Guwahati:

Union Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia said on Saturday that 100 per cent coverage of villages in terms of telecom connectivity in the country is targeted in the next 12 months.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Union minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), said special funds have been sanctioned by the Cabinet for the purpose and he has himself been monitoring the progress of work every week.

Addressing a press conference, he said, “The Prime Minister is committed to 100 per cent saturation. We have identified around 24,000 villages in the country that still need saturation in terms of telecom connection.” A special scheme to reach all these villages has already been rolled out along with funds sanctioned for the purpose, he said.

Areas in the northeastern states are among these villages, and strategies are being worked out to reach these places, the minister said.

Provisions of the new telecom Act enable setting up required infrastructure and mixed technologies, like V-sat and satellite, are being utilised with the “target of cent per cent saturation within 12 months”, Jyotiraditya Scindia said.

“I have been monitoring the work on a weekly basis, and 13,000-14,000 of these villages have also been covered,” he added.

Jyotiraditya Scindia also spoke about the allocations for northeastern states in the 2024-25 Union Budget.

“For the past 75 years, North East was treated as an orphan. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi is determined to make the region the engine of growth,” he claimed.

Special funds of about Rs 11,000 crore have been earmarked for flood management in Assam and Sikkim, and 100 new branches of India Post Payments Bank will come up in the region as per provisions of the budget.

Jyotiraditya Scindia maintained that the region will benefit from the different schemes for women, farmers, youth and economically weaker sections as provided in the budget.

He asserted that the importance given to the region can be gauged from increased monetary allocation to the DoNER ministry, more funds coming through the devolution of central taxes and investment in developing connectivity infrastructure.

The minister maintained that major industrial projects would soon enter the region with the proper infrastructure in place.

Jyotiraditya Scindia cited the example of the Rs 27,000-crore semi-conductor unit to be set up by the Tata Group near Guwahati and termed it as a ‘game changer’ for the entire North East.

“It is a holistic budget, which will set in a new era for the entire country,” the Union minister added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Guna:

Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday targeted Congress over the imposition of Emergency 49 years ago and claimed the voice of 80 crore people was stifled to save the chair of select people.

Speaking to reporters in Guna on the 49th anniversary of the Emergency, Mr Scindia said June 25 is remembered as a “black day” in the history of the country.

“Today is remembered as a black day as those elements had throttled the voice of 80 crore people to save their chair,” said Mr Scindia, a career Congress politician who quit the party in March 2020 and joined the BJP.

On the maiden visit to Guna after winning the recent Lok Sabha election on the BJP ticket, Mr Scindia said the electoral outcome has further strengthened democracy and the Constitution is being protected.

“The NDA (National Democratic Alliance) worships this ‘granth’” (Constitution),” he said.

Asked about his new responsibilities as the Minister for Communication and Development of the North Eastern Region, Mr Scindia said he would work with the same enthusiasm when he had handled the Civil Aviation portfolio.

He asked the Opposition to digest their electoral defeat instead of criticising the Central government.

“They should play the role of the opposition. But if you are unable to digest your defeat, then you will keep looking at power and remain in the opposition forever,” he said.

Mr Scindia attributed the BJP’s sweeping victory in all 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s widespread popularity.

“PM Modi lives in the hearts of the people and vice-versa,” he said.

While he characterised the “Abki baar 400 paar” slogan as purely electoral, Mr Scindia noted that the “historic verdict” has cemented Modi’s position as Prime Minister for a third consecutive term.

“The victory of the BJP has three pillars: youth, women, and farmers,” he added.

Queried about fertiliser shortages, Mr Scindia assured that farmers would not face any difficulties.

“I have already sent two racks of manure this month and the third one will reach here by June 30th,” he said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Airport operators and airlines have to be customer-oriented and making passengers wait for eight hours, be in a plane or the terminal, is unacceptable, Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said.

Speaking to NDTV in an exclusive interview, Mr Scindia said he was only reinforcing the message sent in December 2022. Customers, he added, should be kept abreast of developments and given a choice to continue their flight or not, whatever problems the airline is facing.

