Heena Sharma Blog

The US has welcomed the post-election statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on inclusivity, saying his re-election was a "clear" mandate for his vision of a strong, inclusive and prosperous India that plays a leading role on the global stage. Modi last week said that his government will now begin "a new journey to build a new India with new energy" and reached out to minorities, saying the ruling alliance must win their trust and work without any discrimination. "We certainly welcome Prime Minister Modi's post-election statements that have emphasised inclusivity that no one should be left behind, that there should be no distinction between Indian citizens, that the government should rule with the trust of everyone," a senior State Department official told a group of reporters hours after Modi was sworn in for the second five-year term in office. Prime Minister Modi was on Thursday administered the oath of office and secrecy by President...

Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami-led AIADMK government can breathe a sigh of relief as his party won eight seats and leading in one, out of the 22 assembly seats in the by-polls, which could help it survive with a majority on the floor even though Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won 11 seats and was leading in two seats. This was the trend as of 8.30 a.m. on Friday, according to Election Commission of India. While this is a good news for the ruling faction, the disappointment was the poor performance of the party and its alliance partners including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha election in the state. It was a clear sweep by DMK-Congress alliance which was leading in Lok Sabha seats. AIADMK won one Lok Sabha seats, while DMK and its alliance bagged the rest. DMK alone won 23 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Tamil Nadu bypolls and Lok Sabha elections in 2019 are closely watched for two reasons. All the main parties – AIADMK, DMK, AMMA and MNM -- went for ele...

India began counting hundreds of millions of votes in its general election on Thursday, with a coalition led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party taking an early lead, TV channels and the Election Commission said. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is expected to surpass the 272 seats needed to command a majority in the Lok Sabha, six of seven exit polls showed on Sunday. The NDA led in 235 seats, with the opposition United Progressive Alliance ahead in 95, at 9 a.m. local time (0330 GMT), about an hour after the counting of about 600 million votes began, TV channel NDTV said. Official data from the Election Commission showed the BJP ahead in 101 seats, with the main opposition Congress Party ahead in 40. There are 542 seats available. Trends are expected to be known by noon and final results are due by Thursday evening. The NDA’s predicted margin of victory is larger than surveys indicated in the run-up to the vote, w...

WhatsApp clones and software tools that cost as little as Rs 1,000 are helping Indian digital marketers and political activists bypass anti-spam restrictions set up by the world’s most popular messaging app, Reuters has found. The activities highlight the challenges WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, faces in preventing abuse in India, its biggest market with more than 200 million users. With fervent campaigning in staggered general elections, which concludes on May 19, the demand for such tools has surged, according to digital companies and sources in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its main rival, the Congress party. After false messages on WhatsApp last year sparked mob lynchings, the company restricted forwarding of a message to only five users. The software tools appear to overcome those restrictions, allowing users to reach thousands of people at once. Divya Spandana, the social media chief of the Congress, and the BJP’s IT head, Amit Malviya, did not respond ...

With only the last phase of polling of the seven scheduled left, a recent report by Ambit Capital suggests that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to win 190-210 seats on a pan-India basis. The report, co-authored by Ritika Mankar Mukherjee and Sumit Shekhar of Ambit Capital, pegs the total seats for Narendra Modi – led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the current form between 220 - 240, with the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) causing a big dent in the total tally. The electoral alliance between the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) is certain to dent BJP’s seat count in UP, Ambit says. “ Our meetings with politicians, small businesses and academicians in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh suggest that the BJP is headed for a big loss in the state. With the Modi wave clearly ebbing and the Samajwadi Party – Bahujan Samaj Party (SP – BSP) alliance having more than 40 - 50 per cent voteshare, the BJP is set to secure only 30-35...

Of the candidates contesting the first phase of Lok Sabha elections , 213 (17%) have declared they are facing criminal cases, of which 146 (12%) face serious criminal charges, as per an analysis of candidates’ affidavits by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). About a third (32%) or 401 of 1,266 candidates whose affidavits were studied have declared assets worth Rs 1 crore or more. Among the major parties, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) are notable for having all (25 from TDP and 17 from TRS) ‘crorepati’ candidates. Nearly half of all candidates have declared they have a graduate degree or above, while 1.5% have declared they are just literate, and 5.2% that they are illiterate. About a third of candidates are aged between 25 and 40 years, while more than half are between 41 and 60 years. The first phase of polling began on April 11, 2019. ADR studied the affidavits of 1,266 of the 1,279 candidates who are contesting during this ...

