In bitcoin's worst week since 2013, BigB's $100-mn kitty considerably down

The Bitcoin-driven top-up to Bachchan's fortunes comes in the backdrop of Stampede recently listing one of its subsidiaries, Longfin Corp, on the Nasdaq exchange in the US

The crazy swings of Bitcoin prices added more than $100 million to megastar Amitabh Bachchan's fortunes within days, but most of it got wiped out even faster -- thanks to a small stake in a hitherto unknown firm associated with the web of cryptocurrencies.

There may be further such fluctuations with the craze for Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies continuing to drive their prices and the regulatory risks remaining a big drag for the prices that saw Bitcoin skyrocketing to near $20,000 just a few days back before plunging back by almost half and then again recovering to $15,000 level.

While lakhs of Indians are said to have taken a fancy to the Bitcoin and other such virtual currencies, Bachchan is probably the first big name from the country to get associated with this big buzzword -- albeit indirectly and because of a small investment that is at least 3-4 years old.

The link is a Hyderabad-based company named Stampede Capital, which describes itself as a "research driven global trade house" and a "liquidity provider and market maker" at various exchanges driving "millions of dollars trading volume everyday across the globe in nano seconds".

ALSO READ : Cryptocurrency Stocks Still Holding Gains Despite 30% Fall In Bitcoin

In its regulatory filings, the company lists Bachchan as an "individual non-promoter shareholder" with a small stake of 2.38 per cent at the end of last quarter. As per the BSE records, Bachchan figures on the list of shareholders (with 1 per cent or more stake) since at least June 2014, though the quantum he is holding has been changing somewhat.

As on June 30, 2014, Bachchan held 3.39 per cent in the company which could have been worth around Rs 9 crore at that time (going by the share price around then), while the value of his latest holding is almost half at about Rs 4.7 crore.

The Bitcoin-driven top-up to Bachchan's fortunes comes in the backdrop of Stampede recently listing one of its subsidiaries, Longfin Corp, on the Nasdaq exchange in the US....

Click here : Bitcoin

Gujarat election results: BJP seen winning 100 seats, Congress may bag 79

Vijay Rupani, who was earlier trailing, is now leading over Congress' Indranil Rajyaguru in Rajkot West seat

 

Gujarat election results 2017: The BJP was on its way to retain power in Gujarat for the record sixth time, as the party was leading in 100 seats and won four others, according to the latest counting figures.
The Congress emerged victorious in one seat and was ahead of rivals in 80 others.
The Election Commission has so far declared five results, of which four seats have been won by the BJP and one by the Congress.

ALSO READ: LIVE updates: BJP bags Gujarat, Himachal; Rahul says satisfied with result

The Election Commission figures showed that the NCP was leading in one seat and the Bhartiya Tribal Party of Chottu Vasava in two seats. Three independents were also leading.

To form a government in the state, a party or a coalition needs at least 92 seats in the 182-member Assembly.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who was earlier trailing after the count of postal ballots, is now leading over Congress' Indranil Rajyaguru in Rajkot West seat.

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who was also trailing from Mehsana against Congress candidate Jivabhai Patel earlier, is now leading by a margin of over 7,000 votes.

ALSO READ: MARKETS LIVE: Indices recover as BJP leads in Gujarat; Nifty above 10,400

BJP leader and state fisheries minister Babubhai Bokhiriya defeated senior Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia in Porbandar.

BJP's Suresh Patel defeated Congress candidate Shweta Brahmbhatt in Ahmedabad's Maninagar, the former constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by 75,199 votes.

In Mahuva seat of Bhavnagar, BJP's Raghav Makwana defeated independent Kanu Kalsaria.
The BJP also won the Umbergaon seat in Valsad.

The Congress won Mahudha seat in Kheda district where its nominee Indrajitsinh Parmar defeated BJP's Bharatsinh Parmar by 13,601 votes.....Click here

Himachal Pradesh election results: BJP leads in 43 seats, Congress in 21

Most exit polls have indicated the BJP's return to power with an absolute majority

Himachal election results 2017 :The BJP is set to take power in Himachal Pradesh with its candidates on a victory lap in 43 of the 68 seats in the Assembly elections. The party won its first seat by defeating Congress cabinet Minister Prakash Chaudhary on Monday.

