Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for Congress

Was Shah Rukh Khan targeted by ED for speaking on intolerance, asks Congress

by

SHAHRUKH khan

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday questioned if Shah Rukh Khan had faced the wrath of Enforcement Directorate (ED) because he spoke up on the issue of intolerance.

On Wednesday, the ED had questioned Khan over alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“A noted film star like Shah Rukh Khan is grilled for four hours… Whether he is facing wrath for speaking out or whether something wrong has been done by him,” chief spokesperson of Congress Randeep Surjewala said.

He said that suspicions on this score arose as the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI have nowadays become “instruments of vendetta”.

Citing an instance, Surjewala alleged that Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, who is the senior-most chief minister in the country, faced ED raid on the day of his daughter’s marriage.

The Enforcement Directorate has recorded the statement of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan in a matter of alleged irregularities in the sale ofSHARES of Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd (KRSPL) to a Mauritius-based company.

The case, dating back to 2008-09, pertains to the share sale of KRSPL, owned by Khan’s Red Chillies along with Juhi Chawla and her husband, to a Mauritius-based company owned by Chawla’s husband Jay Mehta.

ED is probing allegations that shares sold to the Jay Mehta-owned Sea Island INVESTMENTS were undervalued by eight to nine times. Khan had faced ED once in 2011 when he was questioned about alleged foreign exchange violation of around Rs 100 crore.

(Agencies)

Kumaraswamy threatens to withdraw support after corruption charges surface in BBMP

by

Kumaraswamy

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) that was formed after the alliance between the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) is now in a critical position as former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has threatened to withdraw support after corruption charges were leveled against the new set up.

Addressing the media, Kumaraswamy said that he was fed up with the corruption in the BBMP. The Mayor should have taken initiative and seen that the BBMP was corruption-free; due to this the people suffer. However, if the trend continues, we may have to rethink our alliance with the Congress, he added.

Siddaramaiah reacting on the issue said that he had not received any official intimation about withdrawing support from the alliance; however he assured that he would speak to Kumaraswamy regarding the matter.

It should be noted that though the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the BBMP polls, an alliance was struck between the Congress and the JD(S) and they have been sharing power from the past two months.

(Agencies)

Manmohan, Sonia, Rahul Pay Tributes to Indira, Patel

by

Sonia-Gandhi

New Delhi: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday paid tributes to former prime minister Indira Gandhi and India’s Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

They paid tribute to Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary at the Shakti Sthal memorial site dedicated to her.

“We pay tribute to Indira Gandhi today (Saturday). A leader with courage and compassion. She protected the poor and died for India,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984 by her bodyguards a few months after the Indian Army took action in the Golden Temple in Amritsar to remove militants from there as part of a move to counter the insurgency in Punjab.

President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari also visited Shakti Sthal to pay floral tributes to Indira Gandhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute and said: “Tributes to former prime minister Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary.”

She was born on November 19, 1917.

She held the office of prime minister from January 1966 to March 1977. She also became the prime minister from January 14, 1980 till her death.

The three Congress leaders also paid tribute to India’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary.

Sardar Patel, known as India’s Iron Man, played a major role in the country’s struggle for independence and subsequently guided its integration into a united, independent nation.

Patel was born on October 31, 1875 in Gujarat’s Nadiad town. He died on December 15, 1950.

In his tweet, Rahul Gandhi said: “My tribute to Sardar Patel on his birth anniversary. One of the founding fathers of our nation, a patriot and a great Congressman.”

“His contribution to unifying India and guarding against fundamentalist forces will always inspire us,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi said Sardar Patel was truly India’s Iron Man as he believed in a strong, united India where every Indian is equal.

(IANS)

JD(U), Congress approach EC, demand ban on Amit Shah’s entry in Bihar

by

Amit_Shah

New Delhi: Upping the ante against Amit Shah after his “fireworks in Pakistan” remark, JD(U) and Congress today approached the Election Commission demanding that the BJP chief be barred from entering Bihar for “inciting communal tension” till the election process ends.

Taking strong objection to BJP’s poll advertisements in the state, they accused the party of using “lies and false propaganda” to vitiate the atmosphere and demanded that an FIR be registered against Shah as well Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his quota remarks.

