BJP MLA says he is ready for public debate with CM on Centre's grants to Mysuru
He accused the Chief Minister of not speaking the truth during the Sadhana Samavesha that was held in Mysuru recently, where Mr. Siddaramaiah had claimed that the Centre had not given anything to the district.
Responding to the Chief Minister's challenge for a debate on the Centre's aid to the district, Mr. Srivatsa told reporters in Mysuru that he accepts the challenge. 'The Chief Minister can make it public how much is the Centre's contribution and how much funds the State government has granted to the district,' he said.
He alleged that the Sadhana Samavesha was organised with the sole agenda of targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He argued that the Centre's contribution to Mysuru's development has been significant, citing ₹2,627 crore for highway development, funds for railway underbridge works, and ₹1,393 crore under Jal Jeevan Mission.
He alleged that these works were not mentioned at the event.
Mr. Srivatsa said Mysuru received over ₹3,000 crore under the MUDRA scheme benefiting over 5.38 lakh people, with total grants under the scheme so far reaching ₹10,000 crore in the district. He also said 6,000 people were trained under the PM Vishwakarma scheme.
Accusing the State government of protocol violations during the samavesha, Mr. Srivatsa questioned why the programme included All India Congress Committee in charge Randeep Surjewala's name but not that of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. 'What is the connection between Mr. Surjewala and the samavesha?' he asked.
He alleged that although Congress leaders described the event as a government programme, it turned out to be a Congress event and a show of strength for the Chief Minister.
Former MLA L. Nagendra, party spokesperson M.A. Mohan, and others were present.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scroll.in
15 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
No such category as ‘suspicious voters' under law, poll body tells Rajya Sabha
The Election Commission on Thursday clarified that there is no category of 'suspicious voters' under the 1951 Representation of the People Act. The poll panel's statement was conveyed to the Rajya Sabha through a written reply by Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal amid the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. Meghwal was responding to a question from Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman, who sought to know whether such voters had participated in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The clarification comes even as the poll body is reviewing voter rolls in Bihar, with one of the reasons it had cited being the alleged inclusion of foreign illegal immigrants over time. In response to a separate question from Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha, Meghwal also said that the process of linking Aadhaar cards with the Election Photo Identity Cards has not yet begun. He added that following a 2021 amendment to the Representation of the People Act, the poll body began collecting Aadhaar details from voters on a voluntary basis starting August 1, 2022. The clarification comes four months after the Election Commission announced plans to start the process to link voter ID cards with the Aadhaar database. In a press note on March 18, the electoral body had said that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had discussed the matter with senior officials from the Union Home Ministry, Legislative Department and Unique Identification Authority of India. The Election Commission had clarified that under Article 326 of the Constitution, only Indian citizens are eligible to vote, while the Aadhaar card serves only as proof of identity, not citizenship. The decision came weeks after the Trinamool Congress and the Congress alleged that at least 129 voters in Haryana and West Bengal had the same EPIC number, which, according to the commission, is supposed to be unique for every voter. The Congress had called it a 'deliberate act of voter list manipulation' to aid the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Indian Express
15 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Snubbed OPS makes it formal, exits NDA in Tamil Nadu; Vijay's party may be next halt
Former Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK rebel O Panneerselvam on Thursday formally announced his exit from the BJP-led NDA, ending a strained and often ambiguous relationship with the coalition. The move, long anticipated within political circles, came after what supporters of Panneerselvam, commonly known as OPS, described as months of humiliation and political neglect by the BJP's central leadership – with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, most recently, denying him an audience during his visit to the state. The announcement that OPS's outfit AIADMK Cadres' Rights Retrieval Committee was leaving the NDA was made by the ex-CM's aide Panruti S Ramachandran at a press meeting in Chennai Thursday. After declaring that the Committee was leaving the NDA for 'reasons that are well-known to everyone', Ramachandran said OPS would not be aligning with any other party for now and would soon embark on a statewide tour. 