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Congress urges NBSA to regulate “Toxic” TV debates

In view of the sudden cardiac arrest of Mr Rajiv Tyagi during a debate show few days, a delegation of Congress leaders on Wednesday moved the ‘News Broadcasting Standards Authority’ (NBSA) and asked for an advisory to be issued on television channels to implement a code of conduct regarding ‘sensational’ debates. They have vehemently opposed the natures of debates happening in media today.

Congress accused that Media houses, anchors and spokespersons must be held accountable for their actions and conduct. The delegation included senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress Secretary Pranav Jha, and spokesman Jaiveer Shergill. The delegation also demanded that media groups, journalists, anchors, and spokespersons be held accountable for their behavior.

According to NBSA guidelines, dated December 13, 2012, there is an obligation on all media houses to ensure that their programmes do not become a platform to spread acrimony and hatred. The News Broadcaster’s Association holds the authority to ensure compliance with its guidelines and instructions.

Jaiveer Shergill wrote a letter to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar last Thursday, urging that a consultation be issued to implement the code of conduct with a view to restoring ‘decency’ in the debate-based programs of news channels.

The Congress’ demand for action against “toxic” TV debates. The Congress is demanding a code of conduct when Congress national spokesperson Rajiv Tyagi recently died of a heart attack. Tyagi was involved in a debate based program of a television channel on Wednesday evening and he suffered a heart attack shortly after the program. A few minutes later, he died in a hospital in Ghaziabad.

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Grand Alliance – RJD + Congress finalizes seat-sharing for Bihar polls

“Negotiations for seat arrangements are in the final stages and a formal announcement will be made in August last week, when we get a fair idea of whether elections will be held in Bihar. There is no point in announcing the seat deal so soon,” senior coalition leader said above, citing the uncertainty of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal is expected to contest 152 seats and Congress 91 seats when the 243-member state assembly elections are held, as the so-called Grand Alliance worked according to the seat-sharing formula,  parties leaders said.

The RJD, by its quota, will allocate some smaller parties to the coalition, the Mukesh Sahni-led  Vikashsheel Insaan Party and Communist Party of India Liberation said, a senior leader of the coalition requested anonymity.

Congress will have to accommodate the rest of its allies such as the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party,  Hindustani Awam Morcha, and the Communist Party of India with its quota of 91 seats.

In the 2015 assembly elections, when the Janata Dal was part of the alliance, the JD contested 110 seats, similar to the RJD. The Congress contested around 40 seats.

In the coalition, the RJD emerged as the single largest party with 81 seats, enabling the JD 70 and the Congress 27, the coalition to come to power.

As Nitish Kumar of JDU was the face of the Alliance, he became the Chief Minister; On July 26, 2017, Kumar left an alliance with the BJP to form the government. In the new format, RJD hopes to drop 30 from its quota for VIPs. The RJD is also keen that the CPI-ML should be part of the Liberation Coalition, and will provide some seats to the party by its quota.

CPI-ML Liberation state secretary Kunal said, “We will hand over the list of our seats to the RJD by next week. We are eager for an alliance … but it should be on honorable terms”.

Party leaders said they are expected to contest 42 seats and offer RLSP, HAM, and CPI to the remaining 49.

RJD state president Jagdanand Singh refused to comment on the seat-sharing formula, insisting that RJD, being the largest partner in the opposition alliance, was preparing to contest all 243 seats.

“Seat sharing will be done at the right time. As a senior partner, we have a responsibility to help our allies on the seats they will contest and we are doing so,” he said.

Among coalition partners, only HAM appears unhappy.

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Narendra Modi becomes the longest-serving non-Congress prime minister

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the fourth longest serving Prime Minister of the country on Thursday surpassing Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The journey from Chief Minister to Prime Minister was long and arduous however it has fraught with loads of milestones in his kitty.

With this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also become the non-Congress Prime Minister of the country serving for the longest period.

BJP said, “Today, PM Modi has become the first non-Congress Prime Minister of the country to serve for the longest time. The total duration of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s entire tenure was 2268 days. Today Prime Minister Modi Even beyond the period.” The three Prime Ministers serving the country for the longest time are Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Manmohan Singh, all three belong to the Congress.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has completed more than a year of his second term and remains the top-level leader in Indian politics.

Before coming to Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat for 13 years.

BJP said on Thursday that Narendra Modi has become the longest-serving non-Congress Prime Minister of India and the fourth highest serving Prime Minister of the country overall.

BJP leader Amit Malviya tweeted, “Today Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the fourth highest serving Prime Minister in the history of India. He has also become the non-Congress Prime Minister of the longest-serving country. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee served a total of 2268 days during all his tenures. Today, Prime Minister Modi overtook him. At the same time, Union Minister Jitendra Singh also wrote in his tweet, “Today Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the fourth Prime Minister who has served in the history of India for a long time.

