Ansari not to contest against Narendra Modi in Varanasi
Mukhtar Ansari, who gave a tough fight to BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi in Varanasi in 2009 Lok Sabha election, has decided not to contest against Narendra Modi from the seat ?to avoid division of secular votes?. Quami Ekta Dal?s Ansari, a gangster-turned-politician and four-time MLA from Mau, is currently lodged in Agra jail in the BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai murder case.?A decision in this regard has been taken at the meeting of Quami Ekta Dal,? Mukhtar?s brother Afzal Ansari told PTI on Thursday.
The step has been taken ?to strengthen secular forces and avoid division of votes,? he added. ?We will discuss our future course of action later. Now SP, BSP and AAP have to decide how to defeat Modi,? he said, adding the party had earlier written to all ?secular parties? to join hands to defeat the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate.
Modi slams Centre?s iron ore export policy
BJP?s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi came down heavily on Thursday on the ?wrong? policies of the Centre, which he said were leading to export of raw materials like iron ore, while the domestic steel industry struggled to survive and steel continued to be imported.
?If you run a business like this, how will the country?s steel industry survive, and if doesn?t survive what will happen to the livelihood of workers and their families?, he questioned. He said had the political leadership ruling the country had vision, the country?s first steel city could easily have been transformed into a ?very big capital? to represent the eastern region with the small villages surrounding it acting as satellite townships.
Will campaign in Rae Bareli & Amethi, says Priyanka
Amid growing demand in Congress for a ?larger role? for her, Priyanka Gandhi said on Thursday she will campaign in Rae Bareli and Amethi, the constituencies
being represented by her mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul. Priyanka has been looking after these two constituencies for quite some time now and there have been demands in the recent past from various quarters in the party that she should extend her role beyond the confines of Rae Bareli and Amethi. ?I will be in Amethi and Rae Bareli,? 42-year-old Priyanka, who was accompanied by husband Robert Vadra, said after casting her vote in Lodhi Estate here.
