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BJP slams Tharoor for remarks on Modi’s ‘outlandish headgear’

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Congress leader Shashi Tharoor came under attack from the BJP for his remarks that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wore “outlandish” and “hilarious” Naga headgears during his trips but refused to wear a Muslim skull cap.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded an apology from the Congress party for insulting the people of Northeast and tribals, apart from seeking an explanation from Tharoor.

“Congress party and Shashi Tharoor ji please explain what’s the English meaning of outlandish and hilarious headgear? You can’t get away after insulting the tribal and Northeast people,” tweeted Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju.

“I demand an apology from the Congress party for insulting the people of India’s Northeast and tribals. Shashi Tharoor described Northeast people and Naga tribal headgears as funny looking outlandish and hilarious,” he added.

Another Minister and BJP leader Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said: “Shashi Tharoor insults the proud cultural heritage of the people of Northeast.

“This condescension and arrogance towards the people of India have become a hallmark of @INCIndia,” he added.

Addressing a seminar, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said: “Why does our Prime Minister, who wears all sorts of outlandish headgears wherever he goes around the country and around the world, but always refuses to wear a Muslim skull cap?

“You see him in hilarious Naga headgears and feathers. You see him in various kinds of extraordinary outfits, which is a right thing for a Prime Minister to do. Indira Gandhi has also been photographed wearing various kinds of costumes. But why he still always says no to one?”

“Why does he refuse to wear green, the colour that he says is identified with Muslim appeasement? What kind of talk it is?” Tharoor said.

Tharoor had kicked up a row recently with his “Hindu Pakistan” remarks.

17 lakh Maharashtra government employees begin 3-day strike

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Around 17 lakh Maharashtra government employees launched a three-day strike on Tuesday over pending demands including implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission Report with departments like education and medical severely hit.

The state government on Monday night directed all employees to report for duty on Tuesday and warned of strict disciplinary action against those who failed to comply under MESMA (Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act) and salary cuts.

It also announced the payment of pending Dearness Allowance (DA) for 14 months to 150,000 gazetted officers, who accordingly withdrew from the three-day agitation.

An official of the Maharashtra State Employees Organisation (MSEO) said that all employees right up to taluka levels have joined the agitation.

The MSEO has accused the state government of sitting on its demands including the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission Report, effective from January 1, 2016.

However, later it dilly-dallied saying that it was awaiting the report of the K.P. Bakshi Committee in the matter as implementing the Commission would entail an additional burden of a staggering Rs 21,000-crore on the debt-hit state.

Other major demands include implementation of a five-day week in all government offices, increasing the retirement age from 58 to 60 and filling up urgently over 200,000 vacancies in the state.

The MSEO, Maharashtra State Class IV Employees Association and other affiliated associations served a notice to strike to the General Administration Department on July 16, but there was no response.

The unions have said that they will not settle for “mere assurances” but only direct action from the government since the strike was deferred several times in the past few years on such promises.

Tuesday’s action has hit normal work in all government offices including the headquarters, Mantralaya in Mumbai, collectorates, tehsils, and talukas, besides educational, medical and other government institutions.

Transport shutdown affects normal life in Kerala

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Starting Tuesday midnight private buses, auto rickshaws, taxis, freight vehicles, state-owned KSRTC buses — all have gone off Kerala roads in solidarity with a day-long strike organized by the All India Motor Transport Organisation.

Even all workshops and spare parts shops have remained closed, turning it into a total shutdown.

With this 24-hour strike, the transport body is demanding the withdrawal of the proposed Motor Vehicle (MV) Amendment Bill.

Barring the Bhartiya Janata Party-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), all the other trade unions are taking part in the protest.

Private vehicles, though, have continued to ply across the state, as usual, leading to thin attendances in offices.

Students’ attendance at almost all educational intuitions was practically nil, even though it was not an official holiday. Even teachers’ attendances were also very low.

Given the situation, there was a huge rush reported on the Kochi Metro.

Although shops and establishments were open in several districts in major markets due to non-arrival of lorries ferrying consumables, they wore a deserted look.

People arriving at railways stations had a tough time. The police officers on duty tried their best to ensure transport for patients in need of emergencies.

