Tag: oppn

India needs oppn that is not afraid of ruling party; Mamata should be PM: Swamy

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Kolkata: Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Subramanian Swamy said on Tuesday that the country needs a genuine opposition which is not afraid of the ruling party.
Describing West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee as someone who cannot be “blackmailed”, he said she should be the prime minister of India.
“I do think that the country needs a genuine opposition which cannot be blackmailed by people in power,” Swamy said while speaking at an interactive session organised by FLO, the women’s wing of FICCI, here.

“I know a lot of people today. They will not go beyond a point against the present government. Because they are afraid that ED will turn up or something else will turn up. That’s not good for Indian democracy,” the BJP leader said.
He also reiterated that India needs an opposition which is “not a friend” of the ruling party.
“You can find many people like that. Some do it boisterously and some do it quietly,” he said.
“Mamata Banerjee should be the prime minister of India. She is a gutsy woman. Look at how she fought the communists. I met her 10 days ago but nobody knows (that),” Swamy said, adding that he knows her since she was fighting the CPI(M).
Asked about what transpired between Banerjee and him in that meeting, he said it was on how 2024 would be and what would be the shape of the economy then.

Referring to the TMC supremo, Swamy said it is “impossible to blackmail” her.
Asked about his opinion on the most powerful woman in the country today, the former MP said, “There was a time Jayalalitha could have been; there was a time when I thought of Mayawati. In the present situation…Mamata Banerjee. She is the only woman leader who has the guts to stand up. She is not complicit. “
Referring to Hinduism, he said it is the longest-surviving religion in the world today. “With that, you have a broadminded attitude.”
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#India #oppn #afraid #ruling #party #Mamata #Swamy
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 9, 2023
Thackeray to host lunch for Nitish with Oppn unity on the menu

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Mumbai: Janata Dal (U) President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will arrive in Mumbai on Thursday morning as part of his Opposition unity efforts, and hold meetings with top Maharashtra leaders, an official said here on Tuesday.
Nitish Kumar will meet Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray over lunch at ‘Matoshri’ in Bandra, before meeting Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar over tea at the latter’s ‘Silver Oaks’ home in south Mumbai.
The JD(U) supremo shall be accompanied by Bihar Legislative Council Chairman Deveshchandra Thakur, and Cooperation Minister Sanjaykumar Jha for the meetings with the Maharashtra leaders, said JD(U) National Secretary, Kapil Patil.

Last fortnight, Thakur had met both Pawar and Thackeray ahead of Nitish Kumar’s plans to visit Maharashtra on May 11.
Continuing his efforts to forge a national front comprising all non-BJP forces, Nitish Kumar has so far met Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Odish CM Navin Patnaik and also former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav, said Patil.
The JD(U)’s Maharashtra unit has made elaborate arrangements to welcome Nitish Kumar with thousands of workers set to gather at Bandra and other places.
“Nitish Kumar enjoys a clean image as a good administrator who has brought about a sea-change in Bihar. The women are safe, the youth are confident, and now the nation awaits him,” Patil added.

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#Thackeray #host #lunch #Nitish #Oppn #unity #menu
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 9, 2023
Despite Nitish’s meeting with Mamata, Oppn tie-up unlikely in Bengal

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Kolkata: The crucial meeting between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her counterpart in Bihar, Nitish Kumar on April 24 to pave way for a grand anti-BJP alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll has prompted certain questions to float around in the political circles of the state.
The first question is whether Nitish Kumar was deliberately deputed to crack an understanding with the Trinamool Congress supremo considering that Mamata Banerjee’s party leadership has already made it clear that for the time they will be maintaining an equal distance with the BJP and Congress and instead try to develop an understanding between all the regional parties in the country.
The second question is how far even Nitish Kumar will be finally able to bring the Congress and Trinamool leadership on the same platform. The reply to this question remained unanswered at the joint press conference on April 24 which was attended by Banerjee, Kumar and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is the deputy chief minister of Bihar.

