
Even mayor can't reach him: Complaint claims Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi ‘missing'
He alleged that 'even the mayor and the revenue minister are not able to get in touch with him'. According to Guruvayur, Thrissur Mayor and Minister K Rajan tried to contact Suresh Gopi several times to inaugurate a central government project in the city but 'he was unavailable'.'Nobody in the constituency is able to meet him,' Gokul Guruvayur claimed. 'When his office is contacted, none of his staff are able to confirm where he is or when he will return.'He said this was the reason behind filing the complaint.'After the Chhattisgarh issue, in which two nuns were arrested on fabricated charges of human trafficking, we have not seen him in this constituency at all,' he said, adding that the MP 'used to visit Christian homes during Christmas to distribute cakes'.Guruvayur alleged that both the public and political parties, including BJP workers, have raised concerns over the minister's absence. The KSU, the student wing of the Congress, has also announced plans to launch a campaign against him.The complaint, sent via email, was described as a symbolic protest. Guruvayur said the actor-politician has failed to respond to ongoing controversies, including the Chhattisgarh nuns' arrest and allegations of voter list manipulation. 'Despite repeated demands from the Opposition and various political groups, the minister continues to remain silent,' he said.The student union has demanded an investigation into the minister's absence and warned of intensified protests until he clarifies his position.Suresh Gopi is the first and only BJP MP from Kerala.- EndsMust Watch

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The Hindu
16 minutes ago
- The Hindu
BJP reaches out to Chirag Paswan, asks him to tone down criticism of Nitish government
In an effort to prevent history from repeating itself, the senior leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been at pains to ensure that Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader and Union Minister Chirag Paswan refrains from making critical remarks against the Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Bihar. However, it has so far seen mixed results. According to a senior national office-bearer of the BJP, Mr. Paswan has been asked to tone down his criticism of the State government, particularly following his recent remarks on a series of murders in Bihar. 'I feel sad to support a government under which crime is out of control,' Mr. Paswan had said. The remarks did not go down well with Mr. Kumar's party, the Janata Dal(U), which fears that Mr. Paswan might end up splitting NDA votes, as in the 2020 Assembly election. According to one estimate by the JD(U), the party lost at least 12 seats in that election because Mr. Paswan, after breaking away from the NDA, fielded candidates against the JD(U) who made inroads into the NDA votes. 'We have conveyed to Chirag Paswan that he is on a good wicket, he has age, and a significant support base on his side, he should pull together with NDA, there is no need to be isolated within the alliance,' said a BJP leader. Mr. Paswan, who often refers to himself as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hanuman, or disciple, even when he was not a part of the NDA, has never hidden either his antipathy towards Mr. Kumar and the JD(U) or even his own ambitions. His party's MP Arun Bharti (also Mr. Paswan's brother-in-law) had, in an interview to The Hindu, said that Mr. Paswan was a 'Bahujan leader and LJP(RV) is a Bahujan party', signalling Mr. Paswan's intentions of casting his net wider in terms of communities other than his own Dalit constituency. Recently, Mr. Paswan's absence from a meeting presided over by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Sitamarhi raised eyebrows, but he later said that this was not deliberate but due to a scheduling conflict. 'We will be reaching out to him again,' said a senior BJP leader. The BJP assesses that the upcoming Bihar Assembly election has a couple of unpredictable factors — Mr. Kumar's health and the impact of Prashant Kishor and his Jan Suraaj Party. In the highly caste sensitive political landscape of Bihar, the Opposition party workers often refer to Mr. Kishor as 'Prashant Kishor Pandey', underlining his Brahmin lineage. Much will depend on the candidates selected by Mr. Kishor, and if he puts strong candidates, especially in the seats held by the JD(U), the upper caste voters may choose to go with him. In such a scenario, Mr. Paswan's remarks and the perception that the NDA may not be the united house it should be in the run-up to the polls is something that the BJP wants to squash as early as possible.


The Hindu
16 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Assam Congress begins training booth level agents in anticipation of SIR
With Assam administration indicating that the State will soon be holding Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, State Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi said that the party has begun the process of recruiting and training its Booth Level Agents (BLAs). The SIR is currently underway in Bihar and the Election Commission (EC) has indicated that it will be held across the country. 'So far we have registered close to 28,880 BLAs. We have also started a training programme for these agents. On Sunday, we concluded one round of training. At the end of the month, we will hold a week-long training programme. In the first module, we are briefing them on how voter list manipulation has been undertaken in Maharashtra and in Karnataka. We will show them the evidence that Rahul Gandhi's team had provided,' Mr. Gogoi told The Hindu. The party is also prepping up its legal team to support the BLAs to file objections and claims. The SIR exercise in Assam, Mr. Gogoi said, will be particularly difficult because of the demographic complexities, which he accused the BJP government of further complicating. 'NRC in limbo' 'The NRC (National Register of Citizens) remains in a limbo in Assam. The BJP government is not willing to address the issue of foreigners since they have no solutions to offer. Instead with the Citizenship Amendment Act, they have issued guidelines by which several Bengali speaking people have to give a written affidavit that they are from Bangladesh to apply under the Act,' he said. Instead of identifying illegal Bangladeshis as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had claimed, Mr. Gogoi pointed out that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, today says that he is unable to address the issue. 'Instead of making Assam safe and secure, he is absolving himself of responsibility and wants to distribute guns to the people,' he said.


