With eye on early Lok Sabha elections, BJP shedding saffron image?

September 30, 2012

BJP-Saffron

New Delhi, September 30: While anticipating that elections may be held earlier than scheduled, BJP has been trying to soften its "hardline Hindutva" image in what appears to be a move to blunt the hostility of Muslims, and reassure its existing allies while reaching out to new partners.

 

The three-day session of BJP's national executive saw both party president Nitin Gadkari and veteran leader LK Advani condemning the anti-Islam film that has triggered violence in different parts of the globe.

 

Gadkari on Thursday cited Swami Vivekananda, whose 150th birth anniversary is being planned by the party in a big way, to condemn the film that denigrates Prophet Mohammad.

 

"It's wrong to spread disrespect towards anybody who is revered by members of a faith. We should with full conviction reassure our brethren belonging to the minority communities that we brook no discrimination or injustice in dealing with different sections of our diverse society," Advani said in a speech that was well received by the audience.

 

He suggested that doing so would help reassure party's potential allies that "they have nothing to be apprehensive about partnering with BJP". Advani also emphasized the need for broadening the NDA, saying that the grouping has to be transformed into "NDA Plus".

 

The remark acquires significance in view of the apprehension of an existing ally, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, as well as the recognition that the fear of losing Muslim support forces some of the anti-Congress players to maintain a distance from the saffron outfit. In fact, Advani's advice that party should undergo an image makeover to appear "secular" appears to articulate especially Kumar's anxiety.

 

The Bihar CM is apprehensive that the projection of his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi as BJP's choice for the PM will deal a setback to his assiduous attempts to woo Muslims away from his rival Lalu Prasad.

 

Regional players like TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, who are hostile to Congress, are loath to be seen in BJP's company because of the latter's "communal tag".

 

Though a handicap for the BJP, the "communal" brand works to the advantage of its allies, who cite it to justify their flexibility in choosing allies and taking positions.

 

On a larger plane, the same factor helps the "secular" rivals to seek to mobilize Muslims against the saffron party.


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News Network
June 15,2020

New Delhi, Jun 15: On Monday, petrol and diesel prices across the country were raised for the ninth consecutive day by 48 paise and 59 paise, respectively.

Petrol price per litre was raised to Rs 76.26 in New Delhi, Rs 83.17 in Mumbai, Rs 79.96 in Chennai, Rs 79.17 in Hyderabad, Rs 78.73 in Bengaluru and Rs 78.10 in Kolkata.

Diesel price per litre was hiked to Rs 74.62 in New Delhi, Rs 73.21 in Mumbai, Rs 72.69 in Chennai, Rs 72.93 in Hyderabad, Rs 70.95 in Bengaluru and Rs 70.33 in Kolkata.

Since 7 June, after ending their 82-day hiatus in daily revision, state-owned oil marketing companies have increased petrol price by Rs 5 per litre and diesel by Rs 5.23 per litre.

These prices are close to levels last seen in October-November 2018 when international oil prices had spiked close to $80 per barrel. In October 2018, petrol price in Mumbai had crossed Rs 90-mark and in Delhi, it was around Rs 83 per litre.

Comparatively, on Monday, Brent crude, the international benchmark for crude oil prices, fell 2.3 percent to $37.84 a barrel over concerns of subdued demand for fuel as new coronavirus infections were reported in China and the US.

The present spike in fuel prices in India could be attributed to the fact that central and state governments, along with oil marketing companies are looking to make up for their loss in revenues due to the lockdown.

Last month, the central government had increased the excise duty on per litre of petrol by Rs 10 and per litre of diesel by Rs 13. Several state governments have also hiked their VAT or cess on fuel in the last month. In fact, now around 70 percent of the retail price of fuel is just some form of tax.

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News Network
January 22,2020

New Delhi, Jan 22: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has assets worth Rs 3.4 crore, an increase of Rs 1.3 crore from 2015, according to his election affidavit.

Kejriwal's total assets were worth Rs 2.1 crore in 2015.

The cash and fixed deposits of Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal increased from Rs 15 lakh in 2015 to Rs 57 lakh in 2020.

A party functionary said Rs 32 lakh worth cash and fixed deposits have been received by Sunita Kejriwal as voluntary retirement benefits while the rest are savings.

The cash and fixed deposits of the chief minister increased from Rs 2.26 lakh in 2015 to Rs 9.65 lakh in 2020.

There was no change in the value of immovable assets of his wife while Kejriwal's immovable assets' worth increased from Rs 92 lakh to Rs 177 lakh.

The party functionaries said increase in Kejriwal's immovable assets' worth is due to the increased valuation of the same asset as in 2015.

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News Network
July 17,2020

Lukung, Jul 17: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday assured that not an inch of our land can be taken by any power in the world while he interacted with the Indian Army and ITBP personnel at Lukung.

Referring to the India-China border standoff, he said, "Talks are underway to resolve the border dispute but to what extent it can be resolved I cannot guarantee. I can assure you, not one inch of our land can be taken by any power in the world."

Emphasising on finding a diplomatic solution to the standoff, he further said, "If a solution can be found by talks, there is nothing better."
"Recently what happened between troops of India and China at PP14, how some of our personnel sacrificed their lives protecting our border. I am happy to meet you all but also saddened because of their loss. I pay my tributes to them," he added.

Singh interacted with the Army and Paramilitary troops here along with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General MM Naravane.

Earlier today, the Defence Minister witnessed para dropping and scoping weapons here. He also inspected a Pika machine gun.

Indian Army T-90 tanks and BMP infantry combat vehicles carried out the exercise at Stakna, Leh in presence of Singh, Chief of Defence Staff and Army Chief.

Defence Minister is on a two-day visit to Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. He will take stock of the situation at both the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the Line of Control (LOC).

While Pakistan constantly violates ceasefire from across the LoC, China has continued to intrude into Indian territory in Ladakh region in recent past, escalating tensions between India and its eastern neighbour.

On June 15, twenty Indian soldiers laid out their lives during combat with Chinese forces in Galwan valley, leading to tensions between both nations. Chinese soldiers subsequently started moving back following dialogues between two countries through the military level and diplomatic level.

Singh was accompanied by the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General MM Naravane.

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