NRC – Molitics

Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were voted back to power with a massive mandate in the Delhi Assembly election 2020 as the party won 62 seats in the 70-member House. The party dropped just five seats and less than a percentage point in vote share from its historic 2015 performance.

Despite a bitter campaign that saw big shots, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP managed to win only eight seats, only a 5 more from its 2015 tally. The INC, again failed to open its account — the party’s candidates forfeit their deposits on 63 of the 66 seats contested.The AAP secured 53.57 % of the vote share, while the BJP got 38.5% and the Congress 4.3%.

The loss in Delhi is a setback for Home Minister Amit Shah, who made it his mission to ensure that Mr. Kejriwal was denied a third term in office. BJP tried its best to defame Arvind Kejriwal but Arvind Kejriwal stressed his campaign mainly on the achievements of his government and that did the trick for the AAP.

BJP sources, however, blamed the party’s strategy of not projecting a chief ministerial face against Mr. Kejriwal, not being able to counter the AAP’s power and water subsidy schemes. The “unwarranted comments” against Mr. Kejriwal by senior party leaders like Pravesh Verma and Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, who was among the 200-plus party MPs covering the Capital as part of the BJP’s campaign, is also seen as a reason that backfired. Anurag Thakur and Pravesh Verma were also banned from campaigning for 72 hours for raising derogatory slogan.

Mr. Shah also repeatedly said Delhi’s voters should press the “lotus” button on the electronic voting machine so that the “current” was felt in Shaheen Bagh, where thousands of people are peacefully protesting against the CAA-NRC-NPR regime. Mr. Shah personally addressed 52 public meetings in Delhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at three public meetings, including one on Ramlila grounds.

For the BJP, the defeat in Delhi comes close on the heels of the loss in Jharkhand, where again the party stressed on CAA-NRC and Ram mandir. In Delhi too, Mr. Shah promised at several public meetings that a Ram temple would be constructed in Ayodhya in four months. It’s evident that what worked for the BJP in the Lok Sabha election did not work for it in Delhi or Jharkhand. The voter, clearly, has different interests and objectives in national and Assembly elections.

The derogatory performance of INC in the Delhi election was also a factor for this major defeat of BJP. A three-cornered contest in Delhi could have helped the BJP, but the Congress did a massive favour to the AAP by not campaigning. Like in 2015, the Congress voter turned out in large numbers for the AAP while the party came second in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll under the leadership of sheila dixit, when the party did active campaign, pushing the AAP to third position.

Mr. Kejriwal only spoke of his work and was going to the people on the basis of his government’s performance. He was critical of Mr. Shah on Delhi’s deteriorating law and order situation but did not directly criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Finally, Mr. Kejriwal emerged out as an effective opposition to the BJP. The reason for AAP’s victory for a third consecutive time is that the party has developed an alternative politics that centrestaged people’s everyday concerns, their hopes and expectations about livelihood and life.

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NPR row: Did Arundhati Roy make an irresponsible statement?

After protests over CAA, NRC continue to make news headlines, this time it’s a fresh row over National Population Register (NPR) and what has highlighted this issue even more is the recent statement made by Arundhati Roy over NPR. Arundhati Roy is a well-known writer, Booker Prize winner and an activist.

In 2015, she had joined the league of writers and filmmakers who had returned their awards as a protest against the growing intolerance in the country. A case was filed against her, in 2010, for sedition for saying Kashmir was not an integral part of India. In her defence, Arundhati claimed that she “spoke about justice for the people of Kashmir who live under one of the most brutal military occupations in the world”.

Roy, a booker prize winner, even accused the Narendra Modi-led government of “promoting Brahmanism” in the name of “Hindu Rashtravad”.

On Wednesday, the writer-activist Arundhati Roy, urged Indians to furnish wrong information to the government when it asks for data for the National Population Register (NPR). Arundhati Roy said, “Whenever the officials come to collect your information for NPR, you can give wrong names like Rabga-Billa or Kungfu-kutta and also give wrong address like 7, Race Course Road.”

Her comments over NPR haven’t gone down well with the BJP leaders. Former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan slammed the writer and said, “If this is the kind of intellectuals we have in this country, then we should first get a register of these people… Arundhati Roy should be ashamed of herself. If such statements are not betraying the nation, what is?”

Firebrand BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has demanded arrest of the author under National Security Act (NSA). Swamy said that Roy’s comments over NPR amount to sedition and called her a danger for the society.

BJP leader Uma Bharti too, in one of her tweets, slammed the author for using Ranga and Billa names, who were hardcore criminals, instead of men like Ashfaqullah Khan or Ramprasad Bismil.

The Goddess of bizarre statements has drawn criticism for her irresponsible statement, across the political spectrum. This time even the Congress party, which had been opposing the current BJP led govt on issues such as NRC, NPR and CAA, has hit back at author Arundhati Roy, over her remarks on NPR.

Congress media panelist Shama Mohamed in one of his tweets, said, “What nonsense is Arundhati Roy speaking! It’s one thing to ask people to refuse to participate in the NPR, but to ask them to give out incorrect details is completely wrong. Who does she think she is! We don’t need unsolicited advice from someone who insults our Indian Army.”

The National Population Register, introduced by the UPA government in 2010, is a register of citizens in the country that will contain demographic and biometric details. On Tuesday, funds of more than Rs 3,900 crore were approved by the Union cabinet to update the register. On the same day, Amit Shah denied any link between the NPR and the NRC and said their databases could not be used for the other.

Who are Ranga and Billa?

In August 1978, Kuljeet Singh alias Ranga Khus and Jasbir Singh alias Billa, murdered two teenagers (Geeta and Sanjay), children of a senior naval officer, after subjecting them to sadistic torture. The two kidnappers were convicted and sentenced to death. The execution was carried out in 1982.

The Ranga-Billa comment made by Roy has created a stir in the country. Internet users trolled Arundhati Roy for her recent remark. However, this is not the first time Ranga and Billa’s name has been used. In 2019, even Congress leader P Chidambaram’s counsel while seeking bail in the INX Media money laundering case had brought up names of Ranga and Billa.

At home, though, Arundhati is ridiculed as a terrorist sympathiser, a Naxalite, a communist, and secessionist. The lady never skips any opportunity to take an anti-govt stand, whenever the Indian govt comes under scanner. Though, questioning the Government is not at all an easy task as it requires a lot of sacrifice and courage, but criticism just for the sake of criticizing is also not an appreciable thing to do. It is unacceptable for an author like Arundhati Roy, who enjoys such a high stature, to say such things in public.

The writer-activist should be cautious with the usage of her words. It is highly required for our politicians, activists, intellectuals and writers to first think before they speak out anything in public. Criticism should be constructive and this should not be confused with any kind of manipulation. One should always question the Govt of the day in a healthy democracy, and in a country like India we as citizens are empowered enough to accept and oppose any decision of our elected representatives.

CAB: हिंदू पाकिस्तान बनने की राह पर भारत!

source: https://www.molitics.in/article/624/npr-row-did-arundhati-Roy-make-an-irresponsible-statement

Tag: NRC

Delhi Election Result 2020: Factors that led to AAP’s victory.

NPR row: Did Arundhati Roy make an irresponsible statement?