<p>In 1924, When Mohammad Iqbal wrote the famous song &ldquo;Sare Jahan Se achcha&rdquo;, he mentioned in one of the stanzas:</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;यूनान मिस्र रोमा, सब मिट गए जहाँ से, बाकि रहा है अब तक नामो निशां हमारा&nbsp;</p>

<p>कुछ बात है की हस्ती मिटती नहीं हमारी, दौरे ज़मां रहा है दुश्मन जहाँ हमारा&quot;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Which means our enemies have been attacking us for so long but there is something in us which ensured that our existence is still there and not finished like many other civilisations, including Greece, Egypt and Rome.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>When I met some of my Israeli friends a few years back and tried to understand their struggle, I realised that that this line is not only applicable to Indians but also on Jews. When I read out the verse written above to them, one of them was so impressed that he noted it down in his diary. He told that it is written for the Jews who like Indians were repeatedly targeted and once was on the verge of extinction. The brave communities of both countries bounced back and now counted among the top superpowers of the world.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>We recognised the country in 1950 but could not make much headway till the end of the twentieth century thanks to the political mindset of our leaders who thought that by supporting Israel they will lose their Muslim vote bank and this jeopardised the relations for many decades.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Prime Minister Nehru was so much concerned that he did not even allow Israel to open a consulate in Delhi, and permission was given only for a small office in Bombay. India opened its embassy in Tel Aviv as late as in 1992. Since then the relationship is progressing and growing rapidly. Today Indo- Israel partnership has reached the level where India is the biggest importer of military equipment from the Middle Eastern country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The current visit of Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, is in clear response to the visit of Mr Narendra Modi to their country in July 2017 which was the first ever visit of an Indian prime minister to Israel. Indian prime ministers did not visit one of the superpowers of the world in the 67 years of recognising it. Despite repeated attempts by Israel to establish the relations, our previous governments have been silent on this.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The visit of Mr Netanyahu is important because it is the second visit of an Israeli prime minister to India after 2003 visit of Ariel Sharon.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>As we know Mr Benjamin Netanyahu is a former soldier and that too from the elite Special Forces of Israel called Sayaret Matkal. He had multiple battle injuries during his duties and, despite all that, topped his courses at Harvard and then at MIT. He further carried the reputation built by his brother Yoni Netanyahu who was the commander of Operation Entebbe and died during an action.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Interestingly, Benjamin commanded the same Sayaret Matkal Unit years later. He is a fourth time prime minister out of which last three terms have been consecutive since 2009. Being a Special Forces Operative, he is a man of strong will and understands the importance of Indo- Israel relationship well.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Today a large inventory of India&rsquo;s military equipment comes from Israel which includes almost 80 per cent of its unmanned aerial vehicles, upgradation suites for its aircrafts, anti-aircraft missile systems, high- tech communication and surveillance equipment, Phalcon AWACS and many more.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The intelligence sharing agreement between the two countries has been there in place since long. RAW and MOSSAD had not only been sharing valuable intelligence but also conducting joint operations at few places.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>So, what is the future of the relationship now?&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Both the countries share the long history and represents the two oldest religions of the world. Most of the cultural aspects are also same. And the most important aspect is that both the countries are facing trouble due to radical and fundamentalist Islam. Both saw the worst face of terrorism for long and both country has capabilities and desire to uproot the terrorism from the globe.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Unfortunately, the start of the relationship was quite late. It started during the NDA regime of Mr Vajpayee and flourished after Mr Narendra Modi took over. It was evident from the words of Mr Netanyahu when he received Mr Modi in July 2017 that &ldquo;We have Been waiting for you&rdquo;. The announcement had a ring of truth as previous governments did not understand the importance of the relations.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Israel despite all this, supported us in the wars of 1965, 1971 and during Operation Vijay in 1999 with much needed political support and military aid. Israel has continued to provide us with a reliable alternative to Russia when it comes to defence production. It is helping India develop its own technology in support of the Make in India Campaign. The emerging ties between India and Israel has caused panic among Pakistan and China, while the voices from Middle East countries have been muted.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The bilateral relationship is based on three crucial areas of cooperation: Defence, trade and politics. In each of these arenas, relationship with Israel is paying rich dividends. While the defence cooperation has reached about 9 billion USD, the trade between the countries has crossed 5 billion USD. The third aspect of political connect was clearly visible when Mr Modi broke the protocol to receive Mr Netanyahu on 14th January 2018.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>It is expected that the relationship will grow more in the economic and in the educational sector where there are endless opportunities. We have a wide canvas to colour and it depends upon the outlook of the government as to what kind of future it wants. The future of Indo-Israel relationship is bright and shining.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).</em></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


India-Israel relationship will grow more in the economic and in the educational sector where there are endless opportunities.

In 1924, When Mohammad Iqbal wrote the famous song “Sare Jahan Se achcha”, he mentioned in one of the stanzas: "यूनान मिस्र रोमा, सब मिट गए जहाँ से, बाकि रहा है अब तक नामो निशां हमारा कुछ बात है की हस्ती मिटती नहीं हमारी, दौरे ज़मां रहा है दुश्मन जहाँ हमारा" Which means our enemies have been attacking us for so long but there is something in us which ensured that our existence is still there and not finished like many other civilisations, including Greece, Egypt and Rome. When I met some of my Israeli friends a few years back and tried to understand their struggle, I realised that that this line is not only applicable to Indians but also on Jews. When I read out the verse written above to them, one of them was so impressed that he noted it down in his diary. He told that it is written for the Jews who like Indians were repeatedly targeted and once was on the verge of extinction. The brave communities of both countries bounced back and now counted among the top superpowers of the world. We recognised the country in 1950 but could not make much headway till the end of the twentieth century thanks to the political mindset of our leaders who thought that by supporting Israel they will lose their Muslim vote bank and this jeopardised the relations for many decades. Prime Minister Nehru was so much concerned that he did not even allow Israel to open a consulate in Delhi, and permission was given only for a small office in Bombay. India opened its embassy in Tel Aviv as late as in 1992. Since then the relationship is progressing and growing rapidly. Today Indo- Israel partnership has reached the level where India is the biggest importer of military equipment from the Middle Eastern country. The current visit of Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, is in clear response to the visit of Mr Narendra Modi to their country in July 2017 which was the first ever visit of an Indian prime minister to Israel. Indian prime ministers did not visit one of the superpowers of the world in the 67 years of recognising it. Despite repeated attempts by Israel to establish the relations, our previous governments have been silent on this. The visit of Mr Netanyahu is important because it is the second visit of an Israeli prime minister to India after 2003 visit of Ariel Sharon. As we know Mr Benjamin Netanyahu is a former soldier and that too from the elite Special Forces of Israel called Sayaret Matkal. He had multiple battle injuries during his duties and, despite all that, topped his courses at Harvard and then at MIT. He further carried the reputation built by his brother Yoni Netanyahu who was the commander of Operation Entebbe and died during an action. Interestingly, Benjamin commanded the same Sayaret Matkal Unit years later. He is a fourth time prime minister out of which last three terms have been consecutive since 2009. Being a Special Forces Operative, he is a man of strong will and understands the importance of Indo- Israel relationship well. Today a large inventory of India’s military equipment comes from Israel which includes almost 80 per cent of its unmanned aerial vehicles, upgradation suites for its aircrafts, anti-aircraft missile systems, high- tech communication and surveillance equipment, Phalcon AWACS and many more. The intelligence sharing agreement between the two countries has been there in place since long. RAW and MOSSAD had not only been sharing valuable intelligence but also conducting joint operations at few places. So, what is the future of the relationship now? Both the countries share the long history and represents the two oldest religions of the world. Most of the cultural aspects are also same. And the most important aspect is that both the countries are facing trouble due to radical and fundamentalist Islam. Both saw the worst face of terrorism for long and both country has capabilities and desire to uproot the terrorism from the globe. Unfortunately, the start of the relationship was quite late. It started during the NDA regime of Mr Vajpayee and flourished after Mr Narendra Modi took over. It was evident from the words of Mr Netanyahu when he received Mr Modi in July 2017 that “We have Been waiting for you”. The announcement had a ring of truth as previous governments did not understand the importance of the relations. Israel despite all this, supported us in the wars of 1965, 1971 and during Operation Vijay in 1999 with much needed political support and military aid. Israel has continued to provide us with a reliable alternative to Russia when it comes to defence production. It is helping India develop its own technology in support of the Make in India Campaign. The emerging ties between India and Israel has caused panic among Pakistan and China, while the voices from Middle East countries have been muted. The bilateral relationship is based on three crucial areas of cooperation: Defence, trade and politics. In each of these arenas, relationship with Israel is paying rich dividends. While the defence cooperation has reached about 9 billion USD, the trade between the countries has crossed 5 billion USD. The third aspect of political connect was clearly visible when Mr Modi broke the protocol to receive Mr Netanyahu on 14th January 2018. It is expected that the relationship will grow more in the economic and in the educational sector where there are endless opportunities. We have a wide canvas to colour and it depends upon the outlook of the government as to what kind of future it wants. The future of Indo-Israel relationship is bright and shining. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: India and Israel see a new era of brotherhood

<p>Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New Delhi this afternoon, six months after PM Modi&#39;s first-ever visit to Israel.&nbsp;</p>

<p>PM Modi broke protocol to receive the Israel PM and his wife Sara at the Delhi airport. Modi was of course just returning the gesture; he too had been received at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv by Netanyahu when he had visited Israel.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a> LIVE: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Delhi <a href="https://t.co/cmkFTRtPs7">https://t.co/cmkFTRtPs7</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/952450787396935681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>Netanyahu is the second Israeli PM to visit India, the first one being Ariel Sharon, who was hosted by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in September 2003.</p>

<p>Netanyahu, who is here for a six-day visit and is&nbsp;accompanied by a 130-member delegation from various sectors, wrote on Twitter that his &quot;historic visit&quot;&nbsp;was a &quot;great blessing&quot; for Israel.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">We will sign very many agreements. We are strengthening ties between Israel and this important global power.<br />
This serves our security, economic, trade and tourism interests, as well as many other areas. This is a great blessing for the State of Israel.</p>
&mdash; PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) <a href="https://twitter.com/IsraeliPM/status/952425017618386944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>They will then head to Teen Murti monument in Delhi where the two leaders will lay a wreath at the monument, commemorating the role of three Indian regiments who fought at the battle of Haifa over a century ago - and celebrate the growing friendship between the two countries.&nbsp;</p>

<p>They will be joined by External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj later in the afternoon at the Taj Palace Hotel, where Netanyahu will be staying.</p>

<p>Modi will also host&nbsp;a private dinner for Netanyahu on Sunday.</p>

<p>The visiting dignitary, on Monday, will be given a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan which will be followed by the wreath laying at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi.</p>

<p>Bilateral talks between the two prime ministers will take place on Monday. The primary focus will be on &quot;innovation&quot;&nbsp;-- covering trade, economy, agriculture, water management etc. Discussion on defence and security components are also expected to happen as they have been a strong part of India-Israel relations for a while.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Officials have informed that the two countries will possibly sign a number of pacts on startups and also issue a joint press statement. The Israeli Prime Minister will call on President Ram Nath Kovind later in the day.</p>

<p>On Tuesday, Netanyahu, along with his wife Sara, will leave for Agra to see Taj Mahal and then visit Delhi to participate in an annual multilateral conference, Raisina Dialogue, where he is scheduled to deliver an inaugural speech.</p>

<p>Netanyahu will leave for Ahmedabad on Wednesday to visit the Sabarmati Ashram and also attend an event at the International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate).</p>

<p>He will later visit the Centre of Excellence, Vadrad before leaving for Mumbai on the same day.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On Thursday, Netanyahu will have a power breakfast with Indian CEOs and attend a business seminar in Mumbai. He will also lay a wreath at Taj Hotel and pay a visit to Nariman House - Chabad Centre.</p>

<p>Next, Netanyahu will hold talks with Bollywood personalities in an exclusive &quot;Shalom Bollywood&quot;&nbsp;event, that aims at exploring business opportunities for Indian filmmakers in Israel.&nbsp;</p>

<p>There is cooperation on security issues between the two countries, including a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, the two countries had signed three vital agreements on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Cooperation in Homeland Security, and Protection of Classified Material in February 2014.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from ANI)</em></p>


Bilateral talks will take place between the two PMs on Monday. The primary focus will be on innovation, defence and security

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New Delhi this afternoon, six months after PM Modi's first-ever visit to Israel. PM Modi broke protocol to receive the Israel PM and his wife Sara at the Delhi airport. Modi was of course just returning the gesture; he too had been received at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv by Netanyahu when he had visited Israel. #WATCH LIVE: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Delhi https://t.co/cmkFTRtPs7 — ANI (@ANI) January 14, 2018 × Netanyahu is the second Israeli PM to visit India, the first one being Ariel Sharon, who was hosted by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in September 2003. Netanyahu, who is here for a six-day visit and is accompanied by a 130-member delegation from various sectors, wrote on Twitter that his "historic visit" was a "great blessing" for Israel. We will sign very many agreements. We are strengthening ties between Israel and this important global power. This serves our security, economic, trade and tourism interests, as well as many other areas. This is a great blessing for the State of Israel. — PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) January 14, 2018 × They will then head to Teen Murti monument in Delhi where the two leaders will lay a wreath at the monument, commemorating the role of three Indian regiments who fought at the battle of Haifa over a century ago - and celebrate the growing friendship between the two countries. They will be joined by External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj later in the afternoon at the Taj Palace Hotel, where Netanyahu will be staying. Modi will also host a private dinner for Netanyahu on Sunday. The visiting dignitary, on Monday, will be given a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan which will be followed by the wreath laying at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi. Bilateral talks between the two prime ministers will take place on Monday. The primary focus will be on "innovation" -- covering trade, economy, agriculture, water management etc. Discussion on defence and security components are also expected to happen as they have been a strong part of India-Israel relations for a while. Officials have informed that the two countries will possibly sign a number of pacts on startups and also issue a joint press statement. The Israeli Prime Minister will call on President Ram Nath Kovind later in the day. On Tuesday, Netanyahu, along with his wife Sara, will leave for Agra to see Taj Mahal and then visit Delhi to participate in an annual multilateral conference, Raisina Dialogue, where he is scheduled to deliver an inaugural speech. Netanyahu will leave for Ahmedabad on Wednesday to visit the Sabarmati Ashram and also attend an event at the International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate). He will later visit the Centre of Excellence, Vadrad before leaving for Mumbai on the same day. On Thursday, Netanyahu will have a power breakfast with Indian CEOs and attend a business seminar in Mumbai. He will also lay a wreath at Taj Hotel and pay a visit to Nariman House - Chabad Centre. Next, Netanyahu will hold talks with Bollywood personalities in an exclusive "Shalom Bollywood" event, that aims at exploring business opportunities for Indian filmmakers in Israel. There is cooperation on security issues between the two countries, including a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, the two countries had signed three vital agreements on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Cooperation in Homeland Security, and Protection of Classified Material in February 2014. (With inputs from ANI)

Watch: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in India, Modi breaks protocol to receive him at airport

<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ranked third among the top leaders of the world in the&nbsp;Gallup International Association (GIA) and CVoter International collaborative survey, leaving behind&nbsp;China&#39;s Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Theresa May.</p>

<p>The survey, conducted across 50 nations, ranked Modi at number three just behind French president Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Markel who topped the survey.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>GIA Global polls - Top 10 (Others)</p>
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<p>Around 53,769 persons were interviewed globally with each country having a representative sample of around 1,000 men and women who were interviewed either face-to-face, or via phone, or through online mediums.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The survey began in October and respondents&#39; results were completed by December 2017.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This is the highest rank any Indian Prime Minister has ever achieved in the GIA Global pools. Modi was ranked fifth in the 2015 polls with a Nett score (negative rating subtracted from positive rating) of four which doubled this year with eight.</p>

<p>Prime Minister Modi will be on a two-day visit to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting between January 22 and 23.</p>


Modi has left behind leaders like China's Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu amongst others.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ranked third among the top leaders of the world in the Gallup International Association (GIA) and CVoter International collaborative survey, leaving behind China's Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Theresa May. The survey, conducted across 50 nations, ranked Modi at number three just behind French president Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Markel who topped the survey. GIA Global polls - Top 10 (Others) × Around 53,769 persons were interviewed globally with each country having a representative sample of around 1,000 men and women who were interviewed either face-to-face, or via phone, or through online mediums. The survey began in October and respondents' results were completed by December 2017. This is the highest rank any Indian Prime Minister has ever achieved in the GIA Global pools. Modi was ranked fifth in the 2015 polls with a Nett score (negative rating subtracted from positive rating) of four which doubled this year with eight. Prime Minister Modi will be on a two-day visit to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting between January 22 and 23.

