Tag: CANDIDATE

Categories
India News Politics

Another BJP candidate remarks on ‘amending Constitution’

Quoting Tharoor’s tweet, the party’s General Secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, “These are all orchestrated by the MahaSutradhar himself. It is deliberate strategy.”…reports Asian Lite News

A BJP leader’s comments on changing the Constitution has given the opposition ammunition against her party, with senior leaders saying it is part of a “deliberate strategy”.

In an address made at Rajashan’s Nagaur on March 30, BJP’s Jyoti Mirdha is heard saying, Several tough decisions need to be taken in the country’s interest and for that we have to make constitutional amendments. If we have to make amendments in the Constitution, many of you would know that we need the nod of both Houses of Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.”

Sharing Mirdha’s video on X, the Congress posted from its official handle, “This is BJP candidate Jyoti Mirdha contesting from Nagaur, Rajasthan. Jyoti Mirdha says that to change the Constitution, we need an overwhelming majority in both the houses. BJP MP Anant Hegde has also said that if we get 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, we will change the Constitution. It is clear from these statements that BJP and PM Modi hate the Constitution and democracy. By abolishing the Constitution given by Babasaheb, BJP wants to snatch away the rights of the people.”

“In the Lok Sabha, the BJP and the NDA have a massive mandate, but we still do not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha. If the NDA government returns to power for a third time,” Mirdha can be heard saying

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor too reacted to her comments, saying, “After Anant Hegde let the cat out of the bag, BJP leaders hastily stuffed it back in and dropped him from their candidate list. Now another BJP candidate openly says the BJP’s aim is to change the Constitution. How many more candidates can the BJP disavow for revealing the truth?”

Quoting Tharoor’s tweet, the party’s General Secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, “These are all orchestrated by the MahaSutradhar himself. It is deliberate strategy.”

Responding to Tharoor, Mirdha said, “As far as I understand, BJP’s aim is to serve the national and public interest as it gets articulated in the democratic discourse. And if for those purposes the constitution needs to be amended then so be it. Most recently the cat was let out of the bag by the 106th constitutional amendment for Women’s Reservation Bill in September last year for which it seems you lent a reluctant helping hand.”

Rashtriya Loktantrik Party chief Hanuman Beniwal, who has been fielded as an INDIA bloc alliance candidate on this seat, said that “the statement makes it clear that the BJP is bent on finishing Babasaheb’s Constitution”.

This is a reversal of roles for Beniwal and Mirdha: In 2019, Beniwal, as BJP’s ally, had defeated Mirdha, who was fielded as a Congress candidate.

Issuing a clarification, Mirdha said that her “general comment aimed at explaining the process of constitutional amendment was unnecessarily blown out of proportion”.

She said that “since 1950 until last year, there have been 106 amendments made to the constitution… It is imperative to say that our sacred constitution is a living document, amended from time to time considering the welfare of the people and the country”.

ALSO READ-BJP, Cong in high-stake battle for Kalaburagi

Categories
-Top News USA

Nikki Haley Emerges as Strongest Republican Contender Against Biden in 2024

Nikki Haley

Fresh out of the first Republican primary debate late last month, Haley told CBS News that she, and not Trump, is going to be the party’s 2024 presidential nominee…reports Asian Lite News

Indian-American Nikki Haley has emerged as the only Republican presidential candidate who can beat President Joe Biden in the 2024 US elections, a new poll has revealed.

Haley, the only woman running for the Republican nomination, had a six percentage-point lead over Biden in a CNN/SSRS poll released on Thursday, with the President trailing Haley 49 per cent to 43 per cent in a hypothetical match between the two.

“Hypothetical matchups suggest there would be no clear leader should Biden face one of the other major Republican contenders, with one notable exception: Biden runs behind former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley,” CNN reported.

The Haley campaign welcomed the polls saying: “This poll confirms what many Democrats and Republicans are saying: Democrats are terrified of running against Nikki Haley.”

“Nikki Haley is our best hope in taking back the White House. We only have one shot. It’s time to play to win,” Ken Farnaso, Haley’s Press Secretary, said responding to the CNN poll.

Fresh out of the first Republican primary debate late last month, Haley told CBS News that she, and not Trump, is going to be the party’s 2024 presidential nominee.

According to the CNN polls, the other Republican candidates polled neck-and-neck with Biden with former president Donald Trump, who is widely ahead in the party primary, drawing 47 per cent against the Biden’s 46 per cent.

On a potential rematch between Trump and Biden, 47 per cent of those polled said they would choose the former President and 46 per cent said they would choose the latter.

In contrast, 44 per cent said that any Democratic nominee would be better than Trump, while 38 per cent said the former President is better than any Democratic pick.

Former Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Tim Scott both drew 46 per cent to Biden’s 44 per cent, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie received 44 per cent to Biden’s 42 per cent.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tied with Biden at 47 per cent, while Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy trailed at 45 per cent against Biden’s 46 per cent.

ALSO READ-Judge Holds Trump Liable in Defamation Suit by E. Jean Carroll

Categories
USA

Republican candidate for NY Guv escapes attack

Jakubonis, wielding “a sort of brass knuckles with two daggers protruding from his fingers” took a swipe at Zeldin’s neck, Esposito said…reports Arul Louis

In a climate of deep political polarisation gripping the US, the Republican Partys candidate for New York Governor has escaped a ninja-style attack with a spiked knuckle weapon but the detention of the alleged assailant was late in coming under controversial state law.

