BJP usurped power through proxy in Meghalaya: Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Breaking his silence on the defeat in three northeast states Rahul Gandhi today said the Congress was committed to winning back the people s trust and hit out at the BJP accusing it of usurping power through proxy in Meghalaya and using big money to create an opportunistic alliance . The Congress party respects the mandate of the people of Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya Gandhi said on Twitter two days after results of assembly elections were declared. The Congress lost Meghalaya though it emerged as the single largest party and failed to open its account in Tripura and Nagaland. The Congress chief alleged that the BJP is obsessed with grabbing power and has shown utter disregard to the mandate of people in Meghalaya. Top party leaders Ahmed https://www.spreaker.com/user/kkpaytm Patel and Kamal Nath were rushed to Shillong to talk to regional parties in a bid to form a government but to no avail. We are committed to strengthening our party across the North East and to winning back the trust of the people. My sincere thanks to each and every Congress worker who toiled for the party the Congress president tweeted after his return from Italy where he had gone to meet his 93-year-old grandmother. The Congress emerged as the single-largest party in the state winning 21 seats but failed to cobble up a coalition with other regional outfits. Meghalaya had been under Congress rule and after losing the state the party is now in power in three other states including Karnataka where elections are slated next month and Puducherry. With just 2 seats the BJP has usurped power in Meghalaya through a proxy. Like in Manipur and Goa showing utter disregard for the mandate of the people. Obsessed instead with grabbing power using big money to create an opportunistic alliance Gandhi tweeted. He also used the hashtag DemocracyDemonetised with his tweet to target the BJP.
Written by Manoj C G | Shillong | Published: March 6 2018 4:47 am NPP chief and Lok Sabha MP Conrad Sangma. (Express Photo: Tashi Tobgyal/File) A day before National People s Party chief Conrad Sangma is to be sworn in as Chief Minister of Meghalaya fissures appeared in the non-Congress coalition his party and the BJP had cobbled up Sunday. Ardent Basaiawmoit president of Hill State People s Democratic Party (HSPDP) with two MLAs announced his party cannot be part of a government that has the BJP in it. Conrad s NPP played it down saying both MLAs of HSPDP were in touch with it. However late at night The Indian Express accessed the list of MLAs who will take oath on Tuesday and the HSPDP MLAs were not in it. BJP president Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh are set to attend the oath-taking ceremony. NPP leaders said Conrad and 11 ministers will be sworn in. The UDP which has six MLAs also bargained hard. Its chief Donkupar Roy who was once CM wanted a key ministerial portfolio for himself. Through the day Conrad his brother James Sangma and Tynsong held hectic negotiations with Roy and other alliance partners. Finally it was decided that UDP will have three ministers and Roy will be made Speaker initially. There will be no threat to the NPP-led government even without the HSPDP. Without its two MLAs the NPP coalition still enjoys the support of 32 MLAs. Senior NPP leader Prestone Tynsong told The Indian Express that Basaiawmoit was being immature by taking such a stand. Rahul slams BJP Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the BJP of usurping power in Meghalaya through proxy. His comments came a day after the Congress failed to cobble up a coalition despite emerging as the single largest party. With just 2 seats the BJP has usurped power in Meghalaya through a proxy. Like in Manipur & Goa showing utter disregard for the mandate of the people. Obsessed instead with grabbing power using big money to create an opportunistic alliance he tweeted using the hashtag #DemocracyDemonetised. For all the latest North East India News download Indian Express App Get assembly election result LIVE updates from each constituency in Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya Tags: Meghalaya Rahul Gandhi Socrates SantosMar 6 2018 at 7:50 amWhile it is a fact that most of RG s take on politics is below par there seems to be some thought-provoking substance in this one. That a party with just 2 seats can form a government in a state even without a pre-poll alliance should not be seen as a BJP or CONgress question because given half a chance CONgress would have done the same without batting an eyelid. It is a systemic deficiency the lacuna should be seen and evaluated from a standpoint that the cur consti_tution allows this to happen and any challenge is almost sure to fail in any court of law.(2)(1) Reply Awadh JhaMar 6 2018 at 7:46 amThe Congress has failed pilitically in cobbling a majority inspite of sending three top stalwards on the mission. And now this comment. Really bad for congress. They do not have any ideology now.(3)(1) Reply Sankaran KrishnanMar 6 2018 at 7:41 amOnce again Pappu Rahul proves he is immature and first why not slam your own Party leaders nd Observers who failed to get the support of the allies and if BJP with 2 MLAs can bring in unity among various Regional parties and why not the same was not able to be done by the Leadership of Rahul shows he is unfit for the post he holds and if he is honest and sincere enough he will vacate the seat and instead appoint a youngster with brain to lead from the front and who can revive the party right from the grass root level across the States and also the person should focus on doing the unlike Rahul who always going abroad for some reason but finding fault with the official trips of PM !!!(3)(1) Reply Cherian ManiMar 6 2018 at 7:23 amIsn t it time for Rahul to stop his arrogance and start minding his own Party s business ?(3)(3) Reply Chanakya InMar 6 2018 at 7:22 amPolitics were and are polluted by Congress. All parties are students of the same college run by Congress. Why blame now ? Go back to history and there are several such stories.(4)(1) Reply Load More Comments
Nagaland election: Chief Minister TR Zeliang s party Naga People s Front and its ally won 29 seatsShillong: Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang who heads the Naga People s Front or NPF that won 29 seats along with its ally in the assembly election said he will not resign. Mr Zeliang said he would meet with BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi to discuss government formation in Nagaland. NPF chairman Shurhozolie Liezietsu has written to Amit Shah saying they were still friends . In Meghalaya the National People s Party or NPP leader Conrad Sangma has met with Governor Ganga Prasad to stake claim to form government. The Congress under the leadership of Mukul Sangma earlier in the day had said it is the single-largest party to get votes and that it should be invited to form government in Meghalaya. The Congress is 10 seats short of the halfway mark at 31. Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Ahmed Patel flew from Delhi to Shillong to talk to regional parties for support. Associates have assured support in the last one hour. The BJP is out of the fray; they are trying to create mischief Kamal Nath told NDTV. Here are the live updates of government formation in Nagaland and Meghalaya: Mar 05 201814:23 (IST) As Amit Shah entered the Rajya Sabha of which he is a member he took a Tangkhul Naga haora muffler and draped it around his neck. BJP lawmakers and ministers in the upper house greeted him with loud cheers and thumping of desks.Mar 05 201814:21 (IST)Naga Scarves Victory Signs; BJP Celebrates Big Northeast Win In ParliamentBJP lawmakers and ministers celebrated the party s latest election victory by wearing scarves in the colours of the Northeast in Parliament on Monday. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in parliament BJP chief Amit Shah presented him with a traditional Naga scarf and then a large party contingent posed with beaming smiles and holding up the v sign for victory for photos near the PM s office.Mar 05 201800:10 (IST) Legislators of the BJP and the IPFT will meet in Agartala on March 6 to elect their leader Tripura BJP president Biplab Kumar Deb said today. The BJP has 35 legislators and the Indigenous People s Front of Tripura has eight. Union minister Nitin Gadkari will be present at the meeting Mr Deb said.Mar 04 201823:47 (IST) The newly elected legislators of the alliance partners NDPP BJP and others will meet today to elect senior NDPP leader Neiphiu Rio as their leader. Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party secretary general Abu Metha said the coalition is proposed to be named the People s Democratic Alliance. The first sitting of MLAs of the alliance partners would be held tomorrow (Monday) to officially elect Rio as the leader Mr Metha said.Mar 04 201822:14 (IST)Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has resigned today a day after the Congress failed to secure majority in the assembly election. The governor has accepted his resignation and asked Mr Sangma to be in charge till a new government is formed a Raj Bhavan official said. Since the whole election process is over the chief minister has to submit his resignation and I did. Further course of action will follow as per convention Mr Sangma told news agency PTI.Mar 04 201822:07 (IST) Himanta Biswa Sarma the BJP s main strategist in the northeast who stitched up the brand-new coalition in Meghalaya took a sharp dig at the Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi for what he called was their immature handling of the job at hand. I think they have faltered in their judgment Mr Sarma told NDTV.Mar 04 201821:36 (IST) The top-most priority is the Naga political issue. People want peace. And when peace comes development will happen. You remember when I was CM we fought the underground together. We have to give a push to the Naga issue. PM Narendra Modi had signed the Naga Framework Agreement... negotiations are going on. When people are united the solution will come. The people support the BJP and also my party. I am grateful to the people. We are happy that we are going to have a strong and stable government to take up big issues and development agenda. I am inviting him (PM Modi) in the swearing in ceremony. Neiphiu Rio Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) NagalandMar 04 201821:16 (IST) Like-minded parties had a common interest. All parties came together to work under an alliance. It s not about help from BJP. They are part of the alliance. There is a large anti-incumbency against the last government. Most parties who fought the election was against the last government. Conrad Sangma National People s PartyMar 04 201820:49 (IST)The National People s Party met Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad and staked claim to form the next government in the state. The NPP which secured 19 seats on its own has the backing of six United Democratic Party (UDP) legislators four People s Democratic Front (PDF) MLAs two each from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Hill State People s Democratic Party (HSPDP) MLAs and an independents taking the combined strength of the alliance to 34. This leaves the ruling Congress despite retaining 21 seats lagging in the numbers game.Mar 04 201820:45 (IST) Congress s Mukul Sangma later taunted the BJP for attempting to form the government with just two members. They want to fire from the shoulder of other political parties the outgoing chief minister told reporters after submitting his resignation from the post.Mar 04 201820:44 (IST) Conrad Sangma who was earlier said to reluctant to be projected as his party s presumptive chief minister said he agreed to assume the responsibility on the insistence of the coalition partners. He is the son of former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma who founded the NPP that is now run by the Sangma family.Mar 04 201820:08 (IST) We don t have pre-poll alliance with anybody. Right from the time of campaigning we knew that BJP NPP and UDP were together and it has been proved now. Mandate was actually given to Congress. Vincent Pala Congress working president MeghalayaMar 04 201819:54 (IST) In Meghalaya non-Congress government of NPP-UDP-BJP will take oath on 6 March. To be followed by Nagaland and Tripura on 7 and 8 March. Ram Madhav BJPMar 04 201819:37 (IST) Currently we have 34 members NPP 19 BJP 2 UDP 6 HSPDP 2 PDF 4 and one independent. The number is likely to go up. Rahul Gandhi sent four senior leaders of the party to Shillong without any calculations on government formation. I don t see maturity in him Himanta Biswa Sarma BJPMar 04 201818:59 (IST) It s positive that regional parties got together to work for the region. It s people s decisions and we need to respect that. Kiren Rijiju BJPMar 04 201818:33 (IST) Happy to share that 34 newly-elected members belonging to NPP UDP PDF HSPDP BJP and one independent member are meeting the governor to stake claim to form government in Meghalya. Conrad Sangma will be the leader of this coalition. Himanta Biswa Sarma BJPMar 04 201818:31 (IST) The next two-three days are very crucial because the assembly s term will end. The house expires on March 7. Before that everything has to take place and by tomorrow everything will be clear. Conrad Sangma National People s Party MeghalayaMar 04 201818:27 (IST) We will bring transparency. We are concerned about development and will focus on implementing central schemes. It s not about being the single-largest party; it s about having the majority. Conrad Sangma National People