Leaders from across the political spectrum, including President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his predecessor Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, on Thursday remembered and paid homage to the victims of the 2001 Parliament attack.

They gathered in Parliament to pay floral tributes to the nine victims — six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel and a gardener, who lost their lives on the day.

“India gratefully remembers those martyred while defending Parliament from terrorists on this day in 2001. 

“Forces of hate and terror targeted what we cherish most — India’s democracy and democratic values. They did not succeed. And we will never let them succeed,” the President tweeted.

Saluting their valour, Modi said “their heroism inspires every Indian”.

On December 13, 2001, five terrorists infiltrated the Parliament House precincts and opened fire with automatic weapons. All five terrorists were killed in the counter-attack by security personnel.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, BJP President Amit Shah, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, CPI National Secretary D.Raja and members from various parties and states paid their tributes.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh also remembered the martyrs for “exemplary courage and supreme sacrifice”. “The nation will always remain indebted to their bravery and martyrdom,” he tweeted.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Harsh Vardhan, Hardeep Singh Puri also took to Twitter to salute their courage.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted: “Let us cherish the ‘idea of India’ for which our freedom fighters laid down their lives. Our people and our great institutions must strive to remain ‘independent’, in the true sense of the word.”

IANS

 AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi has predicted that the regional parties will take the Indian politics by storm, providing an alternative to both Congress and BJP.

Owaisi believes Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao has the capability, political thinking, courage and secular outlook to provide such an alternative.

The Hyderabad MP was addressing a public meeting late on Wednesday night organised by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) to thank people for electing seven candidates of the party in the just-concluded Telangana Assembly elections.

Owaisi thanked all leading Muslim socio-religious organisations which supported MIM and TRS in the elections. The meeting continued till past midnight.

The MP said he would stand by the TRS chief in his efforts to play an important role in the national politics.

Owaisi said a Ping-Pong game between Congress and BJP was not good for the country, its secularism, federalism and diversity. “This is not in the interest of country’s minorities, Dalits and all secular-minded Hindu brethren,” he added.

He believes that the third force in the form of regional parties would enhance the bargaining power of the poor and the oppressed people.

Owaisi appealed to people to ensure that not a single Lok Sabha seat in Telangana is won by BJP and Congress in the next year’s elections.

Voicing his concern over falling polling percentage in Hyderabad, Owaisi appealed to people to make sure that everyone exercised his franchise even if the elections were to be held during holy month of Ramadan.

Referring to Congress party’s victory in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Assembly elections, the AIMIM leader said it was a victory by default. Pointing out that BJP got nearly half of the seats in both the states, he said this was not enough to stop BJP from winning considerable number of Lok Sabha seats.

The MP said the AIMIM declared support to TRS as no communal riot occurred in Telangana during last four-and-half years and unlike states in the north, there was not a single incident of mob lynching or reign of terror in the state. He said the government took various initiatives for the educational upliftment of Muslims.

Owaisi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and others came to Hyderabad and attacked AIMIM as they wanted to break the unity of Muslims.

Akbaruddin Owaisi, one of the seven AIMIM legislators re-elected to Assembly, urged people to strength AIMIM, which is the voice of the poor and the oppressed.

IANS

 Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Wednesday said the proposed Federal Front will extend across the country ‘Rythu Bandhu’, an investment support scheme for farmers currently being implemented in Telangana.

A day after announcing that a consortium of regional parties would soon take shape at the national level, Rao told reporters that he would like to replicate across the country what he has achieved in Telangana.

On the eve of taking oath as the Chief Minister for a second consecutive term, KCR said he had done the calculations about the funds required for implementation of ‘Rythu Bandhu’ across the country.

“It requires Rs.3.5 lakh crore. We will spend it,” said KCR, who has taken the initiative to build a non-BJP, non-Congress alternative.

Under ‘Rythu Bandhu’ launched in April, the Telangana government is providing financial assistance of Rs 4,000 to every farmer per acre per crop. Every year, a farmer gets Rs 8,000 per acre.

About 57 lakh farmers in the state have benefited from the scheme. The TRS has now promised to increase this assistance to Rs 5,000 per acre per crop.

The TRS chief said the proposed Front would place before nation an alternate economic model and a new agriculture model. He believes the proposed model would give freedom to the country from recurring droughts, end farmer suicides and transform agriculture through full utilization of 70,000 TMC of water.

He reiterated that his idea of alternative politics was not bringing some parties and leaders together.

“We will directly approach the people of this country with a roadmap, which will be released shortly,” he said, adding that he was taking ideas from farmers groups, NGOs and activists.

KCR also said that he will share his idea with parties and leaders. “Some may come, some may not come.”

The TRS leader alleged that both the Congress and BJP had failed the country due to political opportunism and cheap politics.

He said both the parties wanted to keep unlimited powers with them. “As far as centralization of powers is concerned, both the parties are one and the same.”

Stressing the need for devolution of powers to the states, he said the Centre should immediately transfer five subjects.

“There is no need to keep agriculture, rural development, urban development, health and education with them. What Delhi has to do with a primary school or a primary health centre in a remote part of a state?” he asked.

Defending his support for demonetisation, KCR said it was a good programme but Prime Minister Narendra Modi stopped it midway. “The intention was good behind it but halfway it was stopped.”

IANS

Jaipur  Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and state Congress chief Sachin Pilot reached New Delhi on Thursday to meet party President Rahul Gandhi, who will finalise the name of the new Chief Minister.

With Gehlot and Pilot strong contenders for the post, Gandhi would take the final call, Congress leaders said.

Congress observer K.C. Venugopal and state-in-charge Avinash Pandey were here on Wednesday to attend a Congress Legislature Party meeting of the newly-elected MLAs, who were to give their views on their choice of Chief Minister. 

The meeting continued for around eight hours but no consensus could be reached.

Eventually, it was decided that Gandhi would take the final call.

(IANS)

NTwo newly elected MPs V S Ugrappa and L R Shivarame Gowda took oath as members of the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

While Ugrappa was elected from Karnataka’s Bellary, Gowda was elected from Mandya parliamentary constituency in the state. Ugrappa is a Congress member while Gowda is a JD(S) member.

Both members took oath in their mother tongue, Kannada.

Soon after the oath taking of the two MPs, the House paid tributes to 11 former members who passed away recently.

The departed leaders include N D Tiwari, Madan Lal Khurana, C K Jaffer Sharief and Gurudas Kamat.

PTI