Latest news with #OperationLotus
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Both BJP, AAP playing politics over Op Sindoor: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Thursday said both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were playing politics over 'Operation Sindoor'. 'It is clear that the AAP and BJP are two sides of the same coin. Both are trying to do petty politics in the name of Operation Sindoor. While the BJP is trying to gain political mileage out of it, the AAP is questioning its success,' said Warring in a statement. Stating that the BJP leaders were behaving as if they had physically fought on the border and defeated Pakistan, he said, 'Operation Sindoor is not Operation Lotus. We acknowledge your skills that you employ during Operation Lotus, but please, for the sake of dignity and glory of our Defence Forces, don't try to lay claim over their victory for your petty political ends.' Hitting out at Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, Warring said, 'It is quite unbecoming of a chief minister to question the operation when the whole world has acknowledged that Indian defence forces have dealt a heavy blow to Pakistan. You have every right to question the BJP's intentions and motives, but dare not question the capability of our defence forces.'
India Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Operation Sindoor is not Operation Lotus: Punjab Congress leader attacks BJP, AAP
As a political showdown continues over India's Operation Sindoor precision strikes against Pakistani infrastructure, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring attacked both the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), accusing them of politicising the military success of the armed Raja launched an offensive on the saffron party, saying Operation Sindoor was not 'Operation Lotus', he slammed the AAP of questioning the success of the military operation that was carried out in response to the Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 26 is way too clear that the AAP and the BJP are two sides of the same coin. Now both of them are trying to do petty politics in the name of Operation Sindoor', Warring said in a statement on Thursday, pointing out that while the BJP was trying to take political mileage out of it, the AAP was trying to question the success. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several BJP leaders have spoken about Operation Sindoor success, in which the Indian armed forces destroyed nine terror launchpads and killed over 100 terrorists on May 7, at various political events, many opposition parties, including the Congress, have questioned the success of the that the BJP leaders were behaving as if they had physically fought on the border and defeated Pakistan, Warring said, "Operation Sindoor is not Operation Lotus".advertisement'Operation Lotus' is a term often used by the BJP's political opponents to accuse it of horse-trading other parties' legislators to topple governments."We do acknowledge your dirty skills that you employ during Operation Lotus, but please, for the sake of the dignity and glory of our Defence Forces, don't try to lay your claim on their victory for your petty political ends", he said while indirectly addressing the to AAP leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann reportedly questioning the success of Operation Sindoor, Warring said, "This was quite unfortunate and unbecoming of the Chief Minister, as the whole world has acknowledged that Indian defence forces have dealt a heavy blow to Pakistan".'You have every right and reason to question the BJP's intentions and motives, but dare not question the capability of our defence forces", Warring top Congress leaders like party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, party leaders Jairam Ramesh, and Pawan Khera, among others, have questioned Operation Sindoor's grand old party has also been at loggerheads with its own MP, Shashi Tharoor, who has praised the Modi government for military retaliation on several occasions. The party has, at times, disapproved of Tharoor, saying he is speaking out of party Watch
Hans India
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Two Karnataka BJP MLAs expelled for 6 years for 'anti-party activities'
Bengaluru: The BJP's Central Disciplinary Committee on Tuesday expelled Karnataka MLAs S.T. Somashekar and Shivaram Hebbar from the party for a period of six years. Both legislators had aligned themselves with Congress leaders and publicly criticised the BJP and its leadership. Somashekar represents the Yeshwanthpur Assembly constituency in Bengaluru, while MLA Hebbar represents the Yellapur constituency in Karwar district. Both leaders were originally part of the Congress and joined the BJP in 2019 through 'Operation Lotus'. They later served as ministers in the BJP government. Somashekar had openly expressed his allegiance to Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, describing him as his "godfather in politics"/ During the Rajya Sabha elections held in February 2024, Somashekar cross-voted while Hebbar abstained from voting. After the cross-voting, Somashekar told reporters that he had voted according to his conscience. "I went by my conscience and voted for those who worked to build schools and carry out development works in my constituency," he had stated. Both MLAs had embarrassed the BJP by remaining seated in the Assembly during party walkouts and by making statements critical of the state leadership. In a statement, Central Disciplinary Committee's Member Secretary, Om Pathak, said that the committee had reviewed their responses to the show-cause notices issued on March 25 and had taken serious note of their repeated violations of party discipline. "It has accordingly been decided to expel you for a period of six years with immediate effect from the primary membership of the party, and you stand removed from any position you currently hold," the MLAs were informed, as per the statement. The BJP had also faced embarrassment in 2022 when Kommaghatta Road, located in Somashekar's constituency, was relaid just two days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bengaluru. The newly laid road chipped off in several places. At the time, Somashekar, who was then a state minister, blamed the poor quality of work on the short notice given by the Prime Minister's Special Protection Group (SPG). The road was used twice by the PM during his commute between Kommaghatta and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE) University. Earlier, the BJP had also expelled party senior MLA and staunch Hindutva leader Basanagouda Patil Yatnal for six years for challenging and making derogatory statements against former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and state BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra.
