Defence minister Rajnath Singh during door to door campaigning at a residential society in Naranpura on Wednesday ahead of Gujarat state polls. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022 Live Updates: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said the words used by Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge for PM Modi are a result of the entire Congress’s mentality. Addressing a press conference in Ahmedabad, Singh said, “Congress is using inappropriate words. Using inappropriate words isn’t a sign of healthy politics. Words used by Congress chief Kharge for PM isn’t only his mentality but the result of the entire Congress’s mentality.”
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has downplayed AAP’s challenge in Gujarat polls, claiming Arvind Kejriwal’s party may not even open its account and said the BJP state unit’s announcement of setting up anti-radicalisation cell is a good initiative that can be considered by other states and the Centre. In an interview to PTI, Shah described Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity, all-round development of Gujarat during his tenure as the state chief minister and the implementation of zero appeasement policy as the main reasons for people repeatedly reposing faith in the BJP over the last 27 years.
As the state gears up for phase 1 of polling on Thursday, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P Bharathi said all arrangements for the voting have been done. “Voting will be held on December 1. All arrangements have been made. Polling will happen in 19 districts. Training has been provided to polling staff. Webcasting will be done at 50 per cent of polling booths.” “Central paramilitary forces have also been deployed. A total of 2,39,76,760 voters will vote in the first phase of the election,” news agency ANI quoted Bharathi as saying.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath during a roadshow for Gujarat Assembly election campaign at Godhra on Tuesday. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani in Rajkot on Monday. (Express Photo)
Gujarat, which goes to the polls in two phases on December 1 and 5, will witness a fierce contest with the ruling BJP looking to come back to power, the Congress planning to capitalise on their gains in the state and the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hoping to repeat what it did in Punjab.
AAP may open its account in the Gujarat Assembly but the main contenders still appear to be the BJP and Congress. The failure of the Congress to resolve the CM issues does give the BJP an edge, especially because it has the Modi factor in its favour, but with the Lok Sabha elections about a year and half away, the saffron party does feel the pressure. Read more
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday accused the Congress of not doing anything to preserve the glorious history of tribals, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi took concrete steps in that direction. Shah was addressing a public rally at Kadana village in Mahisagar district in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections. Voting in Mahisagar district will be held in the second phase of the elections on December 5.
"Post-Independence, it was PM Narendra Modi who worked for preserving the pride and legacy of tribals. It was PM Modi who had in 2021 declared that tribal freedom fighter Bhagwan Birsa Muda's anniversary will be celebrated as Adivasi Gaurav Diwas," Shah said.
He said though Munda and many other tribals had played a crucial role in the freedom struggle, they were not given their due credit under the Congress rule. (PTI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday held a roadshow in Aswara district in Gujarat, ahead of the state assembly elections.
There is a reason the BJP would not let go Tuesday of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s off-hand remark talking of Narendra Modi and Ravana in the same breath. Nothing works to rally Gujarat voters behind their former chief minister and current Prime Minister as a personal attack on him. Read more
Voting will be held on Thursday for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections in 89 seats spread across 19 districts in Saurashtra-Kutch and southern parts of the state where 788 candidates are in the fray. Campaigning for the first phase of the elections in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state ended at 5 pm on Tuesday.
Voting will be held between 8 am and 5 pm on Thursday across 14,382 polling stations, the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said in a release. Out of the 89 seats going to polls in the first phase, the BJP won 48 in the 2017 election, the Congress had won 40, while one seat was bagged by an independent candidate. (PTI)
From live rallies to poll promises, raps to trolling, social media reflects the high-octane, three-cornered Gujarat poll battle in its spirit and essence, with Twitter and Facebook leading from the front. Now, with only two days remaining for the first day of polling in the elections, political parties have intensified their campaign on these platforms as well.
In an embarrassment for BJP in Gujarat ahead of the Assembly elections, a candidate allegedly said liquor can be sold openly, leading to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against him for indulging in "corrupt practices".
Gujarat has a sumptuary law in force that proscribes the manufacture, storage, sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.
The FIR was lodged against Latubhai Parghi, the BJP's nominee from the Danta seat in Banaskantha district, by a poll official after a video of a public meeting addressed by him on November 26 went viral, police said on Wednesday.
