LUCKNOW, (ANI): In a blistering attack on the opposition parties on Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the entire “INDI alliance” are anti-Hindu and anti-Ram. Addressing the media at his official residence before departing for the election campaign, Yogi Adityanath also criticized the statements made by Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav.

“These are the people who open fire at Ram devotees, question the existence of Lord Ram and challenge his divine power. Expecting from them that they would honor India’s faith, national heroes, and show reverence for the esteemed freedom fighters who played pivotal roles in our independence struggle is futile,” CM Yogi remarked. CM Yogi further mentioned that whether it is Congress, the Samajwadi Party, DMK, RJD, or the National Conference, all have opposed the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

“They are against Hindus and the Sanatan faith. They are the ones that nurture the policy of appeasement. These supporters of terrorism behave contrary to the ideals of Lord Ram,” he stated. “People associated with the Congress and the I.N.D.I. alliance have tried from the beginning to stall the verdict from the Honorable Court in the case of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. These people used to act as barriers and create obstacles. When the case went to the Supreme Court, these people ensured that nothing happened for 7-8 years. However, when the NDA government was formed under the leadership of PM Modi at the centre, and then in Uttar Pradesh, the case was expedited,” Yogi added.

He said that under the guidance and leadership of PM Modi, a grand temple was built in Ayodhya. “Millions of devotees from across the nation and around the globe are flocking to express their faith and witness the rejuvenated Ayodhya. The members of the Congress-SP and I.N.D.I. alliance, however, have consistently aligned themselves with those who oppose Lord Ram”, he remarked. In response to the remarks made by Ram Gopal Yadav, CM Yogi criticized them, stating that they exemplify the true nature of the “INDI alliance”.

“These individuals not only manipulate India’s faith for political gain but also challenge the divine authority of Lord Ram. History attests that those who have dared to challenge divine authority have met with adversity,” he said. He further mentioned that the opposition’s statement amounts to disrespecting the Sanatan faith and insulting crores of Ram devotees. “It is an insult to those who have dedicated their entire lives to the Ram temple. Indian society cannot accept this at all. Their statement is provocative, aimed at appeasing a section of society and use them as a vote bank”, he pointed out.

“PM Modi is also saying that the parties associated with the INDI alliance will attempt to make a dent in the reservation of backward, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Their manifesto mentions this. When the Congress-led UPA government was in power, the RJD and SP were its constituent parties. At that time, these people formed the Ranganath Mishra and Sachar committees,” Yogi added. He further highlighted that the Ranganath Mishra Committee suggested giving six per cent reservations to Muslims out of 27 per cent meant for the OBCs. At that time, BJP had strongly opposed this stating that reservation cannot be done on the basis of religion. Then, the Sachar Committee was formed to attempt to intervene in the reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

He mentioned that the opposition parties also tried to include some castes of Muslims in the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, which was opposed by the BJP, as Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar was also against reservations based on religion. Yogi expressed concern that despite efforts to safeguard the rights of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Backward Castes, parties like Congress, SP, and RJD may attempt to diminish their reservation privileges and redistribute them to minorities whenever they have the chance. He warned against the potential division of India, urging voters to vehemently reject such actions. (ANI)

HOOGHLY, (PTI): Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BJP of ”murdering” democracy ahead of the ”festival of democracy”, and predicted that the saffron camp would face complete decimation in the state in the Lok Sabha polls.

Banerjee’s remark drew sharp reactions from the BJP, which claimed that the TMC was tense as it felt that ground was slipping from under its feet.

”The BJP is wary about the outcome of the Lok Sabha results in Bengal and India. That is why they are desperate to murder democracy, and that too during the biggest festival of democracy – the Lok Sabha polls,” Banerjee told reporters here.

He alleged that there is a collusion between the BJP and central agencies, such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), to harass the opposition parties.

”The BJP knows it can’t win on its own after 10 years of anti-incumbency and misrule. So they have engaged their trusted allies, the ED, CBI, and NIA, I-T (income tax department), to harass and arrest leaders of the opposition camp. We have no problem if these agencies take action against the real culprits, but we are against witch-hunting,” he said.

A team of the NIA was allegedly attacked by a mob on April 6 when it went to arrest two main suspects in the 2022 blast in Purba Medinipur district, sparking a political slugfest with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing the investigators of assaulting villagers there.

Reacting to Abhishek’s remarks, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya dubbed the allegations as baseless.

”The BJP is confident of its victory and achieving the target of 35 seats. It is the TMC that has sensed defeat and its political ground is slipping beneath its feet. That is why they are making such baseless allegations,” he said.

In 2019, the TMC had won 22 Lok Sabha seats, whereas the BJP had put up its best performance by bagging 18, while the Congress won just two. (PTI)

BANKURA, (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to take action against corruption after June 4, stating that the BJP’s ”Modi ki Guarantee” implies imprisoning opposition leaders post-elections.

