Bengaluru (March 19): The Congress has yet again displayed its dictatorial trait by arresting four persons for raising pro-Modi slogans, said former Deputy Chief Minister and State BJP Election Management Committee President R Ashok today.

Addressing a press meet,Shri Ashok said that when Congress President Rahul Gandhi was in the city for an event, pro-Modi slogans were raised by four persons who were later arrested by the police and harassed.The Congress has infringed upon the rights of the people—freedom of speech and expression. Shri Ashok further condemned police inaction in cases relating to Congress members who were caught red handed recently with unaccounted cash; and those who made derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Modi ji.

Basava Kalyan legislator Narayan Rao recently made derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Modi ji at a recent function held in Kalaburgi in the presence of Rahul Gandhi. Also, Congress leader Belur Gopalakrishna publicly remarked that Modi Ji should be killed. The Congress has not initiated action in this regard, Shri Ashok pointed out.

It was during the Emergency that Smt. Indira Gandhi had curbed Freedom of Speech and Expression. Now the AICC President Rahul Gandhi is following the same path. Terrorists are respected by Rahul Gandhi while Modi ji is criticised by him. Such remarks do not befit the statute of the AICC President who is wasting time by uttering lies through his speeches. Such a person is unfit to become the prime minister of the country, Shri Ashok said.

Indira Canteen funds diverted for Election funds: Indira Canteen food is a threat to the lives of the poor and is only a means for the Congress to loot public funds. The fund allocated for Indira Canteens is being misused at various levels and there should be a probe into this scam, Shri Ashok demanded. No place for intolerance: Shri Rajeev Chandrashekar, Member of Parliament, who was present at the press meet said that the Congress party has yet again displayed its true colours by arresting four persons who raised pro-Modi slogans. Intolerant people should not be in politics,he said

.The youth support Prime minister Modi ji. It is not possible to silence them with Police force, he remarked while condemning the coalition government in failing to ask the Police, to act against those with unaccounted cash. State BJP Spokesperson Sri Pramod Hegde, Co-spokesperson Sri S. Prakash, Sri A.H. Anand and State Yuva Morcha General Secretary Sri Tammesh Gowda were also present.

Highlights of the Joint Press Conference addressed by Ex Deputy Chief Minister Sri R.Ashok, Rajyasabha Member Sri Rajeev Chandrashekar, State Spokesperson Sri Pramod Hegde, Co-spokesperson Sri S. Prakash, Sri A.H. Anand and State Yuva Morcha General Secretary Sri Tammesh Gowda.  Pro- Modi slogans raised by some software engineers last night during AICC Chief Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with business leaders in Bangalore at Manyata Tech Park led to the police arresting them till 10 pm.

 It was only after the intervention of our Karyakartas that the software engineers were freed.

 Is it a crime in Karnataka to raise slogans cheering PM Modi ji?

 The incident clearly reflects Rahul Gandhi’s empty words about Freedom of Speech, besides, his selective blindness to the undemocratic methods adopted in Karnataka by the coalition government partner Congress.

 Congress leader Belur Gopalakrishna has publicly remarked that Modi Ji should be killed. The police has not initiated action, despite, a complaint filed in this regard.

 Rural Development Department FDA was recently caught red-handed with Rs 2 crore unaccounted cash at a private hotel. The police did not initiate action to nab him.

 The Model Code of Conduct is in force and those carrying unaccounted cash above Rs 50, 000 are liable to be held. Yet, the coalition government did not take action against Minister Krishna Byre Gowda to whom the cash was to be handed over, as confessed by the engineer who fled from the hotel.

 Unfortunately, the coalition government is only acting against those raising pro-Modi slogans.

 The youth in Karnataka has rejected Rahul Gandhi and this was amplified last night through the pro-Modi slogans. It was clear that the youth realised that Rahul Gandhi’s speeches filled with utter lies will not get their support.

