BJP internal rift escalates; Joshi's posters come up in Ahmedabad

June 5, 2012

Sanjay_Joshi

Ahmedabad, Jun 5: In signs of growing dissent within the BJP, hoardings supporting party leader Sanjay Joshi have came up at various places in the city, targeting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the state elections scheduled in December this year.

The hoardings and posters with Joshi's pictures say, "Chote man se koi bada nahi hota, tute man se koi bada nahi hota (nobody becomes big with a narrow mind)".

It went on to say "kaho dil se... Sanjay Joshi phir se (Say with all your heart, Sanjay Joshi once again)".

The hoardings apparently targeted the Gujarat Chief Minister though his name has not been written any where on them. They say that those having a narrow mind cannot become a big leader.

Modi had reportedly threatened to quit the national executive himself if Joshi was allowed to continue as its member.

The BJP central leadership had then asked Joshi to resign from the national executive following which Modi went to Mumbai to attend the event last month.

The Gujarat BJP unit has so far refused to say anything on the hoardings of Joshi.

Modi and Joshi started their political careers as comrades to put Gujarat BJP unit on a high pedestal but now they don't see eye to eye.

Joshi came to Ahmedabad in 1988-89 from Maharashtra RSS to join the BJP here.

In 1990, Modi was the general secretary of state unit of BJP while Joshi was secretary and both worked together for about five years along with other leaders, which was the crucial phase of state BJP when the party came to power for the first time in the state with Keshubhai Patel as chief minister in 1995.

However, in 1995 itself after a revolt by then party leader Shankarsinh Vaghela, Modi was shunted out of the state and Joshi became the powerful general secretary (organisation) of BJP state unit.

BJP was able to come back to power in Gujarat after a revolt by Shankarsinh Vaghela in 1998.

The enmity between the two began in 1998, when Modi wanted to return to the state but Joshi had opposed the move and did not allow him to return, sources said.

Keshubhai Patel once again became the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 1998. The rivalry of Joshi-Modi grew from that year and it became more intense when Patel was unceremoniously removed as Chief Minister and replaced by Modi in 2001.

But, the party then transferred Joshi to Delhi and gave him a powerful post of Party General Secretary (organisation).

In the next few years, the clout of Joshi began to grow at the national level due to his position in the party.

However, in 2005, Joshi was forced to resign following a controversy over a CD purportedly showing him in poor light.

The CD surfaced during the silver jubilee celebrations of the party in Mumbai.

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News Network
March 20,2020

New Delhi, Mar 20: The government on Thursday said one Indian who tested positive for coronavirus has died in Iran while the other citizens infected with the disease are being provided treatment and taken care of by the Iranian government.

Noting that the virus tends to be more fatal for those whose immunity levels are low, a senior MEA official said the deceased, an elderly person, belonged to the vulnerable age group and had health-related complications.

The death was not because of lack of medical attention or care, he said.

"We have evacuated 590 people from Iran where the situation is very severe. The Indians infected with coronavirus in Iran have been segregated and taken care of very well by the government there. We believe they will recover and we will bring them back," the MEA official said, adding that 201 Indians were evacuated from Iran on Wednesday.

The official said closely knit families required some persuasion and counselling during the process of segregation to prevent the spread of the contagion.

The Indian ambassador and other officials explained the consequences of infected people not being separated from their families and were successful to a large extent in segregating the positive cases from the negative ones, he said.

"Some pilgrims and students are still there and our embassy and mission are in control (of the situation)," the official said.

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News Network
March 30,2020

New Delhi, Mar 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday interacted with Indian ambassadors and high commissioners abroad and urged them to remain alert to developments in global efforts against COVID-19 including breakthroughs to help the country's fight against the coronavirus.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla were also present during the interaction through video-conferencing.

"Coming together for India PM interacted with Indian Ambassadors/High Commissioners abroad and urged them to remain alert to developments in global efforts against COVID-19 including breakthroughs to help our national efforts to fight COVID19," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

"PM appreciated the efforts of our missions in helping Indians abroad, in particular, students and workers," he added.

The number of positive coronavirus cases in the country stood at 1,071 on Monday. It includes 29 deaths and 99 people, who have been cured of the highly contagious virus.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Mumbai, Jan 7: Facing criticism from social media and political quarters for holding a 'Free Kashmir' poster during a protest against violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Mehak Prabhu, a Mumbai-based storyteller, on Tuesday clarified that she meant to highlight the restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir and wishes to see peace in the region, adding she had no other motive behind her actions.

"At around 7 pm yesterday, I reached where the protest was happening at the Gateway of India. Like anybody else who believes in democracy, I also joined that protest. We were standing for justice to the JNU students," Prabhu said in a video posted on Facebook.

"I saw a bunch of people who were painting placards on every issue like NRC, CAA and for JNU students. There was a placard lying on the side which said 'Free Kashmir'. The first thing which came to my mind when I saw that placard was about the basic constitutional rights of Kashmiris," she said.

Prabhu also said that she was not a Kashmiri and was brought up in Mumbai. She outlined that she was standing with a flower in her hand and asserted that the entire matter was "completely blown out of proportion".

"I was quietly standing with a flower in my hand. This means we need to make peace together. That was my only intention in holding that placard. The narrative that has been put out is absolutely wrong," she said, describing the reactions to the matter was "crazy".

The Mumbai-based storyteller underlined that the incident is scary and urged the people to spread the words of what she said and not hatred.

"The way it has gone, it is very scary. I am a simple person. As a woman, it is very scary for my safety right now. Spread this side of my story and let's stop it here. Let us not spread the hate. It has happened to me, it can happen to anyone. We should not live in fear," Prabhu further said.

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