AHMEDABAD: AAP convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal promised that people of Gujarat will get free electricity if his party is voted to power in the forthcoming assembly election. He was speaking at an interactive session, 'Bijli Jansamvaad', organized by the AAP in Ahmedabad on Monday. A number of people listed out the difficulties they are facing in relation to power supply. Kejriwal announced that he will visit the state next Sunday "with a solution to Gujarat's electricity problem." Kejriwal said: "Gujarat can also get free, 24-hour electricity, but the condition is only one, and that is you will have to change the politics, the government, and bring in an honest party." The AAP chief said he will visit the state every week to interact with the public on various issues such as corruption, agriculture, and MSP.
AHMEDABAD: AAP convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal promised that people of Gujarat will get free electricity if his party is voted to power in the forthcoming assembly election. He was speaking at an interactive session, ‘Bijli Jansamvaad’, organized by the AAP in Ahmedabad on Monday. A number of people listed out the difficulties they are facing in relation to power supply. Kejriwal announced that he will visit the state next Sunday “with a solution to Gujarat’s electricity problem.” Kejriwal said: “Gujarat can also get free, 24-hour electricity, but the condition is only one, and that is you will have to change the politics, the government, and bring in an honest party.” The AAP chief said he will visit the state every week to interact with the public on various issues such as corruption, agriculture, and minimum support price. Asserting that it was possible to provide free power to citizens without burdening them with additional taxes or piling up loans, the Delhi CM said his experience has shown that 70-80% of electricity bills are inflated. “Today, 73% of Delhi’s power users get zero electricity bills and about 80% of the users of Punjab will get zero electricity bills,” he said. These achievements have been possible without taking any loans or levying additional taxes, Kejriwal said.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that “free” and “uninterrupted” electricity will be available in Gujarat, provided people are ready to “change politics” in the 2022 Assembly elections and bring the party to power.The Delhi Chief Minister was on a two-day visit to the state where he attended a town hall event near Vaishno Devi circle in Ahmedabad on Monday noon on the issue of free electricity, where he reiterated his poll promise of providing power free of cost.“Free and uninterrupted electricity supply is a talisman and I only possess it. No one else in the world has introduced free power supply except our government. We are honest people with noble intentions and we don’t want to make money from power companies. Electricity can be free, cheaper and uninterrupted in Gujarat as well, provided you are ready to change politics and bring us to power,” said Kejriwal.Kejriwal attacked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress for their alleged failure to make power supply an election issue.“Elections are coming in Gujarat and today we have assembled to discuss the problem of electricity here. I would like to ask you all that AAP is contesting elections for the first time in Gujarat but there have been many elections contested by the BJP and Congress. Has any party sat with you people to discuss the issue of electricity?” Kejriwal said.“They come, organize huge rallies, deliver big speeches and make big promises but then they loot the people for the next five years. Our party workers have been visiting villages in Gujarat, listening to the grievances of the people. Such people who only have 2-3 fans and bulbs, even they are getting electricity bills of thousands of rupees. If poor people have to pay electricity bills of thousands of rupees every month, then how are they supposed to send their kids to school and ensure two times meals? Why is electricity so expensive in Gujarat?,” he further said.Kejriwal accused ministers and elected representatives in the state of “consuming thousands of units of electricity” for free.“Ministers and elected representatives are making merry in Gujarat…they have several ACs in their bungalows yet their electricity bill comes to zero. Whereas you people, despite having only a few fans, bulbs, TV and a fridge at your home, have to spend thousands on the bill. This is unfair. The facilities given to these politicians must be extended to the common people also,” he added.Kejriwal also attacked the BJP government over the power supply provided to state’s farmers.“I got to know that farmers in Gujarat get electricity only during night hours. What is the logic behind this? On top of that, the rate of steep and there are frequent power cuts. I think the Gujarat secretariat Bhawan should get electricity only during night hours for a few days and these ministers should work only during this time. If our farmers will stay awake all night for electricity, when will they sleep?” said Kejriwal.At the end of the event, Kejriwal also promised the audience that he will return to Gujarat next Sunday, “with a solution for free electricity in Gujarat.”