During the media interaction on that day while a couple of media persons questioned about the position of Congress in the opposition alliance model, Mamata Banerjee virtually stopped those scribes and said that the media does not need to get bothered by that.
“You do not need to think about all these things. We will be together. The people of the country will fight against the BJP. All parties will walk together,” Mamata Banerjee said on that day. During the press conference the chief ministers of both the states stressed that all the opposition parties will have to shed their egos to work unitedly in their joint move against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In fact, since the beginning, the lines of thinking of Banerjee and Kumar on this grand opposition alliance have been different. While Nitish Kumar, on one hand, has been maintaining a close coordination with the top Congress leaders, including the national Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on this count, Trinamool Congress has been maintaining a distance from the oldest national party of the country.
There the question becomes more pertinent on whether Kumar would be able to finally bring the two forces together, political observers say. They point that both the Congress and Trinamool Congress have some points of debate in the matter which does not really paint a rosy picture of the two forces coming on the same platform at least in the pre-poll scenario.
According to veteran political observer and analyst Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay, since a pre-poll alliance always come with the rider of a seat-sharing agreement, in case of West Bengal it is virtually impossible for Trinamool Congress to sacrifice a single of 42 Lok Sabha seat for the Congress or for any other party.

“Mamata Banerjee’s aim is to gain the maximum numerical presence in the Lower House of Parliament and she is quite aware that West Bengal is the only state that will provide food for her on this count. Precisely that is why since the time she started her dialogues with other regional parties, she had been insisting on the choice of opposition leader only after the polls. So, from the point of view of Trinamool Congress this is the principal barrier for an amicable understanding with Congress,” Bandopadhyay explained.
From the Congress’s point of view, especially from the party’s West Bengal unit, Bandopadhyay explained, the choice of an amicable understanding with Trinamool Congress will not be an easy task since in that case Congress’s existing understanding with CPI(M)- lead Left Front in West Bengal will receive a setback.
“The recently concluded bypoll to the minority-dominated Sagardighi Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district, where Left Front- supported Congress candidate won with a handsome majority, had made both the parties more enthusiastic of carrying forward the understanding till the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. At the same time, the Congress will be at a bargaining position on seat sharing agreement with the Left Front rather than with Trinamool Congress. So, from the Congress’s point of argument, accepting Trinamool Congress as a partner will not be that easy,” Bandopadhyay explained.
However, political analysts and columnist Amal does not agree that the Sagardighi bypoll results cannot be an ultimate indicator of the Congress-Left Front equations all the time.
“CPI(M) or Left Front being a regimented force can always mobilize their traditional voters behind a Congress candidate as part of an alliance formula. But can the Congress leadership achieve the same mobilization of their dedicated voters in support of a Left Front candidate? So, it cannot be said for certain that the success of the Sagardighi model will be the sole factor that will ensure Congress- Left Front understanding till 2024,” he said.
According to him, the results for forthcoming polls for the three-tier panchayat system in West Bengal scheduled this year, which in all probability a three-corner contest between the Trinamool Congress, BJP and Left Front-Congress alliance, will be a crucial indicator on this count.
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#Nitishs #meeting #Mamata #Oppn #tieup #Bengal
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 30, 2023
Oppn calls out PT Usha over her remarks on protesting wrestlers

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New Delhi: Several opposition leaders hit out at Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha on Friday for criticising a protest by wrestlers in Delhi, alleging she has become a “political mouthpiece”.
The wrestlers have launched a second round of protest against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexual harassment and intimidation.
Usha, a Rajya Sabha member, has condemned the protest, saying the grapplers lacked discipline in hitting the street in support of their demand. She also said their action has tarnished the image of India.

Responding to Usha, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said ignoring their pleas tarnishes the country’s image, not their protest.
“Dear @PTUshaOfficial, it is does not become you to disparage the justified protests of your fellow sportspersons in the face of repeated & wanton sexual harassment. Their standing up for their rights does not ‘tarnish the image of the nation’. Ignoring their concerns – instead of hearing them out, investigating them & taking just action – does,” he said.
CPI MP Binoy Viswam blamed the sprinter’s “newly found” political friends for her stand on the issue.
“Usha, with utmost respect and affection, I have to say, your comments on the suffering wrestlers should have been avoided. The country and the sport lovers wish to see you as a spirited sports person. Alas! Your newly found friends want to make you their political mouthpiece,” Viswam said.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra also attributed the former sportswoman’s stand to her Rajya Sabha seat.

