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BJP raking up Hindu terror issue to polarise country: Congress

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Ghulam Nabi Azad

New Delhi: The Congress Party on Saturday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allegations of coining the term ‘Hindu terrorism’, saying that Home Minister Rajnath Singh is quoting the ex-UPA home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s comment ‘out of context’ and also alleged that the BJP Government was polarising the nation in the name of religion.

“The comment of the then Home Minister is being quoted out of context. It is a deliberate attempt on the part of the government, it is the deliberate attempt on the part of the BJP, it is the deliberate attempt on the part of Home Minister, for various reasons- to divide the country, to take up the debate between two religions, to divert the attention of the people from its failure to effectively counter the threat of terrorism, to abuse and to use the parliamentary forum, to abuse and defame its opponents, particularly the Congress Party,” Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told the press conference.

“Congress Party has always been against terrorism, be it Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, north eastern states or the states sharing borders with our neighbours. We have seen our sitting Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi martyred to terrorism. We have seen the death of Ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the hands of terrorists. We have seen many leaders, MLAs, MPs, etc losing their lives to extremism and terrorism. But BJP does not need to lecture us,” he added.

The former Minister of Health and Family Welfare insisted, “I would like to say that since this BJP Government has come into power, there is so much polarization in the country, across the country. Even in Jammu and Kashmir, there might have threat of terrorist, there might have been terrorism, but there was never a polarization. The moment BJP became part of the coalition government, the polarization in a big way has hit Jammu and Kashmir.”

Earlier, hitting out the Congress, the Home Minister said the term ‘Hindu terrorism’ coined by the previous UPA government had weakened the fight against the scourge by diverting the direction of probe into the incidents of terrorism.

(ANI)

To shut you up, they call you ‘Anti-National’, ‘Anti-Hindu’: Rahul Gandhi

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Rahul Gandhi

Pune: Rahul Gandhi’s pep-talk to protesting students of the Film and Television Institute of India or FTII today segued into a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP.

“The nature of the discussion is – you agree with us then fine…if not, we will smash you. To shut people up they call you anti-national, anti-Hindu,” he told the students, who have been on strike for nearly two months over the appointment of TV actor Gajendra Singh as their chairman.

In the open session that was televised, the Congress vice president said that the FTII protest was a part of the “real fight,” which was for what the real idea of India is.

“Only the PM decides in the BJP, only one man has power. If the PM wants somebody, the BJP can’t remove them,” Mr Gandhi said.

Also referring to the BJP’s ideological mentor RSS or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he commented on what he called a “fundamental difference in your thinking and the RSS’ thinking.”

Dressed casually in a tee-shirt and jeans, the 44-year-old took questions and also asked many of them.

“This will make a really nice movie – how the entire might of the Indian government was trying to push 250 students aside,” he remarked to a hall-full of film students.

The students have boycotted classes for weeks and refused to return unless the central government cancels the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan, who is seen as close to the ruling BJP. Several alumni and film personalities say Mr Chauhan’s stature fall far short of the qualities needed for the top post.

“This is not just about FTII. It is happening in a lot of higher education and cultural institutions,” one student told Mr Gandhi, who nodded in agreement.

“The real question is how strongly you are willing to fight this issue. I am ready to fight with you,” replied the Congress leader.

The BJP has accused the Congress of trying to whip up politics over the film institute protests. “If students see Gajendra Chauhan as a politician, then is Rahul a filmmaker?” scoffed actor-politician Paresh Rawal.

(Agencies)

No discussion until Sushma steps down: Rahul Gandhi

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rahul gandhi

New Delhi: Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his “silence” on the Lalit Modi controversy, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said his party was against discussion until External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj steps down.

Claiming that Modi’s credibility is on the decline, Rahul said the Prime Minister should listen to the voices of the people of the coutry who are demanding an answer from him over controversies confronting the government.

“The Prime Minister had assured the country that he will not tolerate corruption. His words should carry weight. But he speaks in air, he speaks whatever comes to his mind, his credibility is slowly declining.

“We asked the PM what he thinks about Lalit Modi. We got no answer. We got no answer on the Vyapam scam, no answer on Chhattisgarh and no answer on Sushma,” he told reporters outside Parliament.