Minor skirmishes were reported from a few places between protesters and drivers of taxis and auto-rickshaws who tried plying their vehicles despite the shutdown-call.

The proposed Motor Vehicle (MV) Amendment Bill, has been passed by the Lok Sabha, and is now awaiting the Rajya Sabha’s nod.

The protesters are also demanding reduction in insurance premium, besides the frequent price hike of petroleum products.

YSR Congress to vote against NDA in RS Deputy Chair election

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The YSR Congress party on Tuesday decided to vote against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate in the upcoming Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman’s election.

Party leader and Rajya Sabha member V. Vijaysai Reddy announced that the party will vote against Janta Dal-United (JD-U) MP Harivansh Narayan Singh, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA’s candidate.

The YSR Congress, the main opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, has two members in the upper House of Parliament.

Five Lok Sabha members of the YSR Congress have resigned to protest the Centre’s refusal to accord special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

The party had earlier backed NDA candidates in the presidential and vice presidential elections.

In Kashmir’s hate-and-violence narrative, a silver lining of goodwill and amity

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a retired school headmaster continues to live in his ancestral home in north Kashmir’s Manigam village. The turmoil of the 1990s saw most members of his minority Kashmiri Pandit community leave the village, but Rajnath stayed back in the village he was born in, with his wife and daughter.

Rajnath, a Hindu, has tremendous faith in the goodwill of his Muslim neighbors, most of whose present generation in the village have been his students. Local Muslims helped Rajnath’s daughter get a teacher’s job in a private school. They have been the biggest support not only for Rajnath but also for over 3,000 Kashmiri Pandits who continue to live among their Muslim neighbors in the Valley — much against the established narrative that all Pandits had fled because of persecution in the Muslim-dominated region.

Only two months back, local Muslims not only carried the body of an elderly local Pandit to the cremation ground in Srinagar city, but also ensured that all Hindu rites for the departed were performed in accordance with the customs of the family. Womenfolk in the neighborhood mourned the death like one of their own. Muslim neighbors arranged food and other requirements for the bereaved family since no Pandit household cooks food during the mourning period.

Rajnath is sad for those fellow local Pandits who left their homes and lands behind while migrating out of the Valley during the turbulent 1990s. He also harbours a strong grouse against the government.

While his daughter teaches at a private school, the wages are too meager to support her family. She has a four-year-old daughter and a husband working as a wireless operator in the police telecommunication wing. She has a masters degree in sociology and for five years she has been running from pillar to post for a government job, but to no avail.

“Her husband has now started pressing my daughter to seek a job outside the Valley and, if that happens, I and my wife would be left behind,” the father said with moist eyes.

“While ordering relief packages and employment offers to the migrant Pandits for their return to the Valley, the government has completely ignored those members of our community who chose to stay back,” he said.

Unfortunately, the story of traditional amity and brotherhood between different communities in the Valley are lost in the negative narratives of violence and hatred that Kashmir has faced in the last three decades.

An ancient temple site in Sumbal area of Bandipora district was last year cleaned and spruced up for Pandit pilgrims by local Muslims. The holiest Hindu temple shrine of Mata Kheer Bhawani in Tulamulla village of north Kashmir’s Ganderbal district continues to receive thousands of devotee Pandit pilgrims each year on the annual festival. The festival is held towards the end of the spring season.

Despite migration, thousands of Kashmiri Pandits continue to come to pray at the Mata’s shrine in Tulamulla and the centuries-old tradition of local Muslims bearing earthen pots filled with milk to receive the pilgrims has not been affected by the winds of violence sweeping the Valley.

One of the holiest places for immersion of ashes for the local Pandits is the Gangabal lake situated at the foothills of the Harmukh peak in the Kashmir Himalayas. After remaining suspended for some years, Kashmiri Pandits have resumed the tradition in the last four years.

Local Muslims have historically worked as guides and load carriers for the Pandit families during the uphill trek to this mountain lake. Even today, local Muslims continue to discharge this duty for the Pandit devotees visiting the lake.

“I have never felt any difference in the warmth and affection the local Muslims have shown towards our family since my childhood when I visited the Kheer Bhawani temple with my parents.

