Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said speaking against Prime Minister Narendra Modi means speaking against “democracy” and “Bharat Mata”.

“You will have to take Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vaccine against COVID. He is an elected Prime Minister. Speaking against him is like speaking against democracy. Speaking against him is speaking against Bharat Mata. Pakistan and Bangladesh do not have vaccine, so you will have to take Prime Minister Modi’s vaccine,” Adhikari told ANI.

Adhikari’s remark comes against the backdrop of Mamata Banerjee’s public address at Egra and Patashpur where she criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over several issues including COVID-19 vaccination.

Mamata Banerjee also called Adhikari, a former minister in Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, “Mir Zafar” as he joined the rival camp BJP in December last year.

Notably, the West Bengal CM and Adhikari are pitted against each other in the Nandigram assembly seat in the upcoming elections

Adhikari had earlier said that BJP will defeat Banerjee by over 50,000 votes from Nandigram.

The polling in Nandigram will take place on April 1 in the second phase of the upcoming Assembly elections. The BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) are at loggerheads in poll-bound West Bengal. The top leadership of the BJP has been holding public meetings and roadshows across the state in recent months.

Elections to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from 27 March with the final round of voting taking place on 29 April. The counting of votes will take place on 1 May.

WITH ANI INPUTS

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy held a review meeting on the Tirupati by-election and introduced a candidate Dr M. Gurumoorthy to the party leaders. During the review meeting held at the camp office here on Friday, the Chief Minister directed the party leaders to take the development and welfare activities of the state government to the people and chalk out a strategy so that the results of the by-election should ensure that the nation looks towards Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister directed the party leaders to take to the people the wide range of activities that are being implemented in the state transparently irrespective of caste, religion, and politics without any corruption and bias. He directed the party leaders to visit every house under the Tirupati parliament constituency and explain the welfare and development activities of the government and convey to them that similar activities will continue. He told them to publicise the commitment of the government in women empowerment and their activities benefitting women.

The Chief Minister said YSRCP had a landslide victory in local body elections by God’s grace and the whole country will be observing the Tirupati by-election and its result should be a message. He said one minister will be appointed for each assembly segment as in-charge in addition to an MLA. The Chief Minister directed the party leaders not to have overconfidence and work with coordination to ensure the victory of Dr Gurumoorthy with a good majority.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday seized a Mercedes car belonging to Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze. NIA claimed to have found in the car the original number plate of the explosives-laden Scorpio, which was found outside billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s residence. They also recovered Rs 5 lakh from the vehicle after searching Vaze’s office from where “incriminating” documents were recovered.

The owner of the Scorpio, Mansukh Hiren, was found dead inside Mumbra creek on 5 March. Hiren’s wife has accused Vaze of killing him. Hiren was one of the persons linked to the bomb threat to Mukesh Ambani.

The NIA team allegedly recovered some “incriminating” documents and electronic evidence such as laptop, iPad and mobile phones from Vaze’s office there, an official of the probe agency said on Tuesday. A black Mercedes car, which was being used by Vaze, was also seized from a parking lot near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), and Rs 5 lakh in cash, a note-counting machine, two number plates and some clothes were recovered from it, said NIA’s Inspector General Anil Shukla.

The SUV, which contained the explosives and parked outside the Antilia, was registered in the name of Hiren Mansukh. A few days later, Hiren was found dead in a creek in Thane. The diatom test report has suggested that he was alive when he fell into the water. It has been identified that a proportion of creek water has been detected in his lungs. The viscera and nail samples have been sent for further investigation.

“Sachin (Vaze) had worn oversized kurta-pyjama to hide his body language and had covered his head and face with a cloth as to not reveal his identity,” said the NIA. Vaze is being probed by the NIA in connection with the explosives-laden car found outside Ambani’s home. He was arrested on Saturday after 11 hours of questioning and the interrogation and grilling continue. The latest developments reveal that NIA has found more cars that may belong to the Mumbai cop. He was sent to NIA custody until 25 March for further questioning.

The Maharashtra government transferred Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from the post and Senior IPS officer Hemant Nagrale was made the new Mumbai Police chief.

WITH AGENCY INPUTS

As the country reels with a fresh wave of Covid-19 cases, the Central government is fighting a war on two fronts—keeping the rising numbers in check and getting everyone vaccinated in time. Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey spoke to The Sunday Guardian on the same. Excerpts:

Q: The country is seeing a fresh wave of corona cases. What do you have to say about it?

A: The state and Central governments are working hard to handle the situation. The mantra of ‘Test, Track and Treat’ is being implemented. We are on high alert and there are review meetings being held on a daily basis. Only a day before yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sat down for a meeting on the same. We are issuing fresh guidelines to be followed so that there is no laxity in getting control over these increasing cases. The festival of Holi is just around the corner and we are ensuring people celebrate it in a way that does not lead to the further spread of the virus.

