Tag: Amit-Shah

Bihar CM, dy CM and others congratulate JP Nadda for becoming BJP president.

Source – newindianexpress.com

Congratulating JP Nadda on being elected as the national president of BJP replacing Amit Shah on Monday, Bihar BJP’s top leaders namely deputy CM Sushil K Modi and state chief Sanjay K Jaiswal said that the BJP would get yet another new height in the welkin of electoral success and people-oriented politics under JP Nadda’s party strategies.

JP Nadda has a deep connection with Patna where he had his schooling to college education from St Xavier high school to Patna College of Patna University.

“JP Nadda ji as national president of party will take the party to a new height of bright organisation excellence and set another benchmark in development-oriented and people-concerned politics”, Modi said.

He said that Nadda ji enjoys a sincere emotional and educational bond with Bihar because being born here with all grooming up.

Dr Nikhil Anand, spokesperson of BJP in Patna, also hailed the election of JP Nadda as the national president.

“His organisational skills and political strategies coupled with an innate quality of being a tough taskmaster and affable nature will encourage the n party to excel further in electoral success”, he said.

Besides the BJP leaders, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan also congratulated JP Nadda for his being elected as BJP national president.

Nitish Kumar will lead NDA in Bihar elections, says Amit Shah.

Source – thehindu.com

Bharatiya Janata Party president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said Nitish Kumar would lead the NDA in the Assembly election in Bihar due this year.

“I want to make it clear once and for all that NDA will contest the next Assembly election in Bihar under Nitish Kumar….Lalu’s dream to become chief minister again will not be fulfilled”, said Mr. Shah, while addressing a public meeting as part of the party’s ongoing Jan Jagran Abhiyan (people’s outreach programme) on the new citizenship law, CAA, in Vaishali, near Patna.

While listing the achievements of the NDA governments in Bihar and at the Centre, Mr. Shah slammed the Opposition and the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad. “We took Bihar from lantern age to LED age, from loot to law and order, fodder scam to protection of cows and from jungle raj to janata raj”, he said.

He also appealed to the audience to dial 88662 on their mobile phone to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked how many of them dialled the number. However, very few hands were raised.

“The new citizenship law is not for taking away anyone’s citizenship but to give citizenship to those who were persecuted and oppressed in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and seek refuge in our country”, explained Mr. Shah, while asking people, “whether we should give them citizenship or not?”. “But, the opposition Congress party, Lalu Prasad, Arvind Kerjriwal and Mamata Banerjee are opposing this…they speak the same language of Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan”, he added.

“It was the Congress government which had divided the country earlier on religious grounds…30% Hindus were living each in East (now Bangladesh) and west Pakistan but today there are only 7% Hindus in Bangladesh and 15% in Pakistan — who is responsible for this?”, asked Mr. Shah. “Lalu, Rahul and Company should answer where they have gone”, he said.

“When slogans like Bharat tere tukde honge hazaar were chanted in JNU, the Modi government sent them to jail but the Kejriwal government was opposing it…don’t you think they should be sent to jail?”, Mr. Shah asked the audience. When the new Citizenship Act came in there was communal tension in several parts of the country. “Congress party, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Co. are responsible for the communal tension over CAA”, he alleged.

The BJP chief declared that “the process of construction of a Ram temple will begin in Ayodhya within four months”. He listed the abrogation of Article 370, 35 (A) and surgical strikes in Pakistan as the government’s achievements.

Mr. Shah asked party leaders and workers to undertake a door-to-door campaign in the State and explain to people the new citizenship law and how the Opposition has been spreading rumours over it.

On Tuesday Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had come to Gaya in Bihar to remove ‘misgivings’ on CAA but protesters sent up black balloons during his speech.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav too began his four-day Pratishodh Yatra in Muslim-dominated Seemanchal (border districts) on Thursday to intensify the anti-CAA stir.

Amit Shah sounds poll bugle in Bihar, says NDA to fight assembly elections under Nitish.

Source – indiatoday.in

Bihar elections this year will be fought under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. BJP and JDU would contest elections together and form the next government,” declared Amit Shah at BJP’s Citizenship Amendment Act awareness drive in Vaishali, Bihar.