Arvind Kejriwal claimed that 73 per cent of the people in Delhi get zero electricity bill.Ahmedabad: Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections due later this year, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said he will visit the state every week to interact with the public on various issues like corruption and farming, and claimed it was possible to provide free electricity to people if they bring an "honest party" to power in the state.The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convener said his party has shown in Delhi and Punjab that they stick to their promise."Gujarat can also get cheap, free, 24-hour electricity, but the condition is only one, and that is you will have to change the politics, government, and bring in an honest party...I will be back on Sunday with a solution to Gujarat's electricity problem," Mr Kejriwal said during a town hall organised on the issue of electricity.When some members of the general public raised various issues affecting them, the AAP leader said he will discuss them separately."Today, we should discuss electricity. We will discuss other issues as well. I will visit Gujarat every week and hold 'jan samvad' (public dialogue) on the issues of corruption, agriculture, MSP (minimum support price)," he said.Mr Kejriwal said if Gujarat ministers can enjoy zero electricity bills despite consuming thousands of units, then why not the general public.If farmers in Gujarat are supplied electricity at night, then ministers should also be given the opportunity to work at night for some time at the secretariat, he said during the town hall, referring to an issue raised by a farmer that power supply for agriculture at night adversely affects their life.Mr Kejriwal, without naming anyone, also accused BJP leaders of lying by claiming that there are no power cuts in Gujarat.He said a "very big leader" from Gujarat said people of the state do not want anything for free. "First you give up free electricity...," he said."They are scared that if people are provided free electricity, then they will have no money left to loot," he said.Mr Kejriwal said the "magic" behind their ability to provide free electricity is their clean conscience and honesty."We do not ask for money from power companies, we improve them, we work in the interest of the public. Other parties seek donations for elections from such companies, but we do not seek donations. You are our donation," he said.Sharing the experience of Delhi where the AAP government provides free electricity up to 200 units, Mr Kejriwal said as soon as his party assumed office, power companies were warned not to raise the unit rates."We said we have nothing to do if you gave money to former governments, but our government is honest, we will not ask for a single penny from you. But, you should not raise the electricity rates. They have not raised the rate in the last seven years," the Delhi CM said."We provide subsidies to the public after saving money on corruption, which is why they are enjoying free electricity. When we managed to do so in Delhi, the BJP and Congress said this cannot be done in a larger state, so we won in Punjab," he said.PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.comHe claimed that 73 per cent of the people in Delhi get zero electricity bill. In Punjab, where the scheme was introduced from July 1, it will be around 80 per cent, he added.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
AHMEDABAD: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal promised that people of state will get free electricity if his party is voted to power in the forthcoming Gujarat assembly election. He was speaking at an interactive session - 'Bijli Jansamvaad', organised by the party in Ahmedabad on Monday. Even as a number of power users listed out the difficulties they are facing regarding electricity, Kejriwal announced that he will visit Gujarat next Sunday "with a solution to Gujarat’s electricity problem." Asserting that it was possible to provide free power to citizens without burdening them with additional taxes or piling up loans, the Delhi CM said that his experience has shown that 70% to 80% of electricity bills are inflated. "Today 73% of Delhi power users get zero electricity bills and about 80% users of Punjab will get zero electricity bills," he said. Kejriwal said that this has been possible without taking any loans or levying additional taxes. "I am a literate man, an engineer and I have worked in the IT department. I have done my calculations well." he quipped to a round of applause. Hinting at a complete overhaul of the electricity distribution system, he said that providing free power is like performing magic. An art which only he knows. "The secret to free electricity is that I have stopped electricity companies from fleecing people," he said. Commenting on the Gujarat government providing power to farmers during the night hours, the Delhi CM remarked, "If farmers get electricity at night, then the secretariat should also get power only at night." "Elected representatives are using thousands of units of power without paying anything. Some may have installed air conditioners in their toilets too and yet get zero electricity bills. People of the state should get the same benefits as the elected representatives," he said.