Addressing a rally in Bankura, the TMC chief accused the ”BJP of turning the entire country into jail and urged wives of TMC leaders to hit the streets if their men are arrested ahead of the polls”.

Results of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections from April 19 to June 1 will be announced on June 4.

Continuing her tirade against the central agency, Banerjee alleged that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had gone to Bhupatinagar in Purba Medinipur district without informing the local police.

”The Prime Minister is coming to West Bengal to address election rallies. I have no issues with that. But the way he is saying that stern action will be taken against the opposition over corruption after the Lok Sabha poll results is unacceptable,” she said.

Modi, while addressing an election rally in Jalpaiguri on Sunday, had claimed that while he says ”remove corruption”, the opposition says ”save the corrupt”, promising more stringent action against the corrupt after June 4.

”Is this how a Prime Minister should speak? What if I say I will put BJP leaders in jail after the election? But I will not say this as this is unacceptable in a democracy,” she said.

”This is actually ‘Modi ki guarantee’, putting all opposition leaders in jail after June 4,” Banerjee alleged.

The TMC boss said the BJP has ”in reality turned the country and democracy into a jail.” Banerjee claimed that ”in one pocket you have the ED and CBI while in the other you have the NIA and Income Tax. They are your allies, who are used to threatening us. But the BJP cannot scare us.” Hitting out at the BJP for raiding the houses of TMC leaders at night, the chief minister said, ”Henceforth if TMC leaders are arrested by the agencies, then their wives will hit the streets. We are not scared of these agencies.” A team of the NIA was allegedly attacked by a mob on Saturday when it went to arrest two main suspects in a 2022 blast case in Purba Medinipur district, sparking a political slugfest with Banerjee accusing the investigators of assaulting the villagers.

”Sending agencies to harass women in the area at midnight and later claiming that these women attacked the NIA personnel is unacceptable. Law and order fall under the jurisdiction of the state. It is not appropriate to avoid informing the local police and to attack women at 3 am, only to inform the local police at 5 am. Such actions are not acceptable,” she said.

Banerjee slammed the centre over the arrest of tribal leader and former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and said, ”Why did you arrest a tribal leader and Chief Minister Hemant Soren? I spoke with his wife yesterday.” Soren was arrested by ED in January in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

”Why was Arvind Kejriwal arrested? He is working from jail. His arrest won’t make any difference as he will win the election next time with a bigger margin,” she said.

Taking a swipe at PM Modi for not announcing relief for the people affected in Jalpaiguri following a storm, Banerjee said, ”The BJP government at the Centre is neither announcing it nor allowing us to do it by claiming that it would be a violation of MCC (model code of conduct).” ”The Prime Minister held a meeting in Jalpaiguri yesterday. But he didn’t utter a single word about providing any relief to the people of Jalpaiguri who lost their family members or whose houses were damaged in the massive storm,” she said. (PTI)

MUMBAI, (PTI): The Maha Vikas Aghadi will win all the five constituencies going to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra next month, state unit president Nana Patole said on Sunday. Addressing a press conference here, Patole claimed the people are fed up with the ”dictatorial” BJP government at the Centre which will be thrown out of power in elections.

The opposition MVA comprises Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray, Congress, and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).

Voting will be held for Nagpur, Gadchiroli-Chimur (ST), Bhandara-Gondiya, Chandrapur, and Ramtek (SC) seats which fall in the east Vidarbha region in the first phase on April 19.

In four out of these five seats, the BJP and Congress are locked in a straight fight.

Interestingly, Chandrapur was the only constituency won by Congress in Maharashtra in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Patole also claimed the situation is very good for Congress in all five constituencies. 97 candidates are in the fray for the first phase of elections in east Vidarbha region. Patole took potshots at BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis who had said that he would book an entire theatre for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to watch the recently-released movie ”Swatantra Veer Savarkar”.

”Films made on (Narendra) Modi, Nitin Gadkari, and Godse flopped like the recent movie on Veer Savarkar. Fadnavis should watch ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ based on Gandhian ideals. I will book a theatre for him,” Patole added.

He further said Rahul Gandhi’s foot march across the length and breadth of the nation has been successful.

”Rahul has created a place in the minds of people. Instead of mocking Rahul, Fadnsvis (who holds the Home portfolio in the Maharashtra government) should pay attention to the deteriorating law and order situation in the state,” the Congress leader added.

Meanwhile, in a setback for the ruling Mahayuti alliance, former Shiv Sena MLA from Solapur South assembly segment, Dilip Mane, and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader from Latur, Jagdish Mali, joined the Congress in the presence of Patole.

Notably, former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s MLA daughter Praniti Shinde is contesting the Lok Sabha election Congress nominee from Solapur. ”Mane is a former Congressman who has returned home,” Sushilkumar Shinde said.

