Fadnavis hits out at Maharashtra govt over crop damage assessment

 Senior BJP leader Devendra

Fadnavis on Tuesday said the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra was disinterested in helping farmers who had suffered crop loss due to heavy rains a few days ago.

In a letter to Thackeray, the leader of opposition and former CM said farmers had suffered heavy losses in Vidarbha and Marathwada but the state was not checking if damage assessment was being done "seriously and carefully".

He said crops like soybean, cotton, sugarcane, onions etc had been damaged in 1,800 villages, with the loss of produce being over 70 per cent in some tehsils.

Moon (green gram) and urad (black gram) cultivation has been severely hit in Marathwada due to the rains, he said in the letter.

"The state government has given orders to assess crop damage but there is no check on whether the assessment is being done seriously and carefully," he alleged.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Baat Bihar Ki: Prashant Kishor hits out at Nitish over alliance with BJP

Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor on Tuesday mocked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for aligning with the BJPin his quest for power, and said the JD(U) leader cannot be wedded to Gandhian ideals and stand with those who support Godse at the same time.
Addressing a crowded press conference here, the first since his expulsion from the JD(U), which Kumar heads, Kishor asserted that the chief minister has been a "father figure" to him even before he formally joined the party and so he wished to speak no ill of him.

Kishor, however, acknowledged that he had differences with Kumar over the contradiction in his avowed commitment to the principles of Gandhi and his tie-up with the BJP, the party the poll strategist sought to identify with the Mahatma's assassin Nathuram Godse.
"Nitish ji has always said that he cannot leave the ideals of Gandhi, JP and Lohia... At the same time, how can he be with the people who support the ideology of Godse? Both cannot go together. If you want to stay with the BJP, I don't have any problem with it but you cannot be on both sides," Kishore said.
"There has been a lot of discussion between me and Nitish ji on this. He has his thought process and I have mine. There have been differences between him and me that the ideologies of Godse and Gandhi cannot stand together. As the leader of the party you have to say which side you are on," he added.
He also said that unlike the JD(U) rank and file for whom the chief minister's accomplishments in governance had become the "gold standard", he had been candid enough to point out that being a better performer than the past RJD governments will not suffice since the state still lagged behind most others in terms of development.
Kishor, whose first claim to fame was his handling of Narendra Modi's prime ministerial campaign of 2014, seemed to be still smarting under Kumar's statement that he was inducted into the JD(U) on the recommendation of Amit Shah.
"My association with various political parties as a strategist is well known. I have never kept it a secret. But I had not joined the JD(U) as an agent of some other party. If speaking a lie makes things easier for Nitish Kumar, then I grant this to a man who is like a father figure to me," he said.
Kishor said that in 2014, when Kumar had fought the Lok Sabha polls alone after having parted ways with the BJP and was drubbed, returning with only two seats, "he was still the pride of Bihar".
"Compare that with the situation today when a Gujarati leader from another party (an allusion to Shah) has to give the assurance that Kumar will be the NDA leader in the assembly polls as if he was not the leader of the people of the state but a manager of a firm," Kishor said.
"Bihar cannot bear to see its leader becoming a 'pichhlaggu' (piggybacking). Nitish Kumar, who had once famously thwarted Narendra Modi from campaigning for the BJP in Bihar, cut a sorry figure recently when he spoke at rallies in Delhi assembly polls like a mere sidekick while Shah and J P Nadda were running the show," he lamented.
Kishor also rubbished the contention that a tie-up with the BJP was in the interest of Bihar, a claim Kumar has been making to defend his realignment with the saffron party after a four-year estrangement.
"Did the state get a special status, a demand he has been making for so long. He is so helpless that when he begged for grant of central status to Patna University with folded hands, Modi did not deign to acknowledge," he said, recalling the prime minister's visit to the city in October 2017.
Spelling out the failures of Nitish Kumar during his 15-year stint as chief minister, Kishor said he provided students free uniforms and bicycles but failed to ensure good educational standards.
Kumar got roads built but could not help the people prosper so they could own vehicles. He improved electricity supply but most cannot afford beyond a light bulb and a fan, Kishor said.
"He gloats over the states budget having risen from Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 2 lakh crore. Without taking away the credit from him, we must remember that much of this has happened because of inflation," he said.
Kishor said Kumar should be asked why people from Bihar migrate to other states for better education and career prospects, and when will the state rise to a level that people from other parts of the country would come here looking for greener pastures.
Kishor, whose collaboration with leaders such as Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal fuelled speculations about his political course in Bihar, made it clear that he was not thinking in terms of floating a new political party.
He, however, unveiled an ambitious "medium to long- term campaign" for pulling the state up by its bootstraps and named it "Baat Bihar Ki".
He claimed that enrolment of volunteers for the project was already under way and more than 2 lakh young people, many of whom are active members of political parties, have signed up.
"We intend to enroll up to one million people in the next 100 days. This is an aspirational drive aimed at transforming the state's politics and not an attempt to build a new party.
"In fact, the political leadership of the current generation be it Nitish Kumar or Sushil Kumar Modi (deputy CM and BJP leader) or anybody else are welcome to lend their support if they identify with the cause," Kishor said.

Why Delhi poll results are to be seen as polarised despite AAP's huge win

The Aam Aadmi Party's huge victory in the Delhi Assembly elections is being seen as a setback to the BJP. That the electorate of Delhi refused to get swayed by the saffron party's virulent anti-Muslim tirade is in itself commendable. However, the fact remains that despite its remarkable achievements in delivering a host of services, the AAP could not prevent the BJP from registering a growth in its vote share. The poll outcome reminded me of a cynical remark made by a friend, who asserted that if the BJP manages to increase its tally beyond 3, the elections must be regarded as polarised.
Let us go back to the beginning. The AAP victory was being predicated even then. Our conversation with those who make it a point to cast their votes left little doubt that the ruling party in Delhi would win. A large section of the party's voters were, in fact, quite clear that BJP at the Centre and AAP in the state made a good combination. I tried to argue with one such voter that the BJP-led Central government had put up every possible obstacle in the path of the AAP government, so why would he still want it around, since it was AAP that had made life better and more liveable for Delhiites like him! He had no answer but was sure that the man at the Centre knew better about things that he, the voter, should not bother about.

Voters in Delhi were confident that the AAP victory in the assembly elections wouldn't so much as serve as an irritant to the BJP, let alone rock its boat, as the saffron outfit was firmly and safely ensconced in power. An efficient delivery boy is all the electorate wanted. In the Delhi voters mindset, an ideology-agnostic party that does not impede the BJP's nationalist drive is tolerable. One must recall the stand of the AAP on the dilution of Article 370 and its ambivalent attitude towards the protests intimidated and led by students and Muslims against the CAA, NPR and NRC. The Delhi chief minister, not to be browbeaten by the BJP, went to extent of questioning the BJP's intent on Shaheen Bagh. Kejriwal, in fact, declared that he would have cleared it within two days had the police been under his control, and even challenged the Home Minister to arrest Sharjeel Imam! The very next day Sharjeel was picked from his home state in a move that seemed to play right into Arvind Kejriwal's hands. AAP would then argue that it did not want to take the focus away from the real agenda of improving civic amenities and boosting development. An idea of development without an imagination of the human being who is at the centre of it.
One could easily infer from the results that the BJP's anti-Shaheen Bagh tirade has backfired. The commentariat, in fact, has already begun advising the party to do a rethink on the issue. But one needs to think about the rationale of the massive political investments the BJP made even when it knew how the results were likely to pan out. The objective of the venomous campaign was to convince the people that the BJP sincerely believed in its agenda and was not like other parties that are prone to suspending it for short-term gains. In this election, it reiterated it did not count Muslims as one of its own. This belligerence is not without purpose. It lends a sense of seriousness to its long-term politics and forces the voters to be persuaded by its consistency.
The BJP's campaign was not limited to the aim of winning Delhi. It was to sustain the chain of hate that it has built over the years. Its defeat in Delhi would not deter it from its path. Its purpose is to keep working on the Hindu mind and transform it completely. As other parties cower before its relentless assault, it finds its path smoother. It has succeeded in creating a kind of panic among Hindu that forces other parties to desist from sympathising with the persecuted minorities. So, the field in which the bigger battle is being fought is all Hindu.
Even when the news of the BJP's defeat poured in, six young women and men were arrested in Ghazipur and promptly jailed. Incidentally, all were non-Muslims. Their crime? They were on a Pad yatra from Chauri Chaura with a message of peace, of Hindu-Muslim unity and of non-violence. The police and the administration found this slow and steady movement of six persons so inimical to the region's tranquility that it decided to put them away, lest the contaminate the minds of the people with their 'dangerous' ideas! This is how the so-called anti-hate election result in the capital of India was deciphered or deconstructed in the dusty pains of Uttar Pradesh!

