by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Ashok Gehlot
Jaipur : Former Rajasthan Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Saturday asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is re-laying the foundation stone of Barmer refinery as former Congress President Sonia Gandhi had done so in 2013.
Modi is scheduled to visit Barmer in Rajasthan on January 16 to lay the foundation stone of the Barmer refinery.
Gehlot said Modi was inaugurating the refinery again to draw the credit of bringing this entity in Rajasthan, which in true terms, was the Congress’ initiative.
Speaking to media persons here, Gehlot said he has already written to Modi raising the question as to why he is again laying the foundation stone of the Barmer refinery.
The letter mentioned Gandhi laid the foundation stone of the refinery on September 22, 2013.
He added that Modi’s proposed visit on January 16 for the foundation laying ceremony is unfortunate. “There shouldn’t be this new trend set for re-laying foundation stones as governments keep changing in a democratic country”.
Gehlot also accused Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of delaying many projects, including the refinery, which he said, was initiated under his tenure.
He has also requested the Election Commission to draw its attention to this issue. “The Prime Minister’s visit to lay the foundation stone when the code of conduct has already been implemented in the state in the wake of by-polls is violation of all set norms,” he added.
According to informed sources, HPCL and Rajasthan government, in a joint venture, has proposed to bring up the refinery cum petro-chemical complex on a vast spread land of 4,813 acre.
HPCL shares 74 per cent of share while Rajasthan government has 26 per cent of share. This refinery will be ready by 2021.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Asaduddin Owaisi
Hyderabad : MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday rejected claims by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he had facilitated Muslim women’s travel for Haj without ‘Mahram’.
The Hyderabad MP said that a regulation by Haj authorities of Saudi Arabia was in force for many years which allow women above the age of 45 years to perform Haj without a ‘Mahram’ if they travel with a group.
He told reporters here that women above 45 years of age from Indonesia, Malaysia and several other countries had been performing Haj under this Saudi regulation.
‘Mahram’ is a male relative of a woman with whom she is permanently forbidden to marry by Islam.
Modi in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ speech on Sunday had said that his government had removed the restriction which allows Muslim women to perform Hajj only in the company of ‘Maharam’. He had stated that injustice was done to women for decades.
“It has become the habit of the Prime Minister to claim credit for everything. If tomorrow women in Saudi Arabia are allowed to drive, he will claim credit for the same,” he said.
The MP said if Modi had so much concern for Muslim women, he should do justice to Zakia Jafri, widow of former MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
“This is all tokenism. If Modi is really concerned about Muslim women, he should provide 7 percent reservation for them in education. He has two-third majority in Parliament and he can bulldoze a bill in this regard,” the MP said
On the passing of a bill in Lok Sabha over triple talaq, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) President said that if it became a legislation, it would be the biggest injustice to Muslim women.
He argued that since marriage in Islam was a civil contract, there could be no penal provision. He also pointed out that the Supreme Court in its order on the issue did not ask the government to bring a criminal law.
“The government is saying that Muslim countries have banned triple talaq but the fact is that there is no penal provision in any Muslim country.”
Owaisi alleged that the real objective of the government was to do away with all forms of talaq and snatch Sharia from Muslims.
The MP said abandonment of married women was a bigger problem than divorce.
“The rate of abandonment is twice the rate of divorce. There are 24 lakh abandoned women and they include 20 lakh Hindu women, two lakh Muslim and 90,000 Christian women,” he said.
“The married women should get their right to live with their husbands whether they are in Gujarat or in Delhi,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, Finance, News, Politics
Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for only giving empty slogans and said the government utilised only 7 per cent of the Rs 9,860 crore allotted for the Smart Cities scheme.
“Dear Modi bhakts (followers), out of 9,860 crores for the Smart Cities only 7 per cent has been used. China is out competing us while your master gives us empty slogans. Please watch this video and advise him to focus on what matters – job creation for India,” Gandhi tweeted.
He also attached a link to the documentary “Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware”.
The Congress leader’s remarks comes a day after government data pointed out severe under-utilisation of alloted funds under the government’s ambitious project of Smart Cities scheme.
Only seven per cent of Rs 9,860 crore or about Rs 645 crore released to 60 cities under the smart cities project has been utilised so far, according to data of the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : In a bid to empower Muslim women, the government has changed the law by permitting them to travel for the annual Haj pilgrimage without any male attendant, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.
“I noticed that if a Muslim woman wanted to go for the Haj pilgrimage, they cannot go without a ‘Mahram’ (a male guardian),” Modi said in 2017’s last edition of his radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’.
“And when I enquired about it, I came to know that it was we who have have restricted them for going alone for the Haj. This practice is not followed in many of the Islamic countries,” he said.
Modi added that the Minority Affairs Ministry has removed this restriction and will now allow the Muslim women to travel to Haj without a male attendant.
