NAGAMANGALA (MANDYA): Throwing away all netagiri, former AICC president Rahul Gandhi has hit the road with one concept: Talk less, listen more. During the course of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul is mixing with people, giving a patient hearing to those who want to talk about problems, and humbly requesting them to suggest solutions too.

During an interaction with this correspondent over a 3-km long walk, he reversed the question-answer session, seeking details on a variety of issues and challenges facing different segments of society, especially farmers. The Congress icon has been interacting with people to know their grievances, besides the region’s core social and political problems.

As the yatra passed through the sugar bowl of Mandya, Rahul Gandhi got some in-depth knowledge on the agrarian realities. When he sought to know why farmers had not taken up agriculture activities, they told him they were helpless as many who had grown horticulture crops like tomato, brinjal, beans and others crops, had suffered from a crash in prices. With their pockets empty, and little support from banks, they couldn’t invest in their farms again.

When told that farmers were happy with the loan waiver implemented by the Siddaramaiah government, a jovial Rahul said he was the force behind the waiver and other welfare programmes, but the people were not aware of it. He was curious to know about the family and agricultural background of this correspondent, besides agro economics.

Rahul said the BJP is making all attempts to weaken the Constitution and change it, and that he wanted to wake up the people and sensitise them to the dangers of this exercise. “People should now decide and play a role on how the Constitution needs to be protected,” he said.

He threw back questions on the success of the BJP and its religious politics, and Dalits looking to the saffron party for positions. He questioned why a section of educated Dalits was turning to the saffron party, when the BJP is trying to take away their rights.

Expressing huge respect for former President K Narayanan, he said, “I have met him, he is incomparable, and always ensured that he followed the Constitution.” Rahul, who was curious about social ills and evils prevailing in modern times, felt a social boycott has great impact on children, and that belief in the Constitution and mutual respect can bring about positive change.

Having been on the yatra for weeks now, Rahul said right from Kanyakumari, through Kerala and Karnataka, he has perceived a “large river of people flowing”, and there is only faith, no hatred or anger in this river. Quoting Basavanna, he said that the social reformer had taught people not to hate anybody, treat others as you would treat yourself and also listen to them.

“These are the lessons I have imbibed in this yatra, while the present-day ideology of the government has divided the country,” he said. “The DNA and essence of this country is that we should not hate anybody, and treat others equally.”

MUMBAI: Police have arrested the main accused involved in the Rs 12 crore cash theft from ICICI Bank in Thane’s Manpada area from Pune after more than two-and-a-half months, an official said on Wednesday.

The police have also recovered around Rs nine crore from the prime accused, identified as Altaf Shaikh, 43, he said.

With Shaikh’s arrest on Monday, the police have so far arrested five accused in the case, including his sister Neelofer. The theft had taken place on July 12.

“Shaikh, a resident of Mumbra, had been working with ICICI Bank as a custodian. As the custodian, he was the caretaker of the bank’s locker keys. He spent a year planning the heist, studying the loopholes in the system, and gathering tools to pull it off,” the official of Manpada police station said.

During the probe, police found that Shaikh planned the entire heist by enlarging the AC duct to pass the cash to the garbage chute and tampering with the CCTV footage, he added.

“After deactivating the alarm system and sabotaging the CCTV, Shaikh had opened the bank vault and transferred the cash to the duct and below to the chute.

The incident came to light after the bank realised that the security money was missing, as were the DVR of CCTVs, which prompted its personnel to call the inspection team,” the official said.

After the incident, Shaikh went absconding. He would change his looks and use burqa to hide his identity. Shaikh’s sister Neelofer, who was aware of his movement, hid some cash in her home.

She has been booked as co-accused in the case and arrested, police said. Shaikh was finally arrested from Pune on Monday.

The police managed to recover around Rs nine crore, out of Rs 12.20 crore stolen from the bank, and the remaining amount would be recovered soon, he said. Shaikh was nabbed in a joint operation by Thane and Navi Mumbai police.

Earlier, the police had arrested Neelofer and three others – Abrar Qureshi (33), Ahmed Khan (33) and Anuj Giri (30). More persons are likely to be arrested in the case and further investigation is underway, the official said.

KALABURAGI: Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said on Wednesday that he is confident of winning the election to the post of AICC president. Speaking to reporters before leaving for Mysuru where he will join Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party leader Rahul Gandhi in the party’s ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra, Kharge said many state PCC unit leaders and senior party leaders were present when he filed his nomination papers which is an indication that there is overwhelming support for his candidature.

