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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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted the Indian Coast Guard on its raising day, appreciating its efforts to keep the country's coasts safe.

The Coast Guard came into being in 1977.

"Greetings to the Indian Coast Guard on their foundation day. Our Coast Guard has made a mark due to their remarkable efforts to keep our coasts safe," Modi tweeted.

The prime minister said the force's "concern towards the marine ecosystem is also noteworthy".

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News Network
January 30,2020

Jan 30: BJP leader and West Bengal party head, Dilip Ghosh has yet again made a controversial statement. He said that one has to go to jail in order to gain respect or become a political leader.

"You will not be a leader if you don't go to jail, if Police don't take you, then you must go there yourself. If they don't give you any scope, you do something to go to jail, only then will people respect you. There is no place for soft people in politics," ANI quoted Ghosh as saying.

Earlier, Ghosh had triggered a controversy by saying that anti-CAA protestors in Assam and Uttar Pradesh were shot dead "like dogs", and similar punishment should be given to protestors in Bengal.

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Agencies
February 16,2020

Lucknow, Feb 16: Resident doctors at the AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital on Sunday demanded that the charges slapped against Dr Kafeel Khan under the National Security Act be withdrawn.

Dr Khan was arrested by the UP Special Task Force from Mumbai on January 29 in connection with a speech he had delivered during an anti-CAA protest at Aligarh Muslim University on December 12.

The Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) held a protest march on the hospital campus against the slapping of the NSA against the Gorakhpur doctor after he was granted bail in connection with the alleged hate speech.

RDA president Dr Hamza Malik said the move was a "blatant attempt to crush dissent and a violation of the Constitution of india".

He said by targeting the doctor, the UP government had done a great disservice to the entire medical community.

The AMU Students' Coordination Committee also described the decision to charge Dr Kafeel under the NSA a "direct assault" on a member of the medical fraternity who is "known for his upright behaviour and a champion of free speech".

Committee spokesperson and former AMU Students' Union president Faizul Hasan said by charging Dr Kafeel under the NSA even after he got bail was "a direct violation of a Supreme Court ruling on such issues".

Hasan said Dr Kafeel's fate should serve as an eye-opener for the rest of the country regarding the democratic rights in Uttar Pradesh.

The doctor was earlier arrested for his alleged role in the death of over 60 children within an week at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur in August 2017. Short supply of oxygen at the children's ward was blamed at that time for the deaths.

About two years later, a state government probe cleared Khan of all major charges, prompting him to seek an apology from the Yogi Adityanath government.

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