logo
Cong must name its meeting ‘Samajika Anyaya Samara Bheri': Bandi Sanjay

Cong must name its meeting ‘Samajika Anyaya Samara Bheri': Bandi Sanjay

Hans India11 hours ago
Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar questioned the Congress party holding the 'Samajika Samara Bheri' (public meeting on struggles for Social Justice) in the city, attended by AICC Chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
He said on Friday, the Congress party has ruled the 'country and our state for more than half a century, yet has never appointed a Backward Class (BC) person as Prime Minister or Chief Minister.' It exposes the betrayal of the people, especially as they have failed to implement even the six guarantees that would primarily benefit Dalits, backwards classes, and weaker sections. Against this backdrop, he demanded the justification for holding the meeting. He demanded that AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge answer the people. Otherwise, this meeting should be renamed to 'Social Injustice Samara Bheri.'
He said in contrast to the Congress, the BJP appointed Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit; Draupadi Murmu, a tribal; and Abdul Kalam, a minority, as President. The BJP's history includes providing positions to 27 OBCs, 12 Dalits, 6 minorities, and 8 women in the central cabinet—a historic achievement. The BJP has also appointed him, a BC, as a central minister. Sanjay Kumar noted that he, along with other BC leaders like Dr. K. Laxman and Bandaru Dattatreya, has received significant positions. The Congress party, which once mocked Modi—who also comes from a BC background—as a 'chaiwala' if he were Prime Minister, has much to answer for.
The Karimnagar MP recalled Modi's announcement that if the BJP comes to power in Telangana, a BC will become the Chief Minister. He further challenged Congress on how many BCs have been appointed in the Congress state's cabinet, 'even though they claim that BCs make up more than 50 per cent of the population.' He pointed out that if BC leader Ponnam Prabhakar had been given a position, it would have been a step toward justice for BCs. How can Congress justify holding a social justice rally when they have denied BC representation?
He also criticized the Congress for failing to provide women with promised financial support, such as Rs. 2,500 per month, Rs. 4,000 as a pension, Rs. 4,000 as unemployment benefits, Rs. 5 lakh in assurance for students, and Rs. 21,000 per acre for farmers, along with bonus payments. Why have they failed to deliver on the 420 promises in their manifesto, including the six guarantees? AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge needs to address these questions at the social justice rally, he demanded.
Regarding the shortage of fertilisers, he stated that the Congress and BRS parties are unfairly blaming the central government for the urea shortage as the local body elections approach. Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, who is experienced, is being misled by wrong information. During the last agriculture season, 'Telangana required 9 lakh metric tons of urea, but the central government supplied 12 lakh metric tons. It was 3 lakh metric tons more than what the state of Telangana requested. The Centre is willing to provide the same or more during the current agriculture season.' However, he questioned where the additional urea that remained from the earlier agriculture season went and criticised the state for blaming the Centre without accounting for these discrepancies. 'The onus is on the state government to take appropriate action if there are any hurdles. The Centre is willing to consider Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao's requests favourably. The state must communicate the facts to the public.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Suggest ways to overcome booth-wise vote margin deficit: Bengal BJP chief to affiliated organisations
Suggest ways to overcome booth-wise vote margin deficit: Bengal BJP chief to affiliated organisations

Hans India

time11 minutes ago

  • Hans India

Suggest ways to overcome booth-wise vote margin deficit: Bengal BJP chief to affiliated organisations

Kolkata: Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya has directed its affiliated organisations to suggest strategies to overcome or minimise the booth-wise vote margin deficit with Trinamool Congress in the crucial Assembly elections scheduled next year. According to the BJP state committee, Bhattacharya is of the view that the role of the affiliated organisations will be equally crucial to that of the state party unit in overcoming or minimising the booth-wise vote margin deficit with Trinamool Congress. "Precisely that is why he had meetings with the representatives of the affiliated organisations on Friday evening. The party's central observers, Sunil Bansal and Mangal Pandey, were also present at the meeting. In that meeting, Bhattacharya directed the representatives of the different mass organisations to immediately start the process for calculating the booth-wise vote margin deficits and suggest strategies to overcome them," said the state committee member on Saturday. As of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the votes secured by the BJP were 23,327,349 against Trinamool Congress' 27,564,561, which meant the vote margin deficit was 42,37,212. Percentage-wise, the BJP secured 40.7 per cent as against Trinamool Congress's figure of 43.3 per cent. On the other hand, in 2024, the Congress-Left Front alliance secured 62,35,669 popular votes. "As per a rough internal calculation, considering that Muslim votes went to Trinamool Congress' kitty in 2024, the majority of 62 lakh votes that went in favour of the Congress-Left Front alliance were Hindu votes or votes from non-Muslim other religions. Now, if we can turn around and consolidate a large portion of these Hindu votes in our favour in 2026, the vote margin deficit of around 42 lakhs could be minimised to a great extent," said the state committee member. At the same time, efforts will be made to consolidate Hindu votes from non-Muslim other religions, which went to Trinamool Congress till the 2024 polls, into the BJP's fold, he said. Bhattacharya also admitted that the vote consolidation process, as aimed by the BJP, will be comparatively easier in the metro and urban pockets than in the rural belts.

