India Narrative

With hours to go for the fourth phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh, all eyes are on Lakhimpur Kheri, which witnessed the mowing down of the protesting farmers allegedly by Ashish Mishra(Teni), son of the minister of state for Home, Ajay Mishra. The accused son's walking out of the jail after he secured bail had generated a massive political heat in the region.  In 2017, the BJP had won the Lakhimpur seat with a strong margin of over 36000 votes.  Stakes are high for both BJP and Union Minister, Ajay Mishra in this region. For the fourth phase, 624 candidates across 59 assembly constituencies are set to battle it out. Riding on the Modi wave in 2017, BJP had won 51 of 59 assembly seats in 2017. BJP ally, Apna Dal(S) had won one, four went to SP  while two seats were won by Congress and another two by the BSP. Also read:    Third phase of elections--tough for SP and a close fight in Punjab  The State Capital, Lucknow with nine assembly segments will also vote in this phase. Of the nin

  In his first interview to a television channel during the current campaigning for the Assembly elections in 5 States, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah revealed to News18 on Monday, 21 February, that the President’s rule could end in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir “in 6-8 months after completion of the delimitation process”. “The delimitation exercise is about to get over. After this, whatever will be the reasonable timeframe – about six-eight months – the elections will be held. There should be no confusion about that”, Shah said in reply to a question. The question of when exactly would the Election Commission of India (ECI) hold the next Assembly elections—the first after creation of the UT in August 2019—looms large in every conversation about the erstwhile State. Also Read:  Jammu and Kashmir joins National Single Window System to lure investors and entrepreneurs Even in the last two years, Shah has invariably asserted that the Assembly elections in J&K would be co

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, accusing them of rampant corruption, in his address at a BJP election rally at Pathankot in Punjab.  He said both the parties were two sides of the same coin: "Ek hi thali ke chatte batte hain," he remarked, drawing a loud applause from the huge crowd at the rally.   The Prime Minister, also accused the Congress of belittling and insulting the sacrifices of the soldiers who died during the 2016 Pathankot attack. He said that the country was together in the response to the attack except for the Congress party. "They questioned the government, the people of Punjab and even our army. They belittled the sacrifices of the soldiers," he added. The PM said that during the anniversary of the 2019 terror attack in Pulwama, the Congress was again doing the same. "Even on Pulwama anniversary, they continue their 'paap leela'," he remarked. Read More

With 48 hours to go for the first phase of the crucial elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP in Lucknow released its much-awaited election manifesto named 'Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra'. Home Minister, Amit Shah, chief minister, Yogi Adityanath were among the BJP  heavyweights who released the manifesto at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan at Gomti Nagar in Lucknow.  While keeping an eye on the farmers, the manifesto did not lose sight of its core Hindutva constituency  The manifesto promised "free electricity" for the farmers, but also offered a 'Ramayan University" at Ayodhya and "stricter Love Jihad Law." The BJP manifesto rolled out 10 years jail term and an Rs one lakh fine for an accused arrested under the "Love Jihad" law.  The party also promised the renovation of the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple.  The 13-month long farmers' unrest in states has somewhat disturbed the BJP's applecart in UP.  The party, which won a triumphal majority in 201

  Uttarakhand also called "Devbhoomi"(Land of God) could possibly witness a close contest between the ruling BJP and its political rival-Congress. The Opinion polls have so far come up with mixed predictions. While the one conducted projected a "stiff competition" giving 33-35 seats for BJP and Congress each, the one conducted by Times Now predicted a landslide victory for BJP with anything between 44-50 seats. However, ground reports emanating from the region lean towards the first prediction. "It's not going to be a cakewalk for us," a BJP leader from the state revealed.  A senior Congress functionary echoed the same view."It's going to be a close fight." Of the 70 assembly berths, BJP has 57 MLAs while the Congress has 11 in its kitty. The saffron insiders believe that "anti-incumbency, unemployment and price rise" could be issues hurting the party. Sensing that unemployment has emerged as a major election issue both Congress

The first two of the seven phases of elections in Uttar Pradesh are expected to set the tone. While it's a do- or- die for the  Samajwadi Party, stakes could not have been higher for the BJP. The UP polls will also test the popularity of the BJP and the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi after he announced the repeal of the contentious farm laws. If BJP wins UP it would not only put the party in an invincible position but would decimate whatever Opposition remains at this juncture. But if the results go against the party, it could have a major impact  and reignite the entire Opposition. For BJP, the first two phases (February 10 and 14) are going to be the most challenging as these would cover the regions hit by 13 month-long farmers' agitation. Also read:    BJP begins carpet bombing in western UP Now, with nearly a week to go for the crucial first phase of highly charged Uttar Pradesh elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to make another foray in western Uttar Pradesh, wh

