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The party said Pawan Kalyan did not say at the public meeting on Wednesday that he had left the BJP-led NDA to support the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Jana Sena General Secretary Bolisetty Satyanarayana clarified that Pawan Kalyan, in his speech, said that though he is in the NDA, he is coming out to say that Jana Sena will support TDP as they are weak now.
Stating that Jana Sena remained a part of NDA, Satyanarayana said they would also be with the TDP.
Addressing a public meeting as part of his Varahi yatra at Pedana in Krishna district, Pawan Kalyan said that he came out to support the TDP in difficult times.
"Despite difficulties we had joined the NDA. Now we have come out and extended 100 per cent support to the TDP because it is going through difficult times,” he said, referring to the arrest of TDP leader and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in alleged skill development scam.
After meeting Naidu in Rajahmundry Jail on September 14, Pawan Kalyan had announced that Jana Sena will contest the 2024 elections in Andhra Pradesh in alliance with the TDP. He had hoped that BJP will also join hands with them to avoid a split of votes to end the "misrule" of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
At the public meeting on Wednesday, Pawan Kalyan said that Andhra Pradesh needs the TDP’s experience of four decades and the Jana Sena’s young blood. He exuded confidence that the TDP-JSP alliance will come to power in 2024. The actor said in 2021 he took a decision to come together with like-minded parties to avoid split of votes to oust YSR Congress Party from power. The Jana Sena leader recalled that in 2014 he extended support to Narendra Modi and Naidu for the golden future of Andhra Pradesh. Almost 10 years have passed but unfortunately this could not be achieved.
There is no use in regretting what happened. “Past is past. Now we have to look towards the future,” he said.
Pawan Kalyan had campaigned for the TDP-BJP alliance in 2014 elections and the alliance had come to power in the state. He, however, later distanced himself from both the parties for failing to deliver on the promise of special category state to Andhra Pradesh.
In 2018, the TDP also snapped ties with the BJP, accusing the party of failing to fulfill the commitments made to the state. Jana Sena contested the 2019 elections in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Left parties. However, the alliance had to bite the dust.
Jana Sena could win just one seat in the 175-member Assembly while the YSRCP stormed to power by bagging 151 seats while the TDP, which went alone, won 23 seats. The BJP, which had won four seats in 2014, drew a blank.
However, a few months after the elections Pawan Kalyan revived his alliance with the BJP. For the last couple of years, he had been making efforts to forge a grand alliance among TDP, BJP and Jana Sena.
According to sources in the INDIA alliance, the changes in the communication strategy of the opposition parties have been taken in view of the aggressive campaigning that will be held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA
The source said that in view of the Lok Sabha elections, the INDIA alliance parties instead of focusing on the main media platforms will be focusing on the alternative media to increase their reach in the far flung and remote areas of the country.
The source said that this has been done to communicate in much better way to the voters as they do not get enough screen space on televisions.
The source also said that as the INDIA alliance partners have not much resources like the BJP, so it will also lower their cost for advertisements and publicity.
The source further said that a sub-committee will also be formed to coordinate the spokespersons of the INDIA alliance to take on the spokespersons of the NDA in the debate shows on televisions.
The source further said that there will be a separate team of the national and regional level spokespersons of the INDIA alliance to take on the BJP.
And even the strategy of the national and the regional level spokespersons will be different.
The source said that the national spokespersons of the INDIA alliance will focus completely on the national issues and have a clear line on national issues, while the regional spokespersons will set the narrative by highlighting the failures of the BJP in dealing with the region level issues on televisions and through press conferences.
The source said that a joint meeting of the national and regional spokespersons will take place in the coming days to decide the strategy.
However, senior leaders of the INDIA alliance members remained tight-lipped on the issue.
The third meeting of the INDIA alliance is all set to take place in Maharashtra's Mumbai on August 31 and September 1.
The INDIA alliance partners had already met twice in Bihar's Patna on June 23 and in Karnataka's Bengaluru on July 18 and 19.
The Opposition INDIA has decided to move a no-confidence motion against the central government in the Lok Sabha. And the NDA government has a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha. But it may face problems in getting its Delhi bill through the Rajya Sabha.
In the Rajya Sabha, the total number of members is 238, with the majority mark at 120. While the NDA has 105 members, it is also confident of getting the support of five nominated and two independent members. If the number of all the members is put together, the NDA will have 112 members, still eight short of the majority mark.
In such a situation, all eyes are now set on the BJD’s next course of action in the Rajya Sabha. It is worth mentioning that Naveen Patnaik has extended support to the Modi government on several occasions.
“No decision has so far been taken with respect to the bills. It is true that the entire nation is looking at us. We will do what our party Supremo Naveen Patnaik will ask us to do,” said BJD MP, Munna Khan.
BJP MP Pratap Sarangi said, “We have the majority in the Parliament and we won’t have any problem.”
At the same time, OPCC chief, Sarat Pattanayak said, “The BJP and BJD are siblings. The strategy of the BJD is that they will participate in the Parliament and then stage a walkout saying we are not satisfied with it. It will favour the BJP.”
According to political analysts, since the BJD and the BJP are arch-rivals in the state, the Conch party will extend indirect support to the saffron party in the Rajya Sabha.
“They (the BJD) won’t support directly as they are at loggerheads with the BJP in the state. But they will extend their support indirectly,” said K Ravi, a senior journalist.
Besides, the allies also targeted the Opposition’s unity efforts, saying that the Opposition is “facing an identity crisis and is beset by confusion and disorientation”.
Shiv Sena President and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde put forward the resolution during the NDA meeting held at The Ashok Hotel in New Delhi on Tuesday.
AIADMK's K. Palaniswami and Atul Bora of the Asom Gana Parishad also supported the resolution.
The meeting which was organised on the completion of 25 years of establishment of the NDA saw the participation of around 39 parties. It was chaired by Prime Minister Modi.
The resolution, referring to the achievements of the Modi government during the last nine years, also applauded the government’s “hard work, and selfless dedication towards the service of the country”.
“For making the countrymen feel proud on many occasions, all the fellow parties of NDA congratulate Narendra Modi. NDA constituents unanimously take a resolution that as partners in this development journey of the country under the leadership of Narendra Modi – we are one, and united,” it added.
Further, the resolution noted that “for taking the country forward on the path of progress”, all the parties of NDA also congratulate the “visionary and popular” leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It was said in the resolution that it has been 25 years since the formation of the NDA. In these 25 years, NDA has set high standards of good governance. Whenever the NDA government has come to power, it has worked considering the spirit of the nation first and the objective of public welfare as paramount. Be it the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 1998 to 2004 or the Narendra Modi government from 2014 till now, the NDA government has always worked with the spirit of nation-building while supporting the country's regional aspirations.
Issues like strengthening national security, the establishment of good governance, infrastructure development, improvement in the standard of living of the poor and backward and India's reputation on the world stage have been the priority of the NDA government. Especially in the last nine years, the work done by the NDA government in terms of service, good governance and development under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi is “unprecedented”, it added.
Prime Minister Modi was welcomed by BJP president J P Nadda, Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, former Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK leader K Palaniswami and Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.
The meeting coincides with the mega opposition conclave in Bengaluru and is seen as a show of strength by the ruling party.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the coming together of NDA allies is a matter of "immense joy".
He tweeted, "It is a matter of immense joy that our valued NDA partners from across India will be attending the meeting in Delhi today. Ours is a time-tested alliance which seeks to further national progress and fulfil regional aspirations." Union minister Pralhad Joshi and BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde welcomed the leaders, from the BJP as well as allies, who arrived at the venue of the meeting.
This will be the first such meeting of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance during the second term of the Modi government.
It underscores the ruling party's focus on highlighting its ability to make alliances at a time when opposition parties were coming together to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
This will be the first such meeting of the BJP-led NDA during the second term of the Modi government and underscores the party's focus on highlighting its ability to make alliances at a time when opposition parties have been meeting to forge unity in the run-up to 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The NDA meeting will see the presence of several new BJP allies like the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar and many of its former partners, such as Chirag Paswan, O P Rajbhar, Upendra Kushwaha and Jitan Ram Manjhi, who have decided to return to its fold.
