PM Modi slams Manipur CM over corruption, promises development

Addressing his first campaign rally before the first phase of Manipur polls, Modi slammed three-time Congress CM Okram Ibobi Singh over corruption, blamed the state government for blockade and accused Congress of spreading lies about the centre's Naga accord.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a scathing direct attack against three time Congress chief minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh calling him a "10 percent CM".

Addressing a massive BJP rally at the Langjing Achouba ground in Imphal, Modi alleged that Okram Ibobi Singh had the reputation of being known as a "10 per cent CM" who sought commission for everything he did.

HERE'S WHAT THE PM SAID:

         1.      "There is no CM in this country who is known as 10% CM. In 2014, during my first visit to Manipur I came to know this. When I enquired what it meant I was shocked! Everyone in the state is aware of this. But now Manipur needs a zero percent CM. 10 percent for 15 long years! Just imagine the loot," Modi said.

       

        2.      Seeking support to form maiden BJP government in the state, Modi said, "It's a fight between those who seek 10 per cent commission and those who promise to deliver 100 per cent development." Hitting out at the Congress-run state government for the painful economic blockade of Imphal valley imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC), Modi said the state government was intentionally keeping the impasse alive for political gains.

        

       3.      "The onus to keep supply of essential goods normal is that of the state government. But they have failed miserably. For months the national highways have been blocked and the Congress is hand in glove with those responsible for it. They want to make people suffer for political gains. Such an inhuman party has no right to remain in power for a moment," the Prime Minister said.

      

        4.      At a time when the Centre is holding tripartite talks with the UNC and the state government to end the blockade, PM Modi promised that if the BJP came to power in Manipur, the deadlock will be broken immediately after the results were announced on March 11. He once again reiterated that the Centre was willing to provide every assistance to end the impasse that has hampered normal life in Imphal since November last year.

      

       5.      Allaying fears that the Centre's Naga Peace Accord could hurt the interest of Manipur, Modi said, there was "not a single word in the Naga accord that is detrimental to the interest of Manipur and its people." Slamming the Congress for resorting to malicious campaign, Modi stated that the party was informed well in advance about the deal but it never raised any issue back then. 

     

        6.      "Today, they are questioning us for the Naga accord. But what were they doing for one and a half years? Were they sleeping then? Now during the polls they are spreading lies," he said.

      

        7.      At a time when the UNC blockade in protest against the state government's decision to create seven new districts just before the assembly polls has pitted the Naga tribal areas in the hill region against the dominant Meitei community in the Imphal valley, Modi tried reaching out to both with a message of peace.

     

       8.      "They have pitted people against one another here. What kind of politics is this where there is no value for people's lives?" he asked adding that the Centre will never discriminate between those residing in hills or in the valley.

    

       9.      "What they (Congress) could not achieve in 15 years, we shall deliver in fifteen months," PM Modi promised.

PM Modi meets Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami

This is Palaniswami's first meeting with Prime Minister Modi after he took office on February 18.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met the new Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

This is Palaniswami's first meeting with Prime Minister Modi after he took office on February 18.

Amid absolute ruckus in the Assembly, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader Edappadi K Palaniswami won the confidence motion, ending a 10-day political uncertainty in Tamil Nadu which had begun with caretaker CM O Panneerselvam's revolt against the AIADMK general secretary.

Backed by party chief V K Sasikala, he was supported by 122 members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

PM Modi in a telephonic conversation had congratulated Palaniswami on taking over as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. 

"Spoke to Thiru Edappadi K. Palaniswami & congratulated him on taking over as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu," Modi tweeted.

PM Modi was today in Coimbatore to unveil the 112-foot tall Shiva statue on the occasion of Mahashivaratri.

Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election 2017 LIVE: 55 per cent turnout till 4 pm

Voting for the fourth phase of Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh is underway in 53 constituencies spread over 12 districts, including the Bundelkhand region and the Nehru-Gandhi bastion, Raebareli.

An estimated 50.37 per cent turnout was recorded till 3 pm during the fourth phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh today. Polling is on for 53 Assembly constituencies spread over 12 districts, including the backward Bundelkhand region and the Nehru-Gandhi pocket borough of Raebareli.

Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Allahabad, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Banda, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur and Raebareli among others go to polls today. There are 680 candidates in the fourth phase, including 61 women.

LIVE UPDATES:

·         Nearly 55 per cent voter turnout was registered till 4 pm.

·         50.37 per cent voter turnout in recorded till 3 pm.

·         53 per cent voting in Mahoba, 49.47 per cent in Fatehpur, 57.55 per cent in Lalitpur, 51.3 per cent in Pratapgarh till 3 pm.

·         Over 40 per cent turnout till 2 pm.

UP Polls 2017: Voter turnout till 1 PM is 39%.

·         By 1 pm, turnout of 40 per cent recorded in Jhansi, 40.5 per cent in Fatehpur, 44 per cent in Hamirpur, 43.8 per cent in Mahoba, 35 per cent in Pratapgarh, 35 per cent in Jalaun, 38 per cent in Kaushambi, 33 per cent in Allahabad.

·         25-27 per cent turnout recorded in the fourth phase till noon.

·         23.78 per cent voting in Uttar Pradesh till 11 am in fourth phase of assembly elections.

·         21.22 per cent turnout recorded in Allahabad, 23 per cent in Jalaun, 24 per cent in Pratapgarh and 28 per cent in Chitrakoot. till 11 am.

·         BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui casts his vote at booth number 84 in Banda.

·         32.5 per cent voting in Hamirpur, 30 per cent polling in Mahoba, 29.5 per cent in Jhansi, 25 per cent in Raebareli, 25 per cent in Lalitpur and 21 per cent in Banda till 11 am.

·         West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi casts his vote at booth no 252 in Allahabad.

·         A 12 to 15 per cent turnout has been recorded till 10 am.

·         An overall voting percentage  of 10.23 per cent has been recorded in the fourth phase in Uttar Pradesh till 9 am.

·         Villagers boycott polling in Fatehpur's Khaga over developmental issues. No votes polled at booths 105 and 106, 9 at booth number 107 and 8 at booth number 109.

UP BJP Chief Keshav Prasad Maurya casts his vote in Allahabad

 By 9 am, 9.50 per cent voting in Raebareli, 9.8 per cent in Fatehpur, 9 per cent in Lalitpur, 10.4 per cent in Pratapgarh, 11 per cent in Jhansi, 8 per cent in Jalaun, 12 per cent in Chitrakoot and 9.3 per cent voting in Allahabad. 

·         Problem in EVM machine number 296 in Jhansi

·         Congress candidate from Raebareli Sadar Aditi Singh after casting her vote. She is up against BSP's Mohd Shahbaz and BJP's Anita Srivastava.

Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti after casting her vote in Hamirpur

EVMs not working at booth numbers 288, 172 and 166 in Pratapgarh.

·         Voting starts in Banda, problems reported in some EVMs.

·         Voting has still not started in booth number 481 in Jalaun as an EVM machine there is not working.

·         Congress leader Pramod Tiwari with daughter Aradhana Mishra Mona outside a polling booth in Pratapgarh.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari with daughter Aradhana Mishra Mona outside a polling booth in Pratapgarh.

          Mahoba (UP): Clash between SP and BSP supporters,4 including Samajwadi Party candidate Siddhgopal Sahu's son among three injured. Police have reached the spot.

·         Sunil Rai, director of Indian Postal Service is the first voter at Jwala Devi inter college in Allahabad.

Allahabad's first voter.

·         Sonia Gandhi's turf Rae Bareli has begun voting in Shree Gandhi Vidyalaya Inter College's polling booth no. 178.

·         Voting underway in Allahabad's Jwala Devi Saraswati Shishu Mandir, polling booth no. 245.

It is for the first time since 1998 that Sonia Gandhi has not campaigned in an election. However, on the eve of voting, she wrote a letter to the electorate seeking their support for the party and votes in favor of the party candidates.

The fourth phase is especially significant for the Congress, as it had managed to wrest only six seats in the 2012 assembly polls in these constituencies. Besides, the parliamentary constituency of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Rae Bareli, is also voting in this phase.

UP Elections 2017: As Amit Shah Campaigned In Allahabad, Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi Were A Street Away

UP elections 2017: BJP's Amit Shah addressing during poll campaign in Allahabad on Tuesday.

