BJP preparing for 2019 Lok Sabha polls as scheduled
New Delhi, Aug 29 : Notwithstanding the push for simultaneous polls, the BJP appears to be in no hurry to go for parliamentary elections along with a round of Assembly elections due this year end.
The party is said to be preparing for Lok Sabha elections to be held on schedule in the summer of next year, reliable sources in BJP told IANS.
The party's current strategy on the Lok Sabha polls assumes significance in the context of speculation that the Lok Sabha polls could be advanced to be held along with the elections to the assemblies of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and Mizoram this year end.
They said that at their meeting held here on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah asked Chief Ministers of states ruled by the BJP to be ready by February-end on the government and organisational fronts for the Lok Sabha polls next summer.
They also said that Chief Ministers had been told to achieve the new targets regarding implementation of major welfare schemes of the central and the state governments by February 2019.
Amit Shah has directed the Chief Ministers to hold a conferences of beneficiaries across their state from mandal to district level.
At such conferences, the beneficiaries of Centre's and state government schemes would be invited and the focus would be to make them BJP voters. Shah has also given a 22-point agenda for implementation at the booth level.
The meeting was attended by 14 BJP Chief Ministers and seven Deputy Chief Ministers including those of Bihar, Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.
The meeting resolved to make Modi the Prime Minister again in 2019 by getting a bigger majority than achieved in the 2014 elections.
Several union ministers including Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Sushma Swaraj attended the meeting.
A senior BJP leader present at the meeting said the Chief Ministers were asked to come for the Tuesday meeting with a road map for the Lok Sabha elections.
The Chief Ministers presented a report card about targets achieved against goals set and their plans to set new targets to be achieved by February 2019 in implementing Centre's six major welfare schemes including Ujjawala, Aawas Yojana, Swachha Bharat Abhiyan and Ayushmaan Bharat.
The Prime Minister and the BJP President have asked the BJP Chief Ministers to get ready for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls at a time when there is an ongoing discussion on holding simultaneous polls to Parliament and state Assemblies.
Simultaneous elections from panchayat to Parliament was the main theme during the last meeting of the BJP Chief Ministers' Council meeting held in Delhi in February 2018. The issue did not come up on Tuesday.
According to sources, the Chief Ministers have also been asked to be in touch with smaller regional parties in their states so that the possibility of alliances could be explored for the elections.
In 2014, the Election Commission announced the poll dates on March 5. Balloting took place in nine phases between April 7 and May 12. The vote count took place on May 16.
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India-bound LPG tanker clears Hormuz
New Delhi (PTI): A tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for India has sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz and is now headed towards the country, an official statement said on Sunday.
The Marshall Islands-flagged LPG carrier MT Sarv Shakti, loaded with 46,313 tonnes of LPG and staffed by 20 crew, including 18 Indians, cleared the key shipping chokepoint on May 2 and is expected to reach Visakhapatnam on May 13, it said.
The cargo -- enough to meet half a days requirement of the country -- will partly tide over supply constraints being faced since the start of the West Asia conflict more than two months back.
Ship-tracking data showed its position in Oman Gulf on Sunday evening.
The very large gas carrier has previously made runs between the Persian Gulf and Indian ports, has been chartered by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Sarv Shakti is the first India-linked tanker to cross the war zone since a weeks-old US blockade of ships tied to Iran began, pushing transits through Hormuz back down to almost zero.
There are as many as 14 Indian flagged or India-owned vessels still stranded on the west side of the Strait of Hormuz.
The statement said no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is working closely with the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian missions and maritime stakeholders to ensure crew welfare and uninterrupted operations.
The Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) control room has handled 8,373 calls and more than 17,965 emails since activation, including 38 calls and 127 emails in the last 24 hours.
India has also facilitated the repatriation of more than 2,953 seafarers so far, including 31 in the past day from across the Gulf region.
Port operations across the country remain normal with no congestion reported, the statement added.
