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Kairana LS bypoll: united opposition faces determined BJP

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Kairana LS bypoll: united opposition faces determined BJP

Following the reverses it suffered in by-elections for Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats, the BJP is taking no chances in Kairana.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who had the mortification of seeing his home constituency of Gorakhpur won by a joint opposition candidate, has stepped up campaigning and is addressing public meetings on almost a daily basis.

Kairana Lok Sabha constituency, along with the Assembly seat of Noorpur, will have election on May 28.

The CM’s campaign will be topped by a meeting by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. Just a day before voting takes place, after the campaigning comes to a halt on May 26, PM Modi will address a meeting in Baghpat nearby, while inaugurating the Eastern peripheral expressway. The poll code does not apply in Baghpat and opposition’s objections to Modi’s program have been dismissed.

BJP’s candidate for Kairana is Mriganka Singh, whose father Hukum Singh’s death has led to this bypoll. Apart from Adityanath and his deputy, the BJP has thrown in at least five other state ministers into the fight for Kairana: Dharam Singh Saini (minister of state for Ayush), Suresh Rana (Sugarcane Development) Anupama Jaiswal (Basic Education) Surya Pratap Shahi (Agriculture) and Laxmi Narayan (Religious Affairs, Culture, Minority Welfare, Muslim Waqf and Haj).

Dharam Saini and Rana are MLAs from Nakur and Thana Bhawan assembly segments of the constituency. Anupama Jaiswal is the minister in charge of Shamli district, while Surya Pratap Shahi is the minister in charge of Saharanpur. “Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary has been roped in, since he hails from a farming background,” media reports quoted a senior UP BJP leader as saying.

Apart from this, BJP MPs Sanjiv Baliyan, Raghav Lakhan Pal, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar and Kanta Kardam are also actively campaigning for Mriganka Singh.

Opposition parties too are going all out for victory. Efforts are on to present a larger united front on a national level against the BJP for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, an exercise that received a boost after the Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka.

In the 2014 parliamentary elections, Hukum Singh bagged 5,65,909 votes, defeating SP’s Nahid Hasan who got 3,29,081 votes. In the 2017 UP Assembly elections, Nahid Hasan defeated Mriganka by 21,162 votes.

Now, all eyes are on these by-polls. The joint opposition candidate in Kairana is Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) Tabassum Hasan. Her party’s national vice-president Jayant Chaudhary has been regularly visiting the constituency since the announcement of the polls and is likely to remain in Kairana for the remaining few days till the end of the campaign.

Tabassum, wife of former BSP MP Munawwar Hasan, is being backed by the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Congress and Nishad Party to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kairana.

On Thursday, May 24, the opposition got a boost when Lok Dal candidate Kanwar Hasan, who was contesting against his sister-in-law and RLD nominee Tabassum Hasan, withdrew from the contest. Kanwar Hasan also announced his support for the Tabassum.

This could help unite the minority vote in favour of the RLD, could make the going tough for Mriganka Singh, the BJP candidate.

While the BJP has thrown in a host of leaders and ministers into the campaign, the opposition is projecting this as a sign of the jitters in the ruling party, which recently lost Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat vacated by Yogi Adityanath himself when he became chief minister.

“By sending so many ministers to a parliamentary constituency during a bypoll, the BJP has clearly displayed its nervousness,” SP spokesperson Sunil Singh Sajan said. “Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is likely to hold one election meeting during the bye-elections, and his one meeting will prove to be quite enough for the BJP,” he boasted, according to a media report.

Apart from Akhilesh Yadav, SP’s UP chief Naresh Uttam is extensively touring the constituency. “The party has deputed leaders and workers up to the booth level in these bye-elections,” Sajan said.

UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh also took potshots at the BJP over the party’s deployment for the campaign. “Sending five ministers for campaigning in a single parliamentary constituency during the bye-elections only display a lack of confidence among the BJP leaders and workers ahead of the election,” he said.

“I feel that a strong anti-BJP message will go to the entire country from here for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” he added.

Reports from the ground in Kairana says communal polarisation is palpable in the area where BJP ran a campaign alleging mass exodus of Hindus due to Muslim aggression, a charge refuted by several independent reports.

Historically, caste and farmer’s mandate have been the two main factors impacting Kairana’s electoral outcome.  A media report estimated that of nearly 16 lakh voters in the constituency, 5.5 lakh are Muslims, 2.5 lakh are Dalits (mostly Jatavs), 1.5 lakh are Jats, 2 lakh are Kashyaps, 1.4 lakh are Gujjars, 1.2 lakh are Saini and the remaining are constituted by voters from the communities of Brahmins, Banias and Rajputs.

The BJP is aiming for the upper castes — the vote banks of Brahmins, Banias and Rajputs and the wider ‘Hindutva’ vote.

Give the BJP’s track record in fomenting communal riots in the region, the Muslims could choose against the BJP.

Sugarcane prices and farmers’ dues from sugar mills are a major issue. The opposition parties are alleging that the government failed to clear the pending farmer’s dues with the sugar mills: the six sugar mills in the constituency, which reportedly bought sugarcane worth Rs 1,778.49 crore at the UP government’s State Advised Price (SAP) of Rs 315-325 per quintal, have pending arrears of Rs 807.22 crore, as of 18 May, according to media reports.

With Lok Sabha polls due next year, the winning candidate would serve as MP for less than a year. Yet, the electoral outcome here is seen as crucial in the build-up for the main battle.

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar says Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to create fear like Russian President Vladimir Putin

Sharad Pawar said that former prime ministers worked to make a new India but PM Modi only criticises others and does not speak about what his government has done for the people of India in the last 10 years.