 Q: States like Maharashtra, which is at the centre of this new wave, are alleging that the Centre is not giving them enough doses of vaccine.

A: That is a lie, it is completely unsubstantiated. We are maintaining a daily schedule of how much vaccine is required, where all it is required, and how much more they would need in coming days. We are working according to the requirement so that no wastage takes place. Since the beginning of this pandemic, the Central government has never shown any kind of bias towards any state.

Q: Do you see states achieving their vaccination targets, or is there still a fear among the people about it?

A: There is no need to be fearful. We have created enough awareness to elevate any fears. This is despite some members of the Opposition trying hard to spread misinformation. The talk by the Opposition did hamper progress but we have managed to get past it now. It is the state’s prerogative to ensure that everyone is vaccinated according to the guidelines laid down. The vaccine is Godsent and people should look at it like ‘prasadam’.

The political upheaval kicked off in Mumbai following the bomb scare at industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house and the mysterious death of Mansukh Hiren has now shifted its base to Delhi.

On Friday, NCP supremo and Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Pawar summoned Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to Delhi. After the meeting, which lasted two hours, Deshmukh told reporters that he had briefed Pawar about the developments related to the case of police official Sachin Vaze, among other issues.

Deshmukh, also an NCP MLA, added that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the state Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) are probing the case and the state government is cooperating with the NIA. “Whoever is guilty will be punished. But till the time the NIA does not complete the probe, I would not be able to comment,” he said.

However, the power corridors from Mumbai to Delhi are abuzz with speculations that Deshmukh is on the line of fire after former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh was removed from his post. Deshmukh is facing the heat not just from the BJP but also the Shiv Sena over his handling of the Vaze case. A couple of names of who might replace him as state home minister are already making the rounds.

Three days earlier, Pawar had also met Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut at his official residence in Delhi. Raut described it as a courtesy meet, however, hours after the meeting, Param Bir Singh was unceremoniously transferred to the Home Guards department.

Adding to the turmoil, Congress cabinet ministers Sunil Kedar and Balasaheb Thorat landed in Delhi on Thursday night. As per sources, Thorat met Rahul Gandhi on Thursday night as Gandhi had to leave for Assam for election campaigns. Likewise, Kedar met party general secretary KC Venugopal and discussed the ongoing developments in Maharashtra.

The Centre on Friday banned the Delhi government’s “doorstep delivery of ration” scheme, which was going to start from 25 March. The step has caused a major setback for Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s government and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). This also comes in the midst of a war with the Centre over the powers of the Delhi government. On this issue, The Sunday Guardian had a conversation with AAP MLA and chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj.

Q: The Central government has banned the ‹doorstep delivery of ration› scheme. What happened?

A: It is very sad and serious that the door-to-door ration scheme which was brought out by the Delhi government was ordered to stop. As part of the scheme, poor people would not have had to get food from the ration shops standing in lines. With respect, the government would go to their houses and distribute ration. The scheme was discussed many times and Central Government officials were involved in that discussion. They were fully aware of this thing. It has been a whole month since the scheme was notified. On 25 March, the Chief Minister of Delhi himself was about to launch this scheme in 100 homes in Seemapuri. But a letter came from the Central Government six days ago, stating that we should stop this scheme because the Central Government has ordered it.

Q: Why has it been ordered by the Central government?

A: It is very sad that the Central Government is saying, ‘This is our scheme. Therefore, under our scheme you cannot make any changes.’ So the corruption that is going on should go on. The brokerage that is going on continues. It is a brokerage run by the Central Government and you cannot manipulate it. You cannot make any improvements. It is very sad that the Central Government, which got votes to work for the benefit of the poor, is doing things against the poor and harassing the poor.

Q: But when there is a Central plan, why do you want to run this scheme in the name of the Chief Minister? After all, what is its purpose?

A: This is not a problem of this being a plan of the Central Government. It is obvious that this is the plan of the entire country. Now, it is the plan of who’s at the Centre. Before that, when the Congress was at the Centre, it was their plan. But no one has their own property here – it is the property of the whole country. Each state benefits its people by modifying the plan of the Centre in its own way. So to say that you cannot make any change in the plan of the Centre is wrong.

When the state government is packing rations at its own expense and getting it delivered, what is the problem of the Centre here?

Q: How much loss has the Kejriwal government suffered? What is the option now? Will it start again?

A: This is a loss of public money. I think the officers of Delhi will read the letter sent by the Centre and reply to it. It is our request to God to give wisdom to the Central government, so that by 25 March, by revisiting it again, we can end the ban.