The BJP Government in Gujarat state led by its Chief Minister Narendra Modi makes a clean swipe in civic polls by winning 22 of the 24 seats. In a significant move Modi has stalled 100 Muslim candidates on behalf of his party, and all of them win the elections. The humiliating defeat makes its rival state Congress party president resign to his post. He attributes the defeat to tampering of EVMs by Modi government.
Speaking in a press meet Modi said "It's clear that even my Muslim brothers have taken part in this developmental success of the government. It is an all inclusive victory."
2012/1/27 14:38:39 Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday asked officials to make all preparations for the soon-to-be-held municipal elections. He also asked them to finalise the staffing pattern of the newly constituted Municipalities within three days.
The state of Gujarat still stands against the public screening of Rahul Dholakia's film Parzania which is based on the communal rights of 2002 that happened in the state. However, an NGO named Anhad has been organizing private screening of the film across Gujarat.
Most of the viewers for the screenings were youth. After the screening they wondered why this film was banned in Gujarat as they feel that the movie hardly contains any offensive elements. Some of the audiences felt that the film is not at all biased towards any community and gives out the message of living together in harmony.
Anhad has already held a couple of special screenings of Parzania in Gujarat and continues to do so in the future. In fact, they are planning for about 1000 such screenings.
2011/10/20 19:53:18 An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale hit Gujarat state Thursday night, the Seismology department said. There were no immediate reports of casualty or damage to property.
The quake, which had its epicentre in Junagad district of Gujarat, hit the region at 8.49 p.m., an official told IANS over phone.
The epicentre, with a focal depth of 10 km, was stated to be 21.2 degrees north latitude and 70.7 degrees east longitude. IANS
2007/11/28 4:26:58 Chief minister Y S Rajashekar Reddy will go to Gujarat to campaign for the congress party. The congress party has drafted the services of YSR for campaigning in Gujarat. He will address a rally in Surat.
The chief minister will leave for Surat on December 8. Surat has a vast population of Telugu speaking people and hence, YS has been asked to campaign for the party there.
The just concluded by polls were by far the most interesting and bitterly contested by polls ever in the state. It is none other than the big separate Telangana issue that was the main reason behind the by polls. For KCR, these polls are a do or die battle. The future of KCR as well as that of the TRS hinges on the results of the by polls.
The exit polls have not exactly pleased KCR. Even the pre-poll surveys reported that the TRS was sure to lose some seats.
According to the exit poll results, the TRS may retain about 10 assembly seats from the 16 that it held before the by polls. Out of the four Lok Sabha seats, the TRS is ahead in two and neck and neck in the third seat. So here also, the TRS is set to lose one or two seats.
The ruling congress is expected to bag anywhere between three and four assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat. Even the TDP is expected to romp home with two or three assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat.
The counting will begin at 8.00 a.m. on Sunday and the results will be out in about two hours time, i.e.by 10.00 a.m. Till then the guessing game continues and the leaders are all tensed up.
Actor Bipasha Basu is known to maintain a very clean and suave image in public. However, in private she appears to be quite the opposite. She walked into a restaurant in a five star hotel and bought dome eatables. She later sat in her car and started eating the food items. As soon as she finished eating, she started throwing the leftovers and the boxes and wrappers one by one on the road. Th passers by were aghast at the lack of civic sense and decency by Bipasha Basu.
Unite against those obstructing Parzania: Bhatt to industry
2007/2/9 23:37:16
Bollywood film director Mahesh Bhatt said the film industry should unite against those preventing the screening of 'Parzania' in Gujarat. The film was being opposed by just 'one section' in Gujarat and amounted to gagging of the freedom of speech and expression, he said at a function here.
'The censor board has cleared the 'Parzania'... Then, what's the issue about it? The Industry should support every filmmaker who faces obstructive forces after clearing the legal hurdles,' he said. On his reported decision to boycott PVRs in Gujarat, he said 'whether we would boycott or do not; whether the film industry takes a unified stance or not on this issue; only time will tell.'
