Congress shifts focus to state polls after Winter Session

TB Team
-
0
Congress shifts focus to state polls after Winter Session

After the Winter Session of the Parliament came to a close one day before schedule on Wednesday, the Congress has now shifted its focus to state elections, with Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur set to got to the polls early next year.

According to sources, interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi met all the Lok Sabha MPs on Wednesday and took their feedback on the Winter Session. She also asked the MPs to give time for the Assembly elections, the sources said.

The Congress faces the major challenge of retaining power in Punjab, and coming up with a credible show against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

Except in Uttar Pradesh, the party is in direct contest with the BJP in three states, while in Punjab, it faces the Akali Dal-BSP and Aam Aadmi Party.

Though it is not the main challenger in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress wants to be ahead of the BSP in the contest.

The Congress is faced with a crisis in Goa, where almost all the MLAs have deserted the party, except for two former Chief Ministers — Digambar Kamat and Pratap Singh Rane.

It faces somewhat similar problem in Punjab, where one MLA has left the party while many others have lined up to join the Punjab Lok Congress, the outfit floated by former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

The party is in a better position in Uttrakhand, where some BJP MLAs have joined the party.

In Manipur too, the Congress is facing an exodus ahead of the polls. The party is paying special attention to the northeastern state and has appointed Jairam Ramesh as the senior observer. In the last elections in Manipur, the Congress could not form the government despite emerging as the single largest party.

The same thing happened in Goa, where around 13 MLAs have joined the BJP in the past five years while two have jumped ship to the Trinamool Congress. The grand old party has now appointed veteran leader P. Chidambaram as senior observer in the coastal state.

The toughest challenge is in Uttar Pradesh where Priyanka Gandhi is in-charge with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel as senior observer.

Odisha CM starts distribution of Rs 1K livelihood assistance

TB Team
-
0
Odisha CM starts distribution of Rs 1K livelihood assistance

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday launched the distribution of livelihood assistance of Rs 1,000 to each beneficiaries covered under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY).

The aid will also be distributed to the beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act and State Food Security Scheme.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the impact of Covid-19 pandemic has not gone away yet. “So, the livelihood assistance has been announced to help the poor people,” he said.

All BSKY beneficiaries in Odisha will get this assistance.

About 96 lakh families in the state will be benefited from it. The state government will spend Rs 960 crore from its own resources for this purpose, said Patnaik. He has asked the officials to complete the distribution process in seven days.

Stating the Covid-19 pandemic is still there, the Chief Minister has advised the people to follow Covid appropriate behaviour such as wearing masks, social distancing and hand sanitisation. He also advised not to visit outdoors unless it is necessary.

The Chief Minister had on Tuesday announced house repairing assistance of Rs 3,000 for those who have availed houses under the state schemes and Rs 5,000 for those who are waiting to get a house under PMAY.

About 30 lakh families will be benefited and the state government will bear an additional cost of Rs 1,444 crore for this move.

Opposition parties — the BJP and the Congress, have alleged that the BJD government is announcing these financial aid to woo voters ahead of the Panchayat election in Odisha.

Mamata prays at Kamakhya; Trinamool celebrates KMC poll triumph in Tripura

TB Team
-
0
Mamata prays at Kamakhya; Trinamool celebrates KMC poll triumph in Tripura

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday offered prayers at the famous Maa Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, while her party in Tripura celebrated Trinamool’s landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections.

After visiting the Kamakhya temple in the city’s Maligaon area, Banerjee, who was accompanied by her close relatives, left Guwahati for Kolkata.

The Trinamool chief was received in Guwahati by the party’s Rajya Sabha MP, Sushmita Dev.

“I welcome my leader Chief Minister of West Bengal and Chairperson of AITC to Assam. She is here to offer her prayers to Maa Kamakhya and seek her blessings,” Dev, who hails from Silchar and is presently leading the Trinamool in Tripura, said in a tweet.

Recently, 12 Congress MLAs from neighbouring Meghalaya led by former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma had joined the Trinamool. The ruling party of West Bengal is making all efforts to make inroads in BJP-ruled Tripura.

