by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Kamal Nath
New Delhi : In a video which went viral on social media on Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh state Congress President Kamal Nath is seen asking Muslim workers of his party to ensure “90 per cent polling” in the community-dominated booths to “save” the party from a “big loss”.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to give a communal colour to the video and terms the video as “disgusting and divisive”.
The video purportedly shows Nath asking workers to take out the figures from last elections and do a “postmortem” as to why the polling percentage was only 50-60 per cent in the Muslim majority booths.
“Resolve today that you would ensure 80-90 per cent polling in your booths. If we don’t get 90 per cent votes of the Muslim community, we may suffer a big loss,” he is seen telling the workers.
“…You (Muslim Congress workers) will have to take care of your own society, not just for the Congress but for the whole state,” he said.
The meeting where the video was shot apparently took place in October.
Reacting to the video, BJP Spokesman Sambit Patra accused the Congress of indulging in “politics of appeasement”.
“It is absolutely disgusting and divisive. What Kamal Nath is saying is just an extrapolation of what his party President Rahul Gandhi has said during a meeting with Muslim intellectuals that Congress is indeed a party of the Muslims,” Patra said in Indore.
Madhya Pradesh will vote on November 28 in a single phase to elect a new Assembly.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Koriya/Jashpur/Darima (Chhattisgarh) : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence on the Rafale “scam” and assured poll-bound Chhattisgarh of completely waiving off farm loans if his party comes to power in the state.
Addressing rallies in the state, Gandhi tore into Modi and the Raman Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime in the state over a host of issues, particularly corruption and crony capitalism.
Ridiculing Modi for his assertions of being the country’s “chowkidar” (watchman), Gandhi said the entire country knows the “chowkidar has turned into a thief”.
“Modi keeps on making speeches and addresses electing rallies but doesn’t even utter a word on Rafale. The entire country knows that you did the deal to enrich your industrialist crony. The entire nation is now saying ‘chowkidar chor hai’ (watchman is a thief).
“At least now say something about Rafale, tell the people how you stole money from Indian Air Force (IAF) and gave it to your friend,” said Gandhi addressing a rally in Darima in Surguja district.
He charged the ruling BJP with creating two Chhattisgarhs, one of the rich and the other of poor and exploited. He assured that farmers’ loans would be completely waived off within 10 days of his party coming to power in the state.
“Chhattisgarh was created so that it natural resources can be utilised for the welfare of the people but now we have two Chhattisgarhs — one of the rich, of those wearing suit-boot, and the second of the masses — poor, marginalised, farmers and workers.
“We don’t want two Chhattisgarhs, we want justice,” said Gandhi, addressing a rally in the erstwhile princely state of Koriya.
Claiming that Rs 3.5 lakh crore of corporate loans were waived off by the Centre, Gandhi demanded reply from Modi as to why not even a rupee of farm loans was waived off.
“I had asked Modi why he was not writing off loans given to the poor farmers, but he never bothered to reply. So from here I declare that within 10 days of coming to power in the state, we will waive off loans of each and every farmer,” said Gandhi.
He said the waiver of farm loans will be offset by recoveries from fraudsters like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi who, with the help of Modi government, defrauded banks of billions of rupees.
Sharpening his attack on Modi over demonetisation and the Rafale deal, Gandhi alleged that “thieves, with the help of Modi, laundered their black money into white through demonetisation”.
“Modi now doesn’t talk about corruption because the entire nation knows that the ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) himself is the thief,” said Gandhi, accusing the Prime Minister of “only lying before the masses”.
Gandhi attacked Chief Minister Raman Singh over a Rs 5,000-crore chit-fund scam and a Rs 36,000-crore scam in the public distribution system (PDS).
“In the PDS scam, Rs 36,000 crore was siphoned off. A diary was seized where it was written that the money was given to CM Madam and Dr. Saheb. I want to ask Singh who are these CM Madam and Dr Saheb?”
The Congress leader also alleged that Chief Minister’s son Abhishek has undisclosed offshore accounts as per revelations in the Panama Papers.
Addressing another rally in Jashpur, Gandhi alleged the “Rafale deal was done by Modi to give Rs 30,000 crore to his industrialist crony”.
He also promised setting up food processing units in all the blocks in the state so that farmers could easily sell their produce and get the right price, and their sons and daughters jobs in these factories.
He also flayed the Singh regime for unemployment, saying despite thousands of vacancies in various government departments and institutions, youth were not employed due to corruption.
Gandhi said the difference between the Congress and Modi was that his party always strove to fulfill its promises.
“Unlike Modi, who makes tall promises only never to fulfil them, we make promises knowing we will fulfil them,” he said exuding confidence that his party would come to power in the state.