He reiterated that the BJP had tried to make Praniti switch to the saffron party but didn’t succeed. (PTI)

BENGALURU, (PTI): The BJP on Friday filed a complaint with the Election Commission, alleging that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra Siddaramaiah violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by using ”abusive words” to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

The state unit of the BJP levelled the charge against the former MLA in a letter to the poll body and said it violated the MCC as per the guidelines issued by the EC.

”This is a personal attack on our leaders. Yathindra Siddaramaiah made a totally reprehensible statement and it is a personal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah,” the letter stated.

Addressing a party meeting in Hanur town of Chamarajanagara district, Yathindra allegedly said on Thursday: ”Home Minister Amit Shah is a goonda, rowdy; there was a murder charge on him in Gujarat and he was exiled, and Modi did politics keeping such people next to him….” State BJP President B Y Vijayendra condemned the alleged remarks and said it is not right on his part as a former legislator and son of the chief minister to make such statements, and demanded that he apologise. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the BJP of ”misleading” people on its promise of providing two crore jobs every year and said the youth across the country are asking if it lied to them.

He also said the youth have to change their destiny themselves by breaking the web of illusion created by the BJP and assured that the Congress has resolved to undertake an employment revolution through ‘Yuva Nyay’, a promise made to the youth ahead of elections.

”Narendra Modi ji, did you have any plan for employment? This question is on the lips of every youth today. In every street and village, BJP people are being asked – why was the lie told about providing 2 crore jobs every year,” he asked.

”The Congress has resolved to undertake employment revolution under Yuva Nyay. Our guarantee is that as soon as we come into government: We will fill 30 lakh government posts, every educated youth will be given a job worth Rs 1 lakh per year under the ‘Pehli Naukri Pakki’ scheme and we will get rid of paper leaks by making a law,” the Congress leader also said in a post in Hindi on X.

The Congress has been targeting the BJP government on the issue of unemployment and intend to make it an issue in the Lok Sabha poll campaign.

”This is the time to recognise the difference in the policies of the two ideologies. The Congress wants to build the future of the youth and the BJP wants to mislead them. The youth will have to change their destiny with their own hands by breaking the web of illusion. ‘Employment revolution’ will have to be brought in the country,” Gandhi also said.

The Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held between April 19 and June 1.

NEW DELHI, (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sambit Patra accused the Congress on Saturday of not complying with income tax rules, leading to the freezing of their bank accounts. Reacting to the Congress’ allegation over the ‘freezing’ of its bank accounts ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, BJP leader Sambit Patra said, “All political parties get an exemption in tax. Any party cannot be discriminated against in this. But why were Congress’ accounts ‘frozen’? The Congress party skipped the tax return deadline and extended deadline in 2017-18.”

He further stated that the Congress not only missed the extended deadline for filing tax returns but also exceeded the limit for cash donations. “In 2017-18, the Congress broke two rules. It missed the extended deadline and exceeded the limit of cash donations. Under Rule 13A, it is clearly mentioned that if these rules are not complied with, the provision for exemptions will be withdrawn. So, in the nomenclature of income tax, the Congress party is defined as an ‘association of persons,’ and it would be subjected to normal tax liability,” Patra said at a press conference on Saturday.

The BJP leader noted that all parties receive some exemption in taxes under the provisions of the Constitution. “All political parties, under the rules of Section 13A of the Income Tax Act, are granted an exemption in tax. This is a constitutional provision in India. No parties are discriminated against. The Congress, BJP, and TMC are treated the same,” he explained.

Explaining why the Congress’ accounts were frozen, Patra pointed out that the Congress had missed the extended deadline for paying their tax returns for 2017-18 by December 2018 and paid their taxes only in February 2019. “Why were Congress’ accounts frozen? The assessment for FY 2017-18 was evaluated in 2018-19. The tax had to be collected on the Congress party’s business, donations of 2017-18, which had to be paid within the tax return deadline. There is also an extended deadline, and if we do not pay taxes within that date, we have to pay a penalty,” the senior BJP leader explained.

“The Congress party had an extended deadline of December 31, 2018, to pay their tax return. But the Congress party did not comply with this. They paid their tax return in February 2019,” Patra further clarified. Patra also highlighted that the Congress party exceeded the stipulated limit of cash donations and received donations worth Rs 14 lakhs in cash.

“Secondly, any political party cannot accept cash donations of more than Rs 20,000. But when the Congress party’s accounts for 2017-18 were assessed in 2018-19, it was found that they had not complied with this rule. Astonishingly, despite knowing the rules, the Congress had accepted a cash donation of Rs 14 lakhs,” Patra said. The Congress alleged on Thursday that the BJP froze its bank accounts ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, making it difficult for them to prepare for the elections.

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi alleged on Thursday that there is a “systematic effort” underway by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “cripple” the Indian National Congress financially, calling it “unprecedented and undemocratic.” (ANI)