Parghi purportedly told a group of women they will be allowed to sell liquor openly in a basket and need not hide it. "Liquor will be made available without the need for secrecy," he said, as per the FIR. (PTI)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said the words used by Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge for PM Modi are a result of the entire Congress's mentality.
"Congress is using inappropriate words. Using inappropriate words isn't a sign of healthy politics. Words used by Congress chief Kharge for PM isn't only his mentality but the result of the entire Congress's mentality," he said.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday brought a bunch of 25,000 "zero" electricity bills from his state and added the people of Gujarat will get similar bills if Aam Aadmi Party is voted to power in the Assembly polls.
Providing free electricity up to 300 units per month is one of the main election "guarantees" of AAP in Gujarat.
Voting for 182 Assembly seats will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. The campaigning for the first phase ended on Tuesday evening.
Addressing a press conference here, Mann said the zero electricity bills were received by 61 lakh out of the 75 lakh households in Punjab, which is a testimony of AAP's commitment that it walks the talk.
"I have brought 25,000 zero electricity bills with the names and addresses which you can check. To date, there are around 75 lakh electric metres in Punjab. As many as 61 lakh households have received zero electricity bills. (PTI)
Home Minister Amit Shah has downplayed AAP's challenge in Gujarat polls, claiming Arvind Kejriwal's party may not even open its account, and said the BJP state unit's announcement of setting up anti-radicalisation cell is a good initiative that can be considered by other states and the Centre.
In an interview to PTI, Shah described Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, all-round development of Gujarat during his tenure as the state chief minister and the implementation of zero appeasement policy as the main reasons for people repeatedly reposing faith in the BJP over the last 27 years.
“The BJP will register an unprecedented victory in Gujarat. People have full faith in our party and our leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said Shah, who has been crisscrossing the state and addressing five rallies a day in the run-up to the two-phase polls on December 1 and 5. Read More
The campaigning for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections, scheduled to be held on December 1, ended at 5 pm on Tuesday. On the last day of public campaigning, Gujarat saw many political heavyweights campaigning for their parties.
* A day after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, while taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for asking people in all constituencies to vote for the BJP on the basis of his face, asked whether he is hundred-headed Raavan with a head everywhere, the BJP hit back, calling it an insult of Modi and every Gujarati. The ruling party called it a “testimony to their hate for Gujaratis”, and asked the people of the state to teach the party a “lesson” by voting for BJP.
* Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Savant on Tuesday said that the Gujarat elections will mark the beginning of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “I am completely hopeful that the BJP is going to win these (state assembly) elections by breaking all past records. And this will set an example for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. And the Lok Sabha elections will start from here itself,” said Savant.
* The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday appointed 62 office-bearers at various levels in Gujarat where Assembly elections are scheduled in two phases on December 1 and 5. The AAP named former Patidar quota leader Reshma Patel, who recently quit NCP, as its Gujarat spokesperson.
* Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used to warn people against taking the COVID-19 vaccine terming it the 'Modi vaccine', but later got vaccinated himself secretly. Addressing a campaign rally in poll-bound Gujarat, he also said that when he introduced the bill for abrogating Article 370, opposition leaders began to shout like crows in Parliament.
* Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi Tuesday slammed the BJP for its 27 years of "misrule" in Gujarat and said it is time to rebuild Mahatma Gandhi's land. Calling upon the people to reject the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls, Kharge attacked the ruling party over inflation and unemployment while alleging that it has "betrayed" farmers. Gandhi, on the other hand, hit out at the state government over reported deaths due to spurious liquor in Junagarh.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday appointed 62 office-bearers at various levels in Gujarat where Assembly elections are scheduled in two phases on December 1 and 5. The AAP named former Patidar quota leader Reshma Patel, who recently quit NCP, as its Gujarat spokesperson.
Other office-bearers are Pravin Ram, who will be the vice president of the party in the state, Rajiben, who will be joint secretary, Brij Solanki who has been named as the youth wing president, and Javed Kadari as vice president of the minority wing of AAP, a release said.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party also appointed sangathan (organisation) and sah-sangathan mantris for the Assembly seats of Pardi, Umbergaon, Dangs, Vansda, Dharampur, and Dangs in south Gujarat, vice presidents for the districts of Gir Somnath and Dangs, and joint secretaries for Valsad, Navsari and Jamnagar. (PTI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used to warn people against taking the COVID-19 vaccine terming it `Modi vaccine', but later got vaccinated himself secretly.
