National News
‘Very Confident Of Victory In 2024 Assembly Elections,’ PM Modi During Interview; Ducks Question On Muslim Minority

Those who doubt his government “will also be proven wrong” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told in an interview.
“In 1947, when India was independent, the British who left made a lot of very dire predictions about India’s future. But we have seen that those predictions and preconceptions have all been proven false,” he said. He was responding to queries put, both face to face, and through written responses, in an interview done shortly after the results of the assembly elections came in, as the BJP was celebrating.
PM “very confident of victory” in 2024 elections
The did not make clear which portions were written responses and which were directly put to the PM. The Prime Minister insisted that he was “very confident of victory” in the general elections as well. “Today the people of India have very different aspirations from the ones they had 10 years back”, he pointed out.
“They realise that our nation is on the cusp of a take-off. They want this flight to be expedited, and they know that the best party to expedite this is the one which brought them this far”.
PM ducks question on Muslim Minority
Significantly, Prime Minister Modi ducked a question on Muslim Minority. When asked about what future the Muslim minority has in India, Modi points instead to the economic success of the Indian Parsees, who he describes as a “religious micro-minority residing in India.”
“Despite facing persecution elsewhere in the world, they have found a safe haven in India, living happily and prospering”, Modi says in a response that makes no direct reference to the country’s roughly 200 million Muslims.” That shows that the Indian society itself has no feeling of discrimination towards any religious minority.”
PM laughs away question on crackdown of critics
The Prime Minister laughed away one of the questions. A question about the Modi government’s alleged crackdown on his critics elicited a long and hearty laugh.
“There is whole ecosystem that is using the freedom available in our country to hurl these allegations at us every day, through editorials, TV channels, social media, videos, tweets, etc” Modi says. They have the right to do so. But the others have an equal right to respond with facts.”
Elsewhere during the interview, Prime Minister Modi said, “Our critics are entitled to their opinions and the freedom to express them. However, there is a fundamental issue with such allegations, which often appear as criticisms,” he said about concerns over the health of Indian democracy. “These claims not only insult the intelligence of the Indian people but also underestimate their deep commitment to values like diversity and democracy.”
PM’s reply on corruption, administrative hurdles, and skills gap
Asked about corruption, administrative hurdles, and skills gap among youth being obstacles to replicating the China’s economic take-off, Modi responded saying, “It is important to recognise that India wouldn’t have achieved the status of the world’s fastest growing economy if the issues you’ve highlighted were as pervasive as suggested. Often these concerns stem from perceptions and altering peceptions sometimes takes time.”
When his attention is directed to India’s data on unemployment being inadequate and that as reported by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the rate was running at 9 per cent, Modi “instead cites unemployment data gathered by the Periodic Labour Force Survey, which Modi says, “points to a consistent decline in unemployment rates.”
“When evaluating different performance parameters like productivity and infrastructure expansion, it becomes evident that employment generation in India, a vast and youthful nation, has indeed accelerated,”.
National News
LS Speaker reprimands Sonia Gandhi over Waqf bill ‘bulldozed’ remarks

New Delhi, April 4: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday reprimanded former Congress president Sonia Gandhi over her remarks that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was bulldozed through the Parliament.
Taking strong objection to her claims of Waqf Bill passed ‘forcefully’ in the House, Om Birla termed the comments as ‘unfortunate’ and said that the allegations by senior Congress member was a violation of the democratic norms of the Parliament.
The Speaker noted that the bill was discussed for 13 hours and 53 minutes, with every party participating in the debate and followed by three rounds of voting but despite that Congress member was making such allegations.
“Three rounds of voting were conducted, and the Bill was passed according to the rules of the House. It is unfortunate that, despite following all the parliamentary procedures, such allegations are being made. This is not in line with the democratic norms of Parliament,” Speaker said.
Om Birla’s objection to Sonia’s claims of Waqf bill ‘bulldozed through’ the Parliament came after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju raised the matter in Lok Sabha today.
Rijiju, alluding to Congress RS MP Sonia Gandhi, said that extensive discussions took place in both the Houses over the Waqf bill, still the Opposition was making ‘baseless and absurd’ claims that the bill was passed with force.
He also demanded that the Speaker issues an “appropriate order” in response to these remarks.
Rijiju also highlighted that the Waqf reform debate broke the previous record of longest discussion in the Rajya Sabha.
“The previous record for a long discussion in the Rajya Sabha was during the ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act) discussion in 1981, which lasted for 16 hours and 51 minutes. Yesterday, this record was broken with a 17-hour and 2-minute discussion, making it the longest debate so far,” he informed the House.
A day ago, after Lok Sabha passed the Waqf Bill after marathon debate, Sonia Gandhi made her displeasure over the amendments known to party leaders, while addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meet yesterday. She stated that the bill was bulldozed through the House and termed it a brazen assault on the Constitution.
“Yesterday, the Wakf Amendment Bill, 2024 was passed in the Lok Sabha and today it is scheduled to come up in the Rajya Sabha. The bill was in effect bulldozed through. Our party’s position is clear. The Bill is a brazen assault on the Constitution itself,” she said.
National News
After passage from Parliament, Waqf Bill awaits President’s nod: Details here

