Sitaram Yechury seeks EC action against PM Modi
The CPI(M) general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, has written to the Election Commission alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an interview to a TV news channel, gave out operational details of the Balakot air-strike to influence voters during the silent period.
“This interview wherein Mr. Modi gave out operational details of a sensitive military mission, with a purpose to influence the voters during the silent period of the campaign needs to be recorded and acted upon by the Commission," he said.
Mr. Yechury said: "His behaviour and statements are in clear and deliberate violation of the guidelines which were reissued and reiterated by the Election Commission before the first round of polling, which made it clear that the armed forces which belong to all of India, cannot be a subject for hyperbolic and false claims by any party for garnering votes.”
May 23 results will send PM and TN CM home: CPI
The results of Lok Sabha elections and by-polls to 22 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu would change the fate of Tamil Nadu and send both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister K Palaniswami home, CPI State secretary R Mutharasan said on Sunday.
Campaigning in support of Secular Progressive Alliance candidate and DMK’s Pongalur N Palanisamy in Sulur near Coimbatore, Mr. Mutharasan alleged Modi was pursuing only anti-people schemes like Sterlite, Methane projects in Tamil Nadu.
In this backdrop, he was not able to highlight the achievements of the government, instead seeking votes by talking ill of the family of Jawaharlal Nehru, who had sacrificed his life for the nation, he said.
Congress hatched ‘Hindu terror’ conspiracy to defame our religious heritage: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accused the Congress of hatching the ‘Hindu terror’ conspiracy to defame the country’s religious heritage.
Mr. Modi also referred to Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s hua to hua (whatever happened, has happened) remark on the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, saying it showed the Opposition party’s mentality.
“The Congress has hatched the Hindu atankwad (terrorism) conspiracy to defame our religious heritage,” Mr. Modi said at an election meeting in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. “No matter how many ‘janeu’ (sacred thread) they will show, the Congress and its ‘mahamilavat’ (highly-adulterated) allies will never escape from the sin of putting blot of terrorism on the saffron colour of Hindu religion.”
The Prime Minister hit out the Congress by pointing out to Mr. Pitroda’s hua to hua remarks.
“The Congress even ensured the escape of Bhopal gas tragedy accused (Warren Anderson) as they believe in hua to hua ,” Mr. Modi said.
“Kishore Kumar’s songs were banned during the Emergency. But now, if the Congress is asked about it, it will say hua to hua ,” he said. Mr. Kumar was born in Khandwa.
Mr. Modi claimed that he was campaigning with his good work, whereas the Congress and its allies were contesting the election with “falsehood and misdeeds”.
Modi doing dirty politics over Alwar gang-rape, says Mayawati
Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his charge that she was “shedding crocodile tears” over the Alwar gang-rape incident, BSP supremo Mayawati has accused him of indulging in “dirty politics” and demanded his resignation for incidents of Dalit atrocities in the past.
Hours after the Prime Minister’s remarks at election rallies in Kushinagar and Deoria earlier in the day, Ms. Mayawati said, “In the wake of this incident, Modi is doing dirty politics.”
On the Prime Minister’s challenge to her to withdraw support to the Congress government in Rajasthan, she said, “The BSP will for sure take an appropriate political decision in the absence of stringent and proper legal action in the case.”
In a press note issued in Lucknow, Ms. Mayawati also demanded Mr. Modi’s resignation over cases pertaining to Dalit atrocities such as the Una flogging incident and the Rohit Vemulla case taking moral responsibility.
BJP govt. using central forces to influence voters in West Bengal, says Mamata
Reiterating that the BJP government was using the central forces to influence voters in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said she feared that BJP and RSS activists have entered the state, sporting the uniform of the forces, to conduct polling.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses an election rally in Basanti area of South 24 Parganas district on May 12, 2019. Photo: Facebook/@MamataBanerjeeOfficial
“I do not disrespect the central forces. But they are being instructed to influence the voters. On the pretext of deploying central forces in West Bengal, the BJP is forcefully pushing BJP and RSS activists here.
“I doubt that some RSS activists in (central forces’) uniform are being pushed into West Bengal,” Ms. Banerjee said while addressing a rally in Basanti area of South 24 Parganas district in Kolkata.
EC couldn’t take adequate punitive steps in Bengal, says Naqvi
Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Sunday said the Election Commission (EC) has not been successful in taking adequate punitive steps in West Bengal to ensure free and fair polls.
Accusing ruling Trinamool Congress of trying to turn the State into a hub of “misrule and hooliganism”, Mr. Naqvi said it was possible that the administration was not fully cooperating with the EC to maintain law and order during the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
“We have repeatedly told the Election Commission that the Trinamool Congress and its goons are conspiring to defame the land of West Bengal by destroying its democratic fabric. We have told the EC to take strict action against such attempts,” Mr. Naqvi said at the state BJP headquarters in Kolkata.
“But we are sorry to say that the EC has not been successful in taking adequate punitive steps in order to curb these problems in West Bengal like they should have. It is possible that the local administration which has been hijacked by the fringe elements of the Trinamool Congress, is not fully cooperating with the electoral body,” the senior BJP leader alleged.
Referring to the incidents of attacks on their party leaders and activists during the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls that was underway in the state on Sunday, Mr. Naqvi said they will submit a detailed report to the EC.
“Ramen Singh, a BJP booth president from Jhargram’s Gopiballabpur was brutally murdered past midnight on Saturday. Our party candidate Bharati Ghosh has been repeatedly attacked by the Trinamool goons while our state party chief Dilip Ghosh has also come under attack,” he said.
He said the BJP will demand the immediate arrest of the perpetrators apart from a repoll in a number of booths where the Trinamool have allegedly rigged the votes.
BJP to scrap Article 370 if voted back to power: Amit Shah
BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday said Article 370 that gives special powers to Kashmir will be scrapped if Narendra Modi is elected as Prime Minister again. Addressing his first rally at Chogan Maidan in Chamba district, Mr. Shah said former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said there should be another Prime Minister for the State whereas Congress in its manifesto declared it will review Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Kashmir and amend provisions of sedition law.
Will our jawans take EC’s permission before opening fire at militants: Modi
As campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls entered its final phase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12 predicted defeat of the Opposition parties, saying the people were voting for an effective government.
“Opposition parties will fall flat in Lok Sabha polls. This is because people are voting for an effective and honest government,” he said at an election rally in Kushinagar.
Referring to the encounter in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on May 12 morning, the Prime Minister wondered, “Will our jawans take EC’s permission before opening fire at militants? Opposition kya khel bana rakha hai ? [What drama is the Opposition enacting?]”
It is clear BJP govt is going: Priyanka Gandhi
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday said it was “very clear” that the BJP will face defeat in Lok Sabha polls as people are “angry and distressed” and will convey their sentiments through voting.
PM Modi used hatred in elections, we used love: Rahul Gandhi
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday cast his vote in Lok Sabha polls in New Delhi and hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he "used hatred" during the elections but the grand old party "used love".
Asserting that this elections saw a "good fight" between the two rival parties, Mr. Gandhi said he thought that "love is going to win".
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi used hatred, we [Congress] love. And, I think love is going to win," he told reporters, soon after exercising his franchise.
Clad in his trademark kurta-pyjama, he was accompanied by party's New Delhi candidate Ajay Maken on way to the polling booth, a walking distance from his Tughlaq Lane residence.
"There are four issues in this election, these are not our issues but people's issues. And most important among these is of unemployment. Then, condition of farmers, demonetisation, Gabbar Singh Tax [mocking GST], corruption and the Rafale issue," he said. — PTI
(With inputs from Agencies)