ALLAHABAD: 

HIGHLIGHTS

1.    Amit Shah traveled atop bus draped with marigold flowers, drew big crowds

2.    Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi too drew as big a crowd for their roadshow

3.    Campaigning ends for the fourth phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections

 Women in "BJP saris" were among the thousands who packed the lanes of Allahabad as party chief Amit Shah's roadshow wound its way down 10 km on the last day of campaigning for thefourth phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections. Just a street away, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his ally Rahul Gandhi drew as big a crowd for their roadshow. It was pegged as a clash of the titans.

Amit Shah traveled atop a bus draped with strings of marigold along with other BJP leaders as party workers chanted slogans like Jai Shri Ram and Har Har Modi. At one point the BJP chief blew a conch. This was the BJP's attempt to consolidate the upper caste Hindu vote.

On another truck, always about a km away on a similar route, stood Akhilesh Yadav and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. They drew a distinctly younger crowd and big speakers played slogans set to Bollywood tunes. "UP ko Akhilesh pasand hai, (UP wants Akhilesh)" was a favourite.

UP elections 2017: Supporters of Samajwadi Party during a road show of Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi in Allahabad.

In Allahabad, where there are 12 assembly seats, the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance is looking at drawing the Muslim-Yadav vote. Two days before polling, it is all down to getting the caste and community balance right.

"You cannot take caste and religion out of UP elections," said the BJP's new import from the Congress, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, as she prepped for the party chief's rally. For her ex-boss Rahul Gandhi, just a km away, she had this message, "the Congress will be decimated. It's pity that it will take down with it Akhilesh Yadav too."

The BJP's extra effort here comes from the fact that though it had won both the parliamentary seats in Allahabad in the national election three years ago, in the 2012 assembly election it had won not a single of the 12 seats. The Samajwadi Party had won eight, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party had won three and the Congress one.

The women in the BJP saris - in the BJP colours and with its lotus symbol on them - were meanwhile thrilled with their fashion statement. "It is the Modi sarkar's roadshow, they said walking alongside Amit Shah's truck. And who gave them the saris? "Modi sarkar did," they said in a chorus.

UP is voting in seven phases. Votes will be counted on March 11.

UP elections 2017: Women at Amit Shah's rally in Allahabad were seen wearing BJP saris with a lotus symbol on them.

मोदी मैजिक के लिए कितना हानिकारक है यूपी का ये 'तीसरा लड़का’?

Varun Gandhi

बीजेपी को यूपी की जंग जिताने के लिए मोदी-शाह की जोड़ी ने जहां पूरा जोर लगा रखा है वहीं बीजेपी के अपने 'गांधी' हानिकारक साबित होते दिख रहे हैं. हम बात कर रहे हैं वरुण गांधी की. चुनाव प्रचार के दौरान वे यूपी में मौन रहे लेकिन चौथे चरण के मतदान के ठीक पहले इंदौर में वरुण गांधी कांग्रेस नेता के कार्यक्रम में शामिल हुए. वहां वरुण ने बयानों के ऐसे तीर छोड़े जो बीजेपी और मोदी सरकार के लिए असहज स्थिति पैदा कर सकती है. यूपी के चुनावी समर में राहुल और अखिलेश के बाद वरुण का नंबर तीसरे पायदान पर आता है और इस वजह से कुछ लोग इन्हें यूपी का तीसरा लड़का भी कहते हैं. आखिर क्या है वरुण की पार्टी में नाराजगी की वजह?

