Rajasthan BJP chief exhorts partymen to unite for polls
Jaipur, June 30: Madan Lal Saini on Saturday assumed the charge of Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, a position which was lying vacant for nearly 74 days since the resignation of Ashok Parnami from the post on April 16.
The grand ceremony organised to welcome the new BJP president at the party headquarters here looked like a mega start of the political campaign for the ensuing Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
Starting his speech on a motivating note, Saini called upon the BJP workers to forget infighting and their mutual differences in view of the upcoming elections, which according to him, will not be easy.
"Winning elections are never easy, one needs to sweat day in and out," he said, adding that he will search all old party workers who were anguished and demotivated for some reason and will motivate, reward and respect them to ensure they come and work for the party with full dedication in the coming elections to achieve "Mission 180" set by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for the assembly elections.
The new state BJP chief asked all members to end negativity around and work like a family, saying: "Party's all MLAs and MPs are a part of the family and hence we need to respect them. Coming time is tough and we need to win the elections.
"We have to break the chain in Rajasthan where one party wins election for one tenure while the other party wins the next election. We also need to sweep 25 seats in the Lok Sabha elections."
He also thanked PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah for trusting him with a big responsibility.
Sharing his principles and ideologies, he said: "I am a farmer and I feel proud to plough my fields. I have been travelling by bus from Sikar to Jaipur and will continue doing same. I don't prefer running after chair race. For me, that partially broken plastic chair of a worker is more comfortable where I can talk to my fellow workers."
He said that he would work on the principles of Jana Sagh whom he had seen collecting funds to build this party.
Vasundhara Raje also choose this platform to target the rival Congress, claiming that unlike them, the BJP cares for its grassroots workers.
"We appreciate the work of even the smallest worker of the party who works with dedication, unlike Congress where there is only one family representing the party since years.
"The PM of the country was once a small worker of the party who was elevated to the biggest rank looking at his dedicated and honest working. Similarly, we picked Madan Lal Saini who has been a grassroot worker.
"Earlier, we did shock Saini by nominating him for the post of Rajya Sabha MP and now we again shocked him by giving him party responsibility in Rajasthan looking at his hard work."
The Chief Minister said he has been handling the work of disciplinary committee with utmost dedication as he himself was a disciplined leader and under his directions, "I am confident that BJP will touch new heights and will attain Mission 180 in Assembly elections and Mission 25 in Lok Sabha elections."
Vasundhara also praised Ashok Parnami, former BJP president, on the occasion and lauded his prompt action in giving resignation on being asked to do so by party big command.
Attacking the Congress once again, saying unlike the spirit shown by Parnami, the Congress leaders cry before leaving their post. Even after resigning, Parnami continued giving all his services, she added.
Speaking to IANS, Archana Sharma, Vice President, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee, said that infighting and lack of consensus between central and state leadership of the party was responsible for the BJP president's post lying vacant for 74 days.
"While central leadership wanted Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to be the state BJP president, the Rajasthan BJP was not ready with its proposal. The entire state as well as the nation was witness to this weird infighting within the party. Fed up with such infightings of the party, the people of the state will ensure a clear exit of the ruling party in the ensuing elections," said Sharma.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
