POLL-SNIPPETS: PM Modi holds roadshow in Ghaziabad

The district administration made elaborate security arrangements for the event including the deployment of large number of personnel and enforcing traffic diversions. This is the prime minister's first roadshow in Uttar Pradesh after the announcement of Lok Sabha elections.

Braving the harsh sun, the supporters had been waiting on the road since the afternoon as drums and bands kept them engaged. As the prime minister's vehicle moved slowly on the road, people lining on the both sides of the road showered flowers on him and raised slogans.

Paintings were installed at various points on the way including one of his mother Hiraben blessing him. A tableaux of Lord Ram and Sita was also exhibited.  

Acting against corruption to ensure a better future for people: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that he is acting against corruption to ensure a better future for people.

At an election rally in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, he said the corrupt shatter poor people's dreams, loot them and their rights, and prevent their progress. "If your son or daughter is eligible for a job, but someone else gets it through corrupt means, what will happen to the future of your children?" Modi told the gathering.

"I am acting against corruption for your better future... I am being subjected to abuses... And, they (referring to the opposition) hold rallies to save the corrupt. This is Modi and he will not step back. Action against the corrupt will continue, this is Modi's guarantee," the prime minister said.

The prime minister also said it is the country's misfortune that leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc are openly talking about "fighting against shakti". "Ours is the place of Maa Shakti... In every corner of Hindustan, worshipping shakti is a part of our natural spiritual journey. We are a country which never shuns the worship of Shakti."

"But it is the misfortune of the country that the leaders of INDI Alliance openly throw a challenge that their fight is against shakti," Modi said, in a reference to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's recent remarks. Gandhi had said by 'shakti' he meant "power" and accused the prime minister of twisting his words.

In his address on Saturday, Modi said, "Can anyone finish shakti, challenge the power of shakti? And, those who made an effort to destroy shakti, what happened to them? It is mentioned in history and the Puranas."

  
Eight parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh -- Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina (SC), Moradabad, Rampur, and Pilibhit -- will vote in the first phase on April 19. Votes will be counted on June 4. 

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LS polls 'not fair' but despite that, INDIA bloc will get clear majority: Jairam Ramesh

The Lok Sabha polls are "not fair" with opposition parties being targeted but despite that, the INDIA bloc will get a clear majority in the elections due to the public response to its "five nyay, 25 guarantees", senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Saturday.

He also said the people of the country will "decisively reject" all attempts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the elections "unfree and unfair". There is a strong undercurrent of "enough of das saal anyay kaal" (10 years of injustice), the Congress general secretary said.

Ramesh also hit out at Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh over their recent remarks about the country being a "new India", which strikes inside enemy territory, saying these are "diversionary tactics" aimed at taking the focus away from the Congress' "real narrative" of "paanch nyay, pachees guarantees" and the manifesto.

Asked about the fairness of the polls, Ramesh said, "This election is not fair with action being taken against opposition parties but despite this, we believe that the INDIA 'janbandhan' will get a clear mandate because of the public response to 'paanch nyay, pachees guarantees' of the Congress and its allies which reflect the needs of the people."

His remarks came a day after it released its manifesto, focusing on five "pillars of justice" and 25 guarantees under those, at the party headquarters in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

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CPI releases Lok Sabha election manifesto, promises to scrap CAA

The Communist Party of India (CPI) released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, promising to scrap the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, remove the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, and enhance the daily wage under MGNREGA to Rs 700.

The Left party called for the defeat of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to save secular democracy. It said the 10-year BJP rule has proven to be a disaster for the country.

If elected to power, the CPI promised to scrap the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, remove the 50 per cent cap on reservations, conduct a caste census, introduce taxation measures such as wealth tax and inheritance tax, increase corporate tax, introduce reservation in the private sector, and raise the daily wage under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Rs 700.

"General elections for the 18th Lok Sabha are going to be very crucial and critical for our secular democratic republic, its future and to our constitutional ethos," the CPI manifesto stated.

After releasing the manifesto, CPI general secretary D Raja said, "The elections are very critical for the country and its future. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi's rule has been disastrous for the country." The Constitution is under attack and the BJP being political arm of RSS is trying to change the Constitution and ultimately replace it," he alleged.

The Left party said if voted to power, it will introduce measures to address the growing inequality.

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PM doesn't know history, Syama Prasad Mookerjee himself was part of govt with Muslim League: Cong

The Congress on Saturday hit back at Narendra Modi over his remarks that the party's manifesto bore a Muslim League imprint, saying the prime minister "does not know his history" as it was none other than Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee himself who was part of a coalition government in Bengal with the League in the early 1940s.

The opposition party also accused the BJP of practising "politics of divisiveness".

Addressing an election rally in Saharanpur, Modi said the Congress manifesto bears a Muslim League imprint while a part of it is dominated by the leftists.

Reacting to the prime minister's remarks, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The prime minister does not know his history as it was, in fact, none other than Mookerjee, the president of the Hindu Mahasabha then, who was himself part of the coalition government in Bengal with the Muslim League."

The Hindu Mahasabha was also in coalition with the Muslim League in Sindh and North-West Frontier Province. "It is the BJP, not the Congress, that believes in and practices the politics of divisiveness," Ramesh said.