Is he god or superhuman: Mamata takes swipe at PM Modi for predicting BJP victory in assembly polls
Khanakul (WB): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday wondered whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "god or a superhuman" to make claims of a BJP triumph in the assembly elections, six phases of which still remain.
At an election rally in Hooghly district, the TMC boss, without naming the Indian Secular Front or its founder Abbas Siddiqui, also said the BJP is giving money "to a person" to eat into minority votes.
"What do you (Modi) think of yourself, are you god or superhuman?" Banerjee said, referring to remarks by the PM at public meetings that he will attend the oath-taking ceremony of the BJP government in Bengal and request it to implement the PM Kisan Nidhi scheme as early as possible.
Modi had also mocked the chief minister on Saturday, referring to some TMC leaders' claim that Banerjee might contest elections from his Lok Sabha seat Varanasi in 2024, saying this proves that Didi has accepted defeat.
The TMC supremo alleged that Modi's recent visit to Bangladesh to commemorate its first prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary year had led to rioting in the neighouring country.
"There is a new person on the block who is trying to divide minority votes in the state and he is getting money from the BJP for this," Banerjee said in a veiled reference to Siddiqui, whose ISF is fighting the elections in alliance with the CPI(M) and the Congress.
"He keeps making communal statements but will not go far," she asserted. Banerjee also claimed that Home Minister Amit Shah was instructing the Election Commission to transfer police officers in the state.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