“Till date, 1,300 women have applied to travel for the Haj without any Mahram,” the Prime Minister said, adding that “they should get equal opportunity as the men get”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Sirshendu Panth,
Kolkata : Keeping up a strong anti-BJP rhetoric, West Bengal’s indefatigable ‘Didi’ gunned for Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the year, lacing her speeches and social media postings with sarcasm and choice words as her government clashed with the Centre on various issues.
From mythology to ancient Indian history, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee left nothing untouched in letting loose incessant verbal volleys at Modi, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued to increase its vote-share in various by-polls and local body elections in West Bengal.
As the BJP tried to emerge as a viable alternative to the Trinamool, Banerjee in turn endeavoured to project herself as the most prominent opponent of the Hindutva brigade nationally.
The feisty leader networked with regional leaders opposed to the Sangh Parivar — the ideological parent of the BJP as well as several right-wing outfits — and formulated decisions and actions that could give her brownie points over the central dispensation and its propelling force.
She fired on all cylinders, targeting Modi’s key policies like demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) while trying to exploit burning issues like sliding economic growth, rampant intolerance, the beef ban and cow vigilantism.
However, it was her colourful and strident attacks on Modi that grabbed the spotlight.
If she likened Modi to the greatest Sanskrit poet and dramatist Kalidasa, it was not because of the writer’s literary prowess but only a reference to an oft-told story of him “lacking intelligence as a youngster — cutting the branch he was sitting on”.
“All institutions (of the nation) are under attack. This is a dangerous game. The PM is behaving like Kalidasa, trying to cut the branch he is sitting on,” Banerjee remarked.
During another aggressive speech, Banerjee drew a parallel between Modi and demon king Ravana of the Ramayana epic.
“He claims that he has broad chest and shoulders. Even Ravana had broad shoulders. And he also had 10 heads,” she said, alluding to Modi’s drumbeating that he has a “56-inch chest”.
On another occasion, she predicted that “Barda” (elder brother) will have to bow out of office after the 2019 parliamentary polls.
Addressing a public meeting in Bankura district, Banerjee raised the pitch further, dubbing the Modi government “deaf and dumb”. But a separate barb was reserved for the Prime Minister.
“He used to call himself a ‘chaiwala’ (tea seller) before. Now he has become a millionaire ‘Paytm-wala’ (one who endorses e-wallets like Paytm).”
Demonetisation, to her, was Modi’s “shameless flop show” that she dismissed on Twitter as “visionless, missionless and directionless”.
Not in a mood to let go of any democratic mode of protest, she even knocked on the door of then President Pranab Mukherjee, urging him to “save the country from the mess” and sought a “national government” minus Modi. Banerjee was ready to accept another BJP leader at its helm and went to the extent of naming L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley as being acceptable.
While backing GST, Banerjee took the Modi government to task for rolling out the new regime with “disastrous hurry” on July 1. She called the step “another epic blunder” of the Centre.
The CBI probes into the multi-billion-rupee Saradha Ponzi scam, Rose Valley Ponzi scam and Narada sting footage controversy — in which a number of Trinamool leaders were implicated — were also bones of contention between the Trinamool and the BJP.
While Banerjee accused the central agencies of acting out of “political vendetta” on the BJP’s directions, the saffron party said it was an inquiry ordered by the Supreme Court.
Going ballistic, Banerjee threatened to slap defamation cases worth crores of rupees if the CBI did not proceed impartially.
The political battles between the Trinamool regime and the Centre even stretched to observance of red letter dates like Independence Day and Teachers Day.
When the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) sent a circular to the states recommending a structured format promoting Modi’s pet “Swachh Bharat Mission” during Teachers’ Day celebrations in schools, the Mamata government shot off a counter-circular to schools saying the date needed to be observed with due reverence and solemnity as in “earlier years”.
Ahead of Independence Day, the MHRD had issued a circular specifying “additional activities”. But the state government came up with a directive asking the schools to “stop all preparations” for celebrating the day in the MHRD format.
With the Congress weakening, Banerjee kept herself busy attempting to strengthen ties throughout 2017 with prominent political leaders in the anti-BJP domain, particularly those from the regional parties.
She has been following many of them on Twitter, or exchanging pleasantries through tweets with the likes of ex-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, senior Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, BSP chief Mayawati and DMK leader M.K. Stalin. She even met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, a BJP baiter despite being an ally, though her party’s views on religion and secularism were diametrically opposed to those of the Sena.
Though Banerjee has stressed on “collective leadership” to challenge Modi, she gave enough hints at a media conclave last month that she is not averse to taking the lead in bringing together opposition parties on a single platform against the BJP in 2019.
(Sirshendu Panth can be contacted at s.panth@ians.in)
—IANS