BJP leaders said the allies present in the meeting will be from all regions of the country, highlighting the expansion of its alliance under the Modi government.
The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) became the latest entrant to the NDA with its leader Chirag Paswan meeting Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday.
"Chirag Paswan has decided to join the NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I welcome him to the NDA family," Nadda said.
"Thirty-eight parties have confirmed their participation in the NDA meeting to be held Tuesday evening," he told reporters.
After losing a number of its traditional allies such as the Janata Dal (United), Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Akali Dal, the BJP has succeeded in making alliances with several new parties.
The BJP president has sent invites to these parties for their presence in the meeting where Modi and other senior leaders of the ruling party will be present.
"Ajit Pawar and I will be present at the NDA meeting in Delhi," NCP Working President Praful Patel told reporters in Mumbai.
Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan and RLJD leader Kushwaha have said they would be attending the NDA meeting.
Parties such as AIADMK of Tamil Nadu and a number of parties from northeastern states and other parts of the country will also be present in the meeting.
Regional parties, including those with a small but solid share of votes in a particular region or caste, can be crucial in swinging the balance in the polls in several seats in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which send 80 and 40 members to Parliament respectively.
With the BJP making all-out efforts to retain its majority in Lok Sabha for a third straight term, its leadership has made pragmatic adjustments to accommodate new allies while also working to weaken the opposition bloc in crucial states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress has asserted that the Opposition unity would be "a game changer" for the Indian political scenario and took a swipe at the BJP, saying those who used to talk of defeating the opposition parties alone are now making attempts to breathe new life into the NDA which had become a "ghost".
"Attempts are being made to breathe new life into the NDA. There used to be no talk about NDA and suddenly in the past few days, we are hearing and reading about it. So NDA, which had become a ghost, attempts are now being made to breathe a new life into it," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had said.
Sharing information about Chirag Paswan's decision to join the NDA alliance, Nadda also formally welcomed him into the NDA alliance.
Sharing pictures of his meeting with Chirag Paswan, the BJP President tweeted, "Met Chirag Paswan in Delhi. He has decided to join the NDA alliance led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I welcome him into NDA family."
श्री @iChiragPaswan जी से दिल्ली में भेंट हुई। उन्होंने माननीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी के नेतृत्व वाले NDA गठबंधन में शामिल होने का निर्णय लिया है। मैं उनका NDA परिवार में स्वागत करता हूँ। pic.twitter.com/vwU67B6w6H
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) July 17, 2023
The meeting of the trio comes a day before the meeting of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Apprising about his meeting with Shah, Chirag in a tweet in Hindi wrote, "There were positive discussions with Home Minister Amit Shah ji regarding the alliance."
It is likely that Chirag will attend the NDA meeting scheduled to be held on Tuesday in the national capital.
Shah also took to the micro blogging site and wrote, "There was a wide discussion on the politics of Bihar."
A total of 38 partners will attend the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting.
"In the last nine years (of the BJP-led government), all the partners of NDA have shown their interest in the development agenda, schemes and policies which are being run under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The country is leading towards overall development on all fronts, right from national security, international politics to empowerment of people under the leadership of Modi ji," Nadda told mediapersons at a press conference at the BJP headquarters here.
Recalling the functioning of the BJP since its inception, Nadda said, "The BJP, right from when it came into existence till today, is the only political party which is ideologically pursuing the issues for which it came into into existence. Be it (abrogation of ) Article 370, Ram Mandir or other issues."
"Today, the people are with the NDA. This alliance is not for power, but for service (of people), and strengthening the country," the BJP chief said.
He also exuded confidence that the NDA will retain power in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of the PM Modi.
"The country has decided that under the leadership of Modi ji, the NDA government will be formed again in 2024," he said.
The BJP chief also took a swipe at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), saying: "This is an alliance which neither has a leader, nor policy, nor has the power to take decisions. It is a 'bunch' of corruption and scams of the 10 years of UPA government."
It is based on "self-interests", he added.
The Prime Minister said that the BJP government accords thrust in developing infrastructure.
"For the development of Meghalaya, the BJP government must be in both Delhi and Shillong. Budgetary allocation for the development of the northeast and the tribal people has increased to a large extent," Modi said.
Criticising the former Congress government and the Congress leaders, the Prime Minister said that they consider the northeastern region to be the country's last-end and siphoned funds for their own interest.
"Congress leaders visited the northeastern region only during election time," he said, adding while some are "counting days of Modi's death", some also believe "as long as Modi is alive, the country's development would continue at a rapid speed".
He told the gathering that the BJP in Meghalaya means stability, a corruption-free state, jobs for youth, trouble-free society, welfare for women and all sections of people and religion.
Referring to the names of Padma Shri awardee Prof Badaplin War and musician Risingbor Kurkalang, the Prime Minister said that music and culture have a great tradition in Meghalaya, and with this thinking, the government is also promoting the state's culture.
Referring to his "Man-ki-Bat" programme, Modi said that cherry blossoms are not only famous in Japan but also in Meghalaya.
The G20 meeting would be held soon in Meghalaya and a large number of leaders of many developed countries would come to the state to witness the glory of it, he stated.
The Prime Minister said that there is no dearth of funds for roads and rural development, adding Rs 5,000 crore is being spent on linking all the 11 Meghalaya districts of the state with National Highway.
Saying that Meghalaya-Myanmar connectivity is being developed, he said: "Development of all people irrespective of religion, caste and region is our secularism. Many people including nurses from Kerala, went abroad and they were stuck there, but the government rescued them without considering their religion."
With the commitment to the nation and people first, the BJP government works, Modi said.
The Prime Minister has addressed three election rallies in the poll-bound Nagaland and Meghalaya.
Ahead of the February 27 assembly polls, Modi came to Shillong after addressing his first election rally in Nagaland's commercial town Dimapur.
From Shillong, he left for Tura in West Garo Hills district and addressed another election rally.
At a time when TDP, Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and recently Nitish Kumar’s JD (U) snapped their tie with the NDA, the Union Minister’s proposal to Naveen is said to have assumed immense importance.
If the Biju Janata Dal (BJD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition is seen as a possible outcome of the changing political scenario, there are reasons as well. Naveen has been extending his support to the central government since 2019. In the recently concluded President and Vice President elections, the Naveen-led BJD also supported both the candidates of the NDA.
And, the cordial relationship between the central leaders of the Saffron party and BJD is also an open secret.
BJD leader Surath Biswal said he doesn’t think there is a valid base in the Union Minister’s appeal to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. “What he said can’t be said as the decision of the NDA or the leaders of BJP. People have a reason to make out such a thing of his statement as the BJD in past provided supports to the central government before being asked,” said Biswal.
BJD MLA Debi Prasad Mishra said, “I think what the Union Minister said is just a slip of tongue. However, it hinges on the decision of the party supremo Naveen Patnaik.”
On the other hand, Congress said the conch party has a fear for ED and CBI which is why it has been supporting the central government.
“The BJD government has been supporting the NDA or BJP. These two governments are just like two sides of a coin,” observed Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja.
With Bihar CM Nitish Kumar snapping the tie with the NDA, the latter’s size has squeezed. Considering the present situation, it is quite evident that the BJP may have to depend on the BJD or Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress.
On the other hand, JD (U) MP Harivansh Narayan Singh is the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha. As Nitish has got himself separated from the NDA, the post may be offered to either the BJD or the YSR Congress.
Notably, the offer was earlier made to Prasanna Acharya which was turned down by the BJD. If such an offer is made to the BJD once again, it is to be seen what would be the decision of the conch party.
“The present situation has forced the NDA to search for a new party. And the Chief Minister has been supporting the NDA in many important issues. Given the backdrop, it can be said that the Union Minister’s statement is indicating a new political direction,” observed senior journalist Prasanna Mohanty.
