#Mission2019: ‘Operation Lotus’ BJP’s Trump Card in Karnataka?

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January 14, 2019

2019, the year of 17th Lok Sabha election, is turning out to be action-packed as every political party across the nation is preparing themselves or rather ready to be politically equipped. The incumbent central government that swept to power in 2014 forming the largest majority government since 1984 general polls seems to be muddled with the possibility of a Modi wave-less election this year. After suffering losses in three traditionally BJP stronghold states recently, the saffron party is leaving no stone unturned to launch Lotus in the southern states in the upcoming polls. As alleged by Karnataka Minister and senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar, horse-trading has started in Karnataka and BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ is trying to unsettle the ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition government in the state. He even avowed that three Congress MLAs were camping in a hotel in Mumbai in the “company of some BJP leaders”. Although Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy dismissed any threat to his government, political observers look at ‘Operation Lotus’ as BJP’s last desperate attempt to break the winner alliance in Karnataka and make a mark in south India in 2019!

Karnataka Congress MLA Dr. Anjali Nimbalkar spoke to AV and said, “Since the JD(S) and Congress coalition government has formed in Karnataka, BJP has tried its best to create a political crisis. However, this will not work in their favour; neither JD(S) nor Congress lawmakers will join them. Allegations of three Congress MLAs coming to Mumbai sounds insignificant, they might have their own personal reasons to visit the city.”

She further added, “There’s no misunderstanding in both the parties in the government; we will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls together. The alliance government is working really strong and BJP is only trying to mislead the voters to gain political mileage.”

The term ‘Operation Lotus’ refers to BJP allegedly luring several Opposition lawmakers to make a mess with the stability of its present coalition government. The term was first used in 2008 when BJP was likewise accused of enticing opposition legislators to ensure the stability of BS Yeddyurappa-led then government.

Regarded as the ‘trouble-shooter’ of Congress in Karnataka, Shivakumar also accused Chief Minister Kumaraswamy of being “lenient” towards the BJP. Explaining his point, he further said, “CM is not exposing the facts he knows. All the MLAs have conveyed to the Chief Minister about the ongoing conspiracies. They have also told Siddaramaiah about it.” Attacking the CM for adopting ‘wait and watch policy’, Shivakumar asserted confidence that BJP would not succeed in its attempt.

Downplaying BJP’s horse-trading attempts in the state, CM Kumaraswamy ruled out the reports of three Congress MLAs camping in a hotel in Mumbai and claimed that his coalition government is not under threat from the saffron party. Without revealing the names, the Janata Dal (Secular) leader said, “All three of them are continuously in contact with me. They went to Mumbai after informing me. My government isn’t under threat; there is no question of instability to this government.”

Former JD(S) MLA Sharada Pooryanaik asserted, “There’s always some news on the Karnataka coalition government but none of both the parties’ lawmakers will join hands with BJP. Our coalition government is very strong and will fight 2019 Lok Saha polls together. The entire country is going against BJP and the party is putting all its efforts to unsettle the government with false stories but they will not succeed in their motif.”

Interacting with the reporters in Mysuru, the CM also slammed a few media reports stating how they can cause loss to the people of the state. “I have noticed reports in sections of the media (about ‘Operation Lotus’). Today too I saw a media report stating that on January 17, President’s rule will be imposed in the state. I don’t know who is feeding such reports to the media…I was surprised to see the report,” Kumaraswamy said on Monday.

Restating the CM, Deputy CM G Parameshwara expressed that the Congress MLAs have no plans to join the saffron party. The BJP too has trashed the charges, saying that the coalition partners are making false accusations to hide their weaknesses and internal conflict.

BJP MLA Tamil Selvan told the newspaper, “BJP won the majority of the seats in Karnataka in the 2018 assembly election. BJP is still the No. 1 party in the state. A few MLAs from the government is in contact with the state BJP leaders though I am unaware of three Congress MLAs who are allegedly in Mumbai. In the upcoming election, we will bring the majority of the seats from the state and we are assured of Narendra Modi being the next PM of the country.”

The southern part of India has never been a BJP bastion. The party won just 21 of the 129 seats in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Of these 21, Karnataka alone accounted for 17. Apart from being disappointed in getting suitable regional party support in the five states, 2019 will be one such opportunity that can be a hope for the party’s rise in fortune and how will the party and its ‘Chanakya’ Shah will bring that to reality will be a good show to watch.

