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Karnataka polls: BJP candidates to be finalised in April 9 meet

The assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13…reports Asian Lite News

The Central Election Committee of the BJP may hold a meeting at the party office on April 9 for finalising candidates for the Karnataka assembly elections, said party sources.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP general secretary BL Santosh and members of the party’s Central Election Committee will be present at the meeting. According to party sources, the core group of the BJP in Karnataka has shortlisted three names for each Assembly seat which will be placed before the Central Election Committee. The party’s central leadership will then brainstorm over these names before locking the candidates.

On April 4, the BJP’s core group in Karnataka drew up a shortlist of candidates in a meeting with the party’s national general secretary Arun Singh, state election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, co-in-charge Mansukh Mandaviya, Central Election Committee member Annamalai, former chief minister BS Yediyurappa and his successor and incumbent Basavaraj Bommai.

The BJP emerged as the largest single party in the last Assembly elections, winning 104 seats, with the Congress winning 80 and the JD(S) 37 seats.

The assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13.

Congress’ second list

Congress on Thursday announced its second list of 42 candidates, for the Karnataka assembly elections but no decision has yet been taken on who would contest from Kolar even as former chief minister Siddaramaiah has expressed a desire to contest from the constituency.

The Congress has also accommodated candidates who switched to the party from the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular). The party is seeking to wrest power from BJP in the state in the upcoming polls. In the Melukote constituency, the Congress has decided to back the Sarvodaya Karnataka Party candidate Darshan Puttannaiah, the son of famed K S Puttanaiah..

According to sources, the Congress top brass has asked Siddaramaiah to contest from his traditional stronghold of Varuna in the Mysuru district, where his son doctor Yatindra Siddaramaiah won in the 2018 Assembly Elections.

Sources said that earlier, amid disagreements between the party’s local leaders in Kolar, the Congress High Command had instructed the 75-year-old former chief minister to drop his plan to contest from the Kolar assembly segment

Meanwhile, former minister Vinay Kulkarni who has been named by Congress as its candidate from Dharwad constituency will have to campaign remotely since the Supreme Court has barred his entry into the district after the CBI named him in connection with the 2016 murder case of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker, Yogeeshgouda Goudar.

Kulkarni has been out on bail on the condition that he will not enter the district nor will do anything to tamper with the evidence in the murder case.

Kulkarni was allegedly involved in connection with the murder of Goudar, on June 15, 2016, after he defeated the rival Congress party candidate in the Zila Panchayat elections.

The party’s Central Election Committee will meet again today at 2:30 pm in the national capital. Of the 224 seats, 124 seats were announced in its first list, 42 seats were announced in the second list and according to sources the remaining will be decided in the meeting this afternoon.

On Tuesday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the party will conduct an extensive discussion on candidates for the remaining 100 seats in the State.

The Congress had on March 25 announced its first list of 124 candidates for the polls, which included names of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and State Party president DK Shivakumar.

Karnataka, which has 224 seats in the Assembly currently has 119 MLAs of the ruling BJP, while Congress has 75 and its ally JD(S) has 28 seats.

Political parties in the State including the ruling BJP, Congress and ally JD(S) are engaged in a spate of allegations and counter-allegations, with the latter attempting to corner the government over the issue of corruption.

The model code of conduct had come into effect after elections were announced in the State. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Marin concedes defeat in Finnish polls

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Marin concedes defeat in Finnish polls

Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin.(photo:Instagram)

In a major change, medium-sized parties suffered losses: the Center Party lost eight seats, the Greens lost seven, and the Left Alliance party lost five…reports Asian Lite News

Incumbent Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has conceded defeat after the opposition National Coalition Party won the parliamentary elections.

According to the preliminary results reported by Finnish national broadcaster Yle, the National Coalition Party won 48 seats in parliament, an increase of 10 from four years ago, followed by the Finns Party with 46 seats, an increase of seven.

