Chemistry has triumphed over poll arithmetic: PM on LS poll results
Varanasi, May 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday decried the "misconception" being created that BJP was a Hindi heartland party and said the Lok Sabha poll results testified to its victories across India, stressing "chemistry has triumphed over arithmetic".
"Political pundits are not aware that their thinking and logic is meant for the 20th century. Results show that beyond arithmetic there is chemistry and this time chemistry has triumphed over arithmetic," the Prime Minister told his electorate while thanking them profusely for their hard work and dedication.
Modi who will be taking oath as the prime minister for the second time on May 30, said the hat trick of victories in 2014, 2017 and 2019 - vis-a-vis the state - is no mean achievement for the BJP.
"For the country I am the PM, but for you I am your MP, I am your sevak," he told the Varanasi electorate, wondering how political pundits still consider his party as that of the Hindi heartland.
"There is no region where the BJP's poll percentage is not rising. We have government is Assam, getting elected in Ladakh yet political pundits say (our's is) Hindi heartland politics, this is a misconception that has been created," he said.
Thanking party workers profusely for braving the sweltering summer heat to reach out to the electorate and for ensuring that campaign goes on smoothly, Modi said the workers have passed the test with distinction.
Admitting that politics is about perception, Modi lamented that a wrong impression had been created about his party through lies and wrong logic.
"Because of this wrong awful perception, people do not like standing with us. But those creating bad and wrong perception can be defeated with the help of transparency and hard work. This is the strategy to trounce it," he said.
Stressing on coordination between the government and party organisation, he said, "the perfect synergy between the government and party organisation was a big power and the BJP has realised it."
"The Government makes policies while organisation makes ranniti (strategy). The synergy of niti (policies) and ranniti (strategy) is the mirror of sarkar and organisation and the country is getting its benefits," he said.
"Work and workers create wonders," he said, giving full credit for his victory to the workers at the grassroots level for creating awareness of his government's policies and programmes for the people.
Modi, who earlier in the day took part in the 'puja' at the Kashi Vishwanath temple in a thanksgiving for his party's landslide victory, also spoke about the dangers faced by his party in the form of "political untouchability".
"Take the cases of Kerala or Kashmir, Bengal or Tripura (these cases) it will not come in media. Some people have selective sensitivity. Hundreds of workers have been killed only for political ideology. In Tripura workers were hanged, in Bengal murders are still on, in Kerala too... perhaps in India only one political party has faced such killings. Violence has been given legitimacy. This is a danger before us," he pointed out.
Ambedkar and Gandhi had shunned untouchability but unfortunately, political untouchability is rising,...BJP workers were murdered," he said.
His remarks assumed significance. in the light of the killing of a BJP leader in Amethi in the first post-poll violence in Uttar Pradesh.
Amid such hatred, BJP's mantra remains 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' Modi said adding that unlike others, his party has not come under the pressure of vote bank politics which has "spoiled" democracy.
The prime minister said he was also grateful to his opponents who fought against him.
Stressing on the significance of Opposition in democracy, he said: "When others come to power, there is no sign of opposition".
He cited the example of Tripura where there was no Opposition during the 30 years of Congress government but "now that we are in government there is a 'jaandar and shandar vipaksh'. This is the spirit of democracy."
Thanking Uttar Pradesh for showing the way for India and strengthening the foundation of healthy democracy, the prime minister also spoke about his Kedarnath visit after the completion of polling.
"Since the people of Kashi had ordered me not to come here for a month after filing my nomination papers, I thought if not Baba in Kashi then (baba) elsewhere," he said, adding perhaps no other candidate is as satisfied or contented as he was (before the results are announced) and its reason was the confidence of Kashivasis.
Modi, who offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple here, visited the temple town four days after steering his party to a huge win.
The BJP won 303 out of the 542 seats in the Lok Sabha this time.
Earlier, BJP president Amit Shah said Modi has only shown a glimpse of development and Kashi will turn into an amazing city in the next five years.
In the city along with the prime minister for thanking the electorate and party workers for the landslide win in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the BJP president said what a difference had come in Kashi of 2014 and today.
Hinting at the SP-BSP-RLD alliance, he said some media was predicting Modi will not get clear majority but the party successfully gave a call for working on achieving 50 per cent vote share.
Both Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in their speeches here, focused on the "gruelling" campaigning Modi undertook in the run up to the general elections.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation’, JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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