Arunachal verdict: Oppn warns Modi against misuse of power

July 13, 2016

New Delhi, Jul 13: Opposition today hit out at the Modi government over the Supreme Court's verdict on Arunachal Pradesh with Congress President Sonia Gandhi saying it will deter it from "misuse of power" and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal calling the order a "tight slap" on its "dictatorial tendencies".narendramodi

Congress also demanded the immediate sacking of Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa and demanded an apology from all those involved in the decision of toppling the government.

Government said it will do a "structured examination" of the order and its implications before making a detailed response.

Putting up a brave front, BJP tried to deflect the criticism saying the political crisis in the state was an outcome of Congress' internal fight and claimed that the order is not a setback to the party.

Top Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the party president asserting that those who trampled upon constitutional propriety and democratic norms stand defeated today.

Rahul Gandhi took a dig at Modi as he thanked the apex court for "explaining to him (PM) what democracy is".

"Those who had trampled upon constitutional propriety and democratic norms have been defeated today. This judgement, that firmly establishes the democratic values enshrined in our constitution, will deter the Union Government from any further misuse of power," Sonia said in a statement.

She also welcomed the "historic" verdict reinstating the "democratically elected and unconstitutionally removed" government.

Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Nabam Tuki, whose government was dismissed, said the order has protected democracy and ensured that justice prevails.

"It paves the way to protect healthy democracy in the country," Tuki said.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal also hit out at the government.
"SC judgement is yet another tight slap on dictatorial Modi govt. Hope Modi ji would learn and now stop interfering in democratically elected governments," Kejriwal tweeted.

The apex court ordered that status quo ante that prevailed on December 15, 2015 be restored in Arunachal Pradesh Assembly.

The judgement is seen as a major setback to the central government and the BJP, which is extending outside support to the Pul government.

Trying to play down the impact on BJP, party's national secretary Shrikant Sharma said,"What happened in Arunachal was an outcome of internal fight within Congress. Its government was reduced to minority after a faction within the party rebelled. We only supported the faction's bid for power from the outside. Congress should not blame us for its internal problems.

"Rahul Gandhi is talking about democracy but he should know that past Congress governments have made a century of the use of Article 356 (of the Constitution) to dismiss state governments."

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who had also got relief from the apex court, lauded the verdict.

"My heartfelt gratitude to the Supreme Court for restoring Cong government in Arunachal Pradesh. Judiciary has restored faith of people in democracy," Rawat said in a social media post.

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News Network
June 27,2020

New Delhi, Jun 27: Fuel prices were hiked by the oil marketing companies for the 21st day in a row on Saturday. Petrol and diesel will now cost Rs 80.38/litre and Rs 80.40/litre respectively in the national capital.

The price of petrol is increased by Rs 0.25 per litre while that of diesel by Rs 0.21 per litre.
Rates differ from state to state depending on the incidence of value-added tax (VAT).

Notably, oil marketing companies have been adjusting retail rates in line with costs after an 82-day break from rate revision amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. These firms on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs.

The Congress party had called the increase in the price of petrol and diesel 'unjust', 'thoughtless' and demanded from the Central government to roll back increase with immediate effect and pass on the benefit of low oil prices directly to the citizens of this country.
In an official statement, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had said that no government should levy and impose such unacceptable strain on its people.

Before the nation entered the lockdown, the average price of petrol and diesel in Delhi was Rs 69.60 per litre and Rs 62.30 per litre respectively.

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News Network
August 7,2020

New Delhi, Aug 7: The Congress on Thursday demanded the removal of Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa from the cabinet and his arrest for his statement that grand Krishna and Vishwanath temples would come up in Mathura and Kashi respectively after "liberating" them.

Mr Eshwarappa made the statement while reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation of the Ram temple in Ayodhya yesterday.

"By asking kar sevaks (volunteers) to launch a similar campaign, the minister (Eshwarappa) is trying to disturb peace in the society," Congress Karnataka unit chief DK Shivakumar said at a press conference in Ballari today.

"Such people should be arrested immediately, police officials should register a case against him and the Chief Minister should remove him from the cabinet,"he said.

Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister Eshwarappa had said on Wednesday that he was of the firm opinion that "if not today, tomorrow, Mathura and Kashi temples will be liberated and grand temples would be built there."

"A place of devotion has to be built in both Kashi and Mathura. There too, grand temples have to be constructed. The mosques have to be removed from there," he said.

Mr Eshwarappa, a former BJP state president, said the centres of Hindu belief, Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura were a kind of a symbol of "slavery" as "temples of our Rama, Krishna and Vishwanath were destroyed and mosques built."

Stating that Mr Eshwarappa is not an individual but a minister who represents the government, Mr Shivakumar on Thursday sought to know from the Chief Minister whether this was his government's stand.

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Agencies
May 27,2020

Global health experts on Wednesday said novel coronavirus is here to stay for more than a year and called for aggressive testing to prevent its spread.

In an interaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, health experts Professor Ashish Jha and Professor Johan Giesecke talked about the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the series being aired on Congress social media channels.

While Jha exuded confidence that a vaccine will be available in a year's time, Prof Giesecke said India should practice a lockdown that is as 'soft' as possible, as a severe lockdown will ruin its economy very quickly.

"When the economy is opened up after lockdown, you have to create confidence among people," Harvard health expert Ashish Jha told Gandhi.

Jha is a professor of Global Health at TH Chan School of Public Health and Director, Harvard Global Health institute.

He said coronavirus is a '12-18 months' problem and the world is not going to be free of this till 2021.

The expert also called for the need for aggressive testing strategy for high-risk areas.

Gandhi, while interacting with the experts, said life is going to change post COVID-19.

"If 9/11 was a new chapter, this will be a new book," he remarked.

Professor Johan Giesecke, former chief scientist, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said India should have a 'soft lockdown'.

"The situation that India is in, I think, you should have a soft lockdown, as soft as possible," he said.

"I think for India, you will ruin your economy very quickly if you have a severe lockdown. It is better, skip the lockdown, take care of the old and the frail...," he noted.

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