BJP's Inder Singh Gandhi defeated Chaudhary from Balh in Mandi district with a big margin.

Trends from the other counting centres across the hill state showed the Congress was ahead in 21 constituencies, while the BJP was leading in 43 seats and smaller parties and independents had inched ahead in all others seats.

The Bharatiya Janata Party needs 35 seats to control the Himachal Assembly.

ALSO READ: Gujarat, Himachal election result LIVE: BJP leads; Rupani wins Rajkot West

State BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt told IANS: "We have crossed the half-way mark. This clearly indicates we are going to form the government in the state."

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh (Arki) and his son Vikramaditya Singh (Shimla Rural) were, however, ahead of their BJP rivals.

State BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti and BJP Chief Ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal trailed to the Congress from Una and Sujanpur seats.

ALSO READ: Himachal election results 2017: Virbhadra, Dhumal square off in hill state

A total of 337 candidates contested the November 9 election. A total of 37,83,580 people voted in the hill state -- a record 75.28 per cent polling.

The Congress and the BJP contested in all the 68 constituencies. Most exit polls had predicted the BJP's return to power with a majority.

The state has alternately elected Congress and BJP since 1985. In 2012, the Congress won 36 seats and the BJP 26....Read more

Gujarat election results: BJP leads in 104 seats, CM ahead in Rajkot WestCongress ahead in 75 seats; Vijay Rupani was earlier behind Congress candidate Indranil Rajyaguru from Rajkot West The BJP is leading in 107 seats and the Congress in 75, as per the trends available after the first hour of counting As per the trends available for 182 seats, the BJP is ahead in 104 seats, while the Congress candidates have a slight edge over their BJP opponents in some constituencies. The NCP is leading on one seat. ALSO READ: Gujarat result LIVE: BJP ahead in 96 seats, Congress in 82; market crashes BJP Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who was earlier trailing after the count of postal ballots, is now leading in over Congress' Indranil Rajyaguru in Rajkot West seat. However, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel is trailing from Mehsana against Congress candidate Jivabhai Patel by 3,000 votes. Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia is trailing in Porbandar by just 50 votes after counting of three rounds, against BJP leader and fisheries minister Babubhai Bokhiriya. Congress' Alpesh Thakor is leading in Radhanpur seat against Lavingji Thakor of BJP. Senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil is trailing against BJP's Virendrasinh Jadeja from Mandvi seat. State BJP chief Jitu Vaghani is leading over Dilipsinh Gohil of Congress in Bhavnagar West. The elections for 182-seat Assembly were held on December 9 and 14, after an acrimonious campaign, which was dominated by a face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Click here : Gujarat election results 2017

Congress ahead in 75 seats; Vijay Rupani was earlier behind Congress candidate Indranil Rajyaguru from Rajkot West

 

 

The BJP is leading in 107 seats and the Congress in 75, as per the trends available after the first hour of counting

As per the trends available for 182 seats, the BJP is ahead in 104 seats, while the Congress candidates have a slight edge over their BJP opponents in some constituencies. The NCP is leading on one seat.

ALSO READ: Gujarat result LIVE: BJP ahead in 96 seats, Congress in 82; market crashes

BJP Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who was earlier trailing after the count of postal ballots, is now leading in over Congress' Indranil Rajyaguru in Rajkot West seat.

However, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel is trailing from Mehsana against Congress candidate Jivabhai Patel by 3,000 votes.

Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia is trailing in Porbandar by just 50 votes after counting of three rounds, against BJP leader and fisheries minister Babubhai Bokhiriya.

Congress' Alpesh Thakor is leading in Radhanpur seat against Lavingji Thakor of BJP.
Senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil is trailing against BJP's Virendrasinh Jadeja from Mandvi seat.

