Narendra Modi News

Amit Shah on Saturday said it is very unfortunate that there is a debate on the caste of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has a habit of telling lies publicly and repeating those thereafter. Shah also said it was a Congress government in Gujarat that included Modi's caste in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBC) in 1994 and the Centre included the prime minister's caste in its OBC list in 2000. «Modi's caste was listed in Gujarat as OBC on July 25, 1994. At that time, the chief minister of Gujarat was Chhabildas Mehta and the party in power was the Congress. Till that time, Modi had not contested a single election. He used to work for the organisation only. The question of his caste did not come at all. »Subsequently, the Gujarat government recommended for the inclusion of his caste in the central OBC list. It was finally included in the central OBC list in 2000. At that time also, Modi was not in a position of power — not an MP, not an MLA nor even a sarpanch. He became the chief minister in 2001. These people have a habit of distorting facts," Shah said at the ET NOW Global Business Summit 2024 here.

government in Chhattisgarh had pushed the state on the verge of bankruptcy but the BJP government has set a goal of doubling the GDP in five years, Finance Minister O P Choudhary has said. Choudhary, who presented a budget of Rs 1,47,446 crore for 2024-25 in the state assembly on Friday, said that in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to make India a five-trillion-dollar economy and a developed nation by 2047, the state budget has paved the way for inclusive development and economic growth. «At a time when the country is marching ahead with zeal and enthusiasm to achieve the single goal of becoming a developed India. Chhattisgarh too has set a vision of transforming into a developed state in the Amrit Kaal,» he said in a write-up after presenting the budget. Through its annual budget, Chhattisgarh has laid the foundation of this new era with a focus on the prosperity of GYAN, stimulating infrastructural growth by increasing capital expenditure, and employment and livelihood promotion for youths of the state, he said.

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The BJP will get 370 seats and the NDA more than 400 in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and form the government for a third consecutive term under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said here on Saturday. Shah asserted that there is no suspense over the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls and even the Congress and other opposition parties have realised that they will again have to sit in the opposition benches. «We have abrogated Article 370 (of the Constitution, which gave a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir). So we believe that the people of the country will bless the BJP with 370 seats and the NDA with over 400 seats,» Shah said at the ET NOW Global Business Summit 2024. Asked about the possibility of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), headed by Jayant Choudhary, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and some other regional parties joining the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the home minister said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) «believes in family planning but not in politics», giving an indication that more parties may join the ruling coalition.

Rahul Gandhi that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not an OBC as he was born into the general category, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said the latter's caste was not included in Other Backward Classes (OBC) list as per the recommendations made by Mandal Commission and Bakshi Committee. In a post on X, Ashok Gehlot said, «Rahul Gandhi has spoken the truth on the issue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inclusion in OBC because Modi/Ghanchi caste was not included in OBC list in the recommendations of Mandal Commission and Bakshi Committee, which was formed in 1978 for backward classes in Gujarat. His caste was that of a business community in the entire country. People from Jain, Maheshwari, and Agarwal communities commonly use the Modi surname.» Gehlot further said if PM Modi considers himself as the biggest supporter of the OBC community, then he shoudl have a nationwide caste census conducted at the earliest.

Nirmala Sitharaman tore into the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on Friday, saying it pushed the country into the Fragile Five and left it in dire straits in 2014 with its economic mismanagement by putting the «first family» first. During the UPA regime, the security of the nation was compromised, environmental clearances were delayed, and the leadership failed as it was run by a «super prime minister» and there was at least one big-ticket corruption case every year. Initiating the debate on the 'White paper on Indian economy and its impact on the lives of people of India', Sitharaman said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who put the nation first, pulling the country out of crisis and placing it among the top five economies of the world.

Narendra Modi said on Friday, asserting that the «curse of incremental thinking» had for long hampered India's progress till his government changed this mindset in the bureaucracy and the administration. He justified the White Paper on the decade-long Congress-led UPA government, saying if he had preferred political expediency over national interest, he could have brought this out much earlier but that would have created panic. Speaking at the ET Now Global Business Summit on Friday, Modi said he has been in the process of preparing the roadmap for his third term for the last 18 months and has taken feedback from over 1.5 million people till now. General elections are due to be held in April-May. «New Bharat will work at superspeed — this is Modi's guarantee,» he said.

Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award to former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh, was the moment RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary was waiting for. Chaudhary, who was not visible for the past one week amid speculations of his party joining NDA, surfaced on Friday and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the honour given to his grandfather. «This is a big day. It is an emotional and memorable moment for me. I thank the President, the Government of India and especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This has sent a big message to the entire country. The sentiments of the country are related to this decision of the government,» Chaudhary told media persons in Delhi. «Modiji has proved that he understands the basic sentiments of the country.» On a question of whether he is ready to join hands with BJP, Chaudhary simply said: «Is there anything left to be done? How can I refuse.» With this, the process of RLD joining the NDA in UP is complete. Sources told ET that a seat-sharing agreement has been reached between the two parties. As part of the deal, RLD will get two Lok Sabha seats — Baghpat and Bijnor — and one Rajya Sabha nomination. It will also get one cabinet position in UP and one MLC seat. Sources told ET that RLD will name senior party leader Sompal Shashtri for the RS seat given by the BJP.