Arvind Kejriwal also condemned the killings in Maharashtra's Amravati and in Rajasthan's Udaipur.Ahmedabad (Gujarat): With just a few months left for the Gujarat Assembly election, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday urged the Gujrati people to vote for AAP saying that "those who are not satisfied with BJP should vote for us"."We are not here to engage in dirty politics or corruption. We are here to help people. We are doing good work in Delhi and Punjab. Don't waste your vote on Congress. Those who are not satisfied with BJP should vote for us," said Arvind Kejriwal addressing a gathering in Ahmedabad.As many as 6,988 AAP office-bearers took oath on Sunday."The common man in Gujarat wants a change. They are joining hands with the AAP... There are no Congress office-bearers or volunteers in Gujarat, but lakhs from AAP. Within a month, we'd be bigger than even BJP," said Mr Kejriwal.Expressing hope and confidence over the AAP's victory in the 2022 Gujarat elections, the Delhi Chief Minister said, "AAP is expanding on a huge scale in Gujarat. People are tired of the 27 years of BJP. BJP thinks Congress can't replace them so they have developed ego. People are looking with hope towards AAP this time."The Delhi Chief Minister also condemned the killings in Maharashtra's Amravati and in Rajasthan's Udaipur.On June 28, a tailor Kanhaiyalal Kumar was murdered by two men inside his shop in Udaipur in the broad daylight, while a chemist shop owner Umesh Kolhe was killed by several men in Amravati on June 21.On the incident, the Delhi Chief Minister said, "Whatever is happening is wrong, the country can't move forward like this. There should be peace and unity. I condemn this and hope that the accused get the strictest punishments."AAP's Gujarat hope has been fuelled by its performance in the February 2021 Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) polls in which the BJP won 93 seats, while Aam Aadmi Party bagged 27 seats in the Surat Municipal Corporation election.PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.comThe Assembly election in Gujarat is scheduled for December 2022.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Last week’s rebel Shiv Sena MLA who turned Maharashtra’s Shiv Sena Chief Minister this week; a former Maharashtra CM facing prospect of losing control of a party founded by his father; an activist and a former police officer arrested after Supreme Court’s clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2002 Gujarat riots case; two Lok Sabha bypoll candidates — a winner from Punjab’s Sangrur while another who lost from UP’s Azamgarh yet made the biggest impact.New Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath ShindeA day after Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray resigned as CM ahead of a floor test, bringing to an end the 31-month rule of his Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra with BJP leader and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy on Thursday. From working in a beer brewery in Thane and driving an autorickshaw to make ends meet, to becoming the most powerful leader in the Shiv Sena after the Thackerays, to splitting the party and becoming the 20th Chief Minister of the state, Eknath Shinde, 58, has had an eventful career. In this crisis, two other qualities helped Shinde prevail: the fact that he has the loyalty of many party MLAs for being an accessible leader – especially when appointment at Matoshree got tough – and being generous with economic largesse.Former Maharashtra Chief MinisterIn the last few days, Uddhav Thackeray faced the worst crisis in his short political life, emerging from the overarching shadow of father Bal Thackeray. Not only did he lose chief ministership after taking a gamble with an unlikely coalition, he is facing the prospect of losing control of a party founded by Balasaheb and deriving sustenance from the Thackeray name. In hindsight, it seems Uddhav sowed the seeds right at the beginning when, on November 28, 2019, he took over as Chief Minister. He thus became the first Thackeray to hold a public office, with Balasaheb choosing to let a Sainik be CM while he held full control over the party.Activist Teesta Setalvad and retired Gujarat DGP R B SreekumarA day after the Supreme Court upheld the clean chit by the SIT to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots, the Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) earlier this week arrested Mumbai-based activist Teesta Setalvad, who backed petitioner Zakia Jafri, and retired Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar, whose role had been called into question by the Court. Teesta Setalvad, a journalist and activist based out of Mumbai and a Padma Shri, is a founding trustee and secretary of the NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) established in 2002 in the aftermath of the Gujarat riots, with one area of work being providing legal assistance to victims of the riots. She was among the first activists to take up the cases of riot victims in Gujarat in 2002, finally leading the Supreme Court to set up a special investigation team to probe the post-Godhra riots, six years later, under former CBI director R K Raghavan. Setalvad has also faced several allegations