s Party MeghalayaMar 04 201818:18 (IST)National People s Party or NPP leader Conrad Sangma meets with Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad to stake claim to form government. Oath-taking on March 6: news agency ANI.Mar 04 201818:03 (IST)Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang who heads the Naga People s Front or NPF that won 29 seats along with its ally in the assembly election said he will not resign. Mr Zeliang said he would meet with BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi to discuss government formation in Nagaland. NPF chairman Shurhozolie Liezietsu has written to Amit Shah saying they were still friends .Mar 04 201817:23 (IST) Congress submits letter to Meghalaya governor stating that Congress has named Mukul Sangma as the leader of the Meghalaya Congress legislature party: news agency ANIMar 04 201815:04 (IST)In Meghalaya Kingmaker UDP Donkupar Roy Keeps Up Suspense For Congress NPP CoalitionThe United Democratic Party that won six seats in Meghalaya assembly elections and could get to decide who forms the next government in the state suggested that it would support the political formation that is able to provide a stable government.Mar 04 201815:01 (IST) Himanta Biswa Sarma and Donkupar Roy of the UDP are meeting inside Dr Roy s house.Mar 04 201814:39 (IST) BJP s Kiren Rijiju along with Himanta Biswa Sarma and Congress s Mukul Sangma reaches United Democratic Party headquarters in Shillong.Mar 04 201814:31 (IST) Respect mandate of the people. I met Governor and I have indicated that I will come back with letters of support from like-minded people. BJP has only 2 MLAs how would they like to form the government? They want to fire from the shoulder of other political parties: Mukul Sangma in ShillongMar 04 201813:59 (IST) Kiren Rijiju: BJP parliamentary board has sent me to communicate to the UDP that we are with them and will support the formation of a non-congress government in Meghalaya.Mar 04 201813:57 (IST) Senior BJP leaders meet leaders of regional party in Meghalaya. BJP leaders and union ministers Kiren Rijiju and KJ Alphons meet with leaders of UDP.Mar 04 201813:07 (IST) Kiren Rijiju tweets: Newly elected MLA Shri A.L. Hek is declared the Leader of BJP Legislature Party in Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.Newly elected MLA Shri A.L. Hek is declared the Leader of BJP Legislature Party in Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. pic.twitter.com/aQ8a4v04ah- Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) March 4 2018Mar 04 201812:06 (IST) Independent lawmaker Samuel M Sangma meets Himanta Biswa Sarma at Assam Bhawan in Shillong.Mar 04 201811:44 (IST) A day after Holi the results of Northeast elections again created an environment of festival. You must think why I am discussing it here. I m not seeing it as victory and defeat of political parties significant is that entire nation was involved in Northeast s celebrations:PM Narendra Modi.Mar 04 201811:30 (IST)Donkupar Roy Former Chief Minister and head of the UDP to NDTV:We haven t decided who to supportBiggest priority for us is a stable governmentIf NPP has 19 MLAs will they stick together?We ask the same question of the CongressHave been in touch with both sides Not correct to say we are inclined towards the BJPMar 04 201810:45 (IST) The BJP s Himanta Biswa Sarma and Alphons Kannanthanam are likely to meet the governor at 1 pm today for a courtesy call.Mar 04 201809:31 (IST)Congress Moves Swiftly In Hung Meghalaya Late Night Call To GovernorFaced with the prospect of being pipped by regional parties the Congress which emerged as the single largest party in a hung Meghalaya verdict met with Governor Ganga Prasad late last night staking claim to form government.Mar 04 201809:31 (IST)Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath to NDTV:We met the governor Told him that we should be given the first shot at forming a govt There are clear guidelines in place that say that the single largest party should be called first.Mar 04 201808:30 (IST) BJP s key strategist for the Northeast Himanta Biswa Sarma told NDTV that regional parties should join hands and form a non-Congress government in MeghalayaNo more content CommentsClose X
ALSO READ Hung Assembly in Meghalaya Cong single largest party Congress leads in 21 NPP in 14 seats in Meghalaya Meghalaya polls: Congress leads in early trends Meghalaya trends: Cong leading in 3 UDP in 2 seats 443 file nominations for Meghalaya polls span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 Meghalaya has 66 per cent crorepati MLAs or 39 out of 59 elected MLAs in the state legislative assembly-2018 having individual wealth of over Rs 1 crore a report here said on Sunday. During previous elections in 2013 60 per cent MLAs had wealth over Rs 1 crore. According to a report by the Meghalaya Election Watch (MEW) and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) seven MLAs did not declare their sources of income. Only one MLA Bendic R Marak from the state s second largest National People s Party (NPP) has declared criminal cases registered against him which include one for criminal trespass one for voluntarily causing hurt and the third one for acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention. The Meghalaya elections were held on February 27 for 59 out of 60 seats. Of the winning legislators 23 had declared assets over Rs 5 crore while five had assets below Rs 5 lakh. According to the Meghalaya Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms the Congress that emerged as the largest party with 21 seats has 15 or highest number of rich MLAs. Other parties whose MLAs declared assets worth over one crore rupees include the NPP -- 12 out of 19 United Democratic Party (UDP) -- four out of six both of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) two of four of People s Democratic Front (PDF) one of the two MLAs of Hill State People s Democratic Party (HSPDP) the lone MLA of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and two of the three Independent MLAs. According to the report the average of assets per MLA contesting the Meghalaya Assembly Elections 2018 is Rs 7.18 crore. In 2013 the average assets of MLAs worked out to Rs 7.77 crore. The top three richest MLAs are Metbah Lyngdoh from UDP with assets over Rs 87 crore Dasakhiatbha Lamare from NPP with assets over Rs 40 crore and Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar from HSPDP with assets worth over Rs 29 crore. NPP MLA Pongseng Marak declared the lowest assets of Rs 2.99 lakh. --IANS kd-ps/nir/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEW DELHI: It is being widely speculated that the matrilineal state of Meghalaya may be gearing up for its first female chief minister - Agatha Sangma of the National People s Party (NPP). However the NPP chose to keep its cards close to its chest today when asked if it would give the state its first woman chief minister reported ANI. You will come to know at 5pm said NPP leader Conrad Sangma when asked if his sister Agatha would be elevated to the top post in the state. The NPP emerged as a strong contender this election season winning 19 seats - the second-highest tally after the Congress which won 21 seats. According to political analysts the Congress may not be able to muster enough support to form government and may be replaced by an NPP-led government. The NPP has categorically dismissed the possibility of an alliance with the Congress - citing the fact that it fought against the Congress in this election. Instead it is talking to like-minded people. We are talking to like-minded people and I will not take names at this stage. Our newly-elected MLAs will have to sit down and deliberate said Conrad. All options are open as of now he shared. It is interesting to note that though the NPP is an ally of the NDA at the Centre it did go up against the BJP in many constituencies including South Tura which Agatha won.
Written by Lalmani Verma | New Delhi | Published: March 5 2018 3:59 am Congress supporters celebrate the win of Meghalaya CM and Congress candidate Mukul Sangma after he won his constituency. Sangma also emerged as Songsak constituency winner. (PTI Photo) Related News Behind Congress miss in Meghalaya bitter past with regional partiesDelhi confidential: In and OutCongress leaders meet Meghalaya governor stake claim to form governmentThe Congress had focused all its energy on Meghalaya in the recent round of Assembly elections but the party lost 18 of 29 seats it had won in the state in 2013. It did however win 11 seats it had lost in 2013. Meghalaya on Saturday threw up a hung Assembly with the ruling Congress bagging 21 seats down from 29 in 2013 and falling 10 short of a simple majority. In the 18 seats the Congress lost 11 of them went to National People s Party (NPP) an ally of the BJP at the Centre and a member of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance. The Congress lost nine seats with a margin of less than 1 000 votes. In 2013 its average victory margin in the state was 2 144 which is now 2 000. Of the 10 seats the party could retain this time the party witnessed a decrease in victory margin in four Umroi Nongpoh Rangsakona and Ampati. It recorded a rise in victory margin in East Shillong Mawsynram Ranikor Selsella Mahendraganj and Salmanpara. Among the 18 seats the Congress won in 2013 but lost in 2018 11 were won by NPP two by People s Democratic Front (PDF) two by Hill State People s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and one each by BJP Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement and an Independent. The Congress lost Umsning seat to PDF by 70 votes only. The party was third in North Shillong with a margin of 448 votes compared to the winner. It lost Mylliem to PDF by 465 votes Sohiong to HSPDP by 622 votes Mawphlang to an independent candidate by 718 votes Mawkyrwat to HSPDP by 458 votes Kharkutta to NPP by 809 votes Raksamgre to NPP by 624 votes and Dalu to NPP by 784 votes. The party won Rambrai Jyrngam by a margin of 3 803 votes defeated NPP in Mendipathar by 2 677 votes and in Chokpot by 2 051 votes. For all the latest North East India News download Indian Express App Get assembly election result LIVE updates from each constituency in Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya More Related News Three northeast states only five Lok Sabha seats: Why this is a big deal Meghalaya election results 2018: Full list of winners Tags: Meghalaya elections SS. RoseMar 5 2018 at 7:22 pmThe Congress is being plagued by ill luck. That it lost many seats by small margins only shows that as in Gujarat it was a case of so near and yet far enough to lose cheaply. It cannot even find allies to form government though it acquired the largest party status. After Goa and Manipur Congress was outwitted in Meghalaya. That BJP with just two seats should be part of the new government in Meghalaya is the biggest irony! Congress biggest foe is not the BJP but the secular lot who have no problem supping with the communal party! What an irony! In Gujarat Congress win was thwarted by NCP and in Meghalaya by NPP both clones of INC! Unless Congress secures majority in Karnataka its sad story of so near and yet so far will continue! Sad for Rahul. He reminds one of Bahadur Shah taking charge at a time when the sun was setting on the Moghul Empire!(0)(0) Reply
ALSO READ It s victory for Modi s politics of development: Amit Shah Verdict in Meghalaya is for change: Amit Shah Local poll results proof of people s unbreakable faith in BJP: Shah Meghalaya most corrupt : Shah BJP joins hands with NDPP for Nagaland assembly polls span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP President Amit Shah are likely arrive in Meghalaya on Tuesday to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of the National People s Party (NPP)-led government in the state Assam BJP leaders said on Monday. Both leaders are to arrive here on Monday and spent the night. They would leave for Shillong on Tuesday the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders said here on Monday evening. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Health and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Assam BJP president Ranjit Dass are likely to receive Rajnath Singh and Shah at the https://www.codecademy.com/kfckk Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International airport near Guwahati. NPP chief and son of former Lok Sabha Speaker Late P. A. Sangam Conrad Sangma is likely to be sworn-in as the Chief Minister of the non-Congress government on Tuesday. The NPP managed to win 19 seats in the polls and got the support of 15 more legislators -- including six from the United Democratic Party (UDP) four from People s Democratic Party (PDP) two from BJP and one Independent legislator -- taking the strength of the combined alliance to 32 in the 60-member House. Another regional political party Hill State Peoples Democratic Party (HSPDP) had on Sunday announced support to Conrad Sangma-led NPP government but the HSPDP on Monday expressed its unwillingness to become part of a government with the BJP. But the alliance still has 32 legislators required to form the government. --IANS ah/him/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SHILLONG: Meghalaya PWD minister and Congress candidate Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh has won from East Shillong constituency defeating her nearest BJP rival Neil Antonio War by over 5 000 votes. Meghalaya home minister and Congress candidate H Donkupar R Lyngdoh lost to Hill State People s Democratic Party (HSPDP) contestant Samlin Malngiang by 622 votes. Polling for 59 seats of the 60-member Meghalaya assembly was held on February 27.

