Heena Sharma Blog

A Muslim BJP leader said his and some of his relatives' houses were burnt down by rampaging mobs during the communal violence in northeast Delhi. Akhtar Raza , the district vice president of BJP's minority cell told PTI that on February 25, a crowd had gathered in his neighbourhood in Bhagirath Vihar in the evening and within a couple of hours mayhem ensued. "The crowd raised religious slogans and began setting houses on fire. There are 19 houses belonging to Muslims in the area including mine and three of my relatives... all were burnt down," he said. Raza alleged most of the rioters were outsiders. As he along with 12 of his family members were fleeing their burning home, they were pelted with stones by the mob, he alleged. Read More

The Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has finally released its manifesto for the Delhi Assembly polls on Tuesday. Just 4 days before the voting begins. AAP's competitors in these elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress had released their manifestos on Friday and Sunday, respectively. So here’s a quick brief of what political parties are offering to win the electoral battle, whose results will be announced on February 11. Starting with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, which has mentioned 11,000 buses and 500-km metro network for better transportation, doorstep delivery of ration, some commercial areas to remain open 24X7 on a pilot basis, amnesty for old VAT cases, no raid raj, and legal protection to street vendors and hawkers within six months They have also promised pucca houses for slum dwellers, free travel for students, besides women in DTC Buses. And speaking of academics, patriotism curriculum and spoken English course in s...

The Narendra Modi-led government has not released any money to Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), India’s only central government-owned pilot training institute, since 2015-16. The institute was established in 1985 by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at Fursatganj in the Amethi district of Uttar Pradesh. Currently held by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Smriti Irani, the Amethi constituency was represented in Parliament by Rajiv Gandhi from 1981 until his death in 1991. Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi represented it from 1999 to 2004, and former Congress President Rahul Gandhi from 2004 to 2019. Rahul Gandhi has also served as a member of the IGRUA governing council in the past. IGRUA’s financial statements show that the last grant (Rs 5 crore) it received from the government was in 2014-15. According to Budget documents, the government made token provisions for the institutions but never released the money. For instance, in 2017-18, it made a nomina...

In a bid to reach out to voters, especially the young one, the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP in West Bengal have extended their fight to the social media with innovative ideas and catchy jingles. Dedicated teams comprising hundreds of volunteers are slogging away to ensure that the "Jumla metre" and " Pradhan mantri hisab do " campaign of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the "Main Bhi Chowkidar" music video of the BJP reach their target audience. From coming out with web series to catchy online songs to campaigns, both the parties are looking at making optimal use of social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, besides traditional emails and SMS. Attacking the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the TMC has launched a web series "Pradhan Mantri Hisab Do" (Prime Minister, answer this). In this campaign, the party is releasing a short video everyday on twitter and Facebook comparing the "failure...

BSP supremo Mayawati Wednesday termed the Congress manifesto as a "showoff" and an "illusion" and said there was no credibility of the promises made by the party due to its past. Congress and BJP are no different when it comes to non-fulfilment of promises, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said in a tweet. Congress President Rahul Gandhi Tuesday released his party's manifesto for Lok Sabha polls, making jobs creation, addressing farm distress, bringing a single moderate rate of GST and giving Rs 72,000 per annum to poor families as key focus if the party comes to power. Claiming the BJP was afraid of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance, Mayawati said, "They (BJP) are so afraid that instead of talking of issues, they indulge in unnecessary casteist statements on top leader of (alliance). Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

The BJP in its first list of 28 candidates for West Bengal has pinned hopes on its veterans and defectors from the ruling Trinamool Congress to take on the Mamata Banerjee's government in the state. Of the 28 candidates, nearly 25 are new faces, with a thrust on active political workers rather than greenhorns from the glamour world. The saffron party, which bagged two Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 elections, is now targeting 23 of the state's 42 constituencies. Unlike the TMC list, which had 18 new faces and a mix of both old timers and greenhorns, hardcore politicians and personalities from the film industry, the BJP has put faith on its own leaders and defectors from other parties. There are four women candidates and one Muslim nominee in the first list. Of the candidates, five had recently defected to the saffron party from the Trinamool Congress and one from the CPI(M). Union minister and BJP MP from Asansol Lok Sabha constuency Babul Supriyo has been renom...

