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The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
CM Revanth Reddy gets PM Modi's time, not Rahul Gandhi's appointment: BJP
The BJP Telangana unit has said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi denying appointment to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is an 'insult' to the people of Telangana. 'The Chief Minister made 46 trips to Delhi in the last 19 months. Neither Mr. Gandhi nor other senior Congress leaders had bothered to meet him. But, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Central Ministers gave appointments to Mr. Revanth Reddy,' reminded State BJP president N. Ramchander Rao on Monday. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi at the Telangana Bhavan, the BJP chief said Congress leaders are 'fooling' the Telangana people with regard to the 42% quota bill for the Backward Classes (BCs) and deliberately enacting a 'drama' to avoid holding local body polls. Reiterating the party's stand against including 10% Muslims quota in the 42% reservation for the BCs, he questioned the government's seriousness about the reservations as it seemed to have overlooked the prevailing legal issues pending in the Supreme Court. 'Does the Congress government know the procedure to include the BCs quota in the Ninth Schedule? What is the opinion of their legal advisors? The government has to amend section 285 of the Panchayat Raj Act to include the BC quota,' he said. It is not fair on the part of the State government to blame the Centre without having a clear idea on how to go about implementing the BCs quota in the forthcoming local body elections, he maintained and said that even if the quota is inserted into the Ninth Schedule, it can still come under the judicial review as was made clear in the 1973 Kesavanand Bharati case by the SC.
The Print
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Rahul & Kharge write to PM Modi, urge him to fulfil promise of restoring statehood to J&K
'For the past five years, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have consistently called for the restoration of statehood. This demand is both legitimate and firmly grounded in their constitutional and democratic rights. It is important to recognise that while there have been instances of Union Territories being granted statehood in the past, the case of Jammu and Kashmir is without precedent in independent India,' states the joint letter penned by Rahul and Kharge. Their push comes at a time when political tensions are rising in Srinagar, with Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah clashing with Lt Governor Manoj Sinha over matters of jurisdiction—a marked shift from the relative diffidence that had characterised much of his eight-month tenure so far. With six MLAs in the 90-member legislative assembly, Congress is a member of Jammu and Kashmir's ruling alliance led by National Conference. However, of late, the ties between the two parties have been frosty with Abdullah disapproving of the Congress's allegations on EVM tampering, and the rudderless state of the INDIA bloc. Even on Monday, when various opposition parties criticised the L-G's administration for using security forces in an attempt to physically prevent Abdullah from visiting the Naqshband Sahib graveyard in Srinagar to pay tribute to those killed by the Dogra army in 1931, the Congress national leadership remained silent. The party's Jammu and Kashmir unit president, Tariq Hameed Karra, had however condemned the incident. In their letter, Rahul and Kharge did not refer to Monday's events, but reminded the PM of his promise to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, which was made a Union Territory in August 2019 along with the abrogation of Article 370, under which it enjoyed special status. Since then, the Congress has tip-toed around the demand for the restoration of Article 370—from criticising the manner in which it was abrogated at times to arguing that the Supreme Court upholding the Centre's move has effectively put a lid on the matter. The party has been consistently demanding statehood be returned to Jammu and Kashmir, which Rahul and Kharge reiterated in their letter. The two leaders mentioned that the Union government made assurances before the Supreme Court in a matter regarding Article 370, submitting that statehood would be restored 'at the earliest and as soon as possible'. A request was also put forth to include the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, which provides autonomy and self-governance to the Scheduled Tribes in the hilly regions of the Northeast. 'This would be a significant step towards addressing the cultural, developmental, and political aspirations of the people of Ladakh, while safeguarding their rights, land, and identity,' they said in the letter. (Edited by Shashank Kishan) Also Read: Martyrs' Day row has reopened Kashmir's deepest wounds
United News of India
16-07-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
Kharge, Rahul write to PM, urge govt to bring legislation on J&K statehood
New Delhi, July 16 (UNI) Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge today jointly wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting the Centre to bring a legislation in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament to grant full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. Pointing to the fact that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been putting forward the demand which is legitimate and constitutionally correct, Kharge and Gandhi said, "For the past five years, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have consistently called for the restoration of full statehood. This demand is both legitimate and firmly grounded in their constitutional and democratic rights." "It is important to recognise that while there have been instances of Union Territories being granted statehood in the past, the case of Jammu and Kashmir is without precedent in independent India. This is the first time a full-fledged state has been downgraded to a Union Territory following its bifurcation," Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Gandhi said. "Your goodself has, on multiple occasions, personally reiterated the government's commitment to restoring statehood. In your interview in Bhubaneswar on 19 May 2024, you stated: 'The restoration of statehood is a solemn promise