New Delhi: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] on Wednesday pledged support to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi Assembly polls on those seats from where it is not contesting the elections, saying the decision is aimed at keeping the BJP and Congress out of power in the national capital.
“We will be fighting 15 seats in Delhi other than that telling our people to support the AAP in the remaining seats. We have taken this line earlier also, we have supported the BSP in the past. The main aim is to keep the Congress and BJP out, and in Delhi especially BJP,” said CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat.
The elections for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held in a single phase on February 7. The counting of votes will take place on February 10. The last day of campaigning is February 5.
ANI
New Delhi: After ‘Selfie with Mufflerman’ and a series of fund raising dinners across the globe, AAP has roped in its NRI supporters for the party’s “tele-door- to-door” campaign to woo voters ahead of the Assembly polls.
According to AAP, the campaign is aimed at serving the twin purpose of seeking people’s support and to appeal to them to help the party financially by engaging supporters who cannot campaign on the ground.
The party website has detailed instructions on how supporters worldwide can get in touch with Delhi voters and call them directly.
“Our NRI supporters are spending sleepless nights and devoting most of their time for making calls. It is their way of contributing to the party although they cannot be present on the ground,” Rashmi Srivastava, a member of the team monitoring the campaign, said.
It is, however, not just limited to NRIs as volunteers from states across the country have also been participating in the campaign.
“War-rooms have been created in several districts where people sit and try to achieve a set target of reaching out to a certain number of voters,” Bhaskar Singh, another team member, said.
The record of the calls are made available on AAP’s website and it gets updated everyday.
Further, tele-rallies are organised among groups of such volunteers who compete with one another to make calls.
Inter-district and inter-state matches are organised to see which district or state outdoes the other.
“The campaign is also serving the purpose of gaining feedback from Delhiites as it helps us to know what the voters of Delhi think about us and other parties,” Bhaskar said.
While the majority of calls are made by United States, Canada and United Kingdom-based supporters, Maharashtra, Punjab and Delhi top the chart in the category of states.
The party had also launched a drive called ‘AAP Buzz’ to pool support from other states ahead of the polls.
New Delhi: With just three days left for the Delhi Assembly Elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appears to have raced ahead in the battle to win the national capital.
As per the latest survey conducted by Zee Media in association with Taleem Research Foundation, if polls were to be held today the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to get 39.7 percent votes. The AAP, on the other hand, would have bagged 46 percent votes while the Congress only 14.3 percent.
According to the Zee-Taleem survey, over 49 percent respondents feel AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal is best suited to be the chief minister, while 40 percent think BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi is the one who should lead Delhi. Only 10 percent believe Congress’ Ajay Maken is best suited for the post.
If polls were to be held today, AAP is projected to win 34 Assembly seats, while the BJP would manage 32.
The survey indicates both Kejriwal and Bedi are expected to win big from their respective constituencies. While the AAP convenor is contesting the high-pitched Delhi polls from New Delhi constituency, Bedi is fighting from Krishna Nagar, considered to be a stronghold of BJP.
In 2013 Delhi elections, Kejriwal defeated Congress leader Sheila Dikshit from the New Delhi constituency by a huge margin.
In 2013 polls, BJP won 31, AAP 28, while the Congress managed to bag only 8 seats in 70-member Delhi Assembly.
The BJP goes head-to-head with the AAP and the Congress party in the Delhi Assembly polls, scheduled to be held on February 7 with counting of votes to be held on February 10.
BJP’s vision document — 24 pages long which with 270 points — for the Delhi assembly polls on Tuesday stirred up a major controversy by referring to people from northeastern states as “immigrants.” The Congress immediately demanded an apology and removal of the words.
The document that entails the party’s roadmap in taking Delhi forward by making it a world-class city and steps in public welfare includes a section on “North Eastern Immigrants to be Protected”. The section talks of special cells in all police stations and 24-hour helpline numbers to be set up “for protection of north-eastern migrants”.
Special cells in all police stations and special 24-hour helpline numbers to be set up for the protection of the NorthEastern migrants. To safeguard the students of NE origin, special guardianship will be arranged with local families for them,” the document says. Congress was quick to react, with its leader Ajay Maken questioning “is BJP trying to say the people from the Northeast are not Indian citizens?.”