“Wrestlers protesting on streets tarnishing India’s image says @PTUshaOfficial. So ruling party MP chairing WFI for years accused of molestation & abuse of power against who @DelhiPolice refuses to lodge FIR in spite of SC order makes India smell of roses, does it?” tweeted Moitra.
Congress MP Jebi Mather said a person like P T Usha who is held in high esteem by every Indian, especially sports enthusiasts, stooping to the level of demeaning the wrestlers, is quite unwarranted and unexpected of her.
“By degrading the wrestlers, P T Usha has failed in the exercise of her duties as the President of Indian Olympic Association,” she said.
“Instead of standing by the side of her fellow sportspersons who are fighting for justice in the context of repeated instances of sexual harassment, Usha is playing petty politics. She owes an apology to the wrestlers. While the matter is sub-judice, it is quite suspicious that she has taken a stand against the wrestlers,” Mather said.
“The fact that Usha, who expressed solidarity with the wrestlers while they first raised the complaint in January, has now changed her stance raises questions regarding her intention,” she said.
Top wrestlers are protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, demanding that the government make public the findings of the oversight panel that investigated sexual harassment allegations against the WFI chief.
Rajya Sabha member Mather said that being the president of the Indian Olympic Association, Usha should make efforts to ensure unity and equality among the sportspersons, not to create division.
She should make earnest efforts in resolving the issue at the earliest, the Congress MP added.
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#Oppn #calls #Usha #remarks #protesting #wrestlers
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 28, 2023
Nitish meets Mamata as mission Oppn Unity paces; to meet Akhilesh next

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Lucknow: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has taken upon himself the task of uniting Opposition forces against the BJP-led government at the Centre, met Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday.
He left Patna to meet with his Bengal counterpart at her office in the State secretariat ‘Nabanna’ today.
He is also set to meet Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at the Samajwadi Party headquarters today at 4 pm, officials said.

The Samajwadi Party’s National General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav will also be present in today’s meeting.
Earlier on April 12, Nitish Kumar had met with Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and former MP Rahul Gandhi in the national capital.
The meeting was seen as the major step to laying the groundwork for a grand Opposition alliance ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Rahul Gandhi said it was a “historic step” towards Opposition unity and for an “ideological fight”.
Rahul Gandhi, who posted a picture of himself with Kharge and JDU and RJD leaders, said they are “standing together, will fight together for India”.

“In this battle of ideology, a historic step has been taken today towards Opposition unity. (We are) standing together, will fight together – for India!” Rahul Gandhi had said in a tweet after the meeting with the Bihar chief minister.
CM Mamata Banerjee is also leaving no stone unturned in closing in ranks with other parties ahead of the 2024 polls, as she met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at her residence in Kolkata last month.
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#Nitish #meets #Mamata #mission #Oppn #Unity #paces #meet #Akhilesh
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 24, 2023
Jungle raj, mafia raj: Oppn targets BJP over Atiq Ahmad’s killing

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New Delhi: “Jungle raj” and “mafia raj” were some of the words used to describe Uttar Pradesh and even India by opposition leaders on Sunday as they hit out at the BJP government over the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother in front of policemen and media in Prayagraj district.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said stringent action should be taken against those involved in the incident.
“Jungle Raj under BJP Yogi govt in UP. Its USP: Encounter killings, Bulldozer politics & patronising criminals. Enforce rule of law; apprehend perpetrators & punish them stringently,” he said in a tweet

TMC MP Mouha Moitra said the country has been turned into “mafia raj”.
“BJP has turned India into a mafia republic. I will say it here, I will say it abroad, I will say it everywhere because it is the truth. 2 men in custody shot dead in front of a zillion policemen & cameras – this is the death of the rule of law,” she said.
Moitra also said that she can even believe that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got the shooting done simply to “deflect attention” from repercussions to the Satyapal Malik interview.
“Nothing, just nothing, is beyond this government,” she said.
The two brothers were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college here for a checkup.