we have made and we stand by it'. Again, while addressing a rally in Srinagar on September 19 2024, you reaffirmed: 'We have said in Parliament that we will restore the region's statehood'," they said in their letter to PM Modi. Congress leaders said the people of Jammu and Kashmir, for the past five years, have constantly called for the full restoration of statehood, which was removed after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. "Furthermore, the Union Government has made similar assurances before the Supreme Court in the Article 370 matter, submitting that statehood would be restored "at the earliest", they pointed out. "In view of the foregoing and aforementioned, we urge upon the government to bring forward a legislation in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament to grant full statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir," Kharge and Gandhi said. "Additionally, we request that the government to bring forward legislation to include the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution," they said. This would be a significant step towards addressing the cultural, developmental, and political aspirations of the people of Ladakh, while safeguarding their rights, land, and identity, the Congress leaders said in their letter. UNI AAB PRS
Indian Express
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
LOPs Rahul Gandhi, Kharge write to PM Modi seeking J&K statehood legislation in Monsoon Session of Parliament
Leaders of Opposition in both Houses of Parliament – Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge – on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking to introduce a legislation in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament to grant full statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The letter comes a day after Congress leaders, after a meeting of the party's top brass, said the issue will be raised prominently in the Monsoon Session, which begins on Monday. In their joint letter, Gandhi and Kharge wrote: 'For the past five years, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have consistently called for the restoration of full statehood. This demand is both legitimate and firmly grounded in their constitutional and democratic rights.' The Congress leaders said it was 'important' to recognise that while there have been instances of Union territories being granted statehood in the past, the case of Jammu and Kashmir is without precedent in independent India. 'This is the first time a full-fledged state has been downgraded to a Union territory following its bifurcation,' read the letter. It further said that PM Modi has on multiple occasions, personally reiterated the government's commitment to restoring statehood. 'In your interview in Bhubaneswar on 19 May 2024, you stated: 'The restoration of statehood is a solemn promise we have made and we stand by it.' Again, while addressing a rally in Srinagar on 19 September 2024, you reaffirmed: 'We have said in Parliament that we will restore the region's statehood',' the letter read. It also mentioned that the Centre has made 'similar assurances' before the Supreme Court, during hearings on matters related to the abrogation of Article 370, that statehood would be restored 'at the earliest and as soon as possible.' 'In view of the foregoing and aforementioned, we urge upon the Government to bring forward a legislation in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament to grant full statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,' the letter added. 'Include Ladakh under Sixth Schedule' The two LOPs also requested that the government bring forward legislation to include the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. 'This would be a significant step towards addressing the cultural, developmental, and political aspirations of the people of Ladakh, while safeguarding their rights, land, and identity,' it said. On August 5, 2019, Jammu and Kashmir was divided into two Union territories after the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status. Following the repeal of Article 370 and the subsequent enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, Ladakh has been recognised as a separate Union territory 'without legislature'. Ever since the separation, there has been a demand that Ladakh be included under the Sixth Schedule which contains provisions regarding the administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
The Hindu
15-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Hindu
Land identified for setting up maintenance facility for Vande Bharat coaches in Tiruchi
About 30 acres of railway land in Tiruchi has been earmarked for setting up a dedicated facility for the maintenance of Vande Bharat Express trains. The land is near the upcoming Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) shed near Manjathidal railway station. It was identified by the authorities of the Golden Rock Railway Workshop here. Ashish Sharma, Additional Member (Mechanical Engineering), Railway Board, New Delhi, visited the site on Thursday. The Railway Board nominated the Golden Rock Railway Workshop two months ago to undertake SS-I (Shop Schedule) and other major schedules of the Vande Bharat train sets in the place of Perambur Workshop in Chennai. This is a ₹300-crore project. 'If required, more railway land will be utilised,' said the workshop authorities. The workshop has prepared the abstract estimate for the establishment of the new facility and it will be reviewed by the Southern Railway. The estimate includes machinery and plant requirements, civil works, and overhead electrical arrangements required for the maintenance of Vande Bharat coaches, the authorities said. Built during the British era, the Golden Rock Railway Workshop takes up a variety of tasks such as periodic overhaul of diesel locomotives and passenger coaches, manufacture of wagons and automobile carriers besides undertaking periodic overhauling of steam locomotives operated in the Nilgiri Mountain Railway section. Some technical personnel of the workshop were sent to various railway workshops across the country handling the maintenance of Vande Bharat coaches to gain first hand experience and ascertain the requirements for setting up the facility in Tiruchi. The Vande Bharat trains have strong safety features, including the Kavach safety system, and can run up to a speed of 160 kmph.