India will become the number one automobile manufacturing hub in the world by 2029 and the country will be the third largest economy, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday. The government's focus going forward will be to build a world-class road network, move to alternative fuels and bring down logistics costs in the country, Gadkari added. «One thing is very clear: if we need capital investment, development and industry, we should have good infrastructure, water, power, transport and communication,» he said. «Without that, we cannot develop our agriculture, service industry and tourism.»

BJP has issued a whip to its MPs in Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha to ensure their presence in Parliament on Saturday on account of some «very important» legislative business, which will be tabled for discussion and passage. Though there was no official word on the nature of the business on the last day of the last session before the Lok Sabha polls, some party leaders said there is a possibility that it may touch the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the consecration ceremony at the temple on January 22. The event generated a nationwide appeal and the BJP believes that the temple issue will help create a positive atmosphere in its favour in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday, February 9, that the late Indian agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan, along with former Prime Ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, would be posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna award.

family pension over their spouse. Previously, the family pension was granted to the surviving spouse and the children, other family members became eligible only after the death of the spouse, the DoPPW said in a statement.

Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Committee has completed its work and its report will be delivered on February 2. CM Dhami, speaking to about the implementation of UCC in the state of Uttarakhand, said, «While making a promise to the people of the state in the 2022 assembly elections, we constituted the UCC Committee, taking a pledge to implement the Uniform Civil Code in the state.

severed ties with the Lalu Yadav's party and returned to the BJP-led NDA. Speaking with ANI on Sunday, Owaisi said the RJD fell victim to the same "game" it had played with the AIMIM in 2022. He was referring to the alliance between the RJD and JD(U) which was formed in 2022.

budget session of Parliament starting next week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined on Saturday the significance of proper conduct of members in the House and rued that some political parties defend the erring members as well as those indicted in corruption. He also called upon presiding officers of the Assembly and the parliament to encourage more participation of women and the young members. In his inaugural address to the All India Presiding Officers’ Conference, Modi said, “The world perceives a parliamentary system by the way the representatives conduct themselves and the way the House functions….

winning matches. I went five months without winning a match. I thought that was the end of my journey but my perseverance, and (something) inside me kept me going," news agency PTI quoted Rohit Bopanna as saying.

Karnataka BJP is set to win all 28 seats for the Lok Sabha in the upcoming polls, said Union Minister Bhupender Yadav on Saturday. The minister was attending the party's state executive committee meeting in Bengaluru as a part of the preparation for the Lok Sabha polls, along with Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, former Karnataka chief ministers BS Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai, state BJP President BY Vijayendra, party leaders Jagadish Shettar, CT Ravi, etc. “People of Karnataka, who value their historical culture as well as Information & Technology, are fully behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of a Viksit Bharat (developed India) that also values its Virasat (heritage),” Yadav said. This was the first such meeting being held after Vijayendra took over as the BJP state president and a new team of party state office-bearers was formed.

₹25 crore each and a BJP ticket to contest polls if they switched sides. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that Kejriwal should stop "lying" and dared him to tell the names of the MLAs who, the AAP chief has claimed, were contacted by the BJP. "Kejriwal's statement shows his political frustration.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday highlighted a host of measures taken by his government to assert that it has empowered the youth and women and that a developed India will fulfil their dreams. «You are the architect of a developed India,» he told youngsters at the annual NCC-PM rally here. Women were earlier confined to cultural programmes but his government has opened up various sectors, including all the three services, to them and they are making a mark everywhere, he said, noting that the Republic Day parade this year was dedicated to them.

Current expectations have India's economy expanding at 7.3% for FY24, a slight increase from the 7.2% rate in FY23. Meanwhile, the official estimate released on Thursday suggests the US' annual GDP grew 2.5% in 2023, a significant improvement over the 1.9% recorded the year before.

Giriraj Singh on Friday said Muslims should hand over the Gyanvapi mosque site to Hindus, and said no statements should be made that can disrupt communal harmony. The remarks came a day after the ASI survey report on the Gyanvapi mosque complex was made public, with the lawyer representing the Hindu litigants claiming that the mosque was built after demolishing a pre-existing temple. "'The Pran Pratishtha (consecration) at the Ram temple (in Ayodhya) has been done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the Sanatanis have welcomed it… But our demand has always been Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura," Singh said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed admiration for the leadership of PM Modi, commending India's economic development and independent foreign policy during an interaction with university students in the Kaliningrad Region on 'Russian Student Day'. Putin highlighted India's remarkable economic growth under Modi's leadership and credited the Prime Minister for the nation's achievements. «India has one of the highest rates of economic development and growth in the world, and that too is due to the leadership qualities of the incumbent Prime Minister.