CPI(M) politburo coordinator Prakash Karat
Credit: X/PTI
He received the winning Certificate of Election from the Election Returning Officer and Karimnagar Collector Pamela Satpathy IAS.
On Abu Azmi, Shiv Sena MLC Manisha Kayande told ANI, "...In fact, our demand was that he should be asked to resign as MLA. This mentality of repeatedly insulting Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and praising Aurangzeb is not right. We have filed FIRs against him in many police stations. If the CM has said something, he must have thought about taking some legal action..."
On the Tamil Nadu CM's X post on NEP, BJP senior leader Tamilisai Soundararajan told PTI, “He reveals himself as outdated CM and not aware of how the world is moving so fast and how children are facing challenges and what’s the widened horizon… Now, nobody is imposing Hindi. We are not ‘imposing’. We are condemning it. He is disturbed about the signature campaign which started yesterday. He is afraid of it. The third language is not only for opportunity but also for communication.”
Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi arrived in Mumbai. He is likely to visit Dharavi and meet the people there.
Reacting to the Odisha Government announcing colour code for schools, NCP(SP) leader Rohit Pawar told PTI, "Orange is not typically limited to BJP. It has a very different meaning. Giving colour is the mandate of the government, but doing politics over education would be wrong. We will see what all things they do. It’s not BJP’s colour. It’s our colour."
Reacting to party MLC Khalid Anwar's statement on Aurangzeb, JD(U) MLA Sanjeev Kumar told PTI, "Those who are praising Aurangzeb are anti-national. If he were here today, the Indian government would have given him death penalty. We are proud 'Sanatani' and I respect all religions but I can not respect Aurangzeb. He destroyed so many Hindu temples and killed his own father. He was a murderer."
BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan was detained on Thursday during the party's three-language policy signature campaign in Tamil Nadu.
On BJP's victory in the Telangana MLC election, state BJP President & G Kishan Reddy G Kishan Reddy told ANI, "These elections are very important. It is not a small thing to win both seats. BJP winning this election is not a small thing. This is the second time the people of Telangana have supported the BJP. This is the right time for 'Save Telangana, Support BJP'. "
On EAM Dr S Jaishankar's statement on Kashmir, Congress MP Manish Tewari told ANI, "Unfortunately, the EAM is very economical with the truth these days. The EAM did not talk about the commitment which was given by the Union of India to the Supreme Court when it was hearing the Article 370 matter, that statehood to J&K would be restored soonest. What happened to the statehood of J&K? Why has this not been restored?"
"Insofar as return of PoK is concerned, Mr Jaishankar is only regurgitating the Parliamentary resolutions of 1994 and 2012. During the time of Congress Govt in 1994, the Parliament had unanimously passed a resolution stating that the PoK and the northern areas are an inalienable part of J&K, I am forgot that Jaishankar forgot to mention the northern areas Gilgit and Baltistan," he added.
"Does that mean that the Govt of India has changed its position from the entire erstwhile state of J&K being an inalienable part of Indian Union, to only PoK being returned?...His statement is very alarming..." he said.
On Abu Azmi's statement on Aurangzeb, BJP leader CR Kesavan told ANI, "...We have seen Abu Azmi's despicable statement and a suspension, and how his leader Akhilesh Yadav has backed him and said that nobody can prevent Abu Azmi from speaking the truth. But you look at the disgusting and shameful remarks from senior Congress leaders & MPs idolising a sinful despot like Aurangzeb. One wonders, whether in the next meeting of Congress they will feature pictures of Aurangzeb...The issue is that Congress has a repeated past of attacking Sanatan Dharma...Congress allies with parties which say they want to eradicate Sanatan Dharma...Congress party needs to take stern action against MPs & MLAs who have praised Aurangzeb."
"Calling them (martyrs) traitors is wrong. BJP always attempts to erase our collective history, our collective memory. This is not at all acceptable to us...We will thwart all such attempts...We want Sunil Sharma to apologise to the people of J&K. You cannot tell us who our heroes are...," PDP leader Iltija Mufti told ANI.
"We were demanding it (the suspension of Abu Azmi) from the beginning. It took the BJP 2 days to suspend him. This is BJP's 'B-team'... Action should be taken against anyone who praises Aurangzeb...The same action should be taken against those who insult Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and those who are against Marathi, Maharashtra and the country," said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on the Aurangzeb row.