The minister’s comments come in the backdrop of the 20-hour delay in a San Francisco-bound Air India flight yesterday, that saw passengers being made to wait inside an aircraft despite the absence of air-conditioning. Amid the unprecedented heat wave currently on in the national capital, many passengers were taken ill.

Visuals from the airport showed many passengers lying down along an aerobridge corridor. Others complained about fainting inside the plane. The plane finally took off at 3 pm today. The airline has received a showcause notice from the ministry.

“If the flight delay extends beyond a period of time, then you must cancel the flight and reschedule and thereby alleviate the sufferings of passengers,” the minister told NDTV today.

“If any passenger has to wait for eight hours — and mind you the time is enough for a Mumbai-London flight or a Delhi-London flight — waiting inside the aircraft with no air-conditioning or waiting inside the terminal with no facilities, unfortunately that is unacceptable to me,” he added.

New Delhi:

The government on Thursday said 499 routes have been operationalised so far under the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN, which was launched six years ago and has facilitated the travel of more than 1.3 crore people.

The scheme, also known as UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), is contributing to the growth of the civil aviation industry, as four new airlines have come up in the last six years and have generated demand for new aircraft, an official release said.

It is providing opportunities to small regional airlines — FlyBig, Star Air, and IndiaOne Air — to scale up their businesses and is also creating an amiable ecosystem conducive to airline business, the release added.

The first UDAN flight was on April 27, 2017, connecting Shimla and Delhi.

According to the release issued by the civil aviation ministry, 499 routes have been operationalised under UDAN, which has also facilitated the travel of more than 1.3 crore people.

Further, it said the scheme’s incremental expansion has generated an escalating demand for new aircraft.

“This augmentation encompasses a comprehensive range of aircraft and encompasses helicopters, seaplanes, 3-seat propeller planes, and jet planes.

“Presently, a diversified fleet, including Airbus 320/321, Boeing 737, ATR 42 and 72, DHC Q400 and Twin Otter, Embraer 145 and 175, and Tecnam P2006T, is actively serving on the RCS routes,” the release said.

Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said UDAN has unlocked the country’s true potential by promoting tourism, boosting trade, and empowering local economies.

India is one of the fastest-growing civil aviation markets in the world.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Gwalior:

Latching on to Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath’s “tear clothes” jibe at his party colleague Digvijaya Singh, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Wednesday the voters of the poll-bound state will not allow such leaders to form government.

Mr Scindia, who quit the Congress and joined the BJP in March 2020, said the opposition party’s manifesto for the November 17 assembly polls has a long list of promises but none of them are going to be fulfilled.

A viral video of Mr Nath where he is asking Congress workers to “tear clothes” of his colleague Digvijaya Singh over denial of ticket to a leader from Shivpuri fuelled talks of a rift in the party over selection of nominees. However, both the former CMs sought to make light of the episode and put up a united face ahead of the polls and attended the Congress’s manifesto release function on Tuesday.

Asked about Mr Nath’s comment and the controversy generated by the viral video, Mr Scindia said the Congress wants to tear down everything.

The BJP Rajya Sabha MP said his own thinking is to work for people’s development and strengthen his party’s organization.

“If Congress leaders are talking like this, what will happen to the people of Madhya Pradesh if they get power? But I believe the people will not allow this to happen,” Mr Scindia said.

He took a dig at the Congress manifesto, saying its easy to prepare the pre-poll document but the party will not be able to fulfil the promises made in it.

In its 106-page manifesto, the Congress has listed 59 promises and 101 “main guarantees”. Key promises include conducting a caste survey, 27 per cent reservation to the OBCs, a farm loan waiver, Rs 25 lakh medical insurance for all residents and an IPL team for MP if voted to power.

The Congress “ruined” the state in its 15-month rule (December 2018 to March 2020) and the people will not forgive the opposition party and its two senior leaders (Digvijaya Singh and Nath), he said.

On contesting elections from his home turf Gwalior, the Union minister said he is an ordinary BJP worker and follows the party’s directives.

In the viral video that surfaced on Tuesday, Nath is heard telling a group of people, said to be supporters of party leader Virendra Raghuvanshi, that he had left the issue of (selection of Raghuvanshi’s seat) to Digvijaya Singh and his MLA-son Jaivardhan Singh which might have caused some confusion.