over the years.A decorated police officer, R B Sreekumar challenged the Narendra Modi government’s claims of peace in Gujarat in the aftermath of the 2002 riots, spoke of the alleged collusion between government agencies and rioters, and was shunted out and denied promotion while in service. The Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch arrested the 75-year-old former Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) from his home in Gandhinagar on charges such as forgery and criminal conspiracy. This came a day after the Supreme Court called into question his role in the petition against Modi in the riots. The court made the observation while upholding the clean chit Prime Minister Modi, then the chief minister of Gujarat, had received from a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the riots.Guddu Jamali, the BSP candidate in Lok Sabha bypollsThe Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Shah Alam — a two-time MLA — lost the Azamgarh Lok Sabha by-election but made the biggest impact. Alam, popularly known as Guddu Jamali, garnered 2.66 lakh votes, with a vote share of 29.27 per cent, effectively damaging the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) chances of retaining the seat that its president Akhilesh Yadav had won in 2019 with a 60.36 per cent vote share. The SP had contested the election in alliance with the BSP. With Jamali, 49, putting in a strong performance, the SP saw its vote share slide to 33.44 per cent even as the BJP almost held on to its vote share, which dipped marginally to 34.39 per cent. The SP ultimately lost to the BJP by 8,679 votes. Sangrur Lok Sabha bypolls victor Simranjit MannDealing a severe blow to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president, Simranjit Singh Mann, emerged as the victor Sunday in the crucial bypoll in the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency, the bastion of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, defeating AAP candidate Gurmail Singh in a neck-and-neck fight. The bypoll was necessitated when the incumbent Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann resigned from the seat after becoming the CM in March following the AAP’s landslide victory in the state Assembly elections. It was considered to be the first test of the fledgling Mann-led AAP government’s popularity. Pushed to the margins of Punjab’s mainstream politics for over two-and-half decades, the 77-year-old pro-Khalistan leader and ex-IPS officer Simranjit Singh Mann’s stunning win is likely to boost the Panthic politics in the border state.
AHMEDABAD: The special investigation team (SIT) formed to probe charges of fabrication of evidence against activist Teesta Setalvad, former DGP R B Sreekumar, and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt began an inquiry into the case on Monday and interrogated Setalvad and Sreekumar. The newly formed SIT will analyse the documents of the SIT appointed in 2008 by the Supreme Court and headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan. The old SIT had probed whether the state's functionaries were involved in the 2002 riots. "We will examine all the documents, especially the affidavits, filed with the 2008 SIT and with the Justice Nanavati panel that had inquired into the 2002 riots," said an officer of the SIT. The apex court had on June 24 dismissed a petition filed by Zakia Jafri, the wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the February 28, 2002 massacre at Ahmedabad's Gulbarg Society. The petition filed by Jafri and Setalvad had demanded a probe into the "larger conspiracy". The petition had challenged the clean chit given to then chief minister Narendra Modi and 62 others in the post-Godhra riots. A team headed by Gujarat ATS chief Deepan Bhadran, along with ATS SP Sunil Joshi and DCP (crime) Chaitanya Mandalik, on Monday jointly interrogated Setalvad and Sreekumar, who are in the custody of the Ahmedabad crime branch. The two were arrested after the Ahmedabad crime branch filed a complaint against Setalvad, Sreekumar, and Bhatt over the alleged fabrication of documents with the intention to prosecute certain innocent people for the riots. The SIT officer said the investigators will try to ascertain why and how the accused had prepared the fabricated documents and whether they were aided and instructed by some other people. To a query about how the accused had hatched the conspiracy and when they had met for the first time, the officer said: "The investigation is at a very early stage and it will take a few days to gather more evidence to establish how they had conspired against innocent persons." Police officials said that Bhadran and all the officers of the SIT will camp at the Ahmedabad crime branch office in Raikhad to interrogate the accused. On Bhatt's arrest, another special investigation team officer said they were yet to move a transfer warrant in the case. Denied venue twice, activists hold meet at lawyer’s officeMembers of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and Ahmedabad civil society had to change their venue twice to hold a meeting on Monday evening to express solidarity with recently arrested social activist Teesta Setalvad, former DGP R B Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt.