"This is ridiculous. They (referring to BJP) want to paint the colour of people's minds with the colour 'Bhagva' because they think, this colour will take them to heaven. There are different colours in the world taken from nature. One can not differentiate between any colour... This is completely a communal angle, " CPI(M) leader Hannan Mollah told PTI.
On RSS leader Suresh Joshi's remarks on Marathi language, Congress leader Bhai Jagtap told PTI, "Marathi (language) is the life of 12 crore people. If someone talks against it, then an FIR must be registered against Suresh Joshi and action must be taken against him."
This is the agenda to divide Mumbai: Uddhav Thackeray
-DHNS
On three-language policy, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju told ANI, " There are some miscommunications or some people are deliberately trying to play politics. Three language policy is good for the whole country. PM Modi is the Prime Minister of India but his mother tongue is not Hindi but Gujarati. Union Home Minister Amit Shah's mother tongue is Gujarati...we are all Indians, let us vote together. PM Modi has continuously said every region and every community is equal and will be given equal importance...Let's not divide the country..."
Himachal Pradesh Assembly LoP Jairam Thakur told ANI, "... The Congress government has found out that the temple trusts under the control of the government in Himachal Pradesh have more than Rs 500 crore... After abusing Sanatan, they are eyeing the offerings made by the devotees of Sanatan. This decision is very unfortunate. To date, no other government in the entire country has spent the money of temple trusts to run government schemes... We will oppose this inside and outside the Assembly."
Telangana State BJP President & Union Minister, G Kishan Reddy hailed BJP's sweep pf the Telangana MLC election, saying, "...This is a success to BJP and Telangana...people of Telangana have created a path regarding how politics of Telangana will look like...how BJP govt will come in Telangana in the coming days. BJP will work hard and move forward on this path...under the leadership of PM Modi, BJP will work hard to bring double-engine govt in Telangana..."
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray blasted RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi's statement, saying, "From Koshyari to Koratkar to Solapurkar - all of them have been insulting Maharashtra, Maharashtra's heroes and Maharashtra's gods. If you see Mr Koshyari, Mr Koratkar and Solapurkar - they have insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule. Today, Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi has insulted Marathi. This will not be tolerated. I challenge him to say something like this in Tamil Nadu or Gujarat. But only because he wants to divide Maharashtra, he is coming and doing this. This is the thought process of Sangh."
On row over his statement, RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi said, "Due to one of my statements, a misunderstanding has occurred. There is no question that the language of Mumbai is not Marathi. The language of Maharashtra is Marathi. Mumbai is in Maharashtra and naturally, the language of Mumbai is Marathi. Different languages are spoken in India. People speaking different languages live in Mumbai as well. So, it is a natural expectation that they should also come here and learn Marathi, understand Marathi and read Marathi. I think that this is a great example of co-existence that people speaking so many different languages in India live together. I think that Mumbai is also an ideal example of this. But there is a natural expectation that a person coming to Mumbai should understand Marathi, speak Marathi, learn Marathi, read Marathi. This is the only expectation. I have nothing more to say than this... My mother tongue is Marathi. But I also respect the existence of all languages... I request everyone to see it from the same perspective."
After RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi's controversial statement about Marathi language, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray said, "A sedition case should be registered against Bhaiyyaji Joshi."
Speaking on the language and delimitation row, BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, "...We all know that the DMK in Tamil Nadu is worried about the 2026 elections. So this is not the only thing. They will raise all kinds of bogies to try and distract the people of Tamil Nadu from the last nine years of misgovernance, corruption, and the rampant betrayal of the trust of the people of Tamil Nadu. So they will do everything. And it is our duty to make sure that they do not succeed..."
Commenting on BSP chief Mayawati expelling her nephew Akash Anand from the party, Congress leader Udit Raj said, "Satish Mishra is the only cadre left in BSP... Mayawati has allied BSP with BJP... Akash Anand was expelled because he gave an aggressive speech against the BJP. Under whose pressure was he expelled? Under the pressure of ED, CBI, or Income Tax?... If there is so much pressure, the opposition will stand with him... I invite Akash Anand to join the Congress. Not only him, but all BSP workers should join the Congress and fight to save the Constitution, reservation, and caste census."
