People used to crib about Narendra Modi not giving interviews. Suddenly he has started giving those “exclusive” interviews left, right and center. In one such interaction, for the first time, Modi has outlined his agenda to push through big ticket reforms if NDA comes to power. He promised to implement Goods and Service (GST) tax which many believe his own state government played a major role to stall till now. Modi though clarified that they will continue to oppose FDI in multi brand retail but will encourage foreign funding in other sectors.
About the all-important issue of corruption, Modi offered to face a probe if any corruption allegations are leveled against him as Prime Minister. Many people in the social media believe that Modi will start probe against UPA ministers and members of Gandhi family once saddled in power. But BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate seems to be keener on preventing corruption than spending time on what he referred to as “old mess”. Arun Jaitley though said that there will be not let up. If there are genuine charges against any politician it will be looked into said the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.
In consistency with his earlier argument of putting India ahead of any religion, caste etc Modi has promised not to play identity politics to garner votes. He boldly said that he will rather lose the elections than appeal to voters on religious line.
In reality though Modi seems to be already planning for what he is going to do post elections. He has extended olive branch to Mamata Banerjee hoping that they can work amicably to sort out the Singur land issue with Tata group.
In the meanwhile, “Osama” has decided to fight against Modi in this election. Don’t be surprised after reading the news. Meraj Khalid Noor “fondly” known as Osama for his startling similarity to Al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden has decided to contest against Modi from Varanasi.
Modi’s more conventional opponent, Arvind Kejriwal had to face hostile crowds while doing campaigning in Varanasi. Stones were thrown at him near Benaras Hindu University by people chanting “Har Har Modi”. One person has been arrested in this regard. AAP’s another senior leader Prashant Bhushan ‘s press conference was disrupted by some right wing activists in Indore. He was forced to leave after they created much ruckus.
Who dares to call Manmohan Singh “ Mounomohan”? Well people in Twitter often does and seems like the sarkari babus don’t really appreciate it!! PMO has published statistics to show that he was not at all a silent leader. According to PMO, the genial sardar speaks as and when required. He can’t reply to comments made on Twitter, clarified PMO.
It described the 10 years of UPA rule as a period of unprecedented economic growth where GDP grew nearly three times!!!
Seems like tussle between Samajwadi Party and Election Commission is likely to increase in coming days. EC has allowed Amit Shah to campaign after he apologised for his “badla” comment but has not extended the favour to SP leader Azam Khan as he has failed to say sorry. Azam now has threatened to move to SC against EC. SP leader believes that EC is punishing him for speaking the truth.
Now EC has sent notice to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for allegedly threatening government school teachers. Apparently Mulayam threatened them saying that if they don’t vote for SP; their permanent teacher status will be revoked. Modi today attacked SP chief of being soft to rapists and hard on riot victims.
If reports are true, Mulayam though is not the only person who believes in intimidating voters. In Baramati, Maharashtra, NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar apparently threatened voters to support his cousin Supriya Sule. He warned that their water supply will be cut off if they fail to vote for NCP!!! The entire conversation has been caught in a video tape. Ajit Pawar though has firmly rebutted this accusation saying that the video tape is doctored.
BJP-TDP alliance seems to have been salvaged for the time being. After talks that it was on the brinks of collapse, the saffron brigade sent its top leader Prakash Javadekar to broker a deal. After 4 hour meeting with Naidu, Javadekar said that the alliance is rocking!! It is believed that BJP has decided to concede a part of its share of seats in Seemandhra to TDP to keep this alliance going.
In Loksabha BJP is likely to contest from only 4 seats in the state. Chandrababu Naidu has been openly critical of poor candidate selection by BJP saying that it will hamper his chances. Sources say BJP is trying to change some candidates to placate TDP chief.
Unofficially though, it is known BJP giving ticket to former Union Minister Purandeswari Devi has miffed Chandrababu Naidu. She is the sister in law of TDP chief Naidu. Seems like personal feuds getting better of political pragmatism. Tomorrow is the last date of filing nominations in Andhra Pradesh. Both parties have prepared back up option of candidates if the alliance finally breaks.
Can the Thackeray’s again get together? Will there be a happy ending with one big family as it happens in Rajshri production movies? The speculation has been fuelled with MNS chief Raj Thackeray saying that he is willing to talk with his estranged cousin Udhav Thackeray. According to Raj their difference was always political and never personal. He also out rightly denied the charge that he is putting up candidates only to harm ShivaSena’s prospects. Raj said that ex BJP president Nitin Gadkari came to meet him suggesting a possible grand alliance but failed to give any specific formula. He reiterated the fact that his support is for Narendra Modi and not BJP or NDA.
TMC government in Bengal is facing fresh problem with Enforcement Directorate likely to quiz its top leaders over their alleged role in the Saradha scam. There is a feeling that this issue may very well become a political one ripe to be leveraged by opposition parties. Mamata Banerjee though has accused the opposition and sections of media for maligning her party by playing up this controversy.

These were all the major news points from today. Come back tomorrow for more….

Related Information:

Varanasi Election Result
Indore Election Results
West Bengal Election Results
Maharashtra Election 2014 Results
Andhra Pradesh Election Results
Lok Sabha Election Results