Although Lee Zeldin, an Army veteran of the Iraq War, grabbed the wrist of the alleged assailant, David Jakubonis, and thwarted the attack aimed at his neck on July 21, he was arrested and held under federal law only on July 23 after having been let go under state law.

Zeldin had help from his running mate for lieutenant governor, Alison Esposito, a retired New York City police officer during the attack at a campaign rally in Fairport in state’s north-eastern part close to Canada.

She told Fox News that she grabbed the alleged attacker from below the trailer that served as the stage while Zeldin with his “military training” held him by his wrist.

Jakubonis, wielding “a sort of brass knuckles with two daggers protruding from his fingers” took a swipe at Zeldin’s neck, Esposito said.

Currently a member of the House of Representatives, Zeldin is running against Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul, who is seeking her first elected term.

She was the lieutenant governor and stepped in as Governor last year when Andrew Cuomo resigned midway through his term after several accusations of sexual harassment surfaced, though none has led to his prosecution.

In a drama of lax law enforcement being blamed for the uptick in crime, Jabukonis was released without bail by a state court in accordance with state laws enacted by the Democrat-controlled state legislature.

Zeldin, who has made fighting crime a pillar of his campaign, was quick to condemn Jakubonis’s release and several Republicans joined him in accusing Democrats of being soft on crime.

After the uproar, the area’s federal prosecutor stepped in and charged Jakubonis under a federal law against assaulting members of Congress and arrested him on July 23.

The federal law allows holding him in custody.

In a statement announcing the arrest and the charges, the federal prosecutor’s spokesperson described the weapon only as a “keychain with two sharp points” and said that during the attack Jakubonis repeated, “you’re done”.

Hochul tweeted her condemnation of the attack, saying: “It has no place in New York.”

President Joe Biden, who like his party members has focused on gun violence, said in a statement that the attack “defies our fundamental democratic values”.

The attack on Zeldin took place on the same day the Democrat-dominated House panel investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol held a televised hearing to highlight the danger to democracy from political violence by the right.

In the atmosphere of sharp political divisions, a man with a gun was arrested last month outside the residence of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, and charged with attempted assassination.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Nicholas John Roske had said that he came from California to kill Kavanaugh because he was upset that the earlier Supreme Court judgment making abortions legal throughout the country was going to be undone and by the mass shooting in a Texas school that killed 21.

Zeldin who completed his active duty Army service is now a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves, which can be broadly compared to the Territorial Army.

ALSO READ-US condemns Russian attack on Odessa Port

Categories
India News

Protest in parties over candidate selection

Similarly, in Shamli, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) workers were upset over the announcement of BJP turncoat Prasann Chaudhary as its candidate…reports Asian Lite News

The announcement of candidates by the various political parties for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections is leading to protests by respective party workers.

Soon after the declaration of the BJP candidates on Saturday, protests erupted in Nauganva Sadat seat in Amroha, where sitting MLA Sangeeta Chauhan, wife of late UP cabinet minister Chetan Chauhan, was replaced by Devender Nagpal.

Effigies were burnt and slogans were raised against Nagpal and the BJP in general.

A Samajwadi Party worker was detained on Sunday evening after he allegedly tried to self-immolate himself outside the party office in Lucknow, claiming that he had been denied a ticket to contest the Assembly polls.

“I have spent my entire youth working for the party. I have worked for the party in Aligarh for the last 5 years. I want justice,” said Thakur Aditya, the SP worker.

Similarly, in Shamli, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) workers were upset over the announcement of BJP turncoat Prasann Chaudhary as its candidate.

In a recently-held panchayat, senior RLD leader Arvind Pawar said, “Prasann Chaudhary is the same person who distributed sweets when RLD supremo Ajit Singh was defeated in Muzaffarnagar in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. At the same time those workers who had been with the RLD in difficult times have been side-lined. We do not support this move.”

Sunil Rohta, RLD spokesperson, explained, “Politics is about compulsions and adjustments. In the prevailing circumstances, senior leaders have taken a decision which is in the interest of the party. We will explain this situation to those dejected. They will come around.”

Similarly, effigies were burnt across Muzaffarnagar and Baghpat a night before the BJP was to release its first list of 107 candidates. The protests were against former MLC Prashant Gurjar, who has been named a candidate.

The BJP workers too burnt effigies of Yogesh Dhama in Baghpat.

Both candidates are there on the list of 107 candidates released by the BJP on Saturday.

“Ours is a disciplined party with a disciplined cadre. This is the opposition’s gameplan to give an impression that BJP workers are not happy. Our investigation has revealed that in some places like Baghpat, it was RLD workers who burned effigies of Yogesh Dhama. Other regions too have the similar situation,” said UP west vice president of BJP Manoj Poswal.

The Congress has been facing protests in Meerut, Lakhimpur and several other constituencies, including Sarojini Nagar in Lucknow over ticket distribution.

ALSO READ-Punjab poll dates shifted by EC