Meanwhile in Tripura, the Trinamool celebrated the party’s resounding victory in the KMC polls by distributing sweets among the leaders, workers and people.

The Trinamool registered a historic victory in the KMC elections by winning 134 out of the 144 seats. In 2015, it had won 113 seats, which was so far the highest in recent times. The BJP could manage just three seats, followed by the Left Front and Congress at two each, while three seats were won by Independent candidates.

Addressing a gathering in Agartala, former West Bengal minister Rajib Banerjee and Tripura Trinamool leader Subal Bhowmik said that the party would be successful in the 2023 Assembly polls in the northeastern state, and defeat the BJP to restore democracy.

Rajib Banerjee said that the BJP in Tripura is frightened after seeing Trinamool’s vote share in the recent civic polls in the state.

Linking Aadhaar with voter IDs, first step to remove bogus voters: MNM

TB Team
-
0
Linking Aadhaar with voter IDs, first step to remove bogus voters: MNM

The Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party floated by actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan on Tuesday said the linking of Aadhaar card with the voter identity card should be the first step towards removing bogus voter cards.

In a statement issued here, the party said it had suggested several measures to the Election Commission earlier on the removal of bogus voter identity cards like verifying Aadhaar card or mobile number of the voters.

The MNM said it had found during the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls that a person was having several voter identity cards and had voted in various polling booths.

The party said though it also shares the doubts raised by opposition parties on linking Aadhaar card with the voter identity cards, it is the first step towards removing the bogus voter identity cards.

The party also urged that those who are interested in democracy should strive to remove the bogus votes from the voters list.

Raised marriage age to enable girls to study further: Modi

TB Team
-
0
Raised marriage age to enable girls to study further: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday said that his government has decided to raise the age of marriage for girls to 21 years because girls wanted to study further.

But everyone knows who are the people opposing the decision and trying to prevent girls from studying further, he said while addressing a rally of about 2.75 lakh women from all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

He said that before the BJP came to power in the state, there was “mafia raj” and “goonda raj” in the state. “Women bore the brunt of this and could not move about freely. Yogi Adityanath cracked down on such elements and today, women can move about freely and securely. UP now has safety and security and immense possibilities. It can no longer be pushed back,” he said.

The Prime Minister, who transferred money to Self Help groups, bank sakhis and beneficiaries of Kanya Sumangala Yojana and also laid the foundation stone of 202 take home ration plants, said that these schemes were designed to empower women.

“I was talking to bank sakhis, SHG groups and beneficiaries of Kanya Sumangala Yojana earlier and saw great confidence in them. What is there in front of everyone, does not need to be proved. The change in their lives is visible and the nation can see it,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that the bank sakhi programme has increased employment opportunities for women and brought banking to the doorstep. He informed that transactions worth Rs 75,000 crore were taking place through bank sakhis.

Talking about the take home ration plants, he said that this would ensure nourishment to women and also benefit farmers since the food grains would be purchased from them for the plants.

The flow of development and women empowerment will not stop now, and this has bene shown by UP,” he added.

The Prime Minister further said that self-help groups had made women ‘atmanirbhar’.

He said that his government has taken several steps for benefitting women.

“We abolished the practice of triple talaq for Muslim sisters. We set up over 700 fast track courts for rape cases and we also removed the ban on women working in mining sector,” he added.

The Prime Minister said that Prayagraj was a symbol of women power because Maa Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati were present here.

Earlier, the Prime Minister interacted with representatives from various groups and heard their problems and took feedback about the change in their lives.

BJP’s women MPs from UP were also present on the occasion.

Prime Minister meets CEOs, takes feedback before next budget

TB Team
-
0
Prime Minister meets CEOs, takes feedback before next budget

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday interacted with chief executives of companies from various sectors of industry at his official residence.

This was the second such interaction between the Prime Minister and industry representatives in the run-up to the next Union Budget.

“The Prime Minister talked about the inherent strength of the country, displayed during the battle against Covid. He thanked the industry leaders for their inputs and suggestions, and exhorted them to make full use of policies like PLI incentive,” said the Prime Minister’s Office in a statement.