Marin’s Social Democratic Party won 43 seats, an increase of three. Voter turnout on Sunday was 71.9 per cent, slightly less than in 2019. Shortly after National Coalition Party leader Petteri Orpo claimed victory, Marin conceded the election.

“Congratulations to the winner of the elections, congratulations to the National Coalition Party, congratulations to the Finns Party. Democracy has spoken,” the BBC quoted the Prime Minister as saying to her supporters.

Commenting on the result, Orpo said this was an important win for the party, and he was confident that the formation of the new government would begin under his leadership.

Orpo did not reveal the possible composition of the upcoming ruling coalition, but said that the new government’s priority would be to fix the country’s economy.

In a major change, medium-sized parties suffered losses: the Center Party lost eight seats, the Greens lost seven, and the Left Alliance party lost five.

The election campaigns focused mainly on economic and welfare issues. The National Coalition Party, in particular, underlined the need to balance the state budget and reduce the need for new debt.

Commentators noted that the formation talks of a coalition government could take some time as the combined seats of the two right-wing parties, the National Coalition Party and the Finns Party, still fell short of a parliamentary majority and would require support from other smaller parties.

The election result will be officially confirmed on Wednesday, and the new Parliament will commence work next week. This was however, a bitter defeat for Marin, but she continues to enjoy high poll ratings and has been widely praised for steering Finland towards imminent entry into NATO and navigating her country through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now 37, Sanna Marin became the world’s youngest leader when she burst on to the political scene in 2019. She headed a coalition of five parties, all led by women.

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Karnataka goes to polls on May 10

The Model Code of Conduct in the state has come into force with the announcement of poll schedule…reports Asian Lite News

The Election Commission on Wednesday announced the schedule for the Karnataka Assembly elections. The polling will be held on May 10 and the results will be declared on May 13.

The term of the 224-member Assembly ends on May 24.

As per Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, total electors in Karnataka are 5.2 crore. He informed that the total number of 80 plus year-old electors stands at 12.15 lakh.

Over 9.17 lakh first-time voters will participate in the elections. Under Advance Application Facility over 1.25 lakh applications were received from 17 years plus youths, out of which around 41,000 applications were received from youths turning 18 years by April 1, 2023.

The Model Code of Conduct in the state has come into force with the announcement of poll schedule.

CEC Rajiv Kumar said the urban apathy and misuse of money power are the two major issues in the state and appropriate initiatives are being taken in this regard. “We have directed all the enforcement authorities on this,” said the CEC.

The Election Commission (EC) is strengthening its teams to curb the misuse of money power, the CEC said. There will be 2,400 static surveillance teams to keep strict vigil and multiple agencies working in synergy and coordination, he added.

To ensure free, fair and inducement-free elections, the awareness and cooperation of citizens are key. Citizens can report any kind of electoral malpractices to the ECI through cVIGIL App, the CEC added.

Strong anti-incumbency

According to an exclusive opinion poll conducted in Karnataka by ABP-CVoter, there is very strong anti-incumbency against the BJP government led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

According to the survey, as many as 57 per cent of the respondents said they are upset and wish to change the state government. Corruption has emerged as the third most pressing issue in the poll-bound state, after unemployment and infrastructure.

According to the ABP-CVoter survey, 50.5 per cent of the respondents rated the performance of the BJP government as ‘poor’. In contrast, just 27.7 per cent rated it as ‘good’ with another 21.8 per cent rating the performance as ‘average’.

ABP-CVoter had conducted a similar opinion poll in Gujarat in late 2022 before the Assembly elections, wherein about 42 per cent of the voters had rated the performance of the BJP government as ‘good’ while 32 per cent had rated it as ‘bad’.

Even in Himachal Pradesh, where the BJP lost narrowly to the Congress to go out of power, 38.6 per cent of the potential voters had rated the state government’s performance as ‘good’ with 36.4 per cent rating it as ‘poor’.

The exclusive ABP-CVoter survey interacted with around 25,000 respondents in Karnataka across demographics, age groups and identities.