“BJP’s vision document has a pointer called ‘north-eastern immigrants to be protected’. The word immigrant is used when people move from one country to another, so does BJP consider people from the North-Eastern states as residents of some other country or the north-eastern states according to them are not part of India? “We demand that they remove that line from the manifesto and apologise to public,” Maken said.
He said the document with such reference to people from north east comes at a time when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is on a visit to China. “If the ruling party is saying such things in its manifesto then on what basis Swaraj is talking to China about how its force enters the state of Arunachal Pradesh and other areas, we need to understand that,” he said.
Immediately, BJP’s Delhi unit tweeted out a clarification. The party did not apologise for the error.
Mumbai, Jan. 16 — Last year, House Of Cards star (and two time Oscar winner) Kevin Spacey put on his dancing shoes at an awards function (in Tampa Bay) when he shook a leg to the tunes of ‘Lungi dance’, alongside Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor.
Now, we have come to know that Hollywood actor Richard Gere also seems to be interested in learning Bollywood dance moves. Apparently, for his upcoming movie, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the Pretty Woman (1990) star has danced to the tunes of ‘ Jhoom barabar jhoom’ from the Abhishek Bachchan-Preity Zinta-starrer movie by the same name that released in 2007.
“Richard will be seen dancing during a wedding sequence in the film, which involves almost the entire star cast. It’s going to be a colourful song-and-dance number taking place at a wedding that we usually see in Indian movies,” says an insider. The sequel to the 2012 hit, which has been shot in Rajasthan, also stars Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and David Strathairn, among others.
Besides Spacey and Gere, the Face/Off (1997) star John Travolta, who is famous for his moves, also put on his dancing shoes at the awards function last year with Hrithik Roshan to showcase his signature Saturday Night Fever (1977) steps.
Mumbai, Feb. 2 — If the trailer of Roy has already left you curious, then here’s some more good news. The much anticipated film is packed with a lot of surprises. It is for the first time that actor Jacqueline Fernandez will be seen in a double role.
Her characters appear alongside Arjun Rampal and Ranbir Kapoor. And the bonding between the actors that we see in the trailer is just a small glimpse. A source close to the film’s unit tells us that the cast got along like a house on fire, and there was never a dull moment when Arjun, Ranbir, producer Bhushan Kumar and the film’s director Vikramjit Singh alias Vicky were around.
“Ranbir and Vicky know each other for many years, so for them, it was like friends working together. Arjun and Ranbir, who’ve earlier worked together in Raajneeti (2010), played a lot of pranks on the other unit members and even Jacqueline. They would even help each other with their dialogues and scenes,” says the source, adding, “Bhushan sir, Arjun and Vicky, on the other hand, got along from the very first day. In fact, they bonded as if they have known each other for years. When they’d be around, everyone on the sets had to be careful to not fall for anything, as they would keep pulling someone or the others’ leg.” Well, looks like, bromance is in the air.
Produced by Divya Khosla Kumar, Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar, and directed by Vikramjit Singh, Roy is scheduled to release on February 13, 2015.
Anushka Sharma’s look from Anurag Kashyap’s BOMBAY VELVET has been finally revealed!
The very first impression of this look is a very dark yet gracious character that Anushka might portray. She is going to be playing the character of Rosie, a prized singer of the Bombay Velvet Club.
It was only some time before that we met the angry young man Johnny Balraj played by (Anushka’s love interest) Ranbir Kapoor in the film.
Well, we must say that the combination of a gracious Anushka Sharma and an angry Ranbir Kapoor makes one excited to watch BOMBAY VELVET, especially when these two meet and fall in love!
BOMBAY VELVET that is set to release on May 15, is a romantic thriller set in the 60’s. Rosie is Johnny’s soul-mate, a love that blossoms in the underbelly of the city that was set to become the Manhattan of India.
It was one of the rare occasions where Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor came together, after the latter started dating Salman’s former girlfriend Katrina Kaif. And the occasion that got the two on same platform was Filmfare Awards that was held at Yash Raj Studios.
No matter with the personal issues, it was a fun watch as both Ranbir and Salman were equally entertaining throughout the night.
Reportedly, Ranbir Kapoor was seated on the first row throughout and was seen chatting away with Shahid Kapoor and Varun Dhawan. Seated next to the veteran actress Rekha, the trio was seen cheering for this evergreen actress.
