Modi asks CM Yogi why all isn’t well in UP
LUCKNOW: Having taken a serious note of BJP'S shocking defeat in byelections and the recent resentment shown by four Dalit MPS against the state leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to have expressed his concern to chief minister Yogi Adityanath over the state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh.
During his Delhi visit on Saturday, Yogi also met BJP national president Amit Shah, who also expressed his reservations over the failure of the state leadership in certain areas. Shah will now visit Lucknow on April 11 to have a first-hand assessment of the ground situation. An explanation sought by the Prime Minister and the party president from the UP chief minister assumes significance in the wake of a three-day visit by two top RSS functionaries to the state. Krishna Gopal and Dattatreya Hosabale collected feedback after interacting with the two deputy chief ministers, ministers, party office-bearers, RSS leaders, grassroots-level volunteers and the public during their visit to UP.
Officially, Yogi's meeting with Modi and Shah is being described as a courtesy call and routine discussion. However, party insiders revealed that its impact could be visible very soon it would not be surprising to see some drastic changes in the Bjp-led state government and in the organization in the days to come, Times of India reported.
Already, RSS inputs have alerted the BJP leadership about the consolidation of the SP and the BSP in the state and the swift mobilization of Muslims and Dalits against the BJP. A rattled Modi, had called Yogi to Delhi late on Saturday evening. During the meeting, he reportedly told him to resolve issues as soon as possible.
In an unusual development, four MPS from the SC community — Savitri Bai Phule, Chhote Lal, Yashwant Singh and Ashok Dohre — have expressed their anguish before the state and central leaderships over atrocities against dalits. Yogi, who has already suffered a blow after losing his bastion Gorakhpur to Samajwadi Party, is facing the heat once again less than a month after it.
In view of the escalating tensions in the rank and file of the BJP, crucial changes in the government and organisation are on the cards. BENGALURU: Karnataka PCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao on Monday said he was confident about Congress returning to power in the May 12 state assembly polls.
Incumbent Siddaramaiah will be the "front-runner" for the Chief Minister's post, he said.
Asserting that there was no anti-incumbency against the Siddaramaiah government, he took a dig at BJP, saying its president Amith Shah is becoming a "star campaigner" for the ruling party.
He also raised questions about Prime Minister Narendera Modi's "absence from campaigning." "Congress is going for election under the leadership of Chief Minister, it has been stated. It is under his leadership entire campaign is being run...he is the face of the election, he is the captain of our team," Rao told PTI.
"CM will be decided after the election, if we win, CLP will meet and decide, but he (Sid- daramaiah) is the captain of our team, so obviously if we win again, he will be the frontrunner," he said.
Rao, however, did not wish to respond whether Congress' decision not to announce chief ministerial candidate was to avoid any divisions or conflict within the party, with KPCC president G Parameshwara also seen as a serious contender for the top job. Though the party has not announced any chief ministerial candidate, it has named Siddaramaiah as its face. Rao said he was confident about the Congress performing better than it did during the 2013 assembly polls, when it won 122 out of 224 seats.
"I think we will do better than last time, because last time was election based upon anti or negative BJP (wave)...this time in the election people are not only unhappy with BJP, but they are happy with the Congress in Karnataka."
Rao also claimed that there was no anti-incumbency, adding, instead, "there is pro-incumbency."
"We will improve than last time, but we will have to get the ticket distribution every thing done correctly."
"We should see to it that deserving people get the ticket, if we do that correctly, then I think definitely there will be no other problem," he said.
When it was pointed out that after 1985 no party in the state has been able to retain power consecutively, he observed that they were unable to come back due to reasons like division or dissidents within the party.
However, there was nothing of that sort this time, he said.
"We have given a very stable, good government, and have delivered on our promises which has reached the people.
This is a pro-incumbency government, people are preferring us to other parties," he said. Ruling out "Modi wave", Rao said the "Modi factor or phenomenon is going down, because people are not seeing tangible results."
He pointed out that Modi has not come to Karnataka for the last one-and-half months and has been cancelling his programmes.
Sitharaman was speaking at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Several countries have shown interest in the Indian missiles. Countries like Vietnam are keen on buying supersonic Bramhos missile from India.
The defence minister said she will address the defence attaches posted in Indian missions abroad to encourage them to market the capabilities of the Indian manufacturing experts.
The missions and embassies of all nations have a defence attache, usually a senior armed forces official, who takes care of the country's defence needs with the particularly nation he is posted in. Similar is the case with India.
"I am not asking them to be marketing experts but they should be able to talk a lot on what India's defence manufacturers are doing to enhance the capacity of the country's armed forces." This will create an interest among various countries about the abilities of Indian defence equipment manufacturers and "in a way sell India without being marketing experts," she said.
"Defence attaches should not only identify those defence procurement for us to buy but (they should) also be able to speak about what we are producing so that the nations outside can look at India as a producer's' market also, rather than a buyer's market," she said.