The year ahead will be dominated by the rising edifice of a Hindu Rashtra

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Indian footprint, measured by the number of state governments that it controls, has been shrinking. Its failure to form a government in Maharashtra and its defeat in Jharkhand has left the political map of India looking considerably less orange than it did in 2017, when the Hindi heartland was a solid bloc of saffron.
But appearances are deceptive: 2019 was not a normal year because the BJP won a resounding parliamentary majority in the general election in May. The pan-Indian dominance of Narendra Modi’s BJP at the level of the Union more than made up for the party’s state assembly losses both before and after the general election. Messrs Modi & Shah might have lost a string of battles but they decisively won the war.

In the normal course, writing a political prospect for the coming year would focus on scheduled state assembly elections on which the fortunes of the government and its opposition might be said to turn. This is hard to do for 2020 because state assembly elections can’t be bellwethers this early in the life of a powerful Union government with the mandate of an absolute majority. These elections can offer pointers to the BJP’s popularity in this or that state but, given the prime minister’s ability to lift the fortunes of his party in general elections, provincial losses can’t be confidently used to make generalisations about the BJP’s national standing.
However, the Delhi elections in February and those in Bihar towards the end of the year remain important for two reasons: first, as a guide to the morale of opposition parties and, secondly, as enablers of, or obstacles to, Modi’s grand project for his second term, the redefinition of Indian citizenship. Despite the prime minister’s disingenuous protestations, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) remains a crucial part of the BJP’s bid to privilege Hindus as India’s “natural” citizens and, en passant, destabilise Muslim citizenship. The cabinet’s sanction of thousands of crores for the compilation of the National Population Register (NPR), designed as the database for the NRC, confirms this. As Prashant Kishor, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s strategist and party colleague, has pointed out, the success of this project depends on the cooperation of state governments. The fewer state governments the BJP controls, the more likely it becomes that NPR/NRC operations might be thwarted or disrupted by recalcitrant provinces.
The election for Delhi’s state assembly is important because, despite being little more than a glorified municipality, Delhi helps make the political weather by virtue of being India’s capital. The BJP is still smarting from the paddling it received in 2015, all the more hurtful for happening in the aftermath of Modi’s great triumph: his first parliamentary majority. Kejriwal’s chutzpah in running against Modi in Varanasi in 2014 gave that state election a personal edge.
Five years later Modi & Shah will be eager to swat this pesky gadfly. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) isn’t the transformative new broom it claimed to be in 2015, but it is, in miniature, the centrist, Hindi-speaking challenger that the opposition needs to conjure up at the pan-Indian level, to give Modi a run for his money in 2024. Kejriwal enters this election somewhat diminished, the maverick boss of a metropolis rather than a charismatic national leader. To use an analogy from another capital, he seems more Ken Livingstone than Boris Johnson. As the AAP’s prospects in Punjab and Haryana have faded, it has become an irritant rather than a threat to the BJP, but to lose to it again in the national capital will be both infuriating and humiliating, so this will be an intensely contested election. Apart from anything else, it will be a test of the AAP’s secular populism based on subsidised utilities and greater spending on public goods like improved government schools and mohalla clinics.
The more significant state assembly election is scheduled late in the year in Bihar. Nitish Kumar has remained chief minister on either side of his short-lived mahagathbandhan with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). It is unlikely that he will desert the BJP so early in its term of office at the Centre. His ambivalence about the Citizenship Amendment Act-National Register of Citizens joint project (he voted for the former and opposed the latter) is a much-diluted version of his “principled” objection to Modi in the lead-up to the 2014 election. It’s his bid to show Bihar’s Muslims a flash of leg because some of the JD(U)’s state assembly seats might turn on how many Muslims vote for him despite his alliance with the BJP. Should the BJP still find him useful enough to run as the face of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, he’s unlikely to sidle up to the RJD if only because without Lalu Prasad Yadav, the RJD is not the force it was. But if Bihar were to go the way of Jharkhand, the BJP will have ceded virtually all its heartland holdings except Uttar Pradesh. Given the dwarf mahagathbandhan assembled by Tejashvi Yadav for the general election, this is unlikely to happen short of a dramatic defection from the dark side by Nitish Kumar.
India’s tanking economy is often talked up as the greatest threat to both Modi’s image as a manager of vikas and his political prospects, but the recent history of the world suggests that economic pain doesn’t create electoral openings for progressive parties. On the contrary, it seems to boost the Bolsanaros of the world. Right-wing populists seem to have a Midas-like gift for turning economic distress into political gold by blaming it on deracinated elites and treacherous minorities. Modi’s second general election campaign was frankly communal and everything the NDA has done since, from Article 370 to the passing of the CAA, seems to suggest that the Modi government is determined to alchemise economic decline into majoritarian rage.
The brutal violence of the UP government’s first response to the anti-CAA protests suggests that the BJP will test drive the NPR/NRC in UP, where it has both a massive majority in the assembly and a chief minister whose instinct for Hindutva extremism and whose appetite for punitive policing allows a prime minister as darkly majoritarian as Modi to appear statesmanlike.
Unlike demonetisation, which Modi owned from the very beginning, he allowed Amit Shah to be the face of the CAA and the NRC. Modi had learnt from his demonetisation experience: he needed distance and deniability from this great experiment in disenfranchising “counterfeit” Muslim citizens in case it backfired on him. This studied distance was why he thought he could affect injured innocence after the protests against the CAA erupted, and declare, against all the evidence, that his government had never approved of (or indeed even considered) an all-India NRC.
This is, of course, untrue: Modi’s government never had any intention of withdrawing the CAA-NRC pincer, because it was too great a prize to be abandoned. For a majoritarian party like the BJP, the opportunity to redefine citizenship and then subject Muslims, especially poor, undocumented Muslims, to the threat of disenfranchised limbo, is like winning a political lottery. The prospect of prolonged turmoil through which non-Muslim (read Hindu) citizens can be persuaded to accept the personal inconvenience of proving their citizenship as the price of a patriotic pan-Indian purge, and through which treacherous aliens are identified, interned and deported, makes CAA-NRC a gamble worth taking. The logic is that, just as the suffering of demonetisation yielded a landslide in UP, the violent churning of an all-India NRC process might deliver pan-Indian Hindu consolidation on an undreamt-of scale.
The licence given to Adityanath to meet anti-CAA protests with massive police violence suggests that Modi will continue to blandly deflect questions about an all-India NRC while using UP both as a shock-and-awe demonstration and as a violent dress rehearsal. Adityanath represents Hindutva’s feral “fringe” translated into high office. He has brought his instinct for vigilante mobilisation to his administration. On his watch UP’s police has effectively become a uniformed vigilante force: it has fired upon demonstrators with impunity, assaulted dissenters, vandalised homes, mosques and vehicles and in general behaved as if it were wearing khaki half-pants instead of uniform trousers. The chief minister has called for “revenge”, has promised the punitive confiscation of property and has allowed the police to storm Aligarh Muslim University in the way a marauding army might reduce a medieval fort.
Now that the Union cabinet has approved thousands of crores for the NPR, it is certain that the work of compiling it will be given the highest priority in UP regardless of the opposition it might meet elsewhere. The NPR is best understood as the database for the NRC. Enrolment in the NPR is no guarantee that a person will be adjudged a citizen in good standing because the NRC’s rules allow the names on its rolls to be challenged by members of the general public. There is a vigilantism built into the NPR-NRC process that fits Adityanath’s regime like a glove. The data-gathering for the NPR has been merged with the operations of the decennial Census and we can be certain that, come April, it will be implemented in UP with the full force of the law (or what passes for the law in that state) behind it. No prizes for guessing what the fate of undocumented Muslims will be in Adityanath’s UP.
The notion of violently churning the Indian population in a higher cause (a Hindu Rashtra) appeals to the BJP’s leadership. Only by subjecting every Indian to the trauma of proving their right to belong can Hindu consolidation be individually experienced as ideology. The CAA, the NPR and the NRC together constitute the BJP’s answer to the Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience and Quit India campaigns. This menacing form-filling exercise is the Sangh Parivar’s version of a nationalist mass movement. Where anti-colonial nationalists affirmed their Indian birthright by doing time in colonial jails, modern Hindus are being encouraged to pay their tithe to the Hindu nation by stoically suffering the bureaucratic inconvenience of proving their Indianness, the better to reveal the enemy within. By the terms of the CAA, these can only be Muslims. Over the next two years, in the lead-up to the assembly elections of 2022, UP will be both the laboratory and the prototype of Modi’s Hindu Rashtra.
Narendra Modi is not a time server. Despite his narcissism, he serves a cause larger than himself. His life has been dedicated to the holy grail of the Hindu nation and in the CAA-NPR-NRC he has found both the mould and the sieve that will make it possible. Modi sees himself as a man of destiny. By winning a second parliamentary majority he has already staked his claim to being the most consequential prime minister of the republic since Nehru. Now a larger prize beckons. If in his second term in office he can successfully redefine citizenship in the way that Israel has, he will approach the election of 2024 at the head of a putatively Hindu nation. And should he win a third majority, his gift to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 2025, its centenary year, will be the Hindu Rashtra that it was founded to achieve.
To thwart this ambition his political opponents will have to sustain the pan-Indian resistance provoked by the Citizenship Amendment Act with a passion and purpose conspicuously lacking during Modi’s first term. The gallant student protest that sparked this resistance will have to be sustained in 2020 by organised political opposition. The election in Delhi in February should tell us if those who swear allegiance to the First Republic have the stomach for this fight.