The state Congress president is then heard telling the group to “tear clothes” of Digvijaya Singh (over the ticket denial issue).

Raghuvanshi, a former BJP legislator, joined the Congress earlier this month. He had sought a Congress ticket from the Shivpuri assembly seat, but the party fielded KP Singh, a six-time MLA from Pichhore, from there.

On Tuesday, both Nath and Digvijaya Singh were seen together at the release of the Congress manifesto in the state capital and they talked about the video’s content in a lighter vein.

As the BJP latched on to the video to target the Congress, Nath clarified that the relations between Digvijaya Singh and him are not merely political.

“It is of love. I have given the power of attorney long back to him (Digvijaya), which was for listening abuses for Kamal Nath. This power of attorney is still valid,” Nath had said jokingly.

Polling for the 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress and the BJP are engaged in a direct fight, will be held in a single phase and votes will be counted on December 3. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The BJP’s fifth list of candidates for next month’s Madhya Pradesh Assembly election could be its most “explosive”, party sources told NDTV today. When asked about the list, Home Minister Narottam Mishra declared, “List dhamakedar hee hogi. Aage dhamake hee dhamake hone wale hain, Diwali ka tyohar aane wala hai, (List will be explosive… expect fireworks… Diwali is ahead).”

The ruling party Monday ended suspense over the electoral fate of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, 24 of his ministers, and 57 sitting lawmakers, all of whom were named in the fourth list.

The party has named 136 candidates. The Assembly has 230 seats, meaning the BJP has 94 more decisions to make. Many will be made at Sunday’s meeting of the Central Election Committee.

Sources in the party’s state unit said 25 to 30 MLAs may be dropped because of negative feedback.

The list is likely during the Navratri season, which begins Sunday, because the party wants to contain protests by leaders who don’t get tickets; the hope is they will be too busy celebrating the festival.

Among those whose political future remains uncertain are nine ministers; they include Mahendra Singh Sisodiya, OPS Bhadoria, Brijendra Singh Yadav and Suresh Dhakad, all of whom are loyal to Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and who joined him in walking out of the Congress in 2020.

The fate of the nine aside, speculation persists the BJP will name Mr Scindia himself.

READ | Jyotiraditya Scindia’s State Poll Debut This Year? Aunt Sets Off Speculation

The Civil Aviation Minister is a Rajya Sabha MP but has never contested a state election. His potential candidature, though, is in line with the BJP’s tactic for this round of elections – to field a few big-name candidates in each state, like Union Ministers and MPs, with strong local connections.

READ | NDTV Exclusive: Inside Details Of BJP’s Strategy For Upcoming State Polls

In Madhya Pradesh the party has already named four other MPs and three Union Ministers.

Mr Scindia, though, may not have been the first choice; buzz about him sparked only after his aunt, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, opted out of this election citing health reasons; the 69-year-old Ms Scindia, who is Madhya Pradesh’s Sports Minister, has had Covid-19 four times since the pandemic began.

Her nephew may be fielded either from his aunt’s Shivpuri seat or any of the two other seats in Guna – Bamori or Kolaras. All three are in the Lok Sabha segment of Guna that he held from 2002 to 2014.

Meanwhile, the Congress and the BJP have taken pot-shots over lists of candidates, or lack thereof.

Mr Mishra also slammed the Congress after the opposition party referred to potential rifts within the BJP, triggered by leaders who were denied tickets. “Congress has no right to question our list. There is no trace of their own… so better if they don’t say anything,” he said.

The Congress’ national spokesperson, Ragini Nayak mocked “internal factionalism in BJP” and said, “I don’t know… maybe BJP is eagerly waiting for our list. There was a meeting day before yesterday in which (ex-Chief Minister) Kamal Nath gave a statement that 140 names were finalised (but) we should not release our list in Shraddh Paksh. There will be no opposition after release of our list…”

Madhya Pradesh will vote in a single phase on November 17. Results will be out December 3.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Jyotiraditya Scindia. File

Union Steel Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia held a meeting with five task forces and discussed a range of issues, including incentivising green steel production and financing options for decarbonising the industry.