Time of India
20 minutes ago
- Time of India
Lok Sabha passes bill to increase production, processing of critical minerals
Lok Sabha passes bill to increase production, processing of critical minerals Lok Sabha passes bill to increase production, processing of critical minerals 1 2 NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha on Monday passed a bill which seeks to provide a simpler regime for promoting conservation of minerals, zero waste mining and support the objectives of the National Critical Mineral Mission, given the significance of critical and strategic minerals in the development of the country. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2025, was passed after brief debate, with Union Minister for Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy stating that every sector is dependent on critical minerals. The significance of critical and strategic minerals in the development of the country is continuously increasing and recent global geo-political developments has constricted the supply-chains of these minerals. The Centre launched the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) in 2025 to establish a robust framework for self-reliance in the critical mineral sector. Under this mission, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has been tasked with conducting 1,200 exploration projects from 2024-25 to 2030-31. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill was passed amid sloganeering by opposition members over their demand for debate on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. In his reply to the debate on the bill, G Kishan Reddy said that India has less production of critical minerals and is largely dependent on imports. The bill seeks to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and also seeks to promote extraction of deep-seated minerals. The minister said efforts have been stepped up since 2015 to boost the availability of critical minerals in the country. "We are moving in the right direction," he said. He emphasised that everyone should understand the value of critical minerals, as every sector, "from electricity and medical equipment to automobiles, defence, solar, and space, is heavily dependent on them". Kishan Reddy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visits abroad, seeks to expand cooperation in critical minerals. He also attacked opposition parties over disruption in the House, saying they "do not have faith on the Supreme Court, Election Commission". The minister said the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2025, is an important bill for the mining sector. "Mining sector will be an important pillar and will have a big role in India's journey to Viksit Bhart by 2047," he said. In his brief remarks while moving the bills for passing, Kishan Reddy said critical minerals is the need of the hour and sought unanimous support for the legislation. The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 has been amended several times over the years. The last amendment made in the Act in 2023 focused on increasing exploration and production of critical and strategic minerals in the country by introducing a new list of 24 critical and strategic minerals; empowering the Central Government to auction mineral concessions in respect of such minerals and introduction of exploration licence for critical and deep-seated minerals. According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2025, there is need to provide a dynamic market mechanism for minerals backed by a robust regulatory regime with the increased availability and demand of minerals in the country. "Setting up of mineral exchanges will help miners and end-users of minerals in determining fair and transparent market prices based on supply and demand dynamics, stabilise markets and aid in budgeting and planning. This will promote investment in mining sector and infrastructure related to transport and storage," the statement said. The bill seeks to remove the limit on the sale of minerals from the captive mines so that miners can sell minerals after meeting the requirements of the end-use plant linked with the mine and on payment of an additional amount specified in the Act. It seeks to allow the sale of dumps which have been stacked up to such date as may be specified by the Central Government in captive leases which cannot be captively utilised to reduce environmental hazards and increase safety in mine workings, bring more minerals to the market and provide additional revenue to the States. India is mostly dependent on the import of critical minerals. A National Critical Mineral Mission has been launched to increase domestic production, including from the offshore areas of India, secure supply chains from outside India and promote processing of critical minerals. "There is an urgent need to further amend the Act to support the National Critical Mineral Mission in its objectives," the statement said. The bill seeks to empower the Central Government to promote the development of the market, including trading, of minerals, their concentrates or their processed forms (including metals) through mineral exchanges. It seeks to widen the scope and territorial domain of the National Mineral Exploration Trust to enable the use of the funds accrued to the Trust within India, including the offshore areas, and outside India for the purposes of exploration and development of mines and minerals. The bill seeks to enable one-time extension of the area under a mining lease or composite licence to include therein a contiguous area not exceeding ten per cent. or thirty per cent., respectively, of the existing area under the lease or licence subject to such terms and conditions and additional payment as may be prescribed in rules by the Central Government. "This will promote optimal mining of deep-seated minerals which are locked up in contiguous areas and may not be economically viable to be extracted under a separate lease or licence," the statement said. The bill seeks to rename the Trust as the National Mineral Exploration and Development Trust to reflect its enlarged scope and increase the amount of payment to the Trust by the lessees from present two per cent. of the royalty payable to three per cent. of the royalty payable; It seeks to enable the inclusion of any new mineral in a mining lease, subject to the conditions prescribed by the Central Government and the additional amount payable as specified in the proposed Eighth Schedule to the Act. No additional amount is applicable on inclusion of critical and strategic mineral or minerals specified in the Seventh Schedule to the Act to incentivise production of these minerals which are found in small quantity and are difficult to mine and process.