Amit Shah kicks off BJP's massive outreach programme
New Delhi, May 29: BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday launched a massive nationwide "Sampark Se Samarthan" (contact for support) personal outreach programme to highlight the achievements of the Narendra Modi-led government in the last four years.
Shah kicked off the programme by calling on former Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag at his residence here on Mandir Marg. He handed Suhag a few booklets on the achievements of the Modi government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief also met former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha and constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap at his residence.
After meeting them, Shah told the media: "I went to Suhagji and Kashyapji's residences and apprised them of the work of Modi government in the last four years. I handed them the booklet on achievements of the government."
Shah is scheduled to personally meet at least 50 eminent personalities to apprise them of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's achievements.
Explaining the party's massive outreach programme, the BJP chief said: "The nationwide programme has been launched on the completion of four years of the Modi government at the Centre."
He said that 4,000 elected members of the BJP would connect with over one lakh people from every field across the country.
Besides the elected members, 50 lakh BJP workers would launch a door-to-door campaign and meet citizens throughout the country.
Shah said: "The aim of this programme is to inform the people about how the BJP has worked for every section of the society and touched their lives, which the country had been expecting for a long time."
He stressed that the BJP had touched the lives of the poor and also served a number of villages in the last four years by taking government schemes to the rural areas.
The BJP leader, also a Rajya Sabha member, said: "In the fifth year of this government, the BJP will increase the income of farmers and also provide health insurance worth Rs 5 lakh each to 50 crore households across the country."
Earlier, Shah was scheduled to launch the contact programme from Suhag's Gurugram-located house in Haryana, but that was cancelled at the last minute, a party official said.
It is part of the party's effort to reach out to the maximum number of people ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Modi, also as part of the campaign, addressed beneficiaries of the Ujjwala Yojana and Mudra Yojana on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, through the NaMo app.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
