Archives for July 2022

He also hit out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde accusing him of trying to break the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party at a time when the state was struggling to come to terms with floods.

NEW DELHI: Faced by a rebellion in its ranks, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said the party was ready for a fight over the symbol and control of the organisation.

Interacting with the media here, Raut also claimed that the BJP was trying to break Maharashtra into three pieces, and making a dent in the Shiv Sena ranks was part of the saffron party’s conspiracy.

He also hit out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde accusing him of trying to break the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party at a time when the state was struggling to come to terms with massive floods in some parts.

“We are ready for any fight, be it for the symbol or the party organisation. A few MPs and MLAs may be leaving us. But MLAs and MPs alone do not make up the Shiv Sena,” Raut said, adding Shiv Sainiks will make it difficult for the rebels to win any election in the future.

He reminded the breakaway faction of the assistance given to them by the party supremo Uddhav Thackeray politically, socially and financially over the years.

Raut also took a swipe at Shinde saying he had to make visits to Delhi as he was a “BJP chief minister”.

“I never recall Shiv Sena chief ministers Manohar Joshi or Narayan Rane making rounds of the national capital for cabinet expansion and other issues,” he said.

Shiv Sena parliamentary party is staring at a split in its ranks with a breakaway faction set to approach Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with a plea to recognise them as a separate group with Rahul Shewale as their leader.

RAIPUR:  Chhattisgarh minister T S Singhdeo who resigned as panchayat and rural development minister has sought an appointment from the Congress high command apparently “to share his viewpoints” as he left for Delhi on Monday.

He will also meet senior Congress leaders in the national capital before proceeding on July 21 to the poll-bound Gujarat where he has been appointed as senior party observer by AICC, said the sources close to him.

His letter addressed to the chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday citing the reasons behind leaving the panchayat department has led to turmoil within the Congress party in the state.

Several party MLAs including the ministers expressing displeasure over the Singhdeo’s move are seeking action against him for making public the contents of his letter, which according to them carry expressions no different than the language of the opposition.

“Perhaps I couldn’t prove to be an effective panchayat minister to fulfill the goal as set down in the poll manifesto,” he said in Raipur.

Singh Deo, locked in a power tussle with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, has given up the charge of the panchayat and rural development department citing reasons like non-allotment of funds by the CM for the construction of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

However, he still holds health and family welfare, medical education, 20-point implementation and commercial tax (GST) portfolios.

Asked about reports that a few Congress MLAs have demanded action against him, the health minister sought to know how making a point amounts to “indiscipline”.

“A Union minister came here (apparently referring to the visit of Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh to the state) and commented on MNREGA (rural jobs scheme) as well as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

“I took the responsibility for it (alleged tardy pace of implementation of schemes) and resigned from the department. How is it an act of indiscipline? I am in frequent talks with everyone in the government and have made all the things public,”” said Singh Deo while talking to PTI.

“I have defended the (state) government and taken the responsibility for works not being done in my department (Panchayat and Rural Development),” he said.

Giriraj Singh, who was in Chhattisgarh last week, had criticized the Congress government for the way it has been implementing central welfare schemes.

After the latest political development in the state, which goes polls in late 2023, Singh Deo has sought time from the party’s central leadership.

“I will be visiting Ahmedabad via Delhi. Time has been sought to meet the high command and if there is a meeting, then there will be a conversation about the current events,” the Congress leader said.

Singh Deo has been appointed an observer by the party for the Gujarat assembly polls slated by the year-end.

““I have learnt that the issue of my resignation was brought up in the meeting of the Congress Legislative Party on Sunday and a few MLAs demanded action in this regard. I also came to know that Punia Ji (the party’s state in charge P L Punia) listened to the MLAs and said he will convey their sentiments to the people concerned,”” said Singh Deo.

The Congress minister did not attend the CLP meeting.

Talking to reporters on Sunday, Chief Minister Baghel had said he was yet to receive Singh Deo’s resignation from the panchayat and rural development department and that he learnt about the latter’s move through the media.

Responding to this, Singh Deo said the resignation letter was sent on Saturday and when he was hold that the CM’s office was closed, he emailed the missive.

“Before my resignation, I had a talk with the chief minister and informed him about everything,” he said.

The minister said he met Baghel in the state assembly on Monday but there was no discussion on the resignation issue.

In his resignation letter to the chief minister, Singh Deo had claimed not a single house was built for homeless people under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as funds were not allotted despite “repeated request”.

In the four-page resignation letter, Singh Deo cited various reasons, saying he was unable to fulfil the department’s targets as per the vision of the Jan Ghoshna Patra (poll manifesto), given the “current scenario”.

As soon as the House assembled at 11 am, opposition members belonging to the Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK and others came to the well of the House carrying placards against the imposition of the GST on some new items.

They raised slogans against the Modi government over the issue of price rise.

The placards read “Gabbar Singh Strikes Again”.

The opposition has been describing the GST as Gabbar Singh Tax, referring to the Bollywood blockbuster Sholay’s villain Gabbar Singh, who used to illegally collect taxes from the villagers in the film.