“After my family migrated to Jammu. I have been visiting the temple shrine each year since 1990. Local Muslims have the same warmth and affection when I visit the shrine now as a middle-aged devotee,” Ashok Koul, 56, a bank employee, told IANS.

While attacks by misguided militants get front-page coverage in newspapers and as breaking news on TV, the aspect of Kashmir showing the communal harmony and brotherhood among ordinary Muslims and Hindu Pandits gets scant attention. Good news, alas, doesn’t make news anymore for the sensation-seeking media of today.

From Delhi’s cocktail circuit to Odisha’s longest serving CM, a balanced telling of Naveen Patnaik’s journey

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By Chinmaya Dehury (18:06)
Title: Naveen Patnaik; Author: Ruben Banerjee; Publishers: Juggernaut; Pages: 226; Price: Rs 469

How did a man, spending his early days on Delhi’s cocktail circuit, defy stereotypes to script an enviable success story that has few parallels in the history of modern Indian politics? What led Naveen Patnaik, who had nothing to do with politics for the first fifty years of his life, become one of India’s most enigmatic politicians?

And, how did Patnaik, who remains the most inaccessible Chief Minister in the history of Odisha, rule the state for four consecutive terms and remained undisputed leader even without knowing the mother tongue of the masses? The answers to these and many other questions are unveiled by veteran journalist Ruben Banerjee in his biography of the Odisha Chief Minister.

Having first become the chief minister by virtue of being his father’s son, Naveen Patnaik made a smooth transition to a cunning and consummate politician for becoming the longest serving Chief Minister of Odisha.

The author, who had access to Naveen Patnaik during his early days in politics, has unveiled a mine of information unknown to the world at large in the book.

Since Patnaik is considered a mysterious and unpredictable man for his omissions and commissions, the book, without a doubt, is a fascinating and interesting read for anyone interested in Odisha politics or in just the person who is Naveen Patnaik.

The book also dispels the popular belief that it is Patnaik, not someone else, who calls the shots in the government and the party as well. It, however, does mention about the over dependency of the chief minister on bureaucrats rather than on ministers to run the administration.

Patnaik, the book charts, entered into politics in 1997, founded the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and become the party president, a post that he still holds. He became the Chief Minister of Odisha for the first time in 2000 with the help of alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), riding on the sympathy following the demise of his legendary father and former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik and the public’s anger over complete mismanagement by Congress government of relief measures post the 1999 Super Cyclone that had devastated the state.

The author has articulated at his best that how Naveen Patnaik, once a political novice, ruthlessly eliminated every possibility of an opposition consolidating his position as the undisputed leader in the party and the state.

A case in point is the ouster of Bijoy Mohapatra, once a powerful minister in the Biju Patnaik cabinet and chairman of Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of BJD.

Mohapatra had chosen most of the candidates and they were all his men in 2000 elections.
But when he was chairing the PAC meeting in Bhubaneswar, Patnaik, being the president of the party, cancelled Mohapatra’s nomination as the candidate from Patkura and chose another as the party candidate just barely few hours before the completion of nomination process leaving no room to Mohapatra to enter the Assembly.

Patnaik, rather suave yet cunning, has also ensured that Mohapatra did not enter the assembly even till today. As the author rightly pointed out “Naveen the politician had shown the ability to outsmart the smartest of them”.

After he became Chief Minister in 2000, he continued to eliminate his possible challenges within the party starting from Dilip Ray, a businessman-politician, to Nalinikanta Mohanty, then BJD’s working president and second only to Naveen in the party hierarchy.

The book also highlights the protégée-mentor relationship between Naveen Patnaik and Pyari Mohapatra and how Mohapatra had staged an abortive coup on May 29, 2012, when Naveen was in UK.

Even though the author has elaborated on the abortive coup, a few answers remain elusive — including was it really a coup or just a media creation?

The author elaborately describes on how the TINA factor helped him to rule the state for so long and how he remained the darling of the masses, bucking the anti-incumbency factor.
”
“Members of one group, in particular, vouch vociferously for the chief minis’er’s integrity. These are an overwhelming majority of Odi’ha’s 200 lakh women, the chief minis’er’s trusted vote bank. Naveen is a bachelor, but his emotional bonding with the st’te’s womenfolk is remarkab”e,” the book says.

