Presidential Poll: Mamata Likely to Okay Congress Candidate

Suspense over ensuing presidental poll seems to be clearing off with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's okay to Congress candidate looks possible. The Election Commission is expected to issue a notification on Monday. The chances of Fianance Minister Pranab Mukherjee becoming UPA's Presidential candidate are high. Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has conveyed that she isn't opposed to any candidate and it's up to the Congress to decide, according to sources.

The chances of a consensus on Pranab may also depend on whether the Centre will allow a special package for West Bengal. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra will meet Pranab on Monday for a financial package for the state. Amit Mitra is in Delhi for a crucial round of talks with the Union Finance Ministry. Both the Prime Minister and Pranab Mukherjee had told Mamata when she earlier visited the capital that an interest waiver was not possible as other states would ask for similar exceptions.

This development took place after the Congress in West Bengal appealed to the Trinamool on Sunday to back Pranab Mukherjee as the President. Congress leader and minister in West Bengal Manas Bhuniya had appealed to Mamata Banerjee to support Pranab if the High Command makes him the candidate. NCP's Supriya Sule has said that her party would back a consensus UPA candidate. This comes even as NCP leader PA Sangma seeks support from various parties for his candidature. Meanwhile, the Opposition has also not yet arrived at a consensus on a candidate for the President's post. Sangma's candidature has been endorsed by BJD chief Naveen Patnaik and AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa. However, the BJP has said that it will arrive at a consensus after consulting all its allies.

Modi Is Not Our PM: Owaisi

MIM is a recognized state political party based in the Indian state of Telangana, with its head office in the old city of Hyderabad, which has its roots in the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen founded in 1927. Unlike most of the regional and national level parties, MIM party leaders ‘fight’ only for the well-being of Muslims, whereas no other party has such communal feelings. In their each and every speech, MIM leaders speak only about Muslims. If these leaders are here to fight for Muslims, then why there are no development works are happening in old city area for decades. Akbaruddin Owaisi faced criticism for making hate remarks on Narendra Modi and Hindus. Recently, his elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi made some notorious annotations. In a one-on-one debate between BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and Asaduddin Owaisi on the topic of demonetization in a popular Hindi channel, the former left no stone unturned in exposing the latter’s communal designs. Owaisi claimed how most of the Muslim community still remains unbanked and that demonetization has caused severe inconvenience to Muslims. He even went on to say that ATM’s in Muslim-dominated areas weren’t fed enough money. He indirectly alleged that the Modi government hadn’t done anything for Muslims. Even after being pressurized Owaisi didn’t call Narendra Modi as his Prime Minister. He went on said, “Your Prime Minister…” On the other hand, Sambit spoke wisely and called Owaisi a leader of small stature because he talked only of Muslims. He said that no area was Muslim or Hindu and that all areas belonged to India. Owaisi was constantly quoting an RBI report, to which Sambit challenged him to show where the RBI had used the word ‘Muslim’. Sambit even said that if a Muslim leader speaks of Muslims it’s not an issue, but the moment a VHP leader speaks of Hindus people go crazy accusing them of imposing the Hindutva ideology. The most amazing of his counters was to Owaisi’s claims of Muslims not having been brought into the banking system. Sambit said that when banks or ATMs are to be opened in Muslim areas leaders like Owaisi shout that banking is un-Islamic and that Muslims should refrain from it! This video of debate between Sambit Patra and Asaduddin Owaisi is going viral in social media.