चुप्पी तोड़ी, मोदी सरकार की दुखती रग पर रखा हाथ
पीलीभीत के सांसद और बीजेपी के युवा नेता वरुण गांधी ने अपनी लंबी चुप्पी तोड़ दी है. वो मंगलवार को इंदौर के एक स्कूल में 'विचार नए भारत का' का विषय पर बोलने के लिए पहुंचे थे. इस विषय पर बोलते हुए वरुण गांधी ने हर उस विषय पर अपनी बात रखी जिसपर अबतक केंद्र की मोदी सरकार विपक्षी पार्टियों से घिरती रही है. वरुण गांधी ने हैदराबाद के दलित पीएचडी छात्र रोहित वेमुला की आत्महत्या, अल्पसंख्यकों की बढ़ती मुश्किलें, किसानों की आत्महत्या और विजय माल्या का विदेश भाग जाना सहित बढ़ती जीडीपी की हकीकत के बारे में भी अपनी बात रखी. ऐसा माना जा रहा है कि ये सारे के सारे वो मुद्दे हैं जिनपर केंद्र की बेजेपी सरकार घिरती रही है. राजनीतिक पंडितों की मानें तो वरूण अपने बयान से यूपी में बीजेपी लिए मुश्किलों की दीवार खड़ी कर रहे हैं.

'वरुण गांधी स्वतंत्र विचार रखते है, RSS का बैकग्राउंड नहीं' 
जानकार ऐसा कहते हैं कि वरुण गांधी का आरएसएस से कोई जुड़ाव नहीं है. वो मुद्दों पर स्वतंत्र राय भी रखते हैं. पार्टी की कमान जब राजनाथ सिंह के हाथों में थी तो वरुण की स्थिति पार्टी में अच्छी थी. लेकिन जैसे ही पार्टी की कमान अमित शाह के हाथों में गई वरुण गांधी को पार्टी से किनारा किया जाने लगा. कुछ महीनों पहले एक न्यूज वेबसाइट से बात करते हुए राजनीतिक विश्लेषक अभय कुमार दुबे ने कहा था, ’वरुण गांधी की संघ की पृष्ठभूमि नहीं है. वह स्वतंत्र रूप से सोचने वाले व्यक्ति हैं. मोदी और शाह की बीजेपी उत्तर प्रदेश में किसी मज़बूत नेतृत्व को विकसित नहीं करना चाहती है.’

खुद को पार्टी में किनारा किए जाने से हैं दुखी 
नरेंद्र मोदी के प्रधानमंत्री बनने और अमित शाह के राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष बनने के बाद से ही वरुण गांधी को पार्टी में किनारा किया जाने लगा. 2014 में बीजेपी ने वरुण को राष्ट्रीय महासचिव के पद से हटा दिया था. 12 जून 2016 को इलाहाबाद में बीजेपी की राष्ट्रीय कार्यकारिणी की बैठक के दौरान वरुण ने पार्टी नेताओं के सामने शक्ति प्रदर्शन करने की कोशिश की जो अमित शाह और मोदी को रास नहीं आई. पार्टी ने इस विधानसभा चुनाव में बड़ी संख्या में उन लोगों के टिकट काटे जो किसी न किसी तरह से वरुण गांधी के करीबी थे. पार्टी ने उन्हें स्टार प्रचारकों के अपने पहले लिस्ट में शामिल नहीं किया. दूसरे लिस्ट में वरुण का नाम सामने आया. इसे भी नाराजगी की वजह माना जा रहा है. कहने वाले तो यह भी कहते हैं कि वरुण बहुत पहले से पार्टी छोड़ने का मन बना चुके हैं. ऐसे में वरुण गांधी यूपी चुनाव के दौरान हर वो काम कर सकते हैं जिससे पार्टी कमजोर हो.

जैसे ही पार्टी की कमान राजनाथ सिंह से अमित शाह के पास आई वैसे ही पार्टी में वरुण गांधी की स्थिति बदलने लगी. पार्टी में उनका कद घटने लगा. राजनीति की समझ रखने वाले बताते हैं कि वरुण के साथ ऐसा इसलिए हो रहा है क्योंकि उनके नाम में 'गांधी' लगा है. अमित शाह और नरेंद्र मोदी इस नाम के साथ सहज नहीं है. वरुण गांधी भी इस बात को जानते हैं. जब नरेंद्र मोदी केंद्र में जीतकर आए और पार्टी अमित शाह के हाथ में गई तभी वरुण को लगने लगा था कि उनकी अहमियत पार्टी में कम हो जाएगी. बीजेपी वरुण गांधी को 'गांधी परिवार' का ही एक हिस्सा मानते हैं. इसका एक और सबूत है- सात जनवरी को बीजेपी के फेसबुक अकाउंट से एक वीडियो अपलोड हुआ. इस वीडियो में यह बताया गया कि नरेंद्र मोदी प्रधानमंत्री हैं फिर भी उनके भाई, चाचा या दूसरे संबंधी गरीबी में रह रहे हैं या कोई छोटा-मोटा काम करके अपना जीवन चला रहे हैं लेकिन दूसरी तरह ऐसे परिवार हैं जिनका हर सदस्य सत्ता की मलाई खा रहा है. इस वीडियो में एक ग्राफिक्स के जरिए गांधी परिवार की वंशावली दिखाई गई और वरुण गांधी को उसी परिवार का सदस्य बताया गया.