The book also highlights how Patnaik has mastered the art of shifting the blame on someone else to remain Mr. Clean despite the fact that some of the biggest scams –mining, chit funds — in the history of the state took place during his watch. ”

“The key to Na’een’s success is that even though he has indulged in political machinations and subterfuge, he has largely come out of them without blemish, skillfully sidestepping scrutiny and deflecting criticism. He is still viewed by many as innocent and incapable of the vileness of an ordinary politician. And when something goes horribly wrong somewhere in the state, there is always someone else who shoulders the blame, sparing Naveen any taint. That he is single, soft-spoken and always deferential has helped in nurturing Na’een’s im”ge,” the book says.

By rough estimates, Patnaik has so far shown the door to some 46 of his ministers on one pretext or the other, it said.

The book also mentions the possible challenge for Patnaik in the 2019 polls with the rise of BJP and union minister Dharmendra Pradhan. As the author points o”t, “The battle for 2019 promises to be a test of guile, image and stam”na.”

The book is a required read for those who want a balanced telling of the Chief Mini’ter’s journey so far. Also, for those interested in the political journey of Odisha, including the rule of Biju Patnaik and J.B. Patnaik, the book is a great repository.

Opposition parties to meet over Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman election

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Opposition parties will meet here on Monday evening to discuss the name of a joint opposition candidate for election to the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman’s post on August 9.

Sources said the opposition parties are expected to short list candidates at the meeting, which will be held in the chamber of Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad.

They would then get back to their leaders about the outcome of the meeting.

Another meeting is expected to take place on Tuesday to decide the candidate.

The election is likely to be a tight affair even as the opposition bloc has an edge over the BJP-led NDA in terms of numbers. The outcome will depend on the stance of parties such as BJD, AIADMK, Telangana Rashtra Samiti and YSRCP–which could ally with the government in certain situations.

Opposition sources said that there were 35 “fence sitters” and the outcome will depend on their stance.

The two large parties in the upper house — BJP and Congress — are unlikely to put up a candidate.

The parties which would support an opposition nominee include the Congress (50), TMC (14), SP (13), TDP (6), CPI-M (5), CPI (2), DMK (4), NCP (4), AAP (3), BSP (4), RJD (5), PDP (2), JD-S (1), Nominated (1), Kerala Congress-Mani (1) and IUML (1).

Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu had on Monday announced that the new Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman will be elected on August 9.

The post of the Deputy Chairman fell vacant after P.J. Kurien retired in July.

The election will be held a day before the conclusion of the monsoon session of Parliament.

Molestation complainant not our student: NSD

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The National School of Drama here on Sunday clarified that a young woman who complained of molestation by a guest lecturer was never its student.

The 25-year-old woman, in her complaint on August 1, alleged that she was inappropriately touched by a 62-year-old retired Professor at a workshop.

“The applicant was never a student of National School of Drama, as has appeared in a section of print and electronic media. She was an applicant for the selection process for admission to the three-year diploma course in dramatic arts,” an NSD statement said.

It said that an internal committee set up to probe is yet to submit its final report for further action.

Govt delayed SC-ST bill on atrocities: Kharge

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The Congress on Monday accused the government of having brought the bill to restore the stringent provisions of the Scheduled Castes-Scheduled Tribes law after a lot of delays and that it did so now fearing a loss in elections.

“It has taken a lot of time to bring the legislation forward. I welcome the Bill and support it,” Leader of the party Mallikarjun Kharge said in the Lok Sabha while initiating a discussion on the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2018.

He said the Supreme Court judgment in March had diluted the original Act, which Dalits around the country understood as “injustice”.

In the March judgment, the Supreme Court had struck down the provision that ensured the automatic arrest of a person charged with atrocities under the SC-ST law and also made it clear that any arrest of a government servant should be cleared by the competent authority and a civilian by an officer of the deputy superintendent of police.

“Protests took place across the country. People went to the jail and a lot of properties were damaged,” the Congress leader from Karnataka said.

He said the restoration of the provisions of the original law could have been done through an ordinance earlier.

