MP polls: BJP has only one Muslim in fray; Cong nominates 5

November 15, 2013

ShivrajSinghChouhanBhopal, Nov 15: The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh has given ticket to only one Muslim candidate for contesting the November 25 state Assembly elections for which it is being criticised by Opposition party Congress.

The Congress has criticised the BJP while alleging that the party is trying to "fool" the community despite Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan embracing the community during festivals even as the saffron party has defended itself saying that it does not believe in religion or caste-based politics.

Former Union Minister Arif Baig (78) is the lone Muslim nominee for the BJP from the North Bhopal constituency from where the party won only in 1992.

In comparison to the BJP, Congress has fielded five candidates from the community from different constituencies to give representation to its traditional vote bank.

Besides Arif Aqueel from Bhopal North, Congress has also fielded Arif Masood from Bhopal Central, Abdul Majeed Khan from Rewa, Firoz Ahmed from Mudwara and Yusuf Kadapa from Jaora Assembly seats.

Interestingly, all the three Muslim candidates in Bhopal share their first name.

"We demanded nearly 20-22 seats for minority community in the state from the Congress and got a total of 10 tickets including five for Muslim candidates," Madhya Pradesh Congress minority cell president, Mohammad Salim told PTI today.

"I am satisfied with the allotment of party ticket to the Muslim candidates this time as our major aim is to ensure the victory of Congress in the state at any cost," Salim said.

Criticising Chouhan, he said that though he "embraced the minority community during festivals and donned skull caps," it was a fact that his party has given ticket only to a single candidate in the entire state, which is an "attempt to fool the community."

"Though Baig is a senior leader, he won't be able to cut much ice with the voters this time as he is not even having a team of dedicated workers," Salim said.

"If BJP is serious about Muslim welfare then it should implement the Sachhar Committee report in toto," he said.

However, defending his party, state BJP's minority front president, Hidayatullah Sheikh said, "BJP never believes in giving ticket to candidates on the basis of religion or caste and it's only criterion is winnability factor."

Justifying ticket to Baig, he said "One Arif Baig is enough to strengthen the voice of the entire community in the state and he will prove his mettle in the days to come."

"We have not demanded any particular number of seats for the community as we are against giving tickets on the basis of religion or caste," he added.

The five seats from where Congress has given tickets to the Muslim candidates, the party had won two seats - Bhopal North and Jaora - in 2008 while BJP was victorious on the remaining three -- Rewa, Bhopal Central and Mudwara.

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News Network
January 30,2020

Baharampore, Jan 30: Two persons were killed and one was injured in a clash over a protest programme against the CAA and the proposed NRC in West Bengal's Murshidabad district on Wednesday, police said.

The incident occured after an argument broke out between the two sides at Jalangi over a protest programme opposing Citizenship Amendment Act.

According to the police, a scuffle broke out between the local TMC leaders and residents' forum 'Nagarik Mancha', which was observing a shutdown in the area against the amended citizenship act and the proposed country-wide NRC.

The residents' forum was asked to withdraw the shutdown and the situation turned violent as both sides came to blows and hurled bombs at each other. Several two-wheelers and cars were damaged and set on fire during the clash.

Local TMC MP Abu Taher, denied that the party was involved in the clash and alleged that the violence was by Congress and CPI(M) supporters.

"I have requested the police to look into the incident. The culprits should be immediately arrested," he said.

Senior Congress leader and MLA Manoj Chakraborty said that the party was not involved in the incident and demanded judicial inquiry into it.

The injured have been rushed to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital here, the police said.

The Muslim-majority district had witnessed violence and arson during the anti-CAA protests across the state in December last year.

West Bengal became the fourth state after Left-ruled Kerala, and Punjab and Rajasthan, where the Congress is in power, to have passed a resolution on January 27 against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The state assembly had on September 6, 2019, passed a resolution against NRC.

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Agencies
May 6,2020

New Delhi, May 6: The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has extended the validity of electronic way (E-way) bills, whose expiry date fell between March 20 and April 15, till May 31.

"Notification No. 40/2020-Central Tax issued to extend the validity of e-way bills till May 31 for all those e-way bills which were generated on or before March 24, 2020 and had expiry between the period from March 20 to April 15, 2020," the CBIC tweeted on Tuesday.

E-way bill is produced by transporters and businessmen before a Goods and Services Tax (GST) inspector for moving goods worth over Rs 50,000 from one state to another.

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News Network
June 20,2020

New Delhi, Jun 20: The government-imposed upper and lower limits on airfares may be extended beyond August 24 depending upon how the situation turns out, Aviation Secretary P S Kharola said on Saturday.

The government resumed domestic passenger flights from May 25 after nearly two months of suspension to combat the coronavirus outbreak, but placed lower and upper limits on airfares depending upon the flight duration.

It had said on May 21 that these limits would be in place for a period of three months.

"Depending on how the situation turns out, the fare band may have to adjusted beyond that (August 24) also. But right now, it is only for three months," Kharola said at a press conference here.

International passenger flights continue to remain suspended in the country.

However, the government started Vande Bharat Mission on May 6 to help stranded people reach their destinations through special flights.

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said at the conference that during phase 3 and phase 4 of the mission, private domestic airlines have been approved to operate 750 international flights to repatriate people stranded amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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