'Pranab will win with 65 p.c. votes'

July 6, 2012
chidamb

Kolkata, July 6: Union Ministers P. Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal asserted here on Thursday that Pranab Mukherjee, United Progressive Alliance’s nominee for President will win with 65 per cent of the valid votes.

They, however, declined to comment on the stand of the Trinamool Congress on the matter.

“Don’t bring the Trinamool Congress into it, but I’ll give you the answer. One way or another, we will win with 65 per cent of the valid votes cast,” Mr. Chidambaram told journalists when asked whether they were able to persuade Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to support Mr. Mukherjee’s candidature.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Sibal met Ms. Banerjee who is also the chairperson of the Trinamool Congress at the State Secretariat.

Asked whether he had sought her support for Mr. Mukherjee’s candidature he said that no discussions were held on the issue.

“My discussion with Mamataji centred on the students of the State and their future,” he said.

Mr. Sibal said he did not feel there was a possibility of a change of “political equations” at the Centre in the present circumstances.

To queries on the assessment of the Trinamool as an alliance partner, Mr. Chidambaram said: “Our partners choose us to partner with… in UPA II TMC has chosen to be our partner…. They chose us and we are happy.”

On allowing foreign direct investment in multi brand retail, another area where the Trinamool Congress has expressed its reservations, Mr. Chidambaram said once the government went ahead with the decision, the States who are in favour of it would implement it and those against it would not. Many States were in favour of FDI and only a few against it, he pointed out.


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News Network
March 25,2020

New Delhi, Mar 25: The total number of positive coronavirus cases in India have climbed to 606, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.
The total number of active COVID-19 cases in the country so far stands at 553, while the number of people who have been cured or discharged stands at 42.
Ten people have died from the disease while one case has migrated, the Ministry further informed.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.
In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Modi said that it is vital to break the chain of the disease and experts have said that at least 21 days are needed for it.

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News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, who has been booked by the Delhi Police for holding a religious congregation here during the lockdown, on Monday urged the followers of the organisation to pray at home in the month of Ramzan.

"I request all, both in India and abroad, to strictly follow the guidelines and instructions of the local or national governments and till the time restrictions are in place and please observe prayers at home. And even in this, we should not invite people from outside," he said in a statement.

Ramzan begins later this week.

While addressing an online briefing on Sunday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cited the Tablighi Jamaat congregation last month, a major hotspot, and the large inflow of travellers from other countries to Delhi as the reasons for the spread of the virus, and said the city was "fighting a difficult battle".

The Delhi Police crime branch, had on March 31, lodged an FIR against seven people, including the cleric, on a complaint by the Station House Officer of Nizamuddin police station for holding the congregation in alleged violation of the orders against large gatherings to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Later, the Indian Penal Code Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) was added to the FIR.

The cleric is wanted by the Delhi Police and he responded twice to them. He is currently under home quarantine.

In an audio message released earlier this month, Kandhalvi had said he was exercising self-quarantine after several hundreds who visited the congregation at Nizamudddin Markaz tested positive for coronavirus.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Dehradun, Jan 6: Universities are centres of learning and will not be allowed to become "addas" of politics, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' has said.

The minister was replying to questions from reporters in Haldwani on Sunday about protests against the amended Citizenship Act across university campuses.

"Universities are centres of learning where the country's future is in the making. We cannot let them become addas of politics," Nishank said.

He accused the opposition parties of trying to turn the universities into hotbeds of politics.

The new legislation passed by Parliament aims to grant citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who had taken refuge in India and there is nothing wrong in it, the Union Minister said

"When Pakistan was created, the population of religious minorities there stood at 22 per cent. Today it is a minuscule 3.7 per cent. Persecuted on the basis of their religion, they sought sanctuary in India. The CAA is meant only to grant them citizenship," he said.

Terming the law humanitarian, the minister said it was going to make no difference to the status of Muslims in India and wondered why the Congress was making such a hue and cry about it.

Nishank's press conference in Haldwani was part of the BJP's campaign to create awareness in favour of the amended Citizenship Act.

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