Feb 1-15, 2024 - Vol 4, Issue 13
INDIA NEWS
NEWS FROM INDIA
Stalin in Spain to woo BJP expects Ram Mandir to buoy its vote share across NE states investments for TN Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government came to power at the Centre in 2014.
evening. Chief Minister Stalin was welcomed by Dinesh K. Patnaik, Ambassador of India to Spain, and the officials in the Indian embassy there, the state government said in a statement. The chief minister is scheduled to hold a conference of representatives of industry bodies, investors from major companies and investment agencies in which he will speak about investor-friendly environment in his state. Chennai, Jan 30 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin is on an eight-day trip to Spain to woo investments for the state. The Chief Minister, along with his wife Durgavathy Stalin, State Industries Minister TRB Raja and a high-level official delegation reached Madrid on Monday
Direct talks would be held with major companies like ROCA, Edibon, Acciona, GE Stamp and Invest Spain, the statement said. Previous visits undertaken by the Chief Minister to the UAE, Singapore and Japan in 2021 had garnered investments worth Rs 7,442 crore and provided jobs to 17,000 people.
BJP makes its job easier by returning Ram Mandir to the centre of its narrative
Agartala, Jan 27 (IANS) Though the January 22 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is likely to help the BJP attain electoral gains in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in a few northeastern states, particularly in Assam and Tripura, the saffron party is still much ahead of the Congress-led opposition INDIA bloc. The organisational base of the Congress, which governed several northeastern states for many decades, started declining in the region after 2018 as the saffron party gradually took over the lost base of the grand old party. The BJP also strengthened its hold in the region ever since the Prime
After the Assembly elections in the five northeastern states in 2022 and 2023 – Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram – the Congress’ position has further weakened in the region, while the BJP has only bolstered. Political pundits said that though the BJP is in an advantageous position in the electoral battle ahead of the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, the Ram Mandir issue would definitely help the party in a few northeastern states, including Assam and Tripura, to consolidate its electoral strength. “After the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya, the BJP would get electoral benefits in the upcoming general elections in Assam and Tripura and also in the Christian-dominated states to deal with their anti-incumbency factors,” political commentator Sekhar Datta told IANS.
He said the BJP would also try to gain electoral mileage by capitalising the NDA government’s developmental schemes implemented in the northeastern states since the Modi government came to power 10 years ago. Datta said: “During the past 10 years, not only infrastructure development, the northeastern region also witnessed all-round development in all sectors besides taming of the decades long insurgency problems in most of the northeastern states. The BJP certainly focuses on these matters in a big way.” Of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the eight northeastern states, currently 14 (56 per cent) are with the BJP while the Congress has 4 (16 per cent). The other Lok Sabha seats are held by the local and regional parties. In the 2019 parliamentary polls, the BJP in Assam increased its tally from 7 in 2014 to 9. Across northeast India, the BJP, which won eight seats in 2014, increased the seat tally to 14 in 2019.
put the Opposition in the antiHindu camp.
Lucknow, Jan 27 (IANS) It is a perfect recipe – more perfect than what the BJP had imagined it to be. With careful planning, the BJP has managed to bring the Ram temple in Ayodhya to the centre of the electoral narrative and the response from the common man will make sure that it stays there till the elections are held, sometime in April-May. The ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony reached every household in India through live telecast and streaming on January 22. Temple memorabilia is on sale across the country, making sure that there is a bit of Ram Lalla in every heart, every house. The surging crowds that reached Ayodhya after the consecration ceremony on January 22, was more than what the BJP expected. The Yogi Adityanath Government had to stop bus services, appeal to the people to wait longer for ‘darshan’, increase darshan timings and even reschedule Ayodhya-bound trains. Crowds that are pouring into the holy city from all parts of the country, will, perhaps, make sure that the BJP reaches its target of 50 per cent vote share – or maybe even more. The manner in which the BJP has built up the temple narrative, has
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“It is clear – if you have declined the invitation to the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony, you are perceived as anti-Ram. For the moment, the BJP and Ram are almost synonymous and you cannot separate the two. Even the VHP which spearheaded the entire Ayodhya movement seems to have taken a back seat. VHP leaders’ presence was not very visible at the ceremony,” opined a political analyst. A senior BJP Legislator said, “If this is so, then we have toiled for it. Yogi Adityanath put infrastructure development in Ayodhya on the fast track and ensured that the development of the holy city took place faster than the temple construction. Prime Minister Modi also ensured that the airport, railway station and other facilities came up in record time. Those who are going to Ayodhya, are seeing the magnificent temple and also a new Ayodhya.” The BJP is now planning to take groups of devotees from every Assembly constituency to offer prayers at the Ram temple. The campaign will continue till Holi, which falls on March 25. After a gap of about a week, Ayodhya will start celebrating Chaitra Navratri which will culminate in Ram Navami on April 17 – celebrations for which will again be on a grand scale. The BJP clearly visualised and pushed the temple plank to the doors of the Lok Sabha elections and a host of programmes will broaden the outreach.
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