First time pro-incumbency wave in country: PM Modi

Pro-incumbency wave is being witnessed for the first time in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told party workers on Friday before filing his nomination papers in Varanasi.

Noting that the mood was festive from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Mr. Modi said party workers were the real candidates.

The Prime Minister said he had worked honestly for good governance and the people had made up their minds that they want Modi sarkar again.

“During yesterday’s roadshow here, I have sensed the hard work of party cadre,” he said amid chants of “Modi Modi” from the gathering.

- PTI

People will vote for country where the mind is without fear: Chidambaram

Alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks he can rule India by keeping the people in "a state of fear", senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Friday said the people will vote for a country "where the mind is without fear".

Hitting out at BJP chief Amit Shah for saying Congress can’t keep India safe, the former home minister asked who kept the country safe in the three wars fought in 1947, 1965 and 1971.

P. Chidambaram. File  

“What is the meaning of keeping India safe if different sections of people -- women, Dalits, SCs, STs, minorities, academics, writers, journalists etc -- are unsafe?” he asked.

“Mr. Modi thinks he can rule India by keeping the people in a state of fear. The people will vote for a country ‘where the mind is without fear......,’” Chidambaram said alluding to the poem written by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

-- PTI

Alka Lamba vows not to campaign for AAP

AAP’s Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba on Thursday said she would not be campaigning for her party as she has been “shunned” by the party leadership.

Claiming that she has not been invited to any MLA meetings by the party in the last four months, Ms. Lamba said she would serve the people of her constituency, but would not be participating in any kind of campaigning for AAP.

“For the last four months, I have been trying to get an appointment with the party leaders, but no one has responded to me, so I have decided that I would not be campaigning for the party anymore,” she said.

Four political families of Haryana in high-stakes electoral battle

Having ruled the State for the most part of over five decades since it was carved out of Punjab on November 1, 1966, the four prominent political families — the Devi Lal clan, the Bansi Lal clan and the Bhajan Lal and the Hooda families — are caught in a high-stakes electoral battle in half of the 10 parliamentary constituencies in Haryana.

In two of the Lok Sabha constituencies — Sonipat and Hisar — the families are pitted against each other in the most keenly fought multi-cornered electoral contests in the State.

While the great-grandsons of late Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal — Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala, his younger brother Digvijay Singh Chautala and their cousin Arjun Chautala — are in the electoral fray from three different Lok Sabha constituencies, former Chief Minister Bansi Lal’s granddaughter and Congress candidate Shruti Chaudhary is pitted against the BJP’s sitting MP Dharambir Singh in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh parliamentary constituency.

Similarly, former two-time Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, son of constituent Assembly member late Ranbir Singh Hooda, and his MP son Deepender Singh Hooda are caught in electoral battles from Jat-dominated Sonipat and Rohtak Lok Sabha seats respectively.

In Hisar, former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal’s grandson Bhavya Bishnoi is fighting three-cornered contest with Dushyant Chautala and Union Steel Minister Birender Singh’s son Brijendra Singh.