Won't politicise Ahmedabad plane crash: Shivakumar
Bengaluru: Lashingout at the BJP and JDS for their 'politics over dead bodies' brand of politics, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday said that the Congress party would not politicise the Ahmedabad plane crash.
'We won't stoop to the lows of BJP and JDS and won't try to politicise the Ahmedabad plane crash,' the DCM said while speaking to reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence.
Replying to queries, he said, 'A tragedy like the Ahmedabad plane crash should not happen anywhere in the world. It is devastating to see the crash site. Thousands of people would have died had the plane travelled another 500 meters before crashing. Unfortunately, several students of a medical college are dead in the crash and many are traumatised. A Congress party delegation under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge met some of the injured and enquired about their health.'
Asked if questions are being raised about the functioning of the Union Aviation Minister, he said, 'We refuse to do politics over dead bodies. We can talk a lot of things comparing it to how things were handled in the past, but we do not want to stoop to their level. There are many technical aspects to this crash. I am not an expert and I won't criticise the Union Aviation Minister at this juncture. It is a serious issue.'
Asked about Kumaraswamy's statement that he would have given Rs 5000 under Gruhalakshmi given the amount of taxes the state government was collecting, he said, 'Happy to hear that, let him get well soon.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
22 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll: As canvassing nears end, SAD & AAP steal glances at Fountain Chowk
The penultimate day of campaign for the Ludhiana West Assembly by-election, scheduled on June 19, on Monday threw traffic out of gear, creating chaos, confusion and tense moments. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal launched his roadshow at Jawahar Nagar Camp and moved towards the road opposite ESI Hospital near the bus stand. Despite intermittent rains, the show of strength continued uninterrupted, with Sukhbir standing in an open SUV, greeting people alongside the route. When the SAD roadshow approached Fountain Chowk, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rally was in progress there. To avoid a direct clash, the SAD procession was diverted via Sutlej Club road before rejoining the original route at Fountain Chowk and then towards Rani Jhansi road. At one point, the SAD roadshow passed close to the AAP rally venue, prompting supporters from both sides to raise slogans in support of their respective parties. The AAP rally had party candidate Sanjeev Arora, senior Dalit leader Vijay Danav, a former SAD member, star campaigner Rakhi Birla among others present at the venue. AAP leaders also organised a bike rally starting from fountain chowk amid rain. Speaking on the occasion Rakhi Birla said,' overwhelming public response clearly indicates that Arora will win the seat by a huge margin. She said the voters are not just electing an MLA, but a future Cabinet Minister, as both AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann have already endorsed Arora's elevation post-election. She praised Arora as a hardworking, development-focused leader who is personally reaching out to every voter in the constituency.' Addressing party supporters, Sukhbir said, 'The massive response to our roadshow proves the people of Ludhiana are fed up with Congress's gundagardi candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu and the complete failure of the AAP government in resolving their issues. Development is at an all-time low, with no civic works being undertaken in the city in the past eight years. The SAD is known for carrying out speedy development, be it flyovers or the Southern bypass, all major infrastructure development came up during the SAD tenure.' However, the situation grew complicated as the SAD roadshow proceeded further through Rani Jhansi road and towards Ghumar Mandi, with its final destination being Aarti Chowk. Due to the rain and route diversions, the roadshow was delayed, leading to another heated face-off between SAD and BJP supporters near Ghumar Mandi around 7 pm, with both sides raising their party slogans. To prevent escalation, BJP's former state president Avinash Rai Khanna instructed party workers to halt briefly near Shenshah Palace, allowing the SAD procession, which concluded at Aarti Chowk by around 7.15 pm, paving the way for the BJP roadshow. The BJP roadshow had their state president Sunil Jakhar, Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur, union minister of state Ravneet Singh Bittu, BJP candidate Jiwan Gupta among others which started from Shahenshah palace on Ferozepur road and travelled across Ghumar Mandi. Anurag Thakur said that AAP people first looted the people of Delhi. 'When the people of Delhi rejected them, now they have turned towards Punjab. Sunil Jakhar said that seeing the huge crowd in the road show, it seems that the people of Ludhiana have accepted Jiwan Gupta even before the voting. BJP candidate Jiwan Gupta said,' in three and a half years, the AAP government did not do any concrete work for the development of the constituency. Now in one and a half years, with which Aladdin's lamp will the area be developed?'
Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
Congress says open to "respectful and suitable" alliance in UP but also focused on rebuilding its strength on ground
Congress is in the middle of a month-long organisation-building campaign across all 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh (UP) to strengthen its grassroots presence and the party is hopeful of striking a "respectful and suitable" alliance to take on the BJP in the 2027 assembly polls . In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections , the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance delivered a strong performance-the Congress winning six of the 17 seats it contested and the SP bagging 37 seats-reducing the BJP's tally from 62 to 33 in UP, the most populous state in the country. Perhaps that is why Congress general secretary and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pande told PTI that while the party is focused on rebuilding its grassroots presence across the state, it would, in all likelihood, look to enter into a "respectable and suitable alliance" under the INDIA bloc to take on the BJP in the next round of elections." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Co-Founder of Google Brain, Andrew Ng, Recommends: "These 5 Books Will Turn Your Life Around" Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List For the moment however, Pande said, the party in the middle of "Sangathan Srijan" (organisation building) campaign across all 75 districts in UP is also gearing up for the panchayat polls, which would be held in 2026, a year ahead of the 2027 polls. Pande who is on a seven-day tour of the state, meeting district-level leaders and workers to assess progress and energise the cadre said a 100-day programme has been launched to drive the effort, with trained professionals overseeing implementation as the Congress is eyeing the panchayat polls to increase its rural penetration in UP. Live Events In the 2022 state polls, the two parties had contested separately. While SP improved its count from 47 to 111 seats, Congress was reduced to just two. "Talking about the alliance, the INDIA bloc is very much in existence but as you know, an alliance of the regional parties and us (Congress) as a national party came together to give a strong opposition to the BJP. So, we are strengthening our organisation and because of that we will come together as a strong alliance," Pande said. "We are trying to build our party stronger so that in case if we have a respectable and suitable alliance at the time of elections to defeat the BJP, then we should be in a good position to give a befitting result," he added. On the rise of regional parties like the SP and BSP and the BJP's current dominance, Pande said, "I must tell you that regional parties came much, much later than the Congress, which was giving good governance to the people in Uttar Pradesh right from the freedom and after the formation of the state." "At present, we are focused on organisation rebuilding of the party in Uttar Pradesh, not just for contesting the elections alone but also doing a lot of other works which are directly related to the cause of the people and the welfare of the state." Pande also hit out at the BJP government , accusing it of autocratic functioning and side-lining the democratic role of the opposition. "One thing that everybody can see is that the government is biased and trying to violate the Constitution by taking autocratic decisions. You can see all the decisions are being taken by suppressing the opposition, which is not being accorded due respect," he said. He added, "Obviously, it is the government which is responsible for carrying people's liking and welfare. They should take care of people's welfare-whether it is for infrastructure, education, employment or inflation. Congress is performing its responsibility as Opposition with full ability and best intentions." On the organisational front, the senior Congress leader said the party's "Sangathan Srijan" campaign aims to rebuild its structure at five levels-state, district, block, mandal, and booth-following a resolution passed at the AICC plenary session. "This is being undertaken in a phased manner under the leadership of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee and the guidance of the party's central leadership," he said. On Congress' relevance in UP today, Pande said, "I must tell you that Congress is the country's oldest party which played a role in the freedom struggle. It has always been very relevant and ideologically very close to the psyche of the common Indian," he added. "The Congress in UP is trying to restructure itself from the state level to the booth level," he added. "There is a visible sense of enthusiasm among the party workers, and I am confident Congress will perform well in the 2026 panchayat elections, the 2027 assembly elections, and the 2029 general elections. We aim to regain public trust and serve the people of Uttar Pradesh in line with their expectations," he said.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