The survey throws up more bad news for the BJP. When it comes to the Chief Minister, as many as 46.9 per cent of the potential voters rated the performance of incumbent CM Basavaraj Bommai as ‘poor’, while just 26.8 per cent rated his performance as ‘good’.

In the same survey, a considerably higher proportion (39.1 per cent) singled out Congress leader Siddaramaiah as their preferred choice to be the next CM, while 31.1 per cent opted for Bommai.

Anti-incumbency against the BJP government seems to have the least impact over perceptions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to the survey, 47.4 per cent of the respondents rated the performance of Modi as ‘good’, while 33.8 per cent rated it as ‘poor’.

The strong anti-incumbency sentiments tally with the ABP-CVoter projection that gives the Congress between 115 and 127 seats, a comfortable majority in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, which goes to the polls on May 10.

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Nigerians begin voting in crucial polls

For the first time in Nigeria’s modern history, three candidates have emerged in the race for the top office usually dominated by two parties…reports Asian Lite News

Nigeria’s presidential and parliamentary elections kicked off as voters went to the polls nationwide to elect a new president and members of the national assembly.

Polling stations will stay open until the last accredited voter in the queue casts his or her vote, an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the country’s electoral body, said at a polling station in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, on Saturday.

Musa Galadima, a voter, said Nigerians were determined to freely exercise their civic responsibilities in a credible, free, and fair election process.

A total of 87.2 million citizens who have received voters card are expected to vote in the elections across the country, Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the INEC, told a press conference on Friday.

Eighteen presidential candidates will take part in the presidential election.

For the first time in Nigeria’s modern history, 3 candidates have emerged in the race for the top office usually dominated by 2 parties.

With Buhari stepping down after two terms in office, the APC’s Bola Tinubu, 70, a former Lagos governor and political kingmaker, says “It’s my turn” for the presidency.

He faces a familiar rival — PDP candidate and former vice president Atiku Abubakar, 76, who is on his sixth bid for the top job.

But the emergence of a surprise third candidate appealing to young voters, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, 61, has thrown the race open for the first time since the end of military rule in 1999.

“This coming government should try and correct all the wrongs that this administration and other administrations have made,” said Lagos vendor Blessing Asabe, 37.

To win the presidency, a candidate must get the most votes, but also win 25 percent in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states.

The rules reflect a country where a mostly Muslim  Nigerians live in the north and Christians in the south.  The nation’s three main ethnic groups across regions: Yoruba in southwest, Hausa/Fulani in the north and Igbo in the southeast. Some experts have said voting also often falls along ethnic and religious lines.

This time, Tinubu is a southern Yoruba Muslim, Atiku is an ethnic Fulani Muslim from the northeast and Peter Obi is a Christian Igbo from the southeast.

The presidential elections have in the past often been marked by violence, ethnic tensions, vote-buying and clashes between supporters of rival parties.

In 2019, hours before polls opened, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the election by a week because of problems delivering election materials.

Today, most experts see INEC as being more prepared. It has introduced biometric voter IDs to help prevent fraud and results will be transmitted electronically.

If no candidate wins, a runoff will take place between the two frontrunners, an unprecedented outcome that some analysts say is a possibility this time around. If a runoff is declared, the vote has to take place within 21 days.

Violence reported

Nigerian police have said that several polling stations had been attacked by gunmen in Lagos, the nation’s economic hub, during the presidential and national assembly polls.

Idowu Owohunwa, the police chief in Lagos, told reporters at a press conference in Lagos, that 25 staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission deployed to the affected polling stations in the Oshodi area of Lagos have been evacuated with electoral materials to the state police headquarters.

No one has died in the attacks so far, and security has been beefed up in the areas concerned, Owohunwa said, adding the election exercise has been peaceful in most parts of the state.

According to the official News Agency of Nigeria, yet-to-be-identified “thugs” attacked on Saturday some polling stations in the southern state of Delta and the northern state of Katsina, carting away some electronic devices designed to read voter cards and authenticate voters.

