India News
Campaign for Chhattisgarh elections ends, voters set to choose among jaded candidates
If all MLAs and few losers of the 2018 elections are re-elected, the Assembly will not look very different from what it has been over the last 20 years

By Neeraj Mishra
Priyanka Gandhi closed the campaign in Chhattisgarh with a road show in Raipur with all four Congress candidates on show with her. Of these, only Ramsundar Das, the mahant of the state’s biggest and richest Math, is a new candidate, others are repeat candidates. Pankaj Sharma’s father Satyanarain Sharma opted to make way for his son.
This dearth of ideas and people is not limited to the Congress, which has given tickets to 49 of its 72 MLAs, the BJP has repeated 11 of its 13 MLAs. A farce is playing out in Chhattisgarh where 66 of the 90 current MLAs are seeking re-election, which is about 75% of the assembly strength. And if that was not enough, on the remaining seats, the BJP has put up 15 who had lost last time and the Congress has given tickets to 20 old faces who are either MPs, former MLAs and MPs or have been around in the electoral fray for more than two decades.
Where are the new ideas and energy going to come from? Both parties have concluded that since it’s more or less a bipolar system in the state, it is enough to make empty, enticing promises. It is estimated that if all the MLAs and few losers of the 2018 elections get re-elected, the Assembly will look much the same as it has in the past two decades. There are at least 40 MLAs who have been ministers under Raman Singh and Bhupesh Baghel, who are likely to get re-elected.
Consider the case of Rajim constituency. Amitesh Shukla is contesting his sixth election from the seat and is the only one to get Congress tickets since the state came into being. He has lost twice but that has not stopped Congress from fielding him from his “family seat”. His father Shyamacharan Shukla had contested eight times from the same seat and lost only once. Since the constituency came into being in 1957, the Congress has fielded a non-Shukla only twice and at a time when Shyamacharan was under suspension from the party.
An Association for Democratic Reforms report reveals that of the 66 re-contesting candidates, 60 have declared increase in wealth and assets over their 2018 submission. The average increase is in the region of Rs 1 crore. While the top five MLAs whose wealth has increased by more than Rs 10 crore, includes Bhupesh Baghel and his minister Shiv Deharia. Interestingly, the two ministers in Raman Cabinet who had lost in 2018 have shown a decrease in their wealth and assets.
India News
Watch: Lalu Prasad Yadav offers prayers at Tirupati with family members
Bihar deputy minister Tejaswi Yadav said he had come here with his family, his mother, father, his wife, brother and his daughter Katyayani to seek blessings of Lord Balaji. He said his daughter Katyayani had her Mundan ceremony. He said the whole family prayed for everyone’s well being so that India moves forward and everyone prospers.