33 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Open to alliance in UP but focused on rebuilding strength on ground: Cong
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance delivered a strong performancethe Congress winning six of the 17 seats it contested and the SP bagging 37 seats Press Trust of India Lucknow Congress is in the middle of a month-long organisation-building campaign across all 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh (UP) to strengthen its grassroots presence and the party is hopeful of striking a respectful and suitable alliance to take on the BJP in the 2027 assembly polls. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance delivered a strong performancethe Congress winning six of the 17 seats it contested and the SP bagging 37 seats reducing the BJP's tally from 62 to 33 in UP, the most populous state in the country. Perhaps that is why Congress general secretary and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pande told PTI that while the party is focused on rebuilding its grassroots presence across the state, it would, in all likelihood, look to enter into a respectable and suitable alliance under the INDIA bloc to take on the BJP in the next round of elections. For the moment however, Pande said, the party in the middle of "Sangathan Srijan" (organisation building) campaign across all 75 districts in UP is also gearing up for the panchayat polls, which would be held in 2026, a year ahead of the 2027 polls. Pande who is on a seven-day tour of the state, meeting district-level leaders and workers to assess progress and energise the cadre said a 100-day programme has been launched to drive the effort, with trained professionals overseeing implementation as the Congress is eyeing the panchayat polls to increase its rural penetration in UP. In the 2022 state polls, the two parties had contested separately. While SP improved its count from 47 to 111 seats, Congress was reduced to just two. "Talking about the alliance, the INDIA bloc is very much in existence but as you know, an alliance of the regional parties and us (Congress) as a national party came together to give a strong opposition to the BJP. So, we are strengthening our organisation and because of that we will come together as a strong alliance," Pande told PTI. "We are trying to build our party stronger so that in case if we have a respectable and suitable alliance at the time of elections to defeat the BJP, then we should be in a good position to give a befitting result," he added. On the rise of regional parties like the SP and BSP and the BJP's current dominance, Pande said, I must tell you that regional parties came much, much later than the Congress, which was giving good governance to the people in Uttar Pradesh right from the freedom and after the formation of the state." "At present, we are focused on organisation rebuilding of the party in Uttar Pradesh, not just for contesting the elections alone but also doing a lot of other works which are directly related to the cause of the people and the welfare of the state." Pande also hit out at the BJP government, accusing it of autocratic functioning and side-lining the democratic role of the opposition. One thing that everybody can see is that the government is biased and trying to violate the Constitution by taking autocratic decisions. You can see all the decisions are being taken by suppressing the opposition, which is not being accorded due respect, he said. He added, Obviously it is the government which is responsible to carry people's liking and welfare. They should take care of people's welfarewhether it is for infrastructure, education, employment or inflation. Congress is performing its responsibility as Opposition with full ability and best intentions. On the organisational front, the senior Congress leader said the party's "Sangathan Srijan" campaign aims to rebuild its structure at five levelsstate, district, block, mandal, and boothfollowing a resolution passed at the AICC plenary session. This is being undertaken in a phased manner under the leadership of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee and the guidance of the party's central leadership, he said. On Congress' relevance in UP today, Pande said, I must tell you that Congress is the country's oldest party which played a role in the freedom struggle. It has always been very relevant and ideologically very close to the psyche of the common Indian, he added. The Congress in UP is trying to restructure itself from the state level to the booth level, he added. There is a visible sense of enthusiasm among the party workers, and I am confident Congress will perform well in the 2026 panchayat elections, the 2027 assembly elections, and the 2029 general elections. We aim to regain public trust and serve the people of Uttar Pradesh in line with their expectations, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