Grave security problems

When casting their ballot for the general elections, Nigerians considered key issues such as: the high cost of living, corruption and insecurity.

Internally displaced people voting at the Malkohi camp in Yola, north-eastern Nigeria, looked forward to a positive transformation of the country.

Grave security problems plague the nation (violent jihadist insurgency in the north-east, separatist tensions in the south, rising crime in the north-west and center).

“The one thing we want the new leader to do for us the IDPs is for him to bring us back home so that we can live like normal human beings in our own home. That is all we want,» Idris Abdullahi, farmer a who was displaced from Gwoza said.

A fellow countryman Umaru Abubakar doubled down. “When the new Government takes office, we hope that they will help us, the IDPS, since we also came out to vote. We hope that we will be treated equally because we too are like citizens of this land now.”

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2023 poll cycle starts with 3 states in Feb

Tripura to go to polls on Feb 16, Nagaland and Meghalaya on Feb 27. The results of all three states will be declared on March 2…reports Asian Lite News

The Election Commission on Wednesday announced the schedule for Assembly elections to the northeastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland to be held in February-March this year. The results of all three states will be declared on March 2, 2023.

“Voting for Assembly elections in Tripura will be held in a single phase on February 16 and in Nagaland and Meghalaya on February 27. The results will be declared on March 2,” Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said during a press conference. The Assembly polls in the northeastern states of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura were announced on Wednesday, thus beginning the election season in 2023.

The CEC said that the terms of the poll-bound states of in Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura are coming to an end on March 12, 15, and 22 respectively.

“The term of Assemblies of respective states in Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura are respectively due to expire on March 12, 15, and 22. The 3 states have 60 Assembly constituencies each,” the CEC said.

Detailing the number of voters in the poll-bound states, Kumar said, “There are more than 62.8 lakh electors combined in Nagaland, Meghalaya & Tripura including – 31.47 lakh female electors, 97,000 80+ voters, and 31,700 PwD voters. Over 1.76 lakh first-time voters to participate in the elections in 3 states.”

He also informed that there will be some polling stations managed completely by PwDs and women staff. Women will be in command in 376 PS across Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura.

Noting that the three states have “terrain-related challenges”, Kumar reiterated the ECI’s commitment in conducting free and fair polls.

“The 3 states have terrain-related challenges, but the Commission is committed to participating free and fair participative accessible and ethical elections in these three states,” he said.

The CEC said that the officials from the Commission recently visited the three states and met the officials regarding the poll preparations and directed them to resort to “zero tolerance” for any kind of violence during the elections.

“We recently visited these three states from January 11 to 15, and met all the district collectors, SPs, DGs and all the enforcement agencies. There are only 2-3 states of the entire country in which pre-poll, during the poll or post-poll violence is left. there was no violence in the last 12 elections. With the help of the district administration, we have told them very clearly that society should have zero tolerance for any kind of violence during the elections,” he said. (ANI)

5 MLAs in poll-bound Meghalaya quit house, parties

Meghalaya Public Health Engineering Minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar and four other sitting MLAs of different parties, including the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, resigned from the Assembly on Wednesday, hours before the Election Commission announced the election schedule for three northeastern states.

Tongkhar, who is a legislator of Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), Trinamool Congress MLA Shitlang Pale, suspended Congress MLAs Mayralborn Syiem and Process T. Sawkmie and Independent MLA Lambor Malngiang, submitted their resignation letter to Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh.

While Sawkmie would be inducted into the HSPDP at a later date, but the four others joined the United Democratic Party (UDP) in the presence of their supporters during a function held at the party office here on Wednesday.

Both HSPDO and the UDP are constituent of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, led by National People’s Party (NPP) fo Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma.

The BJP, with two MLAs (including a minister), is also a part of the 6-party MDA government.

So far, 18 Meghalaya MLAs have resigned from the House and their respective parties and joined different outfits in less than two months.