Slamming Shah’s yesterday remarks that if BJP loses in Bihar, there will be fireworks in Pakistan, JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi said, “Shah’s remarks are inflammatory.

“A case should be registered against him and he should be debarred from entering Bihar till the poll process is over. He is a habitual conspirator. He was earlier also debarred from entering Gujarat by the court.”

A delegation of Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, spokesperson Ajoy Kumar and JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi met Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and submitted a memorandum, accusing the BJP of “vitiating” the electoral process by “promoting communal tension” through its advertisements.

It sought action including “complete withdrawal” of these ads and “prosecution” of the perpetrators.

Submitting a list of advertisements issued by the BJP in Bihar including one which accuses Nitish Kumar-led of “snatching the plate of dalits” and accuses it of trying to carve five per cent reservation for a particular community from the quota for SC/ST/OBC, the delegation demanded quick action from the poll watchdog.

The parties complained to the EC on this matter on a day when Prime Minister Narendra raised the pitch on this issue addressing a rally in Lalu Prasad’s home turf Gopalganj and citing a speech of Nitish Kumar in Parliament allegedly favouring sub quota for Muslims.

Tyagi also said that the Election Commission should register a case against Modi for the repeated reference of his belonging to Extremely Backward Castes (EBC) in the same manner as the Election Commission had lodged a case against RJD chief Lalu Prasad for his forward versus back election remark earlier.

They also cited two more ads. While one alleges that Lashkar-e-Toiba and ISI terrorists are “thriving in Bihar due to negligence” of JD-U leaders, the other talks of Bihar government’s role in “delayed” arrest of Yasin Bhatkal from Nepal border.

The delegation alleged that it is a “shameless” attempt by the BJP at spreading “false propaganda” and “creating communal tension”.

The Nitish Kumar-led alliance claimed that one of the ads say that RJD, JD(U) and Congress leaders are “giving sanctuary” to terrorists to appease a particular community for votes.

The name of the particular community becomes clear when seen in context to previous day’s ad, which spoke about Muslim community appeasement by RJD-JD(U) and Congress by ‘robbing the plate of dalits’, the delegation alleged.

On the ad regarding Bhatkal arrest issue, the delegation said that it questions whether the ‘delay’ was to make a particular community feel the “government’s benevolence”.

“The connection between letting Bhatkar escape and a community is done to connect Bhatkal with the Muslim community,” they alleged.

“In the on-going elections in Bihar, the BJP has been promoting lies, false propaganda and communal tensions through its advertisements. This has resulted in vitiating the electoral process by promoting communal tension….

“As you will see from these ads, it is a shameless attempt at spreading false propaganda and creating communal tension by use of misuse of select words in ambiguous contexts that could be interpreted for multiple factions for inciting violence between the two communities,” the delegation said in its memorandum.

Terming these ads as “blatant violation” of the provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1951 and several provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the delegation said, “The EC must demand a complete withdrawal of the advertisement and prosecution should be initiated against the perpetrators at the earliest.”

(Agencies)

PM, RSS, BJP practising politics of crushing the weak: Rahul Gandhi

by

rahul gandhi

Faridabad: Visiting the Dalit family which lost two children yesterday in an attack by upper caste men here, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi accused the Prime Minister, Harayana Chief Minister, the BJP and RSS of practicing “politics of crushing” those who are weak which results in such incidents.

“This is an attitude shared by the Prime Minister, Chief Minister of the state and the entire BJP and RSS. The attitude is if somebody is weak, he can be crushed. What you have seen is the result of this attitude,” Gandhi said.

He was meeting the family of the victims and villagers who had gathered here. Two children died when their house was set afire allegedly by a crowd of upper caste men in the wee hours yesterday.

“In Haryana, there is no government for the poor and poor people are being targeted here which is totally wrong. I have assured the victims’ family that I would do whatever they want from me including pressuring the government.

Asked whether he was doing politics over the incident, Rahul angrily retorted: “This is insulting when someone says it when someone comes here. It is not insulting to me. It is insulting to these people. What is a photo op. What you mean? People are dying. I will keep coming to such places.”