Speaker Om Birla appealed to the opposition members to go to their seats and said carrying of placards inside the House is against rules.

He said since the House is discussing farmers’ issue, the members should participate in it.

“”You carry rules book but don’t follow rules. The rules prohibit carrying placards here but you are carrying them. You raise farmers issue outside the House but not inside. “You raise the issue of price rise outside the House but not inside. In the last session, you did not participate in the debate on price rise. This is not good,”” Birla said.

As the opposition members did not pay any heed to the Speaker’s appeal, he adjourned the House till 2 pm after about 15 minutes of proceedings.

A five per cent GST has kicked in on pre-packaged and labelled food items such as cereals, pulses and flour weighing less than 25 kg.

For a commodity measured in litres like curd and ‘lassi, the limit is 25 litres.

Rajya Sabha proceedings in the pre-lunch session on Tuesday were adjourned without transacting any business as opposition parties, including the Congress, pressed for an immediate discussion on issues ranging from price rise to the Agnipath scheme.

Members of the Congress, Left, and AAP insisted on a discussion on the issues, forcing adjournment of proceedings till 2 pm.

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu rejected notices given by Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders under rule 267 that calls for setting aside the business of the day to take up the issues listed by them.

“I am not admitting them,” Naidu said soon after the listed papers were laid on the table.

Opposition members insisted on a discussion on the issues.

“On price rise and other issues, we can have a discussion. On that I have no problem,” Naidu said indicating a willingness to take up a debate on the issue at a later date under a different rule.

But this did not pacify the opposition members who vociferously started raising the issue.

Naidu asked members to resume their places and ordered that nothing that they speak would go on record.

Soon after, he adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

The Congress on Tuesday held a protest over the issue of price rise in Parliament complex here, a day after the Goods and Services Tax on packaged food items such as milk and curd came into force.

Besides Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, some opposition MPs including Supriya Sule of the NCP, Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi party and Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena were present during the protest which was held in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament complex.

Raising slogans against the government, the Congress members demanded a rollback in prices of LPG.

They also held banners and placards which read that “high inflation, continuous price rise badly affecting common people”.

Congress MPs from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha participated in the protest.

They included leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

“The imposition of five per cent GST on curd, paneer and other commodities of daily use will hurt the common people. We will protest inside the House also,” Kharge said.

The Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said opposition members led by his party wanted a discussion on price rise and GST but the government did not allow and the speaker adjourned the House till 2 pm.

“We will raise the same when the House reconvenes. Why is the government afraid about holding the discussion,” he asked.

The protest came a day after GST on essential items including curd and paneer came into force.

The protest also came after the Rajya Sabha secretariat issued a circular saying no protest or demonstration will be allowed inside Parliament complex.

The opposition had protested against the issue of the circular, saying the voice of democracy is being throttled.

LUCKNOW: Two journalists of different Hindi language daily newspapers were allegedly shot at by two motorcycle-borne assailants in tribal district of Sonbhadra on Thursday night while they were sitting at a tea stall. The police claimed that both the scribes were out of danger and were undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

In a tweet shared by Sonbhadra police, the police officials informed that the two journalists Shyam Sunder Pandey, 38, and Vijay Shankar Pandey, 40, were targeted when they were sitting in front of a tea stall in Khaliyari market under Raipur police station area along with some friends at around 8:30 pm.

Shyam Sunder suffered bullet injury on his right hand while Vijay Shanker suffered an injury near the right eyebrow. Bullets brushed off causing minor injuries to both the journalists and doctors said that they were stable and out of danger, police said.

While talking to media persons, Shyam Sunder expressed ignorance about the assailants saying he was clueless as neither he nor Vijay Shanker had animosity with anyone.

However, Raipur police station SHO PP Srivastava said that per the eyewitness account, the assailants were covering their faces with a cloth and fled towards the Bihar border at some distance from the market.

He said three bullet shells were recovered from the crime scene. He said the police were further probing into the circumstances and motive behind the incidents. He said teams of police personnel were formed to trace the assailants.

The police complaint was lodged by Jatiya Sangrami Sena, Asom, in Sivsagar district on Friday, demanding unconditional apology from Moitra for relating the ‘Gogoi’ surname to sexual harassment in a tweet.

In the FIR, Pranab Chetia, President of the organisation’s Sivasagar unit, wrote: “It has been observed that her (Moitra’s) Twitter comment is deliberately replacing the word sexual harassment with the word Mr. Gogoi, which is a clear intention to defame and disregard an established ethnic community of Assam, and hence I urge the law of the land to protect the sanctity, integrity and respect of the Ahom community and bring Mohua Moitra to justice.”

The Trinamool Lok Sabha MP sparked a row when she posted on her Twitter handle: “My first of new Twitter series on replacements for unparliamentary words. Banned word – Sexual Harassment Replacement – Mr. Gogoi.”

Mahua was referring to the row erupted over the reported ‘banning’ of some words from use in the Parliament, though the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla categorically denied that any such change has been made

Moitra’s tweet irked many netizens in Assam as the surname Gogoi is very common within the Ahom community of the state.

National award-winning movie critic Utpal Borpujari openly criticised Moitra for her remarks and advised her to mention the name of the specific person whom she had in mind.