अपने इलाके में प्रभावी हैं वरुण 
यूपी के इस चुनाव में 45 उम्मीदवारों के टिकट इस वजह से कटे हैं कि वो वरुण के करीबी हैं. ये सारे के सारे उम्मीदवार निर्दलीय चुनाव लड़ रहे हैं. जाहिर है कि इससे पार्टी को नुकसान होगा. ये सारे के सारे बीजेपी के विधायक हैं. इन उम्मीदवारों को चुनाव जीतवाने के लिए वरुण पूरी कोशिश कर रहे हैं. यह भी माना जाता है कि वरुण गांधी इन इलाकों में खासे प्रभावी हैं.

UP Elections 2017: With 'Gujarat's Donkeys', Akhilesh Yadav's Dig At PM Narendra Modi, Amitabh Bachchan

 

PM Modi and Akhilesh Yadav have exchanged bitter comments during UP election campaign.

RAE BARELI, UTTAR PRADESH: 

 Akhilesh Yadav's outrageous dig today, apparently at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Gujarat, featured Amitabh Bachchan and donkeys. "I request the century's biggest superstar, please don't do any ad campaigns for Gujarat's gadhas (donkeys)," the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said while campaigning in Raebareli.

Without taking names, Mr Yadav referred to an ad in which Mr Bachchan, popularly known as "Big B", gives viewers a glimpse of a "Wild Ass Sanctuary" near Ahmedabad. The 74-year-old has filmed a series of such ads as brand ambassador of Gujarat tourism.

"We will tell the mahanayak, don't campaign for donkeys. Have you ever heard of campaigning for donkeys? Gujarat's people are doing campaigns for donkeys...then they accuse me of working only for kabristan (graveyard...)," said the 43-year-old.

The latest comment reflects increasingly pungent discourse in Uttar Pradesh as various parties race to the finish line of the state polls described by many as the semi-final before the 2019 national election.

The Chief Minister's "donkey" jibe was a direct response to PM Modi's comments at a rally in Fatehpur yesterday. "If a village has a kabristan (graveyard),  it should also have ashamshaan ghat (cremation ground). If there's electricity on Ramzan, it should also be there on Diwali. There must be bijli (power) both on Eid and Holi... There should be no discrimination," said the Prime Minister, accusing the ruling Samajwadi Party of religious discrimination.

In Raebareli, Akhilesh Yadav retorted, "You revere Ganga maiyya (river Ganga). Why don't you swear on the Ganga and tell us...is the Samajwadi Party government giving 24-hour electricity in Varanasi or not?"

Varanasi is PM Modi's parliamentary constituency in UP.

HIGHLIGHTS

1.     Request Big B to not do ad campaigns for Gujarat's gadhas: Akhilesh Yadav

2.     Comment comes day after PM said in UP everyone felt discriminated against

3.     If village has graveyard, should also have cremation ground, PM had said

Criticise Trump, but at least he’s holding press conferences. Modi isn't

The 45th POTUS’ alt-fact universe keeps getting exposed because the president braves unscripted questions. Our prime minister does not.

Donald Trump has been rightly ravaged on mainstream and social media for his Thursday “anti-press conference”, which he used to tell the US media point-blank that they are the bad guys. For example, he claimed that his electoral college margin, at 306, was the biggest since Ronald Reagan. He was quickly corrected in that very press conference. No his wasn’t. His predecessor, Barack Obama got higher EC votes both in 2008 and 2012. President George HW Bush got even higher.

President Trump’s claim that his administration is running like a “fine-tuned machine” was also contradicted. Then and there. For example, even the cabinet is not in place. There’s been a fresh controversy over Russian links almost every day.