An advertising blitz by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's administration, which saw more than 150 newspaper ads exulting over its performance in 10 days, stopped on Monday, a day after the schedule for the next general election was announced. The election will be held over seven stages from April 11 in what will be the world's biggest democratic exercise, the Election Commission said on Sunday, when a code of conduct over election campaigning came into force. Citing the code, the commission said "no advertisements shall be issued in electronic and print media highlighting the achievements of the govt. at the cost of public exchequer". Leading English-language national dailies including the Times of India, the Hindustan Times and the Indian Express carried no government ads on Monday. The New Delhi editions of the same three newspapers had 162 government ads between March 1 and March 10, according to Reuters calculations. Of those, 93 were full page....

Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari fainted and collapsed during a function in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, on Friday. The incident occurred when he was standing with other dignitaries for the National Anthem at the convocation function of the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV) Agricultural University. Gadkari started feeling uneasy, lost his balance and collapsed on the dais. Maharashtra Governor C V Rao and some others rushed to prevent him from falling.   He was examined by a team of medicos and his condition was described as "stable" by Bharatiya Janata Party colleagues. Read More Business Standard

Train services were disrupted for a few minutes at some stations in West Bengal during a 12-hour bandh called by the BJP Wednesday to protest the killing of two students in a clash in North Dinajpur district, Railway officials said. No untoward incident was, however, reported during the blockades put up by bandh supporters at the stations, a police official said. Transport services were normal in the city though bus drivers were seen wearing helmets. Bandh supporters had squatted on the tracks at Barasat, Krishnagar and some stations in Sealdah division for 5-10 minutes in the morning, but the blockade has been lifted, an Eastern Railway spokesman said. ALSO READ: Ten years after Tata Motors exit, Singur in West Bengal still a wasteland The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called the bandh to protest against the death of two students in a clash with the police on October 20 during a demonstration over recruitment of teachers at Daribhita High School in Islampur ...

The BJP was left red-faced after a video went viral showing its MLA and corporators attending a birthday party in adjoining Mira Road township at a time when people were expecting to receive the body of Major Kaustubh Rane, who attained National News : The BJP was left red-faced after a video went viral showing its MLA and corporators attending a birthday party in adjoining Mira Road township at a time when people were expecting to receive the body of Major Kaustubh Rane , who attained martyrdom in Kashmir. The video, telecast by a Marathi TV channel, shows BJP legislator Narendra Mehta and a dozen BJP corporators from the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation celebrating the birthday of party corporator Anand Manjrekar in the township on Tuesday night. The celebrations happened a day before the body of Major Rane, who was killed in Jammu and Kashmir during an operation to foil an infiltration bid, reached Mumbai. Mehta was quick to tender an apology on the incide...

The Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) with 18.3% vote share and the Indian National Congress (38%)-a combined vote share of 56.3%-may get to form the government in the state. Karnataka Election News : The   Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)   won 36.2% of the votes in the Karnataka election–it’s highest ever since the party first contested state elections in 1983 . However, the   Janata Dal-Secular (JDS)   with 18.3% vote share and the   Indian National Congress   (38%)–a combined vote share of 56.3%–may get to form the government in the state. The JD(S) vote-share of 18.3%, according to leads and results, was its lowest in nearly two decades since 1999 when it had a vote-share of 10.4%. The Congress vote-share of 38% is the highest among the three parties and the highest the party got since the 1999 elections when it had a vote-share of 40.8%. Although the BJP vote share was 1.8 percentage points lower than the Congress’, the for...