THE GUJARAT government on Sunday formed a six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the state’s Anti-Terrorism Squad DIG Deepan Bhadran to investigate retired DGP R B Sreekumar, Mumbai-based activist Teesta Setalvad and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt for criminal conspiracy and forgery, and other charges, “as per directions of the Supreme Court”, a top official told The Indian Express.The move follows an FIR lodged against the three at the Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) on Saturday, a day after the Supreme Court upheld the clean chit given to the then chief minister Narendra Modi, his council of ministers and bureaucrats on their role in the 2002 riots.Setalvad, who was brought from Mumbai to Ahmedabad by an ATS team, and Sreekumar, who was arrested from his home on Saturday, were produced before Metropolitan Magistrate S P Patel on Sunday with the police seeking remand.According to sources, even as the hearing was on, Setalvad was taken to hospital for a “medical check-up” after she complained of injuries caused by an alleged assault by the police while detaining her. The police have denied the allegation.Sources said Bhatt was taken under custody on Sunday by a DCB team from Palanpur jail in Banaskantha where he has been lodged in a 1996 narcotics case. DCP (Crime) Chaitanya Mandalik told The Indian Express that the process of bringing Bhatt to the DCB office in Ahmedabad on a transfer warrant and arresting him “will take two to three days”.Mandalik is part of the new SIT under DIG Bhadran. The other members are: ATS SP Sunil Joshi, Deputy SP (Special Operations Group) B C Solanki, who will be the Investigating Officer, police inspectors P G Vaghela and A D Parmar, and a woman inspector H V Raval. The terms of reference include collection of evidence to investigate the case “as per the directions of the Supreme Court”.On Friday, while dismissing a petition filed by Zakia Jafri against the clean chit given to Modi, the Supreme Court had ruled that “no material was discovered pointing towards any meeting of minds/ conspiracy in the higher echelons of the administration or the political establishment conspired with other persons to cause such riots or turned a Nelson’s eye when the riots had triggered and continued”.It pointed to a “coalesced effort of the disgruntled officials of the state of Gujarat along with others… to create sensation by making revelations which were false to their own knowledge. The falsity of their claims had been fully exposed by the SIT (in the Gujarat riots case) after a thorough investigation”.It noted that “intriguingly, the present proceedings have been pursued for the last 16 years…to keep the pot boiling, obviously, for ulterior design…all those involved in such abuse of process, need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law”.Asked about the charges against the three, DCP Mandalik said: “The charges are forging government records, submitting forged documents and abuse of power. The arrested accused have been uncooperative so far and we are investigating the case from all angles. Prima facie, the charges against two ex-IPS officers are their affidavits and documents submitted in the case. We are also in the process of retrieving the documents they have submitted in front of commissions, courts and the SIT for further probe. The investigation is at an early stage but we believe that there could be other persons also behind the conspiracy.”Asked why the time frame of the offence in the FIR was recorded as “January 1 2002 to June 15, 2022”, Mandalik said: “The entire case began after the Godhra riots in February 2002 , therefore we have kept a time period bracket of 2002 to 2022 to investigate all angles in it.”Setalvad was brought to the DCB office in Ahmedabad’s Jamalpur early on Sunday after which she was taken to civil hospital for a RT PCR test. Later, while being presented in court, Setalvad told reporters that she is “not a criminal”.Setalvad, Sreekumar and Bhatt have been booked under IPC sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 468 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of capital offence, 211 (false charge of offence made with intent to injure) and 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture).Based on the Supreme Court verdict, the FIR states that the accused would be investigated for “finding out the behind the scene criminal conspiracy and financial and other benefits, inducements for commission of various serious offences in collusion with other individuals, entities and organisations”.(With Sohini Ghosh)