 Rahul Gandhi’s stale speeches lack any mention of pro-people’s programmes and this has forced the youth to reject him.  Basava Kalyan legislator Narayan Rao has made derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Modi ji at a recent function held in Kalaburgi in the presence of Rahul Gandhi.

 Congress leaders are busy competing against each other in calling Modi ji as terrorist, Hitler and other unacceptable words.

 We urge the State Election Commission to intervene immediately and order that Congress leaders must sanitise their speeches.  It is of serious concern that Indira Canteens in Bangalore are serving food with fungus and bacteria as found recently.

 The KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao has claimed inflated bills for Indira Canteen service in his constituency. It is more than three times the actual amount and a clear example of the Congress cheating the poor in the State.

 Indira Canteen food is a threat to the lives of the poor and is only a means for the Congress to loot public funds.

 The KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao is guilty of cheating people of his constituency.

 KPCC President should make clear the amount pocketed by him through this scheme.

 The double standards of the Congress are out. It sheds crocodile tears for the poor but back- stabs them by gobbling funds meant for their welfare.

 We demand that the government constitute a high-level committee to probe into the Indira Canteen scam and arrest those guilty.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the Modi govt is restricting electoral debate to national security while daily terror of hunger, poverty & disease remains.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Lok Sabha polls should be fought on perennial issues like poverty and disease and not on a tragedy of one moment , says Congress leader Shashi Tharoor while accusing the BJP-led government of trying to turn the 2019 vote into a khaki election after the Pulwama attack.

The momentum was with the Congress when the Pulwama tragedy struck on 14 February, killing 40 CRPF soldiers, Tharoor said, hitting out at the government for trying to make the upcoming Lok Sabha polls a “national security based election .

“We were doing very well by all estimations and the momentum was with us when the Pulwama tragedy struck us. Thereafter, the government has tried to make this a khaki election, a national security-based election, Tharoor told media in interview.

They are trying to hype their nationalist message that they were trying to protect the nation at the time of danger which, to my mind and my party’s view, has not been the principle challenge facing the country,” said the former diplomat and author who is aiming for a hat trick from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat this time.

In his view, a daily terror of hunger, poverty and disease strikes the hearts of millions of India and the government must deal with that too.

“I am not minimising national security, but I am saying that the election has to be fought on perennial issues and not on a tragedy of one moment. That tragedy will be dealt with, has been dealt with and should be dealt with.

“But there is a daily tragedy, the daily terror of hunger, poverty, disease that is also a terror that strikes the hearts of millions of our fellow Indians and that too needs to be dealt with by the government,” he said.

Agreeing that some surveys have suggested the BJP’s chances have improved after the terror strike, Tharoor said it was the job of his party to remind people of the real issues.

According to the Thiruvananthapuram MP, there has been a dramatic change in the character of India under BJP rule.

An estimated 97 per cent of all communal violent incidents relating to cow vigilantism have happened in last four years, Tharoor said.

And those are figures issued by the Home Ministry of Rajnath Singh. Not by Congress, not by any NGO. These are government figures. These are very serious crises,” he said.

Lashing out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said “triumphant majoritarianism celebrates violence” and the “prime minister stays silent”.

So the condoning of this kind of thing is a deep assault on the very foundations of our democracy,” the former Union minister said.

He said there are attempts by the centre to undermine the Constitutional arrangement that India was a country for all religions.

“That’s being undermined in the ruling party’s language and rhetoric and is also undermined by steps like the citizenship amendment Bill which will allow every citizen of a neighbouring country except Muslims to settle here. That kind of bigotry was never part of Indian nationhood,” he said.

Tharoor also expressed the hope that the people of India will vote out the BJP as the party doesn’t deserve a second chance.

Addressing the issue of farmer distress, he said, “Sadly, more farmers are committing suicide than there are victims of terrorism in India. I am not saying we should minimise… we should also keep our country safe, but we want the people to address the existing real problems which includes major levels of agrarian distress. For the first time in history, we have eight farmer suicides in Kerala.”