Political activist Milind Nikam said, “The sentiment of the voters in the southern states of India has always been different than the northern states. While all the political parties in Karnataka fought against each other in 2018 assembly polls, but to keep BJP out of power, they join hands. India has only two major national political parties and we are yet to find an alternative. Moreover, there’s no political party that is free of corruption charges be it national or regional parties. Political alliances in the country are not formed for the voters’ benefit; they are formed to benefit every party’s respective political motif.”

Modi needs to recover popularity by correcting Wrong Decisions

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Vaidehi Taman

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January 14, 2019

Political ploys have become a feature of the cut and thrust of the Indian Politics. Sworn enemies become a comrade in arms and strange bedfellows to defeat a former friend or foe maybe with or without malevolent intentions. The present amalgamation of parties is ample testimony of shifting alliances and loyalties. Sometimes, the conscience speaks louder than words as does hate. Horse-trading is not new to the Indian politics, and BJP’s Operation Lotus is not surprising for me. All parties do that in India. I am not a fan of BJP (or any party) but I definitely get bothered with such practices. We Vote for the party and the candidate; however, when the voted out party leaders bargain to join the winner party, it’s a breach of trust with the voters. Anyway, in the present scenario, BJP is the richest political party with a huge funding, after all, the attraction of spoils is so strong for our politicians that their MLAs themselves will run to the BJP. Such are the morals and integrity of our elected members.

In Karnataka, BJP’s ”Operation Lotus” has toppled the state’s coalition government; three Congress MLAs were camping in a hotel in Mumbai in the “company of some BJP leaders”. In the name of Operation Lotus, BJP was allegedly luring several opposition MLAs to defect to ensure the stability of it’s the then government headed by BS Yeddyurappa in Karnataka in 2008. Shivakumar, who had earned the reputation of being a “trouble-shooter” in the Congress for bailing out the party from many crises in the past, accused Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy of being “lenient” towards the BJP. Shivakumar, however, exuded confidence that the BJP would not succeed in its attempt. Many Congress MLAs in Karnataka have alleged that the BJP leaders have approached them to quit the government and join BJP. The saffron party needs to be more careful while approaching such MLAs.

On one hand, BJP is approaching the opposition leaders to join their party while on the other hand, they are failing to understand the sentiments of the core BJP workers and leaders. The problem at root is, we have started to lose a great leader to our polluted politics. Narendra Modi has turned out to be an authoritarian figure for not only the opponents but also their own leaders. They are now silent for Modi and Shah to control their fate. The duos have learned how to keep their herd in control since the Gujarat days — either by offering them a good compensation or intimidate them — nothing else than absolute submission is expected in both the cases.

Currently, you see only two authoritative voices in the BJP. Other is lackeys who merely echo the orders coming from Modi and Shah. The rest of them are powerless voices that nobody listens to. Naturally, not all people in BJP are happy with the autocratic style of the Modi-Shah duo. They feel neglected and sidelined since they don’t always agree to the chauvinistic views of the top leadership. They are the first ones to rebel once the opportunity presents itself. It can be said about their coalition partners too who are unhappy and sidelined, whether it is TDP, Shiv Sena, or Akali Dal. They want to be in the coalition but at equal partners. With Modi and Shah, that is increasingly becoming difficult.

However, the people who were not really with BJP for religion feel cheated. Their heart is still with Modi, but the mind rebels. They understand that Modi has failed to deliver. He is not the “Yug Purush” they had expected him to be. In fact, they can’t help but notice that this government isn’t any better than the previous one. Plus, it is becoming increasingly difficult to defend the BJP government. Hence, Modi’s popularity has waned considerably. On top of that, BJP IT cell makes a joke out of itself by releasing absurd graphs defending the indefensible and adding insult to injury. We already know that the BJP and Congress candidate for the PM. Looking at the current scenario, it is likely that Rahul Gandhi would be the candidate as next PM. Of course, Rahul Gandhi will not get a full mandate but he will enjoy the support of his party and coalition members, which I guess would be enough to cross the line.