Speaking to mediapersons here, Athawale said Patnaik was in NDA when he started his political career.
"Now, he is coming to power in Odisha from his own strength, which is good. If he joins the NDA, he would get more benefits," said the union minister.
"Even though Naveen ji is not in the NDA, we are getting support of his party (BJD) while passing Bills in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. If he will join the NDA, he may get more benefits. Prime Minister Narendra Modi may give more budgetary support for the development of Odisha," said Athawale.
Briefing about the implementation of various central schemes in Odisha, he said the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, through Ambedkar Foundation, is providing Rs 2.5 lakh for inter-caste marriages while the Odisha government too has a similar scheme but there is a need to promote it on a higher scale.
During 2020-21, 1,847 inter-caste marriages were registered in Odisha which rose to 2,428 in the year 2021-22, he said.
The minister further said that Odisha has registered 2,828 cases of atrocities in 2020-21 and 2,768 cases during 2021-22, adding: "The Centre and the state need to work in coordination to stop the cases of atrocities."
Athawale said that in Odisha, around 20 lakh Divyangs, elderly and widows are receiving pensions worth Rs 500 a month.
"We need to increase the amount of pension for the beneficiaries," he said.
Both the parties thriving on OBC politics could not ignore such a significant issue and the hints were clear when Nitish Kumar started skipping Prime Minister's meetings, the latest being the NITI Aayog.
But the other factor is that in the next General elections the BJP was trying to assert itself at the cost of its alliance partner the JD(U). This led to the parting of ways as an insider said that JDU and the RJD could not stop the BJP's rise in the state.
It all started in May when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called an all-party meeting to discuss the caste-based census.
"We want to discuss each and every issue related to caste-based census. The leaders of different political parties will give their suggestions, which will be of great help," he had said.
However, the BJP supported the move with a rider and raised concerns about the minority community taking advantage of the census.
Nitish has been off and on hobnobbing with RJD to control the BJP but after the latter decided to tighten its grip and a series of programmes were organised, the JD(U) felt uneasy and decided to move away. However, it was Nitish who had dumped the RJD Congress combine to reunite with the BJP.
In the political activity in Patna, the Congress and Left parties handed over the lists of their legislators to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav.
Even as the meeting of RJD, which was taking place at Rabri Devi's residence here, was going on, legislators from the Congress and Left parties also reached there and handed over their lists to Tejashwi Yadav.
Mandan Mohan Jha, the state president of Congress said: "We will support Nitish Kumar if he leaves the BJP and forms a new government with the help of Mahagathbandhan. We have also given the list of all 19 MLAs of our party to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav."
Mahboob Alam, the MLA of CPI (ML) said: "We have also given the list to Tejashwi Yadav. We will uproot the BJP from power. We are giving support to Nitish Kumar for the formation of a new government."
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is working with the 'plan of 2013' to sack all 16 ministers of the BJP in the name of cabinet expansion and include leaders of RJD and Congress. Left parties have reportedly decided to support Nitish Kumar government from outside and not take share in the cabinet.
Kumar, who has been promised the support of opposition parties, sought time from Chauhan, who has given an appointment at 4 pm, they said.
A meeting of the RJD-led Grand Alliance, comprising the Left and the Congress, also took place at Rabri Devi's house, across the street from the chief minister's residence where all the MLAs are said to have signed a letter of support to Kumar.
Leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav is likely to visit the CM's residence to hand over the letter of support any time.
The CM is understood to have told party legislators and MPs, at a meeting he convened at his official residence, that he had been driven against the wall by the BJP which tried to weaken his JD(U), first by propping up Chirag Paswan's rebellion and later through the party's former national president RCP Singh.
Singh was made a cabinet minister at the Centre without Kumar's explicit agreement. Consequently, when his term as a Rajya Sabha member ended, the JD(U) refused to give him another term as an MP, thus ending his stint as cabinet minister as well.
Following this, rumours of a split in the JD(U) engineered by Singh's supporters surfaced.
Relations between the BJP and the JD(U) have been worsening for quite some time in the wake of disagreements over a host of issues including caste census, population control and the Agnipath' defence recruitment scheme.
CPIML (Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya had told PTI on Monday the crux of the row between JD(U) and BJP also stemmed from the recent statement by J P Nadda, president of the saffron party, who said regional parties have no future .
The BJP, meanwhile, has gone into a huddle at the residence of Deputy CM Tarkishore Prasad, where all ministers belonging to the party besides state president Sanjay Jaiswal and other senior leaders are also present.
BJP sources said they will wait till Nitish Kumar makes the first move.
In the state assembly, which has an effective strength of 242, requiring 121 MLAs for a majority, the RJD has the highest number of 79 MLAs followed by the BJP (77) and the JD(U) with 44.
The JD(U) also enjoys the support of four MLAs of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha and an Independent.
The Congress has 19 MLAs while the CPIML(L) has 12 and CPI and CPI(M) have two each.
Besides, one MLA belongs to Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM.
Addressing a presser, BJP president JP Nadda today announced the NDA's candidates for the presidential elections. "For the first time, preference has been given to a woman tribal candidate. We announce Draupadi Murmu as NDA's candidate for the upcoming Presidential elections," he said.
He further said that the BJP parliamentary board discussed 20 names for the presidential nominee and finally, it was decided to pick someone from east India, a tribal and a woman.
Expressing his confidence that she will be a great President of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote in a tweet, “Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, downtrodden as well as the marginalized. She has rich administrative experience and had an outstanding gubernatorial tenure. I am Confident she will be a great President of our nation.”
In another tweet, the PM said, “Millions of people, especially those who have experienced poverty and faced hardships, derive great strength from the life of Smt. Droupadi Murmu ji. Her understanding of policy matters and compassionate nature will greatly benefit our country.”
"Today is an important day for the country when NDA, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, J P Nadda announced Draupadi Murmu as the Presidential candidate. This decision will work to take tribal pride to new heights. I congratulate Modi ji for this," tweeted Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
BJP national vice-president Baijayant Jay Panda also congratulated Murmu and tweeted: Heartiest congratulations to Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji for her nomination as the NDA's candidate for the post of President of India. A tribal leader from Odisha has successfully completed her term as the Governor of Jharkhand.
Congratulating Draupadi Murmu on being announced as candidate of NDA for the country’s highest office, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, "I was delighted when PM Modi discussed this with me. It is indeed a proud moment for people of Odisha. I am sure Smt Murmu will set a shining example for women empowerment in the country."
The BJP chose Murmu as its candidate for the post of President against Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha. If Murmu becomes the successor of present incumbent Ram Nath Kovind, she will be the first Odia to hold the topmost constitutional post and will become the 15th President of India.
Murmu, born on June 20, 1958, was the Minister of State with Independent charge for Commerce and transport from March 6, 2000 to August 6, 2002 and Fisheries and Animal Resources Development from August 6, 2002 to May 16, 2004, during the BJP and BJD coalition government in Odisha.
Murmu was the first woman governor of Jharkhand, and thus became the first woman and tribal leader of Odisha to be the governor of an Indian State. Now, she is living in her village in Rairangpur.
Notably, the election for the President of India will be held on July 18 and the counting will take place in New Delhi on July 21. Worth mentioning, the tenure of current President of India Ram Nath Kovind is coming to an end on July 24.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said the total number of applications received was 5,75,856, of which 1,77,654 were from women.
The Supreme Court, in an order in August, paved the way for the entry of women into the prestigious military training academy that has been a male bastion for recruitment into the three services.
The minister said necessary infrastructure and facilities for the training of the women candidates are in place at the academy.
"Medical standards have been notified in the UPSC notification. Physical standards will be finalised before commencement of training," he said.
"There were no restrictions on the number of female applicants who could apply for the 2021 National Defence Academy examination," Bhatt added.
To a separate question, he said the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for 11 indigenously-developed systems at a total cost of Rs 24,711 crore has been accorded for induction in the services.
He was addressing the cadets after reviewing the passing out parade of the 141st course of the NDA here.