When Rahul Bajaj, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw broke deafening silence of India Inc

Whenever the economy goes into a downward spiral, policies aligned with growth ambitions are a far cry and the industry suffers, vocal leaders of India Inc are usually the first ones to raise the red flag. But not against the BJP-led government in 2019, except a few.
Those who stood out were the likes of Rahul Bajaj, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Ajay Piramal for their words in an otherwise seemingly insulated, blissful world of their fellow corporate leaders even when India's rapidly slowing GDP growth touched a six-year low at 4.5 per cent in the second quarter as manufacturing output slumped and consumer demand as well as private investment weakened.
In visible signs of economic woes, the auto sector went through one of the longest sales slumps leading to nearly 3.5 lakh job losses. In the FMCG sector, concerns persisted that consumers were thinking twice even before buying a Rs 5-pack. The telecom segment continued to be under the pump, so was the stressed power sector.
Adding to the problems, non-performing assets plagued banks while two major non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) -- IL&FS and DHFL -- crashed. Still, the leading lights from India's corporate world could not hold up the mirror to the government.
For once, it was the "silent Prime Minister" -- Manmohan Singh, now a vocal Opposition member -- who did the talking on behalf those who blamed him for 'policy paralysis' and criticised him while he was at the helm for being weak, indecisive and silent.
Writing on The Hindu newspaper on November 18, Singh wrote that there was "a palpable climate of fear in our society today".
"Many industrialists tell me that they live in fear of harassment by government authorities. Bankers are reluctant to make new loans, for fear of retribution. Entrepreneurs are hesitant to put up fresh projects, for fear of failure attributed to ulterior motives. Technology start-ups, an important new engine of economic growth and jobs, seem to live under a shadow of constant surveillance and deep suspicion," he wrote.
Not long after, at an event organised by the Economic Times in Mumbai on November 30, where Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal were present, industrialist Rahul Bajaj spoke about the government's stifling of criticism, among other things.
This environment of fear, it's definitely on our minds. You (the government) are doing good work; and despite that, we don't have the confidence that you'll appreciate criticism, the veteran industrialist said.
His apprehensions of criticism not being appreciated was met with a tweet by Sitharaman, who said, "...Questions/criticisms are heard and answered/addressed. Always a better way to seek an answer than spreading one's own impressions which, on gaining traction, can hurt national interest".
Bajaj found support from Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw who hoped that the government would reach out to India Inc for working out solutions to revive consumption and growth.
"So far we are all pariahs n (sic) govt does not want to hear any criticism of our economy," she had tweeted.
Replying to Sitharaman's response to Bajaj, Shaw retorted, "Madam we are neither anti-national nor anti-government".
Shaw further said, "We want you to succeed big time as fastest growing economy n (sic) rise to the top of the global league of economies. I am a proud apolitical National n (sic) only want the Govt to promote good policies including at State level."
RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group Chairman Sanjiv Goenka, however, disagreed with Bajaj's views and asserted that there was no fear among industrialists.
Speaking at the India Today Conclave East 2019, Goenka lauded the Narendra Modi-led government for taking up steps to reach out to the common man and bring structural changes.
"For the first time in several years, I see the will and the determination to do a structural change. In the past, it was pretty much the way it was. For the first time, I see changes at different levels," Goenka said.
To be fair to Piramal Group Chairman Ajay Piramal, it was he who first mustered up the courage to tell the government in September that all was not well in the relationship between the industry and the ruling dispensation, and that mistrust between government and businesses was growing due to frequent raids, searches and lookout notices by various agencies on corporates.
"Today, I see there is a gap, there is mistrust between the people who are in power and the people who are wealth-creators," he said.
"Why do we need to have everything criminalised if there is a charge of an offence against you? With so much of information available, with so much of data available, do you need to have searches and raids? Do you need to have lookout notices issued? It does not give a positive feeling to any businessman," Piramal asked.
He further said "what is critical is that wealth-creators get the respect they deserve."

A little before him, L&T non-executive Chairman AM Naik had raised a faint voice while speaking on the sidelines of the company's AGM in August, hinting to challenging times faced by private sector to make investments.
Asking where the liquidity and the money was, he reminded the government, "Lots of promises were made during the elections, and you have to fulfil them now."
The industry veteran also raised questions on government data credibility, saying one has to use his or her own judgement while believing in the official numbers.
Towards the fag-end of the year, some more leaders joined in to raise their concerns.
Even when India climbed 14 rungs in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business ranking to stand at the 63rd position and figured among the world's top 10 most improved countries, Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Mittal wanted more, so did his fellow industrialist and industry chamber CII president Vikram Kirloskar, who at a pre-Budget meeting with Sitharaman spoke about further ease of doing business.
In 2020 the industry will hope to have more freedom to perform and even more freedom in raising concerns to the government without fear.