Some policemen on election duty here were served meals in packets labelled " Namo Foods ", following which officials clarified that those were procured from Namo Food Shop and not from any political party. The food packets, brought in the boot of a hatchback car, were distributed around 9.30 am among personnel deployed in Sector 15A here, the officials said. "Misinformation is being spread that some policemen have been distributed food from a political party. This is absolutely wrong. At local level, some food packets were procured from Namo Food Shop and not from any political party," Senior Superintendent of Police, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Vaibhav Krishna said. "Some people are spreading wrong and politically motivated rumour. There is no official order to procure food from any particular food outlet," he said, and appealed to people not to pay heed to rumours being spread via social media. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Amid a raging debate over NaMo TV , DTH service provider Tata Sky Friday did a volte-face saying the channel is a "special service" and its content comes from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Initially Tata Sky, through a tweet, had called NaMo TV a "Hindi news service which provides the latest breaking news on national politics." But as debate raged over allegations of channel violating the model code of conduct in place for the general elections, Tata Sky in a statement said: "Namo TV is a special service available to all subscribers. The content of the service comes from BJP." "Tata Sky is a content distribution platform. For any content related queries please connect with the owners of the content," it added. Initially, Tata Sky had stated that the channel had been added to all subscribers account "as a launch offer." "There is no option to delete the individual channel," it had said in a separate tweet. ...

emale voters hold the potential to be game-changers by playing a significant role in ensuring more gender-inclusive laws and policies, making the year 2019 India's " year of women ", Chair of the Hinduja Bank, Switzerland, Hinduja SP Shanu said as the country readies for its upcoming crucial national elections. Shanu said that as India heads to the polls this spring, it is important to note that more women are heading to the ballot than ever before, with voter turnout among women having been higher in several state elections in the country. "More female voters are additionally likely to lead to more gender-inclusive laws and policies. Gender awareness not only transforms how candidates campaign, but also opens doors for more female candidates in the running, and greater opportunities for female leverage within national decision-making bodies," Shanu, the Chair of the Hinduja Foundation US, said in an opinion piece given to PTI. Shanu pointed out that ...

With the model code of conduct coming into force for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls , Uttar Pradesh Police, touted as the world’s largest single command armed police force, had advised cops to exercise restraint over social media activities. UP Director General of Police (DGP) O P Singh has underlined the uniformed cops ought not to be seen or perceived as favouring a particular political party or candidate through their social media updates. In the poll related advisory issued last evening, the cops have been asked not to accept any gift from any political party or candidate in light of the model code of conduct. Besides, the policemen have been directed to desist from posting politically coloured social media updates as well for the sake of being impartial and non-partisan during the polls. The state cops have also been advised against indulging in harassment of political functionaries at the behest of rival political party or leader, while ensuring that the policemen do not, t...

Patidar leader Hardik Patel is said to join the Congress soon and is likely to contest the Lok Sabha election from Jamnagar constituency in Gujarat, top party sources said on Wednesday. "Patel, who led the agitation demanding reservation for the patidar community in Gujarat is likely to join the Congress on March 12 in the presence of party chief Rahul Gandhi," the sources said. The Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by Poonamben Maadam of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Patel's joining will coincide with the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Ahmedabad, following which top party leaders will address a public rally there. The Congress is focussing on Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and had give a tough fight to the ruling BJP in the last assembly polls in the state. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram Monday termed the PM-KISAN scheme as "cash for votes" and said it was BJP's "desperate attempt" to placate debt-ridden farmers with "crumbs" of Rs 17 per day per family. The former finance minister also said the scheme showed that the BJP was living by the "truth that desperate times require desperate measures". The Rs 75,000 crore scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gorakhpur on Sunday by transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. The scheme was announced in this year's Interim budget whereby the central government announced that it will provide Rs 6,000 per year in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to up to two hectares. "PM launches ' Cash for Votes ' scheme. After driving farmers into debt and acute distress, the BJP is desperately trying to placate them with crumbs of ...

A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar predicted a change of government at the Centre after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls , Union minister Ramdas Athawale countered him saying the NDA will continue to occupy power with Narendra Modi as the prime minister. "I believe the current government will continue after the 2019 general elections. The NDA will be in power under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi," Athawale said in a statement. "The so-called unity of the opposition is not happening, hence such distractive messages are being circulated," the Minister of State for Social Justice added. Pawar had Tuesday claimed that Narendra Modi will not be the prime minister after the next year's Lok Sabha polls, and that there will be change in government at the Centre and in Maharashtra. "There will be change in government in Delhi and Maharashtra. No single party can provide an alternative. I do not think Narendra Modi will be prime minister after the L...