Congress discarded 'Dalit' leader S. Kesri for Sonia: Modi

Agencies
November 18, 2018

Mahasamund, Nov 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleged that Sitaram Kesri, who was from a "Dalit and exploited community", was not allowed to complete his term as the Congress president so that Sonia Gandhi could take over the reins of the party.

Speaking at a poll rally here in Chhattisgarh, Modi claimed that Kesri was ousted unceremoniously, "was locked in a bathroom" and "thrown out on the footpath".

"The Congress had said a chaiwala became the prime minister by the grace of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. I challenged them (to show that) when he (Nehru) had established such a democratic and liberal system, then make someone from outside the Gandhi family the Congress president for at least five years," he said.

"The country knows that Sitaram Kesri, who was from a Dalit and exploited community, was not allowed to complete his five-year term as the Congress president and was removed from the post," Modi added.

"The country knows how he was locked in a bathroom and then, thrown out of office and on the footpath to facilitate the entry of Sonia Gandhi as the new party chief," he said.

"The Congress cannot even afford a Dalit and exploited leader as its president for two years, then how can they appoint someone, who is not from the Gandhi family, for five years," he added.

The prime minister was addressing a rally here on the last day of campaigning for the second and final phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls.

Targeting the Gandhi family, he said in the past, "Delhi had a remote-controlled government".

"The remote was in the hands of a family, which was afraid of the BJP," he added.

"Remember the days when four generations of a family ruled the country. What was the fate of the people? They only thought about the welfare of one family but never about the welfare of people. How can we trust them to fulfil the aspirations of people now," Modi said.

He praised the high voter turnout in the Bastar region of the state in the first phase of polling on November 12 and also in the panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Despite being threatened by Naxals with guns and bombs, a huge voter turnout was recorded in Bastar. The poor tribals have shown faith in democracy and given a befitting reply to bombs and guns," Modi said.

"Yesterday, panchayat elections were held in Kashmir. Earlier, people (the rulers) used to avoid conducting polls there. After the governor's rule was imposed, we decided that the power of Kashmir should rest in the hands of the people of Kashmir," he added.

"Terrorists had given a call for a shutdown in Kashmir, but look at the faith of the Kashmiri people in democracy, a voter turnout of around 60-70 per cent was recorded. It is a slap on the face of separatism and terrorism. They (people) have shown the strength of democracy," Modi said.

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 74.1 per cent polling in the first phase of the panchayat polls in 47 blocks Saturday.

"The doors have been opened for the welfare of Kashmir. Who had stopped the Congress from doing this earlier? They played backdoor games with terrorists which will not be allowed anymore. We took courageous steps one by one," the prime minister said.

He targeted Congress chief Rahul Gandhi over farm loan waiver, an issue that has taken centrestage in the Chhattisgarh polls.

"As elections approach, the Congress plays a game of promises. But they cannot mislead the country anymore. They must answer what did they do for the welfare of our farmers when they ruled for four generations.

"They kept the farmers in a pathetic condition during their 50-year rule. Had they strengthened the farmers, fulfilled their requirements, our farmers would have been prosperous," Modi said.

"They are making false promises of loan waiver to the people of Chhattisgarh. The same promise was made to farmers during the Karnataka polls, but even after around a year has passed, the promise is yet to be fulfilled.

"Instead, the government is issuing warrants and arresting the farmers whose debts are outstanding," he added.

Praising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh, Modi said it ensured soil health cards for 75 lakh farmers, adding in a sarcastic vein that the Congress had failed to provide health cards to even humans.

"Though the Raman Singh government is in power in the state for the last 15 years, it got the actual opportunity to work for the welfare of the state after the NDA government came to power...Raman Singh had to fight for the rights of the state with the Congress government at the Centre," he said.

Singh had sought support from the then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to fight Naxals, but the "remote-controlled" government behaved as if Chhattisgarh did not exist, the prime minister said.

He added that if the BJP government under Singh remained in power for another 10-15 years, Chhattisgarh would feature among the top three developed states in the country.

"Chhattisgarh has turned 18. This is a very crucial phase for the state. Just like parents care for the future of their children when they turn 18, I urge the people of the state to think about the welfare of the state and once again give Raman Singh a chance to serve," Modi told the crowd.

The final phase of the Chhattisgarh polls, covering 72 Assembly seats, will be held on November 20. The first phase of polling for 18 seats was held on November 12. The results will be announced on December 11.

Comments

Kannadiga
 - 
Monday, 19 Nov 2018

Mr.Jumble baaj

 

There are so many side lined leaders like advani,  murali manohar josh, yashoda behn and many more.

