2019 polls: Shatrughan Sinha keeps all sides guessing

Agencies
December 23, 2018

Patna, Dec 23: Amid speculation that he may be denied a BJP ticket for Lok Sabha polls and join the RJD, actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha has kept all sides guessing by saying that people should instead speculate whether he would contest on a BJP ticket or not.

Sinha, who has represented his native Patna Sahib as a BJP MP for two consecutive terms, said his remarks on various issues which have not been liked by some party leaders, were meant to "show the mirror" to the BJP and cannot be termed as "anti-party."

"Instead of guessing whether they (BJP leaders) will give me the ticket or not speculation should be whether I will take the ticket or not," Sinha told PTI.

The actor-turned BJP leader met jailed RJD president Lalu Prasad in Ranchi on Saturday.

Though he said the meeting with Prasad at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences was personal, the timing of the meeting assumes significance.

Speculation is rife that Sinha, whose attack on his party has sharpened in recent times, may enter into fray from Patna Sahib from Prasad's party if he is denied a BJP ticket for the Lok Sabha polls.

Sinha, popularly known as "Bihari Babu", has on several occasions made it clear that the "place (constituency) will be the same, even if the situation changes."

He said loss of power in three states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh is enough to show that the situation is not good in the NDA.

"Many people have left, some others are preparing to leave and others driving tough negotiations...all said and done the party's popularity and that of one leader and two-men Army have taken a beating," he said.

He was alluding to Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and RLSP leader Upendra Kushwaha leaving NDA and LJP of Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan bargaining hard with a "weakened" BJP.

The actor-politician, who served as a Cabinet minister in the NDA ministry of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and was a star campaigner for BJP for a long time before falling out with the current leadership after being ignored in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls, has been critical of the party functioning, alleging all power is vested in one leader (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and two-men Army (Modi and BJP president Amit Shah).

Maintaining that the "writing is on the wall", the BJP leader said, "There is still some time and some hope left if party veterans like L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Arun Shourie are brought at the front."

On his remarks on GST, demonetisation and the party functioning often putting the BJP in an embarrassing situation, Sinha said he had been manifesting peoples' voice and not asking for any personal favour for himself.

Besides meeting Prasad and praising his younger son Tejashwi Yadav as "Bihar's face" and "its future", the BJP leader has been frequently seen sharing the dais with former union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and at functions of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) much to the discomfort of partymen.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Ahmedabad, Mar 15: Four Congress MLAs in Gujarat have tendered their resignation to Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi ahead of the election to the four Rajya Sabha seats in the state to be held on March 26.

The four Congress legislators tendered their resignation on Saturday, which Trivedi has accepted.

Trivedi told this to PTI on Sunday.

He said he will announce the names of the legislators in the Legislative Assembly on Monday.

"Four Congress MLAs tendered their resignation to me on Saturday, and I will announce their names in the Assembly tomorrow," he said.

With this, the strength of the Congress party in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly has come down to 69 from 73.

The Congress had on Saturday shifted its 14 MLAs to Jaipur fearing horse-trading by the ruling BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.

The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin for the election.

Given its number in the Assembly, the ruling party can only win two seats unless it manages cross-voting from the opposition camp or ensures defection of Congress MLAs to win the third seat.

The Congress has fielded senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki.

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News Network
April 8,2020

Jamnagar, Apr 7: A 14-month-old baby boy, who had tested positive for coronavirus in Gujarat's Jamnagar district on April 5, died of multiple organ failure on Tuesday, said officials.

The toddler, son of a migrant labourer-couple having no recent travel history, died in the evening at a government hospital in Jamnagar, said an official release.

He was in a critical condition ever since he was admitted to the hospital, it said.

The boy, who tested positive for coronavirus two days ago, was as on ventilator support and eventually died due to multiple organ failure, said the release.

He becomes the youngest patient to succumb to COVID-19 in Gujarat, where the death toll has now gone up to 16.

The baby was the first and the only case of coronavirus infection so far in entire Jamnagar district and the youngest to be diagnosed with the disease in Gujarat.

Ever since he tested coronavirus positive, the authorities had been tracing the source of his infection.

His parents are from Uttar Pradesh and work as casual labourers in factories in the port city.

His parents, who have no travel history in the recent past, are asymptomatic (not showing symptoms) and kept under quarantine, officials said.

The locality where the couple resides in Dared village near Jamnagar city has been put under complete lockdown to check the spread of the virus, they said.

Gujarat has so far recorded 175 coronavirus positive cases and 16 fatalities.

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: With 3,604 more COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's tally of coronavirus cases reached 70,756, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday. 87 deaths were reported during the period.

As per the tally, 46,008 patients are active coronavirus cases while 22,454 patients have been cured/discharged and one patient has migrated.

With 87 deaths due to COVID-19 reported in the last 24 hours, the number of deaths has risen to 2,293.

As per the ministry, Maharashtra has the most number of coronavirus cases with 23,401 cases with 4,786 patients being cured/discharged while 868 deaths have been reported in the state.

Gujarat is second on the list with 8,541 cases that include 2,780 patients recovering from the disease and 513 fatalities.

Tamil Nadu's tally reached 8,002 cases, including 2,051 recoveries and 53 deaths.

While Delhi's tally stands at 7,233 cases with 2,129 patients recovered and 73 deaths.

Meanwhile; Mizoram (one case reported--now recovered), Goa (seven cases reported and all seven recovered), Manipur (Two cases reported and both patients recovered) and Arunachal Pradesh (one case reported--now recovered) have reported no new cases in the last 24 hours.

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