The former UN diplomat also mocked the claims of the BJP government over job creation and said the saffron party was only interested in keeping its own job in Delhi.

The Congress wants every person in India to have a job, he said.

Due to the failed employment policies of the BJP government, skill development has not taken off effectively in the last five “wasted” years, Tharoor said, alleging that the exports and manufacturing sectors had taken a beating.

“Thanks to demonetisation, not only the GDP growth got hit of 2 per cent, but small and micro enterprises have shut down across the country.

Asked whether the Congress was ready to take on the BJP, he said it was “absolutely” ready.

Common people, the Congress leader said, were suffering under NDA rule.

An LPG cooking gas cylinder, which cost Rs 390 under the UPA regime, was priced Rs 975 under the BJP government for no good reason, he said.

Excise duties for petrol have gone up to Rs 19.48 under BJP rule even when the world prices are dropping, he added.

Agencies

Devegowda yet to decide his constituency

By Rizwan Asad

Janata Dal (Secular) Chief and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda asserted that BJP will be defeated by ‘mahagatbandhan’ which mocked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a joint press conference held by Congress-JDS leaders, Deve Gowda said, “Modi mocks the idea of mahagatbandhan but they themselves are running coalition governments in many states. We will answer BJP by winning this election.”

Deve Gowda said that Congress-JDS have resolved differences and are fighting this election together. “There’s no confusion.

The seasoned politician is still undecided about his Lok Sabha constituency. He said, “It’s not yet decided from where I’ll contest, even I’m deliberating the same. The decision will be announced soon enough.”

 HD Devegowda said Siddaramaiah has already said everything. In the election, we are all together. We had a long meeting, and we have come to a decision that we are together this time.

 He also said that nomination has started. We hardly have any time. So, we speeding things up. Rahul Gandhi and I will hold a rally on 31st March. But, we won’t wait till 31st March. We have already started work.

He further said this election, even before putting our nomination papers, we need to clear the exisiting issues. These things are not a big deal. We can resolve it.

HD Devegowda said from now on, we are together on everything. Be it any Karyakartas or any leader, belonging to either parties, they should not speak or say anything that would affect the coalition dharma.

 We have be there for each other till this elections get other. Our primary agenda is to tackle BJP. We can resolve our smaller issues even after elections. Issues in Mysore and Mandya will be solved.

HD Devegowda said on 31st March, No matter how busy he is, he will surely join us on that day for the rally. We have spoken to KC Venugopal as well. He is a national leader. He is the one leading everybody. We might have some issues. Modi mocks the idea of mahaghatbandhan. But, they themselves are running coalition government in many states. We will answer BJP by winning this elections. JDS and Congress are one and the same in this elections. Under the guidance of Sonia Gandhi, we are with Congress in this elections. The upcoming rally in Karnataka, will set an example for everybody. Today, Siddaramaiah and  I  sitting next to each other. We are all together in this fight.

And why is it hard to believe that Siddaramaiah and we are together. We will rally together and we will win elections together.

 Siddaramaiah said last night and this morning, we discussed extensively on how to go about the Lok Sabha elections. But, this is not something new. We knew we were together as soon as we formed a coalition government in the state. We decided that we have to face BJP together long time ago. Our focus is to keep BJP at bay in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and win as many seats as possible. Even in the by-elections, we fought together and won the elections in Bellary, Jamkhandi and Ramanagara. We lost only in Shivamogga.

He said  Yeddyurappa had won by a huge margin in the last elections. But, in the by-elections we did give them a good fight. Now, in this Lok Sabha Elections, we want to defeat BJP completely. BJP claimed that they will make Karnataka Congress free. But, this is not possible. Any party that is for secularism and for people’s movement will continue to exist in Karnataka. We are sure that people will support our party which is people’s party. We have already decided the seat sharing. In another two days, candidate list will also be out.