Rahul’s comments come against the backdrop of the stalemate persisting in both the Houses of Parliament with Congress-led opposition aggressively pressing for ouster of Sushma and Chief Ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Lalit Modi controversy and Vyapam scam, which the government rejected.

He made it clear that there would be no discussion on the Lalit Modi controversy unless Sushma quits office.

“What we have said is that (there will be) no discussion without resignation. Sushma has done a criminal act. He (Lalit Modi) is a ‘fugitive’. You have signed it (the recommendation for grant of travel document). The High Commission does not know about it. The Indian government too in unaware of that,” he said and alleged that there were business links between the families of Lalit Modi and Sushma Swaraj.

(PTI)

BJP can’t cheat people now after promising ‘Acche Din’: Shiv Sena

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uddhav thackeray

Mumbai: Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray today took a dig at its ally and said that ground realities have remained unchanged despite BJP coming to power at the Centre, promising ‘Acche Din’.

“Even 50 years are not enough to clean up the mess created by the erstwhile government. But a lot has to be done in the next five years to fulfill the aspirations of people.

You (the BJP) had promised ‘Acche Din’ to people and thus cannot cheat them now,” Thackeray said in an interview in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

To a question, Thackeray said that even though the governments have changed at the Centre and in the state, nothing much has changed on “ground”.
“Every morning when we open a newspaper, we keep reading the same news that once bored us…The thought which comes to our mind is that we used to read the same news before. Be it farmers’ suicide, protests of the unemployed people, crimes against women,” he said.

When asked to comment on Pakistani flags being raised in Kashmir, Thackeray said, “Haven’t seen it happen in a long time.” Replying to another query, he questioned the change the BJP has brought after allying with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir.

“What can I do? It is surprising. I do not have personal enmity with anyone but what stand did you (BJP) have on Mufti Mohammed Sayeed before (election)? How can you forget his style of politics ? If Kashmir progresses, it is good. But bringing in a change does not mean giving the state a big financial package. People there should be turned back towards India,” Thackeray said.

The Sena chief also reiterated his stand on freeing farmers from their debts and said they should be financially sound so that they can take new debts if they wish to, in future.

(PTI)

‘Acche din’ will take 25 years, report quotes Amit Shah; BJP calls it ‘baseless’

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Amit_Shah

New Delhi: As the Opposition attacked it over Amit Shah’s reported comment that it will take 25 years for the promised ‘achhe din’ to come, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today termed the report as “baseless” and said the party president had stated that it will take these many years to restore India its “ancient glory”.

“Shah said the BJP government had curbed corruption and brought down inflation.It is working to end corruption and create many jobs in five years. But the dream of making India ‘Vishwa guru (world leader) will take 25 years to realise,” BJP secretary and media cell in-charge Shrikant Sharma said.

A media report today quoted Amit Shah as having told party leaders and workers at a meet in Bhopal yesterday that the good days promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take 25 years to come.

Latching onto it, Congress leader Digvijay Shah took a dig at Amit Shah, saying his good days had arrived and people can forget about theirs.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal wondered in a tweet, “Would people have voted for BJP had it told them that it will take 25 years for good days to arrive”. Sharma, however, said Shah made the remarks in the context of restoring India its ancient glory and claimed the report was “part of conspiracy to defame BJP”.

“India used to be a world leader. And our president said it will take 25 years to restore India its ancient glory and status of world leader again,” he said.

Shah never said the BJP government will take 25 years to bring ‘achhe din’, he added.

“It is a baseless report and part of larger conspiracy to defame BJP,” he alleged.

(PTI)

Government to pay Rs 12/litre kerosene subsidy, full for LPG

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KEROSENE

New Delhi: The government has capped the subsidy it will pay on kerosene at Rs 12 per litre while deciding to foot the entire bill on domestic cooking gas, a senior official said.

The Finance Ministry will pay Rs 12 per litre in cash to state-owned fuel retailers and any unbridged gap between the retail selling price and the cost of production will be borne by upstream companies like ONGC, he said.