PM Modi ranked third most popular in international survey, leaves Jinping, Putin, Theresa May behind

<p>The Gallup International Association (GIA) and CVoter International collaborative survey have ranked PM Narendra Modi among the top three leaders of the world.</p>

<p>The survey, conducted across 50 nations, raked Modi at number three just behind French president Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Markel who topped the survey.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Modi has left behind leaders like China&#39;s Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Israel&#39;s Benjamin Netanyahu amongst others.</p>

<p>Around 53,769 persons were interviewed globally with each country having a representative sample of around 1,000 men and women who were interviewed either face-to-face, or via phone, or through online mediums.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The survey began during October and respondents results were completed by December 2017.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This is the highest rank any Indian Prime Minister has ever achieved in the GIA Global pools. Modi was ranked fifth with a Nett score (negative rating subtracted from positive rating) of four which doubled this year with eight.</p>

<p>Prime Minister Modi will be on a two-day visit to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting between January 22 and 23.</p>


The Gallup International Association (GIA) and CVoter International collaborative survey have ranked PM Narendra Modi among the top three leaders of the world. The survey, conducted across 50 nations, raked Modi at number three just behind French president Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Markel who topped the survey. Modi has left behind leaders like China's Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu amongst others. Around 53,769 persons were interviewed globally with each country having a representative sample of around 1,000 men and women who were interviewed either face-to-face, or via phone, or through online mediums. The survey began during October and respondents results were completed by December 2017. This is the highest rank any Indian Prime Minister has ever achieved in the GIA Global pools. Modi was ranked fifth with a Nett score (negative rating subtracted from positive rating) of four which doubled this year with eight. Prime Minister Modi will be on a two-day visit to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting between January 22 and 23.

PM Modi ranked third in GIA Global polls

<p>NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday raised the issue of educated unemployment and the need to&nbsp;generate jobs in the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In a meeting held at Delhi, economists and experts pointed out to the rising educated unemployment in the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>While addressing a press conference after the meeting NITI Aayog VC said&nbsp;&nbsp;&quot;some people pointed that the educated unemployment may be as high as 20 per cent and that is creating a problem. As you educate more people, raise aspirations and you have to provide them jobs.&quot;</p>

<p>He also said that he was hopeful in monitoring the high-frequency data on educated unemployment&nbsp;and will try to improve it by collaborating with the Minister of Labour.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I am hoping NITI Aayog will monitor high frequency data on employment on a regular basis &amp; actually create new data set which is not available as of now. I am trying to create capability in the Aayog hopefully in collaboration with the Min of Labour to trap this data: Rajiv Kumar <a href="https://t.co/Ih8z4rS7CB">pic.twitter.com/Ih8z4rS7CB</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/951106915077009408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>The experts also called for shifting the focus on agricultural production to raising farmers income by improving productivity, lowering costs, greater efficiency, greater market access, making producers of products rather than commodities.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The meeting which was themed as &quot;Economic Policy- The Road Ahead&quot; was organised&nbsp;in Delhi on Wednesday.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Prime minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with 40 economists and sector experts at NITI Aayog&nbsp;held a discussion on subjects relating to macroeconomy, urban development and connectivity.</p>

<p>The experts also held discussion on agriculture, rural development, employment, health, education, manufacturing, exports, and, infrastructure&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


He also said that he was hopeful in monitoring the high-frequency data on educated unemployment and will try to improve it by collaborating with the Minister of Labour

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday raised the issue of educated unemployment and the need to generate jobs in the country. In a meeting held at Delhi, economists and experts pointed out to the rising educated unemployment in the country. While addressing a press conference after the meeting NITI Aayog VC said "some people pointed that the educated unemployment may be as high as 20 per cent and that is creating a problem. As you educate more people, raise aspirations and you have to provide them jobs." He also said that he was hopeful in monitoring the high-frequency data on educated unemployment and will try to improve it by collaborating with the Minister of Labour. I am hoping NITI Aayog will monitor high frequency data on employment on a regular basis & actually create new data set which is not available as of now. I am trying to create capability in the Aayog hopefully in collaboration with the Min of Labour to trap this data: Rajiv Kumar pic.twitter.com/Ih8z4rS7CB — ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2018 × The experts also called for shifting the focus on agricultural production to raising farmers income by improving productivity, lowering costs, greater efficiency, greater market access, making producers of products rather than commodities. The meeting which was themed as "Economic Policy- The Road Ahead" was organised in Delhi on Wednesday. Prime minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with 40 economists and sector experts at NITI Aayog held a discussion on subjects relating to macroeconomy, urban development and connectivity. The experts also held discussion on agriculture, rural development, employment, health, education, manufacturing, exports, and, infrastructure

Educated unemployment may be as high as 20%: NITI Aayog vice-chairman

<p>Minister of Petroleum&nbsp;and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has announced the opening of the first-ever seven refineries and petrochemical complexes on 16 January in Barmer oil refinery.</p>

<p>He said &quot; For the first time, 7 refineries and petrochemical complexes are about to begin their functions in India &amp; will go on floor from 16th January, with all clearances and tenders.&quot;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">For the first time, 7 refineries &amp; petrochemical complexes are about to begin their functions in India &amp; will go on floor from 16th Jan, with all clearances &amp; tenders: Dharmendra Pradhan on PM Modi&#39;s proposed visit for foundation laying ceremony of Barmer oil refinery <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rajasthan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rajasthan</a> <a href="https://t.co/9UmoZouJre">pic.twitter.com/9UmoZouJre</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/950674278726254592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>He invalidated&nbsp;the statements made by Congress party that they have already laid the foundation stone of the refinery and the prime minister was repeating their action.</p>

<p>He said &quot;Congress is raising objections that they have already laid the foundation stone of the refinery and why is Modi Ji going again for that? These are all false claims.&quot;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Congress is raising objections that they have already laid the foundation stone of the refinery &amp; why is Modi Ji going again for that? These are false claims: Dharmendra Pradhan on PM Modi&#39;s proposed visit for foundation laying ceremony of Barmer oil refinery <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rajasthan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rajasthan</a> <a href="https://t.co/ngCnum6gsO">pic.twitter.com/ngCnum6gsO</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/950675960285704192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>On January 16, seven refineries and petrochemical complexes are about to begin their functioning in India for the first time.&nbsp;</p>

<p>PM Modi is proposed to visit the foundation site in Barmer Oil refinery in Rajasthan.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Earlier on January 6, Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has opposed the upcoming foundation laying ceremony of an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aninews.in/search?query=oil%20refinery">oil refinery</a>&nbsp;in Barmer by the Prime Minister.</p>

<p>He said that the foundation stone for the refinery was already laid September 22, 2013, by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


On January 16, seven refineries and petrochemical complexes are about to begin their functions in India for the first time. Congress said that the foundation stone for the refinery was already laid on September 22, 2013, by former party president Sonia Gandhi.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has announced the opening of the first-ever seven refineries and petrochemical complexes on 16 January in Barmer oil refinery. He said " For the first time, 7 refineries and petrochemical complexes are about to begin their functions in India & will go on floor from 16th January, with all clearances and tenders." For the first time, 7 refineries & petrochemical complexes are about to begin their functions in India & will go on floor from 16th Jan, with all clearances & tenders: Dharmendra Pradhan on PM Modi's proposed visit for foundation laying ceremony of Barmer oil refinery #Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/9UmoZouJre — ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2018 × He invalidated the statements made by Congress party that they have already laid the foundation stone of the refinery and the prime minister was repeating their action. He said "Congress is raising objections that they have already laid the foundation stone of the refinery and why is Modi Ji going again for that? These are all false claims." Congress is raising objections that they have already laid the foundation stone of the refinery & why is Modi Ji going again for that? These are false claims: Dharmendra Pradhan on PM Modi's proposed visit for foundation laying ceremony of Barmer oil refinery #Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/ngCnum6gsO — ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2018 × On January 16, seven refineries and petrochemical complexes are about to begin their functioning in India for the first time. PM Modi is proposed to visit the foundation site in Barmer Oil refinery in Rajasthan. Earlier on January 6, Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has opposed the upcoming foundation laying ceremony of an oil refinery in Barmer by the Prime Minister. He said that the foundation stone for the refinery was already laid September 22, 2013, by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

PM Modi laying foundation of refineries, petrochemical sites in Barmer Oil refinery, Congress takes credit

<p>Congress president Rahul Gandhi has again found new grounds to attack BJP - this time over India Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or as Gandhi has coined Gross Divisive Politics.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;The GDP is at a 4-year-old low now. Will Prime Minister Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stop boasting that India is the fastest growing economy?&quot; asked Congress leader Anand Sharma while addressing the media.</p>

<p>Gandhi took to Twitter on Saturday, giving out facts about the current growth projections in the country, while also taking a jibe at finance minister Arun Jaitley and calling him a &quot;genius.&quot;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">FM Jaitley&rsquo;s genius combines with Mr Modi&rsquo;s Gross Divisive Politics (GDP) to give India:<br />
<br />
New Investments: 13 year ?<br />
Bank credit Growth: 63 year ?<br />
Job creation: 8 year ?<br />
Agriculture GVA growth: 1.7%?<br />
Fiscal Deficit: 8 year??<br />
Stalled Projects ??<a href="https://t.co/bZdPnREYiE">https://t.co/bZdPnREYiE</a></p>
&mdash; Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficeOfRG/status/949479733850337280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;The Congress leader further said the national investment rate has also fallen.</p>

<p>&quot;The state of the economy is a matter of great concern. All the parameters are going down. The national investment rate has also fallen. Manufacturing has come down. The situation is grim and the government has no roadmap for recovery&quot;, he added.</p>

<p>India&rsquo;s economic growth is estimated to slow down to 4-year low of 6.5 per cent this fiscal, the lowest under the NDA regime, mainly due to GST impact on manufacturing and subdued farm output, according to the advance estimates of national accounts.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Real GDP at constant (2011-12) prices in the year 2017-18 is likely to attain a level of Rs 129.85 lakh crore, as against the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2016-17 of Rs 121.90 lakh crore, released on May 31, 2017.</p>

<p>The sectors, which registered a growth rate of over 7.0 per cent, include public administration, defence and other services, trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting, electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services and financial, real estate and professional services.</p>

<p>Gandhi has continuously attacked Modi&#39;s implementation of demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax, dubbing it as Gabbar Singh Tax.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The war is set to continue a few more states will go o polls in 2018, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll</p>


The growth in GDP during 2017-18 is estimated at 6.5 per cent, as compared to the growth rate of 7.1 per cent in 2016-17, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation had noted on Friday

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has again found new grounds to attack BJP - this time over India Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or as Gandhi has coined Gross Divisive Politics. "The GDP is at a 4-year-old low now. Will Prime Minister Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stop boasting that India is the fastest growing economy?" asked Congress leader Anand Sharma while addressing the media. Gandhi took to Twitter on Saturday, giving out facts about the current growth projections in the country, while also taking a jibe at finance minister Arun Jaitley and calling him a "genius." FM Jaitley’s genius combines with Mr Modi’s Gross Divisive Politics (GDP) to give India: New Investments: 13 year ? Bank credit Growth: 63 year ? Job creation: 8 year ? Agriculture GVA growth: 1.7%? Fiscal Deficit: 8 year?? Stalled Projects ??https://t.co/bZdPnREYiE — Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) January 6, 2018 × The Congress leader further said the national investment rate has also fallen. "The state of the economy is a matter of great concern. All the parameters are going down. The national investment rate has also fallen. Manufacturing has come down. The situation is grim and the government has no roadmap for recovery", he added. India’s economic growth is estimated to slow down to 4-year low of 6.5 per cent this fiscal, the lowest under the NDA regime, mainly due to GST impact on manufacturing and subdued farm output, according to the advance estimates of national accounts. As per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Real GDP at constant (2011-12) prices in the year 2017-18 is likely to attain a level of Rs 129.85 lakh crore, as against the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2016-17 of Rs 121.90 lakh crore, released on May 31, 2017. The sectors, which registered a growth rate of over 7.0 per cent, include public administration, defence and other services, trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting, electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services and financial, real estate and professional services. Gandhi has continuously attacked Modi's implementation of demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax, dubbing it as Gabbar Singh Tax. The war is set to continue a few more states will go o polls in 2018, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll

Rahul Gandhi takes a jibe at Modi, Arun Jaitley over GDP projections

<p>Two Noida policemen who were directed to lead PM Modi&#39;s convoy during his trip to Noida on Monday to inaugurate the DMRC Magenta line took a wrong turn have been suspended.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sub-inspector Dilip Singh and constable Jaipal, who were in an anti-demolition vehicle were leading the cavalcade and took a wrong turn causing major security lapse.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Due to this, the vehicles of Modi and many other VIPs were stuck in a traffic for a few minutes at the Mahamaya flyover and a motorcycle and bus came very close to the VVIP fleet.</p>

<p>The cavalcade lingered there and was stuck on the expressway for 200 metres before it turned back into its original route.</p>

<p>A probe into an IPS officer and two DSPs has been initiated as well, as they were involved in the movement.</p>

<p>The security lapse took place between 2.35pm and 3pm on December 25 afternoon when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on his way to the Botanical Garden helipad from the Amity University campus.</p>

<p>As a result, the PM reached the helipad 10 minutes late.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Officials stated the entire route had been rehearsed, and there was no scope for confusion.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was present during the security breach, has reportedly given a dressing down to the officials and sought an explanation.</p>

<p>A detailed report is likely to be submitted to the government in the next two days.</p>


Modi was left stuck in traffic for a few minutes

Two Noida policemen who were directed to lead PM Modi's convoy during his trip to Noida on Monday to inaugurate the DMRC Magenta line took a wrong turn have been suspended. Sub-inspector Dilip Singh and constable Jaipal, who were in an anti-demolition vehicle were leading the cavalcade and took a wrong turn causing major security lapse. Due to this, the vehicles of Modi and many other VIPs were stuck in a traffic for a few minutes at the Mahamaya flyover and a motorcycle and bus came very close to the VVIP fleet. The cavalcade lingered there and was stuck on the expressway for 200 metres before it turned back into its original route. A probe into an IPS officer and two DSPs has been initiated as well, as they were involved in the movement. The security lapse took place between 2.35pm and 3pm on December 25 afternoon when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on his way to the Botanical Garden helipad from the Amity University campus. As a result, the PM reached the helipad 10 minutes late. Officials stated the entire route had been rehearsed, and there was no scope for confusion. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was present during the security breach, has reportedly given a dressing down to the officials and sought an explanation. A detailed report is likely to be submitted to the government in the next two days.

