March 2019

2 March 2019
NEWS
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Opposition 'unity' hit,
Congress says 'no' to AAP
New Delhi : The opposition's desire to
put up a united front against the BJP suffered
a blow on Tuesday after the Congress
refused to tie up with the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) in Delhi and a miffed Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal vowed to defeat
the "unholy Congress-BJP alliance".
With this, Delhi is set to see a triangular
contest for Delhi's seven Lok Sabha seats,
all of which were won by the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) in 2014 and where the
AAP finished second in all places.
The Congress decision, putting to rest
all speculation of a possible tie up, was
arrived at a meeting of its Delhi unit led by
former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had
with party President Rahul Gandhi at his
residence here. "Congress has unanimously
taken a decision that there will be no
alliance with AAP. The decision was taken
in Rahul Gandhi's presence and it is final,"
Dikshit said later. While the Delhi unit was
firm on not aligning with the AAP from the
beginning, the central leadership had been
exploring the possibility of an understanding,
harping on the need for all opposition
parties to put up a united front against the
BJP. Besides Rahul Gandhi, Congress incharge
of Delhi P.C. Chacko had been a
votary of the tie up and had been trying to
get Dikshit on board arguing that an
alliance was likely to consolidate the anti-
BJP vote. However, according to informed
sources, Dikshit stood her ground and was
RLD to contest three seats
with SP-BSP alliance
Lucknow : The Samajwadi
Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok
Dal (RLD) on Tuesday formally
announced their alliance for
the Lok Sabha election, with
the RLD getting three seats to
contest in western Uttar
Pradesh.
The SP, which has already
sewed up an alliance with the
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP),
has left Mathura, Baghpat and
Team AI :
Devinder Chander
Editor-in-chief
Columnists
V.B. Rawat
Farzana Suri
Arun Kumar
Rahul Kumar
Harminder K. Bhogal
Head Office
Samaj Media Enterprise Ltd
Suite 507, Hawthorns House
Halfords Lane, Smethwick,
Birmingham U.K.,B66 1BB
+44 7878 456 484
+44 121 565 4810
Email :
info@theasianindependent.co.uk
Advertisement
Enquiries
+44 7475 475 343
The Asian Independent is an
Intellectual Property of
Samaj Media Enterprise Ltd
able to convince Gandhi not to go for an
understanding with the AAP, claiming that
the anti-incumbency against the Kejriwal
government will adversely affect the
Congress. Dikshit also pointed out that the
AAP had already declared candidates for
six of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
Among those present at the meeting
were Congress Secretary Kuljit Singh
Nagra and Delhi unit working Presidents
Haroon Yusuf and Rajesh Lilothia and former
President Ajay Maken. Maken is
known to be bitterly opposed to the AAP.
Reacting strongly to the development,
Kejriwal accused the Congress of having a
"secret understanding" with the BJP.
"At a time when the whole country
wants to defeat (Prime Minister Narendra)
Modi-Amit Shah duo, Congress is helping
BJP by splitting anti-BJP vote," said
Muzaffarnagar for the RLD,
headed by former Union
Minister Ajit Singh. The RLD's
primary support base is known
to exist in the Jat community.
Ajit Singh's son Jayant
Chowdhary told the media at
the SP headquarters here that
his party will ensure that voters
rally behind the SP-BSP-RLD
alliance across the state.
"We will focus on all the 80
seats," he added. Asked if there
was a rethink on including the
Congress in the
'Mahagathbandhan' in Uttar
Pradesh, SP chief and former
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav said the issue
did not hold any water as the
party was already a part of
their alliance. "We have left
two seats - Amethi and Rae
Bareli - for the Congress. Thus
they are a part of our alliance
and I have been saying this all
the time," he said. Asked if he
would change his allies after
the election, Jayant
Chowdhary answered in the
negative. He said this question
should be put to the BJP. "I am
happy to be associated with the
SP as here I find the freedom
to express myself," he said.
The SP will contest 37 seats,
the BSP 38, the RLD three
while two seats have been left
for the Congress, making it a
total of 80 Lok Sabha seats.
Kejriwal. "Rumours (are) that Congress
has some secret understanding with BJP.
Delhi is ready to fight against Cong-BJP
alliance. People will defeat this unholy
alliance," he said. Speaking in the same
vein, AAP Minister Gopal Rai too accused
the Congress of "unofficially helping" the
BJP. "Congress has been speaking the language
of BJP for some time. AAP feels the
way the BJP has helped the Congress win
in Punjab, the Congress is unofficially
helping the BJP win Delhi now," Rai told
the media here. The Congress snub to the
AAP is being perceived as a blow to the
larger opposition's bid to put up a united
front against the BJP and Modi. Even during
the February 13 opposition parties'
meet in which they had resolved to have a
pre-poll pact to defeat the BJP, the
Congress had appeared to keep its options
open about tying up with the AAP.
