Gujarat: BJP wins assembly bypoll; third win in Jasdan since 1960

Agencies
December 23, 2018

New Delhi, Dec 23: The BJP has won the assembly bypoll in Gujarat by nearly 20,000 votes. The bypoll win in Jasdan is seen as a major victory for the BJP, which recently lost power in three states in the Hindi heartland. This is also the third time that BJP has won the seat in Jasdan after Gujarat was formed in 1960.

The BJP candidate Kunvarji Balavliya polled in 90,268 votes, which is 19,985 votes more than his nearest rival Congress nominee Avsar Nakiya who polled in 60,565 votes in his favour.

Polling for the Jasdan assembly seat in Rajkot district, held on December 20, witnessed a voter turnout of 71.27 per cent.

The bypoll has become a battle of prestige between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress in the wake of the latter winning the just held assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that the victory in Jasdan is a clear indication that BJP will win all 26 seats in Gujarat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

"This victory is a clear indication that BJP will win 26 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. People of Gujarat are with BJP and they are prepared to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister again," Mr Rupani said.

The by-election was necessitated after Mr Bavaliya, an influential Koli community leader who had won the seat on a Congress ticket in 2017, resigned from the party and joined the BJP.

Mr Bavaliya was made a Cabinet minister in the BJP government the same day. The BJP fielded him for the by-election from Jasdan, which has a sizeable Koli population.

Avsar Nakiya, who was fielded by the Congress, is contesting an assembly poll for the first time.

Mr Bavaliya had won from the Jasdan seat five times in the past as the Congress candidate - in 1995, 1998, 2002, 2007 and 2017.

Since the formation of Gujarat in 1960, the BJP has won Jasdan only once - in the by-election of 2009 when Mr Bavaliya vacated the seat after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Rajkot, news agency PTI reported.

Apart from Mr Bavaliya and Mr Nakiya, six other candidates are also in the fray.

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: The Delhi government has asked district magistrates to release 2,446 Tablighi Jamaat members from quarantine centres and ensure that they do not stay in any other place except their homes.

The district magistrates will explore the possibility of sending those Tablighi members, who belong to other states, in buses to their designated places in accordance with social distancing norms and other protocols, DDMA Special CEO K S Meena said in a letter to deputy commissioners (administration).

As man as 567 foreign attendees of the congregation held in Delhi's Nizamuddin area in March, will be handed over to the police, Meena said.

"They (foreign Jamaat attendees) will be handed over to police in connection with several violations like visa violation," a government official said on Saturday.

Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain had recently ordered the release of Tablighi members who have completed their required quarantine period in centres and tested negative for COVID-19.

"Out of such people belonging to Delhi, who could be released as per prescribed guidelines should be issued passes to travel from the quarantine centres.

"Under no circumstances, the aforesaid persons should be allowed to stay in any other places including mosques," Meena said in the letter.

In respect of those Tablighi members belonging to other states, it should be ensured by the nodal officer and the area ACP that such people reach their place of residence, he also said.

"The DC should also inform the respective resident commissioner of their states in respect of each and every movement of such persons from Delhi," the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) Special CEO said.

Thousands of Tablighi Jamaat members had been taken out of its Markaz (centre) in Nizamuddin, where they had gathered for a religious congregation, and quarantined as the area became a major hotspot after a number of members tested positive for coronavirus.

On March 31, the Delhi Police's Crime Branch had lodged an FIR against seven people, including Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, on a complaint by Station House Officer, Nizamuddin, for holding the congregation.

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News Network
January 24,2020

Davos, Jan 24: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan claimed that he met with a “brick wall” when he approached Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a peace proposal, soon after assuming office.

In an interview to Foreign Policy magazine on the sidelines of WEF 2020 here, Khan also said he told Modi that Pakistan will act firmly if it was given evidence of any involvement in the Pulwama terror attack, but India instead “bombed” Pakistan.

Tensions have escalated between the two countries, following India withdrawing the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. Even since, Khan has been trying to seek global intervention to de-escalate the tensions between the two countries.

On Thursday, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar categorically ruled out any third party role on the Kashmir issue, asserting that any issue between the two countries should be resolved bilaterally.

In the interview, Khan said that he is a firm believer that military means are not a solution to ending conflicts. “After assuming office, I immediately reached out to Prime Minister Modi. I was amazed by the reaction I got, which was quite weird.

The subcontinent hosts the greatest number of poor people in the world, and the best way to fight poverty is to have a trading relationship between the two countries rather than spending money on arms. This is what I said to the Indian Prime Minister. But I was met by brick wall,” Khan said.

Khan took charge as Prime Minister in August 2018. Referring to the suicide attack in Pulwama, Khan said he immediately told Modi ,“if you can give us any actionable intelligence (that Pakistanis were involved), we will act on it. But rather than do so, they bombed us.”

Noting that the both countries are not close to conflict right now, Khan said that it is important that the UN and the US act.

When asked about US President Donald Trump’s close relationship with Modi, Khan said the relationship is understandable because India is a huge market. “My concern is not about the US-India relationship. My concern is the direction in which India is going,” Khan said.

Khan also sought to compare the events in India to what happened in Nazi Germany.

“Between 1930 and 1934, Germany went from a liberal democracy to a fascist, totalitarian, racist state. If you look at what is happening in India under the BJP in the last five years, look where it's heading, you'll see the danger. And you're talking about a huge country of 1.3 billion people that is nuclear-armed,” he said.

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News Network
March 25,2020

New Delhi, Mar 25: The total number of positive coronavirus cases in India have climbed to 606, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.
The total number of active COVID-19 cases in the country so far stands at 553, while the number of people who have been cured or discharged stands at 42.
Ten people have died from the disease while one case has migrated, the Ministry further informed.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.
In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Modi said that it is vital to break the chain of the disease and experts have said that at least 21 days are needed for it.

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