Modi's Noida visit: 2 cops suspended for driving convoy the wrong way

<p>If today&rsquo;s electoral outcomes were not to impact tomorrow&rsquo;s, they would be dealt with as standalone and transient phenomena. But because the results have a roll-over effect in varying measure, they get analysed threadbare &mdash; and with some hair-splitting added. Both the winner and loser has lessons to learn, and the one who imbibes them better stands the greater chance to stand high on the podium in the coming days. And so, the verdict on the political contests of 2017 can be a determinant for 2018 as well.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Two crucial elections happened in 2017, and while the end result was the same, the messages the electorate delivered were very different and the level of endorsement varied. That one of these confrontations took place early in the year and the other later as 2017 came near to a close, helped in establishing a &lsquo;beginning and end&rsquo; narrative. Except that every start is a new beginning and every end is the harbinger of a new beginning. It&rsquo;s this belief that keeps political parties going, losing steam one moment, gaining it the next. Of course, the one which recoups its losses the earliest stand the better chance of breasting the tape.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The BJP began 2017 with a bang and the Congress with a whimper.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The former swept the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election with a margin that even its staunchest admirers had not reckoned with. The Congress, which had tagged along with the Samajwadi Party, came to a cropper. There can be endless debate on whether the Congress sunk the Samajwadi Party or the reverse happened.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>With 80 Lok Sabha and 400 plus Assembly seats, Uttar Pradesh has often been the bellwether State. Parties that perform poorly here cannot hope to rule the country. Having won 71 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 on its own, the BJP had the difficult task to live up to the high level. The general sense during the Assembly poll campaigning had been that the party would return to power after nearly two decades in exile, but nobody saw the massive margin of victory coming. The wave flattened the Samajwadi Party, decimated the Bahujan Samaj Party and obliterated the Congress.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The messages were the following: Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s charisma was intact (he was the star campaigner for the BJP); the split in the Samajwadi Party as the result of a family feud had taken its toll on the party; the politics of appeasement does not work; talk of good governance still sells; caste considerations, while still relevant and on which both the Samajwadi Party and the BSP heavily rely on, now have limited appeal; and, the party which manages its macro as well as micro election strategies more smartly, using both manpower and technology, has the greater chance of victory.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The outcome of the Uttar Pradesh election threw up a dilemma for the Congress: Should it continue with the tactic of over-relying on strong local leaders or fire up its own local leadership to lead the battle?</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>By the time the Gujarat Assembly election came only months after the Uttar Pradesh poll, the Congress was still unsure on this front. For the first time in two decades, it sensed a chance to oust the BJP in the State, and yet there was also a feeling of diffidence. This led to its over-dependence on three young caste warriors whose affiliation to the Congress was tentative and their desire to align with that party was motivated by the prospect of little more than an immediate gain.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>It cannot be denied that they - Mevani, Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore- impacted the final tally to an extent, reducing the BJP&rsquo;s number as compared to the 2012 figure and bettering the Congress&rsquo;s. But that impact was less than expected, since the BJP did succeed in containing the damage caused by the migration of a section of the Patidar community to the Congress camp. It did appear that, as in the case of Uttar Pradesh, the Congress had placed all its eggs in the basket of local leaders from outside the party.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>It needs to be remembered that the BJP had been as weakened in Uttar Pradesh over the two decades preceding 2014 as the Congress had been. But while the BJP continued to work on its core strengths and weaknesses in the State, the Congress flirted with both the Samajwadi Party and the BSP in a desperate bid to regain influence.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>In Gujarat too, instead of focusing on the discontent in rural parts, the disruptive nature of Goods and Services Tax implementation, and the general sense of anti-incumbency of two decades, the Congress outsourced its fate to caste leaders with little political experience. In the end, it was reduced to claiming &ldquo;moral victory&rdquo;, which means nothing in electoral politics.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The message for the BJP was that it could no longer take the voters for granted, even in Gujarat. Its tally fell by 16 seats as compared to 2012, although its vote-share went up. The party must recall the &ldquo;India Shining&rsquo; moment of 2004 and understand that support can dissipate almost as quickly as it comes. Recent political history is replete with such instances: 1977, when Indira Gandhi led the Congress to a debacle and also lost in her constituency; 1980, when the Janata Party collapsed and Indira Gandhi made a grand comeback; 1989, when Rajiv Gandhi led his party to a defeat, frittering away a three-fourth mandate.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Fresh battle lines will be drawn for 2018, which is a year of many important elections. If both the Congress and the BJP have absorbed the experiences of the year to soon end, we can expect fireworks that will light up the nation&rsquo;s democratic landscape. The Congress will seek to protect its turf in Karnataka and Meghalaya, while the BJP can expect a fight in the States its rules &mdash; Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The rural-urban voting pattern will be tested in good measure, given that Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have a far larger number of rural constituencies than Gujarat has; the BJP did resoundingly well in urban Gujarat and relatively less well in the rural belt. Although each of these States has a different set of issues on which the voters will decide, common factors will be at play too.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The first is the central leadership of the Congress and the BJP. As Congress president, Rahul Gandhi will now be even more than before pitted against his rival party&rsquo;s principal campaigner, Modi. The second is the local leadership of the two parties. Interestingly, while both have strong leaders, there are turf issues as well among these leaders. The State-level leadership tussle, thus, could be a decisive factor.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The BJP had ruled Karnataka before, and so had the Congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. If the BJP manages to win over Karnataka and retain the States it governs, the Congress&rsquo;s prospects for 2019 would be bleak. Indeed, even a status quo would be fine for the BJP, though the loss in Karnataka can set back its plans for a south India foray.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>For the Congress, less than the best scenario would be to retain Karnataka and snatch at least one state from the BJP. That would be more than a &lsquo;moral win&rsquo;. The best case situation would, of course, be a complete victory in the north and the south. It&rsquo;s important that the party&rsquo;s new president creates his team well before these contests. Finally, there are de-railers in both the Congress and the BJP. They must be reined in.</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).</em></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


If both the Congress and the BJP have absorbed the experiences of the year to soon end, we can expect fireworks that will light up the nation?s democratic landscape.

If today’s electoral outcomes were not to impact tomorrow’s, they would be dealt with as standalone and transient phenomena. But because the results have a roll-over effect in varying measure, they get analysed threadbare — and with some hair-splitting added. Both the winner and loser has lessons to learn, and the one who imbibes them better stands the greater chance to stand high on the podium in the coming days. And so, the verdict on the political contests of 2017 can be a determinant for 2018 as well. Two crucial elections happened in 2017, and while the end result was the same, the messages the electorate delivered were very different and the level of endorsement varied. That one of these confrontations took place early in the year and the other later as 2017 came near to a close, helped in establishing a ‘beginning and end’ narrative. Except that every start is a new beginning and every end is the harbinger of a new beginning. It’s this belief that keeps political parties going, losing steam one moment, gaining it the next. Of course, the one which recoups its losses the earliest stand the better chance of breasting the tape. The BJP began 2017 with a bang and the Congress with a whimper. The former swept the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election with a margin that even its staunchest admirers had not reckoned with. The Congress, which had tagged along with the Samajwadi Party, came to a cropper. There can be endless debate on whether the Congress sunk the Samajwadi Party or the reverse happened. With 80 Lok Sabha and 400 plus Assembly seats, Uttar Pradesh has often been the bellwether State. Parties that perform poorly here cannot hope to rule the country. Having won 71 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 on its own, the BJP had the difficult task to live up to the high level. The general sense during the Assembly poll campaigning had been that the party would return to power after nearly two decades in exile, but nobody saw the massive margin of victory coming. The wave flattened the Samajwadi Party, decimated the Bahujan Samaj Party and obliterated the Congress. The messages were the following: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma was intact (he was the star campaigner for the BJP); the split in the Samajwadi Party as the result of a family feud had taken its toll on the party; the politics of appeasement does not work; talk of good governance still sells; caste considerations, while still relevant and on which both the Samajwadi Party and the BSP heavily rely on, now have limited appeal; and, the party which manages its macro as well as micro election strategies more smartly, using both manpower and technology, has the greater chance of victory. The outcome of the Uttar Pradesh election threw up a dilemma for the Congress: Should it continue with the tactic of over-relying on strong local leaders or fire up its own local leadership to lead the battle? By the time the Gujarat Assembly election came only months after the Uttar Pradesh poll, the Congress was still unsure on this front. For the first time in two decades, it sensed a chance to oust the BJP in the State, and yet there was also a feeling of diffidence. This led to its over-dependence on three young caste warriors whose affiliation to the Congress was tentative and their desire to align with that party was motivated by the prospect of little more than an immediate gain. It cannot be denied that they - Mevani, Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore- impacted the final tally to an extent, reducing the BJP’s number as compared to the 2012 figure and bettering the Congress’s. But that impact was less than expected, since the BJP did succeed in containing the damage caused by the migration of a section of the Patidar community to the Congress camp. It did appear that, as in the case of Uttar Pradesh, the Congress had placed all its eggs in the basket of local leaders from outside the party. It needs to be remembered that the BJP had been as weakened in Uttar Pradesh over the two decades preceding 2014 as the Congress had been. But while the BJP continued to work on its core strengths and weaknesses in the State, the Congress flirted with both the Samajwadi Party and the BSP in a desperate bid to regain influence. In Gujarat too, instead of focusing on the discontent in rural parts, the disruptive nature of Goods and Services Tax implementation, and the general sense of anti-incumbency of two decades, the Congress outsourced its fate to caste leaders with little political experience. In the end, it was reduced to claiming “moral victory”, which means nothing in electoral politics. The message for the BJP was that it could no longer take the voters for granted, even in Gujarat. Its tally fell by 16 seats as compared to 2012, although its vote-share went up. The party must recall the “India Shining’ moment of 2004 and understand that support can dissipate almost as quickly as it comes. Recent political history is replete with such instances: 1977, when Indira Gandhi led the Congress to a debacle and also lost in her constituency; 1980, when the Janata Party collapsed and Indira Gandhi made a grand comeback; 1989, when Rajiv Gandhi led his party to a defeat, frittering away a three-fourth mandate. Fresh battle lines will be drawn for 2018, which is a year of many important elections. If both the Congress and the BJP have absorbed the experiences of the year to soon end, we can expect fireworks that will light up the nation’s democratic landscape. The Congress will seek to protect its turf in Karnataka and Meghalaya, while the BJP can expect a fight in the States its rules — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The rural-urban voting pattern will be tested in good measure, given that Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have a far larger number of rural constituencies than Gujarat has; the BJP did resoundingly well in urban Gujarat and relatively less well in the rural belt. Although each of these States has a different set of issues on which the voters will decide, common factors will be at play too. The first is the central leadership of the Congress and the BJP. As Congress president, Rahul Gandhi will now be even more than before pitted against his rival party’s principal campaigner, Modi. The second is the local leadership of the two parties. Interestingly, while both have strong leaders, there are turf issues as well among these leaders. The State-level leadership tussle, thus, could be a decisive factor. The BJP had ruled Karnataka before, and so had the Congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. If the BJP manages to win over Karnataka and retain the States it governs, the Congress’s prospects for 2019 would be bleak. Indeed, even a status quo would be fine for the BJP, though the loss in Karnataka can set back its plans for a south India foray. For the Congress, less than the best scenario would be to retain Karnataka and snatch at least one state from the BJP. That would be more than a ‘moral win’. The best case situation would, of course, be a complete victory in the north and the south. It’s important that the party’s new president creates his team well before these contests. Finally, there are de-railers in both the Congress and the BJP. They must be reined in. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: Will Congress's fortune see a turnaround in 2018?

<p>Five-time MLA from Seraj, Jairam Thakur <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/jairam-thakur-to-be-sworn-in-as-himachal-pradesh-chief-minister-today-27800">will swear-in</a> as the new Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh today.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JairamThakur?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JairamThakur</a> set to take oath as the Chief Minister of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HimachalPradesh?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HimachalPradesh</a>, today, says &quot;people have shown faith in us, will try to meet their expectations&quot; <a href="https://t.co/OdOqThvXK0">pic.twitter.com/OdOqThvXK0</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/945866015522537472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>While talking to the media he said: &quot;I would have been happier if my father was present today, he passed away a year back. My&nbsp;mother is unwell at the moment but she sends her blessings and that is more than enough for me.&quot;</p>

<p>The new Himachal Pradesh chief minister-elect&#39;s father died on December 25 last year.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="hi">Bohot khushi hoti agar pitaji aaj saath hote, ek saal pehle wo humein chhodkar chale gaye. Mataji aswasth hain, par unka aashirwaad hai aur ye mere liye bohot badi baat hai: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JairamThakur?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JairamThakur</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HimachalPradesh?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HimachalPradesh</a> <a href="https://t.co/dgRHHce9LQ">pic.twitter.com/dgRHHce9LQ</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/945867545759776768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Thakur&#39;s wife&nbsp;Sadhana Thakur will be accompanying the leader in the ceremony. She expressed her delight and said:&nbsp;&quot;It is a win for the common man. There are a lot of expectations with this Govt that they will try and solve the problems faced by the public&quot;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">&quot;It is a win for the common man. There are a lot of expectations with this Govt that they will try and solve the problems faced by the public&quot; says Sadhana Thakur, wife of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JaiamThakur?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JaiamThakur</a> ahead of his oath taking ceremony <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HimachalPradesh?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HimachalPradesh</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZbkHMTAmSV">pic.twitter.com/ZbkHMTAmSV</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/945868814163394561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>The ceremony will be held at the historic Ridge Maidan in Shimla at 11 am. Thousands of supports have started making their way to the venue to celebrate in full swing.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ridge ground in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Shimla?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Shimla</a> all geared up for the swearing in ceremony of CM elect <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JairamThakur?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JairamThakur</a> and others <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HimachalPradesh?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HimachalPradesh</a> <a href="https://t.co/scV19gKy3k">pic.twitter.com/scV19gKy3k</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/945870193728749568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah will be attending, as will a number of other BJP leaders.</p>

<p>Elaborate security arrangements are being made for the swearing-in ceremony and Modi is likely to address people at the Ridge.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The new Himachal Pradesh chief minister-elect's father died on December 25 last year

Five-time MLA from Seraj, Jairam Thakur will swear-in as the new Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh today. #JairamThakur set to take oath as the Chief Minister of #HimachalPradesh, today, says "people have shown faith in us, will try to meet their expectations" pic.twitter.com/OdOqThvXK0 — ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017 × While talking to the media he said: "I would have been happier if my father was present today, he passed away a year back. My mother is unwell at the moment but she sends her blessings and that is more than enough for me." The new Himachal Pradesh chief minister-elect's father died on December 25 last year. Bohot khushi hoti agar pitaji aaj saath hote, ek saal pehle wo humein chhodkar chale gaye. Mataji aswasth hain, par unka aashirwaad hai aur ye mere liye bohot badi baat hai: #JairamThakur #HimachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/dgRHHce9LQ — ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017 × Thakur's wife Sadhana Thakur will be accompanying the leader in the ceremony. She expressed her delight and said: "It is a win for the common man. There are a lot of expectations with this Govt that they will try and solve the problems faced by the public" "It is a win for the common man. There are a lot of expectations with this Govt that they will try and solve the problems faced by the public" says Sadhana Thakur, wife of #JaiamThakur ahead of his oath taking ceremony #HimachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/ZbkHMTAmSV — ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017 × The ceremony will be held at the historic Ridge Maidan in Shimla at 11 am. Thousands of supports have started making their way to the venue to celebrate in full swing. Ridge ground in #Shimla all geared up for the swearing in ceremony of CM elect #JairamThakur and others #HimachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/scV19gKy3k — ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017 × Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah will be attending, as will a number of other BJP leaders. Elaborate security arrangements are being made for the swearing-in ceremony and Modi is likely to address people at the Ridge.

Would have been happier if my father were here, Himachal CM-elect Jairam Thakur says before swearing in

<p>When Narendra Modi was elected in early 2014, the media declared him &ldquo;India&rsquo;s<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e347de5c-e088-11e3-9534-00144feabdc0"> first </a>social<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e347de5c-e088-11e3-9534-00144feabdc0"> </a>media<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e347de5c-e088-11e3-9534-00144feabdc0"> </a>prime<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e347de5c-e088-11e3-9534-00144feabdc0"> </a>minister&rdquo; and compared his approach to technology to that of former<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/tech/internet/on-social-media-can-pm-narendra-modi-displace-his-good-friend-us-president-barack-obama/articleshow/53565939.cms"> </a>US<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/tech/internet/on-social-media-can-pm-narendra-modi-displace-his-good-friend-us-president-barack-obama/articleshow/53565939.cms"> </a>president<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/tech/internet/on-social-media-can-pm-narendra-modi-displace-his-good-friend-us-president-barack-obama/articleshow/53565939.cms"> </a>Barack<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/tech/internet/on-social-media-can-pm-narendra-modi-displace-his-good-friend-us-president-barack-obama/articleshow/53565939.cms"> </a>Obama. In 2016, Time<a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/pm-modi-on-times-most-influential-people-on-internet-for-second-year"> </a>magazine<a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/pm-modi-on-times-most-influential-people-on-internet-for-second-year"> </a>named<a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/pm-modi-on-times-most-influential-people-on-internet-for-second-year"> </a>Modi one of the 30 most influential people on the internet.</p>

<p>Today, he is the most followed world leader on social media, with more than 40 million Facebook followers. Needless to say, with a social media superstar at the helm, the Indian government was expected to bloom online.</p>

<figure class="align-right "><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160173/original/image-20170309-21030-eq0hgc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" />
<figcaption>
<p><span class="caption">Modi&rsquo;s profile, March 9 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Facebook</span></span></p>

<p>But this idea should be advanced cautiously, as certain facts belie the assumption. According to the<a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/07/some-americans-dont-use-the-internet-who-are-they"> </a>Pew<a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/07/some-americans-dont-use-the-internet-who-are-they"> </a>Research<a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/07/some-americans-dont-use-the-internet-who-are-they"> </a>Center, 87% American adults use the internet, while<a href="http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/trai-releases-data-on-internet-usage-subscription-has-grown-9-72-percent-over-previous-year-353824.html"> </a>only<a href="http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/trai-releases-data-on-internet-usage-subscription-has-grown-9-72-percent-over-previous-year-353824.html"> </a>27<a href="http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/trai-releases-data-on-internet-usage-subscription-has-grown-9-72-percent-over-previous-year-353824.html">% of</a> Indians<a href="http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/trai-releases-data-on-internet-usage-subscription-has-grown-9-72-percent-over-previous-year-353824.html"> </a>do. And <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/06/global-tech-companies-see-indias-vast-offline-population-as-untapped-market">only </a>two<a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/06/global-tech-companies-see-indias-vast-offline-population-as-untapped-market"> in</a> ten<a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/06/global-tech-companies-see-indias-vast-offline-population-as-untapped-market"> </a>Indians regularly use social media platforms, whereas <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media">seven in ten Americans</a> do.</p>
</figcaption>
</figure>

<p><strong>&lsquo;Digital India&rsquo; to connect all citizens</strong></p>

<p>One of the government&rsquo;s priorities main is to get more Indians connected to the web. New Delhi&rsquo;s new programme, &ldquo;Digital India&rdquo;, unifies information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives under one umbrella.</p>

<figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_EuwrPIzkcg?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440"></iframe>

<figcaption>
<p><span class="caption">Narendra Modi&rsquo;s first 3D holographic projection speech, November 2012.</span></p>