“Key stakeholders, industry experts and government officials attended the meeting to discuss ways to achieve sustainability and decarbonisation in steel production on Thursday,” the Ministry of Steel said in a statement on September 29.

The meeting was also attended by Steel Secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha, chairpersons of the five task forces and other senior officials.

“Held a fruitful discussion with 5 of our 13 task forces. Defined a roadmap to tackle inevitable challenges through a multi-pronged approach, including renewable energy uptake, skill development, incentives, and potential pathways for decarbonisation,” the Minister said.

“The task force on Finance, led by Sunil Mehta, the Chief Executive of Indian Banks’ Association, provided valuable insights into financing options for decarbonising the Indian steel industry,” the Ministry said.

The Renewable Energy Transition Task Force, under Aniruddha Kumar, proposed policy drivers to incentivise the adoption of renewable power and measures to attract industries to set up captive renewable power facilities.

Skill Development Task Force focussed on identifying the skilling, upskilling and re-skilling of manpower for the steel industry for ensuring the just transition.

The task force on energy efficiency led by Ashok Kumar Tripathy, an Independent Director of SAIL, gave recommendations for boosting energy efficiency solutions for integrated steel plants and secondary steel industries.

The process transition task force deliberated on ways to promote the use of natural gas and syngas in direct reduced iron plants, aiming to reduce carbon emissions from these facilities by moving away from coal-based feedstock.

The Ministry of Steel had earlier constituted 13 task forces with the engagement of the industry, academia, think tanks, various Ministries and other stakeholders to discuss, deliberate and recommend ways to decarbonise the steel sector and promote green steel production.

Indore/Bhopal:

Pramod Tandon, an associate of Union minister and BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, on Saturday returned to the Congress’s fold ahead of the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.

Mr Tandon, along with Ramkishore Shukla and Dinesh Malhar, was formally re-inducted into the Congress by the party’s state unit chief Kamal Nath in Indore.

Mr Tandon had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party when Mr Scindia and several Congress MLAs close to him crossed over to the party in March 2020, toppling the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in the state in the process.

Mr Tandon was made a member of the state BJP’s working committee, but he resigned recently.

He was said to be a die-hard loyalist of Jyotiraditya Scindia and his father, late Madhavrao Scindia, before him.

Samandar Patel, another BJP working committee member, had returned to the Congress along with hundreds of supporters on August 18 in Bhopal.

Mr Patel told PTI that Mr Tandon is the sixth leader from the Scindia camp to rejoin Congress. Baijnath Singh Yadav, another state BJP working committee member, had rejoined the Congress in July. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia slammed the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan saying that the “back-and-forth”, “staggered response” and “tardy pace” of handing over land by the Rajasthan government has led to delay in development of the Kota Airport.

“The back-and-forth, staggered response and tardy pace of handing over of the land by the State govt. have delayed the process of development of the #KotaAirport It shows that CM @ashokgehlot51Ji is least interested in the development of Kota Greenfield Airport or civil aviation in the State,” the Civil Aviation Minister said in a post on ‘X’ on Saturday.

This came in response to the Rajasthan Chief Minister blaming the Centre for delays in the construction of the proposed airport in Kota while speaking to the media on Thursday.

In a detailed response shared by Scindia on ‘X’, the Minister said, “It is unfortunate that the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Shri Gehlot has made such a misleading statement without having taken the facts of the matter into account.”

Scindia alleged that the Rajasthan government has only allotted 33.4 hectares of land in favour of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), out of the total 440 hectares proposed.

Moreover, Scindia highlighted that the process of diversion of remaining land is yet to be carried out by the State in spite of several reminders by the Civil Aviation Ministry and AAI on several occassions. It is yet to deposit amounts related to diversion within its own departments, he said.

The Civil Aviation Minister further claimed that the state goverment had been apprised that the process of shifting the power grid line is important for obtaining necessary clearances from relevant regulatory authorities. However, the matter is still pending at the level of the state government.