BJP destabilising northeast in blind quest for power: Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday launched a fierce attack on the BJP accusing it of destabilising the northeast in its blind quest for power . Still reeling from a dismal show in the recently-concluded assembly polls in Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala tweeted up a storm and charged that the saffron party was forsaking the stability of the region so it can assume power at any cost and by any means . Tell tale signs of BJP s blind quest for power superseding the stability of region propagation of democracy nipping the separatist tendencies and ignoring core issues of region are already visible Surjewala tweeted. The Congress communications in-charge pointed out that the BJP was allying itself with regional parties whose ideology and demands it did not necessarily prescribe to or support thereby undermining the mandate of the people of the state. The BJP-IPFT combine decimated the Left Front in Tripura by securing 43 seats in the 60-strong assembly. In Tripura BJP aligned with IPFT whose election plank is https://profiles.tigweb.org/kkabhi division of state and now demands a tribal CM. Time for Modi government and BJP to address both issues. Does it stand for demand for division of state of Tripura? Would it reject the demand for a tribal CM? enquired Surjewala. Turning to Nagaland where Congress and BJP had till last month been part of the NPF-led government Surjewala called out the saffron party for switching sides at the eleventh hour to join hands with the fledgling NDPP floated by former chief minister Neiphiu Rio. In Nagaland BJP is in government with NPF yet fought election in alliance with its opposition party NDPP. NPF won 26 seats and NDPP won 18 seats. With both NPF and NDPP staking claim to form the government is Nagaland headed for another round of instability like in last 5 years? And Naga Accord? said Surjewala. He was referring to Nagaland Peace Framework signed by the Modi government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) in 2015 that brought an end to insurgency and made way for peace talks in the north-eastern state. Many regional parties had called for a boycott of the February 27 polls in the absence of clarity over the Naga peace accord. Congress President Rahul Gandhi has previously targeted PM Modi over the Naga accord and said it was nowhere to be found after nearly three years of being finalized. Surjewala then touched upon the sore spot of Meghalaya where the BJP with only two seats in hand once again outmaneuvered the ruling Congress by negotiating an alliance with other parties to form the government. Even after emerging as the single largest party with 21 seats the grand old party failed to retain power in the state it had ruled for the last 15 years. In Meghalaya as BJP assumes power with just 2 MLAs every discordant party that fought BJP and each other ideologically-politically-electorally is sewn up to form the government at any cost - NPP UDP PDF HSDP BJP Ind. Is this the answer to Meghalaya s aspirations and a stable government he railed. Meghalaya is the second state after Manipur and Goa where the Congress has not been able to forge a post-poll alliance with any of the regional parties despite emerging as the largest single party. BJP is following a dangerous game of destabilsation subversion and usurpation of power in North East unmindful of the stability security peace and progress. Hope Modiji had cared to learn from Rajivji who put Nation First and brought peace to the region by Assam and Mizo accords Surjewala said.
Written by Ishita Sengupta | New Delhi | Updated: February 25 2018 2:50 pm People on social media were furious with Congress for politicising Sridevi s death. Related News VIDEO: Scary! Out-of-control after a brake fail lorry rams into SUV at toll plazaVIDEO: Musician plays a medley of Sridevi s songs to pay tribute on Mumbai localOscars 2018: Funniest craziest whackiest moments at the 90th Academy Awards that got Twitterati talkingBollywood actor Sridevi passed away after a cardiac arrest on Saturday (February 24) night. The actor was 54 and was in Dubai attending the wedding of Mohit Marwah with husband Boney and younger daughter Khushi. The news has come as a major shock to her fans and members of the Hindi film fraternity. People still cannot believe the news and social media has been flooded with condolence messages. Fans have taken to the Internet to share their favourite photos of the actor their favourite Sridevi movies and instances of when they last saw her on the screen. However amidst all this a tweet from the official handle of The Indian National Congress (INC) has come under heavy criticism by people on social media. We regret to hear about the passing away of Sridevi. An actor par excellence. A legend who will continue to live in our hearts through her stellar body of work. Our deepest condolences to her loved ones. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the UPA Govt in 2013 read the tweet. Was that by the UPA Govt really necessary INC in a condolence message? :( pic.twitter.com/BkgrYEKYCh Karthik (@beastoftraal) February 25 2018 People on social media are furious for making the death of the actor political. You could have also mentioned that she was born when Congress Govt was in power and died when BJP govt is in power wrote one while another added I would not be surprised if they extend she was alive when indira and rajiv were prime ministers but died in modi govt. Shameful. The tweet however has been removed and the revised tweet reads We regret to hear about the passing away of Sridevi. An actor par excellence. A legend who will continue to live in our hearts through her stellar body of work. Our deepest condolences to her loved ones. Another tweet from the handle reads She received a multitude of awards including the fourth highest civilian award the Padma Shri in 2013 by the Govt of India & 6 Filmfare awards the first at the age of 14. Sridevi started her career at the age of 4 in Thunaivan . Her Bollywood debut was in Julie at 12. This was the previous tweet. Was that by the UPA Govt really necessary INC in a condolence message? :( pic.twitter.com/BkgrYEKYCh Karthik (@beastoftraal) February 25 2018 And this is how people reacted. She Was Awarded The Padma Shri By The UPA Govt In 2013 . Are You Serious? Is That Line Even Necessary To Pay Tribute To A Legendary Actress? Please Stop Politicising The Death. You Guys Are Disgrace To Humanity. Shame On You Congress. #Sridevi #RIPSridevihttp://t.co/gdPHFEIWE4 Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) February 25 2018 You could have also mentioned that she was born when Congress Govt was in power and died when BJP govt is in power Amit Saha (@saha_amit) February 25 2018 Dear @OfficeOfRG you make an award sound like a favour granted. More importantly #PadmaAwards is an honour given by the country (hence @rashtrapatibhvn) to its citizen not by any political party. Shows Congress sense of entitlement. By this tweet you have insulted #Sridevi GhoseSpot (@SandipGhose) February 25 2018 Also mention she was born when Nehru was the prime-minister. Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) February 25 2018 I would not be surprised if they extend she was alive when indira and rajiv were prime ministers but died in modi govt. Shameful. Shaifali Malukani (@sp_malukani) February 25 2018 Seriously? Was the UPA bit for giving her a Padma Shri really necessary in a condolence message. What kind of idiots are you guys Masakadzas (@Nesenag) February 25 2018 After much flak @INCIndia deleted the tweet mentioning PadmaShri by UPA but now replaced with photo of PadmaShri ceremony. Changed from UPA to Govt-Of-India . What a Shameful scavenging on the dead when #Sridevi isn t even cremated yet @OfficeOfRG @divyaspandana pic.twitter.com/ijMxsGCLYg #Intolerant भ रत य (@goyalsanjeev) February 25 2018 For all the latest Trending News download Indian Express App Get assembly election result LIVE updates from each constituency in Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd More Related News Oscars 2018: Sridevi Shashi Kapoor s special In Memoriam tribute leaves Twitterati teary-eyed Being Jennifer Lawrence! The star s chair climbing and poking antics stole the show at Oscars 2018 Tags: Social media viral Sridevi Rajinder Krishan SharmaFeb 25 2018 at 10:20 pmcongress s bankruptcy of thoughts is well known.it reflects poor leadership . SRIDEVI is a legend in the hearts of her millions of friends.her demise at such early age is an irreparable loss to indian film industry. india is stunned.my condolences to the bereaved family.(1)(1) Reply SsrikanthFeb 25 2018 at 1:20 pmThe party will do anything for votes. The party is full of potheads. It s a pity politics has been reduced to such a level.(23)(18) Reply RRajanFeb 25 2018 at 1:00 pmat any cost congress has to come back to power...late sridevi please bless them in return...Rahul wants to come back and take the empire....family ruling back(21)(22) Reply DDr Anita KumarFeb 25 2018 at 12:40 pmWelcome to Sathya Hospital Specialist hospital that . Do you wish to in exchange of money? If yes. Then contact us today to get a reliable and good transaction for good money. Contact via below information email: sathyaspecialisthospital call me 918553685819 WhatsApp number: 918553685819(0)(19) Reply
By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Updated: March 4 2018 11:50 pm BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav (R) with former Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio in Dimapur. (Express Photo) Related News Nagaland: Neiphiu Rio set to be CM NPP bats for TR ZeliangNagaland: BJP breaks 15-year alliance with NPF set to form govt with NDPP in stateNagaland: Ex-CM Neiphiu Rio stakes claim to form government incumbent hangs onNeiphiu Rio is a Lok Sabha member from Nagaland and has served three terms as Nagaland s chief minister and poised to assume office as Nagaland s CM for the fourth term. National Democratic Progressive Party headed by Rio bagged 17 seats in the 2018 elections. Its ally BJP won 12 seats in the 60 member house. Putting an end to the neck-and-neck competition with NPF which had bagged 27 seats the NDDP BJP alliance is all set to form the government a JDU MLA and an independent. Born in 1950 to Late Guolhoulie Rio in the Tuophema village in Kohima district Rio belongs to the Angami Naga tribe. He studied at the Baptist English School in Kohima and then subsequently completed his education at Sainik School in Purulia St Joseph s College in Darjeeling and finally Kohima Arts College. Rio made his foray into politics at a young age. He was the president of Kohima District United Democratic Front Youth Wing in 1974 chairman of the Northern Angami Area Council in 1984 and also an honorary vice president of the Indian Red Cross Society in Nagaland. He was re-elected from his constituency in 1993. During his tenure with the Indian National Congress he was Home Minister of the state from 1998-2002. He resigned on a claim that then CM SC Jamir blocked a negotiated settlement of the Naga issue. Read | Nagaland Election Results LIVE UPDATES He then joined the Naga People s Front (NPF) the party which joined hands with other Naga political outfits and the BJP to form the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN). The coalition ended the Congress 10-year rule in Nagaland. Rio was made Nagaland s CM in 2003. Before he could complete his first term he was dismissed from his position as President s rule was imposed in the state in 2008. In the ensuing elections though his party was the single largest party with Rio heading DAN. He formed the government in 2008 and his NPF won a big mandate in 2013 paving way for Rio s third term in office. He was also awarded the Mother Teresa Millennium award for outstanding leadership and contribution to politics in 2017. In 2018 Rio joined the National Democratic Progressive Party after the NPF snapped ties with the BJP. For all the latest Who Is News download Indian Express App Get assembly election result LIVE updates from each constituency in Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd More Related News Nagaland government formation: NDPP-BJP tout majority but ruling NPF still eyes another term Nagaland elections: Neiphiu Rio has majority should form govt says Guv P B Acharya Tags: Neiphiu Rio No Comments.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is one of the major political parties in India. The BJP s origins lie in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh formed in 1951 by Syama Prasad Mookerjee. After the State of Emergency in 1977 the Jana Sangh merged with several other parties to form the Janata Party. After three years in power the Janata party dissolved in 1980 with the members of the erstwhile Jana Sangh reconvening to form the BJP. Live: Union Budget 2018 | Key highlights of the budgetAfter the 1998 general election the BJP-led coalition known as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) formed a government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for a year. Following fresh elections the NDA government again headed by Vajpayee lasted for a full term in office. For the next ten years the BJP was the principal opposition party. In the 2014 general election Narendra Modi led it to a landslide victory. Narendra Modi was sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014.BJP won the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections by an overwheming three-quarter majority of 325 seats despite not projecting a chief ministerial candidate before the election.It also won the state assembly elections in Uttarakhand. The BJP-SAD alliance in Punjab lost the 2017 assembly elections with each winning 3 and 15 seats respectively. In Manipur BJP won 21 seats and 13 seats in Goa.

