Cong, JMM and RJD have forged alliance to ‘loot’ mineral-rich Jharkhand: Yogi Adityanath
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday alleged that the three opposition parties, including Congress and JMM, have forged an alliance to “loot” the mineral-rich Jharkhand and spread Naxalism in the state.
He further said that unlike some where “the family is the party” and they can not think beyond that, the BJP is committed to work for all the sections of the society.
“They have joined hands only to loot mineral-rich state like Jharkhand, create chaos and play with the security of the people besides spreading naxalism,” Adityanath alleged while addressing an election meeting in Potka in support of the BJP candidate and sitting MLA Menka Sardar.
BJP has no “moral ground” to stay in power in Karnataka: Siddaramaiah
Congress legislature party leader Siddaramaiah claimed on Thursday the BJP does not have the “moral grounds” to stay in power in Karnataka, as he alleged that the Amit Shah-led party bought over 17 disqualified MLAs.
“They (BJP) are the ones who came to power through the backdoor. They don’t have the moral grounds to stay in power as chief minister and ministers.
They formed the government byhorse-trading, forcing the 17 people to resign, and destroyingdemocracy,” he told reporters at the district headquarters town of Gadag.
Govt wrong on economy front: Chidambaram
A day after his release from Tihar jail on bail, former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram On Thursday tore into the Modi government’s economic policies while asserting his “record as a minister and his conscience was clear”.
Mr. Chidambaram, who spent 106 days in jail in cases of money laundering and corruption, also hinted at the hardships faced in his long incarceration by stating that his “spine and head had become stronger by sleeping on a wooden cot without a pillow”.
“The place to start is diagnosis. If the diagnosis is wrong, the prescription will be useless, may be even fatal. Even after seven months into the fiscal year, the BJP government believes that the problems faced by the economy are cyclical. The government is wrong. It is wrong because it is clueless,” he said at a press conference.
Sandeep Phukan reports from Delhi
Bengal Governor enters Assembly
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday had to wait in front of locked Gate no 3 of the state Assembly, designated for the governor.
Later he entered the Assembly premises through Gate no 4, meant for media persons and officials.
The incident, he said, has put the country’s democratic history to “shame“.
“Why is the gate no 3 closed? Despite my prior intimation, the gate is closed. The Assembly being adjourned does not mean it is closed.
“The governor’s gate being locked has put our democratic history to shame,” Dhankhar told reporters.
According to Assembly norms, gate no 3 is designated for the governor’s entry and exit.
On Wednesday Mr. Dhankhar took on the State government through social media saying he was “neither a rubber stamp nor a post office”, and was obligated to scrutinise Bills in the light of the Constitution.
‘Concerned at delay’“As Governor I follow the script and tune of the Constitution and cannot blindly take a call. I am neither a rubber stamp nor a post office. I am obligated to scrutinise the Bills in the light of the Constitution and act without delay. Concerned at delay by government on this,” he said.
His remark is construed as a response to the adjournment of the Assembly for two days as Bills slated to be placed in the Assembly are yet to get his nod.
Mr. Dhankhar visited the University of Calcutta but found Vice-Chancellor Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee not available in her office. The Governor, who said his visit was pre-announced, expressed his displeasure over the absence of the Vice-Chancellor and other functionaries.
We may lose one seat: Ramesh Jarkiholi
"We may lose one seat"BJP candidate from Gokak Ramesh Jarkiholi said that the ruling party could end up losing one of the 15 seats that went to the by polls on Thursday.
Even if the disqualified MLA who is contesting from there does not win, we will make him a MLC and make him a minister, he told Journalists in Gokak on Thursday. He did not specify which seat the BJP would lose. He spoke out side the booth where he voted.
He said he was happy that Siddharamaiah had chosen to make personal allegations against him.
I had planned a press meet against the Siddharamaiah if he were to make personal allegations against me.
But since he did not do it, I have cancelled the press meet, he said.
Asked to react against his mentee- turned- political opponent Lakshmi hebbalkar, he said he would not comment on persons who had begun as phone booth operators.
He did not name her.
Uddhav agrees to withdraw 700 cases
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has agreed in principle to withdraw nearly 700 cases related to the Bhima Koregaon and Maratha agitations.
The State Home Department on Wednesday forwarded a status report to the Chief Minister recommending him withdrawal of cases which have been scrutinised by two authorised committees, a Cabinet sub-committee headed by the Finance Minister and the other headed by the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), who have both scrutinised a numb of cases.
However, while the withdrawal may start in patches, the total process will take nearly one year to complete, officials said.
According to the status report submitted to the Chief Minister, 323 cases for withdrawal are related to Maratha reservation while another 386 are scrutinised and will be taken back in the Bhima Koregaon agitation. About 114 cases are of serious nature and cannot be withdrawn yet.
BJP-run MCDs did not take action on pvt. schools violating norms: AAP
The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday criticised the BJP-run municipal corporations for “not taking” action against violation of safety norms by four south Delhi private schools even after one year of the Petition Committee of Delhi Legislative Assembly submitting the report.
“Many private schools in Delhi are violating the safety norms and the petition committee of the Delhi Assembly received reports of such violations in four private schools in south Delhi. We had submitted a report to the MCDs and asked them to take actions but nothing happened. Finally, I submitted the whole report to the Delhi Legislative Assembly on Tuesday on behalf of the petition committee,” said AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj, while addressing a press conference at the party headquarters.