For the last four days, a hotel in Guwahati has been at the centre of India’s biggest political story. It is where the majority of MLAs from Maharashtra–rebels against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray–have been sequestered against the turmoil in Mumbai.The leader of the revolt, Maharashtra Urban Development and PWD Minister Eknath Shinde, claimed on Friday (June 24) that 50 MLAs are with him, including 40 from Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. Before flying to Assam with his flock on June 22, Shinde and a large number of these MLAs spent two nights in Surat, Gujarat, which, like Assam, is run by the BJP.While the current situation is extraordinary in several ways—Thackeray, for example, looks in danger of having almost his entire party stolen from under his nose—’resort politics’ is neither new nor unique to any party or state in India. At least since the 1980s, as coalition governments became the norm, examples of resort politics have been seen again and again. It is usually practised when MLAs need to be cornered by a party that is seeking to prove its majority in the legislative assembly, and it is feared that MLAs might be entering into behind-the-scenes negotiations with rival parties or groups.This often happens when there are leadership struggles in a party or state, and when the numbers in the House do not strongly favour any party in particular.But resort politics is not restricted to states alone. At the beginning of this month, as Rajya Sabha elections were held, 70 Congress MLAs in Rajasthan were lodged at a resort in Udaipur, presumably to keep them safe from poaching attempts. Ultimately, the Congress emerged victorious in three out of four seats in Rajasthan, and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot hailed it as a “victory of democracy”.Here is a short history of resort politics in India through the years, which has yielded mixed results for the parties concerned.Among the results of the five states’ elections, Goa and Uttarakhand saw a tighter contest. The Congress moved its leaders to a resort in north Goa ahead of the results, saying the leaders were attending “a series of birthday celebrations”. However, the BJP ended up winning 20 of 40 seats in the state and comfortably formed its government again. Back in 2017, the BJP had emerged victorious after a similar neck-and-neck fight, as multiple MLAs from the Congress–the single-largest party then–crossed over to the BJP.On the heels of a similar rebellion by then Congress MLA Jyotiraditya Scindia that led to the fall of the Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government four months prior, deputy CM Sachin Pilot showed signs of discontent. The Congress then gathered its MLAs at the Fairmont Hotel in the state to prevent them from defecting. The MLAs favouring Pilot were themselves in Delhi—and they subsequently moved to a resort in a BJP-ruled state.At the end of the episode, there was no change in power, and Gehlot remained the Chief Minister while Pilot was demoted from the post of Deputy Chief Minister.Congress MLAs reached the Prestige Golf Club in BJP-ruled Bengaluru, and this was triggered by Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia quitting the party. The Congress’s attempts to hold the Kamal Nath government together ended in failure, and Shivraj Singh Chauhan became Chief Minister for the fourth time with the support of those MLAs. Scindia joined the BJP, was later elected to the Rajya Sabha as an MP, and is now the Union Minister for Civil Aviation—a position that had once belonged to his late father.Interestingly, the ongoing Shiv Sena crisis has similarities with the events that led to the formation of its government in the first place. Long-time BJP ally Shiv Sena broke away and joined hands with the Congress-NCP alliance to form the government. On the eve of the Supreme Court’s decision on the parties’ petition seeking a floor test in the Assembly, a large group of Shiv-Sena-NCP-Congress MLAs assembled at a Mumbai hotel in a show of strength, indicating they had the numbers to form the government.Newsletter | Click to get the day’s best explainers in your inboxNitish Kumar was invited by the Speaker to form the government, despite him not having the numbers. Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD emerged as the largest party, but Kumar was called on by the Governor to form the government. The Congress and RJD, opposition parties who perhaps sensed what was to come, sent some of their members to a hotel in Patna. Kumar resigned before the trust vote took place, and ultimately RJD’s Rabri Devi became the first woman CM of Bihar.In 1984, Nadendla Bhaskara Rao, the state finance minister, toppled Chief Minister NTR’s government with Congress support. The film superstar-turned-politician Chief Minister was out of the country, and the governor installed Bhaskara Rao as the CM. From the United States, where he had gone for heart surgery, NTR secured around 160 MLAs by keeping them at his studios with ample facilities. NTR’s films were screened for the MLAs’ entertainment. In the end, the Bhaskara Rao government fell, and NTR was back in power.In 1995, NTR’s son-in-law N Chandrababu Naidu wanted to oust NTR from the party and sent NTR loyalists to the Viceroy Hotel in Hyderabad to take over the TDP. One of those MLAs later recalled playing cards, dancing to Telugu songs, ordering food and keeping the hotel staff awake all night. Naidu eventually became the CM.Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde, who was earlier a part of the Congress party, sought to protect his government from being dissolved by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. His wins in the 1983 and 1985 Assembly elections in the state had alarmed his rivals in the Janata Party in the state. Close to the Assembly trust vote, 80 MLAs were sent to a luxury resort near Bengaluru to reduce the chances of their defection.