Rahul Dholakia's 'Parzania', starring Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika, is based on the Gujarat riots and revolves around a Parsi family in search of their lost son.
2012/1/22 8:58:07 Mumbai, Jan 22 (IANS) Bollywood megastar and Gujarat brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, who previously promoted areas like Kutch and Dwarka, is now set to attract tourists to other picturesque spots in the state.
“In serene quietness of Gujarat is Bhuj. The welcome and hospitality of the people, as always, extraordinary,” the 69-year-old posted on his blog bigb.bigadda.com Sunday.
“Bhuj airfield under repair, so the jet cannot land there, hence landing in Mundra, the private airfield of the business group Adani, who has built the third largest, soon to become the largest port in India,” he wrote on his way for the shoot of the latest ad.
Bachchan, who so far promoted the Kutch region, Dwarka, Somnath and Gir National Park, has been all praise for the development in Gujarat and said the state is worth visiting again and again.
“The day starts early tomorrow and starts at the Rann of Kutch, the white desert where a tent city has been put up for tourists to enjoy the moment,” he posted.
“And subsequently I should be visiting and shooting at all the areas that had got left behind the last time round… A region so close to home yet so diverse in so many ways.
“The clothing the language the food the environment, everything. But all Indian,” he added.
He once said that if the Gujarat government planned a documentary to showcase the state, he would like to be a part of it.
2008/4/16 8:05:13 The election commission has finally drawn up the schedule for the by polls to the seats vacated by the TRS and for Khairatabad where the vacancy has been caused by the untimely death of PJR. The polls will be held on May 29. The nomination process will commence from March 2. The results will be announced on June 1.
So it is going to be a 'really hot' summer this year. The congress party and the TDP have only something to gain but nothing much to lose. The polls are an acid test for KCR as the onus of getting all the MLAs and MPs who resigned recently elected once again rests on him. There is a strong resistance to some of the candidates from within the party.
Just a month ahead of the fifth anniversary of 2002 riots in Gujarat, a film depicting the heart-rending story of a family during the post-Godhra violence is all set for release.
"It is funny that in the last five years nobody thought to make a film on Gujarat riots," Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah said.
Parzania, based on the true story of a Parsi family whose son went missing in Gujarat riots, is ready to hit the Indian theatres on Republic Day -- over a year after its completion.
The Parsi couple were played by Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika.
The film, whose language is English, shows how after violence, the family lives in constant fear and is ever-hopeful of the fact that one day, they would find their son.
The film-- which earlier attracted some controversy because of its sensitive subject line-- has been cleared by the Censor Board of India and it is now ready for release, Rahul Dholakia, the Director of the film, said.
2011/9/16 22:46:31 Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi began his three-day 'sadbhavana' fast Saturday saying the day is not far when the country, and indeed the world, will discuss the state as a model one.
"My fast is not against anyone... that was, is and will never be my agenda. Just like the world praises Gujarat's model for development and governance, that day is not far when people will discuss our model for inclusive growth and communal harmony," Modi said to a cheering crowd at Gujarat University's plush convention hall here.
"I can say with pride that we want to move ahead and give something back to the nation. A state like Gujarat can pull another state which is not so developed. We have the strength and the capability," he added.
Recounting the Gujarat earthquake of 2001, the communal violence of 2002 and the serial blasts of 2008, Modi said that each time the people have emerged stronger and have touched new heights of development.
"We have to move ahead taking everyone along and for that secularism and communal harmony is very important," he said.
A large number of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders like L.K. Advai and Arun Jaitley were present at the event.(IANS)
The crucial by polls in Kadapa and Pulivendula will be held tomorrow. The situation in Kadapa is tense and the election commission has pressed into service a large number of police personnel in all the places in the two constituencies.
DGP Aravinda Rao stated that all arrangements are in place to conduct polls in a free and fair manner. Additional police forces are being brought in from Tamil Nadu and Kerala to be deployed in Kadapa.