Twelve MLAs, led by former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma (2010-2018) who had won in the 2018 Assembly election as Congress nominees, joined the Trinamool in November 2021, making the West Bengal-based party the main opposition in the northeastern state overnight.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress won 21 seats in the 60-member Assembly but subsequently all its legislators joined other parties including the Trinamool and the NPP.

Of the 12 Trinamool MLAs, five so far have quit the party to joined other parties. The Election Commission on Wednesday announced polling will be held in Tripura on February 16 and in Nagaland and Meghalaya on February 27 and the counting of votes is scheduled for March 2.

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Dina Boluarte seeks early polls amid protests in Peru

Boluarte ordered the national police “to not use any lethal weapons, including rubber bullets,” saying those who do will face “the weight of the law”…reports Asian Lite News

Peru’s new President Dina Boluarte said she plans to meet the Congressional Constitution Committee to “shorten the timeframe” for holding the early general elections as deadly protests have intensified across the country.

The protests are being staged by angry supporters of leftist former President Pedro Castillo against his impeachment and subsequent arrest on December 7.

At least seven people have died in clashes between protesters and security forces in the southern departments of Apurimac and Arequipa.

On Monday, Boluarte, Castillo’s successor and former deputy, proposed bringing general elections forward by two years to April 2024 as protests intensified in several parts of the country, with Castillo’s supporters demanding his release, Boluarte’s resignation, early polls and the shutdown of the Congress.

In a statement on Tuesday, the President said she is heading a “transition” government that aims to “call for calm and dialogue” and “solve unresolved problems” in various regions, reports Xinhua news agency.

Boluarte ordered the national police “to not use any lethal weapons, including rubber bullets,” saying those who do will face “the weight of the law”.

Defence Minister Luis Otarola on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Arequipa.

Meanwhile, Castillo called Boluarte’s plans of early elections a “dirty game” and called her an “usurper”, reports the BBC.

The former President claimed he had been “kidnapped” and humiliated.

On Monday, protesters blocked roads and set fire to vehicles, and an estimated 2,000 stormed the airport in Arequipa, blocking the runway and forcing flights to be suspended for several hours.

Police finally dispersed them with tear gas.

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EC begins preparations for assembly polls in 3 NE states

Similar special summary revision of the photo electoral rolls already started in Tripura and Meghalaya many weeks ago…reports Asian Lite News

The Election Commission has directed the Nagaland Election Department to undertake a special summary revision of photo electoral rolls with reference to January 1, 2023 as the qualifying date, officials said on Monday.

The Commission in a separate order to the Chief Secretaries and Chief Electoral Officers of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura said that no officer connected directly with elections shall be allowed to continue in the present district of posting if they are posted in their home district.

If the officer completed three years in a district during the last four years or would be completing 3 years on or before March, 31, 2023 shall not be allowed to continue in the present district of posting, the EC order said.

An official of the Nagaland Election Department said that now onwards, the annual summary revision would be conducted with reference to January 1 of the year as qualifying date, with three subsequent qualifying dates of the year are April 1, July 1 and October 1.

As per the directives of the EC, the integrated draft electoral roll would be published on Wednesday and after the special summary revision the final photo electoral rolls would be published on January 5.

Similar special summary revision of the photo electoral rolls already started in Tripura and Meghalaya many weeks ago.

Assembly elections to Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura are expected to be held in February 2023 after the assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

The five-year term of the Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura assembly would end on March 12, 15 and 22, respectively.

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BJP wins 4 seats, Cong draws blank in bypolls  

BJP Flag.

Congress also lost Telangana’s Munugode seat to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)…reports Asian Lite News

The by elections on seven seats spread across six states have come as a setback for the Congress which lost both its two seats in Telangana and Haryana, while the BJP managed to gain one seat and managed to win four seats on offer.

While the BJP bagged four seats, the RJD, TRS, and Udhhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction won one seat each.