Also, Ranbir Kapoor’s ex flame Deepika Padukone was a hot favourite of Salman Khan at the award function. As Salman danced to the tunes of his KICK song ‘Jumme Ki Raat’, grabbing Deepika’s dress by his mouth. Salman was also accompanied by Karan Johar, Kapil Sharma and Sidharth Malhotra in the act. Also, Salman and Deepika shared an ‘aww’ moment on stage as they show their brightest smiles.
Ranbir, on the other hand, danced to the tunes of ‘Balam Pichkari’ from Karan Johar’s movie YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, which was also picturised with Deepika Padukone.
However, Salman’s ex and Ranbir Kapoor’s current sweetheart – Katrina Kaif was conspicuous from her absence! We wonder what the reason would be..
Batu Caves (Malaysia) (AFP) – More than a million Hindus thronged temples throughout Malaysia on Tuesday to celebrate Thaipusam, a colourful annual religious festival in which many display their devotion by piercing their bodies with hooks and skewers.
Celebrations in the capital Kuala Lumpur centred, as they have for 125 years, on the spectacular Batu Caves complex on the city’s outskirts, which many Hindus walked up to ten hours to reach in an annual pilgrimage.
Bearing gifts for the deity Murugan, countless yellow-robed devotees carried milk pots or coconuts — the latter of which are smashed as offerings.
Others took part in the 15-km (nine-mile) procession of a silver chariot from a temple in the city centre to the caves — an important religious site for Tamil Hindus — capped by the final 272-step climb to a temple in the limestone outcropping.
Celebrated also in India, Singapore and other areas with significant Hindu Tamil communities, the festival is marked with particular relish in multi-cultural Malaysia.
Many show their fervour by bearing the elaborately decorated frames called “kavadi” that can weigh as much as 100 kg (220 lbs) and are typically affixed to a person’s body using sharp metal spikes dug into their flesh in a form of penance.
“It’s my first time carrying a kavadi,” said Arulvendhan, a 30-year-old teacher, as he prepared to pray before hoisting the burden onto his body.
“I made a vow that I would do this if my father’s health got better and if my family had more peace. My dad is much better than before.”
About 1.6 million people were expected to visit the Batu Caves on Tuesday, which also draws tens of thousands of tourists eager to witness the carnival-like atmosphere.
Some swayed trance-like to throbbing drumbeats and religious songs as friends and relatives cheered them on. Others danced in deep trance-like states.
Thaipusam commemorates the day when, according to Hindu mythology, the goddess Pavarthi gave her son Lord Murugan a lance to slay evil demons.
Prior to Thaipusam, devotees will typically hold daily prayer sessions, abstain from sex and stick to a strict vegetarian diet for weeks.
Many stalls sprouted outside the caves where visitors could have their heads shaved bald, another form of thanksgiving.
“I feel lighter of course,” Sashi Vadivale, 32, said with a laugh as he rubbed his smooth scalp.
“But seriously, I took a vow for spiritual reasons and I’m feeling satisfied for finishing this ritual.”
Dwayne Skjersven, a tourist from Canada, said he was overwhelmed by the spectacle.
“I didn’t expect this. It’s so colourful and I love that everyone is smiling and it’s great to see so many families supporting their relatives,” he said.
With a population of 28 million people, Malaysia is Muslim-majority but it also has more than two million ethnic Indians.
Most are Hindus who originally hail from Tamil areas of southern India and who are descendants of labourers brought in under British colonial rule.
AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa, DMK President M Karunanidhi and a host of other leaders today paid respect to Dravidian veteran C N Annadurai on his 46th death anniversary.
Jayalalithaa paid floral tributes to a portrait of Anna, a name by which supporters address Annadurai, a party statement said.
Party’s presidium chairman E Madhusudhanan and Treasurer and Chief Minister O Pannneerselvam, besides others, paid tributes to the leader at his memorial at the Marina beach.
Karunanidhi, accompanied by senior party leaders, including General Secretary K Anbazhagan RPT K Anbazhagan, treasurer M K Stalin and grandnephew Dayanidhi Maran, among others, paid floral tributes to Annadurai.
DMDK founder Vijayakant also paid floral tributes to Annadurai.
A Dravidian veteran and founder of DMK, Annadurai was instrumental in leading the first non-Congress government in Tamil Nadu in post-independence India in 1967.
Welfare Minister P.Rajavelu, Local Administration Minister N G Panneerselvam, legislators and leaders of various outfits also paid homage to the late leader.
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