State BJP chief Jitu Vaghani is leading over Dilipsinh Gohil of Congress in Bhavnagar West.
The elections for 182-seat Assembly were held on December 9 and 14, after an acrimonious campaign, which was dominated by a face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Click here : Gujarat election results 2017

LIVE updates: Counting begins in Gujarat, Himachal, BJP eyes victory

The results of the Gujarat Assembly election 2017 for 182 seats and the Himachal Pradesh Assembly election for 68 seats will be announced after counting of votes today

 

Counting of votes for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections has started. The result will be announced today itself. The 182 constituencies in the Gujarat Assembly had gone to the polls in two phases – on December 9 and 14. The electors in Himachal Pradesh’s 68 seats had voted to elect their legislators for their respective constituencies on November 9.

The Gujarat election 2017 is seen as a prestige battle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been ruling his home state for over two decades. It is also considered a litmus test for Rahul Gandhi, the newly elected president of the Congress party.

ALSO READ: All eyes on Gujarat as stage set for counting today

In Gujarat, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking a sixth straight term in office, the Congress is aiming to stage a comeback to power after being in the Opposition for over two decades. Further, the results are expected to reveal the voter sentiment, especially in the aftermath of the Narendra Modi-led central governments demonetisation and GST decisions. Many see this state election as a mini-referendum ahead of the 2019 parliamentary polls on the policies of the Modi government, which had come to power at the Centre with a thumping majority in 2017, ostensibly on the back of the 'Gujarat model' of development.

Most exit polls have given the BJP a clear majority with more than the 92-seat mark -- some as many as 135 of the 182 seats in the state. PM Modi's ruling BJP is predicted to sweep the election in his home state, surveys showed on Thursday, shaking off the most serious challenge yet from the Opposition.

The counting of votes will be held at 37 centres across the state's 33 districts amid tight security.

Up north, in Himachal Pradesh, the fate of 337 candidates, including Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his predecessor Prem Kumar Dhumal, will be known on Monday as counting of votes is taken up in the state, where traditional rivals BJP and Congress have both contested in all 68 seats.

Click here :  Gujarat Assembly Election Results 2017

 

Gujarat election polls: Modi says Congress did not look after Junagadh

PM Modi is in Junagadh on a two-day blitzkrieg rallying session in which he will be holding 7 election campaign rallies in his two-day tour for Gujarat elections.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his second day of Gujarat election rally said that, while BJP worked hard to make Junagadh the tourism capital, the Congress did not devote attention to this region. PM Modi also accused the Congress of stalling the ropeway project for years.

PM Modi is in Junagadh on a two-day Gujarat rallying session in which he will be holding 7 election campaign rallies in his two-day tour for Gujarat polls 2017.

Here are the key highlights from Modi’s speech in Junagadh for Gujarat elections:

• For Congress, 'work' was giving a hand pump. They never envisioned something like a SAUNI (Saurashtra-Narmada Avataran Irrigation) Yojana
• Did lions come to Junagadh after I became CM? Why previous government didn’t promote them to attract tourists from all over the world?
• Rahul visited Somnath temple but does he know whose statue is there besides the one of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Does he know, it is of Hamirji Gohil?
• Jawaharlal Nehru didn’t like the idea of then president Rajendrababu inaugurating Somnath temple as Sardar Patel was associated with the temple project. But Rajendrababu ignored it and inaugurated the temple.
• Junagadh has the potential to be tourism hub of Gujarat. We wanted to install a ropeway. But since Sardar Patel’s name is associated with Junagadh, they didn’t give permission for it in the name of the environment. But now, we’ve given the permission and ropeway will be inaugurated on November 9, 2018 when Junagadh celebrates its liberation day.

CLICK HERE: Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017

 

Congress' manifesto proposes alternate model of development for Gujarat

New model to be based on Gandhian and Ambedkarite values; move from GDP to Gross National Happiness Index

 

 

The Congress party on Monday released its manifesto for the Gujarat assembly polls promising a “Gandhian model of development”, which would replace the “top-down approach” of the current ‘Gujarat model of development’. It also commits to implement a 'happiness index' to measure holistic growth, instead of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The manifesto, put together after consultations under the leadership of party leader Sam Pitroda, reaches out to the sections of Gujarat’s population which, it said, the ‘Gujarat model of development’ ignored.