Addressing a campaign rally in poll-bound Gujarat, he also said that when he introduced the bill for abrogating Article 370, opposition leaders began to shout like crows in Parliament.
Shah was speaking at Thasra town in Kheda district where voting for the Gujarat Assembly elections will be held on December 5, in the second phase. "At that time (during the coronavirus pandemic), Congress's Rahul Gandhi, through a tweet, used to warn people against vaccine saying do not take it because it is `Modi vaccine' and it could harm you. But thankfully, no one takes him seriously nowadays," the BJP leader claimed. (PTI)
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi Tuesday slammed the BJP for its 27 years of "misrule" in Gujarat and said it is time to rebuild Mahatma Gandhi's land.
Calling upon the people to reject the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls, Kharge attacked the ruling party over inflation and unemployment while alleging that it has "betrayed" farmers. Gandhi, on the other hand, hit out at the state government over reported deaths due to spurious liquor in Junagarh.
"In 'dry state' Gujarat, people died again yesterday due to spurious liquor! On one hand, there is a show-off liquor ban, on the other people are dying due to poisonous liquor and drugs. Instead of employment, the government is giving poison. This is the BJP's 'Gujarat model'! The land of Gandhi-Sardar has been inebriated," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. (PTI)
Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda on Tuesday said the opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party were like quails who destroy standing crops and fly away.
The BJP was here to stay, he said at a rally in tribal-dominated Devgadh Baria town of Dahod district where voting will be held on December 5 in the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections.
"Parties like AAP and Congress emerge during the polls, and then disappear. The people of Gujarat must not give opportunity to those who seek votes by making misleading claims. They are like quails. As soon as the crop gets ready, quails come, and fly away after eating away the entire crop," said Nadda. (PTI)
Campaigning for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections, scheduled to be held on December 1, ended at 5 pm on Tuesday.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P Bharathi said: "Voting will be held on December 1. All arrangements have been made. Polling will happen in 19 districts. Training has been provided to polling staff. Webcasting will be done at 50 per cent of polling booths."
She further said: "Central paramilitary forces have also been deployed. A total of 2,39,76,760 voters will vote in the first phase of the election."
From live rallies to poll promises, raps to trolling, social media reflects the high-octane, three-cornered Gujarat poll battle in its spirit and essence, with Twitter and Facebook leading from the front.
Now, with only two days remaining for the first day of polling in the elections, political parties have intensified their campaign on these platforms as well. Read more
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has stirred a controversy by throwing "Ravan" barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, with Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel claiming the remark reflects the opposition party's hatred for Gujaratis.
Taking a strong exception to the remarks, CM Patel in a tweet said, "Bereft of any development agenda and support from the people, the Congress is out to abuse Gujarat and Gujaratis." The statement made by Kharge ji against PM Narendra Modiji is a testimony to their hate for Gujaratis. The people of Gujarat will reject them this time too for such behaviour," Patel added.
Addressing people in Behrampura area under the Congress-held Danilimda seat, Kharge said in every election, votes are sought in the name of Modi instead of local candidates or the performance of government. (PTI)
The BJP on Tuesday accused the Congress of "insulting" every Gujarati after its president Mallikarjun Kharge threw "Ravan" barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged people to teach the opposition party a lesson through their votes.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra asked voters in Gujarat to do "100 per cent voting for the son of the soil" Modi to take "revenge" in a democratic manner for the "insult", as he invoked various objectionable remarks made by Congress members over the years against the prime minister.
Hitting out at the Congress, Patra alleged Kharge was voicing the views of former Congress presidents Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Personal attacks on Modi started with Sonia Gandhi's "maut ka saudagar" (merchant of death) remarks during the 2007 Gujarat assembly polls, he said. (PTI)
The firebrand sitting Congress MLA from Vav Assembly constituency in Banaskantha district, Geniben Thakor, 46, is contesting her fourth Assembly election.
