Morning Brief: Mamata Banerjee Calls BJP A ‘Militant’ Outfit; Given A Chance, Kashmiris Will Vote For Independence: Congress Leader; No Subsidy For Private Electric Cars

Good morning, dear reader! Here’s your morning news and views brief for today.

Mamata Banerjee Calls BJP A 'Militant Organisation'

Addressing a gathering of over 10,000 people on Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a militant organisation. Talking to party leaders, MLAs, MPs, civic body chiefs and winning candidates of gram panchayat, she said that the BJP is “triggering fights not only among Christians, Muslims but also among Hindus”. She also accused the party of manipulating Electronic Voting Machines to increase its vote share and urged her party workers to prepare for the next Lok Sabha poll. Ironically, Banerjee’s statement against the BJP comes just weeks after two young BJP workers were killed in Purulia, an area where the party had done well against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the recent panchayat polls. Just days before their killing, Banerjee’s nephew and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said that he would make Purulia opposition free.

Given A Chance, Kashmiris Will Vote For Independence: Congress Leader

A day after Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad attacked the Army saying it kills more civilians than terrorists, another party leader from Kashmir, Saifuddin Soz, has courted controversy with his comments on Kashmir. Soz said on Thursday that Kashmiris would vote for independence if given a chance to “exercise their free will”. The leader, who was a minister in the Congress-led UPA government, said that former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s assessment over a decade ago seems to be “correct even today”. In his book, which is set to be released next week, he has blamed various governments in Delhi for committing “blunders” and alienating Kashmiris from India’s heartland. He has also argued that the talks for the solution of Kashmir will have to start with “the political conglomerate called the Hurriyat”. He calls for reducing troop presence in Kashmir and revocation of the “draconian” Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts in the Valley.

Government To Scrap Subsidy For Private Electric Cars

In a move that could dampen the sales of private electric vehicles, the government is planning to scrap cash incentives currently offered to buyers of these cars. As part of its clean-energy programme called FAME (faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicles), the government offers a discount of up to Rs 1.3 lakh on an electric car. According to sources quoted by the Times of India, the government has decided to withdraw the cash incentives for private EVs because it neither makes a "substantial difference in promoting sales nor serves the purpose of a clean environment". Policy-makers have welcomed the move, saying the decision to give cash subsidies to EVs used by shared-mobility operators such as Ola and Uber is more logical, "as their vehicles will run much more than private cars".

Witness Backs Claims Of Lucknow Passport Official

A man, who had witnessed the argument between the ‘inter-faith’ couple and the passport official in Lucknow accused of harassing them, has come forward to back the claims made by the official. The couple, Tanvi Seth and Mohammad Anas Siddiqui, had accused the official of asking them to convert to Hinduism. However, the official, who has now been transferred, has denied misbehaving with the two and asking them to convert. He said that the argument was over different names in the passport application form and the nikahnaama, which identifies the women as Shadia Anas. A man named Kuldeep Singh, who witnessed the argument unfold, has backed the official’s claim. “I recognised them from news reports. I was at counter C-2. They were talking about her name. The official said there was nothing he could do and that she should talk to the APO,” he said, supporting the official’s version.

India-US 2+2 Dialogue On 6 July In Washington

India and the US will hold the inaugural 2+2 meeting of their defence and foreign ministers in Washington on 6 July, the US state department announced Thursday. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will meet Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis in Washington as part of the dialogue. The new dialogue was formulated during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington DC in June 2017. Earlier, the dialogue had been postponed due to uncertainty over the confirmation of Mike Pompeo as President Donald Trump's new Secretary of State. Former CIA chief Pompeo replaced Rex Tillerson. The meeting will come at a time when India is trying to find a way around the sanctions from the US for its defence deals with Russia.

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