People not satisfied with mere slogans, PM tells party

People not satisfied with mere slogans, PM tells party

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to resolve its confusion on who would be its chief ministerial candidate for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and whether at all it should announce one. But the aggression in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah's speeches at a public rally here underscored the importance of a good performance by the BJP in the UP elections, slated for early 2017, if Modi is to return as prime minister in 2019.

Both Modi and Shah appealed to the people of UP to reject the nepotism, casteism and lawlessness wrought by Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, who were hand-in-glove in corruption. Modi credited the people of UP for enabling BJP to win a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha elections and that the state has given India several of its prime ministers. BJP, along with its ally Apna Dal, won 73 of UP’s 80 seats in 2014. Shah was more direct. “The road to Delhi goes via Lucknow. BJP forming a government in the state in 2017 will pave Modi's way to Delhi in 2019,” he said.

While Modi stayed away from the more contentious issues and promised development to the youth of the state and to its farmers, Shah raked up alleged exodus of Hindus from Kairana in western UP. Read more

Congress questions the 'achievements' of two years of Modi govt

Congress questions the 'achievements' of two years of Modi govt

On a day when the Bharatiya Janata party-led government completed two years in office, the Congress party questioned the various celebrations, alleging the record was only of “empty talk and hollow promises”.

Dubbing the Narendra Modi government “fraudulently dynamic and dynamically fraudulent”, it fielded senior spokesperson in both Delhi and across state capitals to counter the “government propaganda”.

Unveiling its 'Do saal desh ka bura haal' (two years of dire national straits) campaign, party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “The government is surviving because of newspapers and television channels and its media publicity. It has nothing to show by way of work except bombast.”

Former Union minister and party spokesperson Kapil Sibal challenged the PM or anyone in the government to a Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal and Randeep Surjewala during a press conference on completion of two years by Modi government, at party headquarters in New Delhi

public debate on what it had achieved. Contrasting the predecessor government, led by its Manmohan Singh, he said: “Dr Singh did not speak; his work spoke. This prime minister does nothing but speak. He has nothing to show in terms of work.”Read more.

Jayalalithaa keeps five poll promises on Day 1

Jayalalithaa keeps five poll promises on Day 1

J Jayalalithaa, 68, took oath as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the sixth time on Monday, and cleared five files, waiving farmers’ debt and providing limited free electricity to domestic consumers.

She also started a phased prohibition, providing free gold for marriages and free power for handloom weavers. All these were major promises her party made in their manifesto before the Assembly elections. Jayalalithaa’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won 134 out of 232 Assembly seats. Election for two has been postponed to June.

The chief minister and 28 of her Cabinet colleagues were sworn in by Governor K Rosaiah on Monday at the Madras University’s Centenary Hall. The list included 13 new faces and four women. S Semmalai has been named as pro-tem Speaker. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister for the second consecutive term, a rare feat for a political party in Tamil Nadu. Despite the rivalry between the two parties, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) treasurer M K Stalin attended the swearing-in ceremony. This was the second time Stalin attended Jayalalithaa’s swearing in. In 2001, as Chennai mayor, he, along with a few DMK leaders, attended the function. After the ceremony, the chief minister drove straight to her office at the Secretariat and signed the five files. The first was an order to waive off small and medium farmers’ loans in the cooperative banks. This would cost the state around Rs 5,780 crore. Also, domestic users are now entitled to 100 units of free electricity. This will cost the state around Rs 1,607 crore. Read More