“The back-and-forth, staggered response and tardy pace of handing over of the land by the State govt. have delayed the process of development of the airport. It shows that CM Shri Gehlot is least interested in the development of civil aviation in the State,” Scindia said.

Earlier on Thursday, speaking to the media, Rajasthan Chief Minister has also accused Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla of not playing a positive role for the airport’s development.

Rajasthan is going to polls in November. The Congress party which is in power in the state is in direct contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is in power in the state. 

The BJP and the Congress have been forming the government in Rajasthan in alternate terms every election since 1993. The two parties have been voting each other out in every poll since then.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bhopal:

The run-up to the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh is witnessing a string of leaders leaving the ruling BJP, with some of them joining the Congress. Many of the exits have been from the Gwalior-Chambal region, the home turf of several powerful BJP leaders, including Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narendra Singh Tomar.

Two key leaders have left the BJP in as many days this week. Both leaders have, directly or indirectly, blamed loyalists of Mr Scindia. The Union Minister responded by saying that people come and go during elections and, in a democracy, everyone has the right to make their own decisions. 

Two-time former MLA Girija Shankar Sharma, whose family has been associated with the BJP for decades, quit the party on Friday. Between him and his brother, Sitasaran Sharma, the family has won the Hoshangabad Assembly seat, which was earlier known as Itarsi, seven straight times since 1990. 

Accusing the BJP of ignoring veteran leaders and workers after new leaders joined the party, Mr Sharma said he would ensure that BJP candidates don’t win from the seat, as the “return of the present government isn’t in the state’s larger interest”.

Mr Sharma’s resignation came a day after sitting MLA from Kolaras seat of Shivpuri district, Virendra Raghuvanshi, quit the BJP, accusing leaders and ministers close to Mr Scindia of corruption as well as “torture” of people who have been with the party for a long time. Mr Raghuvanshi is likely to join the Congress in Bhopal on Saturday.

Virendra Raghuvanshi was with the Congress when he was elected as an MLA for the first time in 2003. He joined the BJP in 2013 and was elected from Kolaras in 2018. He was also a member of the party’s state executive. 

Addressing reporters on Thursday, Mr Raghuvanshi had said, “Only god knows what pressure Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is in that he is unable to act against continued harassment and torture of old BJP workers and leaders by Team Scindia.”

“I don’t know why I’m being harassed and tortured within the BJP since Mr Scindia arrived with his loyalists three-and-a-half years ago. It is possibly happening because I worked for Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya and KP Yadav (both known to be part of the anti-Scindia camp in BJP) in the previous elections,” he added.

Jyotiraditya Scindia – who had joined the BJP with 22 MLAs in 2020, leading to the collapse of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government – responded to the resignations by saying that people come and go during elections. 

“In a democracy, everyone has the right to make their own decision. In 2020, the Congress government had made a promise against the farmers and young women. There was corruption in the 15-month government and six cabinet ministers resigned from the government at the same time. But, today, we are seeing that resignations are tendered two to four months before the elections,” Mr Scindia said.

Though Mr Raghuvanshi didn’t make his future plans clear, people close to him said he might return to the Congress with an aim of contesting the assembly polls from Shivpuri seat against four-time BJP MLA and minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia. 

According to sources, two BJP MLAs from the Vindhya region and one each from the Mahakaushal and Bundelkhand regions have kept their resignations ready.

Former chief minister Kamal Nath said, “Many leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party are in touch with me. Be it Scindia supporters or other leaders of the BJP, they will get entry into the Congress only if our local organisation agrees. Even Samandar Patel (Scindia loyalist who joined the Congress last month) came only with the consent of the local leaders.”

In the past 3 months, several BJP leaders have quit the party and joined the Congress. These include former minister Deepak Joshi, who is the son of former chief minister Kailash Joshi, former MLA Radhelal Baghel, former MLA Kunwar Dhruv Pratap Singh, Yadvendra Singh – son of former MLA Deshraj Singh – and Samandar Singh Patel.

In April, former BJP MP from Khargone seat of west MP,  Makhansingh Solanki, had resigned from the BJP and joined the Congress. His nephew, Sumer Singh Solanki, is a BJP Rajya Sabha MP.