by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Hyderabad : Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President K. Chandrashekhar Rao has rewarded Mohammad Mahmood Ali once again for his loyalty by inducting him into his cabinet.
Ali, a member of the Telangana Legislative Council, was the only Minister to take oath along with Rao on Thursday.
Ali, 66, has been with KCR since the latter floated TRS to revive the movement for separate Telangana state in 2001.
The most recognisable Muslim face of TRS, Ali served as Deputy Chief Minister in KCR’s previous cabinet. There were two deputies to KCR, the other being Kadiyam Srihari, a Dalit leader.
Ali, who held the Revenue portfolio in the previous cabinet, is likely to be appointed Deputy Chief Minister again.
That KCR picked Ali before inducting others in the cabinet underlines the importance he is attaching to the Muslim community, TRS leaders say. He kept the portfolio of minorities’ welfare with him during the first term.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), a friendly party of KCR, extended support to TRS, except in eight constituencies in Hyderabad where it fielded its candidates. Several other Muslim organisations also backed TRS, which won 88 seats in the 119-member Assembly
The TRS chief had invited AIMIM to join the government but the party declined the request.
A businessman hailing from Hyderabad, Ali doesn’t have any mass base. He had contested the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat in 2009 but badly lost. He was subsequently made a member of the Legislative Council.
Ali may remain the only Muslim in the KCR cabinet. Since the cabinet size can’t exceed 18 and KCR has to satisfy various groups, the lone Muslim member of Assembly of TRS, Shakeel Aamir, may not be inducted.
Shakeel was re-elected from Bodhan constituency in Nizamabad district.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Bhopal: Congress workers celebrate party
By Brajendra Nath Singh,
New Delhi : The results in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan came as a major shock for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has won all the major states barring Delhi, Bihar, Punjab and Karnataka in elections held after the sweeping 2014 Lok Sabha victory.
The BJP was routed in Chhattisgarh and defeated in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in closely-fought contests. The party mostly banked on the image of Chief Ministers Raman Singh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan to lift the party’s fortunes.
In Rajasthan, where opinion polls had written off the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah put in extra efforts, besides banking on the hardcore Hindutva image of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, to take the battle to the Congress, but still lost.
The BJP, however, managed to open its account in Mizoram, where the Mizo National Front (MNF) ousted the ruling Congress partty, but saw its numbers fall from five to one in Telangana, where the Telangana Rashtra Samithi swept the polls.
The results of these five states, which were dubbed the semifinals ahead of the next general elections in April-May 2019, could be a factor in the battle between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Congress-led opposition.
The major issues raked up by Congress, specially the farm loan waiver amid an agrarian crisis across the country, employment and anger among upper caste, seems to have worked in its favour and could haunt the ruling dispensation if remedial measures are not taken.
The BJP is not ready, however, to accept the defeat as a referendum on the Modi government.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said issues in state elections are entirely different. The BJP won Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in 2003 but lost the Lok sabha elections next year, he pointed out.
The general elections in 2019, he added, would be fought around Modi’s performance, with people voting for a tried and tested leadership instead of a non-ideological opposition coalition which is bound to collapse sooner than later.
The Congress, which had a disastrous performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and suffered successive defeats in various Assembly elections, smiled for the first time after defeating the BJP in a direct contest in the three crucial states in north India.
Party president Rahul Gandhi, who campaigned vigorously, said the Assembly election results were a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s non-performance on issues of unemployment, agrarian distress, corruption and negating the ill-effects of demonetisation.
Out of total 678 Assembly seats in the five states in the current round of elections, the Congress has won close to 300 seats while the BJP managed to win over 200 seats. In the 2013 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 377 seats in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram while the Congress had won only 122 seats in these states.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won 62 out of total 83 Lok Sabha constituencies of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. Now the three Hindi heartland states will be ruled by Congress and the its impact would definitely be felt in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
In the first instance of a party getting majority on its own in 30 years, BJP won 282 seats in Lok Sabha in 2014. The BJP-led NDA had won 336 seats out of 543.