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#Jungle #raj #mafia #raj #Oppn #targets #BJP #Atiq #Ahmads #killing
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 16, 2023
Oppn leaders target UP govt after Atiq Ahmad, brother shot dead

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Lucknow: Opposition leaders on Saturday questioned the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh and demanded that the state government be dismissed after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in Prayagraj.
The “cold-blooded” killings are the “height of anarchy” in Uttar Pradesh, BSP MP Danish Ali claimed.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said crime has reached its peak in Uttar Pradesh and criminals are unfazed.

Ahmad (60) and Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college here for a checkup.
The brothers, both jailed in Prayagraj, were in handcuffs when they were killed in full view of camera crews around 10 pm. The horrifying visuals were circulated widely on social media platforms and television channels.
Reacting to the incident, SP president Akhilesh Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi: “Crime has reached its peak in Uttar Pradesh and the criminals are unfazed. When someone can be shot dead amidst a police cordon, then what about the safety of the general public? An atmosphere of fear is being created among the public due to this and it seems that some people are deliberately creating such an atmosphere.”
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary asked if ‘jungle raj’ prevails in the state.
“Nobody is sympathising with Atiq Ahmad because a criminal should be punished. But anyone who will see this video will question if we are a democracy. Every criminal has the right to be heard in court and be convicted there. But you can see they were killed in police custody in the open,” he said.

He further said, “The chief minister should answer what kind of law and order he has established in the state. Is this not jungle raj and a ground to call for emergency rule in UP?”
Video footage showed a man thrusting a gun at Ahmad’s head as he talks to reporters and the former SP MP collapsing. The footage also showed the three assailants firing at Ahmad and Ashraf even after they had fallen.
The bullet-riddled bodies of Ahmad and Ashraf were taken away from the spot as tension gripped the area after the sensational killings.
In a tweet, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said, “Two murders in UP: 1) Atiq Ahmed and brother Ashraf 2) Rule of law.”
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP from Amroha Danish Ali said the “cold-blooded” murder of Ahmad and his brother is the “height of anarchy” in Uttar Pradesh.
“This can’t happen without a go-ahead from the top. In any other democracy the state government must have been dismissed for such a heinous crime against the rule of law,” he said in a tweet.
The three assailants who fired at Ahmad and Ashraf were arrested immediately after the incident.
In a tweet in Hindi, Uttar Pradesh minister Swatantra Dev Singh said, “Sins and virtue are accounted for in this birth…”
The tragic end of Ahmad and his brother came on a day the ex-MP’s son Asad, who was killed in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13, was buried in Prayagraj.
Ahmad and his brother were brought to Prayagraj for a court hearing in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case and were remanded in police custody.
Umesh Pal, a key witness in the murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two police security guards were shot dead outside his Dhoomanganj residence here on February 24.
Based on a complaint lodged by Umesh Pal’s wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered on February 25 against Ahmad, Ashraf, Ahmad’s wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others.
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#Oppn #leaders #target #govt #Atiq #Ahmad #brother #shot #dead
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 16, 2023
Efforts for oppn unity pick up pace: Yechury after meeting Nitish

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New Delhi: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said efforts for opposition unity have picked up the pace ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and seat adjustments will be made at the state level.
Speaking to the media after meeting Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar here, Yechury indicated that a third front was a possibility.
“Efforts for opposition unity have picked up the pace. An opposition coalition will be formed and seat adjustments will be done at the state level,” the CPI(M) general secretary said.

