People have accepted INDIA as alternative to BJP; oppn bloc clearly a winner: Congress
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday said the victory of four INDIA bloc candidates in bypolls to seven seats proves that the people have accepted the opposition alliance as an alternative to the BJP and the ruling dispensation is not unbeatable.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said the news of the day is not the arrival of G20 leaders for the Summit but the "overall result of the seven by-elections that were announced today".
"Clearly, the winner is INDIA. INDIA beat the BJP 4:3," he said on X.
He said the BJP won in two seats in Tripura and the lone seat in Uttarakhand, but the lost in Kerala, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Of these, the BJP is the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh with a formidable majority, he noted. "The BJP and its money-power are not unbeatable. The INDIA alliance has demonstrated that the BJP can be defeated even in the BJP's fort.
"The results today are a good augury for the success of the INDIA alliance," Chidambaram said.
Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari said the results announced on Friday are only a trailer to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when INDIA bloc will win majority across regions.
The "bumper" victory of Samajwadi Party candidate Sudhakar Singh in Ghosi confirms "my claim that India's candidate will get more than 50 percent votes on every seat", Tiwari said.
"This victory is the victory of 'INDIA' and those who were in doubt till now will become determined, and will give their everything to make 'INDIA' win and will save the country's democracy and defeat dictatorship," he said in a statement.
The assembly by-election results for seven seats in six states declared on Friday were a mixed bag for the BJP and the opposition INDIA bloc, with the saffron party winning three seats and one each going to Congress, JMM and TMC, while the Samajwadi Party won one seat.
The BJP retained the Bageshwar assembly seat in Uttarakhand and Dhanpur in Tripura and wrested Boxanagar assembly seat from CPI(M) in the northeastern state, where the INDIA parties had joined hands, but lost the Dhupguri assembly seat in West Bengal to the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
"The people of the country are completely fed up with the statements, false promises, fraud, betrayal, cheating, inflation, unemployment and corruption of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The public was looking for an alternative and 10 percent voters of the country who were waiting for an alternative have now found an alternative in the form of 'INDIA' alliance," the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Tiwari also said the victory of INDIA candidates and the defeat of BJP in the by-elections held for district panchayat members in Mirzapur, Bareilly and Jalaun and Lucknow proves the BJP has been "uprooted" from East, West, North and South.
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2 days' WFH for govt offices, Metro use by ministers: Delhi CM's call for fuel conservation
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday announced a slew of measures including two days of 'work from home' (WFH) for government offices, use of Metro trains on Mondays by ministers and officers, and a voluntary 'no-vehicle day' every week.
Gupta said in a press conference attended by her Cabinet colleagues that the government has drawn an extensive plan under "Mera Bharat, Mera Yogdan" to implement the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for saving fuel and wise expenditure.
She said all Delhi government offices will follow WFH two days a week. The private sector will also be requested to follow it, she said.
Gupta said all ministers, officers and she herself will use Metro for commuting on Mondays while people will be requested to observe 'no-vehicle day' every week.
The government has also decided to cancel all official foreign visits by ministers for one year while no big events will be hosted by it for the next three months, she said.
The chief minister said petrol and diesel quotas of the Delhi government officers have also been slashed by 20 per cent.
Earlier, Gupta headed a meeting with all her Cabinet ministers and senior officers of the government to discuss ways to save fuel and other resources amid global uncertainty over crude oil and gas supplies.
The chief minister has also cut down on her carcade by 60 per cent, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to people to spend wisely and save fuel in view of the war in West Asia.
The chief minister's convoy now has only four vehicles, including two EVs.
