11.67 % of polling in first 2 hrs on 8 seats of UP
There were reports of malfunctioning of EVMs at several booths at the start but machines were either rectified or replaced by the authorities immediately.
A verbal duel broke out in Lok Sabha on Monday over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s remarks made a day earlier that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were themselves “infiltrators” in context of the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
During the Question Hour, when Chowdhury rose to ask a supplementary related to the Steel Ministry, ruling alliance members tried to mock him by shouting the word “infiltrator” many times.
Chowdhury shot back saying, “Yes, I am an infiltrator; I am a ‘deemak’ (termite). Modi is an infiltrator. Amit Shah is an infiltrator. LK Advani is an infiltrator.”
Union Petroleum and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan replied, saying Chowdhury’s “design would be exposed soon”.
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“Sab khulengi, aap ki paribhasha se desh nahi chalega (Everything will be exposed. The country will not run by your definitions,” Pradhan said.
On Sunday, Chowdhury had termed Modi and Shah as “infiltrators” in Delhi. The Congress leader also said Modi and Shah are migrants since they have their homes in Gujarat but are now living in Delhi.
“India is for everyone — for Hindus, for Muslims and for everyone else. They are creating the fear that they will throw out Muslims. They do not have the capability to do that. But what they want to show is Hindus will be allowed to stay, while Muslims will be sent away,” news agency ANI quoted Chowdhury as saying while opposing the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
Earlier, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah held discussions over the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) with Chief Ministers of Northeast states and members of the civil society groups, here on November 30. The Bill is likely to be taken up in the Lok Sabha this week.
He met political leaders from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland. On Friday, he had met leaders from Tripura and Mizoram.
According to sources, he explained to them the CAB and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Opposition parties are opposing the bill saying the Constitution doesn’t allow granting of citizenship on the basis of religion.
The legislation will open doors for non-Muslim immigrants to become citizens of India. The Bill will allow Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, facing religious persecution in the neighbouring countries, to seek the Indian Citizenship.
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