Shah’s comment is seen as an attempt to silent motor mouth like Sanjay Paswan who has embarrassed BJP by demanding next CM face from the party. Paswan’s similar demand couple of months back had forced Shah to make same declaration.

Amit Shah also lashed out at the opposition while speaking at the CAA awareness drive blaming the Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the violent protest that took place across the country immediately after Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in both the Houses of Parliament.

“Congress and Mamta Banerjee & company have orchestrated the violence that has erupted across the country after CAB was passed in the parliament,” Shah said.

Mentioning Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Amit Shah blamed the opposition for misleading the people on CAA and propagating a false narrative against it.

Centre Keeps Bihar Waiting For Flood Funds Again, Opposition Slams Amit Shah.

Source – ndtv.com

Patna: With less than a year to go for the assembly polls, the centre has yet again kept Bihar’s Nitish Kumar government waiting for the Rs 4,000 crore it has demanded in flood damages.

Flood claims made by Bihar and Kerala were not given much credence in the Rs 5,908-crore relief fund released by the central government to seven states recently. According to a press release, Karnataka got Rs 1,869.85 crore (totalling over Rs 3,000 crore when taken together with the first instalment of Rs 1,200 crore) while Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra received Rs 1,749.73 crore and Rs 1,500 crore respectively. Bihar, however, had to make do with just Rs 400 crore.

When upset Bihar officials questioned the reason for more funds not being allotted despite the state getting hit by floods two times in a row last year, resulting in the death of over 200 people, they were told that one more visit by a central team would be required. The opposition, however, was far from convinced.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Shivanand Tiwari termed it as a “clear-cut case of partisanism” by the central government, recalling how it had granted just Rs 1,700 crore as compared to the state’s demand for Rs 7,000 crore even the previous year. He also claimed that the BJP knows Chief Minister Nitish Kumar won’t make a big issue of it, given that he is “more interested in striking a favourable seat-sharing deal than the people”.

Congress legislator Shakeel Ahmed Khan termed it as proof that the plight of the poor in Bihar does not move Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “What else can you expect from a Finance Ministry under the BJP?” he exclaimed.

Janata Dal United spokesperson C Tyagi admitted to being shocked by the low figure, but hoped that the central government would “walk the talk” soon. Last year, the Bihar government had disbursed Rs 2,000 crore among flood victims.

Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath To Launch Pro-Citizenship Law Drive In Bihar.

Source – ndtv.com

Patna: The BJP is set to raise the pitch in Bihar in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, with two of its top leaders flying down to the state to address public meetings and raise awareness about the contentious legislation, a senior party official said on Monday.

Union Home Minister and party chief Amit Shah is scheduled to address people in Vaishali district on January 16, two days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath holds a public meeting in Gaya, state BJP vice-president Devesh Kumar told PTI.

A massive door-to-door campaign is currently underway in the state, after its launch on Sunday with rallies addressed in Patna by Union minister of state for Home Nityanand Rai and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

Notably, Bihar witnessed massive anti-CAA protests in the recent past, including statewide bandhs called on different days by Left parties and the RJD and its allies.

A demonstration staged by a motley group of student outfits in December had caught the police off guard as the agitators went on the rampage, setting on fire a police outpost and many vehicles at Kargil Chowk, a stone’s throw from the district police chief’s office and the collectorate.

Meanwhile, the state BJP mocked Pavan K Varma, the disgruntled national general secretary of the JD(U), for his open letter in protest against “unilateral announcement” on National Population Register (NPR) exercise by the Deputy Chief Minister.

PM Modi had made the disclosure at a press conference on Saturday and issued a stern warning that “administrative and punitive action” will be taken against officials, found guilty of dereliction of duty.

Vajpayee govt created Jharkhand, Modi taking it forward: Amit Shah

Source – indiatoday.in

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Thursday said that it was the Narendra Modi government at the Centre which was taking Jharkhand on the path of the development.

Speaking at an election rally Chatra he said that Jharkhand had witnessed large scale corruption during the previous governments but there is not a single charge of graft against the Raghubar Das government in the state.