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Ashok Gehlot planning to go for floor test soon; despite the return of Sachin Pilot camp

Ashok Gehlot will opt for a floor test in the upcoming assembly session despite an announcement by 19 disgruntled Congress MLAs, whose rebellion jeopardized the government’s stability last month, with At least three party leaders told about the development on Wednesday.

Even though the 19 MLAs, including the now sacked Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, have returned to the Congress, the party feels that the only way to send a message of unity after a sharp month is a floor test. This triggered political uncertainty in the western state.

A Congress leader, requesting anonymity, said, “No doubt, a floor test is the only solution and we can go for it at any opportune time. We will prove our majority on the floor of the House.”

A three-member All India Congress Committee panel constituted to look into the grievances of Pilot and rebel MLAs is likely to submit its report by then.

The Rajasthan crisis seemed to end after a meeting between Pilot and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday.

With the return of Pilot, the Congress alone has 107 MLAs in the 200-member Assembly, with a simple majority of 101.

Another Congress official, who is monitoring the developments in Rajasthan, said that the government can transfer the confidence vote in the assembly at any time.

A third congressman said that a floor test was important to prove a point.

The BJP said that calling on a floor test was an “internal issue” of the Congress.

Political analyst Narayan Bareth said that the Congress does not want to take any risk.

Despite the truss, there are signs of resentment among a section in Congress.

The MLAs who supported Gehlot expressed their anger at the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Jaisalmer over the return of Pilot and his supporters.

A party leader present at the meeting said that a large section of legislators were vocal against Pilot, and questioned how the Congress could withdraw dissidents after threatening the government.

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Somen Mitra Passes Away in Kolkata Hospital

West Bengal Congress President Somen Mitra, aged 78, passed away at a Kolkata hospital in the midnight hours of Thursday.

He died around 1:30am after suffering a cardiac arrest, the hospital resources said , adding that he had tested negative for novel-coronavirus.

He had been hospitalized a few days back after his creatinine level was found to be high during a regular check-up. He was already a patient of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The state Congress Chief will be remembered as a major strategist, who, however, was unable to prevent a split in his party; resulting in the creation of the Trinamool Congress(TMC) and the fall of the Congress as a political power in Bengal.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted her grief over the distinguished leader’s demise: “Saddened to hear about the passing away of veteran leader, former MP and @INCWestBengal president Somen Mitra. My deepest condolences to his family , followers and well-wishers. “

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Delhi Polls: ECI notice to senior BJP leader over outrageous ad

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a show-cause notice to the national general secretary of BJP, Arun Singh, for allegedly making false allegations against Congress in fray for the upcoming assembly elections in Delhi.

“The Commission has received a complaint, from a delegation of Indian National Congress on January 28, 2020, wherein it has been alleged that “Bharatiya Janata Party” has made an advertisement in the print media making false, frivolous, baseless, unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations against the INC,” ECI said in the notice.

“The Commission gives you the opportunity to explain your position in making the above-said statement on or before Jan 31 noon, failing which the Commission shall take a decision without further reference to you,” ECI said in the notice.

The notice said that ECI finds BJP has prima facie violated the model code of conduct and gave time till Friday noon to the party general secretary to submit a written response.
The EC also cautioned the BJP against publishing the advertisement till the time a decision is taken on the issue.

“Commission, considering the gravity of the case, hereby directs that the advertisement in question shall not be repeated till such a time a decision is taken,” it said.
The notice has quoted the advertisement as saying that “15 saal Congress ki loot” (15 years of Congress’ loot).

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Watch: ‘Angered’ man bites off Congress leader’s index finger

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In a bizarre incident, a man bit the index finger of a congress at an event in Haldwani on Friday.

The surprising move happened when Congress district General Secretary Nandan Mehra was selling onions at Rs 30/kg at a gathering. According to reports, the accused, identified as Manish Bisht, tried to force enter the stalls that were set up at the Buddha park. When he was stopped from entering, in a fit of rage, he bit the index finger of the Congress leader Mehra.

While Congress workers have alleged that Bisht is a BJP worker and was misbehaving with women too, at the stalls, police said that Bisht is unemployed and blames his misfortune on the government.

According to eyewitnesses, Bisht came near the stalls and started chanting anti-Modi slogans. When he was stopped he started abusing Congress leaders too.

Ramesh Goswami, state Congress sevadal vice-president and one of the organisers of the event, said, “Bisht also tried to slap one of our women workers. When we surrounded him, he bit off a part of Mehra’s left index finger.”

Mehra, who says that he was rather trying to pacify Bisht, is saddened and surprised by the incident. “I was just trying to calm him when he started abusing all of us. He then somehow managed to get hold of my index finger and bit it off,” he said.

Following the incident, Bisht was beaten by Congress workers and was taken into the police custody.

Meanwhile, BJP district president Pradeep Bisht said that the accused is mentally unstable but is not associated with us in any way. We condemn such acts.”