Currently, oil companies sell kerosene at a loss of about Rs 18 per litre. Of this, the government will foot Rs 12 and the rest will come from upstream firms.

“At current oil prices, the upstream share for the full fiscal may be Rs 5,000-6,000 crore,” he said.

For LPG, the government has decided to fully bear the difference between the cost and the retail selling price.

The Budget for 2015-16 has provided for Rs 22,000 crore towards LPG subsidy and another Rs 8,000 crore on kerosene.

“While provisioning for kerosene is sufficient, additional funds may have to be provided in supplementary demands for LPG,” he added.

(PTI)

Sadananda Gowda calls Vyapam scam a ‘silly issue’; says, no need for Modi to answer

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D V Sadananda Gowda

New Delhi: Union Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday apparently termed Vyapam scam a “silly issue” and slammed the Opposition parties for make it an issue and demanding answer from the Prime Minister.

The shocking statement was given by Mr Gowda in response to the Opposition’s continuous demand that Mr Modi should break his silence on India’s worst ever recruitment scam, which has not only claimed the dozens of lives but also murdered the dreams of a complete generation of youth.

“The state has initiated probe. The deaths are a matter of concern, but law and order is state subject. See, the Prime Minister need not answer on silly issues,” Mr Gowda said.

“The concerned ministers and party president have answered. For each silly issue asking the Prime Minister to answer is not fair,” he added.

The central government had on Monday rejected calls for a CBI probe into this mega scam involving several prominent BJP politicians, bureaucrats and other influential persons.

The Congress, the AAP and the CPI-M, meanwhile, stepped up attacks on the central and Madhya Pradesh governments over the rising number of deaths in the recruitment scandal.

They demanded a CBI probe, but union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said there was no need for a CBI inquiry as the Special Investigation Team probing the scam reported to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and not the state government.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on July 9 a petition filed by senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh seeking a court-monitored CBI probe into Madhya Pradesh’s multi-crore Vyapam scam, in which more than two dozen accused and witnesses have died under mysterious circumstances.

Singh had earlier alleged complicity of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the MPPEB scam.

More than 40 people associated with the admission and recruitment racket in Vyapam have died since 2013 — either in mysterious circumstances or have committed suicide.

(Agencies)

Congress leader who complained against Pankaja Munde gets death threats

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Pankaja Munde

Mumbai: Congress leader Sachin Sawant who filed a complaint of corruption against Maharashtra’s Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde on Friday claimed to have received multiple death threats.

“Since Thursday evening, I have got around 40 anonymous threats, mostly threatening to kill me,” said Sawant, the spokesman of the state unit. Mumbai police have provided him security.

“Police have temporarily posted two constables from the local police station at my residence. I shall lodge the detailed written complaint tomorrow morning,” said Sawant, who had on Wednesday filed a formal complaint with the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) accusing Munde of irregularities in awarding contracts worth Rs.206 crore (Rs.2.06 billion).

The ACB has sought a report from the state government on the complaint.

The ACB complaint pertains to the minister — daughter of the late union minister Gopinath Munde who was killed in a road accident in New Delhi last year — allegedly sanctioning contracts for buying food-items, water filters, medical kits and books for children without inviting e-tenders, as is mandatory.

Besides Sawant’s complaint with the ACB, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the issue.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that there is no “prima facie evidence” of any wrongdoing by his cabinet colleague, but was open to a probe after examining the issue in detail.

Dismissing the allegations against her, Munde said she was prepared to face any probe or enquiry and accused vested political interests of attempts to dislodge her from the ministry and end her political career.

(Agencies)

Ready to tie up with JD(S) for a non-Congress government in Karnataka: BJP

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JDS-BJP

Bidar: KS Eshwarappa, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, has said that the Bharatiya Janata Party would not hesitate to form an alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) to bring a non-Congress government to power in Karnataka.

Mr Eshwarappa, who was here on Friday to inaugurate an executive committee meeting of the BJP Slum Morcha, said that his party would do anything to dethrone Congress in the State.

“The Congress is getting the jitters just because JD(S) leader H.D Kumaraswamy and BJP leader B.S. Yeddurappa met in Hubballi. This shows the insecurity of the Siddharamaiah government and his party,” he said. Mr. Eshwarappa said the people were disgusted with the government and wanted it to go.

