Modi flags off BJP poll campaign; slams UPA

August 11, 2013
Hyderabad, Aug 11: Slamming UPA and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over Government’s Pakistan policy in the wake of the LoC attack, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleged that national security is being ignored due to “vote bank politics“.

“This government of Delhi cannot provide security to the nation. This government, neck deep in vote bank politics, cannot provide security to our nation... When the Indian jawans were beheaded, the Prime Minister had said that Pakistan will be accounted for it,” Mr. Modi said addressing his much-publicised rally in Hyderabad.

“Now when the Pakistani Army, this week, shot dead our jawans, I want to ask the Prime Minister...he had made the promise that we will not tolerate such things. What is the reason that a country of 125 crore is silently tolerating when Pakistan is going back on its promise one by one?”

The LoC attack in Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir early this month in which specialised troops of Pakistan were involved left five jawans dead.

“What is the protocol with those, who behead our soldiers,” he asked.

Mr. Modi, the chief of BJP’s national election campaign, began his speech in Telugu drawing applause from his supporters, who had come to listen to him by paying Rs. 5 as entry fee.

He also alleged that the jawans of Indian Army deployed on the Bangladesh border have been asked not to use weapons even if there was an assault from the other side.

Raising the issue of Chinese incursion, the Gujarat Chief Minister attacked External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid for his remarks on his visit to Beijing.

“Shame, Shame Shame on You. Shame on You, who are running the government of India. You are spraying acid on the wounds of 125 crore Indians...,” he said.

After his visit to Beijing recently, Mr. Khurshid said he would “love to live in Beijing.”

Mr. Modi also slammed Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over the detention of BJP leader Arun Jaitley at airport and preventing him from visiting riots-hit Kishtwar and said it smacks of an attempt to “hide” the “tale of a crime” that has happened there.

Mr. Modi also accused Congress of creating a wedge between people of Telangana and Seemandhra regions.

Appeals to non-Cong parties to come together, woos TDP

Launching his Southern election campaign, Mr. Modi appealed to all non-Congress parties to come together to dislodge the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and to end “dynastic” rule.

In a bid to woo fresh allies, the Gujarat Chief Minister, who is the BJP’s national election campaign chief, made a specific appeal to Telugu Desam (TDP), which has inherited the legacy of late N.T. Rama Rao, a former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, saying it was its duty to see that the government at the Centre be made Congress-free.

“Congress party is a burden on this nation. Today I want to remember NTR when I come here. NTR did service not only to Andhra but the whole of India when he gave boost to anti-Congress politics. It was NTR’s efforts that paved the way for formation of a non-Congress government at the Centre.

“I appeal to all political parties in Andhra Pradesh here, what can be a supreme tribute to NTR than providing a non-Congress government,” said Mr. Modi while addressing a huge gathering at the Lal Bahadur stadium here organised by BJP.

“All those who claim NTR’s legacy, their first duty is to do everything to bring a non-Congress government. It should be their duty to do everything in this regard. I am confident that Andhra Pradesh’s political parties will not leave any stone unturned to bring a non-Congress government and end this dynastic rule,” he said.

Addressing TDP specifically, a party which has inherited NTR’s legacy, Modi said, “It is their duty also to fulfill NTR’s dreams.”

The TDP, headed by N Chandrababu Naidu, is a former constituent of BJP-led NDA and supported the Vajpayee government from 1998 to 2004. The TDP severed its alliance with BJP after the 2004 election defeat.

“Desh mein Congress mukt bharat ki hawa ban chuki hai (An atmosphere has been created for a Congress-free India),” Mr. Modi said.

Mr. Modi ended his 45-minute speech taking a leaf out of U.S. president Barack Obama by making the crowd chant “yes we can“.

modi

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 6,2020

United Nations, Jun 6: The COVID-19 pandemic, which has presented challenges for several nations, could be an “opportunity” for India to speed up the health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat, especially with a focus on primary healthcare, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said.

WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus was responding to a question on the COVID-19 situation in India, where the number of coronavirus cases are increasing rapidly. India went past Italy on Friday to become the sixth worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic.

India saw a record single-day jump of 9,887 coronavirus cases and 294 deaths on Saturday, pushing the nationwide infection tally to 2,36,657 and the death toll to 6,642, according to the health ministry.

"Of course COVID is very unfortunate and it's challenging for many nations but we need to look for opportunities too. For instance for India, this could be an opportunity to speed up Ayushman Bharat, especially with a focus on primary health care. I know there is a very strong commitment from the government to speed up the implementation of Ayushman Bharat and with primary healthcare and community engagement, I think we can really turn the tide,” Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing in Geneva on Friday.

Ayushman Bharat is the world’s largest health insurance scheme and was launched by the Narendra Modi government in 2018. Last month, Modi had said that the number of people who have benefited from the scheme crossed the one crore-mark.

The scheme aims to cover more than 500 million beneficiaries and provide coverage of Rs 500,000 per family per year.

Referring to the Ayushman Bharat scheme, Ghebreyesus added that “using and speeding up what has started could actually help in India and that's what WHO was very appreciative by the way when Ayushman Bharat started. And this could be a very good opportunity actually to test that and speed up and use it to really fight this pandemic.”

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 15,2020

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala activist Rehana Fathima has been asked to take compulsory retirement from BSNL after she was embroiled in Sabarimala row.

Stating that her attempt to enter the shrine of celibate god in 2018 had spoiled the reputation of the company among customers, the BSNL, in its order asked her to take compulsory retirement, further claiming that her acts were “subversive of discipline and amount to misconduct”.

She was suspended from service following her arrest in November 2018 over Facebook posts.

Fathima, who is a technician with the state-run communications company, said she will explore legal remedies against the order sent by her employer.

The Fathima hit headlines when she attempted to enter the Sabarimala shrine, which has traditionally been closed to women in the age group of 10-50 years.

She did after the Supreme Court order allowing entry of women in the age group of 10-50.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that nearly 1,25,000 Indians have returned from different countries under the Vande Bharat Mission.

He informed that 6,037 people returned to India from overseas on June 23.

"Vande Bharat continues to be a mission of hope and happiness for stranded and distressed Indians around the world. So far, nearly 125K Indians have come back on these evacuation flights and nearly 43K have flown out of India. Today (on Tuesday) 6,037 people returned from different countries," Puri said in a tweet.

As many as 2,50,087 Indian nationals stranded abroad have been repatriated since the beginning of Vande Bharat Mission last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said last week.

The Vande Bharat Mission, which started from May 7 to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus pandemic, is in its third phase.
The recent phase commenced on June 11.

Under the third phase, India would have 550 flights including 191 feeder flights.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.