Hardly three months are left; Modi needs to regain his popularity by correcting the Wrong decisions, not doing Media hijacking, by shedding the attitude of being the God. Everyone has noticed a change in the tone of Modi before and after elections. It used to be kind of “We (me+citizens) will do it” and now it’s like “I did it”. I know he doesn’t make his own speeches but this is the thing.

There is a constant effort being put in to show him as the best, as doing everything. Hope things get better before the 2019 elections, or else BJP will be losing its sheen. The popularity of a politician is judged by the not only capacity to win his own election, but also win elections for his colleagues. On both these counts, at the moment, Modi stands tallest among all the contemporary politicians irrespective of the party affiliations. The biggest mistake he made is demonetisation. And to the worst, he heavily advertised it as a success during its first anniversary that was nothing but a mockery towards the middle-class people. Property tax increased and even made it worst. Heavy taxation system became a burden for the middle-class people. They say Ram Mandir issue can’t be solved as the matter is in the court but how did they implement the SC/ST law against the General Caste people when the matter was in court? He failed to control the price hikes and in fact, prices have been increased due to GST. Anyway, there are some good sides too; the best thing that the government did is controlling terrorism. From 2014, we don’t have any bomb blast news that was the part of our life during the UPA. However, this is not enough to retain its power; BJP seriously needs to pull its socks in acceptable manners by taking voters in confidence.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Adarsh fraud case: SC asks if Delhi HC has power to grant bail when case initiated in Gurugram

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Web Team

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January 14, 2019

The Supreme Court said on Monday that it would examine whether the Delhi High Court was competent to grant bail to a person, against whom the Serious Fraud Investigation Office has initiated prosecution for allegedly siphoning off over Rs 200 crore.

The top court asked the managing director of Adarsh Credit Cooperative Society, Rahul Modi, who was arrested by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and granted bail by the high court in the case, to reply as how a habeas corpus (unlawful detention or imprisonment) petition could be filed when he was on remand by an judicial order.

The SFIO, which comes under the Corporate Affairs Ministry, mainly probes white collar crimes.

A bench of justices A M Sapre and U U Lalit asked Modi to satisfy it whether the Delhi High Court was correct in granting him bail even when a bail application was not filed.

“You will also have to satisfy us whether the Delhi High Court was a competent court to entertain the petition filed by the accused in the case, when the prosecution was launched in Gurugram in Haryana,” the bench said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the SFIO, said that it was a serious financial fraud case and the high court had set aside the order of a Gurugram special court. The order was not under challenge and the high court does not have the territorial jurisdiction to do so, he claimed.

He said that the observation made by the Delhi High Court while granting the accused interim bail was against several judgments passed by the apex court.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Modi, said that arrest was made in Delhi and the SFIO’s headquarter is in the national capital. Therefore, the Delhi High Court has the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the petition, he claimed.

He said that there were several judgments of the apex court which say that habeas corpus petitions can be filed even if a person is under remand by an judicial order.

The bench asked then does it mean that if the arrest is made by the SFIO anywhere in the country, then the Delhi High Court has a territorial jurisdiction to entertain a petition.

Sibal said that during the remand period he was kept in Delhi and after bail, Modi has been cooperating in the investigation.

Mehta countered the Sibal’s arguments, saying the remand order was passed by a special magistrate court in Gurugram and the companies had a registered headquarter in Gurugram.Therefore, the competent court was the Punjab and Haryana High Court, he said.

He alleged that the accused was influencing witnesses and the high court order needs to be stayed till the disposal of the plea.

The hearing remained inconclusive and would continue on January 23.

The SFIO has challenged the December 21, last year order of Delhi High Court by which it had granted interim bail to founder and managing director of Adarsh Credit Cooperative Society, Mukesh Modi and Rahul Modi, who were arrested by the agency.

It had observed that the arrest of the duo on December 10 last year was “absolutely illegal and patently suffers from vice of lack of legal sanction and jurisdiction”.

Mukesh Modi and his family members were allegedly running Ponzi schemes, duping over 20 lakh depositors. The Ahmedabad-based Adarsh Credit Cooperative Society had started its operations in 1999.

The deposits collected from members of the Adarsh Credit Cooperative Society were used for the benefit of a few family members belonging to the Mukesh Modi family.