“Constitutional values will be kept at the centre of (all) discussions rather than nationalism,” the manifesto states, while (gujarat polls 2017)it doesn’t mention terms like ‘secularism’ or ‘minority rights’.

The Congress manifesto promises ‘navsarjan’, rejuvenation, of Gujarat based on “Gandhian and Ambedkarite values”. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to release its manifesto. Gujarat polls is slated to take place on December 9 and 14.

On the goods and services tax (GST), which is a key election issue, the Congress has promises it will “simplify” the tax and ensure that tax rate is capped at 18 per cent.

“We will strive for exemption of small traders and manufacturers, with an annual turnover of less than Rs 1.5 crore, from the GST,” the manifesto states.

The 60-page manifesto, which party sources said, is likely to become the template for the party’s manifesto for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls, focuses on education, health, agriculture, jobs and small and medium enterprises (SME) sectors.

To reduce agrarian distress, Congress has promised farm loan waiver and bonus for cotton, groundnut and other ‘special crops’. Responding to exorbitant college fees and privatisation of education, it has promised 80 per cent reduction in fees for self-financed courses....

click here : Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017

Modi ridicules Rahul's rise, wants Gujarat to dump Congress: 10 highlights

PM Modi pitched the Gujarat elections as a battle between 'vikaswaad' (development) and 'vanshwad' (dynasty)

 

While Rahul Gandhi is all set to take over as Congress president next week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday mocked the sixth Nehru-Gandhi scion saying, "Congratulate the Congress on their 'Aurangzeb Raj."

At a rally in poll-bound Gujarat's Rajkot, PM Mofi pitched the Gujarat elections as a battle between 'vikaswaad' (development) and 'vanshwad' (dynasty).

Here's how Modi targetted Congress party:

1. Modi likens Rahul's elevation to dynastic succession in the Mughal dynasty

"I congratulate the Congress on their 'Aurangzeb Raj.' For us, the well-being of the people matters and 125 crore Indians are our high command," said PM Modi.

'Mani Shankar Aiyar, who was a minister in the Congress government, has said ‘did elections happen during Mughal rule? After Jehangir, Shah Jehan came, was any election held? After Shah Jehan it was understood that Aurangzeb would be the leader’. Does the Congress accept that it is a one-family party? We don’t want this Aurangzebi Raaj (Aurangzeb’s rule). For us, the country comes first, 125 crore (1.25 billion) people of this country are our high-command.'

2. Congress has abandoned 'public modesty'

 

Without referring to the National Herald case, in which Rahul Gandhi had got bail, Modi said, "Congress has gone bankrupt, as it is going to make a person who is out on bail in corruption case its president."

3. Congress injured ‘Gujarati asmita’

Seeking to play up emotive card, he reminded voters that Morarji Desai, who hailed from Valsad district, was arrested by the Congress regime during Emergency and put behind bars for 19 months.
For the voters of Gujarat and the Valsad district, (gujarat polls 2017)time has come to punish those who kept on hurling insults on Gujarat. “Stop insulting Gujarat,” he said the Congress always presumed that people of Gujarat should be insulted and shown in poor light.”
They did not do this with Bihar, Uttar Pradesh or West Bengal. What offence we did, was it our offence that we produced Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,” he said.

4. Gandhi dynasty kept Uttar Pradesh poor

Gandhi dynasty kept Uttar Pradesh, which sent its members to the prime ministerial chair, poor and backward. Modi reminded the people how Congress was wiped out in Uttar Pradesh, Assam and would soon be wiped out in Himachal Pradesh, too.

 

Click here : Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017

 

Rahul Gandhi succeeding Sonia: PM Modi calls Cong politics 'Aurangzeb Raj'

Mani Shankar Aiyar had referred to Mughals while speaking about the Gandhi scion's election as party chief

Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Monday stoked a controversy when he invoked the rulers of the Mughal dynasty in the election of Rahul Gandhi as party President, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi latched on to quickly to call it "Aurangzeb Raj".