He said the JMM, Congress and the RJD are fighting the state Assembly election in an alliance. “I would like to ask Hemant Babu (Soren) what was the stand of Congress when youth of Jharkhand were fighting for a separate state.”

“The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had created Jharkhand and the Narendra Modi dispensation is taking it forward,” he said.

The Home minister claimed that the law and order situation has improved in the state and the “Raghubar Das government has buried Naxals “20 feet under the earth in Jharkhand”.

The BJP president that the Das government has provided electricity to 38 lakh households in the state.

Later speaking at another poll rally at Garhwa, where polls are slated to be held on November 30, Shah said that development cannot take place through use of brute power and warned Naxals that they would get “back with interest” for their violence.

Four policemen were martyred in Latehar recently. I tell the Naxals that they will get back “sudh samet” (with interest) for their actions and will be rooted out by the BJP government which will return to power in the state,” Shah, who is also the union home minister said.

Development cannot take take place through the use of bullets. It will happen when you press the button on Lotu (BJPs election symbol) in the assembly elections, Shah said, appealing to the people to give the BJP absolute majority to continue the development work in the state.

LWEs killed four state police personnel in Latehar district on November 22 and gunned down two persons, including a local BJP leader in Palamau district the next day.

Hitting out at the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which have a seat sharing understanding in Jharkhand in the coming Assembly poll, Shah said JMM leader

Hemant Soren is sitting in the lap of Congress for power.

Referring to the welfare schemes of the BJP-led government at the Centre, Shah said the Narendra Modi government had enhanced the allotment to the state to Rs 3,08,490 crore in five years from Rs 55,253 crore sanctioned by the Manmohan Singh government.

Speaking on the security measures taken by the Narendra Modi government, Shah said there were terrorist strikes during the Manmohan Singh dispensation, but it was the Narendra Modi government which gave a befitting reply after Uri and Pulwama terror attacks by targeting terrorist camps in Pakistan territory.

Our Army will not leave anybody staring or glaring at our borders, Shah said, adding youths from Jharkhand are also standing guard on the borders.

Amit Shah Says Jharkhand Will Again Pick ‘Twin-Engine’ Govt, Confident of Old Ally’s Return.

Source – news18.com

New Delhi: The BJP may have lost its old ally, the Shiv Sena, in Maharashtra, but party chief Amit Shah is confident of a reunion with estranged ally AJSU in Jharkhand, which goes to polls from November 30.

Speaking at News18’s Agenda Jharkhand summit on Thursday, the BJP chief expressed confidence that the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), which is contesting the upcoming Assembly elections alone, will return to the NDA fold after the elections.

“I am confident that the BJP will return to power with a thumping majority in Jharkhand and will not need support… Jharkhand will again chose the twin-engine government. But I am also confident that AJSU will be back by our side,” Shah said.

Invoking Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Shah said it was the former prime minister and BJP stalwart who ensured the creation of Jharkhand. “The state could not be created when Congress was at power in the centre despite the sacrifices of thousands of youth. It was only after Atal ji came to power that Jharkhand was created. Since 2014, PM Narendra Modi has given shape to the state and CM Raghubar Das is taking it forward,” he said.

Shah added that the state’s tribal population and residents feel cheated when they see a party like the JMM, which fought for Jharkhand’s creation, rubbing shoulders with the Congress.

The BJP chief also said at the event that incumbent Raghubar Das is the party’s CM face for the upcoming elections as well. Jharkhand will vote in five-phased elections beginning this Saturday and the counting of votes will be held on December 23.

In its manifesto, the BJP has promised to end Naxal violence in the state, provide job or self-employment opportunities to one member of the each BPL (below poverty line) family, launch of the Krishi Bima Yojna to provide full insurance cover to crops, and construction of water grid to every cultivable plot of land.

The manifesto also promises 33 per cent reservation to women in government jobs, 70 new Eklavya Schools by 2022, free job training camps for tribal students, construction of tribal hostels in every district, two skill development centres in each district and a new sports university. It assured Rs 1,000 crore fund to provide modern facilities at government schools and colleges, and setting up of an agro industrial corridor.

