A day before the counting of votes in Telangana, the Congress-led People’s Front on Monday urged the Governor to treat it as a single entity and invite it to form the government in case it gets the maximum number of seats.

A delegation of leaders of the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) called on Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and submitted a memorandum urging him not to invite the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to form the government even if it gets more seats than the Congress party in the event of the results throwing up a hung Assembly.

Congress party’s Telangana unit President Uttam Kumar Reddy told reporters after meeting the Governor that they requested him to treat the People’s Front as a single entity.

He said the four parties entered into an alliance before the elections and contested the polls with a common minimum programme. The parties also submitted the relevant records to the Governor.

Reddy said they brought to Narasimhan’s notice that the Supreme Court in its judgements on various occasions had observed that a pre-poll alliance should be treated as a single entity.

The Congress leader said they made the representation as a precautionary measure in view of the attempts by some parties to form a post-poll alliance.

The People’s Front leaders said they also urged the Governor to ensure that after the results were announced the newly-elected legislators get adequate security.

Congress sources said they called on the Governor in view of the recent experiences in Goa and Karnataka, where the governors invited the single largest party to form the government.

The delegation included the TDP’s Telangana unit chief L. Ramna, TJS President M. Kodandaram and Congress Working President Mohammad Azharuddin.

IANS

RLSP leader Upendra Kushwaha on Monday quit the BJP-led NDA and the Modi government, charging Prime Minister Narendra Modi with betraying Bihar and with pursuing an “opaque style of functioning and non-democratic leadership style”.

Kushwaha, who is the second BJP ally to quit the Modi government after the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), said in his resignation to Modi that the Union Cabinet “has been reduced to a mere rubber stamp”.

“Constitutional offices are being undermined and virtually every institution in the government has been subjected to political appropriation,” he said in the letter, echoing the charges increasingly made by the opposition.

“Ministers and officers posted in ministries have become figureheads as virtually all decisions are taken by you, your office and BJP President (which is anti-Constitutional).”

The Rashtriya Lok Samata Party leader said the government was pursuing “the agenda of RSS” which he said was “anti-Constitutional and neglecting and subverting the agenda of social justice enshrined in the Constitution for which we supported the NDA”.

Kushwaha has been at loggerheads with both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) for some time. As meetings he had sought with Modi and BJP President Amit Shah did not materialize, he came for praise from RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.

“Having served in your Council of Ministers for the last 55 months, I stand dejected and betrayed by your leadership,” he said in the letter sent to Modi.

“There has been a fundamental conflict in what you have promised to the people before elections and what you have actually delivered after coming to power.”

“The promise of providing a special package (to Bihar) has been the biggest ‘jumla’,” he said in the resignation letter.

“The fact of the matter is that under your leadership grave and unprecedented injustice has been committed upon the people of Bihar, I say with a sense of deep regret and sorrow.”

He told the media that the government had been working to the agenda of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and that many with RSS background had been made Vice Chancellors across the country.

Asked if he would join an opposition alliance or merge his party with Sharad Yadav’s Loktantrik Janata Dal or work for a third alternative in Bihar, he said: “All options are open for us. We would be taking a call in the coming days.”

IANS

 A Tamil Nadu Minister on Monday told the Karnataka government that a discussion on the Mekedatu dam project was not possible as the matter was sub-judice.

C.V. Shanmugam, Minister for Law, Courts and Prisons, in a letter urged the Karnataka government not to proceed with the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Mekedatu, violating the Supreme Court order.

The letter was addressed to D.K. Shivakumar, Karnataka’s Minister for Water Resources and Medical Education.

Shanmugam was responding to a letter by Shivakumar sent on December 6 seeking an appointment with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami to discuss the project.

“The request of the Karnataka government to discuss about the project with Tamil Nadu is an attempt to impede the proceedings pending on the application filed on November 30 by Tamil Nadu and also the Contempt Proceedings initiated against you and others in the Supreme Court on December 5 and the matter has now become sub-judice,” Shanmugam said.

The Minister said that the Karnataka government should not take up any construction activities in the Cauvery Basin without prior consent from Tamil Nadu.

