Heena Sharma Blog

Never since Indira Gandhi’s famous 1971 electoral triumph had an incumbent prime minister returned with a majority. Never since 1984 had a party crossed the 300-seat mark. On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first ever non-Congress prime minister to return to power after a full term, and also the first in 48 years to return with a majority. The BJP, at the time of filing this report, was leading in 303 seats, and in 353 seats along with its allies. The last time a party crossed the 300-seat mark was in 1984, when the Congress won more than 400 seats in the wake of Indira Gandhi’s assassination. The scale and spread of the BJP’s victory are impressive. Apart from winning an unprecedented majority, the BJP vote share in 12 states is more than 50 per cent, including in big states such as Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. In Uttar Pradesh and Tripura, the BJP vote share is 49 per cent. The Congress, expected to challenge the BJP at least in ...

At the Partner's Forum on maternal and child health held in the capital on Wednesday, prime minister Narendra Modi said 500,000 patients had received treatment under the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the first ten weeks after the launch. The government has approved claims worth Rs 7 billion, the prime minister said. The Ayushman Bharat scheme was launched in September to provide cashless treatment for 500 million citizens. Modi added, "Officers have been asked to identify 117 'aspirational districts'. Each such district has been entrusted to a team that works across sectors like education, water and sanitation, rural development with top-most priority to health and nutrition." The government's vaccination programme has reached 32.8 million children and 8.4 million pregnant women in the last three years. Vaccines for 12 life-threatening diseases like pneumonia and diarrhoea are provided under the Mission Indradhanush vaccination programme. Read More ...