BHUBANESHWAR: Former Union Minister and Indian National Congress leader Srikant Jena has asked the Odisha government to set up a refinery of its own instead of facilitating bauxite to Vedanta s Lanjigarh refinery. At a press conference on Monday Jena accused the Odisha government of providing bauxite at a discount to Anil Agarwal s Vedanta under the long term linkage announced last week. His government including party president Rahul Gandhi had played a key in opposing a mining of the Niyamgiri deposit in Kalahandi that left Anil Agarwal s next door refinery with no captive raw material. For its two million tonne operation at the Lanjigarh the company currently sources bauxite from commercial suppliers in Guinea Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. Naveen Patnaik s government has extended a policy already in place for iron ore and chrome to bauxite a mineral whose rights rest largely with Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC). The state owned miner has just begun operating the first standalone bauxite mine at Kodingamali on the border of Koraput and Rayagada districts. Under the policy approved last week by the state cabinet OMC would provide long-term linkages to end users at a price derived through e-auction of a third of the bauxite it mined. The core issue is since both the other players (Aditya Birla s Hindalco and Nalco) have surplus bauxite there will only be one buyer at the auction. How can OMC get a fair price when Vedanta decided the price? said Jena. He claimed the average landed cost of bauxite that the company was buying today was Rs 4000 a tonne even if it were to pay Rs 1000 to OMC Vedanta still stood to save Rs 3000 a tonne claimed Jena. Will OMC assure long-term linkage if a group of tribal youth in Koraput today decided to set up a small alumina refinery? The policy was fundamentally a contradiction of the Supreme Court judgement mandating auction of all natural resources he added. Calls and messages made to OMC Managing Director R Vineel Krishna went unanswered. One contender for OMC s bauxite will be ANRAK the distressed aluminium maker in Andhra Pradesh whose refinery like Vedanta has no captive supply. Lanjgarh was to be fed with bauxite mined by OMC from the nearby Niyamgiri deposit under a JV that has long been cancelled. Ironically the Odisha government s new long-term policy is a result of its prior obligations to Vedanta. The government had constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to make appropriate recommendation on the nature and detailed modalities for supply of bauxite ore by the OMC to the Lanjigarh alumina refinery as and when any bauxite leases are operated by the OMC said the government press note explaining the Cabinet s decision. Vedanta s spokesperson could not be reached for comments. An official speaking on condition of anonymity pointed out that under this linkage the price of ore would effectively be decided by competitors participating in the e-auction. Vedanta not only stood to gain nothing but was only vying for 1.26 million https://www.arcaracing.com/kfckk tonnes of bauxite from Kodingamali s approved capacity currently against its annual requirement of six million tonnes. The company s experience in Odisha hasn t been an easy one. After multiple brushes with regulatory agencies and courts its Lanjigarh refinery was finally up but is the only one in the state without captive raw material. Anil Agarwal may also be relocating his dream project a university for which land had been acquired in Odisha to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. The Congress leader s allegations come after a bitter by-poll fought in the western district of Bijepur largely between the BJD and BJP. Vedanta he alleged was being favoured both by the BJP whose government at the Centre had granted environmental and forest clearances to this long-dormant mining project and by Patnaik s government in the state which was facilitating bauxite from it to the company.

In the wake of Tripura

Written by Prabhat Patnaik | Updated: March 6 2018 7:03 am If the Left takes a political stance to take the lead in organising an anti-Hindutva resistance then some good at least would have come out of the Tripura reverse. Express photo by Partha Paul. Two clear conclusions emerge from the Tripura election verdict. First it is exceedingly difficult for an Opposition party that has an incumbent government in any state to withstand the onslaught of the BJP. This party brings to the electoral arena the might of its Central government to buttress its own well-financed electoral effort. True the Manik Sarkar government had been crippled in its last term in office by a financial squeeze which had doubtless affected its performance but this squeeze itself had been the result as much of the recommendations of successive Finance Commissions that had been grossly unfair to Tripura as of the Centre s wilful niggardliness. By-elections where the BJP gets defeated and even assembly elections in states where the BJP has been in power either alone or in alliance and where the popular wrath it has earned leads to an opposition party s victory such as in Punjab cannot negate this https://tinychat.com/room/kkabhi fact. An opposition-ruled state government can scarcely survive the single-minded effort of the BJP with its immense resources combined with the machinations of the central government it controls to dislodge it from power through electoral means. Even apparently well-entrenched governments like those of Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik are vulnerable on this score notwithstanding their by-election successes.Related News Attacked CPM appeals BJP for peaceTripura BJP supporters bulldoze Lenin statueTripura election results: Ally IPFT pricks BJP celebrations raises demand for tribal CM Second in almost every state the polity is now tending to get polarised into the BJP on one side and one anti-BJP opposition force on the other. The fates of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab of the Congress in Odisha and now in Tripura are obvious examples of this trend where opposition parties other than the one which is perceived to be the main anti-BJP force are getting marginalised. This suggests that those opposed to the BJP are pooling their votes in favour of one anti-BJP party whose identity may differ from one state to another instead of frittering them by backing candidates belonging to several different parties. The electorate sees the political choice before it as either supporting or keeping out the BJP. If these trends continue then the ultimate denouement will be one where the BJP will be the only overwhelming national party facing in different states different political opponents; and since these opponents can be easily beaten down there will be BJP governments in almost all the states. The BJP s explicitly-stated objective of creating an opposition-free India will thus get realised; and in such a case of course ushering in a Hindu Rashtra will pose no great difficulty. It may well be asked: Are we not exaggerating the dangers of this denouement? Even if it comes to pass it would be argued the so-called anti-incumbency factor will work against the BJP governments in the different states if not immediately then at least after a while; and once these governments are voted out of power as the Tripura government has been then BJP rule at the Centre even if not overthrown in the near future will become difficult to sustain. Hence there is no need to be greatly exercised over this trend of extreme centralisation of power in the hands of the Hindutva party: This situation no matter how disturbing in the short run will get reversed in the long run. The reasons for disquiet however are several: First as Keynes had famously remarked in the long-run we are all dead . We cannot even in principle simply put our trust in the long run. Second one cannot underestimate the Hindutva forces ability to manipulate voting behaviour in their own favour to turn even losing situations into winning ones in all kinds of devious ways. These include presiding over communal riots spreading false rumours and manufacturing news about surgical strikes against this or that enemy of the nation . In such a case the so-called long run when they are supposed to be voted out of power will never come. Third if they are allowed to go their way with little resistance from the forces of parliamentary opposition which merely keeps waiting for the arrival of the long run when they would have lost their electoral appeal then other extra-parliamentary forces which represent rival fascisms opposed to them will come up. In that case the country will be torn apart through vicious conflicts. The time to intervene therefore is now before it becomes too late. The Left which is being pushed into the margins by the offensive of the BJP has to defend the nation and through that very process also defend itself by mobilising all the secular and democratic elements in society to fight the Hindutva forces before they tighten their stranglehold over it. Of course a mere hotch-potch of parties coming together to fight the BJP will carry little credibility with the people; and even if it succeeds in dethroning the BJP unless it effects some tangible improvement in the people s lives it will soon create sufficient disillusionment among them to allow the Hindutva party to come back to power at the next round. The coming together of the secular and democratic parties therefore will have to be around a common minimum programme which is workable and to which all parties coming together are committed. Such a programme must include not only overcoming the pervasive fear the assault on thought and the flourishing of communal patriarchal and casteist attitudes that has occurred of late but also introducing a set of universal welfare state measures especially in the spheres of education employment and health. Whoever is willing to come on such an agenda should be a part of the broad alliance whose constituents therefore should be decided not on a priori grounds but on this criterion of agreeing to an agenda for change. For the Left it is a fight for survival. If it recognises the seriousness of the situation and in the wake of the reverse in Tripura changes its political stance to take the lead in organising an anti-Hindutva resistance then some good at least would have come out of the Tripura reverse. The writer is former professor of economics at JNU Delhi For all the latest Opinion News download Indian Express App Get assembly election result LIVE updates from each constituency in Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya More From Prabhat Patnaik Site of Struggle Accessible and lucid Rajeev Dhavan s book argues that the content of the Constitution is the product of multiple contestations.. Salt to the wound Government could have undone the damage of demonetisation through the budget. The opportunity has been missed in deference to the whims of global finance... Why the Left matters An electoral setback for the Left is a setback for the democratic revolution... Tags: elections Tripura VV LakshminarayananMar 6 2018 at 8:04 amIt is time to shut down JNU. It is packed with antinationals.(3)(0) Reply Ajat ShaMar 6 2018 at 7:51 amWhat is this guy smoking. He is good for BJP so wont comment further(1)(0) Reply Narendra M. ApteMar 6 2018 at 7:48 am1. I agree with author s view that all parties who are opposed to BJP/RSS ideology should come together. 2. The Communist parties have failed. Idea of Third Front which is being considered to counter BJP appears to be attractive on paper. Who would be in such a Front? Regional parties like Samajwadi Party TRS Trinamool Congress NCP and possibly BJD may come together to form such a Front. 2. Here let us not forget that politicians like Mulayam Singh Yadav K Chandrasekhar Rao Mamata Banerjee Sharad Pawar and Biju Patnaik have individual ambitions of playing a big role in national politics (which means each of them has Prime Ministerial ambitions). 3. Let us also not overlook fact that these regional parties do not have a national agenda or a pan-India presence. Hence on many issues there are differences in approach which means that anti-BJP front will be an opportunistic alliance to be in power. Therefore we must debate and work hard to give a viable alternative to BJP/NDA.(0)(2) Reply Pravin KurdekarMar 6 2018 at 7:48 amAatma Vanchana(1)(0) Reply RRakesh Kumar SinhaMar 6 2018 at 7:44 amAnd the Hindus must moblize for their survival and put last nail on the coffin of anti Hindu anti national anti poor rants of commis and their bedfellows so-called secus.(3)(0) Reply Load More Comments
An internal debate in the CPI(M) on the political line the party has to follow has become even more shrill after its crushing defeat in Tripura with the camp supporting general secretary Sitaram Yechury blaming the former party boss Prakash Karat for not adapting to changing scenarios in the country. The incumbent Left government in power in the state for 25 years was routed by the BJP that earlier had less than a 2 per cent vote share in Tripura. The issue will now be debated in our party congress (to be held in April). I will not be able to say anything now as the final decision will be taken there Yechury told PTI. Though the general secretary was tight-lipped it has become amply clear that party leaders supporting his line will now strongly push for having an understanding with all anti-BJP forces as against Karat s policy of keeping a distance from other such parties. The Tripura results clearly show that the Left should have tried to bring all the anti-BJP forces together to defeat the BJP. The Congress had its voters in the state. But we could not give them an alternative. We should have given them the confidence that we could take the BJP on a senior leader from Bengal said. The leader from the Bengal unit -- which has mostly been with Yechury on alliances -- hoped for a change in the party line. The Karat camp did not agree with some members holding that along with anti-incumbency the erosion of the Congress helped the BJP. There is no anti-BJP force other than the Left in Tripura. The Congress vote share has come down to 2 per cent from 36 per cent in the state. We have got 46 per cent votes in Tripura. The entire Congress leadership crossed over to the BJP CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat told PTI. The defeat is also being seen in Left circles as a breakdown in the CPI(M) s electoral and political strategy and the party s disconnect with the masses and ground reality. The CPI another Left party believed the CPI(M) had failed to adapt to changing times and the results reflected not just the coming apart of its electoral and political strategy but also a massive disconnect with reality. As Communists we must understand changing times and challenges. We must understand the BJP is coming to power. It is no ordinary change of power. We have to change our strategy accordingly to defeat the BJP-RSS combine. That s why we need a broader anti-BJP front said CPI leader D Raja. Some Left insiders rue that while the Left was losing its bastions such as West Bengal earlier and Tripura now the CPI(M) is still grappling with internal differences. The difference of opinion between party general secretary Yechury and his predecessor Prakash Karat over the use of the phrase understanding with the Congress in its draft political resolution to be discussed at the party congress in April has become the talk of Left political circles. Karat s line against electoral alliance or understanding with the Congress prevailed over Yechury s who did not want to rule out an understanding with the Congress. A senior party member who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the result of the Tripura Assembly election was likely to change equations within the party. After Tripura many leaders within the party who had earlier backed the Karat line are now slowly realising that in today s political situation the Left needs to bring all anti-BJP forces together to fight against the BJP the leader said. The debate is going to become sharper in the days to come in the run-up to and at the party congress in Hyderabad. The daggers would be out and the voices -- although behind closed doors -- loud and shrill.
