Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today asked his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar to take “stringent action” against those threatening actress Deepika Padukone who is being targeted by fringe groups for her lead role in “Padmavati”.

Coming out in support of the actress, the state government said security would be provided to the actress whenever she is in Bengaluru and her family, who hail from Karnataka, in the wake of threats issued to her by several outfits which allege the period film distorted history and hurt sentiments of their community.

Deepika is the daughter of badminton icon Prakash Padukone, who lives in Bengaluru.

Other crew members, including director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Deepika’s co-star Ranveer Singh, are also facing threats by fringe outfits who claim the film wrongly portrayed the legendary 13th-century queen of Chittor Padmavati who is revered by them.

“Padmavati” stars Deepika Padukone in the titular role. Shahid Kapoor essays the role of Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh plays Alauddin Khilji.

Siddaramaiah’s reaction came following a reported threat by the Haryana BJP media cell in charge, Suraj Pal Amu announcing a bounty of Rs 10 crore on the actress.

The reported threat came after a fringe group Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha (ABKM) announced a reward of Rs one crore for those “burning Padukone alive.”

Retweeting Karnataka energy minister D K Shivakumar’s tweet, Siddaramaiah commented, “I condemn the culture of intolerance & hate perpetuated by @BJP4India. Karnataka stands with @deepikapadukone.”

“She is a globally renowned artist from our state. I call upon the CM of Haryana @mlkhattar to take strict action against those holding out threats against her,” he said.

Shivakumar tweeted, “It is condemnable that a BJP office bearer is placing a bounty of Rs 10 crore on @deepikapadukone, who is from our state & the daughter of one of India’s most respected sportsman.”

“Is this BJP’s culture & the way they show respect towards women? Immediate action should be taken.”

He said he will write to the chief minister to offer protection to Padukone.

He demanded that the BJP apologise and make sure that intimidation doesn’t happen. The minister appealed to all Indians, especially women and artistes, to speak for upholding freedom granted by the Constitution.

Karnataka Home minister Ramalinga Reddy told PTI the state will provide security to the actress and her family in the wake of the threats.

“Whenever Deepika is here in Karnataka, we will ensure that she gets adequate security. We will also provide security cover for her family staying here,” Reddy said.

The makers of ‘Padmavati’ have denied the charge that it distorts history and deferred its release from the slated December 1.

They have said the film was a cinematic masterpiece capturing “Rajput valour, dignity and tradition in all its glory.”

(PTI)

New Delhi: The Congress Working Committee on Monday approved the road map for what looks like an unopposed elevation of its Vice President, Rahul Gandhi, as party President, barring an unexpected contest, enabling the passing of the mantle from his mother, who was at the helm for 19 years.

It would be clear on December 11 whether there would be a contest for the top party post. The last date for filing nominations has been set as December 4, and scrutiny will be done on December 5, Mullapally Ramachandran, Chairman of the Central Election Authority said after a CWC meeting that cleared the schedule.

The last date for withdrawing nominations is December 11 and the date of poll, “if necessary”, would be December 16. Counting of votes will be done on December 19.

In finalising the poll schedule, the top policy making body of the Congress has kept the option open for Rahul Gandhi’s elevation–either before or after the outcome of the Assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh that will be out on Decembe 18.

Asked about whether Sonia has appealed to party leaders to actively participate in the the poll process because on earlier occasions whoever had chosen to contest had his career finished, chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said the Congress has had a history of contests.

“Congress is the only party which protects democracy in the country and within the party. This has been going on since Mahatma Gandhi’s time. Even Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had fought against a candidate fielded by Gandhiji. But their affection for each other had never come down.”

Party sources pointed out that two senior leaders Jitendra Prasada and Rajesh Pilot had contested against Sonia Gandhi and Sitaram Kesri respectively. But the party still gave them respect and positions, he said adding their sons were ministers in Manmohan Singh’s government.

47-year-old Rahul Gandhi’s elevation will come more than three years after Congress was battered in the 2014 elections when it sunk to an all time low of 44 seats in the Lok Sabha. Ever since it has been struggling to revive itself and by and large it has tasted defeat in the successive Assembly barring in Punjab earlier this year and along with JD(U) and RJD in Bihar in 2015. The JDU-RJD-Congress alliance has since come apart after JD(U) broke ranks and tied up with BJP once again to continue in power.

Sonia, who is all set to hand over the baton to her son, has been keeping indifferent health in the last few years and has not been actively participating in party affairs as well as in the current round of election campaign.

The longest-serving President, Sonia became President in 1998. She had taken the primary membership in 1997.

In the face of poll debacles after 2014, Rahul has been seeking to revive the party organisation and workers’ morale. He has been very critical of the Modi government on its economic polices, especially demonetisation and the “hasty” implementation of the GST. In recent weeks, a debate has begun over his “new avatar” marked by a rise in popularity and his followings on social media.

Rahul Gandhi, an MP from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, was named General Secretary of the Congress in charge of the youth and student organisations of the Party in 2007. In January 2013, he assumed office as Vice President of the party.

(IANS)

Gandhinagar/New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday announced its first list of 70 candidates for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections, giving tickets to six of the defecting Congress MLAs.

Staying ahead of the opposition party in the announcement, the saffron party list shows that it has repeated most of the sitting MLAs in their constituencies.

The noteworthy fact about the list is that six of the 14 Congress MLAs who had defected to the saffron party in August have been given tickets to contest from their constituencies.

It remains to be seen how the opposition Congress party reacts to it and how it challenges it before the Election Commission of India (ECI) and in the judiciary regarding the anti-defection law.

In the list, the saffron party has mostly repeated its sitting MLAs – contrary to what was speculated. It was speculated, and as the duo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah have been known for, that many of the sitting MLAs will be denied tickets.

Chief Minister Vjay Rupani has been nominated to contest from his traditional Rajkot West constituency, while Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel will contest from Mehsana, his traditional constituency, and state BJP chief Jitubhai Vaghani will contest from Bhavnagar West.

Earlier, Jitu Vaghani had refused to contest the election.

Surprisingly and contrary to speculation, both the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) members, Varun Patel and Reshma Patel, have not been included in the first list of candidates.

Two BJP MLAs, Vadhwan constituency’s Varshaben Doshi, and BJP MLA from Dhari constituency, Nalin Kotadia, have been dropped. Instead, Dhanjibhai Patel is to contest from Vadhwan and Dileep Sanghani will be contesting from Dhari.

On Thursday afternoon, BJP national president Amit Shah had summoned the party leaders at the state headquarters for a meeting, which continued till late night. The meeting was attended by state BJP president Vaghani, Deputy Chief Minister Patel, state Home Minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja and leader Bhikhubhai Dalsania.

On Friday morning, the BJP chief held a meeting with Prime Minister Modi and other senior leaders of the party in Delhi as well as Gujarat senior leaders, before announcing the list.

The state goes to polls in December, where the first phase for 89 seats will be held on the 9th and for the remaining 93 seats it will be held on the 14th. The results will be announced along with that of Himachal Pradesh on December 18.

(IANS)