“Any construction or even preparation of a Detailed Project Report for construction of any new reservoir/project is a clear violation of the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court dated 16.2.2018.”

According to Shanmugam, the Karnataka government in violation of the February 16 apex court judgement has obtained permission from the Central Water Commission to go ahead with the preparation of a DPR for the Mekedatu project, without informing and getting the concurrence of Tamil Nadu or of any other co-basin state.

Shanmugam said the Karnataka government has not informed the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), which is an authority established for the implementation of the decision of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal as modified by the Supreme Court.

IANS

Karnataka Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar Sunday sought an opportunity to explain the benefits of the proposed Mekedatu project on the Cauvery river in his state to the AIADMK-led Tamil Nadu government and the opposition DMK while asserting that it was aimed at helping the farmers of Tamil Nadu.

The ruling AIADMK and the opposition parties have opposed the Centre’s nod for preparing a detailed project report (DPR) on the proposed balancing reservoir-cum-drinking water project at Mekedatu in Karnataka, claiming that it would affect the rights of the lower riparian state.

In a specially convened session, the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Union government to withdraw its approval for the DPR, while the upper riparian state, Karnataka, asserted that the project was its “right”.

“Tamil Nadu and Karnataka could not use the Cauvery water this year… In order to prevent that, we are constructing a reservoir to help the farmers of Tamil Nadu,” he said.

About the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Shivakumar said, “Already a Supreme Court judgement has come and we don’t have any option other than to adhere to it.”

Claiming that both the ruling AIADMK and the opposition DMK knew the project would benefit Tamil Nadu, the Karnataka minister said, “They might have internal problems… I do not want to accuse the government or opposition parties. We request everyone to come to the site.

PTI

 Launching a public campaign ‘#iCan19′ here on Sunday, Swaraj India President Yogendra Yadav appealed to the people of the country to join the platform to make intervention in the electoral politics.

In an open letter, he asked people for political intervention in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, so as to decide issues on which elections should be fought.

The initiative, also called Indian Citizens’ Action for Nation, 2019, will select the country’s main issues, find their solutions and form nation-wide public opinion, and in some selected seats campaign for candidates who will be the carriers of these issues, said a press release.

“If this election is fought on the issues of farmers and youth, then no matter who comes to power, the nation will move forward. But if the elections are fought by creating rift between Hindus and Muslims, then whoever wins, the nation will lose. And we will not let India lose,” Yadav said in the release.

“Swaraj India neither intends to control the #iCan19 campaign nor plans to use it for its candidates,” said Yadav, who was the main architect of bringing over 200 farm outfits under one banner that held a mega protest rally in Delhi last week.

He said his party was not formed just to contest elections and win seats.

“We are here to do a new form of politics. People generally do politics in the name of serving nation; we shall serve the nation in the name of politics,” he said.

IANS

 Renowned historian Mushirul Hasan, a former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, died on Monday. He was 71.

Hasan, who was also a former Director General of the National Archives of India, wrote extensively on the 1947 partition of India.

He served as Pro Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia between 1992 and 1996 and headed the institution between 2004 and 2009.

Hasan’s ‘Namaz-e-Janaza’ was performed at Babul Ilm and Jamia Mosque. The burial will take place at the Jamia graveyard.

Condoling his death, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said his work would continue to shape the nation’s consciousness.

“A historian, a teacher, a Vice Chancellor, an archivist: Mushirul Hasan blended all fine qualities of our syncretic culture and scholarship. His work and his books continue to shape our consciousness. Condolences to Zoya Hasan (wife) and others in his family,” he tweeted.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote on Twitter: “Shocked to know about the sad demise of noted scholar and writer Mushirul Hasanji. His contribution to Jamia Millia Islamia will always be remembered.”

IANS

 Public Relations Officer (PRO) in the Prime Minister’s Office Jagdish Thakkar died here on Monday due to prolonged illness. He was 72.

He was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in September and passed away on Monday around 5 a.m., a hospital official said.

After his death, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to the AIIMS where he spent some time with Thakkar’s family.

