Press Trust of India

Senior CPI-M legislator Anisur Rehman, facing flak for making allegedly derogatory comments about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Sunday defended himself, noting he had not said anything wrong.

The ruling Trinamool Congress Sunday threatened to slap a privilege notice.

Besides making personal remarks against Banerjee, Rehman addressing a party rally in Birbhum district Saturday described her ministerial colleagues as “lambs who can’t even marry without permission”.

He also targeted actress Moon Moon Sen who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls as a Trinamool candidate.

BJP leaders in Bihar Sunday launched a campaign to woo voters by promising that the state will be accorded special category status if Narendra Modi becomes prime minister.

Modi, however, has himself remained silent over the demand so far.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders say it is an attempt to counter Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ongoing “Sankalp Yatra” over the denial of special status to the state by the Congress-led union government.

A day ahead of Modi’s rally in Purnea district, BJP leaders Sunday said the special status demand will be fulfilled only by him.

In an embarrassment to the Congress, its nominee for Bhind (Reserved) constituency in Madhya Pradesh Bhagirath Prasad Sunday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“Happy to welcome Bhagirath Prasad in the BJP,” Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Twitter.

State BJP leader Hitesh Bajpai said Prasad joined the party in Bhopal.

The Congress Saturday named Prasad as its candidate for the Lok Sabha elections from Bhind constituency.

Prasad contested the last Lok Sabha elections from Bhind on a Congress ticket but lost.
(IANS)

Assam’s Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) Saturday received a jolt ahead of the Lok Sabha polls with the resignation of former party president Chandra Mohan Patowari, who is now likely to join the BJP.

Although Patowary could not be contacted, AGP sources confirmed his resignation.

Besides Patowari, several other leaders of the once prominent regional political party had left in the last few years due to growing dissidence. Prominent among those who left the party included Sarbananda Sonowal, who is now head of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit.

The alleged misuse of his government residence by an AAP leader who recently quit his government job in Haryana has been reported to the Election Commission by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

The INLD, in its complaint, said that the AAP candidate for the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, Y.S. Khayalia was misusing his government residence for party activities, thus violating the model code of conduct.

Accusing both Congress and BJP of pursuing “pro-rich policies”, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Saturday asserted only the Left parties had the right alternative policies.

“There is no difference between policies of Congress and BJP, their sole aim is making richer the rich and robbing the poor.

“They can dole out subsidies to big corporates but when comes to giving subsidies for public distribution system, they don’t have the money,” said Bhattacharjee, a former West Bengal chief minister, while addressing a rally in Ranaghat in Nadia district.

Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), a constituent of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, Saturday walked out of the alliance after it was denied a Lok Sabha seat, saying it was fed up with the overbearing attitude of the CPI-M.

Addressing reporters here, after day-long deliberations at the RSP headquarters here, its state secretary A.A. Azeez also indicated the party was open to joining the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF).

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy Saturday described AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s tour of Gujarat as a “sponsored drama” of the Congress.

Swamy, who merged his Janata Party with the BJP some seven months ago, was the chief guest at a meeting here of traders organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“AAP failed to provide details of their foreign funding to the home ministry. Kejriwal and his team have been busy in Gujarat to escape action by the central government,” he said.

Taking a leaf out of his bitter rival Mamata Banerjee’s book, former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Saturday called for “parivartan” or change in West Bengal as he launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress regime over a host of issues.

Addressing a rally in Nadia district’s Ranaghat, Bhattacharjee, a member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo, rubbished Banerjee’s repeated claims of rapid all-round development in the state and accused it of bringing anarchy.