Rajnath Singh To Visit Assam On March 14 Ahead Of Lok Sabha Elections

by Manisha Das

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Assam Tourism Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said on Monday that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit the northeast state on March 14.

Guwahati, Mar 11: Assam Tourism Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said on Monday that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit the northeast state on March 14.

The visit comes very close to Lok Sabha elections expected to be held in April-May

During his visit, the Defence Minister is scheduled to address two rallies in the state.

Speaking with ANI, the minister said, "He will address two rallies in Barpeta and Kokrajhar. Now our karyakartas are busy for the meetings of the Defence Minister. Assam BJP has formed clusters in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state. The Union Ministers, BJP's central leadership will visit each cluster," Baruah said.

"On March 14 Rajnath Singh will be visiting the state for a political event...All preparations are being made for the visit..." he said.

He further said that Assam BJP is now trying to win all 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
"Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that we (NDA) will win 11.5 seats in the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. It may be gone upto 12. But we are trying to win all 14 seats," the Assam Minister said.

BJP will contest in 11 out of 14 seats while its ally parties AGP will contest in Barpeta and Dhubri seats and UPPL in Kokrajhar seat.

Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is facing his third Lok Sabha election was on a two visit to the BJP-ruled state

The Lok Sabha polls are slated to be held in April-May this year.

(ANI)

Read More: National News

BJP Approaches EC Over Sujata Karthikeyan's "Gross Misconduct for BJD's Electoral Gains" In Odisha

by Hemanta Pande

New Delhi/ Bhubaneswar, May 2: The central leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday approached the Election Commission here accusing Odisha’s Mission Shakti Department Secretary, Sujata Karthikeyan of “misusing” her position to mobilise women attached with self-help groups “for electoral gains" of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

A delegation led by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi and senior party leader Om Pathak met the Election Commission and submitted a memorandum in this regard.

"Sujata Pandian, IAS, Commissioner cum Secretary, Mission Shakti, who is the wife of VK Pandian, also known as V Karthikeyan Pandian, is not only affiliated politically to the BJD, but also indulging in grave misconduct through misuse of authority, government machinery, and man power for influencing voters through 'SVEEP' for electoral gains of the BJD," the BJP leaders wrote in memorandum.

The BJP leaders alleged that VK Pandian, who also served as the Private Secretary to CM Patnaik for over a decade, wields considerable influence within the state’s administration.

“In November 2023, after taking voluntary retirement from IAS, Pandian joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party. He was subsequently appointed as the chairman of the state’s flagship programme- 5T transformational initiatives with the rank of a Cabinet Minister...His proximity to the Chief Minister as well as the BJD cannot be overemphasized,” the memorandum reads.

"With a view to preserve the unbiased and unblemished reputation of ECI, it would be the fitness of things to relieve Sujata R. Karthikeyan, IAS, from the post of Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Mission Shakti, Government of Odisha and not assigned any public dealing duty till the conclusion of the impending Parliamentary and Assembly Elections in the State of Odisha" it says.

SVEEP is the flagship programme of the Election Commission of India for voter education, spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in the country.

Assembly and Lok Sabha elections will be held simultaneously in Odisha in four phases, starting from Phase one on May 13, Phase two on May 20, Phase three on May 25 and the final Phase on June 1.

The results will be announced on June 4.

Read More National News

Covaxin Has Excellent Safety Record, Says Bharat Biotech

by Hemanta Pande

Hyderabad, May 2: Bharat Biotech on Thursday said that its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin has an excellent safety record without any vaccine-associated incidents of blood clots, thrombocytopenia, TTS, VITT, pericarditis, myocarditis, etc, as it was developed with a single-minded focus on safety first, followed by efficacy.

The Hyderabad-based company issued a statement amid questions being raised in some quarters over the safety of Covid vaccines after global pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca admitted that its Covid vaccine Covishield, developed by researchers from Oxford University, can cause a rare side effect of blood clotting and low platelet count after immunisation.

As many as 175 crore doses of Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute, were reportedly administered in India.

Bharat Biotech mentioned that Covaxin was the only Covid-19 vaccine in the Indian government’s Covid-19 immunisation programme to have conducted efficacy trials in India.

"Covaxin was evaluated in more than 27,000 subjects as part of its licensure process. It was licensed under restricted use in clinical trial mode, where detailed safety reporting was carried out for several hundred thousand subjects," the vaccine manufacturer said.

The safety of Covaxin was also evaluated by the Ministry of Health.

"Ongoing safety monitoring (pharmacovigilance) was continued throughout the product life cycle of Covaxin. All the above studies and safety follow-up activities have demonstrated an excellent safety record for Covaxin without any vaccine-associated incidents of blood clots, Thrombocytopenia, TTS, VITT, pericarditis, myocarditis, etc.," it said.

"As seasoned innovators and product developers, the Bharat Biotech team was well aware that, while the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines may be short-lived, the impact on patient safety could last a lifetime. Hence safety is the primary focus for all our vaccines," it added. (IANS)

Rajnath Singh To Visit Assam On March 14 Ahead Of Lok Sabha Elections

Download Mobile App