Rozgar Mela recruits are my colleagues and co-travellers in country’s development: PM Modi

The Indian Express | 2 weeks ago | 22-11-2022 | 05:40 pm

Hailing the new recruits hired during the Rozgar Mela as his “colleagues and co-travellers” in the country’s development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday the recruitment drive had shown the “double benefit of the double-engine government”.Modi handed out appointment letters to 71,056 recruits in various departments through video conferencing in the second edition of the Mela, a month after launching the drive.Citing similar initiatives by state governments over the past one month in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat and the upcoming ones in Goa and Tripura, Modi said, “This is the double benefit of the double-engine government.”The term “double-engine government” is a BJP poll-campaign creation to mean BJP governments in both the state and at the Centre. The party has used it in various state polls.“In the past one month alone, Maharashtra and Gujarat handed out thousands of appointment letters. A few days back, the Uttar Pradesh government handed out appointment letters to several youths. Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Chandigarh too have organised Rozgar Melas and given jobs to thousands of youths,” Modi said.Modi also said that owing to the government’s performance-linked incentive scheme for industries, 60 lakh jobs were likely to be created. “The possibility of new jobs in both the government and the private sector is continuously increasing. More importantly, these opportunities are emerging for the youth in their own cities and villages. This has reduced the compulsion of migration for the youth and they are able to play their role in the development of their area,” he said, adding that experts around the world were optimistic about India’s growth and possibility of the country becoming a manufacturing hub.Launching an online orientation course for the new recruits, called the Karmayogi Prarambh module, Modi urged the recruits to give him feedback and suggestions after a month, like “colleague and co-travellers”. “This course will be useful not just now but in your entire career in the future,” he said.Modi said new opportunities were emerging for the youth to reduce the need to migrate for jobs.In this round of appointments, paramilitary forces have made around 24,000 recruitments and Railways 4,000 recruitments, sources said.

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Modi image, page committees, Patel govt: How BJP scripted historic win in Gujarat

The Indian Express | 2 hours ago | 08-12-2022 | 10:40 pm

The Indian Express

2 hours ago | 08-12-2022 | 10:40 pm

The BJP’s historic victory in Gujarat is being seen as a comprehensive win of the macro and micro strategies of the party with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at its centre.“Narendrabhai is our trump card and the entire strategy of the party revolves around him. He has got an amazing emotional bonding with the people of Gujarat that has been fetching unprecedented results for the party. In this election, too, the main strategy of the party was to seek votes projecting him. Like in the past, it got us unprecedented results,” said a BJP leader.According to the leader, the poll plank of the ‘double-engine sarkar’ was a part of this strategy.“People of Gujarat love Narendrabhai (Modi). When they know that ultimately it is Modi who will be calling the shots in Gujarat, irrespective of the CM here, they will vote for the BJP. It is also to be noted that Gujaratis are business-minded who will vote to secure their interests as well. When there are so many projects coming to Gujarat in which they will have (direct or indirect) interests, they cannot go for any other electoral choice,” the leader said.Top sources say that when the party was facing huge anti-incumbency, another strategy that seemed to have worked is the change of government just a little over one year. “Initially, such a massive change was being seen as a decision that could boomerang. However, it has worked in favour of the party if you see the end result. It refreshed people’s mindset that fresh faces are being given a chance by the party,” a party leader said.The selection of candidates and the micro-planning ahead of the election are other strategies that are considered as the key to the results the BJP got.Union Home Minister Amit Shah was firmly behind this part of the party’s poll preparation. Shah stayed in Gujarat for a significant time, toured all four regions of the state—Saurashtra-Kutch, South Gujarat, Central Gujarat and North Gujarat—before the task of ticket distribution was taken up.In a number of interviews before the elections, Shah made it clear that winnability was the only criteria in the selection of candidates. The party also gave tickets to close to 20 Congress turncoats. Even after allotment of party tickets, Shah is believed to have carried out a damage control exercise to ensure that those denied the tickets did not hurt the party’s electoral prospects.A leader who is considered to be directly involved in formulating BJP’s strategy, said, “Micro-planning that includes booth management and formation of the page committees was one of the key aspects of BJP’s strategy that helped the party register such a mammoth victory in the elections… Formation of page committees was the most underrated weapon that has got us huge success. Look at the vote share! We have got around 51-53 per cent votes. It is when there were so many marriages during those days of polling. It is because our page committees have worked effectively. From the day of polling, we have been saying that our voters have come out and voted and that it was the opposition party’s voters who have abstained. Today’s results have proved it.”Echoing a similar view, another party leader said, “The page committee members were being contacted on hourly basis on the day of polling. I have never seen such an effective strategy of booth management. It is a great achievement that the party could bring its voters to the booth although there was some sense of complacency prevailing. If you can check the booth-wise figures, you would notice that in many places Muslims—considered Congress loyalists—have not come out in big numbers.”“Carpet bombing” of campaigning by bringing a battery of national-level party leaders such as Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal, Rajiv Chandrashekhar and Parshottam Rupala, in addition to the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Goa to canvas for the party seemed to have complemented the rallies of PM Modi and Shah.“To bring the Union Ministers and national party leaders to the state for campaigning has worked in favour by setting the tone and emphasising the Hindutva leaning of the BJP. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath specifically proved to be popular,” said a party leader. “Hindutva has been the USP of BJP and as the dates for the polls came closer, the focus of Modi and Shah shifted to highlight that and they spoke on issues (directly or indirectly) related to Hindutva.”The people of Gujarat have seen the violence-stricken days under the Congress rule and the BJP has proved that it can provide a peaceful rule without any communal riots, the leader said, pointing out that the presence of the UP and Assam CMs added to the party’s narrative on those lines.According to party sources, the BJP strategically focused on the proximity of the Congress with people such as Medha Patkar, Kanhaiya Kumar and Swara Bhaskar to portray the party’s image as “anti-Gujarat”. A number of BJP leaders talked about these persons and their association with Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in their poll speeches.Highlighting this, a BJP leader said, “Additionally, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s statement (purportedly) comparing Modi with Ravan also added to the narrative that the Congress was an anti-Gujarat party which we wanted to highlight.”