Our only aim is to defeat BJP. Our aim is to save the ethos of this nation. We are for the constitution and are party which upholds the principles of democracy. I am sure that the decision taken by the our party high command and JDS is the right one. It is imperative to defeat the BJP. We are together in this fight. We will hold rallies together. Rahul Gandhi and Devegowda will share the stage soon. There will be one rally on 31st of March in the Mysore Bengaluru region.

 On the evening of 31st March, we will have a historic rally. We will begin our fight with this rally. We are all together in this fight. We are here to win all 28 seats. All Karyakartas will work towards this.

 nomination have started from today  the very purpose of coalition set up was to give good governance and clear message for the country was enshrined. the campaign process of this current election will be joint programme. this is the time to build confidence of the party workers and message to people so as get all those 28 seats we have taken up the challenge. first round of talks and second round today was also discussed in length There is minor issues will be resolved

HD Kumaraswamy said  nominations have begun. After, the last assembly elections, we decided to come together to form the government. But, the main agenda was to ensure that we are together in Lok Sabha elections as well. Our coordination committee chairman and I have spoken at length about this. Leaders of the both the party will be fighting and winning all 28 seats here in Karnataka. Yesterday, HD Devegowda, DK Shivakumar and Dinesh Gundu Rao have discussed all these matters extensively. There are some issues in some constituencies. The joint press conference was attended by KPCC President Mr Dinesh Gundu Rao Working President Mr Eshwar Khandre and Cabinet  Minister D K Shivakumar

Panaji, March 19 (Nasheman News) Newly appointed Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant took charge on Tuesday morning, after paying a courtesy visit to the family of his predecessor late Manohar Parrikar.

BJP sources said the floor test to prove the majority of the Sawant headed BJP-led coalition government is likely to be conducted on Wednesday. 

Before reaching the Chief Minister’s Office at the state Secretariat, Sawant (45), who was sworn in as Chief Minister at Raj Bhavan at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday, visited Parrikar’s residence and met his sons Utpal and Abhijaat. 

“Parrikar’s sons Utpal and Abhijaat are my friends. It is my duty to visit them after I become CM. I have not gone to office yet,” Sawant told reporters outside Parrikar’s residence. 

“Parrikar has been my political ideal and guru. He has been a fatherly figure for me. I became MLA, Speaker and CM because of him. It is my courtesy visit,” Sawant said.

Sawant also said the 11 cabinet ministers will soon be allocated their portfolios. 

Meanwhile, BJP sources said the crucial floor test to prove the majority of the BJP-led dispensation will be held on Wednesday. 

“Our BJP MLA and Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo will be the Protem Speaker who will conduct the proceedings of the floor test,” a party leader said requesting anonymity. 

Gurugram, March 19 (Nasheman News) As the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) celebrated its 80th Raising Day on Tuesday, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval said the Modi government is capable of carrying out “retaliatory strikes” against any act of terrorism.

“Terrorism should be dealt with utmost priority. The current government is capable of dealing with any kind of internal and external threats. We have decision-making ability for retaliatory strike according to suitable time and place,” said Doval.

Doval was the chief guest at the Raising Day celebration held at the CRPF camp in Kadarpur village, Gurugram. 

He paid homage to the CRPF personnel who died in the suicide bombing in Pulwama in the Kashmir Valley that claimed 40 lives. 

“Over the years, CRPF has performed exceptionally well in maintaining internal security. The force is specialised in combating terrorism and Naxalism.”

Speaking on the occasion, CRPF Director General Rajeev Bhatnagar said that the force had performed in difficult situations and had eliminated 200 militants across the country.

“The process of equipping the force with modern arms, ammunition and gadgets is underway. We are giving every possible combat equipment available in the country. Besides, we are also simplifying recruitment process for youths,” he said.

“The force is strong enough to deal with counter-insurgency. We are also going to make a cell for family welfare for martyrs,” Bhatnagar added.