Kharge also ruled out the possibility of his return to state politics as a chief ministerial candidate by saying, “I am a sincere worker of Congress, which made me a Union minister twice and also the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Now, as many leaders are backing me for the post of AICC president, what more can I expect”, he said. He also declined to comment on rumours that his supporters were urging his rival for the Congress chief’s post, Shashi Tharoor, to withdraw his papers.

‘Will focus on collective leadership’

Kharge said, if elected to the top post, he will focus on making the collective leadership of the party strong. He said his first priority would be to strengthen the Congress party for the Legislative assembly elections next year and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

He added that efforts will be made to implement the ‘Udaipur Declaration’ of the party. On unifying opposition parties, the senior leader said that after the elections, a meeting of all senior leaders of the Congress party will be convened to discuss alliances.

He said he shares a good rapport with leaders of many political parties which would help in forging alliances with other parties, for the survival of democracy and for the defeat of communal forces in the country.

MYSURU: At a time when religious animosity and hatred is causing concern across the nation, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi devoted considerable time on Day 4 of Bharat Jodo Yatra to reach out to religious heads to send a message of social harmony.

Starting the Monday padayatra from Hardinge Circle, Rahul Gandhi, party workers, members of civil society, morning walkers and cultural troupes added to the Dasara festive mood. Various folk teams joined in the padayatra and gave an enthralling performance on the wide roads of Mysuru, so the march resembled a mini Dasara.

Enroute, Rahul met JSS seer Shivaratri Deshikendra Swami, interacted with moulvis near Masjid-e-Azam, the Mysuru Bishop and members of the Jain community. Gandhi heard out representatives from Iskcon, youngsters and women who lined up with Bharat Jodo flags to send out a message that they are for communal amity and secularism.

After grabbing people’s attention with his public speech in a heavy downpour in Mysuru on Sunday, Rahul opened the day listening to people and thanked them for apprising him about many issues. “Without harmony, there is no progress,” he stressed, when he met heads of various religions and visited places of worship.

During the 22-km yatra on Monday, Rahul reached out to farmers, and even tasted sugarcane harvested in the fields near Pandavapura. He also received a letter presented by the public, and as students and children turned up, he made them walk along with him, enthralling the crowd.

Rahul got many gifts, among them were photographs of his parents, and his pencil sketch done by an artist in Kollegal village. Dalit women in Haralahalli in Pandavapura taluk performed arti with a lamp made of jaggery, and put a tilak on his forehead. He obliged a young girl who sought his autograph, and signed on her hand.

Addressing a street corner meeting, Rahul called on people to rise against corruption, unemployment, price rise, and division of the people for political gains. Thanking people for joining him during his nationwide Bharat Jodo Yatra, he said the response has given him greater vigour to take up the fight against evil and the government. Terming Karnataka the most corrupt state in the country, he said corruption has not spared even labourers, contractors, farmers and industrialists, and wanted people to reject such a government.

New Delhi: Congress on Monday took a dig at the RSS voicing concern over inequality, unemployment and poverty and credited it to the impact of the Bharat Jodo Yatra spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi.

“Look at the impact of Bharat Jodo Yatra. Even those who break the country and spread poison in the society are raising the issues of poverty, unemployment and inequality,” AICC General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.

He was referring to the remarks of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale at a seminar on the need to address the challenges posed by poverty, income inequality and unemployment in the country.

However, Hosabale had blamed the “faulty’ economic policies of the earlier governments for the “ills” in the economy.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh also said that the impact of the yatra was visible on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Hosabale.

“What was the impact of Bharat Jodo Yatra under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi? Ramdev started praising the Nehru-Gandhi family, Mohan Bhagwat started visiting masjid and madrassas.

“‘RSS General Secretary Dattatraya Hosabale ji started worrying about the increasing poverty in the country, the growing gap between the rich and the poor and unemployment,” Singh said on Twitter.

Last month, Bhagwat, along with senior Sangh functionaries, met Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, the chief of All India Imam Organisation, at a mosque here, taking forward his outreach to the Muslim community.

Singh said not even a month has passed since the launch of the yatra and the BJP and Sangh Parivar have already started worrying about poverty, unemployment and inflation in the country.