Agartala: The Tripura Police on Monday said it has received four complaints of post-poll violence from various parts of the state since Sunday night. Representational image. Reuters The state witnessed a change in rule after 25 years in the recently concluded Assembly elections. The BJP demolished the Left citadel in Tripura winning a two-thirds majority with its ally the IPFT. The cases include arson at two CPM offices in the Sidhai area in West Tripura district 25 km from Agartala and clashes between CPM and BJP supporters at Kadamtala in North Tripura district 140km from Agartala Superintendent of Police (Control) Pradip De said adding that no one had been arrested so far. The BJP has warned its leaders and supporters of stern action if they indulged in post-poll violence in Tripura. A section of unidentified BJP supporters who migrated from the CPM were creating unrest in parts of the state BJP vice-president Subal Bhowmick said at a press meet on Monday. Anyone found to be involved in post-poll violence would be immediately expelled and legal action will be initiated against them he said. The CPM alleged that the supporters and activists of the BJP-Indigenous People s Front of Tripura (IPFT) alliance were terrorizing its workers and burning party offices since the announcement of poll results on 3 March. CPM office secretary Haripada Das said over 240 people were injured in attacks on party offices offices of Left trade unions and homes of prominent leaders in the last 48 hours. Bhowmick said the situation was being closely monitored by the party and no one would be spared if they were found creating tension in the state. He alleged that the CPM activists too assaulted 49 of its party supporters 17 of whom had to be hospitalized.
Agartala: The drift of tribal and backward class voters was among the factors that led to the Left Front s debacle in the Tripura assembly elections. Of the 20 seats reserved for tribals in the 60-member state assembly the Left won just two as opposed to the 19 seats it had won in the last elections.The Left had been in power in the state for the last 25 years yet basic facilities have eluded tribal families says 72-year-old Ranabir Debbarma from Bamutia in West Tripura. Many tribal families are still poor and cannot send their children to school. Drinking water remains an issue tribals still drink water from rivulets. Local CPM leaders would give the benefits of government schemes to their near and dear ones said Mr Debbarma a staunch Communist who claimed to have voted for the BJP this time.Bengalis are the majority in Tripura and the Left traditionally had a strong grip over backward class Bengali voters in reserved seats like Bamutia. But this time they switched loyalties in sync with the BJP s call for change. I was a CPM supporter who joined the BJP in 2016 because I was tired of CPM s grassroots level corruption right from the panchayat level said Gourhari Sen.In these assembly elections the Left was not the only loser. Congress which always got over 35 per cent votes could not even manage two per cent this time.Former state Congress chief Sudip Roy Burman who first moved to the Trinamool Congress with five other lawmakers and then to the BJP says the Congress was never serious about coming to power in Tripura. Voters in Tripura were divided into two groups -- Left and anti-Left. Till a few days ago Congress was the main opposition party but when people saw a nexus between the Congress and Communists they lost confidence and were looking for a party that could dislodge the state government. Finally they found it in the BJP under Narendra Modi s leadership Mr Burman told NDTV.Unemployment is a major issue in the state that has nearly seven lakh jobless youth. There has been infiltration of Bangladeshis who have got all Indian documents and even government jobs. We the sons of the soil were left behind said Shyamal Debbarma a tribal. CommentsClose X And tapping into this sentiment is the BJP s ally -- Indigenous People s Front of Tripura (IPFT) -- that says it has not yet dumped its call for a separate tribal state. As a political party IPFT will still demand a separate tribal state for the survival of the tribals said IPFT president NC Debbarma.
AGARTALA: Newly elected MLAs of the BJP and its ally IPFT will meet here tomorrow to elect their leader amid hard bargaining by the tribal ally which demanded respectable positions in the new ministry. Tripura BJP president Biplab Deb considered a front runner in the race for the chief minister s post said tomorrow s meeting would be held at the state guest house in the presence of Union minister Nitin Gadkari. BJP spokesperson Mrinal Kanti Deb said Union minister Jual Oram would also be present. The swearing-in of the new ministry is likely to be held on March 8 at the Swami Vivekananada Maidan in the heart of the town. It is likely to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi many Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states Biplab Deb said. The BJP won 35 of the 59 seats that went to polls in Tripura and its ally the Indigenous People s Front of Tripura (IPFT) bagged eight seats. Polling was countermanded in one seat due to the death of the CPI(M) candidate. Meanwhile the IPFT today mounted pressure on the BJP saying it would support the new government from outside if it was not given respectable positions in the ministry. IPFT chief N C Debbarma also demanded that the chief minister be chosen from the indigenous MLAs. It is a tradition in the northeast that a chief minister is selected from the indigenous community he added. The IPFT would also seek a separate block for its MLAs in the Assembly if it was not given respectable positions in the cabinet he said. Asked what he meant by respectable positions Debbarma said it meant proportionate representation of IPFT MLAs in the cabinet and allocation of major departments to them. There is an apprehension that we may not be given proper representation in the cabinet and important portfolios would not be allocated to us as the BJP the major constituent has alone secured 35 seats Debbarma told PTI. The BJP and the IPFT he said had fought the elections in an alliance with the sole target of defeating the CPM and that the target was achieved. Now if we are not given respectable positions we will support the government from outside he said. The BJP leadership did not make any comment on the IPFT s demand. The IPFT had forged an alliance with the BJP before the elections on the basis of a common minimum agenda which included formation of a high-power committee with representations from the central and state governments and the indigenous community to address the problems of the tribals. The tribal party had come into being in the late 90s and had campaigned for a separate state for tribals by carving out the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) on the plea that the indigenous people had become marginalised due to the huge migration of people to this state after partition of the country in 1947. The tribal council area comprises two-third of the state s territory and the tribals form one-third of the population.
AGARTALA/MUMBAI: To put Sunil Deodhar in a mould is quite difficult an RSS Pracharak who has adapted to the local north east customs by eating pork a man who by spending 2 and a half years in Tripura has become more fluent in speaking Kokborok than its former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar or simply changing the very nature of a prabhari state in charge by camping in the state for the last 2.5 years lock stock and barrel. While many may be surprised by the election results in Tripura where the BJP managed to trounce a CM who has been in power for more than two decades now Deodhar himself was quite confident of this much earlier. 2 years earlier Deodhar had told BJP Chief Amit Shah that Mai rahu na rahu lekin Tripura aapko zaroor milega . I may not remain alive but I will get Tripura for the BJP. While the lines may seem dramatic those close to Deodhar said that BJP workers were specifically being targeted by the left government. There were a number of attacks on BJP workers party Chief Biplap Deb was attacked and so was Subal Bhowmik our Vice president of the party. said Dinesh Kanji a journalist who wrote a book on Illusion and Reality Manik Sarkar the Red Face of Anarchy. The booklet was used by the BJP to target the Manik Sarkar government. Deodhar himself faced two attacks one in Manik Sarkar s constituency Dhanpur and other in Gomti. The RSS Pracharak was already prepared for the attacks BJP leaders said that some of his close associates from his organization My Home India that works in North east were in Tripura for the last two and a half years shadowing him and protecting him from attacks. These people a group of 30 most of them from Mumbai stayed with him in Tripura for the last 2 to 3 years. So there was Shivanand Nadkarni who was in charge of the War Room that was over seeing the campaign in Tripura. Shravan Jha who got married recently but took along his wife too to campaign for the BJP. Normally a state in charge is at best a frequent visitor to the state he is appointed in but Deodhar changed the definition of it by camping in Tripura. For the last two years and more the Shamili maa building in Agartala was his residence. said a BJP leader. Fond of his two dogs Laptop and Facebook he had them brought to Tripura from Delhi where they have been put up with him. Known to be a huge fan of Lata Mangeshkar songs and who has a huge collection of it the RSS Pracharak even used the songs to target Manik Sarkar. One of the songs that he used to use to target Sarkar was from the 1968 film Izzat kya miliya aise logo se jinki surat chupi rahe nakli chehra saamne aye asli surat chupi rahe. Those close to Deodhar said that his advantage was that he would go out of the way to assimilate with the local people. He learnt Kokborok the tribal language in 2 years and speaks it better than Manik Sarkar. He began eating pork as it was the common diet here even when his doctor advised him to stop eating non veg food due to his weight issues he did not stop as whenever he went to people s houses he was offered non veg and he did not want to offend his hosts. said Kanji. The RSS Pracharak s first came close to Amit Shah in 2012 elections when he was incharge of the Dahod district where out of the six seats the BJP was in power only in 1 while the Congress was in 5 seats. By the time the elections got over the BJP tally had gone up to 3 seats. BJP leaders said that Deodhar knowing his hold on speaking Bengali and his organizational strength the BJP could ask him to work to spread the party in Bengal.
