Akhilesh skips SP leaders' meeting; meets them separately

October 21, 2016

Lucknow, Oct 21: The chasm in UP's ruling Samajwadi Party grew wider today with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav skipping an important meeting called by state party chief Shivpal Yadav to strategise for the assembly polls due early next year where the latter declared him the party's chief ministerial face.Akhilesh-Yadav

Akhilesh, however, met the delegates, who earlier attended the meeting called by Shivpal, at his residence separately.

Shivpal had convened a meeting of SP district and city units presidents at the party headquarters earlier in the day but Akhilesh was conspicuous by his absence.

At the strategy session for the assembly polls due early next year, Shivpal, apparently seeking to bury the hatchet, declared nephew Akhilesh the party's chief ministerial face.

"Akhilesh Yadav will be the next CM, if party is voted to power. He will be our CM candidate," Shivpal said, days after Mulayam virtually left the field open by saying the newly elected legislators will choose their leader, something which did not go down well with the camp followers of the incumbent CM.

Though Shivpal, the younger brother of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, had met Akhilesh personally last night to invite him to the meeting, the Chief Minister kept away, indicating all was not well in the party despite repeated protestations by its senior leaders to the contrary.

After the meeting was over, a cryptic message went out from 5-Kalidas Marg residence of the Chief Minister that Akhilesh wanted to meet the district party presidents at a short notice.

At the brief meeting, Akhilesh apprised them of his 'rath yatra' scheduled from November 3 and said that they would be kept informed about it.

He asked them to work hard in their respective areas to reap a bumber electoral harvest and "everything will be fine".

The meeting of SP district heads was held a day ahead of the party' state executive meet. Mulayam has also convened a meeting of party legislators and ministers on October 24 to "gauge the mood" of partymen and people of their area.

Shivpal asked the district party chiefs to gear up for elections and also to make the party's silver jubilee celebrations on November 5 in the state capital a big success.

Akhilesh, with whom Shivpal is engaged in a running feud over the last few months, has already made it clear in a letter to the Samajwadi Party boss and his father Mulayam that he would be proceeding on his 'rath yatra' on November 3 to highlight the development work done by his government, in a clear indication that he would skip the November 5 event too.

With the tense stand-off between Akhilesh and Shivpal continuing, speculation about a possible split is rife with some even suggesting that a new party named National Samajwadi Party or Pragatisheel Samajwadi party with motorcycle as its symbol could be formed by the Chief Minister ahead of the assembly elections.

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News Network
February 26,2020

Feb 26: In his first reaction to incidents of violence in Delhi which have left at least 20 people dead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday appealed for peace and brotherhood, and said he has held an extensive review of the prevailing situation in various parts of the national capital.

He also said it was important that calm and normalcy was restored at the earliest.

“Had an extensive review on the situation prevailing in various parts of Delhi. Police and other agencies are working on the ground to ensure peace and normalcy,” Modi tweeted.

Stressing that peace and harmony are “central to our ethos”, Modi said, “I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times.”

At least 20 people have been killed since Sunday in communal violence in Northeast Delhi, triggered after clashes between pro and anti-CAA protestors over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

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News Network
March 23,2020

New Delhi, Mar 23: The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 390 on Monday after 30 fresh cases were reported.

The figure includes 41 foreign nationals and the seven deaths reported so far.

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Agencies
June 11,2020

New Delhi, Jun 11: India on Thursday rejected a US government report that voiced concerns over alleged attacks and discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities in the country.

"Our principled position remains that we see no locus standi for a foreign entity to pronounce on the state of our citizens' constitutionally protected rights," Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said.

He was replying to a question on the report at an online media briefing.

Mandated by the US Congress, the '2019 International Religious Freedom Report' that documents major instances of violation of religious freedom across the world was released by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday.

"India's vibrant democratic traditions and practices are evident to the world. The people and government of India are proud of our country's democratic traditions," the spokesperson said.

"We have a robust public discourse in India and constitutionally mandated institutions that guarantee protection of religious freedom and rule of law," he added.

The India section of the report said that US government officials underscored the importance of respecting religious freedom and promoting tolerance and mutual respect throughout the year with the ruling and opposition parties, civil society and religious freedom activists, and religious leaders belonging to various faith communities.

The report referred to the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir last August and the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Parliament in December as major highlights for India last year.

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