<p>The process of building ICTs into governance involves the automation of routine administration jobs such as online passport registration or school application, providing requisite information to citizens, and citizen engagement in policy-making.</p>
</figcaption>
</figure>

<p>The Digital India initiative has seen some significant successes. It has connected<a href="http://www.governancenow.com/views/interview/250000-gram-panchayats-two-year-tall-order"> </a>all<a href="http://www.governancenow.com/views/interview/250000-gram-panchayats-two-year-tall-order"> </a>250,000<a href="http://www.governancenow.com/views/interview/250000-gram-panchayats-two-year-tall-order"> </a><em>Gram</em><a href="http://www.governancenow.com/views/interview/250000-gram-panchayats-two-year-tall-order"><em> Panchayats</em></a> (local administrative clusters of villages) with fibre optic cables, established<a href="http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tele-talk/digital-india-making-villages-smart/719"> </a>wifi<a href="http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tele-talk/digital-india-making-villages-smart/719"> </a>villages<a href="http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tele-talk/digital-india-making-villages-smart/719"> </a>and<a href="http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tele-talk/digital-india-making-villages-smart/719"> </a>smart<a href="http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tele-talk/digital-india-making-villages-smart/719"> </a>cities and created an <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/security-tech/technology/aadhaar-playing-a-huge-role-in-contributing-to-digital-india-programme-neel-ratan-pwc/articleshow/57074193.cms">ecosystem for Aadhaar</a>, India&rsquo;s national biometric identification system. It has also encouraged electronic banking through mobile<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/spend/demonetisation-ussd-technology-to-pay-digitally-without-internet/articleshow/55574701.cms"> </a>payments.</p>

<figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ndIt6hBP4M?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440"></iframe>

<figcaption>
<p><span class="caption">A commercial announcing India&rsquo;s first high-speed broadband internet in Idukki, Kerala.</span></p>

<p>The government also launched an exclusive citizen engagement platform, <a href="https://www.mygov.in/">mygov.in</a>, which currently boasts 4 million registrations, 1.8 million submissions across 599 tasks and 35 million comments.</p>
</figcaption>
</figure>

<p>Given India&rsquo;s infrastructure inadequacies and weak private-public partnerships, these are laudable efforts.</p>

<p><strong>Ministries are letting Modi down</strong></p>

<p>Modi <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/politics/social-modi-all-ministers-to-use-facebook-twitter-to-reach-out-1548135.html">has pushed</a> his ministers to adopt social media platforms as a part of their job. Many agencies have invited the experts and representatives from Facebook, Twitter and Google to attend <a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2016/dec/24/facebook-gets-over-6000-data-requests-from-india-in-first-half-of-2016-1552667.html">consultation meetings</a> (some of which I have attended) and also made data requests.</p>

<p>Today, the Election Commission of India uses<a href="http://www.news18.com/news/tech/election-commission-of-india-partners-with-facebook-to-register-voters-1298951.html"> </a>Facebook<a href="http://www.news18.com/news/tech/election-commission-of-india-partners-with-facebook-to-register-voters-1298951.html"> </a>to<a href="http://www.news18.com/news/tech/election-commission-of-india-partners-with-facebook-to-register-voters-1298951.html"> </a>engage potential and present voters with the democratic process, and most ministry and agency websites are integrated with various digital platforms. It is also common<a href="http://www.livemint.com/Politics/AD4cwD62glIdmqHMdVZ2KN/Agriculture-ministry-scouts-for-a-social-media-manager.html"> to </a>see<a href="http://www.livemint.com/Politics/AD4cwD62glIdmqHMdVZ2KN/Agriculture-ministry-scouts-for-a-social-media-manager.html"> </a>government<a href="http://www.livemint.com/Politics/AD4cwD62glIdmqHMdVZ2KN/Agriculture-ministry-scouts-for-a-social-media-manager.html"> </a>agencies<a href="http://www.livemint.com/Politics/AD4cwD62glIdmqHMdVZ2KN/Agriculture-ministry-scouts-for-a-social-media-manager.html"> </a>advertising to hire social<a href="http://www.disabilityaffairs.gov.in/upload/5678f2a4c6e8cAdvt.%20for%20Social%20Media%20Consultant.pdf"> </a>media<a href="http://www.disabilityaffairs.gov.in/upload/5678f2a4c6e8cAdvt.%20for%20Social%20Media%20Consultant.pdf"> </a>firms in national newspapers.</p>

<p>Social media platforms are part of the larger e-governance effort. At a minimum, the government uses them to get information to citizens and, more gradually, to <a href="https://www.mygov.in/group-issue/public-consultation-e-governance-service-maturity-model/">include user-generated content</a> in governance.</p>

<p>But at present, despite these various actions, social media acts primarily a mere extension of agency homepages. Evidently, many ministries and departments are hesitant to use the pages and accounts they&rsquo;ve started.</p>

<p>Real-time updates are few. Those that occur are thanks to a few savvy <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/modi-sarkar2-who-are-the-most-social-media-savvy-ministers-in-the-modi-cabinet/articleshow/52271864.cms">ministers</a>, including Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External affairs, Piyush Goyal, Minster of Power, and Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Railways.</p>

<p>Some of Twitter interactions have been impressive. Take, for example, the time <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/sushma-swaraj-helps-woman-who-was-mugged-in-tanzania-this-time-without-even-being-asked-4505980">Sushma Swaraj directly helped</a> an Indian citizen who was mugged in Tanzania.</p>

<p>However, government social media usage starts to fail when ministers are questioned or criticised by users. It took Modi &ndash; who usually uses Twitter daily &ndash; ten days to tweet about <a href="http://www.dailyo.in/politics/dadri-murder-narendra-modi-twitter-bihar-polls-mann-ki-baat-rss-bjp-muslims-manmohan-singh/story/1/6703.html">the communal violence in Dadri</a>, where a Muslim man <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/Communal-tension-in-Dadri-after-rumours-of-cow-slaughtering/articleshow/49148923.cms">was lynched by a Hindu mob</a> on suspicion of slaughtering a cow.</p>

<p><strong>Lack of credibility</strong></p>

<p>Quickly voicing concerns to other users and trading in genuine uncensored content are major features of social media. If these activities are shaken, either by blocking criticisms or through non-responsiveness, trust and credibility are lost.</p>

<p>If a minister responds to, say, a tweet about <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/churchgate-train-crash-suresh-prabhu-panned-for-late-probe-order/story-qcvtA0PLLklbG56iLxYCaP.html">the lack of baby diapers</a> on railway platforms but does not immediately respond to queries about a recent accident, or if <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/maneka-gandhis-silence-on-jallikattu-row-continues/1/864075.html">a minister keeps mum</a> on violence when she is expected <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pm-tweets-on-everything-but-silent-on-indians-attacked-in-us-congress/story-PZ9MedhRyfh98kKE3PrsPJ.html">to speak out</a>, the real value that social media could bring to governance is lost.</p>

<p>Citizens may stop following the ministers, or troll them. Both hurt efficiency in e-governance.</p>

<figure class="align-right zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160188/original/image-20170309-21030-101omth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160188/original/image-20170309-21030-101omth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" /></a>

<figcaption>
<p><span class="caption">MapBox&rsquo;s open-source flood information.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mapbox/23381596151/">Mapbox/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
</figcaption>
</figure>

<p>Despite its social media presence, Modi&rsquo;s government has largely failed to move beyond simply disseminating information. In 2015, <a href="http://itra.medialabasia.in/img/Chennai%20Floods-Rapid%20Assessment%20Report-May%2023,%202016.pdf">the </a>Chennai<a href="http://itra.medialabasia.in/img/Chennai%20Floods-Rapid%20Assessment%20Report-May%2023,%202016.pdf"> </a>floods left thousands homeless and killed<a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/northeast-monsoon-claimed-470-lives-in-tamil-nadu-jayalalithaa/article8064661.ece"> </a>almost<a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/northeast-monsoon-claimed-470-lives-in-tamil-nadu-jayalalithaa/article8064661.ece"> </a>500. Well before the government responded, civil society organisations and citizens used social media <a href="https://qz.com/563397/chennai-floods-once-again-social-media-is-helping-indians-while-the-government-flounders">to create live-updated maps</a> of affected areas and tell residents about safe houses and transportation.</p>

<figure class="align-center "><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160187/original/image-20170309-21056-14cqjxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" />
<figcaption><span class="caption">Flood waters in Nandanam, Chennai, 2015.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Chennai_flood_water_logging_near_ofice_nandanam5.jpg">Vijayingarsal/Wikimedia</a></span></figcaption>
</figure>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Of censorship, trolls and &lsquo;</strong><em><strong>bhakts</strong></em><strong>&rsquo;</strong></p>

<p>The government is also concerned about its own employees criticising policy initiatives or &ldquo;liking&rdquo; anti-government views. Recently, civil servants <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/no-criticism-of-government-by-officials-on-social-media-proposed-rules/articleshow/53282029.cms">were advised</a> to follow a social media code of conduct (though this <a href="http://meity.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/Approved%20Social%20Media%20Framework%20and%20Guidelines%20_2_.pdf">framework</a> appears outdated and incomplete).</p>

<p>Government social media use is also co-opted by political party supporters. Called &ldquo;<a href="http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/The-underage-optimist/anatomy-of-an-internet-troll-how-social-media-birthed-a-strange-new-phenomenon-in-india-the-bhakts/"><em>bhakts</em></a>&rdquo;, or henchmen, these ardent supporters of Modi or of other right-wing political movements have sidetracked any possibilities of healthy discussion. And they are equally matched by their more liberal opponents.</p>

<p><em>Bhakts</em> are not public officials. But their online activities have blurred the lines between the roles played by political party head and prime minister, reducing the potential positive outcomes of the government&rsquo;s fledgling social media efforts.</p>

<p><strong>To regulate and to serve</strong></p>

<p>There are two main ways that a democratic government approaches the social media sphere: regulation and service provision. Modi&rsquo;s government is in the nascent stages of both.</p>

<p>As a regulator, governments should monitor online activity, policing content and its creators (if needed) without damaging freedom of expression. The Modi administration&rsquo;s regulatory role is being hijacked by partisan trolls who lack training and legitimacy.</p>

<p>As a digital public-service provider, governments should treat online citizens like customers, seeking feedback on services or extending post-service support. When Twitter may be <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/brand-equity/twitter-banking-ground-breaking-or-gimmicky/articleshow/52202088.cms">explored as an e-banking platform</a>, for example, why not use it to book a ticket on India&rsquo;s state-run railroad or apply for a passport?</p>

<p><img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73656/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" width="1" />Without better guidelines on playing this role, however, Modi&rsquo;s government agencies will continue to struggle to provide citizen services. As an individual, Prime Minister Modi may be an exceptional social media influencer. But, for now, the same cannot be said about his government.</p>

<p>This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The </a>Conversation. Read the original<a href="https://theconversation.com/narendra-modi-indias-social-media-star-struggles-to-get-government-online-73656"> </a>article.</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).</em></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Modi has pushed his ministers to adopt social media platforms as a part of their job.

When Narendra Modi was elected in early 2014, the media declared him “India’s first social media prime minister” and compared his approach to technology to that of former US president Barack Obama. In 2016, Time magazine named Modi one of the 30 most influential people on the internet. Today, he is the most followed world leader on social media, with more than 40 million Facebook followers. Needless to say, with a social media superstar at the helm, the Indian government was expected to bloom online. Modi’s profile, March 9 2017. Facebook But this idea should be advanced cautiously, as certain facts belie the assumption. According to the Pew Research Center, 87% American adults use the internet, while only 27% of Indians do. And only two in ten Indians regularly use social media platforms, whereas seven in ten Americans do. ‘Digital India’ to connect all citizens One of the government’s priorities main is to get more Indians connected to the web. New Delhi’s new programme, “Digital India”, unifies information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives under one umbrella. Narendra Modi’s first 3D holographic projection speech, November 2012. The process of building ICTs into governance involves the automation of routine administration jobs such as online passport registration or school application, providing requisite information to citizens, and citizen engagement in policy-making. The Digital India initiative has seen some significant successes. It has connected all 250,000 Gram Panchayats (local administrative clusters of villages) with fibre optic cables, established wifi villages and smart cities and created an ecosystem for Aadhaar, India’s national biometric identification system. It has also encouraged electronic banking through mobile payments. A commercial announcing India’s first high-speed broadband internet in Idukki, Kerala. The government also launched an exclusive citizen engagement platform, mygov.in, which currently boasts 4 million registrations, 1.8 million submissions across 599 tasks and 35 million comments. Given India’s infrastructure inadequacies and weak private-public partnerships, these are laudable efforts. Ministries are letting Modi down Modi has pushed his ministers to adopt social media platforms as a part of their job. Many agencies have invited the experts and representatives from Facebook, Twitter and Google to attend consultation meetings (some of which I have attended) and also made data requests. Today, the Election Commission of India uses Facebook to engage potential and present voters with the democratic process, and most ministry and agency websites are integrated with various digital platforms. It is also common to see government agencies advertising to hire social media firms in national newspapers. Social media platforms are part of the larger e-governance effort. At a minimum, the government uses them to get information to citizens and, more gradually, to include user-generated content in governance. But at present, despite these various actions, social media acts primarily a mere extension of agency homepages. Evidently, many ministries and departments are hesitant to use the pages and accounts they’ve started. Real-time updates are few. Those that occur are thanks to a few savvy ministers, including Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External affairs, Piyush Goyal, Minster of Power, and Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Railways. Some of Twitter interactions have been impressive. Take, for example, the time Sushma Swaraj directly helped an Indian citizen who was mugged in Tanzania. However, government social media usage starts to fail when ministers are questioned or criticised by users. It took Modi – who usually uses Twitter daily – ten days to tweet about the communal violence in Dadri, where a Muslim man was lynched by a Hindu mob on suspicion of slaughtering a cow. Lack of credibility Quickly voicing concerns to other users and trading in genuine uncensored content are major features of social media. If these activities are shaken, either by blocking criticisms or through non-responsiveness, trust and credibility are lost. If a minister responds to, say, a tweet about the lack of baby diapers on railway platforms but does not immediately respond to queries about a recent accident, or if a minister keeps mum on violence when she is expected to speak out, the real value that social media could bring to governance is lost. Citizens may stop following the ministers, or troll them. Both hurt efficiency in e-governance. MapBox’s open-source flood information. Mapbox/Flickr, CC BY-SA Despite its social media presence, Modi’s government has largely failed to move beyond simply disseminating information. In 2015, the Chennai floods left thousands homeless and killed almost 500. Well before the government responded, civil society organisations and citizens used social media to create live-updated maps of affected areas and tell residents about safe houses and transportation. Flood waters in Nandanam, Chennai, 2015. Vijayingarsal/Wikimedia Of censorship, trolls and ‘bhakts’ The government is also concerned about its own employees criticising policy initiatives or “liking” anti-government views. Recently, civil servants were advised to follow a social media code of conduct (though this framework appears outdated and incomplete). Government social media use is also co-opted by political party supporters. Called “bhakts”, or henchmen, these ardent supporters of Modi or of other right-wing political movements have sidetracked any possibilities of healthy discussion. And they are equally matched by their more liberal opponents. Bhakts are not public officials. But their online activities have blurred the lines between the roles played by political party head and prime minister, reducing the potential positive outcomes of the government’s fledgling social media efforts. To regulate and to serve There are two main ways that a democratic government approaches the social media sphere: regulation and service provision. Modi’s government is in the nascent stages of both. As a regulator, governments should monitor online activity, policing content and its creators (if needed) without damaging freedom of expression. The Modi administration’s regulatory role is being hijacked by partisan trolls who lack training and legitimacy. As a digital public-service provider, governments should treat online citizens like customers, seeking feedback on services or extending post-service support. When Twitter may be explored as an e-banking platform, for example, why not use it to book a ticket on India’s state-run railroad or apply for a passport? Without better guidelines on playing this role, however, Modi’s government agencies will continue to struggle to provide citizen services. As an individual, Prime Minister Modi may be an exceptional social media influencer. But, for now, the same cannot be said about his government. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: How digital India is finding fruition through social media

<p>The hard work done by RSS in the civil society continues to pay dividends to BJP across the country. The best example of it is the marriage of civil society interests and political ambition in North East where RSS has been working from the 1970s.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It is because of this investment of time with civil society issues by RSS, that BJP has been able to build a political network in areas which is culturally and socially different to the ideological thinking of the RSS.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It is the confluence of social and cultural networking of RSS with BJP&rsquo;s political and electoral machine which explains the rise of BJP as an important party in the North East.</p>

<p>A similar investment was made by the Congress Party during the freedom struggle. The political action was only one part of the Congress activity, the party was involved in hundreds of other civil society issues. From nation building to character building, the Congress worked on a myriad of issues, almost crafting the mindset of the Indians. It is this mental world which has been challenged by the RSS-BJP combine in the last 50 years.</p>