Later, in another tweet, the Trinamool MP wrote: “Just for those sanghis twisting tweet to say I targeted all Gogois, let me spell it out: Mister Ranjan Gogoi. Honourable MP, Rajya Sabha.”

NEW DELHI: The BJP took on the opposition, especially the Congress, over the issue of unparliamentary words on Thursday and said it is trying to create an issue where none exists.

Opposition parties have slammed the government, saying the new list of unparliamentary words is meant to gag the criticism of the Centre’s functioning.

Citing Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s remarks over the issue, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra said the speaker has presented the facts and cleared all illusions created by the opposition.

The speaker has clearly stated that no word has been banned and that certain words would be expunged on the basis of its context, he pointed out.

Hitting out at the opposition, Patra said several political parties, including Congress, are trying to mislead the country and creating an issue where none exists.

The opposition on Thursday went straight for the government’s jugular over the “gag order” on using certain words in Parliament, insisting indignantly every expression used by them to describe how the BJP was destroying India has now been declared unparliamentary.

The clamour forced Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to step in to soothe frayed tempers by making it clear no word has been banned from use in Parliament but will be expunged on a contextual basis.

Members are free to express their views while maintaining decorum of the House, he said.

The opposition was brimming with anger after a new booklet by the Lok Sabha Secretariat said on Wednesday the use of terms like ‘jumlajeevi’, ‘baal buddhi’, ‘Covid spreader’, ‘Snoopgate’ and even commonly used words like ‘ashamed’, ‘abused, ‘betrayed’, ‘corrupt’, ‘drama’, ‘hypocrisy’ and ‘incompetent’ will henceforth be considered unparliamentary in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi derisively termed the compilation the “New Dictionary for New India”.

“Words used in discussion and debates which correctly describe the PM’s handling of the government, now banned from being spoken.”

“Example of an unparliamentary sentence: ‘Jumlajeevi Tanashah shed Crocodile Tears when his lies and incompetence were exposed’,” he said.

An angry Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “All words used by the Opposition to describe the reality of Modi Sarkar now to be considered ‘unparliamentary’. What next Vishguru”.

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien showed even greater belligerence, declaring he will use those words and dared the government to act against him.

“Session begins in a few days. GAG ORDER ISSUED ON MPs.”

“Now, we will not be allowed to use these basic words while delivering a speech in #Parliament : Ashamed. Abused. Betrayed. Corrupt. Hypocrisy. Incompetent. I will use all these words. Suspend me. Fighting for democracy,” the TMC leader said.

As the political temperature soared, Speaker Om Birla hastened to address the issue.

“No word has been banned. Members are free to express their views. No one can snatch that right, but it should be as per decorum of Parliament,” Birla told reporters.

The Speaker rejected the criticism that the BJP-led government at the Centre was behind the selection of ‘unparliamentary’ words and asserted that legislatures are independent of any government and the executive cannot give instructions to Parliament.

“It is a routine practice continuing since 1954,” he said referring to the release of the booklet that lists words and expressions deemed unparliamentary.

The Speaker’s clarification, however, failed to cut ice with Congress.

“Clarification from @ombirlakota about ‘unparliamentary’ words doesn’t mean much. In all discussions, media seems to have overlooked that they can’t report on these comments in their dispatches. Also, print media will have to think twice before using these words in their articles,” Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet.

Birla said words chosen for expunging have been used by members of the ruling party as well as the opposition.

Several words and expressions, even those used commonly, get routinely expunged during legislative proceedings if a member protests and the presiding officer finds them inapt in a particular context.

Taking on those who have been criticising the booklet, Birla said they should have read the 1100-page dictionary comprising unparliamentary words.

Had they read it they would not have spread misconception.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat’s list of unparliamentary words also says some terms may not be deemed unparliamentary unless read in conjunction with the other expressions spoken during the parliamentary proceedings.

The booklet says any aspersions made against the Chair in both the houses, in any language, shall be considered unparliamentary and expunged from the records of Parliament.

Some officials also sought to smooth ruffled feathers, saying “it is not a suggestion or order”, as these terms have been already expunged by presiding officers of Parliament and state legislatures.

They said the words were considered unparliamentary even when the Congress-led UPA was in power.

Sources in Parliament said 62 new words have been added to the list during the last year and some of these may be under review.

Government sources said the list is not a new suggestion, but merely a compilation of words already expunged in the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha or state legislatures.

It also contains words considered unparliamentary in parliaments of the Commonwealth countries, they said.

“If certain words are found objectionable and not in consonance with decorum and dignity of Parliament, it is under the jurisdiction of the Chair of either houses to expunge those words,” a Lok Sabha source said.

Government sources pointed out the word ‘abused’ was considered unparliamentary in the House of Representatives of Australia, while ‘childishness’ was frowned upon in Qubec’s National Assembly.

They said the phrases ‘lollipops in the budget’ and ‘you have reached here telling a lie’ were expunged from the proceedings of the Punjab Assembly.

Even a word as harmless as ‘asatya’ (untruth) was expunged from the records of the Rajasthan assembly in 2021.