Fadnavis back as Maharashtra CM as Ajit Pawar stuns NCP, Sena, Congress

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, stunned their political adversaries on Saturday morning by installing a Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra, supported by the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Ajit Pawar.
While it is advantage BJP, given that the Assembly speaker will be from the party with the power to take decisions on the applicability of the anti-defection law, the political impasse is set to continue in the state, at least till the floor test in the Assembly, slated for November 30.
The Sena-NCP-Congress combine on Saturday night filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the Maharashtra governor’s decision and demanded an immediate floor test to avoid “further horse trading”. Hearing of the plea is scheduled to commence at 11:30 am on Sunday, said Sunil Fernandes, lawyer of the three parties.
Confusion also persisted over how many of the party’s legislators supported Ajit.
At least seven of the nearly dozen who attended the oath-taking ceremony at the Mumbai Raj Bhavan at 7.30 am, seemingly returned by evening to the faction that his uncle and party chief Sharad Pawar leads.
The NCP has 54 MLAs, including Ajit. Sharad Pawar exuded confidence that his MLAs would stick by him, and Fadnavis’ government would fail the floor test.
ALSO READ: Drama shifts to Assembly as Maharashtra holds its breath for floor test
Pawar added that his MLAs would rather face disqualification than support the Fadnavis-led government.
MLAs of NCP’s ally Congress may be flown to Jaipur on Sunday to ward off any poaching bid, a party leader said on Saturday night.
chartSources in the BJP, hinting that the Speaker of the Assembly would be from the party, were confident of passing the floor test.
They said Ajit was the NCP legislature party chief and it was unlikely that the MLAs would risk disqualification by defying the party whip.
They also said all the MLAs did not need to attend the ceremony in person, and it sufficed that Ajit submitted the letter of support signed by all the MLAs. Pawar senior said the letter of support was for the proposed Sena-led coalition government, which his nephew had since he heads the legislature party.
Sharad Pawar said he was not aware if his nephew decided to support the BJP out of the fear of the Enforcement Directorate. Ajit is named in the multi-crore Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam. He rejected speculation that Ajit “betrayed” him because of the power struggle with Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule. Sharad Pawar said his daughter was not interested in state politics.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar, without mentioning Pawar senior by name but alluding to his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week in the national capital, alleged the NCP chief not just knew of his nephew’s plans, but is a party to it.
“Some leaders of the NCP met with the PM and Amit Shah. The purpose (of the meeting) was stated to be to discuss issues concerning rain-hit farmers. Two days ago, Maharashtra governor announced compensation to farmers. The perception that something was fishy started developing from the point (Pawar-Modi) meet),” Ambedkar said.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala termed it a “black chapter” in India’s history, accusing the BJP of acting as a “contract killer” of democracy and the governor proving to be BJP chief Amit Shah’s “hitman”. However, there were fears in the party that some of its MLAs might also defect.

ALSO READ: Fox in the henhouse: How Ajit Pawar cut the ground under NCP's feet
chartsThe BJP defended the government formation as the need of the time and vindication of the people’s mandate. The PM congratulated Fadnavis and Ajit in a tweet.
To questions whether the cabinet approved revocation of the President’s rule, home ministry officials said the government invoked special provisions of the Constitution. President Ram Nath Kovind signed the proclamation for revocation of the central rule and a gazette notification to this effect was issued at 5.47 am.
A senior home ministry official said the approval was given by the central government by invoking a special provision of The Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules which gives the prime minister special powers. The Rule 12 says: "Departure from Rules.- The Prime Minister may, in any case or classes of cases, permit or condone a departure from these rules, to the extent he deems necessary". The prime minister gave this approval, which acts as post-facto approval of the Union Cabinet, the official said.

Fadnavis back as CM, Ajit Pawar deputy in Maharashtra political twist

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was on Saturday morning sworn in as Maharashtra’s Chief Minister, forming a surprise alliance with his one-time rival—Nationalist Congress Party's Ajit Pawar—who took oath as deputy chief minister.
Newspaper headlines this morning said the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress—three parties with mismatched ideologies—had Friday night reached an agreement to form a government with Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief Minister.
ALSO READ: Maharashtra govt LIVE: Cong-NCP conspiracy to control Mumbai, says Prasad
The plot changed quickly. President's rule was revoked at 5.47 am after approval from Ram Nath Kovind and TV news channels started flashing that Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar would be sworn in at 7.50 am at the Governor’s house in Mumbai.
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had Friday evening cancelled his trip to Delhi for a three-day conference—a sign that a political move was afoot, reported NDTV news channel.

ALSO READ: Ajit's decision to support BJP in Maharashtra his own: Sharad Pawar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations to Fadnavis minutes after the swearing-in ceremony. The NCP until Friday was in talks with the BJP’s estranged ally Shiv Sena for an alliance.
Following assembly elections in Maharashtra in October, the BJP, which emerged as the single largest party, was expected to rule the state for a second time with partner Shiv Sena. A sticking point between the parties, however, was Thackeray’s demand that the Chief Minister’s post be shared on a rotational basis -- a request the BJP denied amid a bitter fortnight of political infighting.
Shiv Sena broke ranks with its bigger partner and started discussions with the Congress party and the NCP to stitch together a coalition government. The central government imposed President’s rule while discussions were ongoing among the parties.
ALSO READ: Devendra Fadnavis makes stunning comeback in Maharashtra against all odds
Minutes after the announcement that new government had been formed, NCP chief Sharad Pawar tweeted that the decision by his nephew, Ajit, to join hands with the BJP was his own and didn’t have the support of the party.
"Ajit Pawar's decision is an act of indiscipline. No NCP worker is in favour of the NCP-BJP government. NCP MLAs who support the BJP should know this move attracts provisions of anti-defection law," said Sharad Pawar at press conference he held along with Thackeray in Mumbai.
Thackeray said Maharashtra had been “betrayed and attacked”.
ALSO READ: Cong calls BJP-NCP alliance 'illegitimate', says it will 'self destruct'
Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who was speaking later at a separate press conference, said the BJP had crossed the limits of "shamelessness".
BJP leader and union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad rejected the allegations. "Whatever was happening in Maharashtra has now come to an end--this is the end of Shiv Sena's treachery," he said in Delhi.

Congress slams terror-accused MP Pragya's appointment to defence panel

A controversy has been stoked over the nomination of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of parliament (MP) Pragya Thakur to the 21-member Parliamentary Consultative Committee on defenceheaded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Her nomination by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) was announced on Thursday, along with that of Farooq Abdullah, former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, who is currently detained along with numerous Kashmiri politicians under the stringent Public Security Act (PSA).