"When Shah Jahan came in the place of Jahangir did any election happen? And when Aurangzeb came in place of Shah Jahan did any election happen? It was known to everyone that the throne of the king will automatically go to the heir," Aiyar said, retorting to the "dynasty" jibes of the BJP on Rahul Gandhi's election.

"But in a democracy elections are held. I openly invite Poonawala to file the nomination and contest," Aiyar said, adding has anyone heard of Shehzad Poonawala.

He was replying to a question about BJP's criticism following Maharashtra Congress leader Poonawala calling Rahul Gandhi's election as party chief rigged.

Modi was quick to pounce on Aiyar's remarks. Addressing a public meeting in Dharampur constituency in Gujarat, Modi(Gujarat polls) said: "Mani Shankar Aiyar, who never shies away from showing loyalty to one family, proudly said -- When Shah Jahan came in the place of Jahangir did any elections happen? And when Aurangzeb came in place of Shah Jahan did any election happen? It was known to everyone that the throne of the king will automatically go the son," Modi said.

"I congratulate the Congress on their 'Aurangzeb Raj.' For us, the wellbeing of the people matters and 125 crore Indians are our high command," he said.

He also said that the Congress leaders admit that it is not a party but a kunba (family).

 Read here : Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017

 

Guj polls: Rahul takes on Modi over unemployment, contract workers' plight

Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday, raised concerns over safety, health, education and crimes against women in the state

 

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi for keeping the youth of Gujarat unemployed and not implementing the 7th Pay Commission leading to the plight of contract and fixed salary workers in the state.

Keeping up at his 22 questions in the countdown to the Gujarat Assembly polls, as promised, Gandhi said: "22 salon ka hisaab, Gujarat mange jawaab. Gujarat ke haalat par Pradhanmantri se chatha sawal (as he directed his sixth query at Modi on Gujarat's condition).

"The double whammy of BJP government -- on one side the youths of the state are unemployed, while on other hand lakhs of contract and fixed salary workers condition is miserable.

"Despite Rs 18,000 salary per month as per the 7th Pay Commission, why only Rs 5,500 and Rs 10,000 is being paid to the fix and contract workers?" he asked.

Gandhi's question comes in the wake of the party's strategy to pose one question to Modi every day till the polling day on December 9.

Gandhi on Sunday raised concerns over safety, health, education and crimes against women in the state.

On Saturday, he questioned Modi on "extraction" of high fees from students by government educational institutes in Gujarat.

Polling for the 182-member Gujarat assembly will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14. The counting of votes will take place on December 18.

Read more about Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017

Gujarat polls 2017: Decoding the challenges BJP faces in rural belt

Party on overdrive to allay concerns of farmers

Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017: Lakshman Dobariya of Jasdan in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat has seen his realisation drop from Rs 1,200 per 20 kg of groundnut to Rs 600 per 20 kg in the past five years. Although the state government announced a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 900 per 20 kg right before the Assembly elections in the state, Dobariya is forced to sell his produce at market prices of Rs 500-600 per 20 kg. The queues at government procurement centres are unending.

“My costs have risen from Rs 5,000 per bigha to Rs 8,000 while realisations have fallen from Rs 1,000-1,200 per 20 kg to Rs 500-600. This is accentuated by rising pest infestation and an erratic monsoon,” says Dobariya.

Dobariya’s experience shows how farm distress is brewing discontent among Gujarat’s rural electorate. The state government has pulled out all the stops to assuage the rural voter in the run-up to a crucial election. Among other things, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government announced a support price of Rs 900 per 20 kg of groundnut (or Rs 4,500 per quintal) last month, after market prices had crashed to Rs 3,250 per quintal.