“He said that just like the country aspires for a podium finish at the Olympics, the country also wants to see our industries among the top five of the world in every sector, and this is something for which we should collectively work towards.”

Besides, the Prime Minister said that the corporate sector should invest more in areas like agriculture and food processing, and talked about the shifting focus on natural farming.

“He underlined the policy consistency of the government, and said that the government is firmly committed to take initiatives which will give impetus to economic progress of the country.

“He also spoke about the focus of the government towards reducing compliance burden, and sought suggestions on areas where undue compliances need to be removed,” the statement said.

On their part, the industry representatives gave feedback to the Prime Minister, it added.

“They spoke about steps that can be taken to further boost ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the country. They also talked about India’s commitments at ‘COP26’ and how industry could contribute towards achieving the goals outlined.”

KMC election: Roopa Ganguly hits out against BJP’s Bengal leadership

TB Team
-
0
KMC election: Roopa Ganguly hits out against BJP’s Bengal leadership

On a day when the BJP is struggling to keep themselves afloat in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation election, the party’s Rajya Sabha member Roopa Ganguly on Sunday increased the embarrassment of the party, alleging that it has taken money from poll aspirants.

Speaking to the media after exercising her franchise in Ward no 94 of the KMC, the actress said: “In many places, candidates have been given nominations against money”.

Though Ganguly didn’t take the name of any person but her target was definitely the former state President Dilip Ghosh, present state President Sukanta Majumder and the Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

The ongoing controversy between Ganguly and the state BJP cropped up after party leadership gave a KMC ticket to Rajarshi Lahiri, instead of Gaurav Biswas, the husband of Teesta Biswas, the BJP’s KMC coordinator who died recently in a car accident in East Midnapore.

Ganguly backed Biswas to become the candidate of ward no 86 but he was denied the ticket and finally filed his nomination from the ward as an independent candidate. She even left the virtual meeting after Biswas was denied nomination.

In an open letter Ganguly wrote afterwards, she said: “I don’t have the power to put up hoardings anymore – if I had, I would have hung pictures of the two of you and said – I am with Teesta, I will stay.”

Later, she was dropped from the list of 19 star campaigners published by the party. Asked whether she was dropped because of her support to the independent candidate, senior BJP leaders declined to comment.

There are even rumours that Ganguly, known best for playing Drupadi in B.R. Chopra’s TV adaptation of “Mahabharat” might leave the party though she didn’t make any comment on that.

Massive protest by Congress against Pinarayi Vijayan’s K-Rail

TB Team
-
0
Massive protest by Congress against Pinarayi Vijayan’s K-Rail

The Congress party on Saturday staged a massive protest against the proposed scheme of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for a K-Rail in the capital city.

This came before CPI-M State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that this was a project in their election manifesto and it will become a reality.

If completed, the flagship railway project will set up a 529.45 km corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod and the distance will be covered within four hours. The estimated cost is in excess of Rs 64,000 crores.

Before protesting against the project in Thiruvananthapuram, State Congress president K. Sudhakaran said this project will not benefit the state and it is only meant for the CPI-M to pocket commission.

“Another section who will benefit are the family members of the CPI-M leadership. By now itself several posts have been created and the wife of CPI-M Rajya Sabha member John Britas, who is only a very junior staff in Indian Railways is the general manager of K-Rail.

“We don’t need to learn the nuances of what’s development from Vijayan, who while at the helm of affairs of CPI-M for several years, opposed every developmental infrastructure project like Vizhinjam Port, Kochi Smart City and Airports and every project which are our projects. Can Vijayan name one project which he has started. Vijayan should explain to the people who will benefit from the K-rail project,” Sudhakaran said adding that it is strange that while the CPI-M opposes similar projects across India, they are adamant in Kerala to go ahead with it.

Sudhakaran added that he will speak to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor who did not join the party MPs in opposing this project.

Meanwhile, Balakrishnan who is in Delhi to attend the politburo meeting of the CPI-M, said they have already committed to the people in their election manifesto.