Dalits including children today blocked the Faridabad highway demanding stringent action against the guilty.

Two children of a Dalit family were burnt alive and their parents suffered injuries allegedly after some persons from upper caste set their house afire at Sunped village near Ballabhgarh while they were sleeping.

11 persons, including a father-son duo, have been booked on murder, rioting and other charges, a police spokesman said.

Vaibhav, who was two-and-a-half years old, and his sister, 11-month-old Divya, died after the attackers allegedly poured petrol from the window and set the house ablaze. A religious programme was being held nearby in the village at that time.

Their mother Rekha, 28, suffered serious burns and has been referred to Delhi for treatment, while their father Jitender, 31, too suffered injuries trying to save his family.

After visiting the victims’ family members at Sunped village, Gandhi also met agitating villagers, a majority of them women, who had blocked the Ballabhgarh-Faridabad highway to protest against the incident.

Charging that atrocities against “Dalits and weaker sections” were rising, Congress leader Kumari Selja said that her party “will raise this issue strongly, be it in Parliament and on the streets”.

(PTI)

Karnataka hikes job quota for women to 33%

by

vidhana soudha

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has hiked the reservation for women in government jobs to 33 per cent from the present 30 per cent.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s had committed in the current year’s budget to increase women’s job quotas by three percentage points. The legislature committee on women and child welfare headed by Congress MLA Malikayya Guttedar had recommended the hike.

Of the 5.56 lakh government employees in the State, 1.60 lakh are women.

The government order to this effect issued on September 11, was gazetted on September 14. The Karnataka Civil Services Rules, 1978 have been amended to increase the job quota for women. Prior to that, the government had invited suggestions and objections from the public and given 15 days time.

The government has not specified any date for implementing the order.

Guttedar said the government had not received any objections. Hence, all departments would be directed to implement the revised rules, he added.

Gujarat made a similar revision in women’s job quota in October 2014. There is no reservation for women in central government jobs.

Karnataka has reserved 50 per cent seats for women in elections to local bodies, including the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. But there is no such reservation yet in the legislature and Parliament elections. Here, the reservation is based on caste.

(Agencies)

BJP’s strategy is to make Hindus, Muslims fight each other: Rahul Gandhi

by

Rahul Gandhi

Mandya: Launching a direct attack on Prime Minister and BJP in the wake of Dadri beef lynching, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that they have a “strategy” to polarise the country by pitting Hindus and Muslims against each other as he remarked that Narendra Modi has a “history”.

“The BJP and the Prime Minister have a strategy of polarising this country. They have a strategy of making Hindus and Muslims fight against each other.

“You can see that in every election, polarisation taking place, riots taking place. There were BJP people involved in the Dadri incident,” the Congress vice president alleged while talking to reporters here.

Dismissing the Prime Minister’s pitch yesterday for communal harmony, he said that while it was very nice of Modi to make such comments, “the Prime Minister has a history and the PM has a party that is behaving in a completely different way, which he doesn’t seem to want to stop”.

Modi had yesterday pitched for communal harmony, saying Hindus and Muslims should not fight each other but together fight poverty.

Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit of party-ruled state during which he will meet farmers affected by drought and other agricultural problems, also accused the Centre of neglecting farmers’ interests.

“The central government does not think that agriculture or the farmer is important. Whether it is the issue of Minimum Support Price (MSP) or crops being destroyed by bad weather, the government does not seem to have a strategy. It does not give priority to farmers,” he said.

Ruing that farmers are committing suicide in large numbers, he insisted the central government needs to do something about it.

“The Prime Minister has to take a look at it and help the farmers of the country,” he said.

Contrasting the functioning of the previous UPA government with that of the present dispensation, Gandhi said the Congress-led government had given a loan waiver of Rs 70,000 crore to the farmers.

He will also undertake a ‘padyatra’ tomorrow and hold interactions with farmers, students and women workers in Haveri district.

(Agencies)

Karnataka mulls scrapping cattle protection panel constituted by BJP government

by

cow

Bengaluru: The State government is planning to dissolve the Goseva Ayoga or Cattle Conservation Commission constituted by the BJP regime in 2012.