"As we open the portals of the NDA for women cadets, we expect you to welcome them with the same sense of fair play and professionalism as Indian armed forces are known world over," General Naravane said.
Last month, the Defence Ministry had informed the Supreme Court that a notification allowing women candidates to appear for the entrance exam to the NDA will be out by May next year. But observing that induction of women to the NDA cannot be postponed by one year, the apex court had allowed female candidates to take the exam in November this year and not wait till May 2022 as requested by the government.
In his speech, the army chief also appealed the cadets to keep abreast with new technology to counter the contemporary challenges.
He said he was greatly honoured to review the parade.
"A little over 42 years back, when I stood as a cadet at the same drill square as you stand today, little I could have imagined that I would be reviewing this parade," he said.
"From here on, you will step into the respective career service academies for more focused military training. You will don different uniforms, but always remember that no single service by itself can fight and win modern wars, he added.
Moreover, the top court also pulled up the Army for resisting opportunities to women. The apex court also asked the Army to change its attitude and not wait for judicial orders to be passed in such matters.
The petitioner in a fresh application pointed out that on June 9, 2021, UPSC had issued a notice declaring the date of examination for admission to the Army, Navy, and Air Force wings of the NDA. As per the application, the UPSC examination notice is in complete violation of Article 14, 15, 16 and 19 of the Constitution.
The notice had said that the candidate must be an unmarried male, which excludes eligible and willing female candidates.
The decision of the top court came in during the hearing of the plea which sought directions for necessary steps to be taken to allow eligible female candidates to appear for the NDA and Naval Academy Examination and train at the National Defence Academy.
“PM Narendra Modi has conspired to form the B-team in the name of Regional Federation and is meant to weaken the national-level grand alliance or the Mahagathbandhan which is taking shape at the Centre,” said Ram Chandra Khuntia, AICC In-charge of Telangana.
Khuntia further stated KCR and Naveen were in alliance with BJP in the past. “As chitfund and mining inquiry swords are hanging on their heads, both KCR and Naveen are trying to help PM Modi and NDA in weakening the grand alliance,” he added.
Refuting Khuntia’s allegations, BJD spokesperson, Sameer Dash said the party is maintaining equidistance from both BJP and Congress.
“Time and again BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik has been saying that the party is maintaining equidistance from BJP and Congress. As Khuntia was in-charge of Telangana and Congress has faced poll debacle there, he might have made such statements out of frustration. KCR’s Odisha is just a courtesy visit,” said Dash.
“BJD has decided to support JD(U) since the JD(U) and BJD have similar ideological origins –emerging from the Jay Prakash Narayan movement,” the media statement pointed out.
Besides, BJD said Congress candidate BK Hariprasad, who was the AICC Odisha in-charge till recently was 'vitriolic' in his remarks against the ruling party and the State government, the statement said.
The ruling party said that it waited for parties to reach consensus on a candidate for the post of deputy chairman of the Upper House, instead of an election.
"BJD believes that constitutional posts like that of the Speaker and Deputy Chairman Chairman of the RajyaSabha should be decided on a consensus instead of elections. The party waited till the end for a consensus to emerge but it did not happen," the statement said.
Meanwhile, OPCC Chief Niranjan Patnaik said that BJD backed Singh fearing CBI probe into different scams.
“For the past four years, BJD has been hands in glove with the saffron party and this move was to save itself from an impending CBI probe,” Patnaik said adding that the recent move proves how the regional party is moving away from its ‘equidistant’ remark.
Singh was elected deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha yesterday after he won the election with 125 votes against UPA’s BK Hariprasad who got 105 votes.
Earlier, CM Naveen had announced his party’s support to Singh for the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman post.
Patnaik had further informed that a number of political leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah had spoken to him in this regard.
With no clear majority of both NDA and UPA, support of regional parties like BJD was considered to be crucial before the election for the deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), YSR Congress Party and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had abstained from voting.
Earlier, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik had announced his party’s support to Singh for the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman post.
Patnaik further informed that a number of political leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah had spoken to him in this regard.
After the Rajya Sabha election results, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to wish the NDA backed JD(U) candidate.
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1027451166752366592
Former Kendrapara MP Baijayant Jay Panda also congratulated Singh, who was elected deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha today.
https://twitter.com/mp_office/status/1027450134362238978
With no clear majority of both NDA and UPA, support of regional parties like BJD was considered to be crucial before the election for the deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha.
Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), YSR Congress Party and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had decided to abstain from voting in the election.
The ruling-BJD and the Congress in Odisha expressed doubts over the implementation of the proposal that can help lakhs of farmers in the State.
“Odisha has been requesting the Centre for a higher MSP for paddy since the last four years. It could have been raised earlier but the announcement was made now eyeing the upcoming 2019 general elections,” said BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb.
“We welcome the move of the Union government but it must first clarify the modalities of implementing the proposal,” added Deb.
Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said the MSP hike announcement is a new ‘jumla’ of the BJP for 2018. “Farmers will not get any benefit from the proposed MSP hike in the budget,” he added.
Reacting to the allegations, senior leader of BJP’s Odisha unit, Pratap Sarangi said both the BJD and the Congress have developed a doubtful mindset instead of being supportive to 'rational' and 'progressive' activities.
As per the estimates of the state government, Rs 2,344 is the input cost for producing one quintal of paddy, while the Centre pegs it at Rs 1,327 only.
While the farmers in Odisha are presently getting Rs 1,550 per quintal of Paddy, the state has been demanding a MSP of Rs 2,930 per quintal.
The national approval ratings conducted by the channel with the help of C Voter said that BJP will gain by 39.0% vs 26.8 in 2014; UPA to dip to 17.2% vs 21.5% in 2014; BJD to dip to 33.4% vs 44.1% in 2014.
The NDA will be able to retain power at the Centre and PM Modi can retain his popularity with people expressing trust in his governance, the survey further found out.
The leaders and activists of the party today staged dharna in 17 districts including Bargarh, Boudh, Sonepur, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Koraput as part of their State-wide agitation against the Centre’s negligence towards the farmers’ plight.
The State government had earlier placed a demand to hike the MSP of paddy to Rs 2,930 per quintal which was turned down by the Centre despite unanimous resolution passed by Odisha Assembly last year.
BJD leaders during demonstrations condemned the statements of Union Agriculture Minister’s written reply in Parliament regarding fixation of paddy MSP at Rs 1,550 for 2017-18 financial year as it provided a profit margin of Rs 443 per quintal to farmers against their cost of production as estimated by Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.
Terming BJP led NDA government at Centre as ‘anti-farmer’, the BJD had earlier announced to stage dharna in all blocks of 14 districts in the State from January 8 to January 17.
BJD alleged that Centre has turned a blind eye towards the plight of farmers in Odisha who were affected by pest menace and crop loss due to drought and unseasonal rains last year.
While speaking during the Question Hour last week, the Minister of State for Defence Subhash Ramrao Bhamre told the Lok Sabha that there is a proposal on whether to give admission to girl students at Sainik schools and girl cadets at NDA and the matter is under the consideration of the ministry.
There are 26 Sainik schools across 22 States in the country and proposals are pending to set up 21 more such schools, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said in a written reply in the Lower House.
A large number of cadets from Sainik schools and the Rashtriya Military schools have so far joined NDA.
In 2016 only, 159 cadets sent to NDA were from Sainik schools while 31 cadets were from Rashtriya Military schools.
Also Read: CBSE Class 10 compartment results to be declared this week
The objectives behind opening Sainik schools include removing regional imbalance in the officer cadre of the defence services, he said.
Presently, adequate and equitable opportunities are being provided to all citizens for recruitment into the Army irrespective of their class, creed, region or religion, the minister added.
Gandhi will meet the BJD MPs at 9 am and seek their vote during the vice presidential poll.
Earlier, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik had announced the party’s support to the Opposition vice presidential candidate Gandhi whereas it had supported Ram Nath Kovind as NDA’s presidential candidate.
Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Panchayati Raj Minister Pradip Maharathy said the party would not return to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold.
"Nitish Kumar may have believed in 'Jod-tod Ki Sarkar', we are not going to have any alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). We are strong enough in Odisha and can counter any party in the ensuing elections," said Maharathy.
“Naveen Babu is a lion and will always be like that. He can fight alone. We are with him always,” Maharathy added.
BJD vice president and minister Surya Narayan Patro also echoed similiar voice. “Odisha is completely different from Bihar. There is no question of such situation that will arise in Odisha,” he said.
Talk of a possible BJP-BJD alliance gained ground in the wake of BJD President Naveen Patnaik's recent stand backing the BJP-led NDA government's demonetisation, GST and the latest presidential choice.
The BJD has repeatedly claimed that it maintains equal distance from both the Congress and the BJP.
"The Chief Minister has been reiterating that our party will maintain an equal distance from the Congress and the BJP. There is least chance of any alliance with the BJP," said BJD MLA Dibya Shankar Mishra.
The BJP was an ally in the state government led by the BJD for nine years from 2000 to 2009. BJD President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik broke the alliance just before the 2009 Assembly polls in the state.
On its part, the state unit of the BJP also appears a little hesitant to talk about having an alliance with the ruling BJD.
"There is least possibility of any future alliance between the BJP and the BJD in Odisha for the 2019 general election. Our National President Amit Shah has already set a target to win 120 seats in the 2019 polls. We are working on that mission," said BJP MLA Pradeep Purohit.
Congress however asserted Bihar-like situation will arise in Odisha very soon. “Like JD(U)-BJP alliance, BJD will also go for same in future in fear of CBI inquiry or on basis of understanding,” Congress MLA Prakash Behera said.
The statements of Patnaik came after his meeting with National Democratic Alliance (NDA’s) Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind at Bhubaneswar.
Patnaik’s statements assume significance as earlier Congress Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati had maintained that several MPs from BJD, Shiv Sena and even BJP would vote for UPA candidate Meira Kumar.
Bahinipati’s claims came after few BJD MP’s had questioned Patnaik’s immediate announcement of extending support to NDA’s Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind soon after a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I don’t think so at all,” said Patnaik in his reaction to media questions on cross voting.
Patnaik further stated that, “My party (BJD) is supporting Ram Nath Kovind as the presidential candidate and we had a meeting today. We requested all MLAs, MPs of the party to support Kovind,” Patnaik added.
Earlier today, Ram Nath Kovind met ruling BJD MLAs and MPs at Odisha Assembly and had lunch with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during his one-day visit here.
Kovind, accompanied by Union Health Minister JP Nadda later spent an hour at Naveen Niwas, the chief minister’s residence for a luncheon meeting with Patnaik.
“I am very happy to be here and grateful for the support of BJD led by Naveen Patnaik,” said Kovind.
Also Read: Cross-voting likely in Presidential Elections 2017: Tara Bahinipati ...
BJD’s Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda stated that Ram Nath Kovind during the meeting assured all leaders that he will not ignore any State or language.
MP AU Singh Deo said, “We appreciated Ram Nath Kovind who assured to be impartial as President of India.”
Singh Deo further informed that the leaders of the party apprised Kovind of several issues including development of KBK region, tribal development in Odisha.
Kovind also addressed the BJD MLAs and MPs after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s short speech.
Before the meeting started, Patnaik, Kovind and Nadda raised hands in unison to freeze the moment.
Kovind’s meeting with BJD leaders is a mere formality as the ruling party in Odisha has already lent its support to the NDA’s presidential nominee.
After the meeting at the Assembly conference hall, Kovind went to the Naveen Nivas to have launch with the BJD chief.
Kovind told media persons, "I am happy to be here and grateful for the full fledged support of BJD to my presidential candidature," adding that the lunch was very tasty.
At BJP legislature party leader KV Singh Deo’s residence, Kovind will meet saffron party legislators separately this afternoon.
Earlier, at round 11.30 am, Kovind along with Nadda arrived at the Bhubaneswar airport in a special flight to a rousing reception by leaders of both BJD and BJP.
Das further stated as BJD has announced its support to Kovind, the MLAs and MPs should be present at the meeting tomorrow.
Asked on possible chances of BJD’s support to vice-presidential nominee of Opposition parties Gopal Krishna Gandhi, Das said the party chief will have the final say after holding talks with senior party leaders.
On query on rapport between Gopal Krishna and Naveen Patnaik, the BJD spokesperson replied, “Friendship and politics are on different tracks.”
Kovind is also scheduled to meet BJP legislators at around 2 pm tomorrow at legislature party leader KV Singh Deo’s house in Bhubaneswar.
In his editorial 'President Election- Dalit vs Dalit', Mahatab once again rattled the BJD and expressed displeasure over the party's decision to support Kovind.
"At a time when BJD is maintaining safe distance from both NDA and UPA, the party should not have announced support to Kovind in haste," said Mahatab.
Mahatab mentioned in the write-up that the decision to support Kovind was made over a single phone call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the CM. "Why didn't Naveen wait till the announcement of UPA's candidate?" questioned Mahatab.
Taking a jibe at the party's decision, the MP further mentioned that not every question carries answer and some questions should be left unanswered.
However, BJD MP Nagendra Pradhan said whatever Mahatab has mentioned in his editorial column is something he has written from the people’s point of view. "The party president's decision to support Kovind came only after a discussion with senior leaders; and the CM had earlier mentioned about the same," said Pradhan.
Also Read: BJD wrangles over Mahtab’s second column in media
Meanwhile, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Surya Narayan Patro said, "I can't say what Mahatab is trying to point out through his column. The CM had talked to the PM over the issue and instead of raising the issue on public forum, he should have talked with Naveen Babu."
Mahatab has been in the eye of many storms for his writings in the last couple of months. While he eulogized the BJP led government when BJD was celebrating its third year in the fourth consecutive term rule in the state in one, another criticised party leaders Damodar Rout and Surya Narayan Patro citing imminent cracks within the party.
In a media statement, the BJP legislator said, “I did not file a discharge petition in the coal block allotment case as I have complete faith in the judicial system and not done anything wrong during four decades of my public life.”
Elaborating further, Ray said when he was the Minister of State (Independent charge) for Coal in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ministry at the Centre in 1999, he forwarded a proposal on the coal block allocation, which he got from BJP MP PK Agrawal, to the department for ‘re-examination’.
Later a screening committee comprising secretaries of concerned ministries decided to allocate the Brahmadihi coal block located in Jharkhand to Castron, owned by PK Agrawal, said Ray adding that he was not part of the deciding committee.
Besides, the Jharkhand government had recommended the Centre to allocate the coal block to Castron citing legal utilisation as mafia had been looting coal from the block for past several years, the media statement by Ray mentioned.
“The UPA government, as a political vendetta, pressurised the central investigating agency to dig out something against me to malign my image as well as the predecessor NDA government. Subsequently a case was registered against me in September 2012,” Ray alleged.
The CBI had filed chargesheet in the coal block case against Ray and others in December 2014.
Notably, after attending the conclave, Jaitley had lunch with Naveen at his residence – Naveen Niwas- while the State BJP team was waiting for the Union minister to address their own party members. Moreover, prior to the lunch programme, Jaitley also praised the State government for its support on some of the major reforms undertaken by the Modi-led NDA government at the Centre. Further speculations of a close relationship between the two parties, once bête noire, were fuelled after Naveen was named as one of the members of the committee formed by the Central government for a cashless economy.
Also Read: GST, demonetisation will help states like Odisha: Arun Jaitley
“Amit Shah came to Odisha and posed a few questions to CM Naveen. Arun Jaitley came to Odisha and gave the answers to the same. There is a secret alliance between the BJP and BJD, and the strength of the bond was visible during Jaitley’s visit,” said Opposition leader, Narsingh Mishra.
However, many believe Jaitley’s approach towards the State government and the ruling-party supremo seems to have sent baffling signals to the State BJP organization especially after the thunderous criticisms made by national president Amit Shah only a few days back.