Nehal Modi was in US jail for 3 years before arrest in PNB scam: Sources
Nehal Modi was in US jail for 3 years before arrest in PNB scam: Sources

India Today

time20 minutes ago

  • India Today

Nehal Modi was in US jail for 3 years before arrest in PNB scam: Sources

Nehal Modi, the younger brother of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, arrested in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, was released from a US jail after serving a three-year jail term, sources told India Today said Nehal Modi, a Belgian national, was arrested again on Friday for the offences he had committed in India and after Interpol had issued a Red Notice against Modi, who was taken into custody on Friday, faces two charges - money laundering under Section 3 of PMLA and criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence, according to a US prosecution complaint. Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi, Nehal Modi and others are wanted by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for cheating PNB of about Rs 13,500 crore in loans using fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs).While Nirav Modi's extradition has already been approved by the UK High Court, the process to bring him to India is being delayed due to him filing numerous appeals. Nirav, who is in a London jail, was declared a fugitive economic offender in this year, the Belgian government said Choksi, 65, was arrested in Antwerp following an extradition request by India. Choksi fled India in 2018 and has been living in Antigua and Barbuda as a citizen since MODI'S CRIMINAL ACTIVITIESAccording to investigative agencies, Nehal Modi knowingly and intentionally participated in assisting the concealment of proceeds of crime, destroying the Modi was personally overseeing all the accounts, records were eliminated and was influencing the employees and participated in destroying the evidence in respect of the money trail. He also dealt with the proceeds of the crime by taking 50 kgs of gold from Firestar Diamond FZE, Dubai after the initiation of an investigation into this the scam broke out, Nehal Modi dealt with the proceeds of the crime in respect of the Nirav Modi case and took away diamonds having a value of USD 6 million and 150 boxes of pearls from Hong Kong and cash of AED 3.5 million and 50 kgs of gold, along with Mihir Bhansali, another coconspirator from Modi destroyed digital evidence (mobile phones and servers) pertaining to the Nirav Modi case in Dubai. He intimidated the witnesses and sent them to Cairo and their passports were taken over at his were forced to sign some false papers in Cairo at his insistence. In one case, a witness was offered Rs 20 lakh by Nehal Modi in lieu of tendering false testimony before the judicial authorities of Indian government officially demanded the extradition of Nehal Modi, on which action has now been taken by the US. It is expected that the process of bringing Nehal Modi to India will begin soon.- Ends

Sajad Lone: ‘Post-polls, Omar sounds and behaves more BJP than BJP… So-called secular media grills us, the oligarchs are let off'
Sajad Lone: ‘Post-polls, Omar sounds and behaves more BJP than BJP… So-called secular media grills us, the oligarchs are let off'

Indian Express

time24 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

Sajad Lone: ‘Post-polls, Omar sounds and behaves more BJP than BJP… So-called secular media grills us, the oligarchs are let off'