National party, national ambitions: AAP arrives at centre stage

The Indian Express | 5 hours ago | 08-12-2022 | 07:40 pm

The Indian Express

5 hours ago | 08-12-2022 | 07:40 pm

A year after it won 28 seats in its maiden election in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party decided to go national, fielding candidates from 432 out of 543 Lok Sabha seats. While it managed to win four seats in Punjab, party chief Arvind Kejriwal’s national ambitions were called misplaced, especially keeping in mind that the party was formed less than two years ago.On Thursday, with voters in Gujarat giving AAP almost 13% of the vote share, and a likely five seats, Kejriwal is set to become the head of a national party, the ninth in the country.In a video address on Thursday, Kejriwal thanked the people of Gujarat for making AAP a national party.“People of Gujarat have made AAP a national party today. This is a very big thing. There are only a handful of national parties in the country. AAP was formed a mere 10 years ago. It is a young party. Today, that party has formed a government in two states. When people hear this, they are amazed. I would like to thank the people of Gujarat. The love, respect and trust I got from you has indebted me to you for life… Gujarat is a BJP bastion. We have succeeded in finding a chink. So many of you trusted us in our maiden assembly selection there. Next time, perhaps, we will win,” he said.राष्ट्रीय पार्टी बनने पर आम आदमी पार्टी के सभी कार्यकर्ताओं और सभी देशवासियों को बधाई। pic.twitter.com/sba9Q1sz1f— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 8, 2022In AAP’s case, to be recognised as a national party, it needed to be recognised in four states.That condition is fulfilled if it has at least a 6% vote share and two MLAs in four states. In Gujarat, winning four seats (and leading in one) and getting a 13% vote share has taken the party past that mark.The other states where it is recognised are Delhi, Punjab and Goa.According to senior party leaders, they always knew that winning in Gujarat was a tall ask, but the party fought strongly on all fronts to make sure it secured at least a 6% vote share. It even diverted attention from the Delhi municipal polls, hoping that the work done by its Delhi government in the past eight years would help it pass the halfway mark.“In Gujarat, where BJP has been in power for decades, we always knew the fight would be extremely tight. While every election we contest is to win, we also fought to become a national party. The 6% vote share and two seats was a goal always in our sights,” said a senior party leader.A national party has the right to a reserved symbol for its candidates contesting from across the country. The party is also entitled to land or a building for its national headquarters.Candidates from national parties need only one proposer to file nominations as opposed to two for others. They also get dedicated broadcast slots on Doordarshan and All India Radio during the general elections.“It is not the benefit that AAP was particularly after. But the fact is that being recognised as a national party only 10 years after being formed is a clear indication that we are here to stay. Opposition leaders have called us one-trick ponies, they have called us a party that can only win in Delhi. We have proved them wrong. Our national ambition is not hidden from anyone. We are in electoral politics to change how things are run and we have forced other parties to fight elections based on narratives set by us — those of education, health and work,” another AAP leader said.In Thursday’s address, Kejriwal too spoke about the change they have brought about in politics.“We ran a positive campaign. We showcased our model of development as it exists in Delhi and Punjab. This is what makes us different from other parties. Till now, this country saw elections being contested on caste, violence and religion-based politics. For the first time, a party spoke about issues of people, making the country number 1, bijli-paani-sadak,” he said.Addressing AAP workers in Gujarat, Kejriwal said, “We are honest people, we have integrity and we have to maintain it… I congratulate all party workers who worked so hard. Rest for a little while, but after that, get back to work. Elections will come and go, but we are in politics to serve people. That service should not stop.“Serve your communities and your village even if you don’t get votes. If you work, votes will come. But don’t work just for votes,” he said.

