1. Home
  2. BJP fields Ravi Shankar Prasad against sitting MP Shatrughan Sinha

BJP fields Ravi Shankar Prasad against sitting MP Shatrughan Sinha

Agencies
March 20, 2019

Patna, Mar 20: Putting all speculations to rest, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency against the incumbent MP Shatrughan Sinha.

This is for the first time that Prasad, a four-term Rajya Sabha member, will be contesting a Lok Sabha election.

The rebel BJP MP from Patna Sahib, Shatru, who created more enemies than friends in his party through his diatribe against Narendra Modi, continues to be in the BJP, although the saffron camp has been treating him like a ‘persona non grata’. Shatrughan is likely to be the Mahagatbandhan candidate from his home constituency.

Who is Prasad?

Incidentally, both Shatrughan and Ravi Shankar Prasad were Union ministers in Vajpayee Government. However, the two proteges of BJP patriarch L K Advani will be locking horns from their home town in 2019.

Born in Patna, Ravi Shankar Prasad is a senior lawyer who shot to fame while pleading cases against Lalu Prasad in fodder scam in the mid-90s. Son of veteran RSS leader Thakur Prasad, who was Finance Minister in Karpoori Thakur Ministry in Bihar in the 70s, Ravi Shankar was made Rajya Sabha member from Bihar in 2000 and later inducted in the Vajpayee Government as Minister of State for Coal and Mines.

Currently, he is Union Minister for Law and IT. His sister Anuradha Prasad is a veteran TV journalist and is married to Congress leader and former Union Minister Rajiv Shukla.

Resentment

Meanwhile, supporters of another claimant for the Patna Sahib constituency, RK Sinha, BJP Rajya Sabha member, have expressed their resentment over denial of ticket to Sinha and said that Kayastha groups would not support anyone other than RK Sinha. Incidentally, all three – Shatru, Ravi Shankar and RK Sinha belong to upper caste Kayastha.

Welcoming the decision, Shatru said he would contest from Patna Sahib constituency come what may. “After Holi, I will let you know which party I would represent in the ensuing polls,” said Shatru, when asked whether he would contest as an RJD candidate or Congress.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 8,2020

The Civil Aviation Ministry announced an initial assistance of Rs 10 lakh to the dependents of the deceased in the Kozhikode AIE plane crash, while the Kerala government also announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each.

Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, who visited the mishap spot on Saturday, said that a detailed probe is already on and the pilot and co-pilot were highly experienced.

He also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the injured and Rs. 50,000 each to those who suffered minor injuries. The other normal compensations would be decided in due course.

Puri said that Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe, aged 59, who commandeered the AIE flight, had a flying experience of 10,848 hours, while co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar, aged 32, had a flying experience of 1,723 hours.

"Deepak was one of the most distinguished and experienced pilots. He had a commanding experience of 6,662 hours and was commander of B-737 aircraft for 4,244 hours. He had also operated to Kozhikode international airport 27 times. He joined AIE in 2013 and prior to that he served with the IAF and HAL. He was a figher pilot and a recipient of prestigious sword of honour and a gold medalist," said Puri.

Puri said that even as the flight slipped down to around 35 feet, a major disaster was averted due to timely rescue operations. Local people played an exemplary role and the fire brigade's timely action of cutting the plane body and rescuing the passengers minimised the casualties, he said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also said that the local people and all rescue and relief agencies did a well co-ordinated job. The state government would also meet the entire treatment expenses of the injured.

Till Saturday afternoon, the total number of deaths was 18. While 149 were still in hospitals, 23 were discharged.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 9,2020

New Delhi, Jul 9: The Central Board of Secondary Education has strongly defended its decision to drop topics like democratic rights, citizenship, federalism, secularism etc in the name of reducing the syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 due to COVID-19 pandemic. 

The board has claimed that the dropped lessons "are either being covered by the rationalised syllabus or in the Alternative Academic Calendar of NCERT".

The CBSE said it had to come up with the clarification after realizing its decision was "interpreted differently".

"The rationalisation of syllabus up to 30 per cent has been undertaken by the Board for nearly 190 subjects of class 9 to 12 for the academic session 2020-21 as a one-time measure only. The objective is to reduce the exam stress of students due to the prevailing health emergency situation and prevent learning gaps," it said.

While it has said that no questions can be asked from the reduced syllabus in the next board exams, the CBSE has also directed schools to follow alternative calendars prepared by the NCERT.

"Therefore each of the topics that have been wrongly mentioned in media as deleted have been covered under Alternative Academic Calendar of NCERT which is already in force for all the affiliated schools of the Board," it clarified.

On Wednesday, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee tweeted: "Shocked to know that the central Government has dropped topics like citizenship, federalism, secularism and partisan in the name of reducing CBSE course during the COVID crisis."

"We strongly object to this and appeal the HRD Ministry to ensure these vital lessons aren't curtailed at any cost," Banerjee added.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 27,2020

Jan 27: Bollywood Film Director Anurag Kashyap, who has been vocal about his political views on social media, slammed Union Minister Amit Shah and accused him of being 'cheap'.

"How timid our Home Minister is. Its own police, its own goons, its own army and security increases and invades unarmed protestors. Amit Shah has crossed the extent of cheapness and inferiority. History will spit on this animal," Kashyap tweeted.

The film director has taken an active part in the anti-Citizenship Act protest rallies and was against the Jawaharlal Nehru violence. He also came in support of his contemporary Deepika Padukone when the latter faced backlash for showing up at JNU in support of the students.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.