Here are the top 5 news updates of January 25, 2022:
Congress leader RPN Singh today joined the BJP in the presence of saffron party's Uttar Pradesh in-charge and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Singh is the second big exit from the Congress in Uttar Pradesh after Jitin Prasada quit it last year. Prasada joined the BJP and later became a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government. "This is a new beginning for me and I look forward to my contribution to nation building under the visionary leadership & guidance of the Honourable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi, BJP president Shri @JPNadda ji & Honourable Home Minister @AmitShah ji," Singh, a former Union minister, had tweeted before his joining. Besides Pradhan, Jyotiraditya Scindia, who quit the Congress to join the BJP and is a Union minister, was also present for Singh's joining in ceremony.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed concern over low voting percentage, especially in urban areas considered educated and prosperous, and said this should change in a vibrant democracy like India. In an interaction with BJP workers from across the country, Modi also raised the issues of "one nation, one election" and "one nation, one voters' list", saying that continuous cycle of elections result in politics being seen in everything while development works suffer. His address coincided with the National Voters' Day. He asked the BJP's "panna pramukhs" and other ground workers to work to ensure 75 per cent polling in every election. Referring to the recently passed legislation which seeks voters to link their Aadhaar number and voter ID, he said it will boost transparency.
Henceforth, all Delhi government offices will carry photos of Babasaheb Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh, and no pictures of any political leader, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said today. Kejriwal made the announcement during the Delhi government's Republic Day programme. He said the government offices will henceforth not even have the chief minister's picture. During his speech, the chief minister said he is most inspired by Ambedkar, who was born in a Dalit family and went on to head the drafting committee of India's Constitution, and Bhagat Singh, a revolutionary freedom fighter, as they charted different courses for a common purpose. In his 26-minute-long speech, Kejriwal largely spoke on issues related to revolutionary changes in the education system done by his government.
Firing a fresh salvo at the BJP which had accused the Shiv Sena of paying only lip service to the cause of Hindutva, party MP Sanjay Raut today claimed that the Sena was the first party in the country to contest an election on the Hindutva plank. Talking to reporters, Raut referred to a bypoll held for the Vile Parle Assembly seat in Mumbai, saying Shiv Sena candidate Ramesh Prabhu had contested on the agenda of Hindutva. It was for the first time that Hindutva was mentioned in electoral politics in the country, Raut said, adding that Congress and BJP were also in the fray in that byelection. Prabhu had won the Vile Parle Assembly segment in the byelection held in 1987-88 and retained the seat in the 1990 polls. "It is after this victory that the BJP approached Shiv Sena for an alliance on Hindutva which Balasaheb (Thackeray) agreed to as he didn't want a division of Hindu votes. Contemporary BJP leaders are unaware of this history," Raut said in a veiled dig at Opposition Leader Devendra Fadnavis.
Snapping its five-session losing streak, equity benchmark Sensex rebounded 367 points today, boosted by strong gains in Maruti, Axis Bank and SBI amid a supportive trend in European equities. The BSE gauge ended 366.64 points or 0.64 per cent higher at 57,858.15. Similarly, the NSE Nifty rose 128.85 points or 0.75 per cent to close at 17,277.95. Maruti was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 7 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel and NTPC. On the other hand, Wipro, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC twins and RIL were among the laggards.