Assembly election results tomorrow; BJP confident, AAP and Congress optimistic

The Indian Express | 1 day ago | 07-12-2022 | 10:40 pm

The Indian Express

1 day ago | 07-12-2022 | 10:40 pm

All eyes are on Gujarat as the results of the high-decibel state Assembly elections will be declared Thursday. The counting of votes is all set to begin Thursday morning in 37 counting centres set up across the state. Voting for the 182 constituencies of the Assembly was conducted in two phases on December 1 and 5.A day before the results, with leaders expressing confidence in the party’s victory, preparations to celebrate the win were underway at Shree Kamalam—the state headquarters of the BJP in Gandhinagar. A decorative gate was being installed at the entrance of Kamalam, in addition to various teams setting up big LED screens for workers to view the election results Thursday.“We are confident of winning the election. We are not doing any special arrangements for tomorrow but the gate is being set up and LED screens are being installed. The party office is also getting cleaned up as party workers will come to the office (in large numbers),” said party spokesperson Yamal Vyas.A party office bearer said the BJP does not make other arrangements such as buying sweets and fire crackers as those were being done by the workers on their own.For opposition Congress, several rounds of meetings marked the day ahead of the counting at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan—its state headquarters in Ahmedabad. While Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Jagdish Thakor chaired the online meetings with the candidates and district presidents in the morning. This was followed by a meeting with the senior leaders at the headquarters.AICC incharge of Gujarat, Raghu Sharma, Wednesday evening chaired a meeting at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan with Thakor, senior leaders and a few candidates to discuss arrangements and precautions for counting.“Discussions on the voting outcome and what all needs to be taken care of during the counting were held for the counting agents to candidates and senior leaders. They were alerted on even small issues like ensuring EVM counts are registered and uploaded correctly on the computer system as irregularities were reported in the past at the Dholka assembly election and Amraiwadi by-election. Also, whether EVMs were sealed and properly signed, counting of postal ballots first followed by EVMs were also shared among everyone during meetings,” spokesperson Manish Doshi said, adding that everyone has been alerted to inform the GPCC team in case any incident comes to their notice at any place.A two-page written instructions for counting were also distributed to Congress candidates and leaders.Meanwhile, a day before the Gujarat results, various offices of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) across the state, including its Ahmedabad office, did not shy away from celebrating the party’s win in the Delhi MCD polls.The party also took to similar celebrations at its Surat office, with state president Gopal Italia celebrating with party workers. With the party’s key faces stationed at their respective constituencies, Ahmedabad was, in fact, devoid of any recognisable face of the party.The celebrations also continued at Jamkhambhaliya from where AAP’s CM face Isudan Gadhvi is contesting with firecrackers and sweets being distributed among the party workers. Gadhvi, joining in on the celebrations, and confident of scripting a win in Gujarat, also said that on Thursday, the party would join the ranks of a national party.In 2022, Gujarat is witnessing a three-way contest between BJP, Congress and AAP. Most exit polls have predicted a victory for BJP in the elections and the AAP opening its account in the state. However, both Congress and AAP have refuted the exit polls predictions.The BJP had launched a high-octane ‘carpet bombing’ campaign as it brought almost all its national-level leaders to the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had led the party’s campaign in the entire state. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Goa CM Pramod Sawant, too, campaigned for the party in the state.On the other hand, AAP’s campaign was headed by its national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who went through the length and breadth of the state. He was also joined by Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann during the campaigns.The Congress’s campaign, in comparison, remained a low-key affair. Its senior leader Rahul Gandhi did only four public meetings in the state. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge, however, did hold a few public meetings.Some of the prominent personalities whose fate will be watched keenly include Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel, OBC youth leader Alpesh Thakor, Dalit youth leader Jignesh Mevani, AAP’s CM candidate Isudan Gadhvi and its state president Gopal Italia.The state witnessed an average voting of 64.33 per cent in two phases. In Phase 1, it was 63.14 per cent, while the Phase 2 voting turnout was at 65.3 per cent. The turnout was the lowest recorded in the state in the past 10 years.In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP came down to its lowest tally ever since 1995 at 99 seats. The Congress had put up a spirited fight and won 77 seats.