Fact-corrected, and humiliated, stands Donald Trump. But let’s be honest. The guy, delusional and completely out-of-whack though he is, at least has the gumption to face the very press he loves to berate. He calls them “fake news”, but in their face. He calls them the bad guys in front of them.

There lies the difference.

In India, the best our high-octane media has managed to obtain are a couple of long and extremely monotonous, tightly-controlled, entirely scripted interviews with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that too in lieu of air time to particular campaigns, ideas etc to benefit the owners of those channels.

Except for a townhall with Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, PM Modi hasn’t brooked questions on Indian soil. He has however taken a joint press conference with former UK prime minister David Cameron, where a BBC journalist flummoxed him with a difficult question. Modi’s answer was found to be inadequate, evasive.

Photo: DailyO

Why doesn’t PM Modi do press conferences at all? Like President Trump, PM Modi was one of the first elected leaders to betray a keen fear of the liberal media, and his party has become synonymous with a factory of online of troll who abuse and threaten journalists on social media as a modus operandi. Modi’s suspicion of liberal media is as deep-rooted as Trump’s, but unlike the latter, India’s prime minister does not face the head-on.

The fury over Narendra Modi’s remark shows that the Congress lacks a sense of humour

A television grab of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha. The Congress’s fury has been roused by Narendra Modi’s rhetoric. It believes he’s been rude to Manmohan Singh.(PTI)

The Congress is hopping mad. The Party’s fury has been roused by Narendra Modi’s rhetoric. It believes he’s been rude to Manmohan Singh. It’s demanded an apology and if that isn’t forthcoming, the Congress has decided to boycott the Prime Minister when parliament reconvenes.

The truth is that like many of us the Congress lacks a sense of humour. Mr. Modi’s turn of phrase may not have been brilliant but it was undoubtedly witty. And, of course, it was a put down. That, after all, is the intent of repartee.

The problem is we love a good joke at someone else’s expense but when we’re the butt it’s perceived as an insult and we bristle with self-righteousness. That’s precisely how the Congress is behaving.

In contrast, just look at how British politicians, including serving and former prime ministers, have referred to each other down the centuries. As far back as the 18th, when the 4th Earl of Sandwich angrily said to John Wilkes “Sir, I don’t know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox” this was the reply the First Lord of the Admiralty had to contend with: “That depends, my Lord, on whether I embrace your Lordship’s principles or your mistress.”

My favourite are the exchanges between William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli, who were competing prime ministers in the late 19th century. This is how Disraeli once described Gladstone: “A sophistical rhetorician inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity and gifted with an egotistical imagination that can at all times command an interminable and inconsistent series of arguments to malign an opponent and to glorify himself.”

History does not record Gladstone’s replies but, thankfully, that did not deter Disraeli. On a famous occasion, when he was attempting to distinguish a misfortune from a calamity, he said: “If Gladstone fell into Thames, that would be a misfortune, and if anyone pulled him out, that, I suppose, would be a calamity.”

Read: Congress fury over PM Modi’s Manmohan ‘raincoat’ jibe threatens to stall Parliament

This tradition of ribbing prime ministers has become a revered part of British parliamentary practice. Clement Freud dubbed Margaret Thatcher “Attila the Hen”. Norman St. John-Stevas called her “The Blessed Margaret”. Nicholas Fairbairn said of John Major: “He’s more a ventriloquist’s dummy than a prime minister.” Whilst Churchill described Attlee as “a sheep in sheep’s clothing”.

The truth is all sorts of insults have been bandied about in the House of Commons. They include cad, stool pigeon, guttersnipe, snivelling little jerk and – the delightful – semi-house-trained polecat. Rarely does the person so addressed demand an apology. Indeed, that was also true when John Davies was called “a fat-arsed twit” by a fellow Labour MP!

Even the most dour have been capable of delicious flights of wit. Harold Wilson once said of his own cabinet colleague: “Tony Benn is the only man I know who immatures with age.” Dennis Healey dismissed an attack by Geoffrey Howe with the piercing remark it’s “like being savaged by a dead sheep.”