In his response, State BJP president Basant Panda said, “Jaitley was called as a guest and he accepted the invitation courteously and visited Naveen Niwas. There is no politics in this and it will not affect Odisha BJP.”
On the other hand, BJD had refuted any political relationship with BJP. “There is no political relationship between BJP and the BJD. However, Odisha needs support of the Central government for which the Union minister came. Many union ministers have had lunch with Naveen Patnaik and it is not a one off phenomenon,” said BJD spokesperson Amar Satpathy.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Hansraj Gangaram Ahir and BJP national secretary Siddhartha Singh are scheduled to join the programme to be held at the Town Hall here.
The event will highlight the achievements of the NDA Government in the last two years.
BJP spokesperson and Ganjam-in-charge Golak Mohaptra said that the objective of the Vikash Utsav is to make two years’ performances of the Narendra Modi-led Central Government reach the intellectual masses.
The entire Cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been asked to address rallies, press conferences and meetings with “youths” and “intellectuals” across the country assigned to them to highlight the achievements of the NDA Government and particularly the activities of their respective departments.
Besides, the saffron party will hold ‘Vikas Utsav’ in Baragarh, Sambalpur and Rayagada as three Union ministers Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Najma Heptulla and Prakash Javadekar will grace the occasions.
Your party has won convincingly in Assam Assembly polls. But simultaneously, there has been no gain for the party in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. What went wrong?
In the past, we had done well in the Lok Sabha polls in Assam by winning seven seats. But we had not tasted success in the Assembly polls. This time, the mandate went in our favour. In a state like Assam which has a complex character and where the Assamese society has been fighting for decades on issues of their identity, infiltration of Bangladesis, basic rights of their society, we got a huge majority. For us winning a single Assembly seat in West Bengal and Kerala, where we are new entrants, is a great achievement. In Bengal, we got about 10 per cent of the votes whereas it was 15% in the southern State of Kerala. In Tamil Nadu, we failed. But the mandate we received in these states is amazing and it will go a long way to help make BJP a truly national party. This election has proved that the Communist party’s fall has begun in West Bengal and the saffron party will emerge as a strong alternative for the people in the coming days. I will say nothing went wrong in these States. If anything, some good things have started to happen.
Though the party is gaining slowly in new States, at the same time it is losing its support base in States like Bihar and Odisha. How does party plan to recover lost ground in such states?
In Bihar (after Jharkhand was carved out of it in 2000), we never got more than fifty Assembly seats (out of 243) while contesting alone. During NDA I, it went up to 95. But in the last Lok Sabha polls, we got a good response from the voters. So far as Assembly seats are concerned, it was new for us. This time, the party has created itself as an alternative for the people and emerged as a political force in the State.
In short, the party is slowly rising as a political power across the country. Building on this winning momentum, we will consolidate our gains and march ahead as a national power in the coming days.
How is the BJP readying for the panchayat polls in Odisha next year and the general election in 2019?
In the last general election in 2014, we were at the number three position. In the coming two polls, which are vital for the party, we want to reach out to all 36,000 polling booths of the State. It’s the fourth time the BJD is in power. But I will say considering the mandate he has been given, Naveen Patnaik is making the people despondent by failing to create employment opportunities in the State. The State is resource-rich and mineral rich, but it is at the bottom economically and in human development index. So I feel Odisha is moving towards a political vacuum.
People have seen Congress and BJD for a long period. The way Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking the initiative in implementing public welfare schemes across the country, it will give us a chance to offer as a viable political alternative in the State. I strongly hope in the coming polls, people will give us a chance to serve the State.
Any chance of Odisha witnessing a BJP-BJD alliance in 2019?
There is absolutely no possibility of any alliance between BJP and BJD in future. Sometimes, it happens in States to realign political equations. But as per the strategy the party has adopted at this point of time, I believe we are self sufficient to win the hearts of voters in Odisha and there is no need for a coalition government.
35 Union ministers have visited Odisha so far during two years of your government at the Centre. What does it suggest? How many times you have visited the State within this period?
This is nothing new as they have visited other States also. As a minister, I too have visited almost every part of the country. Hence there is nothing extraordinary about their visit to Odisha. The common men have reposed their faith on the party as well as the Prime Minister. Hence, it becomes our utmost responsibility to make sure the welfare schemes of the government reach the people so that they can get maximum benefit. So they need to travel.
How do you respond to talk that you are the future CM of Odisha?
Our party does not run according to the desires of the party men. Our primary aim is to make the party No 1 in the country and strengthen it at the grassroots level. And we are working hard for that. When time comes, a system, not a single man, decides about the leader, who can take the state on the path of development. If such a situation comes in Odisha in future, then the party will decide who will be entrusted the leadership.
Do you have a personal desire to become the CM of Odisha?
I have no personal wish. It all depends on my party. I have never thought of becoming a Union minister, a member of the Upper House from another state, a Lok Sabha member and an MLA. So the party will decide depending on the situation.
It is alleged that Vyapam recruitment scam kingpin Sudhir Sharma had mentioned your name in his income tax returns saying that he had booked tickets for you. How far it is true?
At that time, I was the party’s general secretary and was not even a member of Parliament. The party had facilitated all my travel expenses and a return air ticket of Rs 5,000 to Delhi was made for me by the party itself. It is in record also. The person you are talking about was a party worker then and was in charge of handling party’s affairs. So why should I bother who booked the ticket and whether it was made from party’s account or anybody’s personal account?
Whistleblowers of the scam lament the slow pace of the probe after names of political bigwigs and party workers of BJP came to fore. Your comments?
I don’t agree with this.
In the D-brothers issue, the BJD alleged that the notorious siblings got your political patronage to expand their empire of crime. Your comments please.
The ruling BJD government must investigate who has got political patronage from whom. As I have said earlier on this issue, I had attended a social programme on the request on my friend Sameer Dey. I am also not above law. If the State government can convict me in the case, then I am also ready to face any punishment. I dare the BJD to probe and find out the truth.
Under Pradhan Mantri Ujjawla Yojana, your govt aims free LPG connections to five crore women BPL households in the next three years. While implementing the scheme, categorisation of women based on Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) is easy in rural areas. What about the BPL women in urban areas?
For urban women under BPL category too, the scheme will be implemented through SECC which is prepared by urban development department. From this year, the Centre will implement all the welfare schemes basing on this data in both rural and urban areas.
You have declared that 25 Lakh gas connections in rural areas and 15 lakh connections in urban areas will be provided in Gujarat alone. What is your ministry’s target in Odisha?
In Gujarat, 25 lakh rural consumes will be given new LPG connection. Since there is a huge network of gas pipeline in the State, we will give 15 lakh new connections in urban areas.
In Odisha, there were 27 lakh LPG consumers by the end of 2014 when the total number of households was one crore. In the past two years, the figure has reached 39 lakh. The consumers of eastern States, including Odisha, will get the maximum benefit of the Prime Minister’s clean cooking Ujjawala scheme as the LPG penetration is less in these States compared to the national figure.
My ministry aims to increase the LPG consumer base in Odisha to 75 lakh in next three years.
Under GiveItUp scheme, after the surrender of 1.17 crore LPG connections out of 15 crore consumers, is your ministry seriously considering to stop LPG subsidy to well offs beyond certain income level?
The dialogue is on. During refilling of LPG, the consumers need to submit an affidavit declaring their annual income is above Rs 10 lakh and they should not get the LPG subsidy. But again, since a lot of people with income level above Rs 10 lakh are not paying income tax, we are unable to draw a conclusion on this. The LPG subsidy should be only for the poor and needy.
Kerosene is being sold through fair price shops. There was also a concept of bio-metrics. Can that also be linked to DBT? How will you source data? Is bank connectivity an issue?
We are in consultation with many States regarding this. Our aim is to stop black marketing of the product. The needy must not be deprived of a single drop of Kerosene.