 

So what will you will say

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 22,2020

Jan 22: India's ranking in the latest global Democracy Index has dropped 10 places to the 51st spot out of 167 owing to violent protests and threats to civil liberties challenging freedoms across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has been criticized by rights groups and western governments after shutting off the internet and mobile phone networks and detaining opposition politicians in Kashmir.

Modi’s government has also responded harshly to ongoing protests against a controversial, religion-based citizenship law. Muslims have said their neighborhoods have been targeted, while the central government has attempted to ban protests and urged TV news channels not to broadcast “anti-national” content. Some leaders in Modi’s ruling party called for “revenge” against protesters. India’s score in 2019 was its worst ranking since the EIU’s records began in 2006, and has fallen gradually since Modi was elected in 2014.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2019 Democracy Index, which provides an annual comparative analysis of political systems across 165 countries and two territories, said the past year was the bleakest for democracies since the research firm began compiling the list in 2006.

“The 2019 result is even worse than that recorded in 2010, in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis,” the research group said in releasing the report on Wednesday.

The average global score slipped to 5.44 out of a possible 10 -- from 5.48 in 2018 -- driven mainly by “sharp regressions” in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa. Apart from coup-prone Thailand, which improved its score after holding an election last year, there were also notable declines in Asia after a tumultuous period of protests and new measures restricting freedom across the region’s democracies.

Asia Declines

Hong Kong, meanwhile, fell three places to rank 75th out of 167 as more than seven months of violent and disruptive protests rocked the Asian financial hub. An aggressive police response early in the unrest, when protests were mostly peaceful, led to a “marked decline in confidence in government -- the main factor behind the decline in the territory’s score in our 2019 index,” the group said.

In Singapore, which ranked alongside Hong Kong at 75th, a new “fake news” law led to a deteriorating score on civil liberties.

“The government claims that the law was enacted simply to prevent the dissemination of false news, but it threatens freedom of expression in Singapore, as it can be used to curtail political debate and silence critics of the government,” EIU analysts said.

China’s score fell to just 2.26 in the EIU’s ranking, placing it near the bottom of the list at 153, as discrimination against minorities, repression and surveillance of the population intensified. Still, in China “the majority of the population is unconvinced that democracy would benefit the economy, and support for democratic ideals is absent,” the EIU said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 24,2020

Kochi, Mar 24: Long queues were witnessed in front of state beverages corporation outlets across Kerala on Tuesday despite the statewide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

As tipplers thronged the outlets unmindful of the curfew, officials asked them to ensure that they kept a one metre distance between them as part of preventive steps to check the COVID-19 transmission.

Official sources said precautionary measures have been taken at the beverages outlets to prevent the virus spread.

Only those wearing masks were allowed to stand in queues, the sources said.

Police were deployed to ensure that the people standing in queues keep a one metre distance between them, they added.

The opposition Congress slammed the CPI(M)-led LDF government for not taking steps to restrict crowds in front of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) outlets, apprehending that such a situation would pave way for spreading the virus.

Ernakulam district congress committee general secretary Sherin Varghese claimed if the government had implemented a 2017 Kerala high court order directing the beverages corporation to take remedial steps to end long queues in front of the outlets, such a situation would not have arisen.

"Had the beverages corporation complied with the court order, safety and security of persons standing in queues could have been ensured.

Now there is no protective measure to prevent the possible transmission of the coronavirus from a carrier to another person," he told PTI.

Meanwhile, the state government has directed that adequate distance be kept between people standing in queues.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday justified the decision to keep the liquor shops open citing the "peculiar" situation prevailing in the state.

Kerala is in a total lockdown since Monday midnight till March 31 to check the virus spread.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 9,2020

Mumbai, Mar 9: India's Yes Bank will not be merged with State Bank of India, which is set to infuse funds in the beleaguered lender, the newly appointed administrator leading the rescue plan said in a television interview on Monday.

"There is absolutely no question of a merger," Prashant Kumar, the administrator, told the CNBC TV18 channel.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday took control of Yes Bank, after the lender - which is laden with bad debts - failed to raise the capital it needs to stay above mandated regulatory requirements.

Placing Yes Bank under a 30-day moratorium, the central bank imposed limits on withdrawals to protect depositors and said it would work on a revival plan. The move spooked depositors, who rushed to withdraw funds from the bank.

Kumar, a former finance chief at SBI, assured depositors their money was safe and that the moratorium on Yes Bank might be lifted much before the deadline on April 3 and normal banking operations might resume as early as Friday.

He also mentioned that the withdrawal limit of Yes Bank may be removed by March 15, 2020.

SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said on Saturday the state-run bank would need to invest up to 24.5 billion rupees ($331 million) to buy a 49% stake in Yes Bank as part of the initial phase of the rescue deal, adding that the survival of troubled lender was a "must".

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.