Rahul taunts Modi over cloud remark
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks that clouds helped to cover aircrafts from Pakistani radars during the Balakot air strikes.
Addressing an election rally in Neemuch ahead of the last phase of Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Gandhi wondered if all aircraft disappear from the radar whenever it rains in the country.
"Modiji is speaking of mangoes and clouds but is mum on things India wants to hear from him," Mr. Gandhi said.
“Modiji, you taught (us) how to eat mangoes; now tell the country what you did for jobless youth,” he said.
BJP will win more seats than in 2014: Rajnath Singh
Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh addresses a press conference at the party hedquarters in New Delhi on May 14, 2019.
Expressing confidence that the BJP will win more seats that it did in 2014, senior party leader Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said a two-thirds majority for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) cannot be ruled out.
The Union Home Minister said the Opposition should reveal who is their prime ministerial candidate and also took on the Congress for its leader Mani Shankar Aiyar justifying his “neech aadmi” jibe against the Prime Minister.
"Was I not prophetic?" Mani Shankar Aiyar on neech aadmi jibe
Mani Shankar Aiyar. File
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar was back in the news on Tuesday with an article justifying his “neech” jibe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi two years ago.
In an article, written for Rising Kashmir , Aiyar also slammed Modi on a series of issues and asked, “Remember how I described him on 7 December 2017? Was I not prophetic?”
BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao put out a tweet saying “Abuser-in-chief’ Aiyar” had returned to justify his 2017 ‘Neech’ jibe.
”... Aiyar then apologized & hid behind poor Hindi excuse. Now he says he was prophetic. Congr revoked his suspension last year for filthy outburst.Double speak & arrogance of @INCIndia on display again!” he said.
Modi government's boat is sinking: Mayawati
Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati on Tuesday said India needed a 'pure PM' who can run the country in " accordance with welfare spirit of Constitution".
Alleging that the RSS was deserting the Modi government, she said, "People across India know Modi government’s boat is sinking".
Mayawati seeks ban on temple visits
Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati addressing a press conference. File
The BSP leader also asked the Election Commission to include the expenses of roadshows in the candidates account and ban temple visits.
She said holding roadshows and visiting temples had become a ‘fashion’ during elections and a huge amount of money was spent on this.
She demanded that media be banned from covering these roadshows and temple visits.
Ms. Mayawati said that this was a clear violation of the model code of conduct and the leaders who participated in such activities should be banned from campaigning.
The BSP chief is one of the few leaders who has never held a roadshow in her entire political career. Even the BSP candidates are not allowed to hold roadshows in their constituencies.
She said that people know the ground reality and she can sense the change in thinking of people.
“Even the RSS seems to have stopped supporting the BJP in the middle of elections and ‘swayamsevaks’ (RSS volunteers) are no longer seen working in the field,” she pointed out.
No chances for non-BJP, non-Cong 'third front' post LS polls: Stalin
DMK President M.K. Stalin on Tuesday said he saw no chances for a non-BJP, non-Congress “third front” post-Lok Sabha polls, but a decision could be taken only after May 23, the counting day.
Mr. Stalin’s remarks came a day after TRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekara Rao, who has been pushing for a non-Congress, non-BJP federal front of regional parties, called on the DMK chief here.
Mr. Stalin, also the Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu, said Mr. Rao had not visited the State for forging alliances.
“He did not come to form alliances. He came to Tamil Nadu to offer prayers in various temples and on that basis, sought an appointment with me for a courtesy call. That is all,” he told reporters here.
Mr. Rao had earlier visited the Sri Ranganatha Temple at Srirangam before meeting Mr. Stalin.
Asked about the possibility of a “third front” sans BJP and Congress, the DMK leader said, “It doesn’t seem to me that there is a chance for that.”
“However, that will be decided only after counting on May 23,” he added.
Lalu’s squabbling sons come together
Blood is thicker than water. The adage has again proved to be correct in the last phase of the general election in Bihar, with Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad’s sons Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav giving up their tug of war to work jointly for the victory of their eldest sister Misa Bharti.
At a rally in the constituency on Sunday, the two brothers stood side by side, holding aloft a photograph of their father, who is serving jail term in fodder scam cases.
Tej Pratap Yadav also reaffirmed his “fondness” for his younger brother, saying he saw him as Arjuna, who he was helping as Lord Krishna.
RJD leaders Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap at an election rally in Patna on Sunday.
Tej Pratap, the elder son of Lalu Prasad, had recently quit as patron of the party’s students’ wing and even campaigned against party nominees in a couple of seats when the names recommended by him were ignored.
He, however, remained unflinching in his loyalty towards Ms. Bharti, often campaigning in her favour with mother Rabri Devi. Sunday was the first occasion when he did so alongside Tejashwi Yadav.
Ms. Bharti is in the fray from Pataliputra, the Lok Sabha seat she had unsuccessfully contested in 2014. Lalu Prasad was defeated in Pataliputra in 2009 by friend-turned-rival Ranjan Prasad Yadav.
She is pitted against Union Minister and sitting MP Ram Kripal Yadav, a former loyalist of her father who joined the BJP ahead of the 2014 general election.
The rift between Tej Pratap and his family first surfaced when he filed a divorce petition against his newly married wife and widened when his estranged father-in-law Chandrika Rai, a former Minister, was chosen to contest from Saran.
Both Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi had fought elections from Saran constituency in the past.
An RJD leader said on condition of anonymity that the two brothers came together at the insistence of Ms. Bharti, who made them sit together and explained that by fighting each other they will end up falling into the trap of the BJP-led NDA, which wants to “finish off the party”.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra mocks PM’s cloud theory, says he’s on people’s radar
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addresses an election rally in Pratapgarh on May 9, 2019.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his statement about IAF aircrafts evading Pakistan radars during the Balakot air strike due to the “cloudy weather”.
At a roadshow in Indore’s Rajwada Chowk, the Congress leader, reading from a piece of paper, said, “During his five-year tenure as the Prime Minister, Modi has only given jhumlas [rhetoric] to the people.”
Agent caught ‘influencing’ voters, EC orders repoll at Gurugram's Asaoti booth
The Election Commission (EC) on Monday ordered repoll at a booth in Asaoti, Faridabad, a day after a BJP polling agent was arrested on charges of influencing voters. The re-polling will be held on May 19.
The accused, Giriraj, was arrested by the Palwal police on Sunday on charges of “influencing” the voters and disobeying the orders of a public servant under the Indian Penal Code, and removal of ballot papers under The Representation of the People Act.
(With inputs from Agencies)