<p>To understand the success, it is important to understand the work done by the RSS in North East. To start with Arunachal Pradesh, RSS runs Arunachal Vikas Parishad in Arunachal Pradesh which in other states is known as Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram. It runs schools and maintains hostels for the students. There are thousands of RSS affiliated schools in the state alone.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The RSS runs National Integration programmes which allow students from the North East to stay with different families in different parts of India. Apart from the BJP, more than 4000 trained &lsquo;sevaks&rsquo; work in Arunachal Pradesh who run Shakhas and other programmes which works at the level of social but impact the political mood. Apart from it, affiliated organisations run Civil Service Orientation Services.</p>

<p>There are programmes dedicated to students who require engineering coaching. On top of it, new Yoga Centres have also come up which focus on individual character building. Additional to this is the massive network of Bal Bari schools. Though RSS insists that it has nothing to do with the BJP but the fact is that RSS, unquestionably, has laid the ground for BJP in the North East. Central to this social action are the faceless pracharaks who devote their lives to an ideology that also ends up shaping civil society sentiments on a number of political issues.</p>

<p>The special focus is imparting lessons on cultural nationalism (which is debatable) and national integration which provides an alternative discourse to the civil society.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Unlike Congress of the 50&rsquo;s and 60&rsquo;s which was then the sole repository of nationalism, the RSS-BJP combine has shifted the axis by claiming nationalism as its own domain. Today, they claim to be the sole repository of nationalism. It has allowed them to combine culturally and socially different voices into one, like pre-colonial Congress. Congress refashioned the dominant discourse of the nation into its own image. It started before independence but was institutionalised after independence.</p>

<p>&nbsp;Earlier, the RSS-BJP too wanted to refashion the discourse of nationalism into its own image but only succeeded in the last 25 years. It is this shift which is finding an imprint in our electoral history cutting across regions. It is this worldview, aided by rapid urbanisation and consolidation of a larger Indian national identity, that is emerging as the main opposition to highly volatile, violent, dominant and majoritarian global Islam.</p>

<p>RSS-BJP&rsquo;s intensive interaction with the civil society has also succeeded in underlining its role as the only party which unites and keep India united.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Assam result broke this very myth of geographical and ideological limitations of BJP. It made them local and national at the same time.</p>

<p>Such has been the impact of the effort that the issue of food habit has been kept aside in the North East, and prayer houses have been built for local communities who worship elements of nature in the state.</p>

<p>&nbsp;Despite having an acrimonious relationship with Christian Missionary establishment all across India, RSS has worked both ends in the North East. It has organised non-Christian communities in their cultural realm preventing conversions and also engaged the existing non-Hindu religious establishment by sharing political space with them.</p>

<p>The North East also remains one of the few states where the RSS ensured that most of the pracharaks have a local tribal background. Arun Anand, a scholar who has worked on the RSS says, &quot;RSS has helped BJP identify local issues. It is for this that BJP does not look alien to the people and senior leaders go a mile to accommodate local junior leaders.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Speaking to WION, Sunil Mohanty, the RSS in charge of Arunachal Pradesh said, &quot;What we are worried about is the dilution of the living boundary. Tribals living near the border are migrating to the district headquarter for lack of amenities which is not good. Living boundary is as important as the physical boundary.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Such has been the compulsion borne out of this interaction, that the BJP had to work out suitable state-related issues against various parties.</p>

<p>&nbsp;It created space in states, such as Tripura where Congress has not been able to unseat the Left for past 15 years. The BJP also hijacked the issue of illegal migration and consolidated votes in Assam on this issue, making minority votes irrelevant. For Congress to come back today, it cannot harp on the issue of alienism of BJP.&nbsp;</p>

<p>BJP has become as indigenous as Congress in the North East. RSS-BJP combine might rest on national integrity, focusing on local issues and threat which it faces from migrant populations which can change the local political axis.</p>

<p>Though Congress recently started a Professional Congress, it still needs people who can create a daily ritual of interaction between the worker, leader and civil society. It is through this interaction that social opinion in conjunction with political action translates into mass politics. Most of its departments are defunct today and have not functioned properly for years.</p>

<p>Various frontal organisations of the Congress have an episodic and politico-electoral relationship with the civil society where intimate bond with the organisation is missing. The absence of this bond further dilutes ideological underpinning of an individual. It should worry the Congress. It is for this reason that despite a massive anti-incumbency, BJP was able to retain Gujarat by a thin margin. At the end, personal bond infused with ideology does work.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).</em></p>


It is the confluence of social and cultural networking of RSS with BJP?s political and electoral machine which explains the rise of BJP as an important party in the North East.

The hard work done by RSS in the civil society continues to pay dividends to BJP across the country. The best example of it is the marriage of civil society interests and political ambition in North East where RSS has been working from the 1970s. It is because of this investment of time with civil society issues by RSS, that BJP has been able to build a political network in areas which is culturally and socially different to the ideological thinking of the RSS. It is the confluence of social and cultural networking of RSS with BJP’s political and electoral machine which explains the rise of BJP as an important party in the North East. A similar investment was made by the Congress Party during the freedom struggle. The political action was only one part of the Congress activity, the party was involved in hundreds of other civil society issues. From nation building to character building, the Congress worked on a myriad of issues, almost crafting the mindset of the Indians. It is this mental world which has been challenged by the RSS-BJP combine in the last 50 years. To understand the success, it is important to understand the work done by the RSS in North East. To start with Arunachal Pradesh, RSS runs Arunachal Vikas Parishad in Arunachal Pradesh which in other states is known as Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram. It runs schools and maintains hostels for the students. There are thousands of RSS affiliated schools in the state alone. The RSS runs National Integration programmes which allow students from the North East to stay with different families in different parts of India. Apart from the BJP, more than 4000 trained ‘sevaks’ work in Arunachal Pradesh who run Shakhas and other programmes which works at the level of social but impact the political mood. Apart from it, affiliated organisations run Civil Service Orientation Services. There are programmes dedicated to students who require engineering coaching. On top of it, new Yoga Centres have also come up which focus on individual character building. Additional to this is the massive network of Bal Bari schools. Though RSS insists that it has nothing to do with the BJP but the fact is that RSS, unquestionably, has laid the ground for BJP in the North East. Central to this social action are the faceless pracharaks who devote their lives to an ideology that also ends up shaping civil society sentiments on a number of political issues. The special focus is imparting lessons on cultural nationalism (which is debatable) and national integration which provides an alternative discourse to the civil society. Unlike Congress of the 50’s and 60’s which was then the sole repository of nationalism, the RSS-BJP combine has shifted the axis by claiming nationalism as its own domain. Today, they claim to be the sole repository of nationalism. It has allowed them to combine culturally and socially different voices into one, like pre-colonial Congress. Congress refashioned the dominant discourse of the nation into its own image. It started before independence but was institutionalised after independence. Earlier, the RSS-BJP too wanted to refashion the discourse of nationalism into its own image but only succeeded in the last 25 years. It is this shift which is finding an imprint in our electoral history cutting across regions. It is this worldview, aided by rapid urbanisation and consolidation of a larger Indian national identity, that is emerging as the main opposition to highly volatile, violent, dominant and majoritarian global Islam. RSS-BJP’s intensive interaction with the civil society has also succeeded in underlining its role as the only party which unites and keep India united. Assam result broke this very myth of geographical and ideological limitations of BJP. It made them local and national at the same time. Such has been the impact of the effort that the issue of food habit has been kept aside in the North East, and prayer houses have been built for local communities who worship elements of nature in the state. Despite having an acrimonious relationship with Christian Missionary establishment all across India, RSS has worked both ends in the North East. It has organised non-Christian communities in their cultural realm preventing conversions and also engaged the existing non-Hindu religious establishment by sharing political space with them. The North East also remains one of the few states where the RSS ensured that most of the pracharaks have a local tribal background. Arun Anand, a scholar who has worked on the RSS says, "RSS has helped BJP identify local issues. It is for this that BJP does not look alien to the people and senior leaders go a mile to accommodate local junior leaders.” Speaking to WION, Sunil Mohanty, the RSS in charge of Arunachal Pradesh said, "What we are worried about is the dilution of the living boundary. Tribals living near the border are migrating to the district headquarter for lack of amenities which is not good. Living boundary is as important as the physical boundary.” Such has been the compulsion borne out of this interaction, that the BJP had to work out suitable state-related issues against various parties. It created space in states, such as Tripura where Congress has not been able to unseat the Left for past 15 years. The BJP also hijacked the issue of illegal migration and consolidated votes in Assam on this issue, making minority votes irrelevant. For Congress to come back today, it cannot harp on the issue of alienism of BJP. BJP has become as indigenous as Congress in the North East. RSS-BJP combine might rest on national integrity, focusing on local issues and threat which it faces from migrant populations which can change the local political axis. Though Congress recently started a Professional Congress, it still needs people who can create a daily ritual of interaction between the worker, leader and civil society. It is through this interaction that social opinion in conjunction with political action translates into mass politics. Most of its departments are defunct today and have not functioned properly for years. Various frontal organisations of the Congress have an episodic and politico-electoral relationship with the civil society where intimate bond with the organisation is missing. The absence of this bond further dilutes ideological underpinning of an individual. It should worry the Congress. It is for this reason that despite a massive anti-incumbency, BJP was able to retain Gujarat by a thin margin. At the end, personal bond infused with ideology does work. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: How RSS helped BJP to win India's North East

<p>The results of the Arunachal Pradesh bypolls&nbsp;which released on Sunday demonstrated yet another victory of the BJP over&nbsp;the Congress party.</p>

<p>The BJP in Arunachal Pradesh snatched two assembly seats, Pakke-Kessang and Likabali, from the Congress.</p>

<p>Terming the victory as a &quot;perfect Christmas gift&quot; for BJP, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has promised to return the gesture.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He said that the people of the two constituencies have shown that they are with good governance and development.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;By electing BJP nominees they (people) foresee the accelerated development of their respective regions,&quot; the chief minister said.</p>

<p>Candidates BR Waghe and Kardo Nyigyor fought the bypolls from the BJP tickets.</p>

<p>Prime Minister thanked the people of the two constituencies for placing their faith in the BJP.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I thank the people of Likabali and Pakke Kesang in Arunachal Pradesh for reposing their faith in BJP. We derive immense strength from this affection and remain committed to transforming the Northeast. <a href="https://twitter.com/BJP4Arunachal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BJP4Arunachal</a></p>
&mdash; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/944917903081488384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The BJP in Arunachal Pradesh snatched two assembly seats, Pakke-Kessang and Likabali, from the Congress

The results of the Arunachal Pradesh bypolls which released on Sunday demonstrated yet another victory of the BJP over the Congress party. The BJP in Arunachal Pradesh snatched two assembly seats, Pakke-Kessang and Likabali, from the Congress. Terming the victory as a "perfect Christmas gift" for BJP, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has promised to return the gesture. He said that the people of the two constituencies have shown that they are with good governance and development. "By electing BJP nominees they (people) foresee the accelerated development of their respective regions," the chief minister said. Candidates BR Waghe and Kardo Nyigyor fought the bypolls from the BJP tickets. Prime Minister thanked the people of the two constituencies for placing their faith in the BJP. I thank the people of Likabali and Pakke Kesang in Arunachal Pradesh for reposing their faith in BJP. We derive immense strength from this affection and remain committed to transforming the Northeast. @BJP4Arunachal — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 24, 2017 ×

BJP wins bypolls in Arunachal Pradesh

<p>Marking&nbsp;another victory, the Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to hold the Sikandra Assembly seat in the Uttar Pradesh by-elections.</p>

<p>BJP&nbsp;candidate Ajit Singh Pal has secured 44.86 per cent votes against the Samajwadi Party rival Seema Sachan who bagged 37.60 per cent votes.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The BJP candidate won by a margin of over 11,861 votes.&nbsp;</p>

<p>While the BJP candidate secured 73,284 votes, Congress candidate secured 19,084 and Samajwadi&nbsp;Party&#39;s candidate 61,423 votes.</p>

<p>The Samajwadi and the Congress party claimed that the seals of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were broken. They alleged that the authorities had tampered with the machines for ensuring the victory of the BJP.</p>

<p>The&nbsp;Superintendent of Police (SP) Ratan Kant Pandey, however, clarified that there were three seals and they&nbsp;were intact.</p>

<p>The elections in the region were conducted after the death of its sitting BJP MLA, Mathura Prasad Pal on July 22.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Over 53 per cent people had exercised their franchise in the bypolls&nbsp;on December 21.</p>

<p>Prime minister Narendra Modi expressed his gratitude to the people of Sikandra for extending their support to the party.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">My gratitude to the people of Sikandra for once again supporting BJP. Our commitment to serving India&#39;s villages and taking them to new heights of progress is unwavering. I congratulate CM <a href="https://twitter.com/myogiadityanath?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@myogiadityanath</a> Ji and the <a href="https://twitter.com/BJP4UP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BJP4UP</a> Team for their stupendous efforts.</p>
&mdash; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/944916937171132417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
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BJP's candidate Ajit Singh Pal has secured 44.86 per cent votes against the Samajwadi Party rival Seema Sachan who bagged 37.60 per cent votes

Marking another victory, the Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to hold the Sikandra Assembly seat in the Uttar Pradesh by-elections. BJP candidate Ajit Singh Pal has secured 44.86 per cent votes against the Samajwadi Party rival Seema Sachan who bagged 37.60 per cent votes. The BJP candidate won by a margin of over 11,861 votes. While the BJP candidate secured 73,284 votes, Congress candidate secured 19,084 and Samajwadi Party's candidate 61,423 votes. The Samajwadi and the Congress party claimed that the seals of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were broken. They alleged that the authorities had tampered with the machines for ensuring the victory of the BJP. The Superintendent of Police (SP) Ratan Kant Pandey, however, clarified that there were three seals and they were intact. The elections in the region were conducted after the death of its sitting BJP MLA, Mathura Prasad Pal on July 22. Over 53 per cent people had exercised their franchise in the bypolls on December 21. Prime minister Narendra Modi expressed his gratitude to the people of Sikandra for extending their support to the party. My gratitude to the people of Sikandra for once again supporting BJP. Our commitment to serving India's villages and taking them to new heights of progress is unwavering. I congratulate CM @myogiadityanath Ji and the @BJP4UP Team for their stupendous efforts. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 24, 2017 ×

BJP retains power in Sikandra, wins UP bypoll

<p>Narendra Modi clinched a victory for BJP in Gujarat. He ensured it by consolidating his party&rsquo;s base in urban India. He has given a new political mantra for his party to function:&nbsp;hope and fear. Evidently, Indian politics has the potential to behave as T20 match and Test cricket at the same time. Gujarat result is an example in case.</p>

<p>Rahul Gandhi despite the loss, took away the sheen from BJP&rsquo;s victory. Under his leadership, the Congress brought the BJP&nbsp;down to a two-digit victory, making him the Man of the Match. Narendra Modi, however, remains the Man of the Series when it comes to elections. Modi proved, again, that he is the only one who has the stamina to either change the public mood or arrest a tsunami.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/opinion-in-spite-of-gst-how-modi-won-gujarat-27077"><strong>Also read: In spite of GST, how Modi won Gujarat</strong></a></p>

<p>Gujarat election changes a&nbsp;couple of things in the political narrative. It proves that Narendra Modi will not shy away from taking the battle to any level, provided it led to victory. Clearly, he is the only one in Indian politics who has the capacity to shape the mood of the voters if not completely shift them. It shows that Modi treats elections like a battle to be won at all the cost, and rest of the issues are shoved at the periphery.</p>

<p>Whether it is the dinner diplomacy gaffe or Mani-Kapil&#39;s quick mistakes between the wickets, the urban audience in Gujarat reacted positively to Modi&rsquo;s jibe. Urban Gujarat chose Modi despite economic distress. Ultimately, the Prime Minister is their original poster boy. To take him down would mean taking one&rsquo;s own down.</p>

<p>On the day Rahul Gandhi took over as the Congress President, the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke of politics of hope and fear. He said that hope must triumph over fear. The results in Gujarat show&nbsp;that for urban India the hope and fear do not exist in a binary but are intermeshed.</p>

<p>It was best reflected by the speeches of the prime minister on the &#39;neech&#39; comment, dinner and temple issue. Both fear and hope were stoked at the same time. The hope was in the assertion of majoritarian politics and the fear was the return to a state where minority voice mattered.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/opinion-rahul-the-only-winner-in-gujarat-election-27045"><strong>Also read: Rahul, Hardik run out BJP at 99</strong></a></p>

<p>Rahul Gandhi did neutralise his anti-Hindu stance which he inherited during 2014 elections but the political memories of hard secularism came flushing back into the electoral arena because of the mistakes committed by Congress leaders and activists. It is not to say that BJP supporters don&rsquo;t use abusive language. In fact, the correct picture is that twitter handles of far-right supporters have been far more abusive and rest seems to be only catching up now.</p>

<p>The challenge for Rahul Gandhi is to break this matrix put in place by the BJP which thrives on hard Hindutva during elections, and once the race is won it goes back to <i>sabka saath sabka vikas</i>. It works on fear and hope at the same time. It is also married to new and some repackaged government schemes which are all attributable to Narendra Modi.</p>

<p>The only thing attributable to Rahul Gandhi today is the extension of NREGA throughout India. However, it is a distant memory today. It is this politics of hope and fear which Rahul Gandhi has to battle as it is enmeshed with fear of the return of massive corruption and minority politics. The hope is pinned on assertive India sitting on the stool of identity.</p>

<p>Rahul played the match well and lost. The vote share difference was again 8 per cent but rural Gujarat supported Congress. It reinforces the image of Congress as a party which takes up agrarian issues more than BJP. He won admiration from both his own party and other regional players. This has happened for the first time. He has received sympathy and grudging respect. To borrow it from &quot;The Last Jedi&quot;, the BJP should hope that Rahul doesn&rsquo;t become the spark which fires up the entire Opposition, which today is in the doghouse, lying straight on the ground.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/opinion-what-bjp-and-congress-learned-from-gujarat-elections-27138"><strong>Also read: What BJP and Congress learned from Gujarat elections</strong></a></p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).</em></p>


The challenge for Rahul Gandhi is to break this matrix put in place by the BJP which thrives on hard Hindutva during elections, and once the race is won it goes back to sabka saath sabka vikas.