The state government also unveiled a Rs 500-crore Budget for procuring groundnut. Sagar Rabari, convenor of Jamin Adhikar Andolan Gujarat that works with farmers, says with that kind of Budget, the government will be able to procure 110,000 tonnes of groundnut this season. The output was 2.96 million tonnes last year, and estimates suggest production this year will be 3.2 million tonnes. The majority of Gujarat’s groundnut farmers will be left in the lurch.

“The government cannot procure all the stock because it also has to sell in the open market where prices are low. The roots of the problem lie elsewhere, in the lack of market and support infrastructure,” says Rabari. But Chimanbhai Shaparia, Gujarat’s agriculture minister, says the government has increased the collection centres to 215 this year from last year’s 87. “We are trying to reach where the farmers are,” he adds.

Dobariya's woes do not end with low prices for his produce. Add loan repayments and crop insurance, and Dobariya’s profits shrink drastically.

Click here Gujarat polls 2017 

Gujarat Assembly elections 2017: BJP's Muslim outreach worries Congress

Congress workers say top leaders unwilling to campaign in Muslim areas; BJP encourages Muslims to attend its public meetings

 

 

 

As the Congress embraces “soft” Hindutva in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reached out to the Muslim community of the state.

In Bharuch, Modi accused the Congress of stoking a Hindu-Muslim divide. He said Bharuch and Kutch, two districts with significant Muslim populations, are economically the fastest growing districts of Gujarat. The PM went on to say how during the Congress rule, celebrating festivals comes with the apprehension of violence.

The PM’s comments(Gujarat polls 2017) come on the heels of a finely-tuned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) outreach campaign among the minority as well as the majority communities in Gujarat, which has the Congress worried.

According to Congress workers as well as activists, the feedback is increasingly that several in the Muslim community, even if they do not vote for the BJP, might not turn up in adequate numbers to vote for Congress candidates.

Of the 43.3 million people eligible to cast their votes in the state in the forthcoming Assembly polls, Muslims make a bit over nine per cent of the electorate. The state will see elections on December 9 and 14.

Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017

According to internal estimates of political parties, Muslims comprise more than 10 per cent of the electorate in 65 of the 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat. Of the 65, Muslims comprise almost a fifth of the electorate on 20 seats.

In 2012, the BJP won 42 seats with a margin of almost 15,000 votes or less. The Congress has identified 30-odd of these seats it believes it can wrest from the BJP. With the Patidar community divided, several of the 30-odd seats are on the list of 65 where Muslims can be a factor if the BJP fails to get a consolidated Hindu vote. A low turnout of Muslim voters would hurt the Congress.

Gujarat elections: Narendra Modi accuses Congress of stoking communal fire

Those opposing bullet train should travel by bullock carts, says PM Modi

 

 

A day before Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to file his nomination papers for election to the post of Congress president, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked the opposition party for the “absence of internal democracy”.

Defending his government’s ambitious bullet train project, Modi said it would bring investment and employment to the region. “Those opposing the bullet train project should travel by bullock carts. We won’t mind,” he said, addressing a public rally in Bharuch.

At another public meeting, in Surendranagar, the PM said the Congress’ internal election was rigged. He also accused the Congress of having a history of stoking caste and religious conflicts, dividing communities, disrupting peace and unity, and making Hindus and Muslims fight each other. “The Congress makes brother fight brother...You keep fighting each other, getting killed, and the Congress polishes off the cream,” he said.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala reacted to the allegations by reminding the PM how a long list of his and BJP chief Amit Shah’s “victims of internal democracy”, like LK Advani, Haren Pandya, and Sanjay Joshi, “have been compulsorily lost in the pages of history”.

With his party workers trying to shape a narrative on the ground of how a Congress rule in the state would result in a return of poor law and order and conflict that would hit trade and business, Modi said the Congress rule was marred by chaos.

ALSO READ: Gujarat Assembly elections 2017: BJP faces challenge in rural belt

Later in the evening, Modi addressed a rally in Rajkot. On Saturday, the Congress party had alleged that BJP workers beat up Congress candidate Indranil Rajguru’s brother. The Congress said the police beat up Rajguru, party candidate against Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, and other leaders when they protested in front of Rupani’s residence. “Gujarat, do not let this scare you,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Sunday, with a photograph showing torn clothes of party Lok Sabha member Rajeev Satav. He said Rupani had resorted to violence since he was scared of losing his seat.