Its allies include the Shiv Sena, which has been on the war path for a while. Similarly, N. Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) have walked out of the NDA.
Since 2014, BJP has managed to retain just six Lok Sabha seats in by-polls. It won Lakhimpur in Assam, Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh, Beed and Palghar in Maharashtra, Vadodara in Gujarat and Shimoga in Karnataka.
In the last four years, the party has lost Lok Sabha by polls in Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, Gurdaspur in Punjab, Alwar and Ajmer in Rajasthan, Kairana, Phulpur and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Bhandara-Gondiya in Maharashtra and Bellary and Mandya constituencies in Karnataka.
The BJP, however, maintained the verdict was a mandate against the state governments and not against the Modi government.
“The results in five states clearly show there is no uniform trend across the country and local factors determined the outcome in each state. This is evident from the fact that even Congress suffered massive defeats in Mizoram and Telangana.
“Despite 15 years of anti-incumbancy in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has put up a fight in Madhya Pradesh and has a major comeback in Rajasthan. The BJP’s and Congress’ vote share in both the states in Mandhya Pradesh and Rajasthan is almost tied which clearly show that the BJP has the potential to comeback with big victories in 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” BJP Spokeperson G.V. L. Narsimha Rao told IANS.
He also said whenever Congress has tied up with a regional party, it cost them votes.
(Brajendra Nath Singh can be contacted at brajendra.n@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Books, Entrepreneurship, Success Stories
Writer S. Hussain Zaidi
By Radhika Bhirani,
New Delhi : Between exploring the complex labyrinth of India’s criminal underbelly and narrating it to curious readers through his gritty books on dons and mafia queens, there’s a lot that writer S. Hussain Zaidi still ends up not telling.
A veteran of investigative, crime and terror reporting, Zaidi is known for books like “Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia”, “Mafia Queens of Mumbai”, “Black Friday”, “Headley and I” and “My Name Is Abu Salem”, some of which have got film adaptations.
Do you ever find yourself at crossroads about how much to say and how much to conceal?
“I have never been asked this question earlier, but I will be candid about this. I have always been faced with this dilemma in all stories of mine and I end up withholding much more than I end up telling,” Zaidi told IANS in an email interview.
“The reason is that in non-fiction, it is not just important to know the facts but it is also crucial to substantiate it with documentary or other evidence.
“Since all the facts are not adequately supported, I have to make a difficult decision of not revealing the complete truth but make do with whatever I can disclose and get away with,” he said, adding that “things have so far been smooth” for non-fiction crime writers in India.
Is it easier to tell an engaging story set in a non-fiction milieu rather than a fictional one?
“Writing non-fiction is always more arduous and challenging. Fiction is an expression of unbridled smart thinking and a gifted craft of storytelling, while in non-fiction, you are restricted by the facts and actual incidents.
“You are supposed to maintain the interest of your readers and keep them riveted with a repertoire of limited devices. Especially when pen pushers like me decide to not just inform the readers but also entertain them. So, writing non-fiction is a far more difficult process than fiction, which is liberating and gives you infinite freedom.”
Taking his fascination with the world of crime a notch higher, Zaidi has launched Golden Pen, a “Writers First” venture with a focus on creating crime thriller content that is platform agnostic.
The crime thriller genre has always done well, and its dynamics seem to be changing with television, web and films experimenting with such subjects more than ever.
Zaidi said: “Crime stories are a favourite staple with all segments of audience from 16 to 60 years old. Unlike other genres which have limited appeal, crime aficionados simply devour the stories. I think while other genres might get more exposure, crime will still remain the most favoured subject everywhere.”
The interest, he agreed, has only got a boost with the success of shows like “Narcos”, “Sacred Games” and “Mirzapur” in the recent past.