Rashtriya Janta Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, their son Tejaswi Yadav and their son Tejaswi Yadav and their family offered prayers at Tirupati Balaji Temple in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. The Yadav family participated in the Suprabhatam seva, the first pre-dawn seva performed in the temple of Lord Venkateshwara.
Bihar deputy minister Tejaswi Yadav said he had come here with his family, his mother, father, his wife, brother and his daughter Katyayani to seek blessings of Lord Balaji. He said his daughter Katyayani had her Mundan ceremony. He said the whole family prayed for everyone’s well being so that India moves forward and everyone prospers.
The Yadav family reached Tirumala on Friday. They offered prayers to Lord Balaji in the early hours of Saturday which is also Tejawi Yadav’s wedding anniversary. Tejaswi Yadav took to X(formerly Twitter) and wrote this morning he received energy and blessings from Lord Venteshwara by worshiping and having a darshan at Lord Shri Tirupati Balaji Temple with his family. He said Tirupati Balaji Temple is a wonderful example of excellent craftsmanship and a symbol of devotion, faith and reverence, located in the Tirumala mountains of Andhra Pradesh.
Yadav said the family prayed for prosperity, peace and happiness and welfare of the state of Bihar. He said today on the day of his marriage anniversary, the Mundan Sanskar of daughter Katyayani was also performed. Yadav shared his love for travelling to spiritual places.
He said spiritual, historical and mythological places give out positive energy and it is a means of gaining knowledge, divine intervention, spiritual solace, self realization, meditation and helps in making a connection with God. He said this helps in personal and community development and helps to understand the reason for basic purpose of life.The post has gone viral on social media with 3,38,600 views
India News
Watch: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde drives a tractor at cleanliness drive at Juhu Beach
Maharastra Chief Minister Shinde inspected the paddy crop damaged due to unseasonal rain at Tarsa in Nagpur district. Deputy Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis accompanied CM Shinde and Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday, paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi in Mumbai. He also participated in a cleanliness drive at Juhu Beach A video circulating on social media shows Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde driving a tractor while participating in the cleanliness drive at Juhu Beach.
The video has got 60,700 views on X(Formerly Twitter). Large number of comments started coming on the social media post. One user said this whole thing is a one day drama. Another user said this is a foolish gimmick by the chief minister.
Earlier on Thursday Shinde inspected the paddy crop damaged due to unseasonal rain at Tarsa in Nagpur district. Deputy Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis accompanied CM Shinde and Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde. Besides Mauda Taluka, large scale damage has been reported in Ramtek Parshivani taluka.
In Nagpur district a total of 124 villages have been affected by rain, 852 hectares of crop has been damaged Earlier on November 27, Natrionalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule urged the Maharashtra government to help the farmers after unseasonal rains damaged crops across the state of Maharashtra.
Sule said Maharshtra is standing at a difficult turn. She said a lot of damage has been caused by untimely rains. She said everybody should start to work with sensitivity for the state and farmers. She requested the Maharashtra government to immediately call a team from Delhi, and a full inspection should be carried out.
Sule said the central government should give more funds to Maharashtra. She said wherever farmers have incurred losses, the loans should be waved off. She said she is going to present this issue in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Heavy rains on Sunday had caused heavy damage to the crops including leafy vegetables, sugarcane, tomatoes, onions and grapes.
India News
Veteran actor Leelavathi passes away: PM Modi, Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar pay tribute to late actor
PM Modi took to X(formerly Twitter) to mourn the late actor. He said he was saddened to hear the passing of the legendary kannada film actor personality Leelavathiji. He said she was a true icon of cinema and she graced the silver screen with her versatile acting in numerous films.

Kannada film industry veteran Leelavathi passed away. She was 85 years old. She had been admitted to private hospital in Nelamangala on the outskirts of Bengaluru. She was suffering from many diseases due to her old age. Her son Vinod Raj told the media that he is now left alone. He thanked chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivkumar for getting her admitted to the hospital.
PM Modi took to X(formerly Twitter) to mourn the late actor. He said he was saddened to hear the passing of the legendary kannada film actor personality Leelavathiji. He said she was a true icon of cinema and she graced the silver screen with her versatile acting in numerous films. PM Modi said her diverse roles and remarkable talent will always be remembered and admired. He said his thoughts were with her family and admirers.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah paid his final tribute to the mortal remains of veteran Kannada legendary actress Leelavathi at Ravindra Kalakshetra. He said he had grown up watching Leelavathi’s films. He said she was a perfect artist and brought life to every role she played. He said her acting was still in front of her eyes. He said along with acting she was deeply involved in social work.
He said he was deeply saddedned by the death of Leelavathi, who had always adopted the saying that kindness is the root of religion. He said may her departed soul rest in peace. Siddaramaiah said the news of the passing away of veteran kannada actor Leelavathi is painful. He said just last week on hearing about her illness he visited her house and enquired about her health and talked to her son Vinod Raj.
The Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar visted the mortal remains of the veteran actor Leelavathi at Rabindra Kalakshetra today and paid her last respects and condoled with her family including her son Vinod Raj.
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