MP Polls : Digvijaya Singh Sidelined In Madhya Pradesh To Hide Failure: PM Modi

Election in Madhya Pradesh: Digvijaya Singh, who was Madhya Pradesh chief minister from 1993-98, has said that “his party loses votes if he campaigns.”

In an apparent reference to Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that one of the senior Congress leaders is not being allowed to campaign for the upcoming assembly elections in the state as the party fears that people will recall the failure of their tenure if Mr Singh campaigns.

Digvijaya Singh, who was Madhya Pradesh chief minister from 1993-98, has said that “his party loses votes if he campaigns.”

Addressing a rally here on Sunday, the Prime Minister said, “One of the senior Congress leaders is not being allowed to campaign during these elections. The reason is that the Congress fears that if he campaigns, the party will lose as people will recall what the fate of Madhya Pradesh was during the time they were in power.”

The Prime Minister also accused the Congress of playing divisive politics and said, “Congress neither has any policy, intention, nor a leader… its leader is confused. Let the naamdar (apparently Congress chief Rahul Gandhi) write down on a piece of paper how many zeroes are there in Rs. 23,000 crore. He will get confused.”

He further asserted that these elections are not about who would win or who won’t win but about rejecting the “negative forces who have always focused on the ‘divide and rule’ approach.”

Talking about the development work in Indore city, the Prime Minister announced that as part of the Smart City project, Rs. 23,000 crore will be spent on development of seven cities in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh including Indore over five years. He added, “In last two years, the foreign tourists’ influx has increased.”

Madhya Pradesh will go to polls on November 28 to elect 230 members of the legislative assembly. The results will be declared on December 11.

Note: RSS Feeds taken from Respective Websites.

Dissent in BJP ranks in Madhya Pradesh over denial of tickets for assembly elections

Deeraj Pateriya (49), who is the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s state president and is contesting as an independent from Jabalpur North, said, “There is an attempt to finish me politically. And I want to show my popularity by contesting”.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh is battling dissent in its ranks on a scale that appears much bigger than its rival, the Congress. Among its prominent rebels is former minister and four time BJP member of Parliament, Ramkrishna Kusmaria, (75), who is contesting as an independent from two seats- Pathria and Damoh — in the drought-prone Bundelkhand region.

“I gave 40 years of my life to the party and in return they did not had courtesy to tell me that a ticket will be denied to me,” he said. claiming to be hurt.

Deeraj Pateriya (49), who is the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s state president and is contesting as an independent from Jabalpur North, said, “There is an attempt to finish me politically. And I want to show my popularity by contesting”.

Kusmaria and Pateriya have joined other senior leaders, such as former state minister Sartaj Singh, who is contesting on a Congress ticket from Hoshangabad, to have publically expressed their anger at the party’s ticket distribution.

“Over 67 important party leaders who are contesting from other political parties or as independents have been expelled so far,” said a senior BJP leader at the party headquarters in Bhopal. The leaders expelled include sitting MLA from Bhind Narendra Singh Kushwah and former mayor of Gwalior Sameeksha Gupta. There are 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, which goes to the polls on November 28.

The BJP leader quoted above said the party has a list of at least 100 leaders working against the party but no action is being taken due to electoral compulsions. “Any action now will send wrong message to our cadre and will provide the Congress an issue to hit at us,” the leader said.

The leader accepted that it was for the first time in the state that so many BJP workers had been expelled. The number was about 20 in the run-up to 2013 assembly elections, he said. “This is the biggest rebellion in the BJP I have ever witnessed,” said Kusum Mehadele, a minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet who was also denied ticket.

The BJP has dropped four ministers and at least 45 sitting MLAs .But officially, the party rejected reports of large-scale rebellion. State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, “I don’t think there is any alarming situation for the party. Every political party faces such a situation at the election time and it would not have any impact on the party’s prospects.”

In the Congress, the scale of the rebellion appears to be smaller. “We have expelled less then 20 leaders and workers,” a state Congress leader said on condition of anonymity.He said there were not many rebel candidates unlike Rajasthan where the party had faced violent protest by workers for denial of tickets.

The only big leader to face action was former Rajya Sabha member Satyavrat Chaturvedi, whose son Nitin Chaturvedi is contesting on a Samajwadi party ticket. He was expelled.

“The BJP is battling rebellion because the party has not only betrayed the people but also a section of its workers and leaders”, said state Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta.

Political observer Bhagwandev Israni confirmed the scale of the rebellion was larger in the BJP. “This is a reflection of the political scenario. The BJP is facing a bigger problem than the Congress, unlike the previous three elections, as BJP leaders and workers realise which direction the wind is blowing.”

Note: RSS Feeds taken from Respective Websites.

Indian PM presents Japanese counterpart with unique traditional products from Gujarat, UP & Rajasthan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe two handcrafted stone bowls and dhurries specially crafted on the occasion of his visit to Japan for India-Japan annual summit on October 28.

Made from rose quartz and yellow quartz stone sourced from Rajasthan, the bowls were crafted by master artisan Shabbirhusen Ibrahimbhai Shaikh of Khambhat region of Gujarat, that has been known for its practice of stone craft since generations and is also a leading hub for exports of stone products from India.

The uniqueness of this craft lies in the fact that the form of the product is scooped out from a block of stone, and then shaped and refined using basic hand tools generally without any lathe machines.

Hand-woven by the master weavers of Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, the dhurrie designs show the diversity of possibilities available; from a symmetrical repeating geometric tessellation in one, to stylistic floral motifs arranged around the classical medallion pattern in another. The dhurries use two distinctive Indian colour palettes; while one uses Indigo blues, reds and sprinkles of turmeric yellows, the identifying colours that have marked Indian textiles for centuries, the other uses the muted earthy tones of the Indian landscape.

These stone bowls and dhurries were made under the design supervision of India’s premier design institute, the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Further, the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India, is working towards the upliftment of the stone craft cluster of Khambhat by bringing in design and technological interventions.

In addition, a Jodhpuri wooden chest from Rajasthan with traditional work was also presented.

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