Kolkata, Sep 22 (PTI) A senior Trinamool Congress leader on Thursday said NCP president Sharad Pawar likely consulted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee before making a statement about her being ready to bury differences with the Congress, to form an alliance of opposition parties ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Wednesday, Pawar had said Banerjee, who is also the TMC supremo, is ready to bury her differences with the Congress in the national interest and come together to form an anti-BJP front before the Lok Sabha polls.

“It is a good statement. Sharad Pawar is a very senior leader of the country, and I don’t think he has made the remarks without consulting our party chief,” TMC leader Sougata Roy told PTI.

The party’s chief spokesperson, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, however, declined to comment on Pawar’s remark.

“How can I comment on what Sharad Pawar has spoken about?” said Ray.

The relationship between the Congress and TMC hit an all-time low last year, after the latter had slammed the grand old party as “incapable and incompetent”, which had gone into a “deep freezer.” In a jolt to the opposition unity, the TMC had also decided to abstain from the vice-presidential election, as it did not agree with the process the candidate was decided upon without keeping the party in the loop. PTI 

 New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) The Bharatiya Janata Party spent over Rs 340 crore in the assembly polls in five states held earlier this year, while the Congress shelled out more than Rs 194 crore for its campaigning in these states, according to the election expenditure reports of the two parties.

According to the report filed by the BJP and put in public domain by the Election Commission, the party spent more than Rs 340 crore on its campaigns for the Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab assembly elections held early this year.

The BJP’s spending report showed that it spent over Rs 221 crore in Uttar Pradesh, over Rs 23 crore in Manipur, Rs 43.67 crore in Uttarakhand, more than Rs 36 crore in Punjab and Rs 19 crore in Goa.

According to the report filed by the Congress, it spent over Rs 194 crore for campaigning and related expenditure in the five states.

The BJP and Congress are recognised national parties.

Parties contesting Lok Sabha and assembly polls are mandated to file their election expenditure reports before the EC in a stipulated time frame. PTI 

 Bijapur, Feb 26 (PTI) Six Naxals were arrested from separate places in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district and explosives were seized from four of them, police said on Saturday.

Sonu Korsa (35), Munna Hapka (37), Mangal Korsa (26) and Sonu Hapka (27) were apprehended from Padeda-Cherpal area under Bijapur police station limits, while Korsa Sannu (30) was held from a different location in the same area, Additional Superintendent of Police Pankaj Shukla said.

“These arrests took place on February 24 when a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and local police was out on an anti-Naxal operation. One more ultra, identified as Sukhram Karam (30), was arrested on Friday at a police check post (MCP) set up between Awapalli and Murdanda,” he said.

Two tiffin bombs, detonators, detonating cord, electric wire, Maoist literature were seized from the four held in Padeda-Cherpal area, he added. PTI

 New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) Delhi LG V K Saxena on Thursday handed over degrees to MBBS and postgraduate students of Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) here, officials said.

Nearly 236 MBBS students who passed out in 2020 and 248 students who completed their courses last year were awarded degrees at the function.

A total of 356 post-graduate students of 2020 and 2021 batches were also awarded degrees.

The annual day of MAMC was organised this year after the coronavirus pandemic enforced a year-long break, they said.

Saxena handed over the degrees to two batches of MBBS students, officials said.

Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar was also present at the event. PTI

New Delhi, (PTI) The National Investigation Agency on Thursday morning launched a massive nationwide search operation against groups, including PFI, and individuals allegedly supporting terrorists, officials said.  In the “largest ever investigation till date”, the searches are taking place at the premises of those allegedly involved in terror funding, organising training camps, and radicalising people to join proscribed organisations, they said.  “The raids are taking place at the homes of national, state and local leaders of PFI. The state committee office is also being raided.

“We strongly protest the fascist regime’s moves to use agencies to silence dissenting voices,” the outfit said in a statement. PTI 

New Delhi,(PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday targeted Uddhav Thackeray for “betraying” the Hindutva ideology, even as he declared himself as the true torchbearer of the ideals of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

Addressing a Shiv Sena function here, Shinde alleged that it was Uddhav Thackeray who betrayed the Hindutva ideology propounded by Balasaheb Thackeray by joining hands with arch-rivals Congress and NCP.

“We are being called ‘gaddar’ (betrayers). But it is we who took Balasaheb’s ideals forward, while they shortchanged the ideals of Hindutva. Who is ‘gaddar’ and who is ‘khuddar’ (one having self-esteem), the people will decide,” Shinde said.

