Kerala Assembly Election 2021 LIVE Updates: Invoking Singur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday alleged the 'obstructionist mindset' of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her TMC has deprived Eest Bengal of industries and jobs.
Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates: Invoking Singur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday alleged the "obstructionist mindset" of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her TMC has deprived Eest Bengal of industries and jobs.
The Congress on Saturday hit out at the Election Commission for reducing the campaigning ban on Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and said it is a "dark day for parliamentary democracy and history will not pardon the panel".
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said it was deplorable that the EC could not sustain its own order and accused the poll body of buckling under pressure of the Modi government by reducing the ban on Sarma from 48 hours to 24 hours.
The Election Commission on Friday had banned Sarma from all modes of campaigning for 48 hours for allegedly making threatening remarks against Bodoland People's Front (BPF) chief Hagrama Mohilary, but reduced it to 24 hours this evening after the minister tendered an "unconditional apology" and assured the poll panel that he will abide by the provisions of the model code.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah called Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a "tourist politician" on Saturday at a rally in Kerala's Sulthan Bathery.
"Wayanad is Rahul baba's constituency. He was Amethi's MP for 15 years and did not do anything to make Amethi better. Later, he shifted to Wayanad. I've never witnessed a tourist politician like Rahul baba. He will do no development in the region," he claimed.
He added, "In the last 2 decades of reign of LDF-UDF, there has been no growth and development. Kerala is now embroiled in corruption, appeasement, and political violence,"
A total of 14 workers of two political parties were arrested for allegedly distributing cash to voters in two areas here on Saturday, police said. Based on information, the police went to an area in Coimbatore south constituency where they caught 12 BJP workers distributing the money to residents.
A sum of Rs 46,000 was seized from them and six two-wheelers were impounded, the police said. In another incident, two AIADMK workers were held for distributing money in an area coming under Coimbatore north constituency, they said.
A total of Rs 24,500 in cash was seized from their possession, they added.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said in a rally in the North 24 Parganas district, "I request to all the minority brothers and sisters not to allow their vote division."
DMK Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi on Saturday tested positive for and has been admitted to a hospital, PTI reported. Kanimozhi, who has been actively campaigning for the 6 April Assembly polls, has cancelled her programmes after testing positive for the virus, the report quoted sources as saying.
Also the party's women's wing secretary, Kanimozhi has been admitted to a hospital, they said. On Friday, she had toured southern regions, including Tirunelveli and Tenkasi.
Home Minister Amit Shah, addressing a rally in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli on Saturday, claimed that the traditional sport Jallikattu "could be banned again if Congress-DMK come back to power". "It was promised in their manifesto in 2016," he added.
The single-phase Assembly poll in Tamil Nadu is set to be held on 6 April.
Hours after a BJP candidate's vehicle was used to take a polled EVM to the strong room, Election Commission on Friday ordered fresh voting in one polling station of Assam's Ratabari seat.
While addressing a rally in Uluberia Purba, the Uttar Pradesh CM accused the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government of turning Bengal into a 'land of hooliganism and anarchy'.
Ahead of the third and final phase of Assam Assembly polls, the prime minister visited Tamulpur in Baksa district to address a rally on Saturday.
The home minister addressed a roadshow in Thousand Lights Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu on Saturday. He is campaigning for BJP candidate Khushbu Sundar.
The EC on Friday barred the Assam minister from campaigning for 48 hours for allegedly making threatening remarks against Bodoland People's Front chief Hagrama Mohilary.
Nandigram witnessed a direct contest on Thursday between the TMC supremo and her former colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the BJP in December last year.
Exuding confidence that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will lose from the Nandigram constituency, Amit Shah on Friday accused her of running the government on the 3T model of 'Tolabaji' (extortion), 'Tanashahi' (dictatorship) and 'Tushtikaran' (appeasement).
Identifying cross-border infiltration as the biggest problem of the North Bengal region, which he claimed faced injustice at the hands of the Trinamool Congress government, Shah said that the menace will be stopped after the BJP is voted to power in the state.
Shah, who was on a whirlwind tour of the state from the North to South Bengal addressing two rallies and taking part in two roadshows, said that the saffron party would win 50 of the 60 seats that have gone to polls till now in this election.
Reaching out to two major communities of north Bengal, Shah said that Nepali and Rajbasnhi languages will be made associate languages of the state.
"Didi has lost Nandigram. The scenes that you witnessed yesterday tell us that she is losing. By 2 pm on 2 May (when votes will be counted), Didi will be out of power in Bengal," Shah said while addressing a rally at Sitalkuchi in North Bengal, close to the India-Bangladesh border.
His comments came at the backdrop of the TMC supremo camping at a booth in Nandigram, where she is locked in a fight with her protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari, for more than two hours after complaining of vote loot by the BJP.
"I heard that someone told her to contest from a seat in North Bengal, but she declined as she was not confident of winning. After two phases of polling that has covered 60 seats, the BJP is winning 50. We know we will win all the seats in North Bengal," the BJP leader said.
The BJP runs its government on the model of development, but Mamata runs her government on the 3T model
of Tolabaji, Tanashahi and Tushtikaran, he claimed.
Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, all problems of the people of North Bengal will be solved, Shah said.
"Shouldn't infiltration be stopped? Doesn't it take away the jobs of our youths? Replace Didi; even birds won't be allowed to enter Bengal, let alone humans. The TMC government can never stop it. Only we can do it," he said at the rally in Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district.
Reaching out to the state's politically crucial refugees, Shah said that they would be granted citizenship by implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
"Mamata didi has done nothing for the development of North Bengal. After coming to power, the BJP will constitute a North Bengal Development Board and spend Rs 2,000 crore annually on the region's development," he said.
He also promised to establish an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which will cater to the people of not only Cooch Behar district but also of the entire region.
"Prime Minister Modi Ji works towards 'Jan Kalyan' (welfare of people). But in Bengal, Mamata didi is busy in 'Bhatija Kalyan" (welfare of nephew). She is only interested in making her nephew the next chief minister," he said at a rally at Kalchini in Alipurduar district.
Reaching out to the people of the Darjeeling hills, he said the BJP government will work towards a permanent political solution to the problems of the hills and Terai and Dooars regions.
"We would also make Nepali and Rajbanshi language as associate languages of the state. We would also promote Nepali language films and will arrange for its subsidy. We will also come up with a Nepali language radio channel," he said.
Referring to the TMC's 'Khela Hobe' slogan, Shah said, "Nobody is scared of your (Mamata's) Khela Hobe. All the goons will be thrown behind bars after 2 May."
Once considered a bastion of the Congress and then the TMC, the BJP has made deep inroads in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by bagging seven of the eight seats in North Bengal.
Later in the evening, Shah took out two roadshows in Arambag and Baruipur in separate districts in
South Bengal.