The senior Congress leader also wondered why Hosabale does not raise these issues with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Dattatreya ji, understand this it is due to the policies of Modi ji the wealth of 100 big families of the country is increasing and the income of the poor and middle-class families of the country is decreasing,” Singh said.

Congress functionary Pawan Khera also took a dig at Hosabale’s remarks on poverty, unemployment and inflation at a seminar organised by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch.

“I have heard that the clouds of worry have started gathering over Nagpur. Now even Hosabale ji has started seeing the unemployed,” said Khera, the Chairman of AICC’s Media and Publicity Department.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka on Monday claimed that Siddaramaiah-led Congress government withdrew cases that were filed against 1,600 PFI workers while in power, and even released a poster titled “PFI Bhagya” with the former Chief Minister’s picture on it.

The Minister released also some documents to support his claims that the previous Congress government had withdrawn cases against the PFI workers.

“PFI Bhagya” on the poster is a pun on various welfare schemes launched by Siddaramaiah government during his tenure, as most of them had the word bhagya (welfare) in their name.

“When the BJP was in power in July 2009, 175 cases were filed against 1,600 PFI and KFD (Karnataka Forum for Dignity) workers for rioting in Shivamogga and Mysuru,” Ashoka said.

Noting that in December 2012 Congress MLA Tanveer Sait wrote to the government seeking withdrawal of cases claiming that the accused were innocent, he said in 2015, the Siddaramaiah government ordered withdrawal of the 175 cases despite the opinions of the Director General of Police and Law Secretary against it.

Ashoka stated that the PFI workers were trained in Kodagu, Mysuru, and Mangaluru on how to slit somebody’s throat while riding a bike and how to cause riots like they did at K G Halli and D J Halli in Bengaluru.

There were even reports that retired police officers from Kerala trained them on how to kill without attracting legal action, he said.

He even demanded an apology from Congress leaders, including Siddaramiah, for having committed the mistake by withdrawing cases against the PFI.

BENGALURU: Ahead of the Congress party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra’s entry into poll-bound Karnataka, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided several properties belonging to KPCC chief D K Shivakumar and asked his family members to provide property papers and other documents.ADVERTISEMENThttps://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.534.0_en.html#goog_1059686184https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.534.0_en.html#goog_1059686185https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.534.0_en.html#goog_1059686186https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.534.0_en.html#goog_1059686187https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.534.0_en.html#goog_1059686188Ads by 

The agency carried out the search and seizure operations at the Congress leader’s properties in Doddalahalli, Kanakapura and Santekodihalli. Confirming the raids, Shivakumar said, “CBI teams have visited my houses in Doddalahalli, Kanakapura and Santekodihalli. I had already given details of my property papers. Disproportionate assets cases have been filed against others too, including those in the BJP. But the CBI is being used only against me, whereas cases against others are being handled by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).’’ 

Raid done to disrupt Yatra, says Siddu

KPCC president DK Shivakumar added, “I had sought time from CBI and explained that I am busy with elections and other party programmes. I had written a letter to officers here as well as in Delhi. I do not know why they are doing it at this time. They seem to be in a great hurry. It is mentally tormenting for me. I am from a village. I cannot magically create property papers. Whatever I possess, I have earned over the years, details of which I have already given to the Election Commission, ED and I-T department”. Reacting to the raids, senior Congress leader and former CM Siddaramaiah said, “This is done to disrupt the Bharat Jodo Yatra. It is politically motivated.’’

Janata Dal (S) leader and former CM H D Kumaraswamy said, “There is so much corruption in the state government and still there is no action being taken. All measures are directed against only those who are in the Opposition.’’

Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha and party general secretary, in-charge of Karnataka, Dr Syed Nasir Hussain told TNIE, “Modi government has brought in ED, IT, CBI, and election departments of the BJP to target Shivakumar. This is a knee-jerk reaction to the overwhelming public support the Congress is receiving for its Bharat Jodo Yatra.

It may be recalled that Congress leaders had protested when Shivakumar was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) about a fortnight ago.

BENGALURU/KALABURAGI: BJP National General Secretary in charge of Karnataka Arun Singh on Wednesday claimed that the Congress is imploding, even as former AICC president Rahul Gandhi is taking out the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.ADVERTISEMENTAds by 

“Everyone knows what happened to Congress in Punjab, Goa and now in Rajasthan. Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot are fighting in Rajasthan. The party will face a similar situation in Karnataka because of the tussle between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar,” the BJP leader said in Bengaluru.