ALSO READ: Why the Gujarat election is crucial for both BJP and Congress

In Rajkot, in a reference to Rahul Gandhi’s criticism that the BJP government in Gujarat had given away acres of land to the Tata group for its Nano project, Modi said some people needed to visit a psychiatrist to be making such allegations. For the first time, Modi also sought to counter some of the criticism by Rahul Gandhi, particularly on Gujarat government’s poor record in education and health sectors.

The polling for the first phase of the assembly elections is on Saturday, when 89 of the 182 seats are slated to vote. The PM is scheduled to address four public meetings on Monday. In Bharuch, the PM reached out to the Muslims of Bharuch and Kutch, saying the two districts were the fastest-growing districts in the state.....

Read more about Gujarat polls 2017 

Modi's Gujarat poll campaign is all about himself, his past: Chidambaram

In a series of posts on Twitter, the former finance minister also asked if Modi had forgotten he was prime minister

 

 

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday hit out at the prime minister and said the elections were not about "Mr Modi, the individual" but the promised "achhe din" that had not arrived even after 42 months.

In a series of posts on Twitter, the former finance minister also asked if Modi had forgotten he was prime minister.

"Mr Modi's campaign is about himself, his past and the alleged disdain of Gujarat and Gujaratis. Has he forgotten he is Prime Minister of India?

Continuing his attack, Chidambaram said the prime minister does not talk about issues like joblessness, lack of investment, collapse of SMEs, stagnant exports and price rise because he has no answers to the "hard reality".

According to him, Modi had forgotten that Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian and the son of Gujarat.
"Gandhiji was, and is, revered as Father of the Nation; and Gandhiji's chosen instrument to lead the freedom struggle was the Congress party," Chidambaram asserted.

The prime minister and the BJP, he added, may now "desperately embrace" Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, "but the redoubtable Sardar had rejected the BJP's parent RSS and its divisive ideology"....

Read more about Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017

 

'Grand Stupid Thought' to 100 years for BJP, 10 things Modi said in Gujarat

The PM told one of the gatherings that the Congress had always betrayed the Gujaratis

 

From retorting to Rahul's 'Gabbar Singh Tax' jibe with 'Grand Stupid Thought' to urging that 'BJP shouldn't be voted out for 100 years', here are the highlights of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Gujarat poll campaign on Wednesday.

Here are 10 things that Modi said:

1. In a stinging rebuttal of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the Goods and Services Tax, Modi said a recently emerged 'economist' was propagating a 'grand stupid thought' by suggesting a uniform GST rate of 18 per cent.

Taking a dig at the Nehru-Gandhi family, he added that those who looted the country for years can only think of dacoits

2. The PM raked up the issue of the Narmada dam, targeting the Nehru-Gandhi family for trying to scuttle the project and singing paeans to Sardar Patel. He said the Congress depended on the ‘hand-pump’ model, whereas the BJP relied on the Narmada model. 

3. Modi also trained his guns at Rahul Gandhi’s (gujarat polls) visit to the Somnath Temple, saying that Nehru had opposed the temple’s reconstruction. “The land of the brave will not forgive those who acted against the Somnath Temple”, he said.

"When Sardar Patel took up the work of the reconstruction of the Somnath temple, Nehru was unhappy. Your great-grandfather Nehru wrote a letter to President Rajendra Prasad when he was to come for the opening ceremony of the temple," the IANS quoted Modi as saying.

4. Taking a subtle dig at the Congress for its support of reservation for the Patel community, Modi called out the Congress’ double standards for blocking a Bill in Rajya Sabha that conferred constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes. He said the NDA govt had allowed the Bill to be passed in the Lok Sabha but it got docked in the Rajya Sabha, where the Congress enjoyed a majority. Making a strong appeal to the Patidar community, he said that the BJP shouldn't be voted out for the next 100 years...

Read more about  Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017