After SP-BSP ties in UP, Tejashwi Yadav meets Mayawati

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Web Team

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January 14, 2019

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has met BSP supremo Mayawati here after the announcement of a pre poll alliance between her party and the SP in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls this year. The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader arrived in the state capital on Sunday night and met the Bahujan Samaj Party chief, during which the two leaders exchanged greetings, RJD sources said on Monday.

They said that despite the alliance being announced in Uttar Pradesh, parties like the RJD could be accommodated on isolated seats on the lines of Kairana, where Tabassum Hasan won on RLD ticket in a Lok Sabha bye-election though she had close links with the Samajwadi Party.

The Leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly hoped that the alliance formed in Uttar Pradesh will be extended to his state and all the parties will work together to defeat the BJP. In return, the RJD, which is an ally of the Congress in Bihar, could accommodate some candidates of the BSP and the Samajwadi Party in the state, sources said.

I am the youngest. I have come to wish her (Mayawati) on her birthday in advance and take blessings, she is a mature leader and we should keep getting her guidance in the future. Later, he shared his pictures with Mayawati on social media, in which he is seen touching the feet of the BSP supremo, Tejashwi Yadav told reporters.

The alliance in Uttar Pradesh is the realisation of the dream of Lalu Prasad for defeating communal forces; Tejashwi Yadav further added that the alliance will help whitewash the saffron party from both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Once arch-rivals, the Samajwadi Party and the BSP announced on Saturday that their tie-up in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, sharing 38 seats each while keeping the Congress out of the alliance. The parties, however, said that they would not field candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. They also left two seats out of the 80 in the state for smaller allies, without naming them. But there have been talks with Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)

Situation in J&K has worsened since 2014: Shiv Sena

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Web Team

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January 14, 2019

The Shiv Sena said on Monday that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has worsened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s watch and claimed the BJP-led government at the Centre frittered away the massive 2014 poll mandate.

Modi talks about his “56-inch chest”, but more Army jawans have shed blood in the militancy-hit state under his dispensation than previous governments, said the BJP’s bickering ally.

Despite getting an overwhelming mandate in 2014, the BJP failed to fulfil its pre-poll promises and now its leaders are talking of even bigger win in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, said the Sena in an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

“BJP leaders were delivering speeches at Ramlila Maidan and pitching for a second term in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections with a strong mandate. So, what about the mandate you got in 2014? Was it hollow?” the Sena said.

Last week, a two-day meeting of the BJP’s national council was held at New Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, where the party kickstarted its campaign for 2019 polls.

“Such statements are an insult to 2014 mandate,” said the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, a constituent of the BJP-headed governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

“Construction of Ram temple, (fighting) corruption, inflation, creation of jobs were some of the top points on which the campaign for the 2014 general election was based.

“Chest thumping over ’56-inch size’ was also done along with tall promises to counter terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. But we continued to lose our jawans there,” said the editorial in the Marathi daily.

The situation in Jammu and Kashmir has worsened in the last four-and-a-half years, said the Sena.

“We do not know the measurement of our jawan’s chest, but without any complaint they have continued their fight against terrorism. But, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has complained against Congress harassing him,” it said.

A true leader is one who forgets his personal woes and tries to solve challenges facing the country, the party said.

“The Congress-led government was incompetent and hence it lost election (in 2014) and now the Modi regime is in power but jawans are still being killed.

“The ‘chowkidar’ should take a note of it,” the Sena said in an apparent reference to PM.

The Sena publication said paying tributes to jawans who die in line of duty should not become just a ritual.

“It seems offering tributes to our martyred jawans has become an official national activity. Those who find pride in offering tributes should visit the family of such jawans once,” the Shiv Sena said.

BEST strike: MNS workers stall Metro 3, Coastal Road works

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Web Team

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January 14, 2019

Activists of the MNS Monday disrupted ongoing works for the Coastal Road and Metro 3 projects here to express solidarity with striking workers of BEST, the civic transport undertaking that operates one of the country’s largest fleet of buses in Mumbai.

Over 32,000 employees of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) are on strike since Tuesday last week for various demands including pay revision, as a result of which 3200-odd buses in its fleet are off the roads in the megapolis.

A group of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers briefly stopped the Coastal Road project work in Worli this morning, while a similar a protest stalled the Metro-III work in the Aarey Colony near suburban Goregaon for the entire day.