  A political analyst while talking about the exodus of the Gen-next from Congress remarked "ideological fidelity is an oxymoron."  Over a period of time, a host of Congress leaders, who once strutted around flaunting the badge of "secularism" have switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which they once described as "the party which practises politics of hate."  After Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasad, another Gandhi loyalist, RPN Singh quit the Congress to join the BJP. Singh's shifting allegiance apparently was being viewed as a personal jolt to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi. Incidentally, RPN Singh's name also featured in the Congress' star campaigner list released 48 hours back.  If RPN's entry came as a major boost for the BJP, it has put a huge question mark on the style of functioning within the Congress. There are whispers and murmurs in the Congress corridor that the clan-Sonia-Rahul-Priyanka was "not letting th

  Eastern Uttar Pradesh also called Purvanchal is like a chameleon. It keeps changing its colour. In 2007, Purvanchal changed to Mayawati's blue, in 2012 to Samajwdi's red and in 2017 it embraced BJP's saffron. " In 2017 of the 164 seats, BJP along with its ally Apna Dal and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) demolished the Opposition by winning 115 seats in the region. Even as the BJP looks poised to retain its grip in eastern UP, recent exodus of the OBC leaders from the party has somewhat shaken the saffron caste cauldron. A host of OBC leaders including Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chouhan (Nonia) and Dharam Singh Saini  and the SBSP joined hands with the Samajwadi Party. The SP also stitched up alliances with smaller backward outfits like Janvadi Party(Socialist) and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) led by Krishna Patel. The SBSP being viewed as the emerging Dalit brigade holds sway over nearly 18 per cent of the Rajbhar community in eastern UP. With Janvadi Party in i

  The Bharatiya Janata Party, in this election season during the third wave of COVID-19 in the country, is fully prepared to reach out to a large number of voters in Uttar Pradesh virtually through social media, said state social media head Ankit Chandel. The Election Commission of India has imposed restrictions on holding physical rallies due to the ongoing third wave of COVID-19. However, the parties have been allowed to hold virtual rallies and door-to-door campaigns in the poll-bound states. Speaking to ANI, Chandel said, "We are preparing for the virtual rallies. Planning for the same is underway. The virtual rallies will begin at the end of this month." The social media head informed that the training for the virtual rallies had begun during the second wave in the country itself in 2021. "The training for the virtual rallies was given during the second wave of COVID-19. We had conducted three big rallies in which national president JP Nadda, Narendra Singh Tomar an

  Infrastructure and connectivity are important parameters that decide the economic weight of any state. Infrastructure initiatives in productive capacity building by bridging connectivity gaps and reducing logistics costs, ensure seamless flow of goods and services. Uttar Pradesh is positioning itself as a multi-modal logistics and transportation hub in northern India. The sheer number of infrastructure projects that have been recently completed and are on-going in the state is evidence of this fact. The diverse nature of infrastructure projects - a combination of road, rail, air and waterway initiatives - makes it more progressive. In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans to make Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh a multi-modal logistics and transportation hub, by investing Rs 3,883.80 crores. It is a suburban district in western Uttar Pradesh and a part of the Delhi National Capital Region. It is a part of three infrastructural proposals worth Rs 7,725 crores for the settin

  The Enforcement Directorate (ED) claims to have unearthed dubious transactions to the tune of Rs 68 crore between Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew Bhupinder Singh alias Honey and his associates. The investigative agency has also seized an unaccounted amount of Rs 10 crore in hard cash, gold worth Rs 21 lakh and a Rolex watch valued at Rs 12 lakh in the raid carried out on Honey’s premises. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken into possession papers and computers which show that the dubious transactions have taken place. Documents pertaining to investments in real estate are also being scrutinised. According to sources, in the coming days, ED may zero in on a cabinet minister who faced allegations of patronising the mining mafia when he held the mining portfolio in the Captain Amarinder Singh government. At least two sitting MLAs are also under the ED scanner. There is palpable tension in the Channi cabinet as ED is expanding its net every day. The mining co

  The Congress did not seem to have learnt any lesson from the humiliating results in the Bengal polls. The party along with the Left allied with a radical Muslim cleric, Abbas Siddiqui of the Indian Secular Front. The combination-Samyukt Morcha had managed to win only a seat in the West Bengal polls. Desperate to woo the Muslim vote bank, the Priyanka Gandhi led Congress in Uttar Pradesh yet again joined hands with a politician and Islamic cleric, Tauqeer Raza Khan, who was earlier booked for issuing threats against the Hindu community and derogatory remarks against the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Raza joined the party on Wednesday. This particular move has not gone down well with a section of senior Congress leaders. A senior Congress functionary said that the move would  "only provide more firepower to the BJP against the Congress." The Congress had been desperately trying to get a slice of vote of Muslims and backwards, particularly Dalits. Priyanka Gandhi has also bee