Narendra Modi clinched a victory for BJP in Gujarat. He ensured it by consolidating his party’s base in urban India. He has given a new political mantra for his party to function: hope and fear. Evidently, Indian politics has the potential to behave as T20 match and Test cricket at the same time. Gujarat result is an example in case. Rahul Gandhi despite the loss, took away the sheen from BJP’s victory. Under his leadership, the Congress brought the BJP down to a two-digit victory, making him the Man of the Match. Narendra Modi, however, remains the Man of the Series when it comes to elections. Modi proved, again, that he is the only one who has the stamina to either change the public mood or arrest a tsunami. Also read: In spite of GST, how Modi won Gujarat Gujarat election changes a couple of things in the political narrative. It proves that Narendra Modi will not shy away from taking the battle to any level, provided it led to victory. Clearly, he is the only one in Indian politics who has the capacity to shape the mood of the voters if not completely shift them. It shows that Modi treats elections like a battle to be won at all the cost, and rest of the issues are shoved at the periphery. Whether it is the dinner diplomacy gaffe or Mani-Kapil's quick mistakes between the wickets, the urban audience in Gujarat reacted positively to Modi’s jibe. Urban Gujarat chose Modi despite economic distress. Ultimately, the Prime Minister is their original poster boy. To take him down would mean taking one’s own down. On the day Rahul Gandhi took over as the Congress President, the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke of politics of hope and fear. He said that hope must triumph over fear. The results in Gujarat show that for urban India the hope and fear do not exist in a binary but are intermeshed. It was best reflected by the speeches of the prime minister on the 'neech' comment, dinner and temple issue. Both fear and hope were stoked at the same time. The hope was in the assertion of majoritarian politics and the fear was the return to a state where minority voice mattered. Also read: Rahul, Hardik run out BJP at 99 Rahul Gandhi did neutralise his anti-Hindu stance which he inherited during 2014 elections but the political memories of hard secularism came flushing back into the electoral arena because of the mistakes committed by Congress leaders and activists. It is not to say that BJP supporters don’t use abusive language. In fact, the correct picture is that twitter handles of far-right supporters have been far more abusive and rest seems to be only catching up now. The challenge for Rahul Gandhi is to break this matrix put in place by the BJP which thrives on hard Hindutva during elections, and once the race is won it goes back to sabka saath sabka vikas. It works on fear and hope at the same time. It is also married to new and some repackaged government schemes which are all attributable to Narendra Modi. The only thing attributable to Rahul Gandhi today is the extension of NREGA throughout India. However, it is a distant memory today. It is this politics of hope and fear which Rahul Gandhi has to battle as it is enmeshed with fear of the return of massive corruption and minority politics. The hope is pinned on assertive India sitting on the stool of identity. Rahul played the match well and lost. The vote share difference was again 8 per cent but rural Gujarat supported Congress. It reinforces the image of Congress as a party which takes up agrarian issues more than BJP. He won admiration from both his own party and other regional players. This has happened for the first time. He has received sympathy and grudging respect. To borrow it from "The Last Jedi", the BJP should hope that Rahul doesn’t become the spark which fires up the entire Opposition, which today is in the doghouse, lying straight on the ground. Also read: What BJP and Congress learned from Gujarat elections (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: Rahul is the Man of the Match. Modi is the Man of the Series

<p>&quot;Our rescue efforts will never fall short,&quot; Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the families of the people still missing because of Cyclone Ockhi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Government of India is with you in every way, our rescue efforts will never fall short and we will help you in every way, I am here to assure you about this. We pray that all those missing, can return home before Christmas,&quot; he said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Modi was speaking in Poonthura, Kerala.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Gov of India is with you in every way, our rescue efforts will never fall short &amp; we will help you in every way, I am here to assure you about this. We pray that all those missing, can return home before Christmas: PM Modi in Kerala&#39;s Poonthura <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CycloneOckhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CycloneOckhi</a> <a href="https://t.co/jzxU5aEOSP">pic.twitter.com/jzxU5aEOSP</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/943088380639789056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">PM Narendra Modi meets families affected by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CycloneOckhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CycloneOckhi</a> in Kerala&#39;s Poonthura, says, &#39;govt will do everything possible to bring back the missing people&#39; <a href="https://t.co/oqR0Ix35FW">pic.twitter.com/oqR0Ix35FW</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/943087229496311810?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Modi also reviewed relief operations in Thiruvananthapuram along with&nbsp;Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">PM Narendra Modi reviews relief operations in Kerala&#39;s Thiruvananthapuram. CM Pinarayi Vijayan also present, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CycloneOckhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CycloneOckhi</a> <a href="https://t.co/Zy5PKEi0fI">pic.twitter.com/Zy5PKEi0fI</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/943098265045626880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Modi had previously visited Kanyakumari,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/cyclone-ockhi-over-180-people-rescued-off-lakshadweep-coast-26206">Lakshadweep</a> and <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/the-wrath-of-cyclone-ockhi-at-least-18-killed-in-tamil-nadu-kerala-7117">Tamil Nadu</a> to meet families affected and take note of the situation.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">PM Narendra Modi meets cyclone affected fishermen in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kanyakumari?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kanyakumari</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CycloneOckhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CycloneOckhi</a> <a href="https://t.co/ak41YOrj4j">pic.twitter.com/ak41YOrj4j</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/943056253374181376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Prime Minister Narendra Modi met families of victims affected by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CycloneOckhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CycloneOckhi</a> in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lakshadweep?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Lakshadweep</a>&#39;s Kavaratti <a href="https://t.co/Nbgb1Cne1N">pic.twitter.com/Nbgb1Cne1N</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/943030486917455872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="in">PM Narendra Modi reviews <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CycloneOckhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CycloneOckhi</a> relief operations in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kanyakumari?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kanyakumari</a> . Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami also present <a href="https://t.co/dQk1x8N3H7">pic.twitter.com/dQk1x8N3H7</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/943051382210170880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Cyclone Ockhi recently hit the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/watch-at-least-16-dead-several-missing-as-cyclone-ockhi-nears-lakshadweep-sri-lanka-25598">southern half of the country</a>, leaving a number of people dead and several missing.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Also&nbsp;read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/30-died-due-to-cyclone-ockhi-report-25771">30 died due to Cyclone </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/30-died-due-to-cyclone-ockhi-report-25771">Ockhi</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/30-died-due-to-cyclone-ockhi-report-25771"> :</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/30-died-due-to-cyclone-ockhi-report-25771"> Report</a></p>

<p>A search and rescue operation was launched by the Indian Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.</p>

<p>As of December 14, 700 fishermen had been rescued. They included five Sri Lankan nationals.&nbsp;</p>


"Our rescue efforts will never fall short," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the families of the people still missing because of Cyclone Ockhi. "Government of India is with you in every way, our rescue efforts will never fall short and we will help you in every way, I am here to assure you about this. We pray that all those missing, can return home before Christmas," he said. Modi was speaking in Poonthura, Kerala. Gov of India is with you in every way, our rescue efforts will never fall short & we will help you in every way, I am here to assure you about this. We pray that all those missing, can return home before Christmas: PM Modi in Kerala's Poonthura #CycloneOckhi pic.twitter.com/jzxU5aEOSP — ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2017 × PM Narendra Modi meets families affected by #CycloneOckhi in Kerala's Poonthura, says, 'govt will do everything possible to bring back the missing people' pic.twitter.com/oqR0Ix35FW — ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2017 × Modi also reviewed relief operations in Thiruvananthapuram along with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. PM Narendra Modi reviews relief operations in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram. CM Pinarayi Vijayan also present, #CycloneOckhi pic.twitter.com/Zy5PKEi0fI — ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2017 × Modi had previously visited Kanyakumari, Lakshadweep and Tamil Nadu to meet families affected and take note of the situation. PM Narendra Modi meets cyclone affected fishermen in #Kanyakumari #CycloneOckhi pic.twitter.com/ak41YOrj4j — ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2017 × Prime Minister Narendra Modi met families of victims affected by #CycloneOckhi in #Lakshadweep's Kavaratti pic.twitter.com/Nbgb1Cne1N — ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2017 × . PM Narendra Modi reviews #CycloneOckhi relief operations in #Kanyakumari . Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami also present pic.twitter.com/dQk1x8N3H7 — ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2017 × Cyclone Ockhi recently hit the southern half of the country, leaving a number of people dead and several missing. Also read: 30 died due to Cyclone Ockhi : Report A search and rescue operation was launched by the Indian Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. As of December 14, 700 fishermen had been rescued. They included five Sri Lankan nationals.

'Our rescue efforts will never fall short,' PM Modi tells Ockhi-affected families

<p>New Congress President Rahul Gandhi has his work cut out for him.</p>

<p>Following the election results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh on Monday, the Congress -- the country&#39;s &quot;grand old party&quot; -- is now left in power in only four states in the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The four states are Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, and Mizoram.</p>

<p>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/election-results-bjp-wins-gujaratand-himachal-27098">Election results prove country ready for reform: Modi after Gujarat win</a></p>

<p>Since coming to power at the Centre -- Modi had at the time promised to deliver a &quot;Congress- mukt Bharat&quot; -- the BJP has wrested Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Assam, and Manipur from the Congress.</p>

<p>The Congress had ruled Maharashtra for over 15 years, and Assam for over 10.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/it-is-a-temporary-and-face-saving-win-for-bjp-says-mamata-banerjee-27094">It is a temporary and face-saving win for BJP, says Mamata Banerjee</a></p>

<p>The next battleground will be Karnataka, which is expected to go to the polls sometime in April or May next year.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Victory in Gujarat and Himachal shows people have once again accepted PM Modi, his policies and Gujarat model. They&#39;ve voted for development and against corrupt Congress. It&#39;ll have positive impact in Karnataka,&quot; Karnataka BJP President said Monday after the BJP won Gujarat and HImachal.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On Sunday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had attacked Karnataka&#39;s Congress government over what he said was the deteriorating law and order situation.</p>

<p>He cited the murder of the&nbsp;journalist Gauri Lankesh, saying if&nbsp;the&nbsp;BJP came to power in the state it would catch her killers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>There have also been killings of members of right-wing Hindu groups in Karnataka in recent months.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Singh also accused the&nbsp;Siddaramaiah government of trying to &quot;divide&quot;&nbsp;society, saying the state government should have refrained from celebrating Tipu Sultan&#39;s birthday.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The &quot;divide&quot; though is really between two different forms of nationalism.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Karnataka has been mulling the adoption of a state flag and there have been protests in the state against Hindi signboards.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Commentators say&nbsp;Siddaramaiah will deploy this &quot;sub-nationalism&quot; to counter Modi and the BJP&#39;s exhortation of &quot;nationalism&quot;.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The four states are Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, and Mizoram

New Congress President Rahul Gandhi has his work cut out for him. Following the election results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh on Monday, the Congress -- the country's "grand old party" -- is now left in power in only four states in the country. The four states are Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. Also read: Election results prove country ready for reform: Modi after Gujarat win Since coming to power at the Centre -- Modi had at the time promised to deliver a "Congress- mukt Bharat" -- the BJP has wrested Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Assam, and Manipur from the Congress. The Congress had ruled Maharashtra for over 15 years, and Assam for over 10. Also read: It is a temporary and face-saving win for BJP, says Mamata Banerjee The next battleground will be Karnataka, which is expected to go to the polls sometime in April or May next year. "Victory in Gujarat and Himachal shows people have once again accepted PM Modi, his policies and Gujarat model. They've voted for development and against corrupt Congress. It'll have positive impact in Karnataka," Karnataka BJP President said Monday after the BJP won Gujarat and HImachal. On Sunday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had attacked Karnataka's Congress government over what he said was the deteriorating law and order situation. He cited the murder of the journalist Gauri Lankesh, saying if the BJP came to power in the state it would catch her killers. There have also been killings of members of right-wing Hindu groups in Karnataka in recent months. Singh also accused the Siddaramaiah government of trying to "divide" society, saying the state government should have refrained from celebrating Tipu Sultan's birthday. The "divide" though is really between two different forms of nationalism. Karnataka has been mulling the adoption of a state flag and there have been protests in the state against Hindi signboards. Commentators say Siddaramaiah will deploy this "sub-nationalism" to counter Modi and the BJP's exhortation of "nationalism".

After Himachal loss, Congress left in power in only four states

<p>Two persons died after an&nbsp;under-renovation building collapsed in Mumbai&#39;s Zaveri Bazaar on Friday afternoon.</p>

<p>Four workers are currently trapped under the debris.</p>

<p>Earlier, media reports had said that at least nine workers were trapped, of which seven were rescued.</p>

<p>The fire brigade and police officials had reached the spot and rescue operation was underway.</p>

<p>No one is reported to be injured so far.</p>

<p>The back portion of the building collapsed when the repair work was going on.</p>

<p>Zaveri Bazaar is a major hub of the jewellery business in Mumbai.</p>

<p>(With inputs from ANI, PTI)</p>

<p><br />
&nbsp;</p>


Earlier this month, the UP government announced their decision to double farmers' income by 2022 and to take contract farming as a part of their strategy to uplift the income after a number of failed attempts

Two persons died after an under-renovation building collapsed in Mumbai's Zaveri Bazaar on Friday afternoon. Four workers are currently trapped under the debris. Earlier, media reports had said that at least nine workers were trapped, of which seven were rescued. The fire brigade and police officials had reached the spot and rescue operation was underway. No one is reported to be injured so far. The back portion of the building collapsed when the repair work was going on. Zaveri Bazaar is a major hub of the jewellery business in Mumbai. (With inputs from ANI, PTI)

Adityanath promises roof over every head by 2022

<p>Going by the outcome of Gujarat exit polls, pollsters are indicating a clear majority for BJP in the state. It gives a fair assessment of the outcome, none denying the fact that BJP is set to form the government in Gandhinagar. Many political pundits and politicians who doubted BJP&rsquo;s victory are bound to be surprised with these projections. The perception was and is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fighting the toughest electoral battle of his life to retain Gujarat, to maintain &ldquo;Gujarat Model&rdquo; which he sold to win over elections after election since 2014 General Elections. This was not a battle between Congress and BJP, it was Modi vs the rest.</p>

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<p><strong>Angry Gujarat</strong></p>

<p>No doubt, there was anger amongst different sections of Gujaratis&rsquo;. The state population largely linked to the trader community, got shock&nbsp;after shock in the policies of Demonetisation and then rolling out of GST. When it hurts Gujarati&rsquo;s pocket, they are bound to be angry. Though Patel&rsquo;s which comprise 12 percent of Electorate traditionally vote for BJP. Even the tallest of their leader Keshubhai Patel who formed his own outfit, &ldquo;Gujarat Parivartan Party&rdquo; couldn&rsquo;t wean them away from the BJP.</p>

<p>In the current context, mishandling of Patel movement for reservation by Anandiben Patel and later by Vijay Rupani Government did alienate young population of the community. Una incident of attack on four Dalits skinning the carcasses of dead cow in Mota Samadhiyala village of Gir Somnath district did hurt 7 percent of caste population as many of them were in the business of skinning dead animals for a living. On the leaderless soil of politically fertile castes, anger translated into the emergence of new Turks Hardik Patel a Patidar leader, Jignesh Mewani a Dalit leader and Alpesh Thakor, a Rajput and OBC leader. They became the symbol of anger of their respective communities and, thus, raged a war against BJP.</p>

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<p><strong>Congress virtual strategy a</strong><strong> me too</strong></p>

