BJP requests media to 'ignore' Shatrughan Sinha

August 2, 2013
New Delhi, Aug 2: BJP today refused to confront its MP Shatrughan Sinha and even requested the media to "ignore" him in the wake of a series of embarrassing comments by the leader over the last week targeting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

sinhaIn his latest remarks, Sinha today said in an interview to a news channel that if popularity was the yardstick for choosing a leader, then actor Amitabh Bachchan should become the President of India.

The above comment was a jibe at BJP President Rajnath Singh who has kept reiterating that Modi was the most popular leader in the country.

At a time when the party is said to be considering whether to name Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate, Sinha's comments have come as something of an embarrassment.

Sinha even said that senior leader LK Advani was the one best-suited for the PM's post.

Asked about Sinha's latest salvo, BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Sinha was cautious in her reaction.

"Our party president is aware of these comments and he will take cognisance. I am not authorised to speak on the issue," she said.

When pressed for a reaction, she said, "Please ignore Sinha".

Sinha, a former Cabinet minister and the sitting MP from Patna Saheb, had earlier praised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as "PM material".

Kumar's JD(U) had recently walked out of NDA in protest against Modi's elevation as BJP's poll campaign chief.

Party sources said Sinha is apprehensive that BJP may not give him a Lok Sabha ticket in the forthcoming elections as he has not worked in his constituency and was not accessible to the locals.

There are murmurs that Sinha may shift to JD(U) were BJP to deny him a ticket and was thus preparing the ground for such a move through these comments.

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News Network
April 4,2020

Kochi, Apr 4: France on Saturday evacuated 112

French citizens stranded in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in a special Air India flight, official sources said here.

The Embassy of France had made a request to the Kerala government to facilitate the journey of the French citizens stranded due to the lockdown announced by the central government to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

The French citizens, mostly tourists and those who came for Ayurvedic treatment, were brought here by the state tourism department 24 days ahead of their trip.

They underwent a medical examination before boarding the flight for Paris from Cochin International Airport at 08.13 am on Saturday, officials said.

The Air India flight was chartered by the French government for evacuating its citizens in various cities in India including Kochi, Bengaluru and Mumbai.

On Friday, Gulf nation Oman had evacuated its 46 citizens stranded in Kochi in an Oman Air flight.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Mumbai, Jan 15: A relative of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was killed and three others injured when their car met with an accident on Mumbai-Nashik highway, police said on Wednesday.

The mishap took place at Sinnar in Nashik on Tuesday night when the CM's sister-in-law Vina Karande and six other relatives were returning from Shirdi in a sports utility vehicle (SUV), Nashik (Rural) Superintendent of Police Aarti Singh said.

The car driver apparently lost control over the wheels, following which the vehicle overturned on a roadside while passing through a narrow bridge, located around 190 km from here, the official said.

They were rushed to a hospital in Nashik where Ajay Karande, husband of Vina Karande, died during treatment, the official said.

The three others were undergoing treatment at the hospital, the police said, adding that their condition was reported to be out of danger.

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News Network
April 11,2020

Apr 11: India has sent back 20,473 foreigners who wanted to return to their countries following the Covid-19 global pandemic, it was revealed on Friday (April 10).

"So far, we have successfully evacuated 20,473 foreign nationals as of yesterday. This is an ongoing process," said Dammu Ravi, Coordinator on Covid-19 issues at the Ministry of External Affairs, MEA.

"This involves several countries," Ravi said during the daily government briefing on Covid-19, although he could not list the countries offhand. "We are receiving excellent cooperation from governments all over the world for this process."

Many foreigners, especially tourists, were stranded in India when domestic and international flights were abruptly cancelled last month in a bid to curb transmission of the coronavirus.

The Ministry of Tourism has asked stranded foreigners to get in touch with the government through a special portal started for the purpose, through their embassies in India and other sources to facilitate their evacuation if they wished to head home.

As of Friday evening, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had confirmed 6,761 Covid-19 cases in India, of whom 515 patients have been cured.

There were 206 deaths reported from across the country.

Two states, Punjab and Orissa, have extended the ongoing lockdown until April 30.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will consult state chief ministers on Saturday to decide whether to extend the country-wide lockdown, which is due to end at midnight on April 14.

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