Read: Congress says it won’t let Modi speak in Parliament unless he says sorry to Manmohan, Rahul attacks PM

So, instead of whining when they’re bested by their opponents, the Congress should learn the art of giving one better than they get. But if that’s not possible, try and smile through clenched teeth. Throwing a tantrum isn’t just childish it’s also a sure sign you can’t take a joke.

Or would the Congress prefer Mr. Modi to borrow a phrase from the good Rev. Spooner and call them “shining wits”?

Assembly Elections 2017 LIVE: 68% voting in Uttarakhand till 5 PM, 65% in Uttar Pradesh till

The high-decibel campaign for 67 seats in Uttar Pradesh witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav touring extensively for the second phase of polls.

Polling for 69 Assembly seats in Uttarakhand and 67 constituencies spread across 11 districts in Uttar Pradesh is underway.

ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2017: 

While in Uttarakhand stakes are high for both the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the crucial Assembly polls, the second phase voting in Uttar Pradesh is of much importance for the ruling Samajwadi Party.

The SP holds 34 of the 67 seats, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 17, the BJP 10 and the Congress four. Smaller outfits such as the Peace Party and Ittehadul-E-Millat Council had won one seat each in 2012.

LIVE UPDATES:

·         65.5 per cent voting in Uttar Pradesh till 5 PM

·         68 per cent voting reported in Uttarakhand till 5 PM

·         Nearly 60 per cent voting in Uttar Pradesh till 4 PM, 53 per cent in Uttarakhand till 3 PM.

·         54.27 per cent voter turnout recorded till 3 PM in second phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh

·         Uttar Pradesh abbreviation UP may be read as 'up', but everything is 'down' in the state: PM Modi at Kannauj.

·         Prime Minister Narendra  Modi addresses a rally in Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh.

Does Akhileshji even recall that Congress attacked Mulayam Singhji back in 1984? And he has allied with them only: PM Modi 

·         Nearly 39 per cent voting in Uttarakhand till 1 PM.

·         Clash between supporters of Azam Khan and BSP candidate Doctor Tanvir at Raza Degree College, Rampur

·         Over 25 per cent of the electorate cast their votes till noon in the second phase polling in 67 Assembly constituencies across 11 districts of western Uttar Pradesh.

BJP ke log jab muh kholte hain, nafrat failaate hain: Akhilesh Yadav in Unnao

·         24.14 per cent voter turnout recorded till 11 am in the second phase of Uttar Pradesh elections.

 2nd phase: 115-year-old Zurriyat Hussain Kazmi, maternal grandfather of Union Min Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, casts his vote in Bareilly. 

 Voters in Aminabad village of Bijnor district have boycotted elections, citing lack of development.

·         Baba Ramdev casts his vote in Uttarakhand.

·         Congress's Indira Hridayesh casts her vote at booth no 17 in Haldwani. She's contesting against BSP's S Ahmad and BJP's JPS Rautela.

·         10.75 per cent voter turnout recorded in Uttar Pradesh till 9 AM.

 6% polling percentage recorded in the first hour of the Uttarakhand polls.

·         MoS Finance Santosh Gangwar casts his vote in Bareilly with wife Saubhagya Gangwar

·         11 per cent voter turnout recorded in Moradabad till 9 AM.

·         BJP's Uttarakhand president Ajay Bhatt casts his vote in Ranikhet.

·         12 percent voting in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh by 9 AM.

·         Former Union Min Jitin Prasada casts his vote at polling booth no. 162 at Shahjahanpur, Dr. Sudama Prasad Bal Vidya Mandir.

·         Voting process which had been halted at Badaun Sadar constituency's SK Inter College-booth no. 183, now resumes.

·          Glitch in EVM machine halts voting process at Badaun Sadar constituency's S.K.Inter College-booth no. 183.

·         Polling had to begin at 7 AM, but they are still in process of setting up machines: Voter at Moradabad polling booth no. 265

·         Security arrangements in place at a polling booth in Moradabad as 67 assembly constituencies will to go polls today 

·         Visuals from polling station 265-MH Degree College in Moradabad,people queue up to cast their votes as polling begins 

·         Polling begins for 67 Assembly constituencies of Uttar Pradesh in the second of seven phases.