Month: September 2024

New Delhi (TIP)- The BJP on Thursday, September 19, fielded its president JP Nadda to rebut a letter Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to the prime minister highlighting BJP leaders’ abuses directed at Rahul Gandhi.
In a strongly worded three-page rebuttal to Kharge, Nadda asked why the Congress chief never mentioned political morality and decorum when his colleagues hurled over “110 abuses at PM Modi”.
Nadda went on to list these abuses, including Rahul Gandhi’s “thieves” reference for “Modis (who are OBCs) and his mother Sonia Gandhi’s “maut ka saudahar” remarks meant for Modi and said, “The so-called products being sold in Rahul Gandhi-led Mohabbat ki Dukaan which solely aims to acquire power are the poison of casteism, seeds of animosity, spices of anti-nationalism, toxins of defamation of India and the sledgehammer of breaking up the nation,” Nadda wrote to Kharge, adding: “Hope my letter answers the questions raised by you and your party leader.”
In serial swipes at the Congress chief, Nadda described Rahul as a “failed product” asking Kharge “what his compulsion was in repeatedly relaunching a failed product”.
“What is your compulsion in defending a person whose history has been of abusing the entire OBC segment as thieves; using unsavoury references for the PM, including speaking of beating him up with sticks?” asked Nadda.
He said Rahul Gandhi’s mother Sonia Gandhi used “maut ka saudagar” remarks for the PM and the Congress continued to glorify these shameless remarks.
“Why did the Congress then forget political morality when Rahul Gandhi openly said, ‘We will soil Modi’s image.’ I understand it is your compulsion to keep relaunching a failed product but as party president you should introspect,” the BJP chief said, adding that India’s oldest political party under the pressure of the dynasty has been reduced to a “copy and paste party”.
“The Congress and company have hurled over 110 abuses at PM Modi. Top Congress leaders are involved in this. Why do words like political morality, dignity, discipline, courtesy vanish from your dictionary when the Congress abuses the PM?” Nadda asked, accusing Kharge of double standards.
Listing the slurs Congress leaders used for Modi, Nadda said no other political leader in India’s history has been insulted as much as PM Modi. “And the Congress has rewarded abusers of Modi with top posts. I would need to write a book to cover this topic,” said Nadda, asking if these abuses have not shamed India. Source: TNS

Jammu/Srinagar (TIP)- A voter turnout of 61.13 pc was registered in the first phase polling in Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, which were held on 24 constituencies in seven districts.
According to Election Commission data, the voting percentage was 61.13 per cent. Voting started across 24 seats at 7 am today, including 16 seats in the Kashmir region and eight seats in the Jammu region. The voting was peaceful.
“Building on the successful foundation of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, peaceful and enthusiastic voting marked the beginning of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir,” EC said in a release.
“Voters from all sections of society responded to the ‘call of democracy’ wholeheartedly, reaffirming the confidence expressed by CEC Rajiv Kumar during the announcement of assembly elections that the people of J-K will give a befitting reply to the nefarious forces attempting to disrupt the electoral process,” it added.
The poll panel said that the long queues of voters at the polling stations showcased to the entire world, the deep trust and confidence of the people of J-K in the democratic exercise.
Kishtwar district recorded the highest turnout at 80.14 per cent followed by Ramban at 70.55 per cent, Doda at 71.34 per cent, Kulgam at 62.60 per cent, Anantnag at 57.84 per cent and Shopian at 55.96 per cent
The Pulwama district recorded the lowest at 46.65 per cent.
J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also expressed happiness over a good voter turnout in the first phase.
In a post on X, LG Sinha said, “Congratulations J-K for a historic voter turnout! I would like to thank all voters, who exercised their franchise in 1st Phase. Record polling in the peaceful, free and fair election attests to the strength of Indian democracy and people’s faith in democratic values. I must congratulate all my sisters & first-time voters for participating in large numbers to celebrate the festival of democracy. Heartfelt gratitude to outstanding security forces, JKP & Election Officials. Approx 59% polling in the first phase shows ‘Jamhooriyat’ (democracy) is flourishing in J-K.”
The Pulwama district recorded the lowest at 46.65 per cent. J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also expressed happiness over a good voter turnout in the first phase.
In a post on X, LG Sinha said, “Congratulations J-K for a historic voter turnout! I would like to thank all voters, who exercised their franchise in 1st Phase. Record polling in the peaceful, free and fair election attests to the strength of Indian democracy and people’s faith in democratic values. I must congratulate all my sisters & first-time voters for participating in large numbers to celebrate the festival of democracy. Heartfelt gratitude to outstanding security forces, JKP & Election Officials. Approx 59% polling in the first phase shows ‘Jamhooriyat’ (democracy) is flourishing in J-K.”
Rashid contested the Lok Sabha elections as an Independent and defeated National Conference leader Omar Abdullah from the Baramulla seat. The National Conference and PDP leaders have taken digs at the BJP following Rashid’s release from jail on bail.
Voting for the second and third phases in J-K will be held on September 25 and October 1, respectively. Votes will be counted on October 8.
Source: ANI

