Ensure at least 10 pc increase in voting at each booth: Amit Shah
Nagpur, Sep 24: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asked BJP workers and leaders to ensure that the voting percentage at each polling booth increases by at least 10 per cent during the ensuing Maharashtra assembly elections.
Addressing a party meeting in Nagpur, Shah also asked them to work in tandem with the ruling Mahayuti alliance partners, a leader present at the meeting said.
Shah said the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which addresses the management, preservation, and misuse of Waqf properties, will be passed in Parliament soon.
Shah interacted with key office-bearers of all the 62 state assembly constituencies of Vidarbha region at Suresh Bhatt hall in Reshimbagh area of Nagpur.
Speaking of the resolve to make the country strong, prosperous and safe, Shah listed many achievements of the Narendra Modi-led government, like scrapping Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, constructing the grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and revoking triple talaq.
Former Rajya Sabha member Anil Bonde said Shah emphasized the crucial role of Vidarbha region in the BJP’s success in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
“Amit Shah showed us the path to victory. He said that the path passes through the Vidarbha region. He has given a clear direction for the party workers ahead of the assembly polls,” Bonde told a Marathi news channel.
Of the 288 state assembly seats, 62 are in Vidarbha region.
A BJP functionary said, “After the setback in the state in the Lok Sabha polls, Shah has asked the party workers to make extra efforts and reach out to the voters with various government schemes.”
“Shah asked the party functionaries to show similar enthusiasm for the candidates of allies and give a strong message that we all are united. He also said that if someone does not get a ticket in the 2024 assembly polls, it is not the end of his political career,” he said.
The BJP won only two of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the Vidarbha region this year. In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 29 of the 44 seats it contested. The party won 44 assembly seats in Vidarbha in 2014 elections.
While state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis were present at the meeting, senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari could not attend it as he was away, party sources said.
BJP workers and office-bearers gathered at the Nagpur airport to give Shah a grand welcome.
Shah’s two-day visit to Maharashtra also includes meeting BJP workers at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nashik, and Kolhapur. During these interactions, Shah is also expected to discuss seat-sharing formula for the assembly polls among the Mahayuti allies.
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Food adulteration: UP restaurants asked to install CCTVs, eateries to display names of proprietors
Lucknow, Sep 24: Taking cognisance of incidents of spitting and mixing of urine in eatables in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday directed that the name and address of operators, proprietors and managers should be mandatorily displayed at all food centres.
He also directed that chefs and waiters should wear masks and gloves besides making installation of CCTVs in hotels and restaurants mandatory.
Addressing a high-level meeting here, Adityanath said the presence of human waste in food items was disgusting and ordered strict action against those who adulterate food items with human waste or dirty things, an official statement said.
On September 12, a purported video showing a teenager spitting on rotis while preparing them at an eatery in Saharanpur district went viral on social media, leading to the arrest of the facility's owner.
Last week, a juice vendor in Ghaziabad district was arrested for allegedly serving fruit juices mixed with urine to customers. In June, two men were arrested by police in Noida for allegedly selling juice contaminated with their spits.
In view of such incidents, the chief minister has also given instructions for thorough investigation, verification of all hotels, dhabas, restaurants, and related establishments in the state.
Instructions were also given to amend the rules as per the need while ensuring the health safety of the general public.
Adiyanath said, "Dhabas, restaurants and food establishments should be thoroughly investigated and police verification of every employee should be done and necessary amendments should also be made in the Food Safety and Standards Act to ensure the purity and sanctity of food items."
According to the statement, now it will be mandatory to display the name and address of the operator, proprietor, manager etc. at the food centres.
"Now whether it is a chef or a waiter, they will have to wear masks and gloves and it will be mandatory to install CCTV in hotels/restaurants," the chief minister said.
In the meeting, Adityanath said in recent times, incidents of adulteration of food items like juice, pulses and roti with human waste, and dirty things have been seen in various parts of the country.
"Such incidents are gruesome and have an adverse effect on the health of the common man. Such efforts cannot be accepted at all," he said.
Concrete arrangements are necessary to prevent such incidents in Uttar Pradesh, he said, adding that by running a state-wide intensive campaign, verification of all the employees working there including the operators of these food establishments should be done.
The chief minister said this action should be completed quickly by a joint team of Food Safety and Drug Administration, police and local administration.
Earlier this year, the Uttar Pradesh government had mandated it for food stalls and fruit vendors along Kanwar Yatra routes to display the names of shop owners. The government argued the directive, which was criticised by a section of people, was aimed at promoting transparency and informed choice of Kanwariya regarding the food they eat.