“These stories have only bolstered the prospects of more crime stories being taken seriously and even those who preferred to look at other subjects now find that crime is more gripping and commercially viable,” said Zaidi.
His acumen in creating gripping, screen-adaptable noir content is world-renowned, with his book “Black Friday” being later made into a critically acclaimed landmark film of the same name by Anurag Kashyap, and his in-depth research on the Mumbai mafia being used by international authors like Misha Glenny in “McMafia” and Vikram Chandra in his book “Sacred Games”.
His own Golden Pen is an attempt to ensure that writers are given paramount importance when it comes to adapting their work on-screen — whether as a movie or web series or other such derivatives.
He has joined hands with Vivek Lath and Jaspinder Kang of Goquest Productions for the venture. And two projects are near completion.
“We have tied up with a reputed production partner for both these and they are being actively considered by platforms. Both these stories are rooted in India but have a definite global appeal. One of these is most likely to be the first that you see from Golden Pen slate,” Zaidi said of the slate.
Are they producing any show or film based on any of his works?
“At this stage we want to curate the content and mentor the writers. We are partnering with other production houses to produce films based on my works and are closely involved in the creative development of those.
“However, we are in plans to produce a feature film based on stories either written by me or mentored by me.”
(Radhika Bhirani can be contacted at radhika.b@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Centre and the Delhi government to respond to a plea seeking directions to allow the entry of women into the sanctum sanctorum of the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah.
The court was hearing a plea seeking directions for framing of guidelines to ensure the entry of women and declare the act of prohibiting women to enter as unconstitutional.
A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Kameswar Rao asked the Ministries of Home Affairs, Law and Justice, the Delhi government, Delhi Police and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Trust to file the response and listed the matter for further hearing to April 11, 2019.
The plea was filed by Deeba Faryal and other female law students of the Balaji Law College, Pune, who are presently in Delhi for their internship.
The petitioners, in the plea, stated that they had gone to visit the Dargah but they were prohibited from entering the sanctum sanctorum.
“They (law students) found out that women are not allowed inside the main Darghah or the sanctum sanctorum. All the women were allowed to do was to watch from outside how men were praying inside,” said the plea filed by advocate Kamlesh Kumar Mishra.
“While the entire nation is professing and advocating the entry of women in all religious institutions without any discrimination and the same having been further allowed and promoted by the Supreme Court in the recent Sabarimala judgement, women in the heart of the country and the centre of the capital are being discriminated. Their entry into the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin is prohibited when it is just 15 minutes away from the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court,” read the plea.
The plea has also sought the removal of signs and display boards inside or near the Dargah displaying prohibition of entry of women.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Hyderabad : AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi said he went to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s residence riding his motorbike on Monday as he wanted to show how peaceful Hyderabad is to those who talked about driving him away.
“This is my city,” the Hyderabad MP quipped when asked about his bike ride to Pragati Bhavan, where he had three-hour meeting with Rao ahead of the declaration of Assembly election results on Tuesday.
“I want to show how peaceful Hyderabad is to those who wanted to drive us away and cut our throat,” said Owaisi.
He was referring to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Telangana BJP leader Raja Singh’s threats.
While campaigning for the BJP, Yogi had said that if the BJP came to power in Telangana, it will make Owaisi flee the way Nizam was forced to flee Hyderabad.
BJP leader and party candidate Raja Singh threatened to cut the throat of AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, the younger brother of Asduddin Owaisi.
During the luncheon meeting, Owaisi and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief discussed the strategy to be adopted after the results are known on Tuesday.
Owaisi, however, told reporters that he was sure the TRS will retain power and KCR will once again become the Chief Minister.
Owaisi ruled out MIM joining the TRS government, saying they were never after power.
The AIMIM had seven members in the previous 119-member Assembly and this time the party contested eights seats, all in Hyderabad. In the rest of the state it extended support to TRS.
—IANS