The BJP would start a campaign seeking the removal of Shivaraj Tangadagi from the State Cabinet as he was facing allegations of supporting rowdy elements who killed Yallalinga, a college student in Koppal district. The Minister who had no time for the victim’s family, went to the jail to console the accused, Mr. Eswarappa said.

“That is because the accused is the Minister’s supporter,” he alleged.

He challenged Mr. Siddharamaiah to settle dues of sugarcane growers before attending the Assembly session on July 29. “Otherwise, we will stall the proceedings,” Mr. Eshwarappa said.

BJP leaders would lead a protest rally from the house of a farmer who committed suicide in Badal Ankalagi village in Belagavi taluk to the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, the venue of the Assembly session, he said.

The BJP leader alleged that the children of Congress leaders were involved in illegal sand extraction. He also wondered whether the sugar lobby was controlling the government.

“BJP workers and leaders will stage a State-wide protest against the government if it did not issue land ownership rights to slum dwellers in 100 says. We will protest outside the Chief Minister’s residence in Bengaluru,” he added.

(Agencies)

Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde accused of Rs 206 cr 'scam'

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Pankaja Munde

Mumbai: Maharashtra’s Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde was in trouble today following allegations that she cleared purchases worth Rs 206 crore through 24 Government Resolutions on a single day instead of inviting tenders.

The alleged purchases relate to a host of items including snacks and books for children in institutions across the state.

Dubbing it as a “big scam”, Congress and other opposition parties attacked the 8-month-old BJP-led government headed by Devendra Fadnavis.

Former chief minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan demanded a CBI inquiry and said the scam exposed the “true colours” of the government.

Asked if he would demand Munde’s resignation, Chavan said “Be it Pankaja Munde or Vinod Tawade (education minister caught in a row over educational qualification), this government would not remove anyone. After all, this the policy of the Modi government to brazen out all allegations.”

“The scam has exposed the real character of this government. The Minister (Munde) must give an explanation on the issue”, Chavan said.

The scam first came to light on June 15, when the office of Pankaja Munde received a letter from Ahmednagar Zila Parishad president Manjushree Gund complaining about the quality of chikki (a popular snack) distributed to tribal students under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Gund said the chikki was contaminated with clay.

This is the first time that an alleged scam of this magnitude has come to light after the BJP-Shiv Sena government took office.

All purchases were cleared by Munde, daughter of BJP stalwart late Gopinath Munde on a single day on February 13 through 24 Government Resolutions (GR).

As per norms, all government purchases above Rs 3 lakh have to be done through e-tendering. Fadnavis has banned purchases through the rate contract system, in which material is purchased after rates have been negotiated.

Pankaja Munde was unavailable for comments. An official in her department said the minister was out of India and was expected to return on June 28.

Munde said her decision to check corruption had “troubled” some “money-minded” people and that she was not scared of such accusations.

For years the women and child development department had been neglected and was taken “less seriously”, she said, adding that “I as a minister (have) taken some dynamic decision to reduce currption…has also troubled some money minded bunch of ppl (sic) involved…I hv not broken any rules as far I m concerned n also not feared any allegations”.

Senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Minister Eknath Khadse, while responding to the allegations, said,”Opposition keeps on levelling charges. We don’t take them seriously until they submit proof.”

BJP spokesperson Shaina NC said the opposition had levelled allegations “to be in news”. “The opposition wants to be in news. If Munde has done anything, it should be substantiated with proof.”

Accusing BJP and the Centre of double-speak, Congress’ media department chief Randeep Surjewala said,”We hope that BJP and its government will seriously investigate the way they used to say ‘na khayenge, na khane denge’ and will provide a corruption-free government.

“We hope that they will, before 1.25 crore people of India, prove that they do what they say,” he said, adding “as layers and layers of corruption get unveiled, one leader after another of BJP is getting exposed. First it was the External Affairs Minister helping a fugitive of law and a black money hoarder, we also saw forged degrees of Irani and now….Pankaja Munde.”

(PTI)

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