New Delhi (TIP)- The frontrunner was the chosen one. In an expected turn of events, the AAP legislative party on September 17 elected finance and education minister Atishi, 43, as its leader, paving the way for her to become the eighth chief minister of Delhi.
Outgoing Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal later met lieutenant governor VK Saxena at Raj Niwas along with his council of ministers – Atishi, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Imran Hussain – to submit his resignation.
Chief minister -designate Atishi then submitted a letter to stake her claim to form govt. She will remain at the helm for a maximum of five months in this term if the assembly polls are held as per schedule in Feb 2025.
“Now, Atishi steps up to lead Delhi till the upcoming elections, carrying the weight of both CM Arvind Kejriwal’s vision and the national capital’s future,” said AAP in a statement.
AAP functionaries said an assembly session will be convened on Sept 26 and 27, and the new govt under Atishi will prove its majority. This is a mere formality, considering AAP’s brute majority of 59 legislators in a 70-member House. Three MLAs have resigned from AAP in the past five months.Leaving Raj Niwas, Atishi told reporters: “Had it been any other CM, he would have immediately sat on the CM’s chair after coming out of jail. No one in the world would have taken a decision like Kejriwal ji (to step down).”
“This is an emotional moment for the party and the people of Delhi. At the same time, the people of Delhi have resolved to make Arvind Kejriwal chief minister again. Till elections are held, I will be looking after Delhi,” she added.
Atishi will be the second youngest to become the CM after Chaudhary Brahm Prakash (1952-55) who was just shy of 34 when he was sworn in as CM. She will also be the third woman chief minister of the capital.
Her name was proposed by Kejriwal at the meeting of the legislative party, which was held at his camp office at Flag Staff Road. It was unanimously accepted by all legislators.
Kejriwal had on Monday held one-on-one meetings with members of AAP’s political affairs committee, including all ministers, to seek their view on prospective successors.
Kejriwal had announced his decision to step down on Sunday, in less than 48 hours of his release from Tihar Jail after getting bail in the excise policy case. He had told party workers that he would sit in the CM’s chair only after obtaining a “certificate of honesty” from the electorate in the upcoming polls. He had ruled out deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who was also in jail for over 17 months in the same case, taking over from him. Kejriwal had also urged Election Commission of India to hold elections in Delhi in Nov.
A first-time MLA from Kalkaji, Atishi forayed into electoral politics in 2019 when she unsuccessfully contested against BJP’s Gautam Gambhir. In 2020, she contested the assembly polls from Kalkaji and won. She was inducted into the cabinet only after Sisodia and former health minister Saytendar Jain resigned due to their incarceration in separate cases.
She was initially given six departments which later ballooned to 13. While Kejriwal, even during his first stint of 49 days and 2015 onwards, never kept any portfolio with himself, Atishi is likely to hold on to some departments.
Officials said the LG will forward Kejriwal’s resignation and Atishi’s claim for forming govt to the President and to the Union ministry of home affairs. Once the approvals are received, Raj Niwas will invite her to take the oath of office.

New Delhi (TIP)- A day after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had “answered” most of the allegations against them, the Congress on Tuesday (September 17, 2024) said their explanation raised “even more questions”.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said “the facts” put out on their financial dealings had not been contradicted so far by anyone.
“The Finance Minister has finally broken the Union government’s silence on the issue of the multiple conflicts of interest of the SEBI Chairperson. She has said that the SEBI Chairperson and Mr. Buch are ‘answering on allegations of conflict of interest’. But these answers raise even more questions,” Ramesh said.
“The question now is whether the Finance Minister and the non-biological PM were aware of these facts since 2022 at least. Do they really think that these facts are trivial and do not, in any way, compromise the functioning of the capital markets regulator?” he said.
Has the Supreme Court-mandated SEBI investigation into the Adani Group really been fair, impartial, and complete, Ramesh asked, adding, “The last has not been heard on this matter.”
In a separate statement, the Congress general secretary said the first 100 days of the Modi government’s third term was marked by a litany of U-turns and a series of scandals. He said the government had “failed to act on India’s mass unemployment crisis”.

Ramesh said “the non-biological PM and his drumbeating economists” had consistently attacked the idea of jobless growth but the reality since 2014 was even more stark – “job-loss growth”.
He said the crisis was of the government’s own making, caused by the decimation of job creating MSMEs through the “Tughlakiandemonetisation”, a hastily rushed through goods and services tax, an unplanned COVID-19 lockdown, and rising imports from China.
“The final straw has been the non-biological PM’s economic policy of favoring large conglomerates. India’s unemployment rate today is the highest it has been in 45 years, with the unemployment rate for graduate youth at 42%,” he said. Source: The Hindu