A tall role-model for the community, Geniben represents women from the rural Thakor community that records a higher female dropout rate in secondary classes than others in the state, and even passes community resolutions not to allow them cell phones. Read full interview with Geniben Thakor here
Anant Patel, 45, successfully led the agitation to block the Par Tapi Narmada river-linking project announced in the Union Budget.
A former sarpanch who won his first Assembly election in 2017 to become the Congress MLA from Vansda, Patel belongs to the Dodhia tribe.
Contesting from the Vansda seat for the second time, Patel speaks about the Adivasi vs Vanvasi debate, how development has not reached the Adivasis, and why joining politics was important for him. Read full interview with Anant Patel here
The residence of seven-time MLA and Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) founder Chhotubhai Vasava in Vasna village of Gujarat's Bharuch district is unusually calm with very little activity, quite odd for someone contesting Assembly polls that are less than a week away.
This time, Vasava is contesting as an independent from his traditional Jhagadia seat in the district, from where he has won seven times in a row.
The candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), however, are slugging it out, hitting the ground, meeting voters, and seeking to wrest the seat held tightly by the septuagenarian leader for the last 32 years.
“I don't need to go out now. I don't have to buy votes. My workers are campaigning for me, visiting villages. I know people in every village and their issues,” the 78-year-old leader told PTI.
In the past three decades, Congress as well as the BJP have ended up as runners-up in the battle against Vasava. The Congress won this seat, reserved for the tribal community, in 1985 — nearly four decades. (PTI)
BJP Chief JP Nadda on Tuesday said the AAP and Congress will only appear in Gujarat during elections.
After the election, if someone is left for service, it is BJP workers, Nadda said at a campaign rally in the state's Dahod.
Sitting in a chair by the roadside in front of his workshop, the man, in his 50s, reluctantly opened up, quickly listing the woes besetting people: price rise, lack of jobs, apathy of political leaders etc. He refused to disclose his name. “Call me Bharat,” he said. His assistant was equally guarded, saying “I am Indian” when asked about his name.
A few kilometres away, Hitesh who runs a tea shop in the heart of Viramgam town said it was “fear” that made people hesitant to speak out. He also flagged high prices of daily essentials as a major concern. Liz Mathew writes
A day after the newly elected Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge allegedly compared PM Modi to Ravan during a poll campaign in Gujarat, BJP leader Amit Malviya said the congress is continuing to insult 'Gujarat and its son.'
"Unable to take the heat of Gujarat election, pushed to the fringe, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge loses control over his words, calls Prime Minister Narendra Modi “Ravan”. From “Maut ka Saudagar” to “Ravan”, Congress continues to insult Gujarat and its son…" Malviya said.
With less than one week left for the high octane poll battle in Gujarat to end, the ruling BJP and new player AAP have intensified their online campaigning to reach out to the voters active on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
At the same time, the Congress' main social media handles have focused more on promoting Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' than the party's campaigning for the two-phase assembly elections on December 1 and 5. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.
An analysis of Facebook accounts and Twitter handles last week (Nov 21-27) of the three parties showed that Congress' handles were more attentive to Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', as 75 per cent of the total posts were on the yatra.
Less than 20 per cent of the posts on its Facebook page and the Twitter handle were on the party's campaigning in Gujarat elections.
On the other hand, about 40 per cent of the posts from the Bhartiya Janata Party's main Facebook page and Twitter handle were related to Gujarat polls during the same duration.
The flow of assembly election-related posts was almost the same during the last week, except on Friday when the count of the social posts on the Gujarat polls was the lowest for the BJP and the other two parties. (PTI)
Congress MLA Ambarish Der has swum across a creek in his constituency Rajula in Gujarat’s Amreli district to highlight the need to construct a bridge.
Der released a video on Sunday in which he said he would be swimming from Victor Port to Chanch Bandar along the Rajula coast to “underscore how the government has not responded to the repeated pleas for a bridge”.
“I am doing this so that the state government understands how much a bridge is needed there. I have been demanding a bridge to connect Victor Port and Chanch Bandar, the biggest village in Rajula, at the mere cost of Rs 50 crore for the last three Assembly sessions. If a 350-metre bridge is built across the Victor Port creek, the distance between the two places will reduce by 25 kilometres,” Der said. Read More
As the campaigning for the first phase of elections in 89 out of the total 182 seats in Gujarat ends on Tuesday, here is a quick recap of the most important events that happened in the state on Monday.
* Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi Chief Minister, and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge were among a plethora of political heavyweights to address rallies in the state on Monday.
* Modi, who held four rallies in the Saurashtra region, said Gujarat had suffered under the Congress’s “divide and rule” policy until the people of the state united against “divisive forces” more than 20 years ago.
* Amit Shah addressed rallies in Mehsana, Aravalli, Ahmedabad and Vadodara, and accused the Congress of “disrupting peace”. He alleged that during Congress rule, the state saw communal riots and curfews.
* The supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP Monday clashed after some youths allegedly pelted stones during a rally led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal near the Katargam area of Surat Monday. The incident happened only hours after Kejriwal alleged that the BJP has created an atmosphere of fear, especially for those supporting his party, ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections.
* Addressing a press conference in Surat, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal Monday said the party’s candidates Gopal Italia, Alpesh Katheriya and Isudan Gadhvi would win with record margins in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls.
* Former minister and veteran BJP leader Jay Narayan Vyas along with his son Sameer Vyas joined the Congress on Monday, in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan in Ahmedabad. Vyas who quit the BJP on November 5 said he was tired of being in the role of a “complainant” in the saffron party despite his seniority.
Former Union minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned the absence of Rahul Gandhi from the election campaign in Gujarat saying the “Congress has declared itself defeated” in the state.
“In 2017, he was in Gujarat all the time and visiting temples. But this time, why has he shown so much apathy for Gujarat? It is because the Congress knows that it cannot win in Gujarat,” Prasad, who arrived in Vadodara as part of the campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly polls, said.
He also attacked the Congress for supporting Medha Patkar, who had stalled the construction of the Narmada Dam. (Read more)
The firebrand sitting Congress MLA from Vav Assembly constituency in Banaskantha district, Geniben Thakor, 46, is contesting her fourth Assembly election. A tall role-model for the community, Geniben represents women from the rural Thakor community that records a higher female dropout rate in secondary classes than others in the state, and even passes community resolutions not to allow them cell phones. (Read excerpts here)
In another blow to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat, party’s Abdasa candidate Vasant Khetani joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kutch on Monday.
“I joined the BJP in ‘rashtra-hit (national interest)’ and in the interest of Abdasa constituency,” Khetani, who was declared candidate in the thirteenth list in November, told The Indian Express.
Abdasa is one of the six assembly constituencies in Kutch district and is the current seat of BJP MLA Pradhyumansinh Jadeja. Jadeja was a Congress candidate who won the 2017 assembly election against BJP’s Chhabil Patel by about seven per cent votes. He joined the BJP in 2020 and won the seat again in the 2020 byelections. (Read more)
As many as 456, or around 28 per cent, of 1,621 candidates contesting the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections are 'crorepatis' who have declared assets worth Rs 1 crore or more, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said on Monday. The BJP tops the list with a total of 154 'crorepati' candidates, followed by Congress with 142, and AAP has 68. The average asset of candidates in the fray is Rs 2.56 crore, the ADR report informed.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Jayanti Patel, contesting from the Mansa seat in Gandhinagar, is the richest candidate with declared assets of Rs 661 crore, followed by BJP's Balvant Rajput of Sidhpur with Rs 372 crore and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s Ajitsinh Thakor, who is contesting from Dabhoi seat, with declared assets of Rs 342 crore.
There are 221 'crorepatis' among the 788 contestants in the fray for the first phase of elections for 89 seats scheduled on December 1. The number of such candidates stands at 245 out of the total 833 contestants in the fray for the 93 seats that will go to polls in the second and final phase on December 5, as per the ADR report. (PTI)
Sitting in a chair by the roadside in front of his workshop, the man, in his 50s, reluctantly opened up, quickly listing the woes besetting people: price rise, lack of jobs, apathy of political leaders etc. He refused to disclose his name. “Call me Bharat,” he said. His assistant was equally guarded, saying “I am Indian” when asked about his name.