Time of India
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
ED arrested me as I stopped BJP from coming to power in 2019, was protective wall of MVA govt: Raut
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has claimed the primary reason behind the Enforcement Directorate arresting him in an alleged money laundering case was because he stopped the BJP from coming to power in Maharashtra in 2019. In his book, 'Narkartala Swarg' (Heaven in Hell), Raut also claimed action was taken against him as he was the "protective wall" of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government which came to power that year. The book is about Raut's experiences in prison after ED arrested him in an alleged money laundering case in 2022, soon after the collapse of the Thackeray government. Raut later got bail. "The primary reason behind (the ED) action against me was I stopped the BJP from coming to power. I also stood as a protective wall in defence of the Thackeray government. 5 5 Next Stay Playback speed 1x Normal Back 0.25x 0.5x 1x Normal 1.5x 2x 5 5 / Skip Ads by After that the Thackeray government collapsed. "The (Eknath) Shinde government was formed through unconstitutional means. Both Shinde and (then Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ) must have agreed on one thing that if the government has to function, Raut must be behind bars," he claimed. Raut said the BJP was hurt that it had to sit in the opposition despite bagging 105 seats (in the 288-member assembly in the 2019 polls). "With Sena joining hands with Sharad Pawar-led NCP, the BJP had to sit in the opposition. The BJP considered Raut the reason why it could not form the government in Maharashtra in 2019. The BJP always had this regret," he claimed. Live Events The BJP and the Shiv Sena had contested the 2019 assembly polls together. But the Sena parted ways with the BJP over the post of chief minister. Later it became a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Congress and the (undivided) NCP. The MVA government was led by Thackeray. The Rajya Sabha MP, known to be a fierce critic of the BJP, said the former ally could not see Uddhav Thackeray as the CM in 2019 so its leaders plotted to topple his government. With the government having a majority of 170 MLAs, it was not possible that their ' Operation Lotus ' would succeed, he said. "Which is why central agencies entered the battlefield. Anil Deshmukh, Nawab Malik and Sanjay Raut were fixed as targets," he said. The federal agency had decided upon a political agenda and had made a list of MVA leaders to be arrested in Maharashtra. The list included Deshmukh, Malik and Raut, the book claimed. Deshmukh and Malik, both from the NCP, were ministers in the Thackeray government. The ED had tightened its noose around 11 of the 40 MLAs (including Shinde) of the undivided Shiv Sena who revolted against Thackeray. The ED was also going to arrest some of the MPs of the undivided Shiv Sena, Raut claimed.
The Hindu
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
CM blames BJP for price rise
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched an attack on the BJP accusing it of raising prices of essential commodities only to help its corporate friends make profits while neglecting the poor. What is more, it is misleading the people of the country by blaming the Congress governments in the States for the price rise. It is also destroying the spirit of the Constitution by dividing society on the lines of caste and religion, the Chief Minister said in Belagavi on Monday. He was speaking at a Save Constitution, Save Nation rally against the Union government. 'It is the BJP that has been raising prices of fuel, food items and other commodities since it came to power 11 years ago. Its policies are wrong and are aimed at benefitting the rich and are clearly anti-poor. However, it is blaming the Congress to cover its mistakes,' he complained. 'The people of the State should know who is truly responsible for price rise, who is cheating them and betraying their mandate,' Mr. Siddaramaiah said. He questioned why petrol, diesel and domestic gas prices have not halved despite international crude oil prices dropping from 120 USD to 62 USD per barrel, in the last decade. 'When fuel prices increase, they have a cascading effect on the prices of other commodities. The BJP leaders are going around lying about the causes of price rise. That is why we began organising these rallies, to tell the people the truth,' he said. 'I want to the tell the BJP, you have no moral right to take out rallies against price rise. You have raised prices, but you are trying to blame it on us. We are not afraid of your plans. We have the power to face you publicly,' he said. 'The BJP has no moral right to hold rallies against price rise when it is their wrong economic policies that have burdened the common man,' he asserted. 'They raised prices and now blame us, but we are not afraid of their tactics. We will confront them publicly. We are not afraid of the BJP and RSS tactics,' he said. The Chief Minister accused the BJP of exploiting religious and caste divisions for political gains. 'The BJP thrives on dividing society, but the people have seen through their game,' he said. He also targeted the BJP's past political strategies saying that the party has never come to power on its own strength but through dirty political games like Operation Lotus. 'They entered through the backdoor, but the people defeated them and brought us back to power,' he claimed. He claimed that the Congress will come back to power in the next elections. The Chief Minister branded the BJP as 'anti-poor, anti-farmer, anti-Muslim, anti-Dalit and anti-women', while questioning its achievements. 'What has the BJP really done for the people? They only know how to spread hatred and increase hardships of the poor,' he said. 'The BJP is dividing society on the basis of religion and caste. But we will not bow down to the BJP-RSS's big threats. We have the power to confront you with all our might,' he said. He said that some BJP activists tried to disrupt the rally on Monday. 'However, we will not be silenced. We will continue to speak against the injustice committed by the BJP against the people,' he said. 'When Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, there was a 30% tax on corporates. After Modi came to power, you reduced this tax to 22%. However, they increased the tax on the poor and middle classes. Aren't you ashamed of taking such anti-poor measures?' he asked BJP leaders. 'Shouldn't the people question the BJP's rule against the poor and the middle class? How many more years will they continue to lie to us Indians?' he asked. 'The BJP protested against the price rise of ₹4 per litre of milk that we did to help farmers. It is because it is anti-farmer and is worried only about urban dwellers. Even after the hike, milk prices are the lowest among our neighbours. Even bus fare, water tariff and power rates are the lowest in Karnataka compared to our neighbours. If I begin to talk about the wrong economic policies of the Centre, they target me. But they should understand that Siddaramaiah is not afraid of such threats and propaganda,' he said.