<p>The opposition Congress built their strategies around these scenarios.&nbsp;Cyber army of Congress IT cell camping at Ahmedabad closely monitored by 15 AICC office bearers were trying to do what BJP did in 2014 General elections on social media, create content, pass on to volunteers share and flood the cyberspace. They picked up from a Facebook post by one of Hardik Patel&rsquo;s supporter, engineering student Sagar Savaliya, who wrote: &ldquo;Vikas Gando Thayo Che&rdquo; (with the photo of wheels behind a crashed bus) meaning Development has gone crazy. This created a great traction on social media and thus became the theme of Congress campaign in Gujarat.</p>

<p>They didn&rsquo;t stop here, made Rahul Gandhi ask a question to Modi in the last leg of the campaign. Made him fly passenger class like a normal citizen standing in a queue, eat lots of Fafda&rsquo;s and Jalebi at roadside Dhaba&rsquo;s and above all, pronounced him as &ldquo;Janeudhari Brahmin&rdquo; by temple pilgrimages during the campaign. Not talking about likes of Mani Shankar Iyer as for one they do not mind their language. Congress made two major mistakes, propagating caste and adopting soft Hindutva in the run-up to Gujarat polling. It was a major shift in the grand old party which has been a victim of new cast based regional parties blocking the re-emergence of Congress to reclaim its base.</p>

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<p><strong>Modi&rsquo;s art of turning anger into sympathy</strong></p>

<p>It was natural for Narendra Modi to give lesser attention to his home state Gujarat compared to when he was the chief minister before 2014 because of his larger role as Prime Minister of the country. He never lost the base with state though. Hosting Chinese President Xi-Jinping and recently Japanese PM Shinzo Abe at Ahmedabad and increasing the Hight of Sardar Sarovar Dam. Prime Minister started focusing on Gujarat post-September this year with inauguration of Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speed (Bullet) train with the assistance of his friend Abe. Congress made a joke out of it and termed it a waste of money.</p>

<p>During his visit to Ahmedabad for this ceremony, Modi noticed potholes around the city, though administration patched roads taken By Modi and Abe during their stay. Narendra Modi gave 48 hours&rsquo; time to the administration for making roads pothole free which they did. Sensing the anger Modi made Finance Minister Arun Jaitley make amendments in GST to make it easy for traders and SMSE&rsquo;s. He got CM Vijay Rupani to decrease VAT on petrol and diesel to give relief to commuters. To the Congress charges of &ldquo;Vikas Gando Thayo Che&rdquo; Modi touched the emotional chord by declaring &ldquo;Hun Vikas chum&rdquo; meaning I am development.</p>

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<h5>To the Congress charges of &ldquo;Vikas Gando Thayo Che&rdquo; Modi touched the emotional chord by declaring &ldquo;Hun Vikas chum&rdquo; meaning I am development.</h5>
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<p>Launched 31-km long RoRo ferry service between Ghogha and Dahej that cut travel time from eight hours to one and half hour will benefit people working in the diamond-cutting and polishing hub of Surat. The first phase of voting was over by now. Congress was claiming the lead in this phase and few BJP leaders also were apprehensive. Before the second round of voting, Modi asked, &ldquo;What did I do to deserve this&rdquo; on Mani Shankar Iyer&rsquo;s &ldquo;Neech&rdquo; comment during his campaign. Throughout he spoke in Gujarati. Reminded people how he used to be part of that area when he was in Gujarat. Made that connect with the masses of Gujarat. On congress&rsquo;s &ldquo;Janeudhari Brahmin&rdquo; tactic Modi raked up Mani Shankar Iyer dinner with former Pakistani former Foreign Secretary and other diplomats.</p>

<p>Former PM Manmohan Singh and Former COAS Deepak Kumar were in presence in this dinner meeting. This was the kind of the first instance wherein Prime Minister accused other nation, Pakistan of muddling in Gujarat elections. Pakistan had to clarify officially that they do not have any role in domestic politics of India, but it played well. Many in Gujarat did not perceive it well for Congress. End of the campaign was the most dramatic. Denied permission for a road show in Ahmedabad, Modi holding the door bar of Seaplane did a River Show on Sabarmati Riverfront.</p>

<p>Any Amdavadi, Gujarati or for that matter Indian would have felt proud to see this happening on Sabarmati which use to be a nullah of drains till 2005, emotionally. On polling Day standing in the queue after dedicating INS Kalvari to the nation in Arabian sea Mumbai. Taking a walk near the poll station and while returning waving to crowd from his SUV, inviting Congress to charge Chief Election commissioner working as Prime Ministers PS. This war will go on but Gujarat chapter is closed for now. Those in doubts will be clearer on 18th December by 10:30 AM.</p>

<p>One thing is clear, Modi&rsquo;s magic or Modi Election Winning machine is still intact. He is the leader who knows the pulse of people, engage with them through social media, Mann Ki Baat, Namo App, speeches. He knows when to Bow as he did after demonetisation, seek time for hardships. It is that connect which makes Modi the leader whom people relate, trust and believe.</p>

<p><em>&nbsp;(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)</em></p>


Narendra Modi is the leader who knows the pulse of people. His magic and election winning spree is still intact.

Going by the outcome of Gujarat exit polls, pollsters are indicating a clear majority for BJP in the state. It gives a fair assessment of the outcome, none denying the fact that BJP is set to form the government in Gandhinagar. Many political pundits and politicians who doubted BJP’s victory are bound to be surprised with these projections. The perception was and is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fighting the toughest electoral battle of his life to retain Gujarat, to maintain “Gujarat Model” which he sold to win over elections after election since 2014 General Elections. This was not a battle between Congress and BJP, it was Modi vs the rest. This was not a battle between Congress and BJP, it was Modi vs the rest. × Angry Gujarat No doubt, there was anger amongst different sections of Gujaratis’. The state population largely linked to the trader community, got shock after shock in the policies of Demonetisation and then rolling out of GST. When it hurts Gujarati’s pocket, they are bound to be angry. Though Patel’s which comprise 12 percent of Electorate traditionally vote for BJP. Even the tallest of their leader Keshubhai Patel who formed his own outfit, “Gujarat Parivartan Party” couldn’t wean them away from the BJP. In the current context, mishandling of Patel movement for reservation by Anandiben Patel and later by Vijay Rupani Government did alienate young population of the community. Una incident of attack on four Dalits skinning the carcasses of dead cow in Mota Samadhiyala village of Gir Somnath district did hurt 7 percent of caste population as many of them were in the business of skinning dead animals for a living. On the leaderless soil of politically fertile castes, anger translated into the emergence of new Turks Hardik Patel a Patidar leader, Jignesh Mewani a Dalit leader and Alpesh Thakor, a Rajput and OBC leader. They became the symbol of anger of their respective communities and, thus, raged a war against BJP. On the leaderless soil of politically fertile castes, anger translated into the emergence of new Turks Hardik Patel a Patidar leader, Jignesh Mewani a Dalit leader and Alpesh Thakor, a Rajput and OBC leader. × Congress virtual strategy a me too The opposition Congress built their strategies around these scenarios. Cyber army of Congress IT cell camping at Ahmedabad closely monitored by 15 AICC office bearers were trying to do what BJP did in 2014 General elections on social media, create content, pass on to volunteers share and flood the cyberspace. They picked up from a Facebook post by one of Hardik Patel’s supporter, engineering student Sagar Savaliya, who wrote: “Vikas Gando Thayo Che” (with the photo of wheels behind a crashed bus) meaning Development has gone crazy. This created a great traction on social media and thus became the theme of Congress campaign in Gujarat. They didn’t stop here, made Rahul Gandhi ask a question to Modi in the last leg of the campaign. Made him fly passenger class like a normal citizen standing in a queue, eat lots of Fafda’s and Jalebi at roadside Dhaba’s and above all, pronounced him as “Janeudhari Brahmin” by temple pilgrimages during the campaign. Not talking about likes of Mani Shankar Iyer as for one they do not mind their language. Congress made two major mistakes, propagating caste and adopting soft Hindutva in the run-up to Gujarat polling. It was a major shift in the grand old party which has been a victim of new cast based regional parties blocking the re-emergence of Congress to reclaim its base. Congress made two major mistakes, propagating caste and adopting soft Hindutva in the run-up to Gujarat polling. × Modi’s art of turning anger into sympathy It was natural for Narendra Modi to give lesser attention to his home state Gujarat compared to when he was the chief minister before 2014 because of his larger role as Prime Minister of the country. He never lost the base with state though. Hosting Chinese President Xi-Jinping and recently Japanese PM Shinzo Abe at Ahmedabad and increasing the Hight of Sardar Sarovar Dam. Prime Minister started focusing on Gujarat post-September this year with inauguration of Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speed (Bullet) train with the assistance of his friend Abe. Congress made a joke out of it and termed it a waste of money. During his visit to Ahmedabad for this ceremony, Modi noticed potholes around the city, though administration patched roads taken By Modi and Abe during their stay. Narendra Modi gave 48 hours’ time to the administration for making roads pothole free which they did. Sensing the anger Modi made Finance Minister Arun Jaitley make amendments in GST to make it easy for traders and SMSE’s. He got CM Vijay Rupani to decrease VAT on petrol and diesel to give relief to commuters. To the Congress charges of “Vikas Gando Thayo Che” Modi touched the emotional chord by declaring “Hun Vikas chum” meaning I am development. To the Congress charges of “Vikas Gando Thayo Che” Modi touched the emotional chord by declaring “Hun Vikas chum” meaning I am development. × Launched 31-km long RoRo ferry service between Ghogha and Dahej that cut travel time from eight hours to one and half hour will benefit people working in the diamond-cutting and polishing hub of Surat. The first phase of voting was over by now. Congress was claiming the lead in this phase and few BJP leaders also were apprehensive. Before the second round of voting, Modi asked, “What did I do to deserve this” on Mani Shankar Iyer’s “Neech” comment during his campaign. Throughout he spoke in Gujarati. Reminded people how he used to be part of that area when he was in Gujarat. Made that connect with the masses of Gujarat. On congress’s “Janeudhari Brahmin” tactic Modi raked up Mani Shankar Iyer dinner with former Pakistani former Foreign Secretary and other diplomats. Former PM Manmohan Singh and Former COAS Deepak Kumar were in presence in this dinner meeting. This was the kind of the first instance wherein Prime Minister accused other nation, Pakistan of muddling in Gujarat elections. Pakistan had to clarify officially that they do not have any role in domestic politics of India, but it played well. Many in Gujarat did not perceive it well for Congress. End of the campaign was the most dramatic. Denied permission for a road show in Ahmedabad, Modi holding the door bar of Seaplane did a River Show on Sabarmati Riverfront. Any Amdavadi, Gujarati or for that matter Indian would have felt proud to see this happening on Sabarmati which use to be a nullah of drains till 2005, emotionally. On polling Day standing in the queue after dedicating INS Kalvari to the nation in Arabian sea Mumbai. Taking a walk near the poll station and while returning waving to crowd from his SUV, inviting Congress to charge Chief Election commissioner working as Prime Ministers PS. This war will go on but Gujarat chapter is closed for now. Those in doubts will be clearer on 18th December by 10:30 AM. One thing is clear, Modi’s magic or Modi Election Winning machine is still intact. He is the leader who knows the pulse of people, engage with them through social media, Mann Ki Baat, Namo App, speeches. He knows when to Bow as he did after demonetisation, seek time for hardships. It is that connect which makes Modi the leader whom people relate, trust and believe. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: 'Modi-fied' Gujarat Polls 'Trumps' all

<p>Exit polls in the country have gone terribly wrong in the past. They have either underestimated the projected loser or overestimated the predicted winner. At times, these findings have even underestimated the numbers the eventual winner got, and the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly election is the most recent example of that. On the other hand, exit polls have also been straws in the wind, showcasing a general trend that gets reflected in the actual results. In any case, there is nothing but these numbers one can debate upon until the votes are counted.</p>

<p>Even the stock market goes by the temporary numbers; the Sensex opened on a high on Friday. On Thursday, half a dozen exit polls conducted by psephologists on Gujarat for television news channels were in agreement that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party would gain at least a simple majority and return to power. The margin of victory fluctuated, though. The reaction of the Congress and the BJP was interestingly similar. Both said the outcome on December 18 would be better than predicted, in their respective interests.</p>

<p>Simplistically put, there are two ways to interpret the exit poll results. The first is from the Congress&rsquo;s angle and the other is from the BJP&rsquo;s perspective. Most pollsters have projected an improved performance by the Congress as compared to its 2012 showing. This is reflected in the number of seats and vote-share. The Congress can claim that it gave a real fight to the BJP this time around under Rahul Gandhi&rsquo;s leadership. The party can also gloat that it could wean away a sizeable section of the Patidar community, who have for decades staunchly supported the BJP, to its side. The Congress can also say that it succeeded in busting the &lsquo;myth&rsquo; of the Gujarat Model, which is especially reflected in the support the party has received in rural Gujarat.</p>

<p>None of the above is an entirely empty boast. By most exit poll estimates, the Congress did manage to split Patidar votes in its favour; its vote share and seats have gone up since 2012, and it has done well in the rural belt of Gujarat riding on discontent over farmer&#39;s distress. However, despite all this tailwind and the formation of a novel caste- grouping comprising the Other Backward Class, the Scheduled Castes and the Patidar community, the best that one exit pollster gave the Congress was 82 seats out of a total 182.</p>

<p>Compare this to the worst that the BJP has been projected to end up with - 99 seats - and it becomes obvious that the Congress&rsquo;s best falls way short of the requirement. Besides, if this is all that the party can manage after having invested everything it had in the election, and with the starting advantage of more than two decades of anti-incumbency that the BJP ought to have faced, then by all objective reasoning the country&rsquo;s oldest political party has failed. And, for the record, the best that the BJP has been given by an exit poll agency is 135 seats &mdash; with the prospect of a higher eventual number.</p>

<p>If the exit poll results hold on December 18, the Congress will need to find suitable scapegoats. Perhaps the process has been put into motion. The Electronic Voting Machine is a prime suspect, and so is the institution of the Election Commission of India &mdash; against whom Congress supporters agitated on the streets in an unprecedented show of hostility. A Congress spokesperson even went to the extent of calling the ECI a &ldquo;puppet&rdquo; of the Union Government. The Congress is also likely to attribute its loss to the &ldquo;divisive&rdquo; campaign the BJP and launched and for having &ldquo;misled&rdquo; the people. It should not be imagined even in the wildest dreams that the newly minted Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be held accountable for the defeat.</p>

<p>From the BJP&rsquo;s view, the exit poll results are a source of comfort. If they are reflected on December 18, it would mean that the party has overpowered anti-incumbency for two decades. But more importantly, it would have successfully neutralised the Patidar agitation against it, which had threatened to unseat the party. Exit poll findings have shown that the BJP has done well to retain a significant section of the Patidar votes across the State, including in Saurashtra and north Gujarat where the community has a dominant presence in electoral terms. True, it has lost ground in the region according the poll projections, to the Hardik Patel factor which worked in the Congress&rsquo;s favour, but not to the extent of staring at a catastrophe.</p>

<p>Going by the exit poll findings, the BJP has not just contained the Patidar damage but also managed to compensate for the loss by winning over a majority of the tribal and OBC votes. In the run-up to the two-phased election, commentators had observed that the party could work on the discontent among the OBCs over the Congress&rsquo;s support to Patidar reservation. This it seems to have done with results that offer a measure of self-satisfaction. According to one exit poll finding, even a significant section of the Thakore community to which OBC leader and Congressman Alpesh Thakore belongs, voted for the BJP. In sum, the Congress, in its desire to run after the Patidar votes, has lost the tribal and the OBC voters &mdash; all of whom the BJP gratefully lapped up.</p>

<p>Having outwitted the Congress in caste calculation &mdash; the major plank on which for the Congress was overly dependent to snatch power &mdash; the BJP was left with no real challenge. The &lsquo;lack of development&rsquo; narrative against the BJP simply did not work for the Congress. The Congress&rsquo;s other offensives, such as personal attacks by its senior leaders and allies on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the after-thought of &lsquo;me-too Hindu&rsquo; campaign by Rahul Gandhi, served to weaken the opposition party&rsquo;s narrative. If the exit poll results get vindicated on December 18, Rahul Gandhi will have begun his innings as president on a dismal note.</p>

<p>The impact could be cascading; Assembly elections are due for a clutch of important States in the next year, including in Karnataka &mdash; the only major State besides Punjab where the Congress is in power. And there is the Lok Sabha poll, which is less than two years away. If indeed the Congress is the vanquished one, come Monday, there is one lesson that it must learn at all costs: It does not pay to outsource leadership. It had paid the price in Uttar Pradesh where it placed its future at Akhilesh Yadav&rsquo;s doorstep. It did the same in Gujarat, depending more on the HAJ factor (Hardik-Alpesh- Jignesh) rather than on its core strengths and issues which it alone had the credibility to raise.</p>

<p>(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).</p>


The BJP has not just contained the Patidar damage but also managed to compensate for the loss by winning over a majority of the tribal and OBC votes

