Hate speech: Jagadish Karanth granted interim bail hours after arrest

Mumbai, Mar 4: BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray should not give "vague" replies on the 5 per cent Muslim quota issue and declare "with courage" that his government will not bring law granting reservation to the minority community.

Mr Fadnavis made the remark after Mr Thackeray, during a press conference earlier in the day, said he has not yet received the proposal regarding giving quota to Muslims and that the Shiv Sena-led government is yet to take any decision on it.

Mr Thackeray made the comments after Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik recently said in the legislative council that thestate government will provide 5 per cent quota to Muslims in education.

Mr Malik, an NCP leader, had also said the state government will ensure that a legislation to this effect is passed soon.

The NCP and the Congress, both proponents of Muslim quota, are constituents of the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Asked about Mr Thackeray's remarks on the issue, Mr Fadnavis said instead of making comments at the press conference, the chief minister should make a statement in the legislature which is currently having its budget session.

The Leader of the Opposition in the assembly said that Mr Malik's opinion is the official position of the government as the minister had talked about giving quota in the council.

"So, instead of making vague comments in the press conference, the chief minister should say in the council that it is not his view (the one expressed by chief minister).

"The chief minister gave vague answers during the press conference, saying the proposal has not come to him. Your minister (Malik) only has said it," Mr Fadnavis told reporters outside the legislature building complex.

The BJP leader maintained there is no provision in the Constitution for religion-based reservation in government jobs or education.

"Say with courage that you will not give the quota, that the Constitution doesn't accept quota based on religion. Hence, we (the government) will not bring law granting quota," the former Chief Minister said.

Mr Fadnavis claimed that if given within the 50 per cent ceiling set by the Supreme Court, the Muslim quota will affect the existing reservation granted to OBCs.

"And if given outside it, it will affect Maratha quota," he added.

New Delhi, Jan 1: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar launched a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress for allegedly inciting violence in Delhi against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Mr Javadekar said the violence over the amended citizenship law that broke out in areas like Jamia Nagar, Seelampur and Jama Masjid "cannot be forgiven".

"In Jamia, the Congress' Asib Khan and AAP's Amanatullah Khan delivered inciting speeches. They spread disinformation. The law is to give citizenship to people and not take citizenship away," Mr Javadekar told reporters.

He said the people of India understand the plans of the Congress and the AAP and both parties should apologise.

"We will bring out the truth. The fight is between anarchists and those who oppose them. Our agenda would be wholesome development of Delhi. The AAP strangulated municipal corporations' attempt on development. Rs 900 crore was not given. Today, the people of Delhi are surprised that the AAP slept through all these 4.5 years and in the remaining six months they have launched schemes," Mr Javadekar said.

"The work is done by someone else and the credit is taken by a different individual," the Union Minister said, referring to allegations that the government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took credit for work done by BJP-ruled municipal agencies.

"Who did fogging in dengue season? Our corporations organised an awareness drive against water accumulation and dengue cases went down. During corporation polls, Kejriwal said don't choose BJP as dengue will claim lives. Now he is also claiming credit for decrease in dengue cases because of the work done by these corporations," Mr Javadekar said.

"I am an environment minister. We worked on pollution control. There is no limit to their (AAP's) lies. About unauthorised colonies, the AAP says we have not regularised it. We made a law signed by the President, yet they spread lies," Mr Javadekar said.

The election in Delhi will be held before the end of February.

Bengaluru, Feb 6: A flower vendor from Channapatna town in Karnataka got a shock of his life when he found a credit of Rs 30 crore in his wife's bank account. This happened when Syed Malik Burhan was struggling to meet expenses for a medical emergency in the family.

According to reports, bank officials knocked on his doors on December 2 asking him to explain how the money came to his account.

"On December 2, they came searching our house. They only said a huge amount has been deposited in my wife's (Rehana) account and then asked me to come to the Bank along with my wife carrying Aadhaar card," Mr Burhan said.

He claimed that the Bank staff sought to exert pressure on him to sign on a document but he refused. Mr Burhan recalled that he had purchased a saree through an online portal following which he received a call seeking his bank details which, he was told, were needed as he had won a car.

"Since then, we are running from pillars to post to find out how the money came to our account. We had only Rs 60 but suddenly such huge money came, which we are unable to understand," said Mr Burhan.

Mr Burhan said he had lodged a complaint with the Income Tax department, which he claimed was not keen on investigating it initially. Based on his complaint, the Channapatna town police in Ramanagara district registered a case of forgery and impersonation under the IPC besides the Information Technology Act for cheating and impersonation on January nine.

According to police, there were many financial transactions, which Mr Burhan may be unaware of. "We are trying to find out what these transactions mean. We will arrest whoever is behind it. We will not spare them," said a police officer in Channapatna.