In disqualification petition, notices to Kamat, Lobo

Times of India | 1 day ago | 07-12-2022 | 07:40 am

Times of India

1 day ago | 07-12-2022 | 07:40 am

Panaji: State assembly speaker Ramesh Tawadkar has issued notices to former opposition leader and incumbent Calangute BJP MLA Michael Lobo, and Margao BJP MLA Digambar Kamat, instructing them to appear before him on December 16 over the disqualification petition filed against them.Goa Pradesh Congress Committee Amit Patkar had filed the disqualification petition before the speaker to prevent defections from Congress.“The petition for disqualification under paragraph 2(1)(B) of the Tenth Schedule read with Article 191(2) of the Constitution of India and read with the Members of the Goa Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986, will be taken up on December 16, at 12pm, in the speaker’s chamber at the assembly complex at Porvorim,” legislature secretary Namrata Ulman stated in the notices.Tawadkar said both Lobo and Kamat will be given an opportunity to explain their side of the case.In July, when the then Congress MLAs made an attempt to join BJP, Patkar had filed a disqualification petition before the speaker against them.“We have filed a disqualification petition against our two senior leaders because they have voluntarily given up membership of the party. There is a Supreme Court judgment in 2020 that says that any anti-party activity amounts to voluntarily giving up membership of the party,” Patkar had said.Last month, Congress filed two disqualification petitions before the speaker against its eight former MLAs, including Kamat and Lobo, who joined BJP on September 14, barely eight months after they did a run to a temple, a chapel and a mosque taking a vow not to defect from Congress and even signing an affidavit pledging their loyalty to the party. The MLAs “merged” the party’s legislative wing into BJP, taking the saffron party’s strength to 28 in the 40-member House.

Will AAP dislodge BJP? Capital awaits results of MCD polls

The Indian Express | 1 day ago | 07-12-2022 | 05:40 am

The Indian Express

1 day ago | 07-12-2022 | 05:40 am

With hours to go for the result of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections to be declared, both the Aam Aadmi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party expressed confidence that they would make it past the halfway mark. The MCD has 250 wards under it.Exit polls have predicted that AAP will sweep the municipal polls, with BJP coming in a distant second. The Congress, the exit polls said, will get only a handful of seats.Based on the predictions, Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said: “People of Delhi have again put their trust in Aam Aadmi Party, we are hopeful that very good results will come in MCD elections. It was being said that Gujarat is BJP’s bastion, for the first time a party is getting 15 to 20 percent vote share, it is a big deal… we will wait for the final results to come in tomorrow before thanking the people.”Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was less conservative in his outlook and said: “MCD set to witness AAP’s landslide victory, this mandate will be a signal from Delhi to the whole country that AAP is a fiercely honest party. BJP levelled fake allegations against me, ran a witch-hunt after (jailed minister) Satyendar Jain. The public is going to reject the politics of BJP’s lies, conspiracy and dishonesty,” he said.He also said that AAP would become a national party on Thursday because of “the love of the people of Gujarat”.AAP needs at least 6% vote share in Gujarat to become a national party. The other states where it has the figure are Delhi, Punjab and Goa.BJP Delhi president Adesh Gupta, meanwhile, also expressed confidence that the party would reach the halfway mark.“We had a good campaign and the feedback on the polling day gives us clear reasons to be sure of a good performance. BJP will comfortably cross the halfway mark,” he said.Dismissing the exit polls, spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said, “We should not come to a conclusion so soon based on just the exit polls. We expect to cross the halfway mark.”BJP ruled MCD for 15 years and defeated AAP and Congress in 2017 by winning 181 seats in the 2017 MCD polls. AAP debuted with 48 seats and congress won 30 seats. BJP’s vote share stood at 36%, AAP’s at 26% and Congress’s at 21%.

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