'We will consider future alliances depending on the political climate,' he said. OPS, who was present at the press meeting, chose not to speak, directing all questions to Panruti. Top sources close to OPS said the decision to break away from the NDA had been brewing for weeks. 'He felt completely dejected,' said a source familiar with discussions within the party. 'He expected that the Prime Minister would at least meet him during the recent visit. But nothing. That was the final straw.' OPS had requested to be part of the group of leaders who received Modi at the airport in Chennai – a ceremonial gesture but with much political import. However, he was not included, even as leaders like G K Vasan of NDA ally Tamil Maanila Congress were invited to meet Modi. A confidant of OPS, who is no longer active in politics, said the former CM felt 'used' by the Sangh Parivar, alleging that his rebellion against EPS (Edappadi K Palaniswami) in the AIADMK was 'on the advice of BJP and RSS leaders'. 'But eventually, the BJP embraced EPS and ignored OPS. He felt betrayed.' On OPS's next move, a close aide confirmed that discussions with actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) were underway. 'There are only two real options – the DMK or TVK. The TVK is the frontrunner now,' the aide said. He added that OPS may bring along another influential AIADMK rebel, T T V Dhinakaran, which would mark a consolidation of influence across southern Tamil Nadu. The nephew of Sasikala, who was the close confidante of late AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, Dhinakaran has been trying to find his feet in the state just like OPS. A senior TVK leader also indicated the party was open to taking OPS along. 'We have no reason to reject him. He is a former CM. His camp includes an ex-minister and four former MLAs. OPS still holds ground in parts of the state,' the leader said. The DMK was tight-lipped on OPS though, with both camps dismissing speculation that the former CM's decision to leave the NDA had followed a meeting with Stalin during their morning walk. 'They may have crossed paths during walks at the Theosophical Society,' a senior DMK leader said. 'But that means nothing. If they met at the CM's residence, it would be a different story.' As for the NDA, OPS's departure further tethers the BJP's fortunes in Tamil Nadu to the EPS-led AIADMK, though legal battles over the party's control are not over yet. A senior AIADMK leader who was with OPS at the peak of his internal party revolt in 2017 suggested that the leader was left with few choices. 'It is not a decision of strength, but of survival… OPS once believed the BJP would restore his power; instead, he lost his CM post, his party post, his party itself, and his people – and now, even their pretence of support.' The leader alleged that this was a script that was not new for the BJP – 'forcefully own a leader, make him do the worst, drain him, and discard him'.
Hindustan Times
15 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Kolkata: 28-year-old Bangladeshi model held in Bikramgarh for cheating, impersonation
Kolkata: A 28-year-old Bangladeshi model and actor was arrested from the Bikramgarh area of south Kolkata on Wednesday in connection with a cheating case, police said. A first information report (FIR) was registered under cheating and criminal conspiracy against Shanta Pal at the Park Street police station on July 28 (Representative photo) A first information report (FIR) was registered against Shanta Pal at the Park Street police station on July 28. 'A case under cheating and criminal conspiracy was registered and Pal was arrested from her flat. The investigation revealed that she was posing as an Indian national,' a police officer, requesting anonymity, said. The detective department of the Kolkata Police seized two Aadhaar cards, an Indian voter ID card, a ration card, and several documents along with Pal's Bangladeshi passport and some travel papers from Pal. 'The Indian ID documents indicate that Pal posed as a local to run a car rental business. While one Aadhaar card was issued against an address in East Burdwan district five years ago, the other had Pal's Kolkata address. She also has a second address in Kolkata,' the officer added. Pal used to run a food vlog on her Facebook page. She posted her last video on July 28. Amid a political row over the detention of hundreds of migrant workers from West Bengal in states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, and Delhi on the suspicion that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that these detentions are an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to delete the names of a large number of voters from the state's electoral roll before the 2026 assembly polls. The BJP has denied the allegation. The West Bengal Police has launched a helpline to support Bengali-speaking migrant workers amid rising tensions over their alleged harassment in BJP-led states. In response, the BJP has termed the move politically motivated and accused the state police of targeting Bengali Hindus, and the leader of the opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, has launched a parallel helpline for Bengali Hindus in West Bengal.