New Delhi, April 4: The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in the wee hours of Friday after a marathon debate, involving heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches. The Upper House debated the bill for nearly 14 hours and then cleared it with 128 votes in favour and 95 against.
The legislation was earlier cleared by the Lok Sabha after nearly 12 hours debate, with 288 votes in favour and 232 against.
With this, both the Houses have cleared the decks for amendments in the Waqf Bill of 1995 and repealing the Mussalman Wakf Act of 1923.
The next course of action is the Presidential assent for the bill, following which it will turn into a law.
The Bill will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu soon and her approval will pave the way for amending the 1995 laws, governing Waqf properties.
According to a leading portal, the government is expecting a smaller window for the approval, unlike the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The NDA government, which is projecting the Waqf Amendment Bill as one of key milestone decision in first year of Modi 3.0 is expected to notify it for implementation, soon after getting President’s nod.
Interestingly, one of the major highlights of Rajya Sabha voting last night, was Biju Janata Dal (BJD)’s stand on the contentious bill.
As per the numbers of NDA and INDIA bloc, the bill was expected to sail through in Rajya Sabha but with a lower margin as compared to Lok Sabha. NDA was expected to get support of 123 MPs but ended up securing 128 votes in favour while INDIA bloc ended at 95 (as against expected figure of 98).
Hours before the voting, Naveen Patknaik-led BJD opened the gates for “conscience vote’, telling its 7 MPs that they would not be bound by a whip and could vote for whichever side they wanted.
Some BJD MPs cross-voted in favour of NDA, there bettering its tally than earlier expected. A total of 119 votes was needed for the bill to get through but BJP’s efficient floor management helped it secure 128 votes.
Meanwhile, Congress has stated that it will challenge the constitutionality of the Waqf legislation in the Supreme Court.
“The INC will very soon be challenging in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the Wakf (Amendment) Bill, 2024,” he wrote in a post on X.
National News
Congress MP Imran Masood calls for banning liquor during Navratri

Saharanpur, March 29: Congress lawmaker Imran Masood said on Saturday that not just meat shops, liquor establishments should be shut during the nine-day festival of Navratri and called for embracing and promoting the spirit of brotherhood and communal harmony.
“Everybody is demanding a ban on meat shops during Navratri. Why is no one asking for a ban on liquor shops? Why is there no outpouring on the free flow of liquor during Navratri? Will this not spoil the purity and sanctity of the festival?” Saharanpur MP said in a special interaction with media.
The Congress Parliamentarian said that peaceful celebration supersedes everything, and it is incumbent upon all communities to maintain decorum during festivities and also make certain sacrifices, be it Eid or Navratri.
Notably, Eid-ul-Fitr and Navratri are coinciding on the same day this year. Both festivals are set to fall on Monday, with little possibility of change in the Eid schedule on account of moon sighting.
Days ago, the Congress MP also extended support to the demands of a meat ban during Navratri celebrations. In an apparent message to the Muslim community, he said that nothing would change if one did not eat meat for ten days.
“What matters above everything is the peaceful co-existence of communities. At no point in time, the differences over food preferences lead to communal strife,” Masood told newspersons.
Congress MP, when asked questions on the party’s strategy for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, said that the Opposition is fully prepared to take on the Centre on “partisan legislation”.
“We opposed the amendments in the JPC meeting, tooth and nail. We will strongly voice our dissent in Parliament too,” he said.
Notably, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday that the Waqf Bill will not be delayed any further and will be reintroduced in the ongoing session of Parliament.
Only four working days of the Budget Session are left, as it concludes on April 4.
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