Exit polls in the country have gone terribly wrong in the past. They have either underestimated the projected loser or overestimated the predicted winner. At times, these findings have even underestimated the numbers the eventual winner got, and the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly election is the most recent example of that. On the other hand, exit polls have also been straws in the wind, showcasing a general trend that gets reflected in the actual results. In any case, there is nothing but these numbers one can debate upon until the votes are counted. Even the stock market goes by the temporary numbers; the Sensex opened on a high on Friday. On Thursday, half a dozen exit polls conducted by psephologists on Gujarat for television news channels were in agreement that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party would gain at least a simple majority and return to power. The margin of victory fluctuated, though. The reaction of the Congress and the BJP was interestingly similar. Both said the outcome on December 18 would be better than predicted, in their respective interests. Simplistically put, there are two ways to interpret the exit poll results. The first is from the Congress’s angle and the other is from the BJP’s perspective. Most pollsters have projected an improved performance by the Congress as compared to its 2012 showing. This is reflected in the number of seats and vote-share. The Congress can claim that it gave a real fight to the BJP this time around under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. The party can also gloat that it could wean away a sizeable section of the Patidar community, who have for decades staunchly supported the BJP, to its side. The Congress can also say that it succeeded in busting the ‘myth’ of the Gujarat Model, which is especially reflected in the support the party has received in rural Gujarat. None of the above is an entirely empty boast. By most exit poll estimates, the Congress did manage to split Patidar votes in its favour; its vote share and seats have gone up since 2012, and it has done well in the rural belt of Gujarat riding on discontent over farmer's distress. However, despite all this tailwind and the formation of a novel caste- grouping comprising the Other Backward Class, the Scheduled Castes and the Patidar community, the best that one exit pollster gave the Congress was 82 seats out of a total 182. Compare this to the worst that the BJP has been projected to end up with - 99 seats - and it becomes obvious that the Congress’s best falls way short of the requirement. Besides, if this is all that the party can manage after having invested everything it had in the election, and with the starting advantage of more than two decades of anti-incumbency that the BJP ought to have faced, then by all objective reasoning the country’s oldest political party has failed. And, for the record, the best that the BJP has been given by an exit poll agency is 135 seats — with the prospect of a higher eventual number. If the exit poll results hold on December 18, the Congress will need to find suitable scapegoats. Perhaps the process has been put into motion. The Electronic Voting Machine is a prime suspect, and so is the institution of the Election Commission of India — against whom Congress supporters agitated on the streets in an unprecedented show of hostility. A Congress spokesperson even went to the extent of calling the ECI a “puppet” of the Union Government. The Congress is also likely to attribute its loss to the “divisive” campaign the BJP and launched and for having “misled” the people. It should not be imagined even in the wildest dreams that the newly minted Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be held accountable for the defeat. From the BJP’s view, the exit poll results are a source of comfort. If they are reflected on December 18, it would mean that the party has overpowered anti-incumbency for two decades. But more importantly, it would have successfully neutralised the Patidar agitation against it, which had threatened to unseat the party. Exit poll findings have shown that the BJP has done well to retain a significant section of the Patidar votes across the State, including in Saurashtra and north Gujarat where the community has a dominant presence in electoral terms. True, it has lost ground in the region according the poll projections, to the Hardik Patel factor which worked in the Congress’s favour, but not to the extent of staring at a catastrophe. Going by the exit poll findings, the BJP has not just contained the Patidar damage but also managed to compensate for the loss by winning over a majority of the tribal and OBC votes. In the run-up to the two-phased election, commentators had observed that the party could work on the discontent among the OBCs over the Congress’s support to Patidar reservation. This it seems to have done with results that offer a measure of self-satisfaction. According to one exit poll finding, even a significant section of the Thakore community to which OBC leader and Congressman Alpesh Thakore belongs, voted for the BJP. In sum, the Congress, in its desire to run after the Patidar votes, has lost the tribal and the OBC voters — all of whom the BJP gratefully lapped up. Having outwitted the Congress in caste calculation — the major plank on which for the Congress was overly dependent to snatch power — the BJP was left with no real challenge. The ‘lack of development’ narrative against the BJP simply did not work for the Congress. The Congress’s other offensives, such as personal attacks by its senior leaders and allies on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the after-thought of ‘me-too Hindu’ campaign by Rahul Gandhi, served to weaken the opposition party’s narrative. If the exit poll results get vindicated on December 18, Rahul Gandhi will have begun his innings as president on a dismal note. The impact could be cascading; Assembly elections are due for a clutch of important States in the next year, including in Karnataka — the only major State besides Punjab where the Congress is in power. And there is the Lok Sabha poll, which is less than two years away. If indeed the Congress is the vanquished one, come Monday, there is one lesson that it must learn at all costs: It does not pay to outsource leadership. It had paid the price in Uttar Pradesh where it placed its future at Akhilesh Yadav’s doorstep. It did the same in Gujarat, depending more on the HAJ factor (Hardik-Alpesh- Jignesh) rather than on its core strengths and issues which it alone had the credibility to raise. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: Exit poll comforts BJP; Congress may have to look for scapegoats

<p>A crack has been found in a Japanese &quot;bullet train&quot; that could have caused a derailment, officials said today, in the first-ever &quot;serious incident&quot; for the iconic mode of transport.</p>

<p>Crew aboard a &quot;shinkansen&quot; bullet train reported a burning smell and strange noises when it pulled out of a station in southern Japan on Monday.</p>

<p>The train stopped for checks at Nagoya station in central Japan and inspectors discovered a crack in the chassis under one carriage as well as an oil leak.</p>

<p>If the train had continued to run, the crack could have caused it to derail in the worst-case scenario, transport officials said.</p>

<p>About 1,000 passengers aboard were unhurt and they continued their journey on fresh trains.</p>

<p>&quot;We recognise it as a &#39;serious incident&#39; as it was an extraordinary case... It could have led to an accident,&quot; said an official at the Japan Transport Safety Board.</p>

<p>It is the first such &quot;serious incident&quot; since the predecessor to the safety board was created in 2001, she said.</p>

<p>&quot;We have sent three inspectors (to Nagoya) to find out the cause. Their report will include measures to prevent a recurrence,&quot; said the official, who declined to be named.</p>

<p>Japanese shinkansens have been derailed before due to earthquakes but no-one has been hurt.</p>


If the train had continued to run, the crack could have caused it to derail in the worst-case scenario, transport officials said

A crack has been found in a Japanese "bullet train" that could have caused a derailment, officials said today, in the first-ever "serious incident" for the iconic mode of transport. Crew aboard a "shinkansen" bullet train reported a burning smell and strange noises when it pulled out of a station in southern Japan on Monday. The train stopped for checks at Nagoya station in central Japan and inspectors discovered a crack in the chassis under one carriage as well as an oil leak. If the train had continued to run, the crack could have caused it to derail in the worst-case scenario, transport officials said. About 1,000 passengers aboard were unhurt and they continued their journey on fresh trains. "We recognise it as a 'serious incident' as it was an extraordinary case... It could have led to an accident," said an official at the Japan Transport Safety Board. It is the first such "serious incident" since the predecessor to the safety board was created in 2001, she said. "We have sent three inspectors (to Nagoya) to find out the cause. Their report will include measures to prevent a recurrence," said the official, who declined to be named. Japanese shinkansens have been derailed before due to earthquakes but no-one has been hurt.

First 'serious incident' for Japan bullet train as crack found

<p>While Prime Minister Modi finalised the last day&nbsp;before the second phase of election in Gujarat by visiting the Ambaji temple, Congress President Rahul Gandhi paid a visit to Jagannath Temple in Ahmedabad.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="et"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gujarat?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Gujarat</a>: Congress President Rahul Gandhi visits Jagannath Temple in Ahmedabad <a href="https://t.co/SoqixFK74a">pic.twitter.com/SoqixFK74a</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/940446313283330048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="et"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gujarat?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Gujarat</a>: Congress President Rahul Gandhi visits Jagannath Temple in Ahmedabad <a href="https://t.co/Rxv33VdI0i">pic.twitter.com/Rxv33VdI0i</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/940447432357191681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>PM Modi&nbsp;boarded a seaplane to reach the Sabarmati Front, and from there&nbsp;road to reach the temple.&nbsp;His seaplane visit drew much attention and was called a &quot;historic&quot; move by his party leaders.</p>

<p>In over one month of the Election campaign in the state, Rahul Gandhi had paid visit to several temples including Shree Ranchhodji Temple in Kheda&#39;s Dakor, Somnath temple,&nbsp;Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar,&nbsp; Ambaji temple.</p>

<p>His frequent visit to the temples had attracted huge criticism from the opposition.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A controversy over his&nbsp;religion erupted after Gandhi visited the Somnath temple in Gujarat.</p>

<p>In a recent attack, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has said that the Gujarat polls have taught Rahul Gandhi &quot;visiting temples&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He also added that the polls have also taught Manmohan Singh to speak up.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="hi">Gujarat ki janta ne do kaam iss chunaav mein achhe se kara diye. Dr Manmohan Singh ji ka mooh khulwa diya, aur doosra Rahul Gandhi ko mandir jaana sikha diya: UP CM Yogi Adityanath <a href="https://t.co/Db3plqEFSQ">pic.twitter.com/Db3plqEFSQ</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/940458188469497856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>


In over one month of the Election campaign in the state, Rahul Gandhi has paid the visit to several temples including Shree Ranchhodji Temple in Kheda's Dakor, Somnath temple,?Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar,? Ambaji temple

While Prime Minister Modi finalised the last day before the second phase of election in Gujarat by visiting the Ambaji temple, Congress President Rahul Gandhi paid a visit to Jagannath Temple in Ahmedabad. #Gujarat: Congress President Rahul Gandhi visits Jagannath Temple in Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/SoqixFK74a — ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2017 × #Gujarat: Congress President Rahul Gandhi visits Jagannath Temple in Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/Rxv33VdI0i — ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2017 × PM Modi boarded a seaplane to reach the Sabarmati Front, and from there road to reach the temple. His seaplane visit drew much attention and was called a "historic" move by his party leaders. In over one month of the Election campaign in the state, Rahul Gandhi had paid visit to several temples including Shree Ranchhodji Temple in Kheda's Dakor, Somnath temple, Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, Ambaji temple. His frequent visit to the temples had attracted huge criticism from the opposition. A controversy over his religion erupted after Gandhi visited the Somnath temple in Gujarat. In a recent attack, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has said that the Gujarat polls have taught Rahul Gandhi "visiting temples". He also added that the polls have also taught Manmohan Singh to speak up. Gujarat ki janta ne do kaam iss chunaav mein achhe se kara diye. Dr Manmohan Singh ji ka mooh khulwa diya, aur doosra Rahul Gandhi ko mandir jaana sikha diya: UP CM Yogi Adityanath pic.twitter.com/Db3plqEFSQ — ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2017 ×

Before final phase of Gujarat election, Rahul Gandhi visits Jagannath temple

<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi will conclude the last of the election&nbsp;campaign in Gujarat with a visit to Ambaji Mata temple.</p>

<p>While addressing a press conference BJP President Amit Shah said that&nbsp;PM Modi will visit Ambaji temple on 12 December.</p>

<p>He added that his&nbsp;visit will be done uniquely to promote tourism.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He said, &quot;Modi will take off in a seaplane&nbsp;from Sabarmati riverfront, land in Dharoi dam&#39;s pond and will proceed to the temple by road.&quot;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="it"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gujarat?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Gujarat</a>: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to travel from Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad to Dharoi Dam via sea plane, shortly <a href="https://t.co/GWjrVO5Sgz">pic.twitter.com/GWjrVO5Sgz</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/940429243011317761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Visuals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Visuals</a> of sea plane Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be travelling in, from Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad to Dharoi Dam shortly <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gujarat?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Gujarat</a> <a href="https://t.co/C8mqgzm1LA">pic.twitter.com/C8mqgzm1LA</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/940432703161110529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Amit Shah&#39;s clarification came after<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/gujarat-elections-gujarat-police-denies-permission-to-pm-modi-rahul-for-roadshow-26431" target="_blank"> the state police denied the request for a&nbsp;road show</a> on the last day of the election campaign in Gujarat.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Since admn asked to not conduct road show of PM Modi on 12th he&#39;ll go to Ambaji Mata temple tomorrow. It&#39;ll be done uniquely. To promote Gujarat tourism, he&#39;ll take off in a sea plane from Sabarmati river front, land in Dharoi dam&#39;s pond &amp; will go to temple by road: Amit Shah <a href="https://t.co/5L7Tam3AMD">pic.twitter.com/5L7Tam3AMD</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/940264089737076742?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>The Gujarat police had turned down the request made by political parties for conducting a road show in the state.</p>

<p>BJP and Congress had requested for a roadshow to be conducted on Tuesday, however, the state police rejected their request citing law and order situation.</p>

<p>The state will undergo the second phase of elections on December 14&nbsp;for 93 seats in North and Central Gujarat.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>The counting of votes is scheduled for December 18.&nbsp;</p>
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The Gujarat police turned down the request made by political parties for conducting a road show in the state on the last day of election campaign

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will conclude the last of the election campaign in Gujarat with a visit to Ambaji Mata temple. While addressing a press conference BJP President Amit Shah said that PM Modi will visit Ambaji temple on 12 December. He added that his visit will be done uniquely to promote tourism. He said, "Modi will take off in a seaplane from Sabarmati riverfront, land in Dharoi dam's pond and will proceed to the temple by road." #Gujarat: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to travel from Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad to Dharoi Dam via sea plane, shortly pic.twitter.com/GWjrVO5Sgz — ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2017 × #WATCH: #Visuals of sea plane Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be travelling in, from Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad to Dharoi Dam shortly #Gujarat pic.twitter.com/C8mqgzm1LA — ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2017 × Amit Shah's clarification came after the state police denied the request for a road show on the last day of the election campaign in Gujarat. Since admn asked to not conduct road show of PM Modi on 12th he'll go to Ambaji Mata temple tomorrow. It'll be done uniquely. To promote Gujarat tourism, he'll take off in a sea plane from Sabarmati river front, land in Dharoi dam's pond & will go to temple by road: Amit Shah pic.twitter.com/5L7Tam3AMD — ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2017 × The Gujarat police had turned down the request made by political parties for conducting a road show in the state. BJP and Congress had requested for a roadshow to be conducted on Tuesday, however, the state police rejected their request citing law and order situation. The state will undergo the second phase of elections on December 14 for 93 seats in North and Central Gujarat. The counting of votes is scheduled for December 18.

Gujarat elections: On last day of election campaign PM Modi to visit Ambaji Temple via seaplane

<p>The Gujarat police have turned down the request made by political parties for conducting a road show in the state.</p>

<p>BJP and Congress had requested for a roadshow to be conducted on Tuesday, however, the state police rejected their request citing law and order situation.</p>

<p>Police Commissioner Anup Kumar Singh said that the request was turned down due to security, law and order reasons and to avoid public inconvenience.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Request by BJP &amp; Congress for conducting PM Modi &amp; Rahul Gandhi&#39;s road show tomorrow, turned down by Police due to security, law &amp; order reasons &amp; to avoid public inconvenience : Anup Kumar Singh, Police Commissioner <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ahmedabad?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ahmedabad</a> to ANI <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GujaratElection2017?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GujaratElection2017</a> <a href="https://t.co/qaNr7lbdYL">pic.twitter.com/qaNr7lbdYL</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/940079236823400450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi were to address the last day of campaigning for the Gujarat assembly elections on Tuesday, December 12.</p>

<p>The state will undergo the second phase of elections on December 14&nbsp;for 93 seats in North and Central Gujarat.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The voting for the first phase of election in Gujarat was conducted on 9 December which saw a voter turnout of 68 per cent. The first phase elections were conducted on 89 seats of Saurashtra and South region.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The counting of votes is scheduled for December 18.&nbsp;</p>

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BJP and Congress had requested for a roadshow to be conducted on Tuesday, however, the state police rejected their request citing law and order situation

The Gujarat police have turned down the request made by political parties for conducting a road show in the state. BJP and Congress had requested for a roadshow to be conducted on Tuesday, however, the state police rejected their request citing law and order situation. Police Commissioner Anup Kumar Singh said that the request was turned down due to security, law and order reasons and to avoid public inconvenience. Request by BJP & Congress for conducting PM Modi & Rahul Gandhi's road show tomorrow, turned down by Police due to security, law & order reasons & to avoid public inconvenience : Anup Kumar Singh, Police Commissioner #Ahmedabad to ANI #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/qaNr7lbdYL — ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2017 × PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi were to address the last day of campaigning for the Gujarat assembly elections on Tuesday, December 12. The state will undergo the second phase of elections on December 14 for 93 seats in North and Central Gujarat. The voting for the first phase of election in Gujarat was conducted on 9 December which saw a voter turnout of 68 per cent. The first phase elections were conducted on 89 seats of Saurashtra and South region. The counting of votes is scheduled for December 18.

Gujarat elections: Police denies permission to PM Modi, Rahul for election roadshow

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