Apna Dal to meet on Feb 28 to take call on NDA tie-up
LUCKNOW:THE Apna Dal has called a meeting on February 28 to take a call on whether to stay in the National Democratic Alliance or join hands with some other party in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The meeting will take place amid reports that party leaders, Anupriya Singh Patel and Ashish Patel, held talks with Congress general secretary in charge of east UP, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, at her Delhi residence on Thursday. Anupriya is junior health minister in the Narendra Modi government.
“We have called our party meeting in Lucknow on February 28 to decide which party to ally with for the Lok Sabha elections in UP,” Ashish, Apna Dal president, said. “All our options are open and answers to all questions will come after the meeting.”
He, however, ducked queries on the reported meeting with Priyanka Gandhi. “I am not aware of any such meeting which I was not a part of,” he said. Anupriya could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
Officials aware of the matter said the possibility of an Apna Dal-congress alliance was explored at Thursday’s meeting. The Apna Dal, a crucial BJP ally in UP, has been threatening to quit the NDA for some time, accusing the state BJP as well as the state government of not addressing its demands. The party holds sway over Kurmis, a dominant backward caste, in several districts in UP. It won two seats in 2014—Mirzapur and Pratapgarh -- in alliance with the BJP. SEOUL: Making a veiled attack on Pakistan’s continued support to cross-border terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the time has come for the global community to “unite and act” to completely eradicate terror networks and their financing supply channels.
Asserting that India has suffered the pain of cross-border terrorism for over 40 years, Modi said the country’s endeavour towards peaceful developments has only too often been derailed by this menace.
Modi, who is in Seoul on a two-day visit to South Korea, expressed his gratitude for the host country’s support to India after the attack by a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-mohammad(jem) that killed 40 CRPF soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.
Addressing the media after his talks with President Moon Jae-in, Modi said that the time has come when the world, going beyond talks, should “unite and act” against terrorism.
Later, speaking at an event after receiving the prestigious Seoul Peace Prize for 2018, Modi said that while India has been the victim of cross-border terrorism for over 40 years, all nations today face this grave threat which respects no borders.
“Our endeavour towards peaceful developments has only too often been derailed by crossborder terrorism,” he said in an apparent reference to Pakistan, which is accused of providing safe havens to several terror groups.
“The time has come for all those who believe in humanity to join hands, to completely eradicate terrorist networks, and their financing supply channels and counter terrorist ideology and propaganda,’ Modi said.
“Only by doing so, can we replace hate with harmony, destruction with development, and transform the landscape of violence and vendetta into a postcard of peace,” the Prime Minister added. He recalled that a few months before the Seoul Olympics in 1988, an organisation called al-qaeda was formed.
“Today, radicalisation and terrorism have become globalised and are the biggest threats to global peace and security,” he said. Modi also expressed his gratitude to President Moon for his condolences and support on the Pulwama attack.
He said an MOU signed between India’s Home Ministry and South Korea’s National Police Agency today will further take forward the counter-terrorism cooperation between the two sides. The award was presented to him by the Seoul Peace Prize Foundation.