Metro 3, also referred to as the ColabaBandra-SEEPZ line, is a part of the metro system that will connect Cuffe Parade in south Mumbai to SEEPZ in the north-central Mumbai.

The Coastal Road is an under-construction 29.2-km long freeway that would run along Mumbai’s western coastline connecting Marine Lines in the south to Kandivli in the north.

Meanwhile, the Raj Thackeray-led party was left red-faced when some of its workers halted the buses run by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) near suburban Chembur in east Mumbai, and forced passengers to get down.

Navi Mumbai is the satellite township of Mumbai. NMMT buses connect Mumbai suburbs with neighbouring Navi Mumbai.

Expressing regret over the incident, MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande attributed the incident to “over-enthusiasm” of some workers, and said the party is against causing any inconvenience to the common man.

Meanwhile, the ongoing impasse between BEST unions and authorities continued on the seventh day of the strike, as the talks held between union leader Shashank Rao and authorities of the state government and BEST remained inconclusive.

Striking workers have been demanding the merger of the budgets of the BEST and its parent body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as well as higher salaries among other issues.

Lakhs of commuters who travel by BEST buses everyday are facing hardships due to the strike.

Four dead in SUV-truck collision in Maha

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Web Team

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January 14, 2019

An SUV of Madhya Pradesh police on Monday met with an accident in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district in which four civilians were killed and three others, including two police personnel, were injured, an official said.

The mishap occurred in the early hours at Kate Phata near Malkapur town on the national highway no. 6, over 500 kms from here, when the SUV collided with a container truck, got toppled, and hit a car tailing it.

The police team was returning to Madhya Pradesh after nabbing one Rohidas Raibole, an accused in a kidnapping case from Akola district in east Maharashtra, said Malkapur police station inspector Bhushan Gawande.

He said that the deceased included three relatives of the complainant and a relative of the accused who were also travelling in the police vehicle.

The occupants of another car escaped unhurt.

The injured persons, including two policemen, were admitted to a state-run hospital in Buldhana, around 70 km from Malkapur, before being shifted to a private facility.

The truck driver was arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by Malkapur police, Gawande said.

Australia Open: Murray crashes out as Federer, Nadal fight on

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Web Team

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January 14, 2019

A battling Andy Murray bowed out of the Australian Open at the first hurdle on Monday, but it was business as usual for ruthless Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal who joined Caroline Wozniacki in round two.

The Scottish five-time Melbourne Park finalist gave it everything he had and showed glimpses of the form that won him three Grand Slams, but his ailing body let him down during a gutsy 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (4/7) defeat to 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

Murray tearfully revealed before the tournament that he was in constant agony from a hip injury and planned to retire this year.

The 31-year-old hopes to end his career at Wimbledon, but has admitted the Australian Open could be his last event, unless he has a late change of heart.

“Amazing. That was incredible, thank you so, so much to everyone that came out tonight,” he said after being given a rapturous send-off.

While his tournament ended in despair, Swiss master Federer, six years older than Murray, continued his march towards a record seventh Australian Open title.

He swept past Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 said he was in “disbelief” that he was the double defending champion at his age and vowed to give his all to make it three in a row.

“I’m going to try everything possible (to win again) and leave it all on the court,” said the world number three.

His long-time rival Nadal, who cut short his 2018 season to have surgery on a foot injury, showed no mercy to Australian wildcard James Duckworth in his opening round clash.

The 17-time Grand Slam winner cruised through 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 and said it was an important victory.

“Not easy to come back after a lot of months, especially against a player playing super aggressive on every point,” said the 2009 Australian champion, who showed no sign of any injury worries. “The energy I feel in this place is fantastic.”

The second seed is bidding to become the first man in the Open era, and only the third in history along with Roy Emerson and Rod Laver, to win each Grand Slam on two or more occasions.

Fifth seed Kevin Anderson progressed, as did NextGen Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas. But ninth seed John Isner became the first top seed to crash out.

World number three Wozniacki, who made her Grand Slam breakthrough in Melbourne last year, opened her defence with a convincing 6-3, 6-4 win over Belgium’s Alison van Uytvanck.

It was an emotional win for the Dane who is struggling with rheumatoid arthritis and she was in tears afterwards.

“Last year I had some special memories and just to be able to be back out here on Rod Laver Arena is something extremely special and emotional,” she said.