JD(U) frets about BJP repeating Maharashtra drama after 2020 Bihar polls.

Source – theprint.in

Patna: The Janata Dal (United) is not warming up to its partner BJP’s alliance with Ajit Pawar in Maharashtra. Though Nitish Kumar’s party doesn’t have any stake in the western state, it is concerned about the post-poll scenario developing there because Bihar goes to the polls next year.

The JD(U), now the BJP’s biggest ally in Parliament, is concerned about the developments, spokesperson Pavan Varma told ThePrint. “Whether you see Ajit Pawar with the BJP or the Shiv Sena with the Congress, where is their ideology? Combinations are being made in Maharashtra in pursuit of power,” he said.

Varma said combinations which have been invited to form the government must prove their majority on the floor of the house as soon as possible, to “Prevent the unethical practice of horse trading”. He maintained that JD(U)-BJP alliance in Bihar is strong, but added that “it is confined to Bihar”.

JD(U)’s reaction stands in sharp contrast to the BJP’s other Bihar ally, the Lok Janshakti Party. Ram Vilas Paswan, the party founder and Union cabinet minister, was among the first to congratulate the swearing in of the BJP-Ajit Pawar government Saturday morning.

Echoes of 2005, eye on 2020

The developments in Maharashtra echo what happened in Bihar after the 2005 elections, which produced a hung assembly. The LJP was part of the Congress-led UPA at the time, and 15 of its MLAs “disappeared” and later surfaced in Jharkhand, in a bid to install an NDA government led by JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar. The move was torpedoed by then-governor Buta Singh, who recommended the dissolution of the newly-elected assembly on the grounds of “horse trading”.

BJP chief Amit Shah had announced that Nitish will be the leader of the NDA in the 2020 assembly polls, but after the Maharashtra developments, this has begun to look less assuring to the JD(U).

“Suppose the BJP gets more seats than JD(U) and, with the support of LJP, breaks away some RJD MLAs and stakes claim to form the government. This is the level the BJP is willing to go for power,” a senior JD(U) leader said on the condition of anonymity. “There is a clear possibility of the Maharashtra episode being repeated in Bihar.”

The seat-sharing formula between the BJP and its allies for the 2020 assembly polls is yet to be decided. But the BJP has made it clear that it expects Nitish Kumar to be generous and reciprocate its generosity from the 2019 Lok Sabha polls — the party dropped five sitting MPs to accommodate Nitish’s demand for an equal number of seats (17 each, with the LJP getting six).

There is talk of the BJP and the JD(U) contesting 100 to 110 seats each, leaving the rest to the LJP in the 243-member house.

The alleged BJP-RJD nexus

Bihar’s Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi made a statement comparing the Shiv Sena to the RJD, and calling it a party of goons. The RJD reacted by declaring that Modi faces an identity crisis and cannot make any statement without dragging in the RJD.

When RJD founder Lalu Prasad first came to power in 1990, it was with the support of the BJP. However, after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, the parties have been the two poles of “secular” and “communal” politics in the state. Their vote bank compulsions will not allow them to come together — the RJD has to protect its Muslim votes while the BJP wouldn’t want to antagonise its upper caste votes.

However, recently, there have been charges that Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav has been helping BJP indirectly by ruling out the possibility of the JD(U) and Nitish Kumar returning to the fold of the Mahagathbandhan. The perception, fuelled by former allies Jitan Ram Manjhi and Mukesh Sahani, is that Tejashwi is toeing the line due to the CBI and Enforcement Directorate cases against him and his family. This has weakened Nitish Kumar’s bargaining power against the BJP.

The senior JD(U) leader quoted above pointed out that though the BJP has been attacking the RJD over corruption since Lalu Prasad was convicted and jailed in the Rs 900 crore fodder scam, it pales in comparison to the magnitude of the scam allegedly committed by Ajit Pawar and other NCP leaders in Maharashtra.

“Corruption is not an issue which the BJP holds dear when it is after allies,” the leader said, stressing that Maharashtra episode has thrown the gates open to possibilities in Bihar.