by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
London : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said his party has not stonewalled the Triple Talaq Bill anywhere but they have an issue with the aspect of criminalisation.
“We have not stonewalled anything. But we have an issue with the criminlisation aspect,” Gandhi said during his interaction with the Indian Journalists’ Association here.
The Triple Talaq Bill was passed in Lok Sabha but is yet to be passed in the Rajya Sabha where the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi lacks majority.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has blamed the Congress for not allowing the bill to be passed in the Upper House.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Ghulam Nabi Azad
New Delhi : In an apparent dig at the Narendra Modi government, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said there was “no distance, as it is today” between the government and the opposition in Vajpayee’s era.
Paying tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at a prayer meeting here, Azad recalled how as the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister in Narasimha Rao government, he would frequently meet Vajpayee – who was the Leader of Opposition then – and share food and drinks with him.
“As the Parliamentary Affairs Minister between 1991 and 1996, I used to meet Atalji very frequently as he was the Leader of Opposition then. Three-four meetings between a Parliamentary Affairs Minister and Leader of Opposition are quite common. Since we were a minority government, it was natural to be dependent on the opposition,” Azad said.
“We would often eat together, sometimes in my chamber and at other times in his chamber (during Parliament session). There were no distances, no aloofness, unlike these days between the government and the opposition,” Azad said.
He said that Vajpayee was dedicated to the welfare and progress of the nation and its people.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Saturday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to match up with the UPA’s GDP rate in its fifth year and said that back series calculation of GDP has proved that the best years of economic growth were the UPA years 2004-2014.
Quoting figures of the recently released Ministry of Statistics’ data, Chidambaram said: “Truth has triumphed. The back series calculation of GDP has proved that the best years of economic growth were the UPA years 2004-2014.”
“The average growth rate under four governments since 1999 were– NDA I – 5.68 per cent, UPA I – 8.36 per cent UPA II – 7.68 per cent and NDA II – 7.35 per cent (four years),” Chidambaram tweeted.
“I wish the Modi government well in its fifth year. It can never catch up with UPA I, but I wish it catches up with UPA II,” he added.
Chidambaram said that the UPA governments delivered the best ever decadal growth and lifted 140 million people out of poverty and thanked the people for the opportunity to serve them for 10 years.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : A day after the Maharashtra ATS arrested three men affiliated to radical Hindu outfits for plotting terror attacks, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Saturday asked if the RSS and BJP would condemn those outfits.
“Maharashtra ATS announced the arrest of three men affiliated to radical Hindu outfits. Who rules Maharashtra? The BJP. Hindu, Muslim or any other religion, radicalism is radicalism. Terror is terror. There is no purpose in burying one’s head in the sand,” said Chidambaram on Twitter.
“Will the RSS and BJP condemn those who are plotting and planning terror attacks?” he asked.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Friday claimed to have foiled a terrorist attempt to strike in different parts of the state following the arrest of three persons and seizure of at least 20 crude bombs and expolsives and material used in bomb-making.
Official sources said the first to be arrested early Friday was Hindu Janjagran Samiti (HJS) activist Vaibhav Raut from his home in Nala Sopara, Palghar district.
Later, his accomplice Sharad Kalaskar was arrested from there by the ATS teams, which were accompanied by a dog squad and forensics experts.
A third right-wing activist Sudhnava Gondhalekar — allegedly linked to Shri Shiv Pratisthan — was arrested from Pune.
The sources said that the accused planned to carry out terror hits in Mumbai, Pune, Solapur and Satara districts in the coming few days.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Sanjay Nirupam
By Maeeshat News,
Mumbai: Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam today attacked the Prime Minister as the latter visited the city to address the 56th convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology- Bombay (IIT-B) and encourage the students while a 12-year-old girl in the city’s BMC School died of suspected side-effects of a deworming exercise and consumption of iron and folic acid tablets just ahead of the PM’s visit to the city.
Sanjay Nirupam said, “PM Modi and the Govt led by him has always turned a blind eye towards the poor. They are the ‘suit boot ki sarkaar’ and this attitude of theirs has been reflected in every activity they have carried out so far. As stated by the Prime Minister, the nation is proud of the IIT’s. But he has completely forgotten about the downtrodden and those in need. The lives of many young minds are risked everyday due to the negligence and carelessness of the BJP Govt. The Prime Minister said that new ideas come from young minds. But who is taking care of those who are young but unfortunately poor because the Prime Minister is clearly interested in addressing the rich”.
“We expected him to visit the family who has lost their daughter only because of what can only be called a clear case of negligence by the BJP Govt. But he didn’t, thus disappointing them and every common man in the city”, added Mr. Nirupam.
14-year-old Chandni Shaikh studying in Govandi’s Sanjay Nagar Municipal Urdu School fell ill and died on Friday. The deceased, along with hundreds of other students, had been given iron and folic acid tablets as a part of a Union Govt programme on August 6.