Ahead of Bihar polls, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav promised to lift the ban on toddy if RJD is voted to power. "...You all know that 'Toddy' is natural. Around 2% of the population lost their employment (because of the ban on Toddy)...The Pasi community is suffering economically and socially and when police beat them, they suffer physically too...If we form the government (in Bihar), we will exclude Toddy from the Bihar Excise Act 2016," he said.
"The voter list issue is being given the utmost importance by the TMC... In the last Delhi and Maharashtra elections, the voter list was massively manipulated...," Bandyopadhyay told reporters. "We want to remain concerned from the very beginning..."
He also spoke on the three-language policy issue, saying, "Hindi is a national language. Everyone should respect it. The regional parties support the regional languages. Hindi is a great language and it is the mother tongue of our country... In West Bengal, there are Bengali and Gujarati, and there are also Urdu-speaking minorities... People of all communities live in Bengal... We respect the Hindi language... "
West Bengal TMC Minority Cell President Mosaraf Hussen explained TMC was giving high priority to voter list manipulation by BJP, accusing them of rigging the Delhi and Haryana elections. Speaking to reporters, he said, "On February 27, Mamata Banerjee informed us what to do regarding the voter lists the BJP has made in Haryana and Maharashtra to win the elections. They are not able to win here because of democracy. They are using backdoor diplomacy to win elections in Bengal... The CM has directed us to inspect and scrutinise the lists... Regarding this, a meeting was called today and duties were given to the members of the parties... "
Bihar Minister and BJP leader Prem Kumar took on RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s recent remarks on Bihar's liquor ban, saying: “...The truth is that the government has imposed liquor prohibition because its priority is to make Bihar addiction-free, and work is being done in that direction. When his government was in power, why didn’t he raise these issues? Now that they are out of power, they are making such statements.”
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah, when asked to Jaishankar's comment on Pakistan returning 'stolen' portion of Kashmir, said: "Who has stopped them from taking (PoK)? They can get it whenever they want to. We have not stopped them..."
Speaking in J&K Assembly, CM Omar Abdullah responded to EAM Dr S Jaishankar's recent statement on PoK, saying: "...Foreign Minister has said that they will bring back the portion of Kashmir (controlled by Pakistan). Did we ever stop them? If you (Central govt) can bring it back, then do it now. One portion is with Pakistan, but another portion is with China, why doesn't anyone talk about that?..."
Speaking on RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's promise to lift the toddy ban,
Bihar minister Ratnesh Sada said, "...Under the Satat Jeevikoparjan Yojana, the government has provided employment to the people (who used to produce Toddy). The women who used to work for the production of Toddy have said that they are doing good work now. Toddy production was not beneficial to them...He (Tejashwi Yadav) is just trying to provoke them (Pasi community)."
A TMC delegation visited the Election Commission office in Kolkata today. After the meeting, West Bengal Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said, "...Every voter should have a unique ID number; there should be physical verification,... and people from outside should not have a voting right here."
Speaking at length about what prompted his remarks about Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi said, "On (March) 3rd, when the assembly session ended and I was leaving the house, media personnel placed their mics in front of me. There was a statement from the Assam CM comparing Rahul Gandhi to Aurangzeb. I have read in books that Aurangzeb donated to several temples, and during his reign, many top officials were Hindus. Based on that, I said Aurangzeb’s reign was long, and the country’s GDP was good during that time. The government found this statement offensive and suspended me from the assembly until March 21. An FIR has also been registered against me.”
He further added, “I take my words back if this has become such a big issue. I want the assembly to function smoothly. Despite my apology, they still got me suspended and filed an FIR against me, which is completely against the law.”
After Jharkhand BJP President Babulal Marandi was elected as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said: "We are happy that the Leader of Opposition in the House will come from tomorrow and the entire House should be happy about it..."
BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan, who was on a signature campaign for the 3-language policy in TN, said, "...They (police) didn't allow me to get the signature. They were telling you cannot do that. I told it's neither a procession nor an agitation. It's a peaceful signature...You would have seen 30 to 40 policemen surrounded me. They didn't allow me to either get the signature or to move....3-4 hours later when they allowed me, only then I got the signatures...They are afraid of this signature campaign. I have to appreciate the people of Tamil Nadu...Immediately when the police allowed, people came forward, and gave their signatures..."
Ahead of the Haryana assembly budget session beginning tomorrow, Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, "There are a lot of issues... There are the issues of unemployment, law and order, Haryana being burdened with loans..."
The Rajasthan Assembly was adjourned for half an hour Thursday after Congress MLAs stormed into the well of the House and raised slogans over the poor law and order situation in the state.