The opposition has criticised Thakur’s nomination to the defence consultative committee on the grounds that she is facing charges of terrorist activities, specifically in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case, where six innocents were killed by an explosive device strapped to a two-wheeler that was registered in Thakur’s name.
While the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has dropped charges against Thakur under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, Thakur continues to face multiple charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Indian Penal Code, Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act. Since April 2017, she has been out on bail, granted on grounds of ill health.
Contacted for a reaction to Thakur's appointment, the army declined to respond
The two houses of Parliament currently have 37 consultative committees, each affiliated to a separate ministry or department. According to the “Guidelines of Constitution, Functions and Procedures of Consultative Committees”, formulated by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in 2005, each consultative committee must have a minimum of ten and a maximum membership of 30 MPs. That effectively means that every MP is likely to be on at least one consultative committee.
Additionally, MPs with a special interest in a particular subject can be invited as a Permanent Special Invitee to the dealing ministry’s consultative committee, subject to a maximum of five such permanent invitees.
The consultative committees have “The objectives of creating awareness among MPs about the working of the government, of promoting informal consultations between the government and MPs, and to provide an opportunity for government to benefit from the advice and guidance of MPs.”
Consultative committees have little power to influence government. The US Congress standing committees effectively control budgets and can summon officials and citizens to provide testimony, with false testimony punishable for perjury. In contrast, the Guidelines state: “The Consultative Committees will not have the right to summon any witness, to send for or demand the production of any file or to examine any official record.”
“In India, MPs do little preparatory work before committee meetings, contribute little and often skip meetings with no questions asked,” says a senior MP, speaking anonymously.
Furthermore, the government can entirely disregard the committees recommendations that have financial implications “and any recommendation concerning security, defence, external affairs and atomic energy.”
Thakur has volunteered to serve on the defence consultative committee. According to the Guidelines, “Members must… send in their request to their party’s leader in their House of Parliament, who forward’s it with her recommendations to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. The ministry then notifies her membership, taking note of the vacancies, on a first-come-first-served basis.”
More powerful than consultative committees are parliament’s Departmentally Related Standing Committees. These consider, and report on, the budgetary allocation, and the Annual Reports of their affiliated ministry/department.
The Standing Committee on Defence has 21 members and is headed by BJP MP Jual Oram. Its opposition members include Rahul Gandhi, Abhishek Singhvi.

Maharashtra govt formation LIVE: Guv Koshyari calls NCP leaders for meet

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declining Maharashtra governor's offer to form government in the state owing to its relations with its ally, the baton is now in Shiv Sena's hand. The Sena, which has 56 MLAs in the 288-member House, has time till 7:30 pm today to stake the claim. Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant resigned from the Union cabinet after his party walked away from NDA over the power-sharing agreement in Maharashtra. "It would not have been morally right for me to continue in the Centre as a new government is about to form in Maharashtra. So I have submitted my resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is waiting for its ally Congress to take a call on supporting a Shiv Sena. Speaking to reporters after the party's core group meeting, NCP leader Nawab Malik said there was a need for the NCP and Congress to arrive at a consensus on "certain big issues", but any decision taken would be a joint one. The Congress party, on the other hand, has called its MLAs from Maharashtra for a meeting to take a final call on the matter.
In the recently held Maharashtra elections, the BJP bagged 105 seats, Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and the Congress party managed to bag 44 seats in the 288-member Assembly.
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09:00 PM
Nawab Malik, Nationalist Congress Party: We will get the letter today and make a final decision by tomorrow after holding discussions with our ally Congress
09:00 PM
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Mumbai: Ajit Pawar, Dhananjay Munde other Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders arrive at Raj Bhavan to meet Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
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8:59 PM - Nov 11, 2019
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08:59 PM
Guv calls NCP to for govt
We have been called by the Governor, a delegation of our party is meeting him now. We've been called to form the govt. As per the letter given by the Governor we'll hold discussions with Congress & see how a stable govt can be provided to the state.
08:46 PM
NCP leaders to meet Guv
Ajit Pawar, NCP: At 8:30 pm the Governor called us and asked me to come to meet him. Along with Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant Patil and others, I am going to meet him. We have no idea as to why did he call us. Governor is an important person so we are going to meet him
08:43 PM
Had in-principle support but Guv refused more time to Sena: Aaditya
The Shiv Sena on Monday night suffered a setback in its efforts to cobble up a non-BJP government in Maharashtra with the Congress at the last moment announcing its decision to hold more talks with ally NCP on supporting the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray said "two parties" (read the Congress and the NCP) have agreed "in-principle" to support the party-led government, but the governor refused additional time sought by his party to muster numbers.

Putting up a brave front, Aaditya said the Sena's claim on formation of a government still stands.

"We have initiated talks with two parties. Both the parties have expressed their in-principle support to the Sena," he said without taking names of the Congress and the NCP.

"We informed the governor about our willingness to stake a claim for government formation. Shiv Sena MLAs have already issued their support in written," Aaditya added.

He said the two parties need a few more days to complete their procedures, "hence we sought time from the governor but he refused to grant it."
08:26 PM
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Manikrao Thackeray, Congress: Neither ours nor NCP's letter has gone to #Maharashtra Governor yet. It has been decided that two leaders will be sent for discussions with Pawar sa'ab (Sharad Pawar), state leaders will also be there. The next step will be taken after the discussion
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08:16 PM
Guv refused more time to Sena to form government: Aaditya
The Shiv Sena suffered a setback in its efforts to cobble up a non-BJP government in Maharashtra with the Congress at the last moment announcing its decision for holding more talks with the NCP on supporting the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

Putting up a brave front, Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray told reporters outside Raj Bhavan here on Monday night that his party's claim on formation of a government still stands, as the two parties have agreed "in-principle" to support the Sena-led government.

He didn't take names of the Congress and the NCP.

Aaditya claimed that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari refused to grant more time to the Sena to muster numbers.

"We have initiated talks with two parties. Both the parties have expressed their support in-principle to the Sena," he said.

"We informed the Maharashtra governor about our willingness to stake a claim for government formation. Shiv Sena MLAs have already issued their support in written," he said.

He said the two parties (read NCP and Congress) need few more days to complete their procedures. "Hence we sought time from the governor but he refused to grant it," he added.
08:08 PM
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Aaditya Thackeray: Both parties (Congress-NCP) have been speaking to us, MLAs have been speaking to us. As talks are on, as 2nd largest party it was our right to come here. We've expressed our willingness to form govt, we've asked for extension of 48 hrs to fulfill our procedure.
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08:08 PM
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Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress: We've already issued a press note & we've mentioned that we've already discussed with working committee members and our PCC leaders. Our AICC President has spoken to Sharad Pawar ji. Further discussion will take place in Mumbai tomorrow. #Maharashtra
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07:50 PM
Cong to hold further talks with ally NCP
The Congress on Monday decided to hold further talks with ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on whether to support the Shiv Sena to form a government in Maharashtra.

"The Congress President has spoken to Sharad Pawarji. The party will have further discussions with the NCP," a statement issued by party general secretary K C Venugopal said.

After two crucial meetings, the top leaders of the party preferred to have detailed discussions with the NCP on the current political impasse in the state.

"The Congress Working Committee met this morning and held a detailed discussion on the situation in Maharashtra after which a consultation was held with Maharashtra Congress leaders," the statement said.
07:42 PM
We have shown willingness to the governor to stake a claim. The governor has rejected the 48-hour extension we asked, however, our willingness claim still stands: Aaditya Thackeray
07:38 PM
Shiv Sena seeks extension from Governor
07:34 PM
07:17 PM
ANI
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Aaditya Thackeray, Eknath Shinde and other Shiv Sena leaders meet Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai. #Maharashtra
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06:41 PM
Sena leaders on way to Raj Bhavan to stake claim to form govt
Shiv Sena leaders Eknath Shinde and Aaditya Thackeray are on way to Raj Bhavan where they are expected to stake claim to form government in Maharashtra after meeting Governor B S Koshyari on Monday evening.

Sources in the Sena said, "As per the governor's invitation to express our willingness and ability to form the government issued to us yesterday, we are responding to it positively."

"We will seek time from the governor to prove majority in the house," said a Sena leader.

Shinde has been elected as the leader of the Sena's legislative wing. Aaditya Thackeray, son of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, was elected from Worli in Central Mumbai in the last month's assembly polls.
06:37 PM
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Maharashtra: Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray and other leaders of the party reach Raj Bhavan, in Mumbai.
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06:24 PM
Congress to give out-side support to Shiv Sena: Sources
Congress will not be a part of the government: Sources
06:06 PM
BJP keeps close watch as Sena races against time to form govt
A day after it declined to form a government in Maharashtra for want of numbers, the BJP is keenly following Monday's political developments which saw its estranged ally Shiv Sena racing against time to enlist support of the NCP and the Congress.