Written by Shreyas Sardesai | Updated: March 5 2018 5:37 am Tripura BJP chief Biplab Deb after the results were declared in Agartala on Saturday. (Express Photo: Abhisek Saha) Tripura s anti-Left voters wanted poriborton at all costs this time and their resolve to see the back of the Left Front government has resulted in an unprecedented success of the BJP-Indigenous People s Front of Tripura (IPFT) alliance. Those opposed to the Left mostly tribals and some non-tribals decisively shifted their allegiance from the old (tried and failed) options of Congress and Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra to the BJP and the IPFT whom they saw as being best placed to bring an end to the 25-year-long Left rule. While this is quite apparent from the result itself a post-poll survey conducted by Lokniti-Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) helps make sense of the massive anti-Left consolidation that took place. Nearly two-fifths (38%) of close to 2 000 voters interviewed across the state described themselves as anti-Left ; and nine of every ten (89%) of them voted for the BJP-IPFT. Also read | Meghalaya and Nagaland: Behind fractured verdicts affinity for local candidates rather than parties During the 2008 election a similar survey by Lokniti in Tripura had found the proportion of those describing themselves as anti-Left at only a little over one-fourth. This is not to say that the old CPM voters did not switch allegiance to the BJP this time around. They certainly did but not to the same extent as the old Congress voters did. In the present survey four in every five (83%) of traditional Congress voters were found to have voted for the BJP-IPFT as opposed to one in every five (21%) of traditional Left voters. It seems a complete collapse of the state Congress put paid to the Left s hopes of returning to power for a sixth successive term. There was a near-unanimous consensus among voters even those who voted for the CPM that it was the BJP (together with IPFT) that was the main challenger to the Left parties. The post-poll survey found nearly nine of ten respondents holding this opinion. This strong belief seems to have prevented any division of the anti-incumbency vote. In fact so strong was the anti-incumbency sentiment that only one in every three voters said they wanted the Manik Sarkar-led government to continue. On the other hand 45% wanted it voted out with the rest remaining noncommittal. What s more the survey found a far greater proportion of voters to be fully dissatisfied (32%) with the LF government s performance than fully satisfied (24%) with it. Interestingly voters made a clear distinction between the last five years of Left Front rule as opposed to its 25-year-long rule. While they rated the latest tenure quite positively on most aspects of governance healthcare education roads drinking water electricity supply and the like they were not as generous when it came to assessing the Left s 25-year record particularly on industrialisation and job creation. For a plurality of voters (25%) it was development that was the single most important voting issue; 13% voted for change and 5% said they voted keeping rising unemployment in mind. Even as the performance of Sarkar s government received a mixed review the survey found the Narendra Modi-led Union government rated high among Tripura s voters. Full satisfaction with its performance was over three times greater than complete dissatisfaction (27% as opposed to 8%). This perhaps partly explains the massive crowds during rallies addressed by the Prime Minister. The BJP s high pitched campaign in fact seems to have made a huge impact on voters minds as well. The survey found that two in every five (41%) voters made their choice after the campaign started and a whopping two-thirds of them ended up voting for the BJP. On the other hand among the 55% who said they decided their vote before the campaign the Left did better than the BJP (54% to 39%). The BJP s controversial alliance with the IPFT an organisation that has been leading a movement demanding a separate state for tribals and had launched a blockade in the state for nearly two weeks last year seems to have paid rich dividends for it. The alliance won 17 of the 19 tribal seats that went to the polls. The post-election survey found over half (54%) the tribal voters (who have traditionally aligned themselves with the Left) voting for the BJP-IPFT and only a little over one-third (36%) voting for the Left. The IPFT s separate state demand in fact found high support among tribals. Asked if they supported the separate state demand as opposed to greater autonomy nearly half the tribals opted for the former whereas a little over one-third said they supported greater autonomy. Non-tribals as expected were found completely against the separate state and this perhaps partly explains why many of them (49%) voted for the Left although not with the same intensity as tribals did for the BJP-IPFT. Other than the emotive separate state issue the RSS s activities in tribal areas and a sense of neglect by the Left government may also have played a role in pushing tribals towards the BJP-IPFT. The survey found that among tribals Christian tribals voted for the BJP-IPFT in a greater proportion than Hindu tribals (64% as opposed to 51%). There was a clear generational divide in voting trends. Younger voters voted for the BJP-IPFT in far greater numbers than older voters. While the alliance bagged nearly 55% of the votes among voters aged between 18 and 45 it netted about 45% among older voters. For the Left it was the other way around. Finally men seem to have played a greater role in bringing about the BJP s victory than women. As per the post-poll survey the BJP-IPFT led the Left parties among male voters by 12 percentage points in terms of votes polled but quite interestingly trailed the Left among female voters by 2 points. This gender gap is more pronounced among non-tribals than among tribals. However even among the latter while tribal women voted for the BJP alliance in greater proportions than for the Left they did so with a much lower intensity than their male counterparts. Women of Tripura perhaps weren t as enthused by the prospect of the BJP coming to power as men were. Thus the victory in Tripura was clearly on account of a strong anti-incumbency sentiment which the BJP capitalised on through an important strategic alliance with the IPFT. This helped the former consolidate the Adivasi vote and the anti-Left vote and also secure the support of those fatigued by long years of Left rule. (The author is associated with Lokniti-CSDS) For all the latest Explained News download Indian Express App Get assembly election result LIVE updates from each constituency in Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya Tags: Express Explained RRajeshMar 5 2018 at 9:55 amIt s about time. For seven decades India followed Nehruvian socialism and leftist policies and it got us nothing. While countries like China were surging ahead we lagged behind. It was only free-market reforms that opened up the economy in the 1990s that led to the growth of the 1990s and 2000s. Instead of continuing the path towards a free-market economy Congress reverted to leftist policies. The people have rightly decided that leftist policies are a failure. Every developed country in the world from USA to Japan is capitalist. They are marked by having large multinational corporations that create incredible wealth. Why is USA rich? Because of the likes of Microsoft Amazon and McDonalds. Multi-billion dollar corporations that produce valuable goods/services. Why is Japan rich? Because of Toyota Sony etc. In India left-wing buffoons are constantly railing against corporations. Who do they think will create the s and provide employment that the Indian public demands?(9)(1) Reply PPartha RoyMar 5 2018 at 6:05 amVery few media experts have had ears to the ground especially in Tripura. For that matter the nitty-gritty dealings the communists make or made in W. Bengal Tripura and Kerala have been deliberately overlooked by the media to a large extent. One should know why the communists are so interested in a revolution which is sort of a military coup because given a free and fair election the communists are very unlikely to come to power through the democratic process. If the elections were free then in West Bengal the communists would have been defeated handsomely back in 1987 but thanks to rigging booth capturing intimidation and utter fraud that saw the left parties coming to power till 2006. The same happened in Tripura as well. .... But this time the communists have been defeated in their own game. BJP government at the center center made sure that none of the mischief could be repeated by the left. Thousands of illegal Bangladeshis used to cross the border of course under(16)(7) Reply PPartha RoyMar 5 2018 at 6:02 amVery few media experts have had ears to the ground especially in Tripura. For that matter the nitty-gritty dealings the communists make or made in W. Bengal Tripura and Kerala have been deliberately overlooked by the media to a large extent. One should know why the communists are so interested in a revolution which is sort of a military coup because given a free and fair election the communists are very unlikely to come to power through the democratic process. If the elections were free then in West Bengal the communists would have been defeated handsomely back in 1987 but thanks to rigging booth capturing intimidation and utter fraud that saw the left parties coming to power till 2006. The same happened in Tripura as well. .... But this time the communists have been defeated in their own game. BJP government at the center center made sure that none of the mischief could be repeated by the left. Thousands of illegal Bangladeshis used to cross the border of course under(6)(3) Reply
Written by Esha Roy | Agartala | Updated: March 6 2018 7:05 am A JCB being used in Belonia to bring down a Lenin statue IN THE heart of Belonia town in Tripura s extreme south a statue of Communist icon Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov better known as Lenin stood at the centre of College Square for the last five years. At 2.30 pm Monday 48 hours after the assembly election results were announced celebrating BJP workers and supporters brought it down with the help of a JCB amid cries of Bharat Mata ki jai . While the CPI(M) which lost power in the state after 25 years described the incident as an example of Communism phobia the BJP claimed that the statue was brought down by people oppressed by the Left. Eyewitnesses told me that after the statue fell its head was dismembered from the body. And then the BJP workers played football with Lenin s head claimed Tapas Datta CPI(M) s Belonia sub-division secretary. In South Tripura s Belonia a statue of Lenin razed amid chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai . This less than 48 hours after the BJP stormed to power ending a 25-year-long Left rule. More here: http://t.co/Q7a4EsiuSh pic.twitter.com/335YDvXTb7 The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) March 5 2018 South Tripura SP Ipper Monchak said the driver of the JCB Ashish Pal was arrested in the evening and let off on bail. The statue remains where it has fallen. It will be removed by police tomorrow and given to the municipality for storage said Monchak. According to CPI(M) s Datta the 11.5-ft fibre-glass statue was sculpted by local artist Krishna Debnath at a cost of Rs 3 lakh. It was installed as the party began its 21st year of rule after winning the 2013 assembly elections. BJP south district secretary Raju Nath who has been blamed by the CPI(M) of having planned the incident said the statute fell because of an overflow of anger . For years there has been resentment against this statue of Lenin. It was built by the municipality and funded by the taxpayers money. Why should the taxpayer have to finance a statue of Lenin? Even if it was a statue of our former CPI(M) chief minister Nripen Chakraborty nobody would have touched it he was one of us and belonged to the country. But what does this foreigner Lenin have to do with our people? said Nath. CPI(M) state secretary Bijan Dhar alleged that the incident was the latest in a string of attacks targeting his party after the BJP-IPFT alliance came to power. Lenin statue was brought down at Belonia town Tripura at 2.30 pm Monday by some BJP workers chanting Bharat Mata ki jai Our party workers and supporters are being attacked physically leaders are being threatened our offices are being occupied vandalised and set on fire as are the homes of many of our workers. The bringing down of the statue is nothing but Communism phobia claimed Dhar. Local CPI(M) leader Datta said the statue was the only one of Lenin among some 15-20 across Belonia town installed over the past two decades to beautify the city . The others include statues of Rabindranath Tagore Swami Vivekananda Vidyasagar and Kabi Nazrul he said. Describing the events leading to the statue s fall BJP s Nath said We were carrying out a victory rally this afternoon. When we reached College Square there was a bulldozer that was trying to make its way through the crowds. In the process the driver lost control and hit the railing around the statue. When this happened the supporters surrounded the driver and made him bring down the statue. This was not an unnatural feeling for these people who have been oppressed by the CPI(M) for so long. Tripura minus Lenin http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Nath denied charges that the JCB was hired by his party. The houses near the statue belong to families opposed to the Left. Every week the CPI(M) would hold gatherings and events near the statue and impose their ideology on these people. They d had enough he said. SP Monchak said the police station where the JCB driver was held had been gheraoed by a crowd seeking his release. We would have released Pal in any case as this was not a non-bailable offence. We believe the JCB had been hired expressly for this purpose but we cannot say who hired it. An inquiry is still on said Monchak. Incidentally one of the most prominent statues of Lenin in the country at Esplanade in the heart of Kolkata remains in place even though the Left was toppled from power after 34 years by Mamata Banerjee s TMC in 2011. For all the latest North East India News download Indian Express App Get assembly election result LIVE updates from each constituency in Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya Tags: BJP Lenin Tripura Sankaranarayanan RamaswamyMar 6 2018 at 8:06 amWhat has happened was very correct. What Lenin is doing in India ???? He has no business in our Country. Communist policy has ruined India and now development period has come in Tripura and other North Eastern State. People should support our Seven Sisters people and should help to avert unemployment problem there by providing s to them as they are our brothers and sisters. BJP must show some difference and Tripura people should feel that we all care them and have equal interest in the State to develop. Jai Bharat.