The panel was set up as part of the State BJP manifesto promise made ahead of the 2009 Assembly polls for a strict ban on cow slaughter. The 16-member commission has the authority to ensure protection of cattle.

Along with the 16-member commission, the government is planning to repeal the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Prevention (Constitution of Goseva Ayoga) rules, 2012.

The rules provided that all institutions engaged in cattle welfare, including goshalas (cow shelters), have to register and subject themselves to inspections. The commission has nine official and seven non-official members. According to official sources in the Animal Husbandry Department, as soon as the Siddaramaiah government came to power, the non-official members were removed. The members challenged the decision of the government in the High Court and got a stay. The stay was recently vacated, sources said.

Sources in the government said the Animal Welfare Board was already entrusted with the task of protecting cattle and there was no need for having another separate commission. It not only meant duplication of work but also a financial burden on the State exchequer, they said.

The Cabinet is likely to take a decision on dissolving the commission and repealing the rules at its meeting on Tuesday.

The commission has been given the mandate to ensure proper management of cattle at welfare centres, provide financial assistance to them and ensure timely implementation of programmes of the State government under the various cattle development schemes.

Other functions included taking custody of agricultural cattle seized under the 1964 anti-cow slaughter legislation and entrusting them to the nearest goshala or cattle protection institution. The present dispensation, last year, had also repealed the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill 2012 passed during the BJP regime. The 2012 bill sought to ban the slaughter of cows and bulls. It also provided stringent punishment for violators, making the offence cognizable and non-bailable.

(Agencies)

Ashamed of Modi’s behaviour on foreign soil: Congress

by

modi-usa

New Delhi: Congress on Monday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his barbs at the party in the US, saying they were “ashamed” of his behaviour on foreign soil.

“Listening to the Prime Minister’s speech I am ashamed. Indian PM after going to California is making fun of his countrymen and is only praising himself,” Congress leader Rashid Alvi said. In a veiled attack on corruption during UPA regime and a barb at the Congress President’s son-in-law Robert Vadra, Modi in his address to the Indian community in California today deprecated the culture of graft in the country.

“In our country it doesn’t take much for allegations to come up against politicians… Someone made 50 crores, someone’s son made 250 crores, (someone’s) daughter made 500 crores, (someone’s) damaad (son-in-law) made 1000 crores…” he said. Countering Modi, Congress leader Manish Tiwari said, “Indians are fed up with the government who helps a ‘baghoda’.

Is there any state government in India like Rajasthan where there are scams after scams. Before taking a dig at others, he should look at his party,” he said. JD(U) leader K C Tyagi also took a dig at Modi, saying, “Questions can also be raised as to why he does not stay with his mother”. He said the Prime Minister should never attack his country’s opposition in the foreign land.

Alvi said he had written to Modi after Lok Sabha polls, saying “You say your mother works even today. Then why are you not caring for your mother. Is your salary less that you cannot take care of your mother?”

Modi had on Sunday got emotional while talking about the sacrifices his mother made as he grew up.

(Agencies)

Karnataka: Cabinet expansion to be delayed as Rahul, Digvijay not in India

by

siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: The state government’s much-awaited Cabinet expansion and reshuffle have been indefinitely put off as AICC Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh are not in the country.

Digvijay Singh, for the past few weeks has been in the US as he is attending his ailing daughter, though he was supposed to return on Thursday, his trip has been delayed. Rahul, too is in the US. Hence, CM Siddaramaiah who was supposed to stay back in Delhi and discuss regarding the Cabinet expansion and reshuffle, will return to Bengaluru on Thursday evening. Digivjay Singh is in-charge of party affairs in the state. It should be noted that several ministerial aspirants who were in Delhi to campaign for ministerial posts will return empty-handed as the decision will be postponed.

CM Siddaramaiah said that since both Rahul and Digivjay were not in the country, he would discuss with them once they return.

He indicated that the talks would take place only after Rahul visits the state and speaks to the families of farmers who committed suicide which is scheduled for October 6 and 7.

With regard to the Kalasa-Banduri project, the state government will file an interim petition in the Supreme Court, said the Chief Minister and added that the petition would be filed after a legal team looked into the available options.

(Agencies)

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives