HM Shah to inaugurate Kerala BJP headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Thiruvananthapuram, July 11 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah is arriving in Kerala’s capital on Friday on a two-day visit, during which he will inaugurate the new state headquarters of the BJP.

Shah is scheduled to land in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday night by a special flight. On Saturday, he will formally inaugurate the newly constructed BJP state office and subsequently address party workers at a prominent venue in the heart of the city. The event will also include a community lunch for attendees.

Following the public meeting, Shah is expected to fly to Kannur to offer prayers at the popular Thaliparamba Rajarajeswari Temple around 4 p.m. He is likely to return to Delhi later the same day.

Shah’s visit comes at a politically significant time, with local body elections around the corner. The BJP is expecting a turnout of over 40,000 party workers, especially from the southern districts of the state.

The party is aiming to make inroads in the upcoming elections, particularly in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, where it currently serves as the principal opposition. The CPI(M)-led Left Front is in power, while the Congress-led UDF is in third place.

The BJP has struggled to secure electoral victories in Kerala. It lost its lone Assembly seat in the 2021 elections, which it had won for the first time in 2016. The party, however, scored a breakthrough in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi pulled off a surprise win in Thrissur, relegating the Congress to third place.

The BJP sees the 2025 local body elections as a crucial opportunity to boost both its vote share and seat tally in the state.

In the 2020 local body elections, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) secured 40.18 per cent of the vote, followed by the United Democratic Front (UDF) with 37.92 per cent, and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with 15.02 per cent.

Kerala has a total of 23,612 wards across its local self-government institutions — including Grama Panchayats, Block Panchayats, District Panchayats, Municipalities, and Corporations.

In 2020, of the 941 Grama Panchayats, the LDF won 514, UDF 321, NDA 19, and others 23. Among 152 Block Panchayats, LDF bagged 108 and UDF 38.

In the 14 District Panchayats, LDF won 11 and UDF 3. Of 87 Municipalities, LDF won 43, UDF 41, and NDA 2. In the 6 Corporations, the LDF controls 5, and the UDF 1.

–IANS

sg/skp

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Centre releases Rs 1,069 crore for rural local bodies in Rajasthan, Odisha

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A sum of Rs 560.63 crore has been released as the second installment of the untied grant for Rajasthan along with the withheld amount of first installment of Untied Grants for the Financial Year 2024-25 amounting to Rs 53.41 crore for 10,105 eligible Gram Panchayats, 315 block panchayats and 20 eligible district panchayats in the state, according to the official statement.

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The Fifteenth Finance Commission Grants provided to Panchayati Raj Institutions play a crucial role in strengthening grassroots democracy.

This financial support is improving rural local governance, enhancing accountability, and promoting self-reliance in villages, the statement added.

–IANS

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Delhi polls: Kejriwal fumes as police disallow screening of film on AAP

New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) AAP National Convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday hit out at the Delhi Police and the BJP for allegedly foiling his party’s plans to screen a documentary for media persons on the alleged conspiracy behind jailing of party leaders in the excise policy case.

The police clarified that they followed the rules and stopped the screening of the film ‘Unbreakable’ at an auditorium at ITO in Central Delhi as no permission had been taken by the AAP from the election office despite the Modal Code of Conduct being in force.

Addressing mediapersons, Kejriwal said, “The film was not political and there were no party flags at the venue, yet the police did not allow its private screening on the ground that no permission had been taken for it.”

Alleging high-handedness of the Central government-controlled Delhi Police and suspecting the BJP’s role behind the ban on the film, Kejriwal said, “The BJP is not allowing the film’s screening as it is afraid of being exposed. The film shows the BJP’s conspiracy and unconstitutional acts of sending AAP leaders to jail.”

Asked about the next step, Kejriwal said the AAP is exploring its options and, in any case, no one can stop a film from coming into public domain, a veiled hint at its circulation on social media.

The ruling party had made arrangements for the film’s screening at Pyarelal Bhawan at noon. Sources said the documentary highlights the resilience of the AAP and how it functioned when Kejriwal, along with other leaders, was jailed in money laundering cases before being released later.

Earlier in a post on social media platform X, Kejriwal said, “A film has been made on Aam Aadmi Party. Today, this film was to be shown to journalists but the BJP prevented the screening of this film by deploying a huge police force at the venue. The BJP is very scared of this film.”

“Why? Why does BJP want to stop this film? What is there in this film that BJP is scared of? This film exposes all the secrets behind the scenes when AAP leaders were wrongly arrested. It exposes the illegal and unconstitutional actions of the BJP government,” Kejriwal said.

Delhi Police later clarified that once the MCC kicks in political parties need to apply for permission for such events through a single window system at the District Election Officer’s (DEO) office, adding that the police can neither grant nor reject such permission at this time.

Kejriwal disagreed with the police stand. “A film was made on PM Modi by Vivek Agnihotri and it was screened in cinema halls without any permission from the Election Commission,” he said.

The former chief minister also announced that the AAP on coming to power after the February 5 election will ensure that the benefits of free 20,000 litre monthly water and free 200 units monthly power are extended to tenants also.

“Most of the tenants in Delhi are poor people from Purvanchal. In some buildings, there are up to 100 tenants. During the current government’s tenure there were some hurdles in extending free water and power facilities to tenants, but we will remove the irritants and implement the scheme this time.” Kejriwal said.

–IANS

rch/rad