(0)(0) Reply Avinash RangraMar 6 2018 at http://kfreecharge.over-blog.com/2018/02/freecharge-offers-in-shopozo.html 7:54 amCPI-M follows a foreign concept of how people in India ought to be living. Communism has nothing in common with rural India the section dear Comrades profess to represent. They want to keep a significant segment of the society poor for exploitation. Bengal is still inflicted with medieval thought process after 25 years plus CPI rule. Mamta is not any better. People in India are proud look inward to their own culture whereas the Comrades look outside for inspiration China for example because Russia cur ly is more capitalistic than USA in certain aspects. Indian culture is democratic giving everyone a choice to worship their own ways not what someone tells them to do. Comrades enforce Lenin-Mao-etc Islam forces Sharia. Both are alien to indian way of life. Heck the comrades sided with China in 1962 forced communist ideology in Nepal sided with the Soviets against Netaji Bose. They need to removed from the Indian soil.(3)(1) Reply VvishMar 6 2018 at 7:41 amCPM is anti national party they want Lenin Marx and Mao who have no releance in this country.Now they want Dictator of North Korea and say they work for Democracy .What a Joke ?they support Chinese against India kill nationalist people and shut the mouth of those who oppose them.(14)(2) Reply Kapil SutraMar 6 2018 at 7:29 amWhat is Lenin s relevance to India. The brainwashed rootless Marxists cannot take India s people for a ride for ever. Communists and democracy was unheard of till they hijacked elections in India by violence and perennial strife mongering after having rejected commitment to India.(18)(20) Reply ajith MalluMar 6 2018 at 7:10 amI am not a left supporter but I strongly take exception to this sort of vandalism.. Well nothing can be done in Modi s India which is slowly drifting to a draconian dictatorship. It is only a matter of time before all civil liberties are gone(26)(29) ReplyAvinash RangraMar 6 2018 at 7:56 amGot tired in three years o boy. U prefer alien ideologies over the local ones of giving everybody a choice.? Can t believe it.(1)(0) Reply Load More Comments

Modis projects that tilted the northeast states towards BJP

NEW DELHI: The stellar performance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent state elections in Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya is a landmark for a party which had little traction in the region except in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The party never had any significant connect with the masses and was seen as an outsider. What changed the situation? BJP president Amit Shah in his first press conference after the results credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi s Act East policy for the upsurge in fortunes. Modi s Act East policy included a big push for road and railway infrastructure and various steps to boost the regional economy. While most of the infrastructural projects are at various stages of completion Modi s northeast agenda created a rhetoric of inclusiveness that helped bring the masses closer to the BJP. Below are a few important initiatives by the Modi government that may have made the BJP acceptable to the northeast voters: The railways push Before a metre-gauge line started in 2008 Tripura didn t have any railway link with the rest of the country. The Modi government converted it into broad gauge. All over the region the government has converted 900 km of tracks http://www.wysp.ws/kkabhi/ to broad gauge. It also launched a Rajdhani Express and the Tripura Sundari Express between Agartala and Delhi. In 2016 then railways minister Suresh Prabhu laid the foundation stone for the Rs 2 315 crore 88-km Dhansiri-Kohima railway track connecting Kohima to the national railway network. The government also began railway projects to connect Imphal Aizawl and Shillong. It has introduced more than two dozen new trains in the region. It also signed a deal with Bangladesh to develop a rail link between Tripura and Chittagong which would speed up flow of products especially grains to the region. Roads and highways Modi has branded his policy to build infrastructure in northeast as Transformation by Transportation . Lack of connectivity has been a major roadblock in the economic progress on the region. Modi s promise of connectivity resonates with the masses. More than 3 800 km of national highways with an investment of Rs. 32 000 crore have been sanctioned in the region in the past three years while nearly 1 200 km of roads have been constructed according to the government. In a public announcement in December last year Modi said the centre would invest another Rs. 60 000 crore under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in the northeast and Rs. 30 000 crore under the Bharatmala project over three years. Modi also dedicated to the nation a 271-km two-lane national highway connecting Tura in western Meghalaya to the state capital Shillong last year. Air connectivity The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has allocated Rs 3 400 crore for the upgradation of airports in the North East region. According to the government projects worth Rs 934 crore have already been completed while the rest would be over in the next two or three years. The aviation projects in the northeast include re-carpeting of the runway at Silchar and Lilabari airport and an aviation manpower training institute; development of Rupsi airport; a new integrated airport and an engineering workshop at Agartala; expansion and revamp of existing terminal building and runway at Dimapur; installation of an instrument landing system (ILS) at the Shillong airport; and operationalisation and development of the Tura airport. Other projects and policies Last year Modi dedicated the 60-MW Tuirial hydropower power project which made Mizoram the third power-surplus state in the northeast to Sikkim and Tripura. The project is expected to produce 251 million units of electricity annually. Announced in 1998 by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government it was the first major central government project to be successfully commissioned in Mizoram. Recently the government decided to fully fund various Central projects being implemented in the northeast instead of the previous practice of sharing 90 per cent of the cost. The Modi government has also made the 1360-km long India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway which is to be completed in 2020 a centerpiece of its Act East policy. Opening the northeast to the ASEAN countries the highway will boost the regional economy. In Budget 2018-19 the government re-classified bamboo from tree to grass which would enable easier cultivation for commercial purposes. Bamboo is central to the rural economy of the northeast. Its classification as tree meant various restrictions on its produce transport and sale.
.story-content span .story-content p .story-content div color:#000!important;font-family: open sans Arial!important;font-size:15px!important ALSO READ East turns Right? 10 takeaways of Tripura Meghalaya Nagaland poll results Poll Results LIVE: Hung Assembly in Meghalaya Cong single largest party Meghalaya saves Congress the blushes party may now try political courtship Northeast Assembly election results 2018: BJP read the tea leaves right span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday expanded its footprint further in India s ethnically and religiously diverse Northeast by ousting the Left Front government in Tripura and was on its way to forming a coalition government in Nagaland. But Meghalaya threw up a hung Assembly with the incumbent Congress emerging as the single-largest party. With the BJP s improved performance in the Northeast it now runs governments in Manipur and Assam as well the Narendra Modi government will now need to face the challenge of delivering on the contentious Naga Accord. In Nagaland the BJP had contested the polls with the Neiphiu Rio-led Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP). On its own the BJP won a creditable 11 seats and 14.6 per cent if the votes. With its ally NDPP winning 15 seats the alliance fell short of the halfway mark. However Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said his party would form a coalition government with the Naga Peoples Front which won 27 seats four short of a majority in the 60-member Assembly. In Meghalaya the incumbent Congress won 21 seats. The National People s Party a BJP ally won 19 and the BJP won 2. The BJP improved its vote share to 9.6 per cent. However Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Ahmed Patel landed in Shillong to reach out to smaller parties to explore the possibility of forming the government and prevent a repeat of Goa and Manipur where the party had emerged the single-largest party but was beaten by a fleet-footed BJP in government formation. Until 2016 the BJP never had a government in any of the northeastern states. Efficient election management and electoral tie-ups made the BJP win the Assam Assembly polls in 2016. By the end of that year behind-the-scenes work helped it form the government in Arunachal Pradesh. While the Congress emerged the single-largest party in Manipur in the 2017 Assembly polls the BJP had reached out to smaller parties to form the government in that state. As the results trickled in on Saturday the Tripura verdict brought much cheer to the BJP leadership. It had defeated its ideological enemy the CPI (M) which has won elections successively in the state since 1993. The Congress vote share collapsed from 36.53 per cent in 2013 to 1.8 per cent. The alliance of the BJP and Indigenous People s Front of Tripura (IPFT) was on course to win 43 of the 60 seats. The BJP along with its allies will now have governments in 21 states. But a jubilant party chief Amit Shah said the BJP s golden era would be when its wrested West Bengal Odisha and Karnataka from rival parties. The Karnataka Assembly polls are scheduled for April-May. Aware that the BJP and its ally the National People s Party might struggle to cobble a coalition Shah ruled out the possibility of his party engaging in horse-trading in Meghalaya. Where is the question of tod-phod (horse-trading). The Congress does not have a majority there he said. Shah said the wins were an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi s leadership. Assam minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said Tripura s outgoing chief minister Manik Sarkar could take shelter in West Bengal Kerala or neighbouring Bangladesh. In a statement the CPI (M) said the BJP utilised massive deployment of money and other resources to influence the elections . It said the BJP was able to consolidate all the anti-Left votes and virtually appropriated the erstwhile main opposition party the Congress. The CPI (M) politburo thanked the 45 per cent of Tripura voters who voted for the Left parties. The defeat for the CPI (M) comes at a time of an internal battle between former party chief Prakash Karat and current chief Sitaram Yechury. The party conclave in Hyderabad in the later part of April is set to discuss the party s attitude towards electoral understandings with other secular democratic parties for the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP s wins in the Northeast tie well with its plans to compensate any losses it might suffer in northern India by winning seats in some of its electorally weaker areas.
