Kejriwal says it’s direct fight with Modi, Rai dismisses claims

May 12, 2014
Varanasi, May 12: As voting got underway in this high-profile Lok Sabha constituency, AAP candidate Arvind Kejriwal said his direct fight was with BJP's Narendra Modi and Congress' Ajay Rai was nowhere in the contest.

kejri_copyRai, however, dismissed these claims and said the voters of Varanasi will elect him as he was the only "son of the soil" in the fray.

Speaking to reporters outside a polling booth, Kejriwal said that people should come out in large numbers and vote, while similar appeal was made by BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate also through a tweet.

Kejriwal further said his direct fight was with Modi and Rai was not even in the contest.The AAP leader also said he would not talk further as he can be accused of violating poll code.

Meanwhile, questions were raised about presence of AAP leader Manish Sisodia in Varanasi, as all outsiders involved with poll campaign, excluding the candidates, are not allowed to remain within the constituency after campaigning stopped on evening of May 10.

There were also reports of some minor glitches with Electronic Voting Machines at some booths, while presence of laptops distributed by the SP government in UP at some polling stations in nearby constituency of Chandauli also came for attack from some quarters.

Voters at some booths also complained about their names not being present on the voter lists.

Rai, who came to vote wearing his election symbol 'hand' on his kurta, however, dismissed Kejriwal's claims and said that results would prove that people of Varanasi want a local to work for them.

When asked whether wearing hand symbol on his kurta while coming to vote could be violation of election rules, Rai said he was a candidate and entitled to "wear his symbol on his heart".

Polling began at 7 AM here and would continue till 6 PM amid high security in Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, which has close to 16 lakh voters.

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June 13,2020

Jun 13: The Congress on Saturday accused the BJP-led government of burdening the common man with high taxes on petrol and diesel and earning Rs 2.5 lakh crore since March 5.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal said while international crude oil prices have fallen and are at the lowest level in 15 years, yet petrol and diesel prices are skyrocketing and common people continue to suffer under the Modi dispensation.

He said instead of passing the benefit of lower crude prices to consumers, petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the seventh straight day on June 13.

"The government has earned as much as Rs 44,000 crore in the last six days due to hike in petrol, diesel prices. Since March 5, the government has earned as much as Rs 2.5 lakh crore by way of increasing petrol, diesel prices.

"If the government had even the slightest feelings for the common man, instead of benefitting the companies and the government, the prime minister would have helped the common man with reduced fuel prices," Sibal said at an online press conference.

According to a report by Care Ratings, he said the hike effectively meant that the Central government is collecting around 270 per cent taxes on the base price of petrol and 256 per cent in case of diesel.

The former union minister said petrol was selling at Rs 71.41 in Delhi on May 1, 2014, when international crude oil prices were USD 106.85, while on June 12, 2020, the price of petrol was Rs 75.16 when the crude oil was at USD 38.

He said central excise and VAT cumulatively account for 69 per cent of tax on fuel in India which is higher than anywhere else in the world. He said the tax of fuel in the US was 19 per cent, Japan 47 per cent, the UK 62 per cent, France 63 per cent and Germany 65 per cent.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Mar 11: Thirteen of the 22 rebel MLAs in Madhya Pradesh have given an assurance that "they are not leaving the Congress", senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said on Thursday while expressing confidence that the Kamal Nath-led government in the state will win a floor test.

"We are not keeping quiet. We are not sleeping," Singh told PTI, a day after Congress leader from the state Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress and 22 MLAs submitted their resignations from the assembly in Madhya Pradesh.

Scindia was offered the post of Madhya Pradesh deputy chief minister but wanted his nominee, Singh said. However, Kamal Nath refused to accept a "chela", he said.

Scindia, he said, could have been a Congress nominee to the Rajya Sabha but "only Modi-Shah" can give a Cabinet post to the "over-ambitious" leader.

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News Network
March 31,2020

New Delhi, Mar 31: The total number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 1,397 after 146 new patients were reported in the last 24-hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Tuesday.

Of this little less than 1,400 cases, there are 1,238 active while 124 cured. The total figure also includes 35 fatalities.

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