BJP retained Uttar Pradesh’s Gola Gokarannath seat, Bihar’s Gopalganj and Odisha’s Dhamnagar seats. It also added Haryana’s Adampur seat to its tally, which it wrested from the Congress.

Congress also lost Telangana’s Munugode seat to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

The Tejashwi Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal has won in Bihar’s Mokama and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction won in Mumbai’s Andheri East seat.

None of these contests though are likely to upset the equations for current state governments.

However, with the regional parties looking to put together a united front for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which are just 18 months away, the results may serve as a shot in the arm for them.

Prior to the by elections, the BJP held three, the Congress two, while the Shiv Sena and the RJD had won one seat each.

BJP candidate Bhavya Bishnoi won with a lead of over 15,000 votes over his nearest rival and Congress candidate Jai Prakash in Adampur.

In Odisha’s Dhamnagar by-poll, BJP’s Suraj Suryabanshi won.

TRS’ Prabhakar Reddy defeated Rajagopal Reddy of BJP by a margin of over 10,000 votes at Telengana’s Munugode seat.

BJP candidate Kusum Devi won the Gopalganj by poll in Bihar. She defeated RJD candidate Mohan Prasad Gupta in a tight contest by just over 1,700 votes.

RJD candidate Neelam Devi, wife of Anant Singh who was disqualified after being convicted of illegally keeping guns, won in Bihar’s Mokama.

Uddhav Thackeray’s faction won its first election today. Rutuja Latke, the candidate of the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction, won the by-election in Andheri (East) in Mumbai by a massive margin of over 66,000 votes.

The BJP retained Gola Gokarannath seat in Uttar Pradesh, which fell vacant after the death of its MLA Arvind Giri on September 6.

The BSP and Congress kept away, resulting in a direct fight between Arvind Giri’s son Aman Giri (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party’s Vinay Tiwari, a former MLA.

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Modi sounds poll bugle in Himachal

Home Minister Amit Shah along with J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and MOS in PMO Jitendra Singh inaugurating the various projects during a function at Raj Bhawan in Srinagar on Wednesday.

AIIMS Bilaspur, constructed at a cost of more than Rs 1,470 crore, is a state-of-the-art hospital with 18 specialty and 17 super specialty departments, 18 modular operation theatres, 750 beds with 64 ICU beds…reports Asian Lite News

Just days ahead of assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated development works and laid foundation stones of over Rs 3,650 crore spread across various sectors, comprising AIIMS Bilaspur, foundation stone of which was laid by him on October 3, 2017.

In the hilly state, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bilaspur at Kothipura will ensure a new era of quality healthcare services in the region.

Accompanying BJP President J.P. Nadda, who played a crucial role for setting up the premier health institution in his hometown, Union Minister Anurag Thakur, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, among others, Modi inaugurated the multiple development projects from the Luhnu ground in Bilaspur, some 130 km from the state capital, before addressing a mass public function.

AIIMS Bilaspur, constructed at a cost of more than Rs 1,470 crore, is a state-of-the-art hospital with 18 specialty and 17 super specialty departments, 18 modular operation theatres, 750 beds with 64 ICU beds.

Spread over 247 acres, the hospital is equipped with 24 hours emergency and dialysis facilities, modern diagnostic machines like ultrasonography, CT scan, MRI, etc., Amrit Pharmacy and Jan Aushadhi centres and also a 30-bed AYUSH block.

The hospital has also set up the Centre for Digital Health to provide health services in the tribal and inaccessible tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh.

Also, specialist health services will be provided by the hospital through health camps in the inaccessible tribal and high Himalayan regions like Kaza, Saluni, and Keylong.

The hospital will admit 100 students for MBBS course and 60 students for nursing courses every year.

Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Nadda reached Bilaspur on October 2 to oversee the arrangements relating to Modi’s visit to inaugurate AIIMS at Kothipura and later his address to set the stage to build momentum for the upcoming assembly polls.

An official statement said Prime Minister Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of projects worth over Rs 3,650 crore.

