PM takes boat ride on Hooghly river in Kolkata, says committed to prosperity of Bengalis
Kolkata (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning took a boat ride on the Hooghly river here and said its divine waters carry the timeless spirit of an entire civilisation.
Modi also asserted that he was committed towards the development of West Bengal and the prosperity of the "great Bengali people".
The PM posted a few photographs of his river trip on social media, in which he is seen seated on a wooden boat with a camera in hand, and the iconic Howrah Bridge and the Vidyasagar Setu are visible in the background.
"Tried my hand at photographing this great river. Also caught a close glimpse of the Vidyasagar Setu and Howrah Bridge," the Prime Minister said on X.
For every Bengali, the Ganga occupies a very special place, he said.
"One can say that the Ganga flows through the soul of Bengal. Her divine waters carry the timeless spirit of an entire civilisation. This morning in Kolkata, I spent some time on the banks of the Hooghly river, an opportunity to express gratitude to Maa Ganga," Modi said on social media.
The Hooghly is the distributary of the Ganga river.
The Prime Minister said he had the opportunity to "meet boatmen, whose hardworking nature is admirable, and morning walkers" during the trip.
State BJP sources said Modi spent the night at Lok Bhavan here after he had led a roadshow from Howrah to Kolkata on Thursday evening.
He headed straight to the Princep Ghat this morning to have a boat ride, they said.
"Yesterday evening, during the long roadshow from Howrah to Kolkata, I was on Howrah Bridge. And this morning, I saw this bridge from the Hooghly River!", he said.
Modi also said, "On the Hooghly, reiterated our commitment to work towards the development of West Bengal and the prosperity of the great Bengali people."
The Prime Minister is actively campaigning for the BJP in the West Bengal assembly elections, the first phase of which was held on Thursday.
The second round of the elections will be held on April 29, and the counting of votes will be on May 4.
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Oppn parties move fresh notice in Rajya Sabha seeking removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar
New Delhi (PTI): Opposition parties on Friday submitted a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha seeking a motion for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, sources said. The fresh charges against the CEC include "continued partisan asymmetry in the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct".
The opposition has accused the poll panel of not acting on complaints against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "address to the nation" on April 18, ahead of assembly elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Referring to concerns raised by various opposition parties, the notice said, "As on the date of this notice, Gyanesh Kumar has issued no show-cause notice, no advisory, and no public response to any of the said complaints."
According to sources, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and TMC leader Sagarika Ghose submitted the notice to the Rajya Sabha Secretary General.
The notice was signed by 73 Rajya Sabha MPs, while the requirement is 50 signatures.
Members of opposition parties such as the Congress, TMC, SP, DMK, Left parties, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), RJD, IUML and "like -minded" parties have signed the notice, sources said.
The move comes days after similar notices submitted by opposition MPs in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were rejected by the respective presiding officers. It was the first time that a notice seeking the removal of a CEC was submitted in Parliament.
In its earlier notices, the opposition had accused CEC Kumar of "failure to maintain independence and constitutional fidelity" and of acting under the "thumb of the executive".
However, in almost similar responses, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan had rejected the notices, holding that even if the allegations were assumed to be true, they did not meet the high constitutional threshold of "misbehaviour" required for his removal.