Singh slammed Congress for its ‘PayCM’ campaign and asked its leaders to apologise to the people of Karnataka. Dismissing Congress’ demand for a judicial probe into the ‘40 per cent commission’ allegation made by the contractors’ association, he said Congress is making baseless allegations against the government as they do not have any other issue to discuss.

“Congress is a leaderless party without any vision and that is why it is wiped out of the country. In Karnataka too, it will be erased after the 2023 Assembly polls and BJP will return to power,” he said.

BJP slams Congress’ scams

“The ‘PayCM’ campaign and pasting posters of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is an insult to the common man of the state and Congress leaders should apologise,” he added.Later in Kalaburgi, he said Congress has no moral right to speak about corruption as a number of scams, including irregularities in foodgrain distribution and teacher recruitments, have taken place when Siddaramaiah was the chief minister.

On dissenting voices within BJP, he said there might be differences of opinion but no dissent in the party. BJP will improve its position in the Kalyana-Karnataka region in the Assembly elections, he asserted.

BENGALURU:  The ruling BJP unanimously welcomed the decision to ban the Popular Front of India across the country, while opposition parties were more circumspect, saying, “All those whipping up communal hate should be banned.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said there is no place for disruptive activities in the country when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are at the helm. “Most of the important leaders of PFI were trained across the border and were operating from there. PFI was involved in many disruptive activities for many years and their actions across states have been proved. All the states and leaders from Congress, CPI and CPI(M) had requested the Centre to ban the anti-national organisation. No one should be in touch with banned or associated organisations,’’ he warned.

Opposition leader Siddaramaiah said, “If the government takes action against any organisation that acts against the law and disturbs peace in society, we will not oppose it. Similar action should also be taken against RSS and other organisations. The government should ban any organisation that disturbs peace and harmony and indulges in politics of hate.’’

JDS senior leader HD Kumaraswamy said, “I urge the government to place all documents against PFI before the people on how it is encouraging riots. Strict action should be taken if any organisation indulges in anti-social activities. Facts related to NIA raids should be placed before the people. It cannot be said that complete peace will prevail as soon as PFI is banned. The government should take everyone into confidence and promote harmony.’’

Congress and Dalit leader Dr HC Mahadevappa said, “Banning PFI is a welcome move. Any organisation, like the RSS, SDPI, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Parishad, that creates communal hatred should be banned.’’  Home Minister Araga Jnanendra and BJP state president Nalin Kateel took to social media to welcome the ban.

BJP National General Secretary CT Ravi said, “Now it is the turn of society to ban them. I welcome the ban on PFI and its affiliates for supporting ISIS-type terrorists, civil war and sedition within the country. We should be careful and not form subversive and divisive organisations within society. No political party should indulge in politics around the ban for appeasement and immediate political gains. Then the task of freeing society from the hands of these evil forces will be hampered.”

He told the parties, “Politically, you have benefited as far as the future of the country is concerned. Patriotic Muslims should think and create awareness against anti-nationalism and bigotry to protect the security of the country and dignity of society. After the ban, there is a possibility of evil elements belonging to PFI operating underground, inciting society and participating in anti-national activities. If any such incidents come to their notice, I appeal to them to immediately inform the police and join hands with law enforcement agencies to avoid any further problems.”

Power and Kannada Culture Minister V Sunil Kumar said that those who funded and supported PFI will be investigated in the coming days. “The ban on PFI is welcome. I congratulate Modi and Shah for taking a tough decision,” he added.

SHIVAMOGGA: The police custody of the two arrested terror suspects, with alleged links with banned terrorist organisation ISIS, has been extended by five days till September 30.  The custody of the two accused, Maaz and Syed Yasin, was to end on Monday (September 26), and was extended by the 3rd JMFC court here on Monday.  Shivamogga Rural police took the two to McGann Hospital for medical check up before producing them before the court.

Shivamogga SP Lakshmiprasad said the extension of the custody will help the police in its probe. “We will also be questioning those known to the accused and have been serving notices to them”, he said. When asked about the prime accused Shariq, Lakshmiprasad said, “We have no concrete information about him, but are looking for clues,” he said. The SP clarified that no operations have been conducted nor any arrests made in Koppal.