Shinde, who led a rebellion in the Shiv Sena ranks in June and became chief minister with the support of the BJP, was responding to the allegations made by predecessor Uddhav Thackeray at a rally in Goregaon in suburban Mumbai.

Thackeray, who had dumped the BJP to become chief minister of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government with NCP and Congress as allies, had resigned in the face of rebellion by Shinde who had the support of over 40 of the Sena’s 55 MLAs.

Responding to allegations by the Thackeray faction of accepting bribes to break the Shiv Sena, Shinde said he has a detailed account of “who paid whom” during MVA government and would reveal the details at an appropriate time in Mumbai.

Shinde had called a meeting of the Shiv Sena leaders from across the country here in a bid to revive the party organisation amid a tussle for control of the party with Thackeray.

Both Thackeray and Shinde have been claiming to be the ‘real’ Shiv Sena and have knocked the doors of the Election Commission for allocation of the ‘bow and arrow’ election symbol. The commission is expected to hear the matter on September 27.

The war of words between Shinde and Thackeray has been escalating every passing day ahead of the elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation likely to be held later this year.

“Shiv Sena is not a private limited company. We have built this party giving our sweat and blood alongside Balasaheb Thackeray. It is not your estate. If you treat the party workers as your servant, they will desert you… I understood the pain of the party workers and helped them at every step, when you turned your back on them,” Shinde said.

Referring to Thackeray’s charge of calling him an “agent” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Shinde hit back, saying at least he was not the agent of “Dawood Ibrahim and Yakub Memon, who had carried out attacks on Mumbai”.

“Shall we call you agents of Dawood and Yakub for it was during your tenure the grave of Yakub Memon was decorated,” Shinde said.

“Balasaheb Thackeray had wished for the removal of Article 370 and building of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Modi and Shah have done that. Instead of being labelled as the agent of Dawood and Yakub, I would any day like to be called an agent of Modi and Shah,” the chief minister said.

Shinde said the people had showered him with love wherever he went, within or outside Maharashtra.

Taking a dig at Thackeray’s rally in suburban Mumbai, Shinde said those who did not meet party workers for the past several years have now started interacting with the cadre.

“It is because of us that Shiv Sena workers are experiencing better days (acche din). At least he has started meeting state leaders,” Shinde said, referring to the meeting of party leaders with Thackeray held in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Shinde accused Thackeray of “backstabbing” the people’s mandate for the Shiv Sena-BJP in the 2019 assembly election for “sheer lust for power”.

“We went along, thinking that the senior leadership had taken a decision with something in mind… But I was forced to revolt when the troubles of party workers started increasing despite the party being in power. There is a limit to tolerate injustice,” the chief minister said.

Shinde said the voters had reposed faith in Shiv Sena and BJP in the recent gram panchayat elections. “We received overwhelming support from the people, while you (Thackeray faction) were relegated to the sixth position,” he said.

Shiv Sena leaders from the state, who also spoke before Shinde, accused Thackeray of “ignoring the interest of the party workers” and “compromising the ideals of Hindutva” by joining hands with the Congress and NCP. PTI 

 New Delhi, (PTI) The Congress alleged on Wednesday that the government has “failed” on multiple fronts, from national security to food security, and is attempting to divert attention from its “inefficiency” through raids by the Enforcement Directorate.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi accused the BJP-led Centre of keeping the citizens in the dark for almost two-and-a-half years on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

The Congress as well as media reports have been highlighting that China “had occupied our land”, however, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the entire government kept denying this, Singhvi told a press conference at the AICC headquarters here.

“In an equally telling development, the village head of one of the last settlements along the LAC in Ladakh’s Chushul said today that in the past year, at least three large grazing areas near the village have been turned into a no man’s land or buffer zones after the Indian troops pulled back from the patrolling points in the Kugrang Valley, including patrolling points (PP) 15, 16 and 17,” he said.

“Will the prime minister and the defence minister apologise for keeping the nation in the dark?” the Congress leader asked.

From national security to food security, the government has holistically failed to protect and secure the country on every front, he alleged.

Similar to its failure as regards national security, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has miserably failed on the economic front as well, Singhvi said.

“Food prices in the current week have risen by 40 to 50 per cent. Let me give you an example of India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh. The tomato prices that hovered between Rs 30-40 per kg a week ago in Uttar Pradesh have now risen to Rs 80 per kg,” he said.

The Indian economy is recovering from a double whammy as retail inflation accelerated to 7 per cent in August, driven by high food and fuel costs, while factory output plunged to a four-month low of 2.4 per cent, Singhvi said.

The foreign exchange reserves of the country fell by USD 2.23 billion to USD 550.87 billion for the week ending September 9, according to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday.

Singhvi also alleged that incidents of crime against women are continuously rising under the Modi government.

He said after failing to govern the country, the Centre now seems to be attacking the opposition parties to “kill two birds with one stone — to divert the attention of people from the BJP’s inefficiency as well as to sabotage the opposition to ensure that no voice is raised against the government”.

​According to a news report published on Wednesday, since 2014, there has been a four-fold jump in the number of ED cases against politicians, 95 per cent of whom belong to opposition parties, the Congress leader said. PTI 

 Chandigarh, Sep 21 (PTI) Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday withdrew his order summoning a special Assembly session on September 22 for the AAP govt to move a confidence motion.

The Raj Bhavan cited absence of specific rules on summoning the Assembly for considering only a confidence motion.

The decision came after Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma approached the governor, arguing that there was no legal provision to convene a special session of the Assembly to just move a ‘confidence motion’ in favour of the state government.

The AAP government in Punjab had sought the special session to bring a confidence motion, days after it accused the BJP of trying to topple its government. PTI 

 NEW DELHI: The commerce ministry is likely to release the new five-year foreign trade policy (FTP) on September 29, with a view to promoting the country's outbound shipments, an official said.

The current foreign trade policy (2015-20) is in force till September 30.

On March 31, 2020, the government extended this policy for one year till March 31, 2021, due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It was again extended till the end of September this year.

In the policy, the government announces support measures for both goods and services exporters.

''The new FTP will be released on September 29,'' the official said. Districts as an Export Hubs scheme are expected to be part of that document.

Under the scheme, the aim is to initially focus on a certain number of districts which have products that are scalable and hold huge export potential.

The country's exports rose by 17.68 per cent to USD 193.51 billion, while imports grew by 45.74 per cent to USD 318 billion during the April-August period this fiscal.

The trade deficit has widened to USD 124.52 billion from USD 53.78 billion in April-August 2021.

 New Delhi, Sep 21 (PTI) Insurgent group NSCN-IM and government representatives will resume their peace talks here on Wednesday to find a permanent solution to the Naga issue.

A day before resuming dialogue with the government, NSCN-IM said the outfit stands by its demand for unification of Naga inhabited areas and a separate flag, and these are “non-negotiable”.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Nagalim Voice’, the NSCN-IM also said it is “ironic” to point out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “who loves to advertise” his achievements, is expected to take the Naga issue to a logical conclusion as the stalled Indo-Naga talks pick up the threads with a focus on the Framework Agreement (FA) and formulated papers.

The editorial said seven years ago, when Modi took the initiative to supervise the “high-profile” FA signing ceremony on August 3, 2015 at his residence, it generated much hype and hope going by the tone of his highly enchanting speech.

The prime minister took pride in announcing to all political leaders who mattered that he has solved the longest surviving insurgency in Southeast Asia. Going beyond that, the ceremony was telecast live all over the world to put on record his achievement in solving the Naga issue, it said.

“Modi cannot simply shy away from the Naga issue but have a relook through the prism of the Framework Agreement at his own political brainchild. The credit he has taken in bringing about the FA should be unerringly interpreted to take forward in solving the Naga issue,” the editorial said.

The stand of the NSCN-IM on the FA has been distinctly stated time and again. The May 31, 2022 decision of the (Naga) “National Assembly” and the solemn declaration (resolution) adopted on August 26, 2022 by the Naga National Workers of NSCN from Nagaland reaffirming “one people, one nation” and to stand by the FA is on record, it said.

“The unifying principle of ‘one people, one nation’ symbolised by god-given Naga Nation Flag is non-negotiable in the name of Naga political solution,” it said.

Nagaland’s neighbouring states — Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh — have been vehemently opposed to the idea of unification of Naga inhabited areas under their jurisdictions.

The government of India had signed the FA with major Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM on August 3, 2015 in the presence of Modi to find a permanent solution to the vexed issue.

The agreement came after more than 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 18 years, with the first breakthrough made in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed after decades of insurgency in Nagaland which started soon after India’s independence in 1947.

However, the talks with the NSCN-IM are currently going nowhere as the group has been insisting on a separate Naga flag and constitution, a demand rejected by the central government.

Separately, the government is also holding peace parleys with splinter groups of the NSCN after entering into ceasefire agreements. The groups that have entered into ceasefire agreements .