will continue to work for the people of West Bengal,” Trivedi said.

Trivedi said he could not continue as a mute spectator to the violence committed in Bengal. The TMC is no longer Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party, said Trivedi. “It was my inner voice. I couldn’t have been sitting in Parliament as a mute spectator over what is going on, especially in Bengal. There was no forum where I could have raised my voice; I would have done injustice to Bengal,” Trivedi said.

Trivedi has handed over his resignation to Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha M Venkaiah Naidu.

TMC MP Sougata Roy said Trivedi’s resignation was no surprise to him. “We did not know he had resigned. However, it is not a shock. He was not a grassroots leader, he had lost Lok Sabha elections. Mamata Banerjee sent him to Rajya Sabha. ‘Trinamool’ means grassroots. It will give chance to other grassroots workers to emerge,” Roy said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party was quick to react to the development offered Trivedi to join the saffron party. “Not just Dinesh Trivedi ji, whoever wants to do honest work, cannot stay in Trinamool Congress. If he wants to join Bharatiya Janata Party, we will welcome him:” BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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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

CAA will be implemented after COVID-19 vaccination drive ends, says Amit Shah

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

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the Central government will start granting citizenship to refugees under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) after the COVID-19 vaccination drive ends.

Addressing a rally in West Bengal’s Thakurnagar, Shah said, “As soon as vaccination drive will conclude and we become Corona-free, the work of providing citizenship will be undertaken. CAA is Parliament’s law, how can you stop it? Also, you will not be in a position to stop it.”

Accusing the opposition parties of misleading the minorities about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, he said its implementation will not impact the citizenship status of Indian minorities.

Shah said the Modi government had in 2018 promised it will bring in new citizenship law and kept it when the BJP was voted to power in 2019. He said, after the country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, its implementation had to be kept in abeyance.

Earlier today, he flagged off BJP’s fourth ‘Poribortan Yatra’ from Cooch Behar and said that BJP government will free Bengal of infiltrators once it comes to power.

Shah launched a scathing attack at Mamata Banerjee and said that by the time the election ends, she will also chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

“If slogans of Jai Shri Ram are not raised here, will it be raised in Pakistan?” Shah asked.

BJP has increased the political activity in poll-bound Assam and West Bengal and with senior leaders regularly visiting the states. On February 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited both states and launched many development projects there.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

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

‘If not here, will Jai Shri Ram slogans be raised in Pakistan,’ Amit Shah slams Mamata

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

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Union Minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched a scathing attack at West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) President Mamata Banerjee and said that by the time the election ends, she will also chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

“If slogans of Jai Shri Ram are not raised here, will it be raised in Pakistan?” Shah asked.

Flagging off BJP’s fourth ‘Poribortan Yatra’ from West Bengal’s Cooch Behar, Shah said that BJP government will free Bengal of infiltrators once it comes to power in the state.

“Uproot the TMC government and we will give you Sonar Bangla in 5 years,” he said, adding that more than 130 BJP workers have been killed by TMC goons, but no action has been taken. “Once our government comes to power, each of the murderers will be sent to jail,” he said.

He added that the Assembly Polls will be a fight between Narendra Modi’s “development model” and Mamata Banerjee’s “destruction model”.

BJP has increased the political activity in poll-bound Assam and West Bengal and with senior leaders regularly visiting the states. On February 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited both states and launched many development projects there.

The Assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam are due this year.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

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

Mamata Banerjee and TMC should atone for misrule: Nadda at Lalgarh

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

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BJP president J P Nadda on Tuesday said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should atone for the “misrule and misgovernance” of her regime as the days of TMC ministry are numbered.

Claiming that the people of Bengal will reject TMC’s politics of “polarisation, autocracy, corruption and cut- money” in the polls, Nadda said natives of the state are waiting to teach an apt lesson to the Trinamool Congress leadership for their decade-long “anarchic rule”.

Nadda flagged off the third phase of “Parivartan Yatra” from Lalgarh in Jhargram district. “The TMC’s politics of polarisation, autocracy, corruption and cut-money breed corruption. Mamata Ji, the people of Bengal will not forgive you and teach you an apt lesson.

“They will show you the doors and bring in the government that works for the people of Bengal,” Nadda said here. “Mamata Ji days of your government are numbered. You have done nothing in terms of development in the last ten years.

You and your party should start atonement for the misrule of TMC dispensation,” he said. Coming to the defence of deserters from the TMC, Nadda said leaders like Suvendu Adhikari have understood that there is no place for “Maa, Maati or Manush” (Mother,land and people) in the TMC’s scheme of things.

Adhikari had recently switched over to the saffron camp. “Suvendu Adhikari knows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government is dedicatedly working for welfare and protection of all the three.

“Mamata Ji is only falsely posing that she is working for the fulfilment of the three promises and is creating hurdles in the developmental work,” he said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

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

Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi to campaign extensively for Kerala Assembly polls

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

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Congress has chosen Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi as party’s star campaigners for forthcoming Assembly elections in Kerala.

According to reports, the Congress leadership views the Kerala Assembly elections with huge importance and Gandhi siblings will be campaigning extensively across the state.

Manmohan Singh is also expected to arrive for a brief election campaign, reports said.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi visited his Parliamentary constituency, Wayanad, for two days where he interacted with representatives of various non-political, socio-cultural-religious and farmers organisations

Congress has constituted a 40-member state election committee that includes senior party leaders like A K Antony and Shashi Tharoor.

Besides them, former chief minister Oommen Chandy, Kerala party chief Mullapally Ramachandran, former Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien, senior party leaders K C Venugopal, P C Chacko and K Suresh have also been included in the 40-member committee.

The Assembly elections are likely to be held in April-May in the southern state

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

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

WB elections 2021: JP Nadda to kick off BJP’s Parivartan Yatra from Nabadwip today

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

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Bharatiya Janata Party national president Jagat Prakash Nadda, who arrived in the city on Friday night, is set to launch the party’s ‘Rath Yatra’ in West Bengal on Saturday to mobilise public support ahead of the Assembly elections. He was received at the airport by party national vice-president Mukul Roy and national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.

According to sources in the saffron camp, Nadda is scheduled to kick off the ‘Parivartan Yatra’ on Saturday from Nabadwip in Nadia district, the birthplace of 15th-century saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to inaugurate two of the five proposed yatras later this month.

Nadda will first visit Malda in the morning to take part in a roadshow and two other programmes in the district, the source said. In the afternoon, he will launch the Rath Yatra’, also named ‘Parivartan Yatra’ from Nabadwip.

Several senior BJP leaders are scheduled to arrive in West Bengal during the month-long campaign, set to start from Nadia on Saturday. The party intends to launch similar yatras from Coochbehar, Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas, Jhargram and Tarapith in Birbhum between February 6 and 11.

The state government has asked the BJP to seek permission from local district administrations before embarking on the yatra.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

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