Will the retail prices of petrol and diesel go up when production cost of Bharat Stage (BS) –IV and VI automobile fuel standard rises?
See, there is no link between production cost of BS-VI standard fuel and the price rise of retail products. It all depends on the global market price of the fuels. My ministry will ensure all investments needed for better products are made to reduce pollution level.
In the absence of anchor load customers, is the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) considering cancellation of contract given to GAIL in 2012 for installation of the 1,724 km-long Surat –Paradip inter-state gas pipeline project?
We have worked on the above proposal’s financial management part. Not only the Surat-Paradip project, we are also planning a new pipeline to Allahbad from Paradip. After these projects, Odisha will be the hub of fuel supply in the eastern part of the country. For implementation of these projects, GAIL will open an office in Odisha soon.
In the absence of big ticket projects in Odisha, how do you see your recent proposal to Centre for an industrial corridor in the State?
Industrial units have started coming up in Odisha. In future, the Centre’s Chennai-Kolkata industrial corridor project, which has reached Vishakhapatnam now, will be helpful for Odisha for transportation of raw materials and industrial outputs. The ports here will also get the benefit of the corridor which will also be helpful to expand the economy of Odisha. Besides, the Centre’s Sagarmala project will also complement this project.
“The state government had submitted a memorandum seeking about Rs 2200 crore for drought assistance and the Centre has sanctioned Rs 815 crore. Compared to the previous Congress-led UPA government at the Centre which had sanctioned nor more than 5 percent of calamity assistance to the Odisha government, the present BJP government has sanctioned about 35 percent assistance to the state,” he said in a press briefing at the BJP headquarters here.
Stating that the Centre had formulated a series of productive schemes for the farmers, Kundaria said the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, recently launched by the Prime Minister, is an inspirational scheme for the farmers.
The new scheme will help ease the burden of premiums on farmers who take loans for cultivation. The new crop insurance scheme will have a rebated premium rate on the principal sum insured. The Union cabinet has also decided to make the settlement of insurance claim faster and easier so that the farmers do not face any trouble in getting their crop insurance dues.
The new insurance scheme will be implemented with a budget allocation of Rs 17,600 crore throughout the country from the next Kharif season of crop harvesting in June while the insurance burden will be collectively taken by the Centre and the state governments, the Union minister said.
He said prior to this new scheme, National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NIAS) was launched in the country in 1999.
“But there were some loopholes in that scheme. It was implemented only in 14 states of India. The insurance settlements were handled by the insurance company named Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd (AIC). Under NIAS, the insurance premium rates were 1.5 % to 3.5 % of the total sum assured for food crops like pulses, oilseeds, cereals, etc. But for commercial crops like cotton and horticultural crops, actuarial premium rates were charged. To overcome the lacunae, our government has launched this new crop insurance scheme by making some alterations in the existing scheme,” he pointed out.
He said under the new scheme, the premium rates will be discounted from the existing rates for all types of crops: Kharif crops, Rabi crops, horticulture crops and commercial crops. The premium will be 2% of the sum insured for Kharif season crops and 1.5 % for Rabi season crops. The rates will also be applicable for oilseeds. The premium rates for commercial crops like cotton and other horticultural crops will be 5% of the insurance sum assured.
“At present, only those farmers who have taken loans from the government for their cultivation are eligible for insurance of their crops. But under the new scheme, all farmers will be eligible for the new crop insurance scheme. The insurance plan will be handled under a single insurance company, AIC and the entire insurance process, right from joining of farmers to disbursement of claim, is to be done electronically to make it transparent and effective,” Kundaria said.
He also said the Centre had also launched Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana with an outlay of Rs 50,000 crores for a period of 5 years (2015-16 to 2019-20) to achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level,” he added.
The Union minister further said though the Yojana has included eight districts of Odisha, the state government is yet to submit a status report on the implementation of the Yojana.
The Centre has also stressed on organic farming for better and quality crop production with minimum investment and introduction of Soil Health Cards to 14 crore farmers in two years to examine the soil quality of their land and determine the types of crops to be grown for more productivity.
Senior party leaders of Odisha, including state present Basant Panda and Sajjan Sharma, were present at the press conference.
Speaking to media persons here this evening, Ray said, “My involvement in the case is that I had written ‘please re-examine’ the case when the company’s application came to me. Every minister usually writes please reconsider or re-examine whenever someone approaches him. There is no justification to make it such a big issue.”
Ray further said, “The officials had asked the company to fulfil some conditions such as disposing of water three to four kms away from the mines and use low-grade detonators.”
Ray was summoned along with Pradip Kumar Banerjee, who was the then Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Coal (MoC), Nitya Nand Gautam, who was the then advisor (projects) in MoC, Castron Technologies Ltd, its director Mahendra Kumar Agarwalla and Castron Mining, as accused in the case.
The case pertains to the alleged irregularities in allocation of Brahmadiha coal block in Giridih in Jharkhand to Castron Technologies Ltd in 1999.
Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar summoned these persons and the two firms for alleged offences under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 409 (Criminal breach of trust) of IPC and under the relevant provisions of Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.
The court summoned these accused after taking cognizance of CBI’s charge sheet filed against them in the case and has directed them to appear before it on February 26.
In its order, the court said there were enough “prima facie”evidence to summon them as accused in the case. “Public servants, in fact, actively connived with private parties involved so as to facilitate misappropriation of nationalised natural resources of the country by them,” the judge said in his order.
Reacting to the court summons to Ray, BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said, “The law will take its own course. If prima facie anything is found against Ray and five others, the accused will face the action. BJP had made a lot of hue and cry over mining and chit fund scams. Now the new State president of the saffron party should look into it.”
Defending Ray, BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma said, “BJD MPs and MLAs are already in jail. Therefore there is nothing to learn from them. Though the summons has been issued and legal process is on, we believe Dilip Ray will come out clean.”
While the opposition rallied over the Rafale fighter jet deal, BJP ally Shiv Sena demanded early construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The House witnessed a ruckus during Question Hour soon after it met for the second day of the winter session.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge got up from his seat and wanted to speak on a notice given by party member Sunil Jakhar for moving an adjournment motion on the Rafale deal.
But Kharge was not allowed to do so.
In the Monsoon session in August, the Congress had raised the same issue accusing the government of trying to mislead the nation on the defence deal with France.
The Congress was soon joined by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and other opposition members, who trooped near the Speaker's podium and started sloganeering.
Unable to conduct the Question Hour, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan initially adjourned the House till noon.
However, soon after the House reassembled, members of the Congress, Trinamool Congress, TDP and other opposition parties were again on their feet. They again trooped to the Speaker's podium.
Once again the Rafale deal was raised by the Congress, while the DMK raised the Cauvery waters distribution issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and the TDP demanded special status for Andhra Pradesh.
The Shiv Sena members also trooped near the Speaker's podium raising their demand for early construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. They raised slogans saying all Hindus demand the Ram temple.
Mahajan urged the agitating members not to disturb the functioning of the House but the opposition as well as the Shiv Sena members did not listen.
Amid the din the Dam Safety Bill was introduced by Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Ram Meghwal.
As the noisy protests continued, Mahajan adjourned the House for the day.
Of the business that could be transacted during the day was the oath taking by two newly elected members V.S. Ugrappa from Bellary and L.R. Shivarama Gowda from Mandya in Karnataka.
Ugrappa from the Congress and Gowda from the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) had defeated BJP candidates in the November by-polls.
There were obituary references to 11 former members including Madan Lal Khurana, N.D. Tiwari, C. K. Jaffer Sharief earlier in the day.
Before the House met for the day, the TDP and the Shiv Sena were seen protesting outside Parliament.
"We are all together in bringing parties on one platform. One or two may have differences of opinion. We (TDP) had differences with COngress for 40 years but at the same time now we are working how to bring together all. Democracy is important. It is for people to sink their differences. People are prepared now," he told reporters after an hour-long meeting with Stalin at his residence.