Written by Aanchal Poddar and Ashwita PanickerThe latest round of the uniquely Indian exercise of ‘resort politics’ is playing out in Assam where a five-star hotel in Guwahati has become the centre of the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra.The MLAs led by Eknath Shinde were, at first, in a hotel in Surat in BJP-ruled Gujarat after reaching there on Monday. Afterwards, they flew to Guwahati in Assam, another BJP-ruled state, on Wednesday. Here, they have been camping at a five-star hotel which the rebel MLAs have booked for seven days, showing that it was ready for a long haul to get what they wanted.We take a look at the cost of rooms at these properties in Gujarat and Assam to get an idea of how expensive this ‘operation’ has been for Eknath Shinde and the MLAs:In GujaratThe Shiv Sena MLAs, led by Eknath Shinde, were holed up at the Le Meridien Hotel in Surat after they flew in from Maharashtra.A five-star property, these are the room rents at the hotel:Executive/Premium/Suite: Starts Rs 2,300 per nightIn AssamFrom Surat, these MLAs took a chartered plane to Guwahati where they had booked rooms at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Gotanagar.A four-star property, these are the room rents at the hotel:Superior/Deluxe: Rs 6,500-Rs 8000 per nightBusiness Class: Rs 12,500 per nightJunior Suite/Suite: Rs 16,666/Rs 26,666 per nightSimilar scenes were witnessed ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls in Maharashtra as political parties corralled its MLAs into five-star hotels to ward off poaching.While the BJP arranged for their MLAs to be put up at the Taj President in South Mumbai, Shiv Sena chose the Hotel Retreat on Madh Island, NCP chose Hotel Blue Sea in Sakinaka and Congress MLAs were put up in the heritage Hotel West End at Marine Lines.BJP in MumbaiThe BJP, which currently has 106 MLAs, has put up its legislators at the Taj President Hotel in south Mumbai.A five-star property, these are the room rents at the hotel:Deluxe/Premium Room: Starts at Rs 10,000-12,500 per nightExecutive Suite starts at Rs 14,875 per nightSeleQtions Suite starts at Rs 18,275 per nightNCP in MumbaiThe Nationalist Congress Party, which has 53 MLAs in Maharashtra, has choses Hotel Blue Sea to host its legislators.A two-star property, these are the room rents at the hotel:Classic Room: Between Rs 1,642 and 2,541 per nightSaver Double (X): Between Rs 1,820 and 2,721 per nightCongress in MumbaiThe Congress, which has 44 MLAs, has hosted its legislators at Hotel West End at Marine Lines.A four-star property, these are the room rents at the hotel:EP, CP Economy Executive: Rs 6500-7,500 per nightEP, CP Eco Double: Rs 5,500- 6,500 per nightShiv Sena in MumbaiThe Shiv Sena had booked the Hotel Retreat in Madh Island for its 55 MLAs.A five-star property, these are the room rents at the hotel:Palm View Deluxe Rooms- Rs 5,450 per nightPool View Deluxe Rooms- Rs 5,876 per nightOther States Rajasthan and Goa were also not devoid of resort politics ahead of the elections.On June 2, Congress MLAs were taken to Taj Aravali resort and spa in Udaipur and returned on June 9, a day before the polling for the four Rajya Sabha seats. A five-star property, room rents here range between Rs 14,000 per night and Rs 1,37,000 per night.During the same time, BJP MLAs were put up at the Devi Ratn hotel in Jaipur where room tariffs range between Rs 12,400 per night and Rs 48,305 per night.In Goa, which also went to the polls, Congress MLAs were put up at the Bambolim Beach Resorts. A three-star property, room rates here range between Rs 4,241 per night and Rs 6,000 per night.Poddar and Panicker are interns with indianexpress.com