The clock is ticking for the Uddhav Thackeray-led party which has time till 7:30 pm to "indicate the willingness and ability" of the party to form government, as directed by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.


As the Sena has limited options, the BJP held a couple of rounds of meetings on its political strategy which would be largely dependent upon the outcome of the meeting of Sena leaders with the governor.

Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said the party would comment on the political developments, if required, only after 7:30 pm, the deadline given by the governor to the Sena.
05:50 PM
Congress holds second meeting on supporting Shiv Sena
Top Congress leaders, former Maharashtra chief ministers Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan and Sushilkumar Shinde as well as state unit chief Balasaheb Thorat met party president Sonia Gandhi on Monday evening to decide on whether or not to support the Shiv Sena in forming a government in the state.

Earlier in the morning, all senior members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) met at Gandhi's residence. However, the meeting was inconclusive and the party leadership decided to meet again at 4 pm, amid indications that the legislators were not in favour of fresh elections in the state.

Senior leaders A K Antony, Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal also attended the meeting in the evening.

The Sena is the second largest party in the 288-member House with 56 MLAs after the BJP (105). Given the stalemate between the two alliance partners, the role of the Congress with its 44 legislators and the Nationalist Congress Party with 54 MLAs is crucial. The Shiv Sena has time till 7.30 pm on Monday to stake claim.
05:35 PM
Shiv Sena quits from NDA
05:22 PM
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Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray had a brief telephonic conversation a short while back
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05:17 PM
Backing Shiv Sena not an easy decision for Congress
Aligning with the Shiv Sena to form an alternative government in Maharashtra is not likely to be an easy decision for the Congress as the two parties are "not like-minded" or "ideologically aligned".

Sources said the Congress in the past has been reluctant to have any truck with the Shiv Sena but a change in circumstances, in which BJP has refused to form government in Maharashtra, may evoke a change of stance from the party.

Shiv Sena Minister Arvind Sawant has resigned from the Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a section of Congress MLAs are keen to be a part of the non-BJP alternative in Maharashtra.

For years, Shiv Sena has been the BJP's oldest ally and also one of its vocal critics. The party had been taking potshots at the Central government during its previous tenure and had even boycotted the no-confidence motion against the government in July last year.
05:05 PM
ANI
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@ANI
#WATCH Sunil Raut,brother of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut: Since last 15 days Sanjay Sahab has been suffering from chest pain. But it's not serious.He has been admitted for routine check up.I think today evening his angiography will be performed&he'll be released in a day or two.
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04:49 PM
Jaipur resorts hosting new Maha Cong MLA creates buzz among locals
A resort in the Rajasthan capital has become one of the centres of power play amid efforts to form the government in Maharashtra.

Since Friday evening, the new Congress MLAs are holed up at the resort on Delhi Road near here while party leaders discuss whether to support the Shiv Sena claim to power in Maharashtra.

With the MLAs staying in the resort at Pili Ki Talai area in Amer near Jaipur, many senior Congress leaders from Rajasthan, including Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, have been frequently visiting the resort to gauge the MLA's mood.
04:20 PM
Sanjay Raut complains of chest pain, hospitalised
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut was on Monday admitted to Lilavati Hospital here after he complained of chest pain, an official at the hospital said.

Raut, who has been speaking to the media daily on his party's stand on the current political situation in Maharashtra, came to the hospital around 3.30 pm.


"Raut visited the Lilavati Hospital after he complained for slight chest pain. He is being treated by Dr Jaleel Parkar," the official said.

"Raut came to the hospital two days back also for a routine check-up. An ECG (electrocardiogram test) was then done followed by some check-ups. Based on the ECG report, doctors advised him to come to the hospital today for further tests," he said.
04:20 PM
Nawab Malik
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik interacts with media persons after party's core committee meeting, in Mumbai. Photo: PTI
04:09 PM
Arvind Sawat
Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister and Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant displays his resignation from the cabinet during a press conference, in New Delhi. Photo: PTI
03:58 PM
Arvind Sawant on situation in Maharashtra
"Mahayuti government could not be formed. There are talks about Shiv Sena forming government with other parties. It would not be right to continue as Union Minister so I resigned. There should be a government which will work for people of Maharashtra. Farmers are going through a lot of problems due to rains. The new government should be formed as soon as possible," he told ANI.
03:55 PM
Aaditya Thackeray has potential, is visionary leader: Arvind Sawant
Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant, who resigned from Modi government on Monday after his party started efforts to form a non-BJP alternative in Maharashtra, has said that party's young face Aaditya Thackeray has "potential" and "is a visionary leader" but did not speak about his role in the emerging political combination in the state.

"Aaditya Thackeray has potential. Go to YouTube and check by yourself. What a potential that young boy is having. There is true leadership. He is a visionary leader of the country," Sawant told ANI when asked about the current political situation in the state.
03:52 PM
Shiv Sena, the second largest party in the 288-member House with 56 MLAs after the BJP's 105 members, has time till 7.30 pm to stake claim on government formation.

Maharashtra Governor asks BJP to indicate willingness, ability to form govt

Following the 15-day-long impasse, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Saturday evening asked the BJP, the single largest party in the state, to "indicate willingness and ability" to form government.
Sources close to acting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is leader of state BJP's legislature wing, confirmed that Fadnavis had received the letter from the Governor.

The BJP won 105 seats in the October 21 elections, while the majority mark in the 288-member Assembly is 145.
Its ally Shiv Sena has won 56 seats, but the two parties are bickering over chief minister's post.
According to Raj Bhavan statement, the governor asked Fadnavis to "indicate the willingness and ability of his party to form the government".
As no party had come forward to form the government, the governor decided to explore the possibility of formation of government on Saturday, the Raj Bhavan statement said.

Manohar Lal Khattar sworn in as Haryana CM for a second straight term

Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Haryana where the BJP formed a government, state's first non-Congress government at the helm for the second consecutive term.
The saffron party formed the government in alliance with the newly formed Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) led by Dushyant Chautala, who took oath as Khattar's deputy.

Khattar, 65, will be heading the second Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of the state, which was formed on November 1, 1966.
A low-profile organisational man with an active RSS background, Khattar was chosen by the newly elected BJP legislators as their leader at a meeting here on Saturday.
"My government will be transparent," Khattar told the media ahead of taking the oath.
Five-time Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, whose party Shriomani Akali Dal (SAD) had an alliance with BJP's rival Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) during the assembly elections despite being an NDA partner, attended the ceremony along with son and Member of Parliament Sukhbir Badal.
Earlier, the BJP, which won 40 seats and was six short of a majority in the 90-member Assembly, announced an alliance with the JJP led by Dushyant Chautala, a great grandson of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal.

Khattar unanimously chosen Haryana BJP leader, swearing-in on Sunday

Manohar Lal Khattar was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP legislative party in Haryana here on Saturday.
The announcement was made by Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Prasad, along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Arun Singh, attended the legislative party meeting as central observers.
Khattar's name was proposed by MLAs Anil Vij and Kanwar Pal and seconded by other BJP legislators.
After being elected as the legislative party leader, Khattar will go to meet Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya and stake claim to form the government in the state.
The swearing-in ceremony of the Khattar-led BJP government will take place on Sunday.
The saffron party is all set to form the government in Haryana after clinching an alliance with the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), which won 10 seats in the 90-member Assembly in the just-concluded polls, by giving it the post of deputy chief minister.
On Friday, BJP president Amit Shah told a press conference in New Delhi that the chief minister will be from his party and the deputy chief minister from the regional party.
JJP chief Dushyant Chautala was also present at the press conference.