The Congress on Thursday wrote to Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, demanding an inquiry into BJP leader Pandurang Madkaikar’s claim that he had paid a bribe to get a file cleared by a minister.
Madkaikar, a former minister, had made the bribery claim on Tuesday while talking to reporters.
“I have personally paid a bribe of Rs 15-20 lakh to a personal assistant of a minister to get my file cleared,” he had said. Before that, he had met BJP general secretary B L Santhosh in Panaji.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee vice president Sunil Kawthankar said he had written to the governor demanding a high-level inquiry into the BJP leader’s bribery claim.
Talking to reporters, Kawthankar questioned the “silence” of the government on the matter. He said the chief minister should have ordered an investigation based on his party colleague’s assertion.
In a fiery speech in a public meeting in Bilaspur, his hometown iN Himachal Pradesh, Union Minister J P Nadda said, "Was Congress able to stand for what which Gandhiji and Sardar Patel lived... The party whose president was Subhash Chandra Bose, did the Congress party follow their ideals? Was Congress able to save the reputation of those who sacrificed everything for the freedom struggle? You should keep in mind what kind of mental bankruptcy it has committed ideologically... Today, the Congress party is neither a national party nor an ideological party. It is a party of brother, sister and mother, nothing more than that."
He then told the crowd, "You made them sit in Himachal by chance, so they appointed a Chief Minister... When the disaster struck Himachal, did any Congress leader come? The one who used to say that Himachal was in their heart,... came to celebrate holidays but at the time of a disaster no one came to wipe your tears... I, Anurag Thakur and Jairam Thakur had the opportunity to come here... We came here thrice and gave you relief worth thousands of crores... It is a different matter that we gave money for building houses and roads, but you (HP government) used it for salaries and pensions... If the government is given in wrong hands, then this is what happens..."
CPI leader D Raja blamed the RSS's ideology for row over the 3-language policy under NEP (National Education Policy) in Tamil Nadu. He said, ""The language issue has been created by RSS and their followers. BJP is the political wing of RSS. Whatever RSS says, BJP tries to do it. Why suddenly the so-called National Education Policy or NEP is being imposed on states? Nothing but to impose one particular language. That is why in Tamil Nadu, there is uproar and outrage. Every citizen of Tamil Nadu is questioning why you are imposing one particular language...Why you are giving some kind of preferential treatment to one particular language?..."
CPI(M) politburo coordinator Prakash Karat on Thursday attacked the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre and US President Donald Trump, accusing them both of displaying "far-right" characteristics. Speaking on the first day of the four-day long state party conference held here, Karat termed Trump as an imperialist, whose focus was on establishing American hegemony in the world and expanding its territorial sovereignty, and the Modi government as a "Hindutva Corporate regime" which was displaying "neo-fascist" characteristics.
After Omar Abdullah's provocative speech responding to EAM S Jaishankar's remarks that the Kashmir issue would be solved once Pakistan returned PoK to India, BJP leader Ajay Alok, said: "Omar Abdullah is a lot concerned about PoK and the portion (of Jammu and Kashmir) that is with China. We will surely get it back. Aksai Chin, which is with China, is our part and PoK is also our part, and we will surely get them back. This is Modi government and everything is possible."
Earlier, J&K Assemly LoP Sunil Sharma had said that Abdullah has spoken about useless stuff rather than discussing the real-time concerns brought up by the MLAs. He added, “...There will be nothing in tomorrow’s Budget. Do they even have anything for the Budget? Jammu and Kashmir state has no revenue and no sources to generate revenue. They have come to power just to enjoy privileges. They have no concern for the Budget. Omar Abdullah has been the CM for five months now, what has he done?”
Castigating RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Manjhi said, "The older you get in politics, the more mature you become. Similarly, the youths can also be successful. However, I feel that Tejashwi Yadav, who calls himself a youth, doesn't have any capability. Is he the only youth? And how can he think that he can replace Amit Shah and Nitish Kumar? There are many capable youths in NDA as well. Mahagathbandhan only wants to grab power."
Taunting AAP by saying, "those who looted Delhi for 10 years are bound to go mad now that their business has shut down," BJP MLA Tilak Ram Gupta announced that March 8 would see the launch of the Rs 2500 scheme "for sisters" and work on providing Ayushman cards for senior citizens would be initiated.