Patidar leader Naresh Patel announced on Thursday that he was not joining politics “for now” as the elders of his community were against the idea, but added that his organisation would launch an academy to teach politics.Patel, chairman of Shree Khodaldham Trust—a religious organisation of the Leuva Patel sub-caste of the Patidar community—chaired a joint meeting of the trustees of the trust, the Shree Sardar Patel Cultural Foundation and the Shree Leuva Patel Atithi Bhavan at Khodaldham, a temple complex built by the trust in Kagvad village near Jetpur in Gujarat’s Rajkot district, on Thursday morning. He is chairman of the trust, the foundation and the temple complex.Addressing a press conference later, Patel said a survey conducted by the trust on whether he should join politics or not had shown that the members of his Leuva Patel community as well as other participants were divided over the issue and that he had decided to go by the advice of the elders.“As many as 80 per cent of youth want me to join politics. Likewise, 50 per cent of women also favour the idea of my joining politics. However, elders of the community are completely against the idea,” said Patel, adding, “I am sensitive to the concerns of the elders of the community and the larger organisation of the community. As you understand, if I join any political party, I would have to be loyal to that party and may not be able to work for all communities. I found the concerns of the community were justified. A lot of projects, like in education, health, agriculture etc that concern every community in Khodaldham are still incomplete. I have decided to take these projects forward and try to extend the benefits to the people of every community in Gujarat. Therefore, I am not joining politics for now,” Patel said.Patidars dominate politics in the state by virtue of being the largest organised group of voters. They are divided mainly into two sub-castes—Leuva Patels and Kadva Patels. While Leuvas are concentrated largely in Saurashtra and central and south Gujarat regions, Kadva Patels are mostly in the north Gujarat region. Saurashtra has 48 Assembly constituencies and a majority of the voters in them are Patidars.Patel said that the trust would set up an academy to train the youth in politics. “I am very happy to inform women and the youth that just like Khodaldham runs coaching classes for GPSC (Gujarat Public Service Commission) and other examinations, under the aegis of Khodaldham, we are announcing the setting up of the Khodaldham Political Academy. We invite the youth of every community to join it,” said Patel, who is also one of the leading industrialists of Rajkot.At present, the Shree Sardar Patel Cultural Foundation provides coaching for competitive examinations.
Leuva Patel leader from Rajkot, Naresh Patel, is likely to announce his decision on joining politics after a meeting of trustees of three organisations on Thursday even as media reports on Tuesday claimed that Patel is unlikely to join politics.Some of the trustees of Shree Khodaldham Trust (SKT) and Shree Sardar Patel Cultural Foundation (SSPCF) met at the SSPCF office in Mavdi area of the city on Tuesday. After the end of the meeting, SKT spokesperson Hasmukh Lunagariya said that a meeting of the SKT, SSPCF and Shree Leuva Patel Aitithi Bhavan, Veraval (SLPAB) has been scheduled for Thursday.“Generally, trustees of SKT meet every Monday at the SSPCF office. But as Nareshbhai was out of station on Monday, the meeting took place on Tuesday,” Lunagariya said, adding, “Trustees of the three organisations will hold a joint meeting at Khodaldam in Kagvad village on Thursday and some decision is likely to be announced at the end of the meeting on whether Nareshbhai would join politics or not.”Rajkot-based industrialist Patel is chairman of all of these three organisations of Leuva Patel sub-caste group of the Patidar community.After Tuesday’s meeting at SSPCF, some media reports, quoting SKT sources, claimed that Patel is unlikely to join power politics. However, the SKT spokesperson said, “No decision was taken at the Tuesday’s meeting. In fact, Naresh Patel is not going to take that decision on his own. Trustees will deliberate over the issue and then make their recommendations.”