The foundation stone of 31-km-long project for four laning of the National Highway from Pinjore to Nalagarh on NH-105 worth over Rs 1690 crore was also laid.

The project road is a major connecting link for the traffic from Ambala, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Solan and Shimla going towards Bilaspur, Mandi and Manali.

About 18-km stretch of the four-lane highway falls under Himachal Pradesh and the remaining portion falls in Haryana. This highway will ensure better transport facilities in Nalagarh-Baddi, the industrial hub of Himachal Pradesh, and will also give a fillip to further industrial development in the region. It will also boost tourism in the state.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of the Medical Device Park at Nalagarh, which will be built at a cost of about Rs 350 crore. The project will significantly provide employment opportunities.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated the Government Hydro Engineering College at Bandla in Bilaspur district. Costing Rs 140 crore, the college will help make available trained manpower for hydro power projects, in which Himachal Pradesh is one of the leading states.

It will help in upskilling the youth and providing ample job opportunities in the hydropower sector.

The BJP-ruled hill state is likely to go to the polls for its 68-member assembly in November.

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Guj BJP chief urges workers to gear up for polls

On Saturday evening, the Revenue Department was taken away from Rajendra Trivedi while the Road and Building Ministry was taken away from Purnesh Modi…reports Asian Lite News

Gujarat BJP president C.R. Patil said on Sunday that the party is working round the clock and has hourly plans to achieve the aim of winning all 182 seats in the state assembly elections.

He also urged the party leaders and the workers to gear up as merely 60 days are left for the announcement of notification for the assembly elections.

Patil was addressing a gathering after inauguration of the new Taluka Panchayat building in Vadodara district.

Earlier in the day, the party’s state chief avoided mediapersons’ questions on removal of two ministers from the state cabinet.

On Saturday evening, the Revenue Department was taken away from Rajendra Trivedi while the Road and Building Ministry was taken away from Purnesh Modi.

Following the development, several posters appeared in Trivedi’s constituency in Vadodara, which says, “Organization is the highest authority, Bharat Mata Ki Jai”.

The state BJP chief spokesman Yamal Vyas has alleged that it is the handiwork of Congress to defame the party.

In another development, the party’s state leadership has expanded its core committee. Former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, former deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, former Agriculture Minister and state unit president R.C. Faldu, national vice president and MP from Bhavnagar Bharatiben Shiyal were inducted in the core committee.

Did image makeover bid hurt two ministers

One of the main reasons for stripping two cabinet ministers of their portfolios just less than 100 days before the Assembly elections, is said to be their attempts to ‘over market themselves instead of delivering’.

Recently, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel took away the revenue portfolio from Cabinet minister Rajendra Trivedi and the Roads and Buildings ministry from Purnesh Modi.

Purnesh Modi subsequently updated his Twitter profile with remaining portfolios, but Trivedi is yet to do so.

Political analysts opine that attempts at image makeover or image building stunts by both the ministers have cost them heavily.

It is being said that two to three other ministers might have to pay for ‘over marketing themselves instead of focusing on delivery’.

“It must have come to the notice of the BJP’s central leadership that Trivedi and Modi were doing a lot of drama to showcase their work. It might have been unpalatable to someone in Delhi, who must have instructed state leaders for surgical operation,” is the observation of political analyst Kanti Patel.

“The other reason behind the harsh action could be about fundraising. These ministers’ activities could have stalled projects of some interested parties, who may have been funding the party. Such parties having direct access to the Delhi corridor must have complained and so the ministers had to face ire,” said Hari Desai, a political commentator.

Janak Purohit, a political analyst who has been closely following the party for more than three decades, sees two reasons for the action. “In the election year the Prime Minister must have planned to lay the foundation stone or dedicate various projects, Purnesh Modi must have failed to meet the targets, whereas Trivedi knowingly or unknowingly must have either stalled big projects citing rules or otherwise. This may have annoyed the central leadership.” All the three political analysts have doubts that before the election notification was out a few more ministers may have to face simliar action.

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