“The Bill was nullified by the Supreme Court in March this year. And in the last four months, six ordinances were brought by the government. The government brought the ordinance to help the corporate companies first but did not bring the ordinance to stop injustice to over 24 percent of the population of the country. They could have brought the seventh ordinance also,” he said.

“The government thought that if we don’t bring this Bill now then we shall have to face its heat in the election,” he alleged.

Kharge said that even the dalit MPs of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had brought pressure on the government.

“Why didn’t you bring this Bill earlier? The Congress protested against the SC order on March 27, 2018 before the Gandhi statue in Parliament. If the answers were given four months ago, then this injustice to Dalits would not have happened,” he said.

Kharge said cases registered against the dalits who were part of the agitation on April 2 and 3 should be withdrawn and the protesters who were still in jail should be immediately released, he said.

He also said that the SC-ST law must be included in the ninth schedule of the Constitution.

Kharge also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that though he spoke about Kabir Das, from inside he believes in Manusmriti.

“The Prime Minister speaks about Kabir Das, (Dr B.R.) Ambedkar. He remembers Basavanna in Karnataka but inside you believe in Manu,” Kharge alleged.

Quoting Ambedkar, Kharge said, “I want all people to be Indians first, Indians last and nothing but Indians. And it was Congress who supported Ambedkar and his cause.”

Targeting right wing forces over attacks on dalits across the country, he said amidst objections from BJP members, “On the one hand you want to unite Hindus but on the other hand you are ill-treating the dalits. A person cannot have moustache, cannot ride a horse. He will be flogged, won’t be allowed to use public well…”

“You won’t understand till you were born in my caste,” he countered.

Pointing to the rise in the attacks against SC and ST people, Kharge said, according to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), atrocities against Dalit are recorded every 15 minutes. “Eleven Dalits are killed every week and six Dalit women are sexually abused every day,” he said.

He also said that in the last four years there has been a rise of 35-40 per cent in atrocities against Dalits.

Slamming Union Road Transport and Shipping Minister over his reported remarks ‘where are jobs’, Kharge said, “No jobs? As many as 24 lakh government jobs are lying vacant.”

Kharge was referring to the Gadkari’s statement on Sunday that reservation will not guarantee employment as jobs are shrinking.

“About 10.10 lakh vacancies are there for elementary school teachers, 4.5 lakh vacancies for police, 2.4 lakh vacancies in railways, 64,000 vacancies in armed forces, 65,000 vacancies in para military forces, etc.”

“If Gadkariji asks from where the government should bring employment, then the government should fill the 24 lakh vacancies in the government jobs,” he said.

H Vishwanath Replaces HDK As JD(S) State Prez

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JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda on Sunday relieved his son and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy from the post of party’s state unit chief, replacing him with adaguru H Vishwanath, who belongs to the backward Kuruba community.

The decision to appoint H Vishwanath is seen as an apparent move to widen the social base of JDS, which is considered a party of Vokkaligas.

Kuruba is the third numerically stronger community in the state after Lingayats and Vokkaligas.

Speculations were rife for the last fortnight that the party leadership was mulling relieving HD Kumaraswamy, heading the JDS-Congress coalition government in the state, from the dual responsibility, and H Vishwanath was the first choice.

“I will take along senior party leaders, office-bearers, and workers… and live up to the expectations of the party leadership,” H Vishwanath told reporters here after his appointment.

H Vishwanath, a former Congress leader, had joined the JDS ahead of the assembly elections in May last.

A former MP and three-time MLA, H Vishwanath is considered a master strategist.

Replying to a query he said he would draw up a strategy for the local urban body elections and next general elections in consultation with HD Devegowda, Kumaraswamy and other seniors.

He also emphasised on strengthening the party base in North Karnataka as there have been allegations that the JDS is restricted to a few districts including Ramanagar, Mandya, Mysuru and Hassan.

H Vishwanath, a close friend of former chief minister Siddaramaiah, was instrumental in bringing him to Congress.

Later, his relations with Siddaramaiah soured after a public spar and he quit Congress to join JDS.

Asked whether he was appointed to take on Siddaramaiah, he said it was meaningless because Siddaramaiah himself grew in JDS and nobody could think of anything adverse about him.

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