News Analysis India

Tag: Congress leader

  •  PM Modi can restore Art 370 but I can’t convince him to restore it: Azad

    Express News Service

    SRINAGAR: Former Congress leader and ex-J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi can restore Article 370 but he cannot convince him of its restoration.

    “I never said Article 370 cannot be restored. PM Modi can restore Article 370 as he withdrew farm laws.  The farm laws were not withdrawn by the opposition but by PM Modi, whose party has got a majority in the parliament,” Azad told reporters in Srinagar.

    He, however, said he cannot convince Modi to restore Article 370.

    “If any leader from J&K claims that he can convince PM Modi or his cabinet but I cannot convince him on Article 370 restoration. Either PM Modi can restore it on his own or 2/3rd majority is needed for its restoration,” the former J&K Chief Minister said.

    In his first rally in north Kashmir’s Baramulla on Sunday after quitting Congress, Azad said it was unlikely that Article 370 would be restored as 2/3rd majority was needed in the parliament and the opposition was unable to get it.

    After his remarks on Article 370, J&K Congress leaders accused Azad of being a BJP’s man and PM Modi’s advocate in J&K with an agenda to divide secular votes to benefit the saffron party.

    On August 5, 2019 centre scrapped J&K’s special status and bifurcated J&K state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature).

    Azad said after Article 370 was repealed, petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging its abrogation. “Three years have passed by and not a single hearing has taken place yet”.

    “No date has been given when it will be put for hearing. When the date is given, we don’t know how long the hearings will continue. We don’t know on whose favour the court will give its verdict,” he said adding “Can any leader claim that he will get a favourable judgement from the Supreme Court. No”.

    “I don’t want to deceive people and don’t want to keep them under false hope. Whether people vote for me or not, I will never give a slogan which is not in my hand,” the former Congress leader.    

    On the accusation that he was playing second fiddle to BJP in J&K, Azad said it was not him but some Congress leaders, who were helping the BJP in achieving Congress-mukt Bharat.

    SRINAGAR: Former Congress leader and ex-J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi can restore Article 370 but he cannot convince him of its restoration.

    “I never said Article 370 cannot be restored. PM Modi can restore Article 370 as he withdrew farm laws.  The farm laws were not withdrawn by the opposition but by PM Modi, whose party has got a majority in the parliament,” Azad told reporters in Srinagar.

    He, however, said he cannot convince Modi to restore Article 370.

    “If any leader from J&K claims that he can convince PM Modi or his cabinet but I cannot convince him on Article 370 restoration. Either PM Modi can restore it on his own or 2/3rd majority is needed for its restoration,” the former J&K Chief Minister said.

    In his first rally in north Kashmir’s Baramulla on Sunday after quitting Congress, Azad said it was unlikely that Article 370 would be restored as 2/3rd majority was needed in the parliament and the opposition was unable to get it.

    After his remarks on Article 370, J&K Congress leaders accused Azad of being a BJP’s man and PM Modi’s advocate in J&K with an agenda to divide secular votes to benefit the saffron party.

    On August 5, 2019 centre scrapped J&K’s special status and bifurcated J&K state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature).

    Azad said after Article 370 was repealed, petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging its abrogation. “Three years have passed by and not a single hearing has taken place yet”.

    “No date has been given when it will be put for hearing. When the date is given, we don’t know how long the hearings will continue. We don’t know on whose favour the court will give its verdict,” he said adding “Can any leader claim that he will get a favourable judgement from the Supreme Court. No”.

    “I don’t want to deceive people and don’t want to keep them under false hope. Whether people vote for me or not, I will never give a slogan which is not in my hand,” the former Congress leader.    

    On the accusation that he was playing second fiddle to BJP in J&K, Azad said it was not him but some Congress leaders, who were helping the BJP in achieving Congress-mukt Bharat.

  • Congress leader files petition in Bhilai Corporation for wards reservation, first hearing on 31st

    After delimitation of Municipal Corporation Bhilai, Congress leader Ali Hussain Siddiqui has filed a petition in the High Court on the issue of reservation. The petitioner alleges that the district administration has wrongly reserved reservations in seven wards. The court will hear the case on Monday.

    Petitioner Ali Hussain Siddiqui alleges that the district administration violated Section 11 of the Municipal Corporation Act 1956 and Chhattisgarh Municipality (Reservation of Wards for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and Women) Rules, 1994 in seven wards. Way booked. The population and census blocks in Ward 19 Rajiv Nagar Kohka, Ward 36 Shyam Nagar, Ward 47 Radha Krishna Mandir New Khursipar, Sector 2 East, Ward 56 Sector 2 West, Ward 59 Sector 5 East and Ward 68 Sector 8 were not changed. In such a situation, these wards cannot be considered as new wards.
    It has been said in the petition that reservation of these seven wards was to be done in rotation, but considering them to be new wards against the rules, cheating was taken out through lottery. During the reservation, he had also raised a claim-objection, but no hearing was done on behalf of the district administration. Due to this, he filed a PIL in the High Court on April 1. On April 8, the court accepted it. After this, the High Court will now hear on 31 May.