A few kilometres away, Hitesh who runs a tea shop in the heart of Viramgam town said it was “fear” that made people hesitant to speak out. He also flagged high prices of daily essentials as a major concern.
But Hitesh and his neighbour Natwar Singh, a pesticide shop owner, attributed the situation to Gujarat’s “one-sided political scene”. “There’s no Opposition, so there’s not much to hope from the current Assembly polls too. The Congress has ditched those who pinned their hopes on it,” said Singh. (Read more)
Assam Chief Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said terrorism couldn't be contained under Congress' rule because of 'appeasement politics. He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi stamped out terrorism in the last eight years with resolute actions by ending the appeasement politics and giving a befitting reply to Pakistan.
Referring to the Shraddha Walkar murder case involving her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala, Sarma called for a law to tackle the incidents of 'love jihad' (a term coined by right-wing parties which claim a plot to lure Hindu women into marrying Muslim men and converting them) 'Attacks by terrorists were rampant during the Congress rule. But, why have such attacks stopped today? Because, terrorists are being given a befitting reply under PM Modi,' Sarma told a press conference in Ahmedabad.
Sarma campaigned for BJP candidates for the next month's Gujarat Assembly elections, scheduled to be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. (PTI)
“Decked in gold, the Somnath temple in Gujarat is giving a message to the world that if you have the courage, then come and try to loot again,” said Union Home Minister Amit Shah while addressing an election rally in north Gujarat Monday.
“Terrorists were playing Holi with blood across the country. Narendrabhai… passed strict rules, and rooted out terrorism,” Shah said at Kheralu in Mehsana district, where the BJP has not given the ticket to its sitting MLA Ajmalji Thakor.
Speaking about the work done by Prime Minister Modi with regard to the restoration of historic temples, Shah referred to Somnath temple in Gujarat and said: “Our Somnath dada (Lord Shiva) is sitting proudly and comfortably inside a golden sanctum sanatorium and giving a message across the world that if you have the courage then come and loot again. Somnath is once again being built in gold.” (Read more)
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Congress of playing vote bank politics over terrorism, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said his party had sacrificed two prime ministers in the fight against terrorism. Kharge questioned whether any leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had fought for the freedom of the country.
"We have done the work to fight against terrorists. To maintain peace in the country, we have sacrificed our leaders. Indira Gandhi sacrificed her life to keep the country united. Rajiv Gandhi was martyred for the unity of the country. Is there a leader in the BJP who at least fought for the freedom of the country?" Kharge asked.
Addressing a rally in Kheda in poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday, the prime minister had said Congress views terrorism from the prism of the vote bank". He also said, "terrorism was not over yet and the politics of the Congress has also not changed". (PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday again targeted the Congress over the participation of Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar in the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi, and said the opposition party must shun its "divide and rule" strategy to win back the trust of the people of Gujarat.
Addressing a poll rally in Palitana town of Bhavnagar district in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates, Modi said the people of Gujarat have rejected the Congress because the state had suffered a lot due to the party's policy of inciting people of one region or community against another. The people of Gujarat are not ready to help those who support "elements wanting to break India", he said.
PM Modi, during his previous campaign rallies in Gujarat, had also targeted Rahul Gandhi for walking with Medha Patkar during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Elections for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly are scheduled on December 1 and 5 and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. (PTI)
Miffed with the party for being denied tickets in the coming Assembly polls, several BJP leaders in Gujarat either shifted base or filed their nominations as Independents.
In the constituency of Padra in Vadodara district, this could prove to be costly for the BJP and hamper its chances of wresting control of the seat from the Congress. After longtime party leader and former Padra MLA Dinesh Patel, popularly known as Dinu Mama, quit the party on November 17, 15 elected members of the area’s municipality resigned along with 11 taluka panchayat members. This effectively ended the BJP’s hold on power at the local level in the area, a development that the party admitted was “definitely a setback”. (Read more)
Jay Narayan Vyas, who quit the BJP on November 5, had been in the party for more than three decades, serving as minister in the Cabinets of both Keshubhai Patel and Narendra Modi.