The landslide victory that the Bharatiya Janata Party got in the northeastern state of Tripura has rattled Kerala the most. The saffron party s first ever victory over the Communists has not only shaken the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) but also the Congress-led opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) in the southern state. The two fronts which have been ruling the state alternately for the last three decades were contenting themselves that the secular-minded people of Kerala will not allow BJP to sell its Hindutva agenda in the state. Thiruvananthapuram-based political analyst Jacob George said the BJP had exploded this myth in the Assembly elections by ending the quarter-century communist rule in Tripura and taking the party close to power in the two minority-dominated states of Nagaland and Meghalaya. BJP supporters hold up a placard of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after party s victory in Tripura Assembly elections results in Agartala on Saturday. PTI He pointed out that the saffron party had achieved this without playing the communal cards that it used effectively to conquer the Hindi belt. Jacob attributed BJP s success to its master campaign tactics and willingness to join hands with anybody including divisive forces. BJP wiped out Congress in Tripura by buying its top leaders and then made inroads into the Communist bastions by highlighting the raw deal the people received from the 25 years of Communist rule. If the party adopts the same tactics in the state it will be able to capture power in Kerala Jacob told Firstpost. Dhanraj another political analyst pointed out that the saffron party was able to make inroads into all regions of Tripura including the Bengali belt by projecting an alternate development agenda that would bring jobs to youths and better living conditions to the common man. BJP in Kerala has been focusing its attention on political issues so far. The party will be able to sway the youths and the middle class if it presents a credible development agenda before the people who have been voting for either front in the absence of a third alternative he added. BJP national president Amit Shah who is considered as the architect of the party s victories in at least a dozen states has signalled that his next target is Kerala. Dhanraj feels Shah may adopt the same strategy he has experimented successfully in Tripura in Kerala too. This will be catastrophic for both the fronts since they have not been able to break the development jinx in the state. Both have been resting on the laurels of the past achievements on the social front. With these achievements showing signs of crumbling in the absence of corresponding growth in the productive sectors disenchantment against the two is mounting among the people he added. The BJP has not been able to cash in on this as it did not have a leader with a wider appeal. The party s national leadership is trying to solve this problem by cultivating leaders like Alphonse Kannanthanam who belongs to the minority community which accounts for 46 percent of the population in the state. Political observers believe that he was promoted as a union minister with this objective in mind. The two dominant fronts have been going easy thinking that the BJP will affect the other. The optimism of the Congress was based on the calculation that BJP s alliance with Bharatiya Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) a new outfit of the lower caste Ezhavas will affect the CPM the most. The party believed that the alliance would take away the CPM votes since Ezhavas constituted the major chunk of the Communist cadre. But the local body elections in November 2015 and the Assembly polls in May 2016 proved its calculations wrong. The Congress was relegated to the third position in most places where the BJP made advances. This is one reason why the state unit of the CPM is opposing any understanding with the Congress tooth and nail. Jacob said that if the party does not recognise the danger posed by the BJP Pinarayi Vijayan will be last Communist chief minister in Kerala as predicted by Shah. The state leadership of CPM has been following a strategy of weakening the UDF by wooing its constituents. While the party has already brought the Janata Dal (U) out from the UDF it is trying to bring the Kerala Congress (M) which quit the Opposition coalition in the wake of the Assembly election into the LDF fold before the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. The state leadership of the CPM believe that they will be able to continue in power as their counterparts in West Bengal and Tripura did earlier if the Congress is crushed. However a large section of the cadres believes it will pave the way for the BJP to capture power in the state. Party general secretary Sitaram Yechury who advocated electoral adjustments with the Congress and other secular parties to defeat the BJP and its communal agenda had viewed this as the result of parochial thinking on the part of the state unit. Terming it as suicidal at the state conference of the party last month Yechury had warned the state leaders not to consider the party as Communist Party of Kerala Marxist. Defending his line Yechury told the comrades that CPM was not what they perceive in Kerala and added that the party could not take a political line for the entire country based on one state or one group. Jacob believes that the huge setback the CPM has suffered in Tripura may force the state unit to have a rethinking on the stand they had taken on the political line at the central committee meeting at Kolkata in February. If they fail it will be described as another historic blunder at the coming party congress at Hyderabad in April he added. Jacob said that there was strong resentment among a large section of the cadres about the adamant stand the state unit had taken on the political line. Many of them believe that it is part of the widening power equations in the party than based on the ground realities. Jacob feels that the resentment will grow following the ignominious defeat the party has suffered in Tripura forcing the state leadership to change their stand. Indications in this regard came when CPM Ernakulam district secretary P Rajeev conceded that the party may have to think of strategies to check the BJP without affecting its support base in the state. Jacob thinks that the CPM as well as Congress will face extinction in the state if they were not ready to take a united stand to counter the BJP surge.
ALSO READ No NPA during PM Modi s rule: BJP Slogan Congress Mukt Bharat never aimed at one party: PM Modi PM hails state BJP for rising vote share in Bengal bypoll Rajasthan MLA attacks Modi hints at new party Rajasthan BJP to woo people for PM s rally with yellow rice span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said not a single loan given under Prime Minister Narendra Modi s rule has become a non-performing asset (NPA).Addressing a press conference here Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said These days the Congress has been asking too many questions about the NPAs. We have categorically said that not a single loan given under our rule has become NPA. Presenting figures the Union Minister further stated that the NPAs increased manifold under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. In 2008 the total advance given by the banks was Rs. 18.6 lakh crore. During the subsequent six-year rule of the UPA till March 2014 it rose to Rs. 52.15 lakh crore. Out of these advances 36 percent loans were identified as stressed assets. Now the stressed asset has risen to 82 percent out of that advances made in the UPA government Prasad said. There was one economist prime minister (Dr. Manmohan Singh) and one super economist was his finance minister (P. Chidambaram). The truth is that on the one hand there was no NPA during Prime Minister Modi s rule; and on the other hand advances increased but did not reflect in records under the UPA rule. As a result the stressed asset of 36 percent actually became 82 percent Prasad added.He also said that entire banking system in India went haywire under former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh s rule due to all kinds of interference in it. The BJP would like to say with a full sense of responsibility that under the so-called economist Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh the entire banking system was completely sought to be derailed because of interventions patronage and pressure Prasad said.The Union Minister said since Modi government came to power in 2014 the politics of confusion fear and concoction is the basis of the Congress campaign against it.(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Narendra Modi government s procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France under a deal in 2016 is actually cheaper than the one negotiated by the previous UPA government top government sources told The Indian Express. The report quoted sources as saying that the Rs 526 crore or approximately Euro 79 million per aircraft which the Opposition has been talking about is actually based on Rafale s 2007 bid at the then exchange rate. File image of a Rafale fighter jet. Wikimedia Commons Alleging a scam the Congress has been asking the government whether the per aircraft price of Rafale according to international bids opened on 12 December 2012 comes to 80.95 million (Rs 526.1 crore) as against the Modi government s per aircraft negotiated price of 241.66 Million (Rs 1 570.8 crore) as per current exchange rates. The UPA government floated a tender in 2007 for purchase of 126 MMRCA for the Air Force and post negotiations two of them Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon remained in the reckoning. However the deal could not be finalised by the UPA regime. Asked why NDA government did not go for Eurofighter Typhoon as it had offered a 25 percent price cut the sources said several European countries were involved in manufacturing of Eurofighter and France was preferred for the inter-governmental deal. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had also retaliated to the Congress allegations and said that the party was looking for a scam every day to throw mud on the corruption-free NDA government. The Congress wants to equate their corrupt and scam-hit UPA government with ours. So it is looking for a scam every day. Here we go there is one pick it up and throw mud and it is for us to keep wiping it and saying we are clean. I am sorry it is somewhat not so responsible way in which you want to criticise the government she had said. Sitharaman had also said there was no controversy over the Rafale deal as there was no deal under the UPA government. Let s get this out of our system that they (UPA government) had the deal and it was much better. Where was the deal under the UPA? There was just no deal. With inputs from PTI
KANPUR: Kanpur Dehat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rahuldev Agnihotri and his son thrashed a toll plaza employee in Uttar Pradesh s Akbarpur city. The incident took place on February 28 after Agnihotri was trying to cross the toll without paying and the employee did not let their vehicle pass through. In the CCTV footage one can see Agnihotri and his son forcefully entering the plaza and slapping the employee. Further details on this issue are awaited. In a similar incident months ago Vijay Charel husband of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA was caught thrashing a toll plaza employee in Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh. Vijay is the husband of Sangeeta Charel the BJP MLA from Sailana constituency. (ANI)
The Congress on Saturday termed the BJP s 20-page pictorial booklet expose charging the ruling party of ruining Bengaluru a lie. The party said the pictures were from Mizoram and Nepal. The Bharatiya Janata Party caught lying again! While Congress is working towards providing the best amenities for Bengaluru s citizens BJP is busy defaming and lying about the city tweeted Congress state unit s working president Dinesh Gundu Rao. While a picture claiming to display the garbage menace in the capital city Bengaluru was taken in Kathmandu by the American website npr.org another picture showing potholes was reportedly shot in Mizoram. Reacting to the Congress allegations that his party was lying BJP state spokesman Vamanacharya said the ruling party has lost its face after the booklet was released and was hence finding loopholes. Sometimes different pictures might look alike but the content of the booklet is entirely true. Congress has lost its face after the chargesheet was released by us and is now only looking for loopholes Vamanacharya told IANS here. BJP state unit in-charge and Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday had released the booklet listing the omissions and commissions of the ruling Congress government that allegedly ruined the city. Since the Congress came to power in 2013 Bengaluru has turned into a garbage city a crime city and a rape city from what it was known for greenery salubrious climate and IT prowess Javadekar had said. The Congress has made the city a hell to live in he had remarked. The BJP was demanding an answer from the ruling Congress for its maladministration that led to the city s infrastructure being ruined he asserted.
BHUBANESWAR: This is unprecedented such extensive preparation and arrangements may have never been made for any assembly bypoll in Odisha said Superintendent of Police Jai Narayan Pankaj in way summing up the three weeks of campaigning in Odisha s Bargarh district. Polling for the Bijepur assembly constituency will take place on Saturday. Results are to be announced on February 28 and could settle how 2019 fares for Naveen Patnaik s Biju Janata Dal and its new challenger the Bhartiya Janata Party. The district administration has decided to notify as critical 155 or more than half of the total 281 booths which will be provided with armed policemen. Pankaj who was appointed to the district earlier this month along with a new collector Yamini Sarangi pointed out that in 2014 when polling had last taken place in this constituency there were only 21 critical booths. Now you can understand how serious we are to ensure a free fair and transparent election he said addressing a press conference on Friday. In short the seat was thrice won by the Indian National Congress whose popular MLA Subal Sahu died last year. Sahu had in 2014 beaten veteran BJD leader Prasanna Acharya. His widow is now BJD s candidate while BJD leader waiting in the wings all these years has been snapped by the BJP. The saffron party which hopes to unseat Patnaik in 2019 did impressively well from this region in the rural polls last year. It needs to prove this wasn t a blip on account of the Congress sleepwalking through the 2017 panchayat polls. There was no let-up either in the BJD or the BJP s exhaustive and expensive efforts to win this https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/kkmyntra/about bypoll possibly the last before the next general and assembly elections. Five CRPF companies will be joined by 36 platoons of state police to ensure the polls take place without any more drama. Late on Thursday night the brother of the state Labour Minister and local leader Susant Singh traveling with three others was fired upon and injured in an attack that the party blames its political opponents for. A month before campaigning began unidentified men had opened fire on the house of a local BJP leader. Money and liquor have been seized and the Chief Election Officer of Odisha Surendra Kumar has received one and sometimes multiple complains almost every other day. Kumar wasn t spared either. The BJP has accused him of taking sides. The party whose campaign has been spearheaded by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan accused the CM s officers of misusing state machinery. The BJD in turn accused Pradhan of using his Ministry to shut a petrol pump. Earlier in the week slippers were thrown at the 71 year old leader CM who was spending two days in the district already hosting half his MLAs. Ironically the lowest point in the campaign may have been carried out by a random individual known to act nutty. Following the incident a nondescript village found the reserved Patnaik making a late night visit to plead for his candidate. Meanwhile the Congress which had thrice won this seat insists it is not a bystander. It s leaders claimed to be working overtime to make up for the delay in announcing their candidate. Said Congress leader Srikant Jena The question to ask is why is Naveen Patnaik so desperate to win this seat. After all his father whose footsteps he wants to follow in never campaigned for a bypoll.