The second phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly polls in 72 constituencies spread across 19 districts will held on November 20.
The first phase of polling in 18 constituencies across eight Maoist-affected districts was held on November 12. The results will be declared on December 11.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Thiruvananthapuram : The dawn-to-dusk Kerala shutdown called by a few Hindu groups on Saturday was peaceful, barring a few clashes, police sources said.
The shutdown was called following “detention” of a few religious leaders the previous night from the Sabarimala temple premises.
Among the detained on Friday night was Hindu Iykavedi (HI) President and senior BJP leader K.P. Sasikala, who was proceeding towards the Lord Ayyappa shrine.
Following her detention, Hindu Iykavedi leaders called for a shutdown backed by the state BJP.
Sources said Sasikala, carrying the customary holy kit ‘Irumudi Kettu’ on her head, was stopped by the police near the temple and was told not to proceed further as the temple had closed at 10 p.m. But she refused.
She was taken into preventive custody and till Saturday afternoon she was lodged at the Ranni police station, sources said.
Over a thousand of her supporters cordoned off the police station and chanted Lord Ayyappa’s hymns as conciliation talks progressed.
Shops and other businesses were forced to down their shutters by HI, BJP and Sangh Parivar activists.
Barring private vehicles, public transport vehicles stayed off the roads. Schools and educational institutes were closed for the day.
At Kozhikode the husband of a woman TV journalist, who is also the son of a top CPI-M leader, was injured in an attack allegedly by Sangh Parivar supporters.
In another incident, angry CPI-M and Sangh Parivar supporters clashed in a village near the state capital.
The intensity of the shutdown came down by late afternoon after Sasikala was given bail, and as per her demand, the police dropped her back to the temple town.
Kadakampally Surendran, State Devasom Minister, said it was “shameful” that a shutdown was called on an important day of the Sabarimala pilgrimage.
“Generally, protestors during the festival season of the Sabarimala temple spare Pathanamthitta district (where Sabarimala is situated) from the shutdown because it causes difficulties for the pilgrims. This shutdown was called by those who are trying to create trouble in the temple town,” said the CPI-M Minister.
State Congress president Mulapally Ramachandran alleged the CPI-M-led government had a secret deal with Sangh Parivar forces.
“Sasikala has a few cases involving inflammatory speeches registered against her. The police chose to arrest her at Sabarimala to glorify her. The Sangh Parivar successfully used the Ayodhya issue and is now trying to exploit the Sabarimala temple on similar lines,” said Ramachandran.
State BJP President P.S. Sreedharan Pillai told the media in Kozhikode on Saturday that no one knew why Sasikala was detained.
“Things are becoming clear that the Pinarayi Vijayan government wants to destroy Sabarimala by coming out with rules that will affect the traditions of the temple,” said Pillai.
“We are talking with leaders of other states. There will be a huge protest against this, not just here, but everywhere else,” warned Pillai.
The Sabarimala temple opened its doors at 5 p.m. on Friday for two months.
The temple town has witnessed protests by Hindu groups since September 28 when the Supreme Court allowed women of all ages to enter the temple that hitherto banned girls and women aged between 10 and 50.
The apex court this week refused to stay its earlier verdict.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Lucknow : BSP chief Mayawati on Friday demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the “painful and forced” demonetization he ordered two years back.
In a statement, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said that so far none of the benefits propagated by Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in justification of the note ban had come true.
“Facts and data prove that the nation and its people have suffered the hasty decision of demonetization and that like its other poll promises this too was a bundle of lie,” Mayawati said.
She charged the Prime Minister and the BJP with breaking the spine of the honest and hard working people and creating joblessness while helping their favourites in turning black money into white.
The BJP acquired massive property in the run up to the demonetization, Mayawati said.
A party which took power in 2014 with the promise of ‘acche din’ (good days) has done nothing for people’s welfare, farmers and the poor, she pointed out.
She termed the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes ordered in November 2016 a result of the “ego and dictatorial attitude of a single man” — referring obviously to Modi.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Former Union Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday took a dig at the BJP for promising statues and temples ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, after failing to fulfil its earlier poll promises of development and jobs.
“At the beginning of five years, the promise is for development, jobs and money in every citizen’s bank account,” the Congress veteran tweeted.
“Nothing achieved, at the end of five years, the new promise is for grand temples, giant statues and doles,” he said as he reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his earlier promises of vikas (development), providing two crore jobs annually and bringing back black money stashed in foreign tax havens and filling up the poor man’s coffer with Rs 15 lakh each.
Chidambaram’s latest jibe at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party comes at a time when the saffron brigade has been raising the pitch for the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya.
—IANS