Sajad Lone's Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference (JKPC), Hakim Yasin's People's Democratic Front (PDF) and a Jamaat-e-Islami faction Justice and Development Front (JDF) that contested the 2024 J&K Assembly polls, have recently formed an alliance to offer a political 'alternative' in the Union Territory. The alliance has been named the People's Alliance for Change (PAC). In an interview with The Indian Express, Sajad Lone speaks on a range of issues including the PAC's roadmap and the performance of the Omar Abdullah-led National Conference (NC) government in J&K. Excerpts: I believe it (the alliance) is the need of the moment. J&K politics has been plagued with a unique type of barrenness for decades. The same set faces in different forms and nomenclatures have ruled (J&K). It is dynastic and oligopolistic. Rulers changed all across the country. But despite three decades of violence, thousands of fatalities, high unemployment rates, the same set of rulers have persisted. One needs a broader alliance where we can pool our strengths, and truthfully create a feeling of an alternative, viable platform. And there is a shared past. A past defined by pain. The alliance can identify with the pain (of Kashmiris). Ironically, while almost all Kashmiris can narrate some incidents of pain, the only few who cannot are the ones who have been the rulers in the last three decades. The exigencies of governance were such that during their rule, people died, or were jailed, or tortured. Why are Kashmiris repeatedly electing the same set of people? Either Kashmiris do not know how to vote or the system is preset in such a manner that Kashmiris vote for a preset choice. We have our ideological differences within the alliance, but we have decided to work on the overlaps. This alliance works within the Constitution of India, and believes in the concept of India. It is as mainstream as any other party taking part in elections. And there should be no impediments created. The upheaval in the last three decades and the resultant pain is a function of denial of democracy. Let us hope that overtly or covertly the same denial does not prevail now. The pain of the past can be an enabler if it is used for reconciliation. There has to be a process to accept the (pain) and do what it takes to extricate them from the psyche. The belief that pain exists and is not imaginary is a point of convergence (for the alliance). You have to understand that the system is set in a particular way. The moment someone from the huge army of victims (in J&K) dares to challenge the incumbents, the existing oligarchs forget their internecine wars, get together, and accuse the newcomers of political treason. Before the BJP came to power, they would accuse them of being agents of the central covert agencies. After the BJP came to power, it is more fashionable to accuse them of being in league with the BJP. It is a different matter that there is not a single (ruling) party (in J&K) that has not had an alliance with BJP… For example, Mr Omar Abdullah was the junior foreign minister in the NDA regime under Mr (Atal Behari) Vajpayee… At a time when violence was high in Kashmir… This invariably meant that human right violations were rampant and it was the junior foreign minister Omar Abdullah's duty to blindly defend every killing in the Valley as genuine and deserving. (People's Democratic Party's) Mehbooba Mufti was the CM in coalition with the BJP. And post (the 2024) elections Omar Abdullah sounds, looks and behaves more like the BJP than even the BJP. While the so-called secular media in India will grill us, the oligarchs will be let off and barely asked any questions about their dalliances with the BJP. People of Kashmir too have to introspect and decide whose side they are on. Are they going to support those who scripted disasters — from rigging of 1987 elections to presiding over massacres, to blinding people… Or are they going to give dignity a chance and punish those who have punished the Kashmiris? I believe that an alliance should be stitched maybe even a decade in advance. You have national alliances. They do not wait for elections. Why should we wait? Why should it be linked? There are panchayat elections, and there are by-elections. I do not see any reason why we should wait for the next five years. And the group is going to grow. More people may join. *The Omar Abdullah government has said that J&K cannot function under the dual control of the CM office and the Raj Bhawan. How do you see this row? I think statehood is a matter of our rights, not charity. We all knew before elections that we are a UT. There are limited powers… When it comes to weaponising transfers of government employees, denying funds to constituencies of rivals, corruption, this government is second to none. It is only when it comes to delivering that the ruling party in unison complains of being powerless. The NC has been in power earlier too. And in their earlier tenures when we had full statehood and Article 370, they did not deliver then… Why do you expect them to deliver now? The NC had promised the moon to the electorate… They promised free electricity for up to 200 units… 12 gas cylinders per year, regularising 61,000 daily wagers… creating 1,00,000 new jobs. I have calculated that their promises would cost the exchequer Rs 12,000 crore per year. Where will they get it from? While I bat for statehood and believe it is humiliating to live as a UT, absence of statehood should not be used as an excuse by the NC to renege on the promises made during elections. But an Omar Abdullah who leaves no chance in singing hymns in praise of Modi ji, and bends over backwards trying to please them, should be the last person to talk about dual control. The Assembly is the constitutional institution to raise such issues. In the Assembly, he has been praising Modi ji. Outside the Assembly, he talks about dual control and that too obliquely. He is not willing to confront the BJP. We have so many Opposition Chief Ministers in the country. How many of them are chasing BJP leaders with expensive Kashmiri shawls? I believe, today, retrospectively, that Omar Abdullah should not have become the Chief Minister. As a mark of protest. This is totally a personal observation. It's not a political observation. It is humiliating to see him taking the knee at any given opportunity. What government? It is a big mess. Governance seems to be on a pause mode. We are into the tenth month of government. The Cabinet is yet to be expanded. There are only four ministers. Mr Omar Abdullah apparently has 32 big and small departments. How can he run so many departments? He is never in his office. J&K is administratively destined for disaster. *A subject that has been most debated since the NC came to power is the rationalisation of reservations. You have stated your position on the subject but what, to your mind, is a clear, workable solution on this issue? Reservation is a tool used to disempower the Kashmiri-speaking ethnic group. Time has come to call a spade a spade. It is advantageous to Jammu and disadvantageous to Kashmir. The recruitment lists released in the last few years follow a trend. The Kashmiris who make up about 65% of the population have been relegated to 20% in the recruitment lists. And this started in Congress time between 2002 to 2008. And has been carried on by the BJP. This is the typical national interest consensus. No national party or leader talks about it. The recurring national interest unanimous theme is that Kashmiris need to be taught a lesson. I have presented data in the Assembly which proves that approximately 80% of Jammu population is in the reserved category. They have crossed the line in reservations and they are in the process of signing a post dated cheque for disaster.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store