Second seed and 2016 champion Angelique Kerber was also impressive, breezing past Slovenia’s Polona Hercog 6-2, 6-2.

Maria Sharapova, a winner at Melbourne in 2008, signalled her intent with a rare 6-0, 6-0 double bagel demolition of Britain’s Harriet Dart.

Playing in her 15th Australian Open, the three-time finalist said she was pleased to go through so easily as she battles back from injuries.

“I’m still working through some painful days. But, you know, I felt like I did all the right things today in order to get through that match,” said the Russian.

Fifth seeded Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion who struggled in her warm-up tournaments in Brisbane and Sydney, got back to business with an easy two-set win against fellow American Taylor Townsend.

Eleventh seed Aryna Sabalenka, widely tipped as a potential future champion, also safely negotiated round one on a hot day. But Germany’s 14th seed Julia Goerges was knocked out, as was former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Britain’s Katie Boulter, meanwhile, created a slice of history by becoming the first woman to win in a third set tiebreak — a new rule introduced to the Open this year, beating Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (10/6).

Maha govt committed to double farmers’ income by 2022: CM

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Web Team

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January 14, 2019

Often under attack from the Opposition over agrarian issues, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday reached out to farmers and reaffirmed his government’s commitment towards working for doubling their income by 2022.

He also assured that the Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme will benefit “only the farmers and not private companies”.

His comments came in the wake of the recent allegations of a scam in the scheme by parties like BJP’s ally Shiv Sena, the AAP and renowned journalist P Sainath.

“Our target is to double the income of farmers by 2022. We are implementing various schemes of the central and state governments for farmers, and we are going to do it (double their income by 2022),” Fadnavis said.

He was interacting with farmers from different regions of the state through video conferencing.

The government has approved Rs 24,000 crore worth loan waiver for the state’s 51 lakh farmers holding bank accounts, he said.

The government has also made available more than Rs 10,000 crore fund through budget for the current fiscal to implement various schemes meant for them, he said in his over two hour-long interaction, called ‘Lok Samvad’.

He told farmers from districts like Jalna, Palghar, Ahmednagar, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Gondia, Jalgaon and others that the government was laying stress on use of modern technologies to help them tackle weather uncertainties.

The government distributed compensation worth Rs 15,240 crore to farmers whose crops were hit by natural calamities, he said.

Fadnavis claimed that the government was “successful” in giving relief to farmers through the PM’s crop insurance scheme. Around 55 lakh farmers were given compensation worth “thousands of crores” under the scheme, he added.

When a farmer said there was “confusion” among cultivators that the scheme benefited insurance companies more than them, Fadnavis said, “We will ensure only the farmers benefit by the scheme and not the companies.”

On his government’s flagship Jalyukta Shivar water conservation scheme, the chief minister said it helped 16,000 villages across the state to become water-sufficient.

Nearly 1.37 lakh farm ponds were also created on demand-supply basis, he said.

Fadnavis said funds worth Rs 34,000 crore were made available by his government till now for completing the pending works on dams.

Also, 18,000 tractors were distributed among the state’s farmers under his government’s watch, he said, and stressed on processing foods to ensure cultivators benefit by getting fair price for their produce.

He also said that steps were being taken to provide fodder for livestock in areas facing drought-like situation.

On the occasion, Fadnavis launched the ‘Maha Agritech’ programme to solve agrarian problems with the help of satellite.

“Under the programme, the crop cycle can be tracked from sowing to harvesting stages… it will help foretell the prices that farmers’ produces can fetch,” he said, emphasising on the use of technology for helping cultivators.

NCP forms 22-member manifesto committee under Walse-Patil

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Web Team

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January 14, 2019

The Nationalist Congress Party Monday announced the formation of a 22-member manifesto committee for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The committee will be headed by Dilip Walse-Patil and will have Supriya Sule, Nawab Malik, Dhananjay Munde, Jitendra Awhad, Bhaskar Jadhav and Anna Dange as members.

Mumbai NCP president Sachin Ahir, MLAs Rajesh Tope and Shashikant Shinde and the party’s women wing chief Chitra Wagh would also be members of the panel.

The announcement about the committee’s formation was made by NCP Maharashtra unit chief Jayant Patil.

The party at present has five MPs.