A day later, Kejriwal claimed that the
Congress had almost said 'no' for an
alliance with the AAP. At the height of the
Modi wave, the BJP got 46 per cent of Lok
Sabha votes in Delhi in 2014 while the
AAP, which was not in power then, earned
nearly 33 per cent. The Congress, despite
having ruled Delhi for 15 long years,
polled around 15 per cent and did not retain
any seat. In the later Assembly elections,
the AAP won a staggering 67 of the 70
seats and the BJP picked up the remaining
three. The Congress was wiped out.
Patna : The day-long Bharat bandh
called by Dalit and Tribal groups on
Tuesday demanding forest rights for adivasis
and job security for ad hoc teachers, and
protesting the anti-reservation policy of the
central government, evoked a mixed
response in Bihar. Police said normal life
was affected as rail and road services were
disrupted in different parts of the state,
though senior state officials said "elaborate
security arrangements had been made".
Thousands of members of Dalits, Other
Backward Classes (OBCs) and Tribal outfits,
including the Bhim Army, descended
on streets since early morning blocking
road and rail traffic. Several arterial roads
were blocked and over a dozen long-route
trains were halted at Ara, Jehanabad, Patna,
Darbhanga, Bhagalpur, Gaya, Muzaffarpur
and Begusarai railway stations.
Clashes between the protesters and the
police were reported from Bhojpur,
Madhepura, Jehanabad and Arwal.
In Bhagalpur, the protesters clashed
with local shopkeepers trying to forcibly
shut markets. Leaders of the Rashtriya
Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress, the
Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), the
Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the
Left parties, which are supporting the shutdown,
also took to streets to protest the
University Grants Commission's new 13-
point roster system that will drastically
reduce jobs for Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward
Classes.
The new system replaces the 200-point
roster system, in which the entire university
was taken as a unit for reservation and
recruitment. Under the new 13-point roster
system, each department is taken as a unit
for implementing recruitment and reservation
policy for teachers.
They were also
demanding an ordinance
over the nowstayed
Supreme Court
order directing eviction
of over 10 lakh families
of Adivasis and other
forest dwellers from
forest lands across 16
states. The apex court
had on February 13
ordered eviction of tribals
in unauthorised possession
of forest land. On February 28,
however, it put the order on hold. In Patna,
senior RJD leaders and party workers
staged a protest march and dharna. "The
Narendra Modi government's decision to
abolish the 13-point roster and approve 10
BSP-SP flay
Modi over video
conference
Lucknow : The BSP-SP on Thursday slammed Prime Minister
Narendra Modi for going ahead with party events and a video
conference, purported to be the largest ever, even as tension
between India and Pakistan continued.
"At a time when India is
facing hostility of war and country
needs firm leadership, Modi,
instead of concentrating on matters
of national security, is trying
to serve political interest by
addressing BJP workers,"
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
supremo Mayawati said. The
outreach programme of the ruling party titled 'Samvad' took place
between Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party workers and supporters
as he addressed about one crore people through what the BJP said
was the "world's largest video conference" as part of the BJP's
campaign for the Lok Sabha election scheduled in April-May.
The 63-year-old Dalit leader took to micro-blogging site Twitter
and vented her anger at the event pointing out how the IAF
thwarted a Pakistani incursion on Wednesday and braveheart
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was still captive.
"The Indian government should put all the might at its command
to ensure his safe release then only will the nation breathe
a sigh of relief" she said. She termed Modi's action "ridiculous"
and said it showed a "betrayal of national sentiments".
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also targeted the ruling
party over the issue and said that when all Indians were on
the same page with regard to national security, it was "ironical
and sad" that the BJP was mustering the support of its party
workers and trying to set records. The former Chief Minister
taunting the "suit-boot sarkar" claimed that the BJP leadership
would not stop "the celebratory mode" even though some party
supporters were "angry and ashamed".
Bharat bandh evokes mixed response in Bihar
per cent quota to the EWS in the general
category is not in line with the principle of
affirmative action prescribed in the
Constitution. The RSS is hell bent upon
scrapping reservation for SC/ST & OBCs,"
said RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.
* The Asian Independent and people associated with it are not responsible for any claims made by the advertisers and do not endorse in any products or services advertised. Please visit www.theasianindependent.com/tc for more information.