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NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that he fears a new Putin is in the making in India. Pawar alleged PM Modi is trying to create fear and emulating Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sharad Pawar said that former prime ministers worked to make a new India but PM Modi only criticises others and does not speak about what his government has done for the people of India in the last 10 years.

Sharad Pawar was addressing a campaign rally in Amravati for a Maha Vikas Aghadi candidate and said former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s contribution to the nation cannot be questioned. He said some BJP leaders had spoken publicly about changing the Constitution and appealed to the people to stop allowing autocracy from taking shape in India.

Pawar said he had seen Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and had seen the work of almost all Prime Ministers ranging from Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Narasimha Rao to Manmohan Singh. The NCP (SP) chief said he had seen that their efforts were to make a new India, but PM Modi knows only how to criticize. He said nobody in history can forget the contribution of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, but the PM Modi continuously criticises him.

Sharad Pawar further added that he wanted to apologise to the people of Amravati for the mistake he had committed in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by supporting Navneet Rana. He hailed Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray for taking up the responsibility to protect the national interest by working closely with the Congress and the NCP (SP) as they did in the past. Speaking to the media, Pawar said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constant attack on the Congress was not a wise decision as that party is not in power.

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Salman Khan house firing case: Mumbai crime branch recovers gun, cartridges from Tapi River in Surat

One gun and some cartridges have been recovered from the Tapi river in Surat by the Mumbai Crime Branch in the firing case outside Salman Khan’s residence, as per reports.

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The Mumbai Crime Branch on Monday, April 22, found a gun and some live cartridges, which was used for firing outside Salman Khan’s house, from Tapi River in Gujarat’s Surat.

This is a fresh update related the gunfire incident outside Salman Khan’s apartment at the Galaxy Apartment in Bandra on April 14. According to the crime branch, they are currently looking for another gun.

It is interesting to note that the accused, after performing the crime, dropped the gun into the Tapi River in Surat.

As to the Mumbai Crime Branch, the shooters who opened fire outside Salman Khan’s residence have two guns and were instructed to shoot 10 rounds of fire.

Outside the actor’s apartment at the Galaxy Apartments in the early hours of April 14, two people arrived on a motorcycle and fired four rounds.The attackers left the location shortly after the event. Both individuals were wearing headgear and carrying backpacks, according to surveillance footage.

The Mumbai Crime Branch has taken the accused Vicky Gupta with them to the Surat Tapi river, where they had thrown the gun. The police can add more sections to this case. More than ten people’s statements have been recorded in the Salman Khan case, and the recording process is still ongoing.

The Mumbai Crime Branch announced on April 20 that three more sections have been added to the FIR against the offenders in an effort to step up the investigation into the shooting incident at Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s home.

The case has been appended with the extra sections under IPC 506(2) (threatening), 115 (abetment), and 201 (tampering with evidence). Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his brother Anmol Bishnoi have been named as wanted suspects in connection with the crime, according to Mumbai Crime Branch police.

Shortly after the shooting, Anmol Bishnoi, the younger brother of criminal Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently incarcerated, allegedly claimed responsibility for the incident on Facebook.

Notably, Salman’s security level has been increased to Y-Plus since November 2022 because to threats from gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar. The actor also obtained a new armored vehicles for increased protection and was given permission to carry a handgun on his person.

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Arvind Kejriwal given insulin in Tihar jail after sugar levels touch 320

Finally, the BJP and its jail administration came to their senses and gave insulin to CM Arvind Kejriwal in jail, AAP tweeted.

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal received insulin on Tuesday, April 23, after days of battling, according to the Aam Aadmi Party.

Arvind Kejriwal, however, received a low dose of insulin, according to Tihar jail officials, following a rise in his blood sugar. Around 7:00 p.m., his blood sugar level was found to be 217, and the medical staff at Tihar who were attending to him then made the decision to give him insulin, according to an official.

Taking to social media X, formerly Twitter, AAP tweeted, CM Arvind Kejriwal received insulin in jail after the BJP and its jail administration finally had a change of heart. CM Kejriwal’s blood sugar level was 320. Only the graces of Lord Hanuman and the perseverance of the Delhi community have made this possible. The AAP announced in a tweet on X that they have succeeded in delivering insulin to our Chief Minister.

According to the Tihar official, Kejriwal was given two units of low dose insulin on Monday evening on the advice of AIIMS doctors.

Low-dose insulin was given to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at Tihar Jail yesterday. Yesterday, his sugar levels were 217. When the level surpasses 200, the AIIMS experts had stated that he could receive low-dose insulin, according to a Tihar Jail official.

He said Tihar’s doctors had been informed by AIIMS specialists in a video conference with the chief minister on April 20 that insulin could be given to him if his blood sugar level exceeded a specific threshold.

The incident took place just one day after a Delhi court ordered the AIIMS to set up a medical board to evaluate Arvind Kejriwal in order to determine whether or not he requires insulin to regulate his blood sugar levels. The court further said that the food prepared at home by the AAP national convenor differs from the diet plan prescribed by his doctor.

The order was issued by special judge Kaveri Baweja for CBI and ED cases, who turned down Arvind Kejriwal’s request for a video consultation with his doctor in front of his wife Sunita Kejriwal.

Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj  said on Monday that Arvind Kejriwal has been detained in Tihar for almost 22 days. He has been complaining for several days that his blood sugar is rising and that the jail does not have a diabetes specialist. He has been requesting insulin. It is evident from the court’s ruling today that Tihar jail does not have a diabetes specialist.

Since insulin is the only option available to control his blood sugar levels, Arvind Kejriwal has been requesting it nonstop for the past ten days, according to AAP leader Atishi.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 in relation to a money-laundering investigation involving the Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy. The CM has been logged in Tihar jail since April 1.

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