Naidu said he had a meeting with former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda and Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in Bengaluru on Thursday and had a good meeting. "I am in touch with Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal Chief Minister) and would be meeting her soon as part of these efforts," he said.
Recalling his meeting with Congress President Rahul Gandhi last week in the national capital, he said, "All of us want to join together and save the nation."
The TDP chief deftly avoided answering questions on who will be the face of the opposition grouping against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"There are so many leaders. Even Stalinji is better than Modi. We might have differences with Congress. But when you think of nation, national interest is utmost importance. Everybody is joining together on one platform. Today, you are talking of individuals. I am taking of democracy. If democracy survives only then you can elect leaders. If there is no democracy, there is nothing."
Replying to a question, Naidu said Rahul Gandhi is the Congress President and is the main anchor for the opposition against the BJP and his party has an all India presence.
"We are regional parties. Even Mamata Banerjee is strong in West Bengal. I am strong in Andhra Pradesh. Deve Gowda is strong in Karnataka and Stalin is strong in Tamil Nadu," he said.
To another question, Naidu said he was not the face of the opposition grouping. "I am not an aspirant. I am only a facilitator. I will bring everybody together," he said.
On his part, Stalin said that he welcomes Naidu's efforts to bring together opposition parties against the anti-people and communal government of Modi.
"I have already welcomed his meeting with Congress President on this account. Naidu has told me that he was planning to convene a meeting of like minded parties either in Delhi or any other state capital to draw up a strategy to defeat BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. I have accepted his invitation," he said.
Both the leaders attacked the Modi government for undermining the autonomy of institutions like the RBI, CBI, office of Governors, saying that democracy and the nation were under immense threat.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Janata Dal (Secular) supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and his son, Karanataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Naidu said the Central government is using agencies like Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to harass political opponents.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief's meeting with the JD-S leaders came a week after he met Congress President Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on November 1 as part of his effort to unify the opposition.
"We have joined hands to save the nation, to save democracy... All institutions are (being) destroyed. CBI, the premier investigation agency, is in trouble. Even RBI is under threat," he said.
The Andhra CM said the government is using the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department for "controlling opposition" and harassing politicians by "raiding indiscriminately".
The day being the second anniversary of demonetisation, Naidu said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's policies like demonetisation have thrown the country's economy into a crisis that the mammoth note-ban exercise led to the devaluation of currency and trouble in economy.
He also accused the government of betrayal and of not coming good on its promises of special status to Andhra Pradesh. He said that it did not even implement the Bifurcation Act -- the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, under which the state of Telangana came into existence after being carved out of Andhra Pradesh.
"We discussed the future course of action for forging an alliance ahead of the 2019 general elections," Gowda told reporters after the meeting.
The meeting with Naidu was to bring together the "secular forces" in the country, said Kumaraswamy.
"Chandrababu Naidu is working hard, as a co-ordinator, to unite the secular parties ahead of the upcoming general elections. We (Naidu and JD-S leadership) share good political arithmetics and have been friends," the Chief Minister added.
Interacting at the 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, Goyal said, "The BJP will come back with 300-plus seats and the NDA will get a two-thirds majority."
Slamming Congress President Rahul Gandhi, the minister said, "We are working in line with Mahatma Gandhi's vision of India that Congress should wind up shop. On one hand, we will make India Congress mukt (free), and on the other, we will make it Poverty Mukt."
His remakrs came soon after, Gandhi earlier in the day alleged the Narendra Modi government for "waging war on Indians" and imposing a "suffocating ideology" on them.
"It (Modi government) wants to impose one singular suffocating memory on our 1.3 billion people," said Gandhi in his scathing attack, adding that "rupee is on its knees, petrol at an all-time high, the stock market imploded, Rs 12 lakh crore in NPAs and unemployment is at a 20-year high".
"Reimagining India for the BJP, the RSS is to shut the imaginations of Indians. Institutions are attacked, Supreme Court judges are compelled to go public because they feel intimidated," the Congress chief said.
Goyal said, "For more than 48 years of our 71 years of Independence, we have had one family rule this country. Congress has ruled it for for almost six out of the seven decades."
When asked about the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government losing the narrative amid crisis like surging oil prices and a depreciating rupee, Goyal said, "Absolutely not. The people of India are smart and are watchful of what a government does when times are good and when times are bad."
"When Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee came to power, there were many issues to grapple with. Then we had a Pokhran test, and sanctions were imposed on us. So Vajpayee got a very short window. We saw a fiscal deficit under control and a current account surplus. But he was able to leave behind for the next government a strong base."
He said during the Vajpayee government, foreign exchange reserve had gone up from $29 billion in 1998 to $103 billion in 2004, interest rates were down, inflation was down to four per cent, growth was up to eight per cent and you had a robust economy.
"That was the time when the country would have invested heavily in building up reserve and building a strong base for the country. Sadly between 2004 and 2008 the government did not use that opportunity to strenghten its arm to strengthen its reserves," he said.
"I have never seen such a mismanagement in a year like that," he said, adding, "That was the time when indiscriminate loans were given. We got an economy in a shambles. But Modi focused both on the macro and micro levels. Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley steered the economy away from that."
"We have strengthened the economy in the last four years. We have identified the problems. Today we have an economy that is able to withstand external pressures," Goyal added.
On deportation, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala recalled three replies given by the Home Ministry in Rajya Sabha on three different occasions in 2008, 2016 and 2018.
These replies state that 88,792 Bangladeshi nationals were deported between 2005 and 2013 (during UPA rule). The replies also said that from 2014 to 2017, 1,822 Bangladeshi nationals were deported during the NDA rule.
The first reply was in October 2008 by then Minister of State for Home Affairs V. Radhika Selvi (from DMK, UPA-I). She had said the number of deported Bangladeshis in 2005 was 14,916. In 2006, it was 13,692 and in 2007, the number was 12,135.
The second reply was given by Minister of State Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on March 9, 2016 in the Rajya Sabha (from 2008 to 2014) and the third reply was given again by Rijiju on March 14, 2018 for the period 2013 to 2017.
Surjewala also accused Amit Shah and Modi government of duplicity, deception and double-speak and said that "NRC is the baby of the Congress party".
"Amit Shah should now apologise to the nation for manufacturing lies and misleading the country purely for political vote garnering in a sinister fashion," said Surjewala.
Daring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah to clarify their stance on Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, Surjewala said: "On one side, they are shedding crocodile tears on NRC and claiming deportation of foreigners, and on the other, Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 seeks to give citizenship to foreigners undoing the entire process of NRC."
"Instead of fooling the people, Modi, Shah and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal must answer whether they support the NRC process or whether they support the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 as both are directly in conflict with each other.
"NRC process will fail once citizenship is given to everyone as per the Citizenship Amendment Bill," he added.
"This is indeed a funny Government -- Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) writes Facebook posts on legal affairs, Law Minister (Ravi Shankar Prasad) holds presser on Defence Affairs and the Defence Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) holds... on Finance Affairs. No Minister talks about own Ministry's affairs. Collective Responsibility redefined!!" Tewari said in a tweet.
His remarks came after Jaitley wrote on his blog page that while the government was well within its right in "referring a recommendation back (to the Supreme Court collegium) with relevant inputs", it was "unsavoury past experiences" that made judiciary wary of the executives role in judicial appointments.
"Nitish Kumar ki sarkar Dalit virodhi hai, sharab bandi ke kanoon ke naam pe sabse jayada Dalit aaur garib logon ko hi giraftar kiya gaya hai (Nitish Kumar's government is anti-Dalit. In the name of justifying the liqour ban, majority of those arrested are Dalits and the poor)," Manjhi said at a public meeting in Punpun, about 20 km from here.
Manjhi said Dalits and the poor were being harassed and humiliated in the name of implementing prohibition laws.
Earlier, Manjhi said the government's prohibition policy had become a tool to persecute Dalits in the state.
Last December, Manjhi said Nitish Kumar's much-hyped prohibition policy in Bihar was a failure.
According to police records, over one lakh people have been arrested for violating the liquor ban imposed by the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on April 5, 2016.