Nitin Gadkari says BJP chief is responsible for poor Assembly election results
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday seemed to suggest that party chief Amit Shah was responsible for the BJP’s poor show in the recent Assembly elections, reports said.
“If I am the party president, and my MPs and MLAs are not doing well, then who is responsible? I am,” The Times of India quoted the minister as saying at the 31st Intelligence Bureau endowment lecture in New Delhi. His remark comes days after he reportedly said the party “leadership should own up to defeat”. On Sunday though, he had accused a section of the media of quoting him out of context.
The minister told the Intelligence Bureau that “tolerance is the biggest asset” of the country and that he liked Jawaharlal Nehru’s speeches, The Indian Express reported. “I liked Nehru’s sayings,” he said. “India is not a nation but a population.” Gadkari invoked the former prime minister while saying that people should not create problems if they cannot provide solutions.
Last week, actor Naseeruddin Shah sparked a debate by voicing his worries about mob violence in the country. He had to cancel his event at the Ajmer Literature Festival after vociferous protests by Hindutva groups. On Sunday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh stepped into the debate, rejecting allegations of rising intolerance in the country. India is the most tolerant country in the world, the home minister had claimed.
Gadkari said it was good to win elections “but if we cannot bring about socioeconomic changes in the lives of people then it will not make a difference when you come to power, or go out of power”. The minister said governments will come and go but the country remains. “This country doesn’t belong to any party or individual but to 120 crore Indians,” he added.
The transport minister said a performance audit was a better tool than a financial audit for evaluating the managerial and administrative capabilities of officials, the Hindustan Times reported. He also advocated out of the box thinking to solve the country’s problems.
courtesy: scroll.in
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NIA registers case to probe recovery of 79 crude bombs in poll-bound West Bengal
New Delhi (PTI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday registered a case to probe recovery of 79 crude bombs in poll-bound West Bengal, officials said.
The move came following a directive by the Union Home Ministry in this regard, they said.
In pursuance to the home ministry's order, the anti-terror agency on Sunday registered a case, which was originally filed at Uttar Kashi police station, Bhangar division, Kolkata on Saturday, and took up the investigation, an NIA spokesperson said in a late night statement.
"The case pertains to recovery of 79 crude bombs and other incriminating materials by Kolkata police, which were being stored at a spot, thereby endangering human life and property," the spokesperson said.
Earlier in the day, the Election Commission had directed the West Bengal Police to launch a special drive to arrest those involved in illegal manufacturing of crude bombs in the poll-bound state, an official said.
It asserted that all cases related to the making of any such explosive would be probed by the National Investigation Agency, the official said.
The directive came after the police recovered a large number of crude bombs from the house of a person, allegedly a TMC worker, at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district, days ahead of the second and final phase of the assembly polls in the state.
The explosives were recovered during a search at the residence of Rafikul Islam following specific inputs, the official said.
The poll panel also issued a warning to senior police officers across the state over any lapse in maintaining law and order before the April 29 polling.
The first phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal was held on April 23, while the second phase will take place on April 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
A record 93.19 per cent turnout has been recorded in the first round of polling. Bhangar will vote in the second phase.
