Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi regained his lead over Union minister

News Network
May 23, 2019

Lucknow, May 23: Smriti Irani in Amethi after he trailed her for some time shortly after counting began Thursday.

The fight to retain the family bastion of Amethi has been one of the fiercest of contests of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

With the SP-BSP alliance staying out of the contest in Amethi, Rahul faced a straight contest from Union minister Smiriti Irani who accused him of shifting to Waynad (Kerala) for fear of losing in Amethi that he had represented since 2004.

In 2014, Rahul got 408651 votes against Irani’s 300748 votes. A low margin of victory of about one lakh votes was attributed to the BJP’s aggressive campaign and consistent attempts to make inroads in Amethi over the years. Rahul’s margin of victory was down substantially from the figure of 3.7 lakh votes with which he had won in 2009.

Congress general secretary for east UP, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who led party’s campaign for her brother in the constituency, said the people of the constituency had now understood the BJP’s designs and she was sure of of a higher victory margin for her brother in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Amethi Congress too had given a slogan of “paanch lakh paar” slogan to boost the victory margin.

Priyanka, in her election campaign, tried to strike an emotional chord with the local people by often referring to her father and former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi and his vision for development of Amethi and the country. She also accused Irani of distributing items like shoes to lure the people of the constituency.

Irani has been making regular visits to Amethi after losing the seat in 2014. She has consistently targeted Rahul for ‘neglecting’ Amethi over the years. Her frequent visits had helped the BJP in strengthening cadres and the party was able to win four of five assembly seats in Amethi in 2017 assembly elections. The Samajwadi Party won the fifth seat and the Congress could not win any seat in 2017 assembly polls.

The BJP workers tried to show black flags to Rahul Gandhi on his visits to his Lok Sabha seat on a number of occasions in the past five years. A black flag against a member of Gandhi family was unthinkable a few years ago in Amethi. Posters calling Rahul Gandhi a “Missing MP” had been put up in the constituency more than once in the past five years. But the BJP consistently used backwardness in the constituency as an opportunity to target the Congress chief.

The Congress and the BSP led Mayawati government had indulged in a war of words when the BSP government (2007-2012) refused to allot land to a number of development projects in Amethi and Rae Bareli. The Congress was able to bring some projects to ground only after installation of Samajwadi Party government in the state in 2012.

After Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, the Congress accused the Centre of indulging in political vendetta as some of Rahul’s projects were either scrapped or shifted out of Amethi.

This time, Rahul had promised that once a Congress government was formed at the Centre, he would ensure to bring double the number of development projects that the NDA government had taken away from the constituency in the past five years.

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News Network
January 12,2020

Kolkata, Jan 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced that Kolkata Port Trust will be renamed as Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port.

Addressing the gathering at the inauguration of 150th anniversary celebrations of Kolkata Port Trust, he said: "I announce the renaming of the Kolkata Port Trust to Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port. He is a living legend who was a leader for development and fought on the forefront for the idea of One Nation, One Constitution."

"This port represents industrial, spiritual and self-sufficiency aspirations of India. Today, when the port is celebrating its 150th anniversary, it is our responsibility to make it a powerful symbol of New India," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that the Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder had set the stone for industrialization in India. "Chittaranjan Locomotive Factory, Hindustan Aircraft Factory, Damodar Valley Corporation and several others saw active participation from him," he said.

The Prime Minister also felicitated the two oldest pensioners of the Kolkata Port Trust, Nagina Bhagat and Naresh Chandra Chakraborty.

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Agencies
February 14,2020

Lucknow, Feb 14: Uttar Pradesh doctor Kafeel Khan was on Friday booked under the National Security Act (NSA) over his alleged anti-CAA speech at Aligarh Muslim University on December 12, 2019.

The Uttar Pradesh slapped NSA on Kafeel Khan on Friday even as the doctor waited to be released from jail despite being granted bail on Monday in connection with his alleged inflammatory speech.

SP Crime Dr Arvind said that there were sufficient grounds to book the doctor under NSA.

The suspended pediatrician, Kafeel Khan, was arrested for allegedly delivering a controversial speech during Anti-CAA protests on December 12 at the Aligarh Muslim University or AMU. While he was granted bail on Monday, his family members claimed on Thursday that he was yet to be released.

Dr Kafeel Khan's brother Adeel Ahmed Khan had issued a statement saying that despite being granted bail Mathura jail authorities had not honoured the court's order.

Dr Kafeel Khan was arrested by the UP Special Task Force from Mumbai on January 29 for participating anti-CAA protest at AMU. A case was registered against him at the Civil Lines police station here for promoting enmity between different religions.

After his arrest in Mumbai, Dr Khan was brought to Aligarh, from where he was shifted to the district jail in neighbouring Mathura.

According to police, this was done as a precautionary measure in view of the anti-CAA protests on the AMU campus and at the Eidgah grounds in the old city. Police had said that the Dr Khan's presence in the Aligarh jail could have aggravated the law and order situation in the city.

The doctor was earlier arrested for his alleged role in the death of over 60 children in one week at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur in August 2017. Short supply of oxygen at the children's ward was blamed at that time for the deaths.

About two years later, a state government probe cleared Khan of all major charges, prompting him to seek an apology from the Yogi Adityanath government.

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: A litre of diesel on Wednesday was more expensive than a litre of petrol after the price of the former was hiked by 48 paise on the 18th successive day of fuel price revisions. While petrol price remained unchanged for the first time since June 7, diesel prices maintained upward trajectory to touch new highs.

It is for the first time in Delhi that diesel has become more expensive than petrol. A litre of the fuel now costs ₹79.88 as against ₹79.76 for a litre of petrol, as per a report in news agency ANI.

While surging fuel prices may generate much-needed revenue for governments, it would also have a detrimental impact on household budgets. The spike in diesel prices also has a wider impact on the transport and agricultural sectors which are largely dependent on the fuel.

The widest gap between the prices of the two fuels was on June 18 of 2012 when a litre of petrol was at ₹71.16 in Delhi while diesel was at ₹40.91. On June 28, the gap between the two fuels was 31.17 per litre in Mumbai. Around that time, there was a spurt in sales of diesel passenger vehicles while demand for such vehicles has come down significantly in current times. This has also led many manufacturers to ditch diesel engines completely.

The current trend of fuel price hikes are unlikely to do demand for petrol vehicles much good either.

Daily price revisions of the two fuel had been temporarily halted for 83 days till it was resumed on June 7.

India's demand for fuel doubled in May and has been steadily rising in June with the easing of restrictions. Indian refineries have already scaled up crude processing with Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, looking to operate its plants at about 90% capacity in June.

The rising fuel prices, however, have resulted in political uproar with Congress leading the charge against the central government and accusing it of penalising consumers by imposing high taxes. A demand for including fuel prices under Goods and Services Tax (GST) has also been renewed by many but it is highly unlikely that it would happen. With oil companies looking to cut back on their previous loses and governments - central as well as states - aiming to generate revenue after tumultous weeks of lockdown, fuel price hikes are likely to stay till at least the end of June.

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