Narendra Modi to be PM again as BJP heads towards landslide

Agencies
May 23, 2019

New Delhi, May 23: Narendra Modi will be India’s prime minister again after his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looked set for a landslide win on Thursday in the world’s biggest general election.

With all 542 seats reporting, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was ahead in 331 seats, a near-repeat of its remarkable 2014 win, and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was ahead in 106.

Exit polls released last week pointed to a large victory for the BJP, which would enable them to create history with back-to-back clear mandates.

After an early scare, Congress president Rahul Gandhi was leading his main rival Smriti Irani in the Gandhi family bastion of Amethi, though the BJP looked to confound all expectations by repeating their 2014 landslide in India’s most populous state. Rahul was leading in his second seat, Wayanad in Kerala.

Elections were held to 542 seats, with the poll in Vellore constituency cancelled. A simple majority is 272 seats.

Stock markets cheered the verdict, with the Bombay Sensex climbing 2.6% or 1,000 points, breaching the 40,000 mark for the first time in history.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, seen as a key member of any opposition formation that could counter Modi, was getting wiped out in his own state, where assembly elections were held. He was trailing by eight seats to 167 against Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP party. In the Lok Sabha elections in his state, Naidu was trailing 2-23 against Reddy.

In Karnataka, the BJP was heading for a near-sweep, ahead in 25 seats out of 28. This could threaten the survival of the JD(S)- Congress coalition in the state.

In Bengal, the BJP looked set to make history, overtaking the Trinamool party of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

At the Centre, the BJP’s campaign has been centred around Modi, who managed to make this a presidential-type election.

Congress created a minor flutter with a well-thought-out manifesto but soon lost its way in the face of an aggressive and sometimes cynical campaign by the BJP that fully exploited the leniency of the Election Commission. The BJP is also likely to have gained from retaliatory air strikes against Pakistan after a terror attack in Kashmir, and a strong showing on the infrastructure front.

Like him or loathe him, Modi is seen as a strong and decisive leader, and voters may have leant towards a clear and stable choice versus the possible chaos that could follow an opposition victory, with many claimants for the top job.

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News Network
June 12,2020

New Delhi, Jun 12: Petrol price on Friday was hiked by 57 paise per litre and diesel by 59 paise a litre as oil companies adjusted retail rates - the sixth straight day of increase in rates since oil firms ended an 82-day hiatus of rate revision.

Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 74.57 per litre from Rs 74, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 72.81 a litre from Rs 72.22, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

Rates have been increased across the country and vary in each state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or value added tax.

This is the sixth consecutive daily increase in rates since oil companies on Sunday restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus.

In six hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 3.31 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.42.

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News Network
March 13,2020

Bhopal, Mar 13: The Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Thursday decided to verify facts afresh in a complaint against former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his family, in which they are accused of falsifying a property document while selling land.

The development came after Mr Scindia quit the Congress and joined the BJP on Wednesday. 22 MLAs who belong to his camp also resigned, threatening the survival of the Kamal Nath government in the state.

"Yes, an order has been given for re-verification of facts in the complaint filed by Surendra Shrivastava," an Economic Offences Wing official told PTI.

An EOW release said Mr Shrivastava on Thursday filed a new complaint against Mr Scindia and his family, alleging that by falsifying a registry document, they sold him a piece of land at Mahalgaon which was smaller by 6,000 sq feet than the original agreement in 2009.

He had lodged the complaint first on March 26, 2014. But it was investigated and closed in 2018, the EOW official said. "As he again petitioned us today, we will re-verify the facts," the officer said.

Jyotiraditya Scindia's close aide Pankaj Chaturvedi alleged that it was political vendetta.

"The case had been closed for want of evidence. Now for vengeance, it is being reopened. We have full faith in the Constitution and law. We will get justice and Kamal Nath government a befitting reply," Mr Chaturvedi said.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

New Delhi, Jan 11: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the curative petition of two death row convicts in 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case on January 14.

A five-judge Bench of Justices N V Ramana, Arun Mishra, R F Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan will hear the petition filed by Vinay Sharma and Mukesh.

The duo had moved a curative petition in the top court after a Delhi court issued a death warrant in their name and announced January 22 as the date of their execution.

Besides them, two other convicts named Pawan and Akshay are also slated to be executed on the same day at 7 am in Delhi's Tihar Jail premises.

They were convicted and sentenced to death for raping a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in the national capital on the night of December 16, 2012.

The victim, who was later given the name Nirbhaya, died at a hospital in Singapore where she had been airlifted for medical treatment.

A curative petition is the last judicial resort available for redressal of grievances. It is decided by the judges in-chamber.

If it is rejected, they are legally bound to move a mercy petition. It is filed before the President who has the power to commute it to life imprisonment.

The court after issuing a black warrant in their name gave them two weeks' time to file both the curative and mercy petition.

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