Expressing sadness on his death, Modi said he was known for his simplicity and warm-hearted nature.

“Extremely saddened by the demise of Shri Jagdish Thakkar, the PRO in the PMO. Jagdishbhai was a veteran journalist and I had the pleasure of working with him for years, both in Gujarat and in Delhi. He was known for his simplicity and warm-hearted nature,” he said in a tweet.

“Several journalists would have regularly interacted with Jagdishbhai over the years. He had previously served with many Chief Ministers of Gujarat. We have lost a wonderful person, who loved his work and did it with utmost diligence. Condolences to his family and well wishers,” Modi added.

IANS

 The largest tea body of Assam on Sunday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who often refer to himself as a “chaiwala”, for not being considerate towards the state’s tea garden workers’ plight and urged him to implement the promised minimum wage of Rs 350 before the new year starts.

The Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) General Secretary Rupesh Gowala said while Modi often refers to himself as a “chaiwala”, he is yet make good on his promises towards a million tea garden labourers in the state in the last four years.

“Before the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, Modi addressed several rallies in Assam and assured that the tea garden labourers would be paid a minimum wage of Rs 350 per day,” Gowala said.

“If this happens, the 10,00,000 tea garden labourers will lose Rs 30 each day for two months. Is it a “chaiwala” Prime Minister who is doing this to his own community?” said Gowala.

The tea garden workers in Brahmaputra Valley in Assam are presently drawing Rs 167 per day while the tea garden workers in Barak Valley are getting Rs 145 per day.

“The existing wage agreement between the Assam government and the ACMS and other tea workers bodies expired on December 31, 2017.

“The government had announced an interim hike of Rs 30 per day. The tea garden labourers are supposed to get this interim hike from January 1, 2018, but the government is saying the hike will apply from March 1, 2018.

“This would make them lose Rs 30 per day for two months,” he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Assam is yet to fix that minimum wage, Gowala said, urging Modi to announce the promised Rs 350 per day minimum wage before 2019.

Gowala said the condition of all those tea gardens run by the Assam government was far worse.

“While the labourers in company-owned garden are receiving a wage of Rs. 167 per day now, the 26,000 workers under the 14 gardens of state-owned Assam Tea Company Limited (ATCL) are receiving a wage of Rs 115 only per day,” he said.

Assam has over 800 medium and large size tea gardens that produces over 50 per cent of the country’s total tea produce.

The tea labourers of Assam live in the most deplorable conditions without some of the basic amenities, Gowala said.

IANS

A day after the Congress accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of misusing investigating agencies, the BJP hit back saying the Congress was threatening probe officers and that there will be action against the corrupt, irrespective of which powerful family they belonged to.

Addressing a press conference here, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shahnawaz Hussain said the Congress was questioning the credibility of investigating agencies and threatening their officers because action was being taken against Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law Robert Vadra.

His remarks come after the Congress stepped up its attack on the Modi government over the searches at the premises of people linked to Vadra. It alleged that actions by investigative agencies were being carried out on opposition leaders at the behest of the Prime Minister.

“Our agencies do not see how powerful a person is or which powerful family he belongs to. People from powerful families used to think there won’t be action against them no matter what they do. But based on evidence, the action has happened and will continue to happen,” Hussain said.

“Since there has been action against Robert Vadra and his company, the Congress leaders are now raising questions and threatening investigative agencies and their officers saying ‘desh ka mausam badal raha hai’ (the wind is changing).

“They should know that the wind is not changing but the nation is changing. Now there is no place in this nation for the corrupt. If anyone indulges in corruption, there will be action against them,” he said.

Hussain said the Congress party had no argument left and was making allegations against the BJP government to hide its failures.

He said the Congress would never come back to power.

“They can’t even wait for the (December 11) results and are already threatening officers. We will win Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan. We worked at the ground level and are confident of forming the government with clear majority.”

Asked if the government would pass an ordinance to build the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, he said the larger ‘janbhavana’ (public sentiment) was that it should be built at the earliest.

“And governments respect the public sentiment… We believe it should not be delayed and that in a democracy, the country should respect the public sentiment,” Hussain said.

IANS