Articulate leader, distinguished minister: Leaders pay tributes to Jaitley

Top political leaders paid rich tributes to senior BJP leader and former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who died on Saturday.
The former Union minister died at AIIMS where he was undergoing treatment for several weeks. He was 66.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences, saying he has lost a valued friend.
Narendra Modi
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@narendramodi
Arun Jaitley Ji was a political giant, towering intellectual and legal luminary. He was an articulate leader who made a lasting contribution to India. His passing away is very saddening. Spoke to his wife Sangeeta Ji as well as son Rohan, and expressed condolences. Om Shanti.
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Narendra Modi
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@narendramodi
BJP and Arun Jaitley Ji had an unbreakable bond. As a fiery student leader, he was at forefront of protecting our democracy during the Emergency. He became a much liked face of our Party, who could articulate the Party programmes and ideology to a wide spectrum of society.
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Narendra Modi
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@narendramodi
With the demise of Arun Jaitley Ji, I have lost a valued friend, whom I have had the honour of knowing for decades. His insight on issues and nuanced understanding of matters had very few parallels. He lived well, leaving us all with innumerable happy memories. We will miss him!
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President Ram Nath Kovind said Jaitley's death has left a "huge void in our public life and our intellectual ecosystem."
President of India
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@rashtrapatibhvn
Extremely saddened by the passing of Shri Arun Jaitley after battling a long illness with fortitude and dignity. A brilliant lawyer, a seasoned parliamentarian, and a distinguished Minister, he contributed immensely to nation building.
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President of India
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@rashtrapatibhvn
· 1h
Extremely saddened by the passing of Shri Arun Jaitley after battling a long illness with fortitude and dignity. A brilliant lawyer, a seasoned parliamentarian, and a distinguished Minister, he contributed immensely to nation building.

President of India
✔
@rashtrapatibhvn
Shri Arun Jaitley possessed a unique ability of discharging the most onerous responsibility with poise, passion and studied understanding.
His passing leaves a huge void in our public life and our intellectual ecosystem. Condolences to his family and associates #PresidentKovind
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BJP president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Jaitley's death was a personal loss.
"I am deeply saddened by the death of Arun Jaitley, Jaitley's departure is a personal loss for me. As him, I have lost not only a senior leader of the organization but also an integral member of the family whose support and guidance I have been receiving for years," Shah tweeted.
Amit Shah
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@AmitShah
अरुण जेटली जी के निधन से अत्यंत दुःखी हूँ, जेटली जी का जाना मेरे लिये एक व्यक्तिगत क्षति है।
उनके रूप में मैंने न सिर्फ संगठन का एक वरिष्ठ नेता खोया है बल्कि परिवार का एक ऐसा अभिन्न सदस्य भी खोया है जिनका साथ और मार्गदर्शन मुझे वर्षो तक प्राप्त होता रहा।
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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, "Jaitleyji will always be remembered for pulling the economy out of the gloom and putting it back on the right track. The BJP will miss Arunji's presence. I extend my heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family."
Rajnath Singh
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@rajnathsingh
Deeply anguished by the demise of my friend and an extremely valued colleague Shri Arun Jaitley ji. He was a proficient lawyer by profession and an efficient politician by passion.
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Rajnath Singh
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@rajnathsingh
Arun Jaitley ji served the nation in several capacities and he was an asset to the government and the party organisation.
He always had a deep and clear understanding of the issues of the day. His knowledge and articulation won him several friends.
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Women and child development minister Smriti Irani said, "A stalwart who paid tribute to his simple beginnings by helping those with meagre means. Orator par excellence, legal luminary @arunjaitley ji served the Nation and sangathan with dedication and zeal. My tributes to him. Condolences to loved ones. Om Shanti (sic)."
ALSO READ: Arun Jaitley: The Finance Minister who loved a good meal and good gossip
The Congress said, "We are deeply saddened to hear the passing of Shri Arun Jaitley. Our condolences to his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them in this time of grief."
Congress
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@INCIndia
We are deeply saddened to hear the passing of Shri Arun Jaitley. Our condolences to his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them in this time of grief.
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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called Jaitley's untimely demise a huge loss for the nation.
Arvind Kejriwal
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@ArvindKejriwal
Untimely demise of former FM and senior leader Sh Arun Jaitley ji is a huge loss to the nation. A legal luminary and an experienced political leader known for his governance skills will be missed by the country. Thoughts and prayers with his family in this moment of grief. RIP
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Mamata Banerjee
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@MamataOfficial
Extremely saddened at the passing away of Arun Jaitley Ji, after a battle bravely borne. An outstanding Parliamentarian & a brilliant lawyer, appreciated across parties. His contribution to Indian polity will be remembered. My condolences to his wife, children, friends & admirers
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Career timeline of Arun Jaitley, PM Modi's go-to man in New Delhi

A senior member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Arun Jaitley was Union finance minister in the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s first term in power at the Centre. He also held the defence portfolio for a while.
Jaitley, who had been ailing the past few years and was admitted to New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on August 9, breathed his last on August 24 at age 66.

Adept at working the levers of power, he has been Modi’s go-to man in New Delhi since the late 1990s, before deteriorating health put an end to his four-decade-long political career. A day before the Modi 2.0 government was sworn in, Jaitley cited health issues while requesting the prime minister to let him stay out of the Cabinet.
Here's a timeline of his political journey:
1973-1977: Arun Jaitley enters student politics, becomes Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) student leader at the Delhi University Campus; rises to become president of the Students Union in 1974. Is put under preventive detention for 19 months during the emergency. Plays an active role in Jai Prakash Narayan's anti-corruption stir. Joins Jana Sangh after release from jail.
1980: Jaitley joins BJP, is made president of party's youth wing of BJP and secretary of its Delhi unit.
Jaitley, the lawyer: 1987-2009
Practices law before the Supreme Court of India and several High Courts. Appointed Additional Solicitor General by the V P Singh government in 1989. His clients include Shrarad Yadav, Madhavrao Scindia, L K Advani and several other polticians. Given his political duties as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, stops law practice in June 2009.
1991-1999
Member of BJP national executive since 1991; made spokesperson of the party before 1991 Lok Sabha polls.
1999: Jaitley under Vajpayee govt
Appointed Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge) on October 13, 1999, and Minister of State for Disinvestment (Independent Charge).
2000: Jaitley is elevated as cabinet minister; appointed Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs and Shipping.
2002-03: Appointed General Secretary of BJP on July 1, 2002, Becomes party's national spokesperson in 2003. Goes back to legal career after BJP's defeat in 2004 polls.
2004-2014
Chosen as Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha in 2009 by L K Advani. Plays vital role during talks on Women Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, supports Anna Hazare on Jan Lokpal Bill.
2014-2019: Jaitley's success and failures
Until 2014, Jaitley had never contested any direct elections. That year, he was BJP candidate in Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency, but lost to Amarinder Singh of Congress. Jaitley was selected by newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be Minister of Finance, Minister for Corporate Affairs and Minister of Defence in his cabinet. With Jaitley as FM, the Modi government was able to take several key economic decisions like demonetisation and GST. In Jaitley's stewardship, the Modi government merged the railway budget with the general Budget. Moreover, the decision to advance the date of the general budget to February 1 was also taken with Jaitley as FM. GST went under several tax-slab revisions and Jaitley maneuvered them efficiently. He also introduced Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to resolve the issues with companies that were turning insolvent. IBC has played a key role in the corporate sector in recent times.
May 29, 2019
On May 29 2019, in a letter to Prime Minister Modi, Arun Jaitley cites poor health as a reason for not taking any active role in the formation of the new government, effectively declining a role as a minister in the second term of Prime Minister Modi.