“So we are going forward with it and we welcome the decision of Shashi Tharoor as he is speaking the language of the people. There is no difference of opinion in the Left over this proposal, which even CPI secretary Kanam Rajendran has said.”

Metroman E. Sreedharan has described this project as one which is ill-conceived, badly planned and poorly handled.

The BJP has also strongly opposed this project.

Mohanlal campaigns for panel, irks many, as AMMA election heats up

TB Team
-
0
Mohanlal campaigns for panel, irks many, as AMMA election heats up

With consensus eluding the election of two key office-bearers of AMMA, the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes, and superstar Mohanlal actively entering the campaign, the run-up to the vote has seen some hectic lobbying — and criticism of the acclaimed actor.

Mohanlal has been elected president unopposed, so have Edavela Babu, Siddiq and Jayasurya, as general secretary, treasurer and joint secretary, respectively, but because of an absence of consensus, three candidates, including two actresses, are in the fray for two posts of vice-president.

Hugely popular actor Manianpilla Raju and actresses Asha Sarath and Swetha Menon are fighting it out for the two posts. Mohanlal is backing the two actresses.

Fourteen candidates are also running for the 11-member executive committee, and three of them — Lal, Nasser Lathif and Vijay Babu — are not a part of Mohanlal’s panel.

As many as 500 AMMA members will now cast their vote on Sunday and at the end of the annual general body meeting in Kochi, the votes will be counted and only then will it be known if Mohanlal or Raju will be the real winner.

A top actor on condition of anonymity said many in the industry are shocked to see Mohanlal coming up to campaign for those in the fray. The superstar has circulated a letter soliciting the support of the AMMA members for his panel.

Raju is said to be upset because, according to him, he had informed all concerned that he intended to contest and even got the green signal of those who matter. He is reported to be feeling let down by Mohanlal, who’s been his good friend since their days in school together.

Nonetheless, Raju is campaigning with all earnestness. With contests now appearing to be inevitable, many members are said to be feeling that the bonhomie among AMMA members “will now go out of the window,” to quote the actor who did not wish to be identified.

Modi govt will complete all projects pending for decades: Anurag Thakur

TB Team
-
0
Modi govt will complete all projects pending for decades: Anurag Thakur

The Narendra Modi government is committed to completing all the projects pending for decades in coming years, said Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur.

He also said that the Renukaji dam project will benefit residents of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Delhi and also help in rejuvenation of Yamuna.

Thakur told IANS that several projects pending for years have been completed by the government and more will be completed in future. “While approving new development projects, the Centre provided all assistance and funding to several projects delayed for long due lack of funds and other reasons. The government is committed to development and will complete them by providing all the necessary assistance. Ninety-nine such projects are taken for completion by the Modi government,” Thakur said.

On the Saryu Nahar National Project inaugurated by the Prime Minister on December 11, Thakur said: “The project was pending for over four decades. In the last four years, the Centre provided almost 50 per cent of the funds needed to complete the project which provides irrigation facilities to over 14 lakh hectares of land and benefits about 29 lakh farmers of over 6200 villages of Eastern Uttar Pradesh.”

Mentioning Ken-Betwa inter-linking of rivers project, Thakur said: “The project will provide irrigation facilities to 10.62 lakh hectares and drinking water to over 70 lakh people in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.”

The Renukaji dam project, he said, will provide irrigation facilities and drinking water to the states of Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. “Prime Minister’s vision for farmer welfare and empowerment and his commitment has brought much needed focus on the project of national importance,” Thakur said.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 90 per cent grant to two national projects- Renukaji and Lakhwar (Uttarakhand). Six clusters of a total 154 Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI) schemes are going in Himachal Pradesh under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) at an estimated cost of Rs 499.26 crore and targeted irrigation potential of 0.255 lakh hectare, he said.

“So far, total central assistance of Rs 356.70 crore has been released from these schemes and 97 schemes have been reported complete with achievement of 0.184 lakh hectare irrigation potential in March 2021,” Thakur added.

The CCEA has also approved implementation of PMKSY for 2021-26 with an outlay of Rs 93,068 crore.

1...787980...162Page 79 of 162