Tag Archives: opposition

BJP may lose 50 seats in 2024 Lok Sabha elections: Shashi Tharoor

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Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said that it will be “impossible” for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to replicate its electoral success in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019 in 2024, while speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival in Kozhikode, Kerala.

Tharoor, who is the MP for Thiruvananthapuram, stated that it is “conceivable” that the ruling party could lose up to 50 seats in the Lok Sabha. He acknowledged the BJP’s dominance, but also pointed out that the party has lost many states and that it is not impossible for them to lose the central government as well.

Tharoor argued that the BJP’s results in states like Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and West Bengal in 2019 are impossible to replicate and therefore, the BJP dropping below the majority in 2024 is entirely possible.

BJP Can Lose '50 Seats': Shashi Tharoor's 2024 Polls Forecast

“If you look at how well they did in 2019, they have essentially had every seat in Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan; or all but one seat in Bihar, MP, Maharashtra; and 18 seats in Bengal. Now, all of those results are impossible to replicate and the BJP dropping below the majority in 2024 is entirely possible,” noted Tharoor during a session titled “India@75: A walk through the Democratic Institutions”, held on Saturday, January 14, 2022.

He also said that the “tremendous wave” created by the Pulwama attacks and the Balakot strike in 2019 was a “freak” event that will not be repeated in 2024.

Entirely possible for BJP to lose majority in 2024': Shashi Tharoor | Latest News India - Hindustan Times

However, Tharoor also acknowledged that predicting whether the opposition parties, which he believes will be able to unseat the BJP from its majority position, will stay together is “impossible to answer.”

“If the BJP is at 250 and the others are at 290… will those 290 agree or would the BJP be able to pick 20 here and 10 there from parties that want favours from the central government of the day and then form the government. We don’t know,” he stated.

China building towns along Arunachal border, show satellite images

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Amid border incursions with the Chinese soldiers coming with barbed sticks near the LAC on December 9, satellite images show that China has built villages on their side. As per a bilateral pact, weapons are not to be borne by soldiers on the border.
Along the India-China border abutting Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang, the PLA army has also constructed a road, Indian Army sources told media on Tuesday, a day after a clash between troops of both sides last week became public.

On the clash, sources said that as many as 300 Chinese troops had arrived near the LAC on December 9 to gain control over the peak of a 17,000-feet-high mountain but the Indian troops foiled their attempt, the source said.

Meanwhile, China’s first statement on the clash has come, with its Foreign Ministry said that the situation on its border with India is “stable”. Responding to reports of clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near Tawang, China maintained that the situation on the border is stable.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said: “As far as we understand, the situation on the China-India border is overall stable. Continuous talks are going on, on the border issue through diplomatic and military channels.”

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday told Parliament that Indian troops successfully thwarted an attempt by Chinese soldiers to transgress the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector.

In a statement which the Defence Minister read out in both Houses of Parliament, he said that Indian troops in a brave and resolute manner pushed back the Chinese troops back to their positions after a physical scuffle, in which minor injuries were suffered by both sides in Yangtse area of Tawang sector.

However no fatalities were reported on the Indian side during the incident, Rajnath Singh informed the House. He said that subsequently a flag meeting between Indian and Chinese commanders was held on December 11, where the Chinese side was told to refrain from such actions and maintain peace and tranquility along the border.

The matter has also been taken up through diplomatic channels with China. Rajnath Singh expressed confidence that the House stands united in supporting Indian soldiers in their efforts as the Lok Sabha witnessed a pandemonium when he read out the statement.

Earlier in the day, Rajnath Singh had chaired a high-level emergency meeting with CDS Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan, Army chief General Manoj Pande and NSA Ajit Doval.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, “No doubt that China has its eyes on Tawang. We’ve to be very alert there. I think what our Army did yesterday had the support of entire country.”
The clash between Indian and Chinese troops on December 9 took place at the 17,000 feet at Yangtse, some 35 km north-east of Tawang in western Arunachal Pradesh.

A source informed that there have been injuries to both Indian and Chinese soldiers and six of the injured Indian soldiers had been admitted to the military hospital at Guwahati, but here is no reports of any serious injury or death.

China has been repeatedly trying to take control of the 17,000-feet-high peak but Indian Army sources said that India has a firm control of the peak, which provides a commanding view on both sides of the border. Currently, Indian Air Force aircraft are patrolling the skies of Arunachal.

 

What President of India Said on Demonetisation?

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In his New Year message to Governors and Lt. Governors, President Pranab Mukherjee on January 5, 2017 clearly indicated his unhappiness over the slowdown it will have on Indian economy though he termed it temporary. The message is a clear signal that the President, also former finance minister himself, is unhappy at the prolonged impact on people, who are not soldiers but citizens of the country.

He gave an advice to the centre over its adventure towards demonetisation.

Poor people need to fill their stomachs first and then roped in our long march towards transition to entrepreneurial approach. In his refined words, it read:  “We all will have to be extra careful to alleviate the suffering of the poor which might become unavoidable for the expected progress in the long term.”
The President said while he appreciates the thrust on transition from entitlement approach to an entrepreneurial one for poverty alleviation, he is not too sure that the poor can wait that long. “They need to get succour here and now, so that they can also participate actively in the national march towards a future devoid of hunger, unemployment and exploitation,” he said.
In addition, the President pondered over the state assembly elections in as many as seven states in 2017 as the dates for elections in five states have already been announced. “Elections reflect the attitudes, values and beliefs of the people towards their political environment. They symbolize the sovereignty of the people and provide legitimacy to the authority of the government. They also serve the purpose of regulation of public policies and mobilization of public opinion,” he noted hinting at the outcome in these elections would be the vox populi on demonetisation.
The President advised Governors and Lt. Governors to play an important role in easing the tensions in the society. Goodwill must prevail between different communities. “In a pluralistic democracy like ours, tolerance, respect for contrary views and patience are a must. These values have to be preserved. The multiplicity in culture, faith and language is what makes India special. Governors/Lt. Governors can, through their calm influence, inculcate amongst the citizens of their state this fundamental ethos of our civilization,” he said.