TRS chief K Chandra Shekar Rao claims that the state will go to elections early next year. KCR predicted that there world be snap polls to the state assembly in March 2008. Elections are due only in 2009 but even some congressmen do not rule out advancement of polls in the state.
2011/9/18 4:53:37 With Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's fast being seen by many as a sign of his desire to play a bigger role, the Bharatiya Janata Party Sunday said Modi is already a national figure.
"He is a national figure. Let us not forget, he is a successful chief minister. At the same time, he is the demand of people from all over the country," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
"I think he is on the national seat...(He is) dedicated to work on a mission to develop Gujarat, because that is the mandate today... if he gets a different mandate, he will prove himself then too," Javadekar told TV channel Times Now.
He said Gujarat was the real example of 'sadbhavana' or amity.
"The real sadbhavana is equal growth, equal opportunity for all sections," he said.
Narendra Modi began his three-day fast Saturday by heaping praises on the state for its inclusive growth and communal harmony. (IANS)
2011/6/16 5:38:52 Information and Public Relation Minister D K Aruna on Thursday said that the government is willing to conduct the elections for Panchayat Raj institutions, contrary to reports stating that the stay on the polls by a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court has given the ruling Congress a lifeline.
Talking to media persons after attending the Cabinet meeting at the Secretariat, Ms Aruna asserted that the government was willing to conduct the polls for the PR Institutions, in response to calls for clarifications on the High Court ruling.
Asked to clarify the government stand on the High Courts recent ruling striking down GO 128 in respect of the quota for BCs, the Minister said that the government was in favour of PR elections in the light of Apex Courts Order that the ceiling of 50 percent be observed.
Earlier, she made clear that the state Cabinet did not discuss on GO 128 at all. The government is for polls at any time, Ms Aruna said.
Meanwhile, official sources say that the government has another months time, till July 21, to arrive at a decision to go ahead with the said polls.(INN)
2008/5/12 2:09:34 The ensuing by polls are turning out to be a big source of worry and headache to the TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao. Many TRS activist themselves are saying of the record that the party will not be able to retain all the 16 assembly seas and the four parliament seats.
The reasons for the setback are being put squarely at the door of KCR. He is being blamed to have forced the MLAs to quit and go in for fresh polls. Many TRS MLAs have a pos rerecord as legislators in the last fours years. The people in their consistencies are none to happy with their track record.
KCRs highhandedness and internal bickering will cost the party dearly, say some senior TRS men. By current indications, the TRS is facing an uphill task in two Lok Sabha and eight assembly constituencies i.e. in 50 percent of the seats.
2011/10/27 8:17:18 The Lok Satta Party is planning to launch a united, non-partisan movement against arbitrary increase in property tax in municipalities.
In-charges of Lok Satta municipal committees, who met at the party headquarters here on Thursday with party Working President DVVS Varma in the chair, felt that the tax increase ranging from 500 to 1000 percent without any improvement in citizen services contravenes the Government’s own Assessment of Taxes Rules, 1990.
Participants pointed out that special officers, now ruling civic bodies in the absence of elected representatives, raised the tax capriciously. They cited an instance in which the tax on an apartment was raised from Rs.3000 to Rs.80000.
In a joint statement, Lok Satta leaders Katari Srinivasa Rao and K Omkar said that a Lok Satta Party team would visit municipal towns and cities in the first week of November to mobilize the public for an agitation. It would associate local chambers of commerce, ratepayers’ associations, resident welfare associations and other civic society representatives with the planned movement.
The party demands that the civic bodies improve their services in tune with the citizen’s charter and fix the property tax on a rational basis.