While Gujarat BJP chief C R Paatil sought to play down Vyas’s decision to quit, saying he might have done so as he didn’t expect a ticket after turning 75, Vyas made it clear that he thought there was fight left in him. Soon after resigning, he told the media that he was looking at both the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party as options, wanted to contest the coming polls, and that he was tired of not being heard in the BJP. Read more
Alleging that instead of bringing about changes in the state, the BJP was focused on changing Chief Ministers, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Monday said: "Three CMs were changed in six years. That means they (the BJP government) haven't done any work in the state." (ANI)
Pointing out that the BJP's national leaders were roaming from ward to ward in Gujarat, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Monday said: "Even after 27 years of rule, the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and their CMs from other states are coming here and giving provocative speeches while misleading the people. There must be fear behind that." (ANI)
Former Gujarat minister Jaynarayan Vyas, who resigned from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party earlier this month, joined the opposition Congress on Monday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge inducted 75-year-old Vyas into the party in Ahmedabad. Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress veteran Ashok Gehlot also welcomed Vyas into the party.
Vyas was a minister in the BJP government in Gujarat when Narendra Modi was the chief minister. He resigned from the BJP on November 5. (PTI)
Jay Narayan Vyas, who quit the BJP earlier this month, has arrived at the Congress office in Ahmedabad, news agency ANI reported.
The veteran BJP leader and former state health minister resigned from the party stating that he has kept his options open on whether to join the Congress or the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Soon after resigning from the party on November 5, Vyas had said he was tired of remaining in the role of a complainant in the BJP. “A situation had come up where I had to always remain in the role of a complainant. It was painful despite such seniority. And so I have resigned from the party,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold election campaign rallies in Palitana in Bhavnagar, Anjar in Kutch, Jamnagar and Rajkot on Monday. (ANI)
After an impressive show in last year's civic body polls in Godhra, a communally-sensitive town in Gujarat, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM is now trying to build upon those gains in this Assembly seat in the upcoming state elections, banking on the minority base and division of votes of other candidates.
The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) had won seven seats in the Godhra Municipal Council (GMC) polls last year and even tied up with independents to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its ideological foe, out of power.
In the upcoming Assembly polls, the AIMIM is making efforts to cement its position further, and aims to win the Godhra seat, currently held by the BJP. Godhra town in Panchmahal district in eastern Gujarat has had a chequered history of communal riots since Independence. The gruesome incident of 2002, in which 59 'karsevaks' were killed, propelled Godhra's name at the national level. (PTI)
As the Gujarat Assembly elections are right around the corner, the ruling BJP has shifted to top gear and has scheduled poll rallies led by several senior politicians Monday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is slated to take part in four rallies in Kheralu, Savli, Bhiloda and Ahmedabad.
While Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will participate in the election rally in Becharaji, Union Minister Smriti Irani will attend campaign meetings in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.
Congress MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani feels a "silent wave" has gripped the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Gujarat where a change is inevitable, and the upcoming state Assembly polls will give a new direction to the country.
The Congress will win 120 out of the total 182 Assembly seats in the state polls, scheduled in two phases on December 1 and 5, he claimed in an interview with PTI. "This election is against autocracy, unemployment and price rise," he said.
Mevani, who is eyeing a second term from Vadgam, this time on the Congress ticket, is slogging it out in the poll arena, covering around 10 villages in a day in his Assembly seat, reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates. He was elected as an independent MLA from the same seat in 2017 with the Congress's support. (PTI)
The BJP is confident of maintaining its winning streak in Kutch district in Gujarat Assembly polls even as the Congress is carrying out a silent campaign in rural areas and the Aam Aadmi Party is setting the stage for a three-cornered fight by throwing its hat in the ring. The AIMIM is contesting in two minority-dominated seats.
Kutch, which goes to polls in the first phase on December 1, has six Assembly constituencies - Abdasa, Bhuj, Rapar- all bordering Pakistan, and Mandvi, Anjar and Gandhidham.
The district has around 16 lakh voters spread across the six constituencies, out of which male and female voters are equally proportionate. Muslims comprise around 19 per cent of the total electorate, whereas the Dalits comprise around 12 per cent, and the Patels, including the Leuvas and Kadvas, constitute about 10.5 per cent. The Kshatriya and the Koli communities comprise around 6.5 per cent and 5.2 per cent of the electorate, respectively. (PTI)