Narendra Modi hits out at Congress-led UPA govt, compares it to 'termites'

March 3, 2013

Narendra_Modi

New Delhi, Mar 3: Against the backdrop of a growing chorus for making him the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi today lashed out at the "commission-seeking" Congress-led UPA government which is destroying the nation like a termite and dubbed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a "night watchman" for the Gandhi family.

Modi was scheduled to speak on good governance in Gujarat, but he used the forum at the BJP conclave here to lambast the UPA government and the Congress in his one-hour speech.

"Congress is destroying this country like termites. It is very difficult to deal with termites - you finish them in one place and they rise in another. The only medicine for this ailment is sweat of the BJP worker. Only this sweat can free this nation from the termite that is the Congress," Modi said in his speech, amid applause from the gathering.

In what sounded virtually like an election speech, Modi said the time has come to throw out the Congress and bring in a government that is sensitive towards the sufferings of the people.

Attacking the Congress for scams like the VVIP helicopter deal and 2G spectrum, Modi said, "The time has come to draw a comparison between the Congress and the BJP. While BJP is for a mission, Congress is for commission. The contest will be between mission and commission."

Modi also alleged that the Congress tradition has been to sacrifice the nation's interest for the sake of one family.

Without naming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said the Congress appointed a "night watchman" to keep the seat warm for the first family of the Congress.

"They did not realize that the night will be so long and dark. As a buffer, they appointed an economist to the post," he said.

Modi's address stood out in sharp contrast to that of his Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh counterparts Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh. While the two chief ministers stuck to highlighting achievements of their governments, Modi dwelled on national issues.

The Talkatora Indoor Stadium was jam-packed when Modi delivered his speech.

Modi said that though Pranab Mukherjee was more deserving, the Congress did not make him the Prime Minister and chose Manmohan Singh. "They realized that if Pranab Mukherjee is successful then what will happen to the (Gandhi) family."

The Gujarat chief minister also criticized the National Advisory Council, headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, as one which is filled with people belonging to the "five- star" culture and having "total disconnect" with the people.

Modi, who may be given a prominent role in national politics by the BJP later this month by inducting him into the parliamentary board of the party, said it is a very big challenge and a matter of concern that the UPA government is there at the Centre.

"There is no feeling of whether there is a government or not. It is not in the Congress character or in their blood to do something for the nation," he alleged.

Earlier, Modi began his speech by thanking BJP president Rajnath Singh for felicitating him yesterday and attributed his third consecutive victory in Gujarat Assembly elections to the guidance of the national party leadership, party workers and the people of his state.

"This is a victory of the BJP's ideology and of its political culture," he said.

Modi praised the performance of the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Goa.

"My experience in Gujarat has been that the country has decided to move ahead. People of the country have decided to throw out the Congress. Our only concern is to fill the places vacated by the Congress with the right people," Modi said.

He also asked the party workers to rise above leadership issues and work tirelessly to bring the BJP to power.

"We should go from here with the pledge that we will contribute all our might for the party. BJP and lotus, the symbol of the BJP, have the strength to save this nation. Who is the individual, who is the leader does not matter. The aim is important. We have no right to disappoint the people," Modi said.

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Agencies
June 6,2020

Mumbai, Jun 6: Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami faces a new complaint, this time under the Cable Televisions Network (Regulation) Act, 1995, for allegedly running the television channel "to create communal hatred, religious polarisation and threatening national integrity".

Social activist Nilesh Navlakha last month lodged a criminal complaint with the Commissioner of Police, Pune, through his lawyer Asim Sarode, under Section 2 of the Act.

"We have narrated six prominent, recent debate shows conducted by Goswami in which his arguments and words used were communal in nature which he kept repeating in his shows. The words and tonality are intended to promote communal attitudes and news is based on religious innuendos and half-truths," Sarode contended.

This leads to propaganda based on hatred, religious polarization and communal divide, said Navlakha in a statement.

He further said that the misuse of freedom of expression by Goswami and his channel posed a serious threat before the independent media as it violates the freedom of expression of the viewers, as it is the viewers' right to get correct, complete and true information.

Elaborating about Goswami's behaviour, Navlakha said that he has created what is termed 'Impulse Control Disorder' in psychiatry.
Sarode said: "Intermittent Explosive Disorder is a kind of 'impulse control disorder' which involves sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behaviour or angry verbal outbursts in which you react grossly out of proportion to the situation."

They said that there are some more media persons displaying such tendencies in Hindi and English journalism, showing whatever is convenient and blow it out of proportion to give meanings which are out-of-context and disrupts the fabric of democracy while not fitting into journalism's ethics.

The complaint also alleged that Goswami and his channel are actually into "brainwashing" the viewers in a way that they will get converted into haters of some communities and terror for some religions.

"This is not less than running an organised crime syndicate of making the human minds to follow a fanatic terrorist thought process. When WhatsApp group admins are being booked under the law, then why the CTNRA provisions are not being invoked against such tendencies," Sarode asked.

In the complaint, it is pointed out how eminent persons have walked out of Goswami's shows because of his name-calling tactics, like labelling cricketer Sachin Tendulkar "anti-national" in one of his shows.

Navlakha and Sarode claimed that Goswami has violated the Programme Code under the CTNRA, the channel has indicated it is against sovereignty, integrity and security as also against public order, decency and morality, making it a serious issue and a cognizable offence.

It urged the Pune police chief to take suitable action against the wrongs committed to disturb the peace, law and order in society and book Goswami under the CTNRA Section's 16, which attracts a jail term of two years plus fine.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Kolkata, Jan 28: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday said she is ready for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act but the Centre has to first withdraw the contentious law.

Banerjee said protesting against the decisions of the centre doesn't make opposition parties anti-national and iterated that she will not implement CAA, NRC or NPR in the state.

"It is good that the prime minister is ready for talks but the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) must be revoked first. They (Centre) did not call an all-party meeting before taking a decision on Kashmir and CAA.

"We are ready for talks but first withdraw this Citizenship Amendment Act," Banerjee, a staunch critic of the BJP, said addressing a protest programme against CAA through paintings.

The West Bengal assembly had on Monday passed a resolution against the CAA to become the fourth state after Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan, to do so. The state assembly had on September 6, 2019, passed a resolution against the NRC.

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News Network
April 19,2020

New Delhi, Apr 19: The government on Sunday prohibited the sale of non-essential items through e-commerce platforms during the ongoing lockdown, four days after allowing such companies to sale mobile phones, refrigerators and ready-made garments.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla issued an order excluding the non-essential items from sale by the e-commerce companies from the consolidated revised guidelines, which listed the exemption given to the services and people from the purview of the lockdown.

The order said the following clause "E-commerce companies. Vehicles used by e-commerce operators will be allowed to ply with necessary permissions" is excluded from the guidelines.

The previous order had said such items were allowed for sale through e-commerce platforms from April 20.

However, the reason for reversing the order is not known immediately.

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