India News
PM Modi greets Telangana on its Formation Day, here’s why the state is key for the party in South India
The BJP defeat in the 2023 Karnataka legislative assembly election has a clearer indication for the BJP government that it’s going to be difficult for the party in Telangana upcoming election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the people of Telangana and its culture on Telangana Formation Day on Friday.
He said in his tweet that the state, which came into being on June 2, 2014 by bifurcating the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, is known for its pleasant weather and the richness of its culture which are greatly admired as well. The PM prayed for the well-being and prosperity of the state.
Telangana assumes significance for the BJP since it is pushing to come to power in the state which has been under the Bharat Rashtra Samithi government under KCR for two terms. The Assembly election is due to be held in the last months of 2023 for 119 seats. So far, the BRS has dominated the state, even winning over MLAs who won on tickets of other parties, including the Congress. The BRS, which was earlier the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, is at the forefront of a non-BJP, non-Congress de factor coalition and has national plans.
In the 2018 election, the BRS formed a government in Telangana by winning 88 seats bettering its previous best of 63 in 2013. The Congress came a distant second with 19 seats. The BRS ally, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen of Asaduddin Owaisi, was third with seven seats. The AIMIM is led by Owaisi’s brother Akbaruddin. The BJP has significant influence in Hyderabad via MLA T Raja Singh has a strong following among Hindu voters in the Old City.
In Telangana, the opposition led by the Congress, Telangana Jana Samithi, the Telugu Desam Party, and the Communist Party of India have announced the formation of a grand alliance, the MahaKootami. The Congress has said that it would leave 25 seats for its allies, 14 to the TDP, 8 to the Telangana Jana Samithi and three seats to the CPI. This alliance plans to defeat the current KCR-led BRS government in the state. The BJP is contesting the elections alone in the state.
The BJP’s Telangana plans have been eclipsed by the defeat in the Karnataka Assembly election. Winning Karnataka was essential to mount a strong campaign in Telangana but the national party is far from throwing in the towel. Eking out a victory in Telangana can balance the loss in Karnataka but will a top heavy campaign like in Karnataka help the cause, remains to be seen.
The BJP has found that the politics in Southern India is different from politics in the Hindi belt. The voters in the south heed their immediate local issues and understand politic equations well. People lack faith in the national party when it comes to state elections, if we look at the data from southern India of their political preference, most states are ruled by regional parties, even if Kerala is ruled by the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front.
Telangana was part of the princely state of Hyderabad ruled by the Nizams. It became part of the Union of India in 1948. In 1956, the state of Hyderabad was dissolved and the 33 districts that comprise Telangana were merged with the state of Andhra Pradesh. The demand for Telangana had picked up in the 1990s and the consequent struggle ended on June 2, 2014 when the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre announced the creation of the state of Telangana.
India News
Chhattisgarh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi hits out at Congress, accuses party of dividing Hindus
PM Modi quoted his predecessor PM Manmohan Singh and said the minorities had the first right to the country’s resources. PM Modi added Congress is now saying the population of the community will decide who will have the first right to the country’s resources.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Congress after the Bihar government’s caste census results were declared. He said the Congress party is dividing the Hindus as the poor people formed the largest part of the population. PM Modi was addressing a rally in Poll bound Chhattisgarh Jagdalpur
PM Modi quoted his predecessor PM Manmohan Singh and said the minorities had the first right to the country’s resources. PM Modi added Congress is now saying the population of the community will decide who will have the first right to the country’s resources. PM Modi asked if the Congress party wanted to decrease the rights of the minority. He further inquired whether the Congress party wanted to remove the minorities.
PM Modi continued to his attack on the Congress and asked whether the Hindus who formed the largest section of India’s population come forward and take their rights. PM Modi further added the Congress party is not run by its people and has been outsourced. He said senior Congress leaders did not have their say in the decisions made by the Congress party.
PM Modi said the Congress party is trying to divide the Hindus. He added the Congress party is dividing the poor. They are trying to destroy the country. PM Modi slammed the Congress party for playing with the emotions of the poor. He added the Congress party has divided India on the basis of caste lines for sixty years.
The Bihar government released the findings of its caste census. According to the survey extremely Backward classes (EBC’s) and other backward classes (OBC’s) constitute 63 percent of total population of Bihar. The Congress party has promised a caste based census in the country if it came to power at the Centre.
India News
India-Canada ties: India asks Canada to withdraw 40 diplomats by October 10
Canada has currently a total of 62 diplomats in India. New Delhi has instructed Canada to decrease the number to 41 at their high commission.
India has asked Canada to withdraw around 40 diplomats by October 10 as the diplomatic row between the two nations over Ottawa’s allegations of New Delhi’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. According to reports India has threatened to remove the diplomatic immunity of any candian diplomat if they remained in India after October 10.
Canada has currently a total of 62 diplomats in India. New Delhi has instructed Canada to decrease the number to 41 at their high commission. Boehm said PM Justin Trudeau does not expect to back down. He added India sees Canada as an easy mark. He said India is aware of Ottawa’s limited capacity to retaliate because of the presence of a minority government in Canada.
Trudeau is the leader of the Liberal Party. He shares power with Canadian Sikh leader and Indian origin Jagmeet Singh who is the head of the New Democratic Party in Canada. India had previously said it wanted an equal number of diplomats posted in the country and Canada. At the High commission in Delhi Canada has many diplomats compared to what India has in Ottawa.
Diplomatic crisis between Canada and India emerged after Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said the Canadian agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegation of a potential link the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Indian government. India had stated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India rejected Canada’s allegations and called them motivated and absurd.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). He was shot dead outside a Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada in the month of June. Ottawa expelled an Indian official over the case. India in response expelled a Canadian diplomat. Visa services were also expelled by the Indian government for Canadian citizens.
India News
Earthquake of 6.2 magnitude on Richter scale shakes up Delhi-NCR, North India
Reports said the tremors were felt acutely by people residing in high rises and many fled by staircase to the groundfloor and were awaiting more aftershocks.
Strong tremors lasting almost a minute rocked parts of Delhi-National Capital Region, and several northern states after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake at its epicentre hit Nepal.
Reports said the tremors were felt acutely by people residing in high-rises and many fled by staircase to the groundfloor and were awaiting more aftershocks. Similar sights were visible in the region’s office districts. The tremors were also felt in parts of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand just after 2.45 pm. According to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority website, “Delhi is located in zone IV which has fairly high seismicity where the general occurrence of earthquakes is of 5-6 magnitude, a few of magnitude 6-7 and occasionally of 7-8 magnitude. Delhi thus lies among the high-risk areas.” The site adds that Delhi and the union territory region has already seen five earthquakes of the 5.5 to 6.7 scale since 1720.
There has been no report of damage to life and property as of now and reports are awaited on the situation in Nepal. Seismologists said the epicentre was 5 km underground in Bhatekhola in Nepal. The Himalayan country has already faced a massive quake on April 25, 2015 of 7.8 magnitude. Some 9,000 people died and injured more than 20,000.
According to the National German Research Centre for Geo sciences has said that magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Nepal region. According to National Siesmological Centre an earthquake measuring 5.3 magnitude hit western parts of Nepal. No loss of property or life has been reported.
The earthquake was recorded with epicenter at Talkot area of Bajhang district, 700 km west of Kathmandu. Two earthquakes of magnitude 4.6 and 6.2 on the Richter scale jolted Nepal. The two tremors were felt within half an hour time. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya came out of Nirman Bhawan with others, as strong tremors hit different parts of North India.