The Lok Satta Party would call for a ‘no-tax campaign’ if the authorities went ahead with the hike in the property tax without improving services concerning drinking water, sanitation, education, healthcare and roads. If the services are not commensurate with the tax paid, people can legitimately refuse to pay the tax, said Katari Srinivasa Rao. (INN)
Even US knows I'm incorruptible: Narendra Modi on WikiLeaks
2011/3/22 9:11:00
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday used the latest WikiLeaks disclosures to pat himself on the back, saying "Now even the US knows that I am incorruptible".
Reacting to the recent WikiLeaks disclosures in which a top US consular official described him as a "non-corrupt and efficient administrator", Modi told reporters on the sidelines of an event this proved his credentials.
"WikiLeaks shows two faces - one that of the government of India and the other of progressive Gujarat," the chief minister said.
In the latest leaked diplomatic cables accessed by The Hindu newspaper, Michael S. Owen, the US consul general in 2006, wrote to the US State Department that they might have to reassess the Gujarat chief minister, whose visa they revoked due to his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Owen also said that Modi could emerge as the Bharatiya Janata Party's next national leader.
"Modi has successfully branded himself as a non-corrupt, effective administrator, as a facilitator of business in a state with a deep commercial culture, and as a no-nonsense, law-and-order politician who looks after the interests of the Hindu majority.
"Modi's backers in the BJP now hope to convince the party leadership that he can use these positive traits to attract voters throughout India. Some BJP leaders believe, or hope, that voters will forget or forgive Modi's role in the 2002 bloodshed, once they learn to appreciate his other qualities," Owen wrote in his assessment.
Modi said he met Owen in Mumbai, where they discussed Gujarat.
Recalling his meeting with Owen, Modi said: "I looked into his eyes and said, 'do not preach... I am a son of India, I know what human rights violations you have done'. Good that the dialogue has been faithfully reproduced."
The Gujarat chief minister also said he that "government of India should address the issue of American interference" in Indian affairs. (Courtesy: Times of India)
2011/5/31 20:59:07 Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev has become news maker overnight with his announcement to start indefinite hunger strike demanding action against corruption and to unearth black money from Swiss Banks. UPA Government which is already is troubling with Civic Society members who demands to bring Prime Minister into Jan Lok Pal Bill circle, is now worried with Baba Ramdevs announcement.
Dr.Manmohan Singh not only wrote a letter to him asking him not to start his hunger strike but also sends Sudheer, Chairman of Central Board of direct Taxes to take his suggestions for unearthing the black money and to explain him about the measures taken to avert/control the corruption. Union Minister Pranab Mukharji is also in constant touch with Baba Ramdev.
Baba Ramdev also differs with Civic Society members demands. He said Some posts like Prime Minister of India, President of India and Chief Justice of India carries high respects and dignity among the people. Hence, such people shouldnt be expected to bring into Jan Lok Pal Bill range. They hold high offices in the country. I dont understand how the Civic Society members are demanding to bring them into Bill range.
However, Aravind Kejriwal one of the members of the society said If Prime Minister is excluded from Lok Pal Bill, then all the people who works under his 10 departments will also escapes from Lok Pal range. So, we will meet Ramdev Baba and explain him about the technicalities of this point.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday asked officials to make all preparations for the soon-to-be-held municipal elections. He also asked them to finalise the staffing pattern of the newly constituted Municipalities within three days.
An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale hit Gujarat state Thursday night, the Seismology department said. There were no immediate reports of casualty or damage to property.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi began his three-day 'sadbhavana' fast Saturday saying the day is not far when the country, and indeed the world, will discuss the state as a model one.
With Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's fast being seen by many as a sign of his desire to play a bigger role, the Bharatiya Janata Party Sunday said Modi is already a national figure.
The Lok Satta Party is planning to launch a united, non-partisan movement against arbitrary increase in property tax in municipalities.
Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev has become news maker overnight with his announcement to start indefinite hunger strike demanding action against corruption and to unearth black money from Swiss Banks. UPA Government which is already is troubling with Civic Society members who demands to bring Prime Minister into Jan Lok Pal Bill circle, is now worried with Baba Ramdevs announcement. 