With Bihar CM Shri Nitish Kumar to carry forward the efforts to unite secular democratic parties to safeguard the Indian Republic, Constitution and Democracy, severely assaulted by the BJP & Modi govt. Defeat the BJP in order to save India & people’s livelihoods. pic.twitter.com/9yXdRGM3tI
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) April 13, 2023
“In Kerala, Congress and our party are arch rivals. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not in a fight there,” he said.
He further said that the third front that is going to be formed will always be after the elections.
“But in India, fronts are formed post polls such as United Front in 1996, in 1998 NDA was formed after elections, UPA formed post polls in 2004,” Yechury said.
Earlier, Bihar CM Kumar, who on Wednesday met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi as part of his initiative to forge an alliance of opposition parties, met Yechury here.
Later, Yechury tweeted, “With Bihar CM Shri Nitish Kumar to carry forward the efforts to unite secular democratic parties to safeguard the Indian Republic, Constitution and democracy, severely assaulted by the BJP & Modi govt. Defeat the BJP in order to save India & people’s livelihoods (sic).”

The Bihar CM also met CPI general secretary D Raja on Thursday.
“Had a meeting with JD(U) leader & Bihar CM Shri Nitish Kumar to discuss broad issues of opposition unity against RSS-BJP. The country is in turmoil and all sections of society are vocal against BJP misrule. Unity of secular-democratic forces is must to protect our democracy and people,” said Raja in a tweet after the meeting.

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#Efforts #oppn #unity #pick #pace #Yechury #meeting #Nitish
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 13, 2023
Nitish meets Yechury, other Left leaders amid Oppn unity talks

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New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D. Raja and other leaders here on Thursday amid talks of opposition unity.
Nitish Kumar is on a three-day visit to New Delhi to bring the non-BJP parties together to fight against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Yechury, while speaking to the media, said that his party and the Left have always believed that democratic parties with secular ideology need to unite.

He said: “Today, we have to save our country, our constitution and democracy. For this, there is a need to defeat the BJP and the present government at the Centre. Our basic objective is to stop the division of anti-BJP votes. For this all parties need to come together.”
He stated that a joint meeting of all the parties would be held soon wherein the whole outline would be decided.
Yechury said: “We have to save the Constitution today and for that we have to defeat the BJP in the 2024 elections. Talks are on with other political parties as well… The front that is going to be formed will always be there after the elections.”
Yechury tweeted: “With Bihar CM Shri Nitish Kumar to carry forward the efforts to unite secular democratic parties to safeguard the Indian Republic, Constitution and Democracy, severely assaulted by the BJP & Modi govt. Defeat the BJP in order to save India & people’s livelihoods.”
Commenting on the seat-sharing formula, Yechury said that the political alliance will be decided by the CPI(M) according to the circumstances in the states. He added that seats will be distributed as per the political situation in different states.

Citing the example of Kerala, he said that the BJP has no hold there, so the competition will be between the Congress and the Left parties, but in the states where the BJP has to be fought, the opposition parties will coordinate on the seats.
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#Nitish #meets #Yechury #Left #leaders #Oppn #unity #talks
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 13, 2023
TN: Oppn MLA seeks free IPL tickets, Sports Minister says ‘ask Jay Shah’

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Chennai: AIADMK legislator S.P. Velumani on Tuesday asked Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin to provide free IPL tickets to the Opposition MLAs, claiming that legislators were given free match tickets when the AIADMK was in power in the state.
Speaking on the floor of the Assembly, Velumani also claimed that the DMK government received 400 tickets for IPL matches, but did not give a single ticket to the Opposition MLAs.
Replying to Velumani, Udhayanidhi Stalin, Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development, said, “The BCCI Secretary is Jai Shah, the son of your close friend Amit Shah… It’s better that you talk to him.”

The DMK leader added: “He (Jay Shah) does not listen to us… You better speak to him and get at least five tickets each for the MLAs.”
Stalin also said that he had paid for 150 tickets for the sportspersons of his constituency.
The minister then took a dig at the Opposition party, saying, “The AIADMK leader here said that they had given IPL tickets to the MLAs for matches held at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. But no matches were played at the stadium in the last four years. I wonder for whom did the party buy tickets.”
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#Oppn #MLA #seeks #free #IPL #tickets #Sports #Minister #Jay #Shah
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 11, 2023