BJP an organic entity, not an assembled one: PM Narendra Modi to party MPs

The BJP is an "organic" entity and not an "assembled" entity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the ruling party lawmakers here as he asked them to remain active as ground workers even after becoming ministers or legislators.
"The BJP is an organic entity and not an assembled entity. It has reached here because of its ideology and thoughts not because of one family's legacy," Modi told the BJP MPs during a two-day training programmes for them. "The
party worker in you should remain alive always even if you become a minister or an MP. Irrespective of your age, always remain a student so that learning process goes on," Modi was quoted as saying by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.
The PM was addressing the BJP lawmakers at a two-day training programme for them that began here on Saturday.
During the training programme, the party MPs will also be addressed by Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and party working president JP Nadda.
The training programme, "Abhyas Varga", is being organised at Parliament and issues like the party's ideology and Parliamentary procedures will be discussed at length.

Unnao case: Expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar's arms licences revoked

Arms licences of expelled BJP BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who faces allegations of raping a minor girl and killing her two aunts, have been cancelled, officials said here Saturday.
Sengar had licences to posses a single barrel gun, a rifle and a revolver.

The Bangarmau MLA was arrested by the CBI on April 13, 2018 on rape charges and is lodged in the Sitapur district jail.
The process to cancel his gun licences was underway and on Friday the district magistrate of Unnao ordered revocation of the licences on a demand from the family of the rape survivor.
Sengar been charged with raping the young woman in 2017, when she was a minor.
Another case was filed against him after a car carrying the rape survivor met an accident on Sunday in Rae Bareli district. Two of her aunts died in the truck-car collision and she and her lawyer are in admitted in a Lucknow hospital.

BJP accuses Congress of forging signatures of absent MLAs in MP assembly

Days after two BJP MLAs voted in favour of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh, the saffron party on Sunday accused the ruling Congress of forging the signatures of 8 to 12 legislators during voting on a bill, although they were "not present" in the Assembly.
The BJP is now mulling approaching the state Governor with a request to verify the signatures of the Congress MLAs who participated in the voting on the Criminal Law (Madhya Pradesh Amendment) Bill.

On Wednesday, two BJP MLAs - Sharad Kol (Beohari) and Narayan Tripathi (Maihar) - backed the seven-month-old Nath government during voting on the Criminal Law (Madhya Pradesh Amendment) Bill, 2019, in the Assembly.
Talking to PTI on Sunday, Leader of the Opposition in MP Assembly Gopal Bhargava said, "We have come to know that some 8 to 12 Congress MLAs were not present when the Criminal Law (Madhya Pradesh Amendment) Bill was put to vote on Wednesday."
"Right now, we are studying the powers of the governor so that we can petition him with the request to verify the signatures of the Congress MLAs who participated in the voting," he said.
"We suspect that their (8 to 12 Congress legislators) signatures were forged," he said, adding that the voting procedure was not video-graphed.
"We have learnt that 8 to 12 Congress members were not present in the House. So how come they got 122 votes?" he asked.
In the 230-member Assembly, the ruling Congress has the support of 121 MLAs.
It has 114 MLAs - two short of the simple majority mark of 116 - and its government is being supported by four Independent legislators, two MLAs of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and one from the Samajwadi Party (SP).
"I had already spoken to MP Assembly Principal Secretary A P Singh over phone and asked him to seal the entire voting procedure. I could not raise the issue in the House as it was adjourned after the voting," Bhargava said.
Congress MLA Sanjay Yadav, however, said that Bhargava was present in the House that time and he should have himself checked the voting procedure then.
"Nobody had stopped him then. Why is he complaining now?" he asked.
"In fact, their 50 members (legislators) were not present in the House," Yadav said and alleged that the BJP was in the habit of speaking lies.

BJP mulls no-confidence motion against Karnataka Assembly Speaker: Report

A day after coming to power in Karnataka, the BJP is contemplating bringing a no-confidence motion against assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar, if he does not voluntarily vacate the post, party sources said Saturday.
The message has been discreetly conveyed to Kumar to give up the post, which is conventionally held by a member from the ruling party, they said.

"We will move the no-confidence motion against the Speaker if he himself does not resign," a ruling BJP MLA told PTI requesting anonymity.
The legislator added, "Our first agenda is to win the confidence motion and get the finance bill passed on Monday. We will wait and see whether the speaker steps down on his own." The MLA sought to know how there could be a Speaker from the opposition party.
"Once we win the confidence of the House, we will go ahead with moving no-confidence motion," he said.
In a sudden turn of events, the BJP led by B S Yediyurappa came to power Friday, barely 24 hours after Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar disqualified the three MLAs, Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumathalli from Congress and independent MLA R Shankar.
The Speaker had even indicated that in a couple of days, he would take decision regarding rest of the MLAs including three from JD(S).
The raft of resignations by the rebel MLAs had brought down the coalition government in Karnataka and

Yediyurappa takes oath as Karnataka CM, to face floor test on Monday

BJP leader B S Yediyurappa was sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka on Friday, taking charge of the state for the fourth time in his political career.
Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Yediyurappa, 76, at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.

The Yediyurappa-led BJP ministry is assuming office three days after the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) government with the defeat of the motion of confidence moved by chief minister H D Kumaraswamy in the assembly by 99-105 votes.
Yediyurappa, who is president of the BJP's Karnataka unit, met the Governor on Friday morning and requested him to administer the oath of office and secrecy.
Before the swearing in, Yediyurappa said he would decide on members to be inducted into the ministry after consulting party president Amit Shah.
This is the fourth stint for Yediyurappa as the Chief Minister-- the last one was after the May 2018 Assembly polls, when he barely lasted three days after being sworn in.
The new chief minister reverted to the earlier English spelling of his name B S Yediyurappa, apparently influenced by numerology.

Cong, BJP face off at apartment, prohibitory orders imposed in Bengaluru

High drama prevailed at an apartment here as Congress and BJP workers rushed there following reports about the alleged presence of two independent MLAs who withdrew support to thecoalition government and aligned with the BJP.
Amid the political turmoil, police imposed prohibitory orders in the city under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) (prevents assembly of five or more people at one spot) and banned sale of liquor from 6 pm Tuesday to 6 am on Thursday.

The development came even as the Karnataka Assembly was meeting at the Vidhan Soudha, the state Secretariat, ahead of an expected trust vote in the House to decide the fate of the Congress-Janata Dal (S) coalition government, which has been tottering after the resignations of 16 MLAs two weeks ago.
One Congress member, Ramalinga Reddy, later retracted from his decision to resign, saying he would support the government.
The two independent MLAs, R Shankar and H Nagesh, had withdrawn their support to the government earlier in July.
Raising slogans like 'Down Down BJP', the Congress workers allegedly tried to storm the apartment.
Soon police too reached there.BJP workers led by corporator Padmanabha Reddy too dashed to the spot.
Police were seen persuading the actvists, who were trying to gain entry into the apartment, to disperse.
"There is every likelihood that there will be protests, demonstrations and rallies, which may lead to clashes between the workers of political parties," police commissioner Alok Kumar said in a release.
Expressing apprehensions that miscreants may disturb the atmosphere under the influence of liquor which may disturb peace and cause disruption in traffic, the police commissioner said there will be no sale of liquor from Tuesday evening to Thursday morning.
"During this period, all the bars, wine shops, pubs and all kind of shops selling liquor will be banned," the order said.
"Similarly, congregation of people, demonstration of weapons, taking out rallies, use of explosives and pelting stones will be prohibited. Taking out effigies will be prohibited," it added.