  • Sacrilege case probe: Sidhu accuses Amarinder of evading responsibility

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Congress leader and Amritsar MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday attacked Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, accusing him of evading responsibility in the case involving the desecration of a religious text.

    In a tweet, the former state minister also asked if the case is not the top priority for him.

    Sidhu’s fresh comments have come in the wake of the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashing a probe report into police firing at people protesting against the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in Faridkot’s Kotkapura in 2015.

    The HC had directed the state government to set up a new SIT to investigate the case without the then IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who resigned soon after the court order.

    Earlier in the month, the Amritsar legislator had demanded that the SIT probe into the case should be made public.

    Launching a direct attack on Amarinder Singh on Friday, who also holds the Home department portfolio, the Congress MLA asked, “Is Sacrilege case not the top priority for the Home Minister?” “Evading of responsibility & making only Advocate General (AG) a scapegoat means Executive Authority has No supervisory control. Who controls the AG? Legal Team is just a pawn in this game of shifting responsibilities,” Sidhu said in a tweet.

    Another senior Congress leader, Pratap Singh Bajwa, too had recently alleged that the state’s advocate general and his team were unable to defend the interests of the state despite professional and efficient investigation done by the SIT.

    Two days ago, Sidhu had alleged that the delay in justice is the ‘failure of one person, who is hand-in-glove with the culprits’.

    The Amritsar MLA, however, did not name anybody then.

    A month ago, Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu had met over tea, discussing the possible reinduction of the Amritsar MLA in the state cabinet.

    Harish Rawat, who is in-charge of Punjab affairs at the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), had been pushing for an important position for Sidhu. Last month, Sidhu also met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi.

    The tensions between Amarinder Singh and Sidhu had come out in the open in May 2019 when the CM blamed the former cricketer for the ‘inept handling’ of the Local Government Department, claiming it had resulted in the ‘poor performance’ of the Congress in urban areas in the Lok Sabha polls.

    Sidhu was later stripped of this portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle, after which he resigned.

  • Sabarimala: Congress leader calls for Centre’s intervention

    A prominent Congress leader in Kerala, who is also a former president of the Travancore Devaswam Board that administers the Sabarimala Temple has called for urgent intervention by the Centre to resolve the impasse prevailing in the State as a result of the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages entry in the holy shrine.

    Prayar Gopalakrishnan,  who was a Congress legislator during 2001-2006, pointed out that the Centre has every right as per the Constitution to promulgate an ordinance to sort out the law and order situation in Sabarimala . “The CPI-M led Kerala Government has failed miserably to tackle the situation. It has aggravated the intensity of the problem by unleashing police over the hapless devotees. It is time for the Centre’s intervention in this issue,” said Gopalakrishnan while speaking to The Pioneer.

    “Article 28 of the Indian Constitution makes it clear that the Centre has the power to enact a legislation under Section 246(2) which deal with issues related to places of worship. As per documents in possession of the Devaswam Board itself, the shrine’s name is Sree Ayyappa Swamy Temple. The CPI-M government got the name changed to Sastha Temple as part of a deep rooted conspiracy  and to destroy the uniqueness of the temple,” said Gopalakrishnan. He also pointed out that the temples come under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution and  falls under the concurrent list which makes  the Centre more powerful in enacting the suitable law/ordinance.

    Chief Minister Ponarayi Vijayan who addressed the media on Monday blamed the ESS, BJP and the Congress for vitiating the atmosphere in Sabarimala even as police continued the crack down on devotees reciting Ayyappa hymns at the shrine. Though the High Court of Kerala had ordered the State Government to call back the police force from Sabarimala, there has been no let up in the number of cops deployed at the shrine, according to Roshy Raveendran, a tour operator at Kochi airport organising pilgrimage to Sabarimala. “Business is down as there is sharp fall in the arrival of pilgrims to Sabarimala,” said Raveendran.

    The Nair Service Society (NSS), an organisation representing the Nair community in the government and which has maintain “equidistant” from both the Congress and the CPI-M has come out on Monday lambasting the Pinarayi Vijayan government in the Sabarimala issue. “The police deployed at Sabarimala views the devotees as if they are terrorists. The Ayyappa devotees deserve a fair treatment,” said the editorial in the magazine “Service”, the NSS mouthpiece.

  • Gehlot accuses BJP of misleading people by ‘jumlas’

    Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP on Thursday of governing and misleading people by ‘jumlas’ (rhetoric).

    Gehlot launched the attack at the BJP at a poll rally in Rajasthan ahead of the State Assembly elections.

    “The BJP Government had promised to deposit Rs 15 lakh in everyone’s bank account and bring black money. It was a ‘jumla’ and they are master in that. No one got the money,” Gehlot said.

    He accused Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of not taking plight of people in the last five years.

    He alleged that the BJP government stalled and delayed various public welfare schemes, including a petroleum refinery in Pachpadra, the Banswara-Dungarpur rail route, Jaipur metro and irrigation projects in Hadoti region.