RSS 'very nationalistic', has kept India united: Kiran Bedi

January 21, 2015

New Delhi, Jan 21: A rare BJP leader with no RSS link, Kiran Bedi, the party's Chief Ministerial nominee for Delhi, today described the Sangh as "very nationalistic" that has kept India united.KIRAN BEDI

The 65-year-old Bedi, who has been pitchforked to a leadership role within days of joining BJP, also felt that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing organisation, was a very disciplined outfit and has been contributing significantly to nation building.

"They( RSS) are very nationalistic. I would think here is an organisation which kept India together, which has kept India neat," Bedi told  in an exclusive interview.

The former IPS officer, who was a core member of Team Anna till about two years back along with Kejriwal before they parted ways, said the AAP leader's agitation at Rajpath within a month of becoming Chief Minister(on December 28, 2013) had "ticked" her off very much.

It was after Kejriwal's protest at Rajpath that she thought of joining politics to save Delhi from "confrontational politics", she said.

"The city of Delhi was the reason for my joining politics. Delhi has gone through a huge upheaval ever since this man's (Kejriwal) entry (into politics). It stood still and it's been only on an agitation mode which left a very bad taste in the mouth of Indians.

"Because whatever happens in Delhi, happens in India. It affects India, it impacts India. It's been all about confrontation, it's all about Rajpath Dharnas. What kind of person is he (Kejriwal) who says I am an anarchist?. Three days Delhi was standstill (when Kejriwal was on dharna as Chief Minister)," she said.

While she was severely critical of AAP, she was full of praise for RSS and said people do not know the "real" RSS.

"You do not know them. I have seen it all..I saw very disciplined people and being very very strongly nationalistic. Teaching discipline to youngsters," she said.

Asked why she was not accepting Kejriwal's debate challenge as she herself two years back had asked Sonia Gandhi to go for a US Presidential campaign-like debate with the then BJP president Nitin Gadkari, Bedi said she did not want to participate in a "drama".

"That is not a challenge. It was for drama as I am in positive politics and not in bickering politics," Bedi said.

Rejecting criticism against her for joining politics when she herself was critical of Kejriwal when he floated AAP, Bedi said, "Politics is a vehicle for change, vehicle for reform and vehicle for governance" and that she joined BJP for a cause.

"The Anna Hazare movement had come to an end. It reached its logical conclusion. We should not waste time anymore. People are waiting for development and progress. They are waiting for good governance, growth and investment. I have come for positive politics," she said.

On whether BJP brought her to shield Prime Minister Narendra Modi from any blame in case BJP is defeated at the polls, Bedi said," The party leadership is bringing people like me to sow seeds of new kinds of politics."

Asked whether she talked to Anna Hazare before joining BJP, Bedi said she tried to contact him but was not successful.

Queried how she would want herself to be remembered, Bedi's reply was--"somebody who brought positivity to politics".

On growing resentment among the BJP leaders over her sudden entry as Chief Ministerial candidate, she dismissed the issue, saying she has conveyed to all leaders that they have to "walk together" towards victory.

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News Network
May 14,2020

London, May 14: Vijay Mallya on Thursday lost his application seeking leave to appeal in the UK Supreme Court, in a setback for the embattled liquor tycoon who last month lost his High Court appeal against an extradition order to India on charges of fraud and money laundering related to unrecovered loans to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

The 64-year-old businessman had 14 days to file this application to seek permission to move the higher court on the High Court judgment from April 20, which dismissed his appeal against a Westminster Magistrates' Court's extradition order certified by the UK Home Secretary.

The latest ruling will now go back for re-certification and the process of extradition should be triggered within 28 days.

The UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Mallya's appeal to certify a point of law was rejected on all three counts, of hearing oral submissions, grant a certificate on the questions as drafted, and grant permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Indian government's response to the appeal application had been submitted earlier this week.

The leave to appeal to the Supreme Court is on a point of law of general public importance, which according to experts is a very high threshold that is not often met.

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News Network
March 4,2020

Bhopal, Mar 4: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister  Kamal Nath on Tuesday asserted that there was no threat to his government.

Nath's comments came when he was asked about reports of alleged 'poaching' attempts being made by the opposition BJP in the state.

“The legislators are telling me that they are being offered so much money. I am telling the MLAs to take it, if they are getting this free money,” Nath told reporters here on the sidelines of a programme.

Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh on Monday alleged that his party MLAs were being offered “huge money by BJP leaders” as part of the saffron party's “poaching” attempt to destablise the Kamal Nath government.

When Nath was asked about any threat to the stability of his government in Madhya Pradesh, he said, “There is nothing to worry about.”

Reacting to Nath's statement, state BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal told PTI that his party has nothing to do with the allegations.

“In fact, these speculations and allegations are part of the internal bickering of among Congress leaders to get nominated for the Rajya Sabha polls,” he said.

After Digvijaya Singh's remarks on Monday, senior BJP leader and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused the Congress veteran of making false statements to create sensationalism.

“Speaking lies to create sensationalism is Digvijaya's habit. Probably some of his (Digivijaya's) works were not done and he wants to create pressure on the CM to get them done,” Chouhan alleged.

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News Network
March 20,2020

New Delhi, Mar 20: The four men convicted of the gang rape and murder of a Delhi woman on December 16, 2012 were hanged in the darkness of pre-dawn on Friday, ending a horrific chapter in India's long history of sexual assault that had seared the nation's soul. Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) were executed at 5.30 am for the savage assault in an empty moving bus on the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern who came to be known the world over as Nirbhaya, the fearless one.

This is the first time that four men have been hanged together in Tihar Jail, South Asia's largest prison complex that houses more than 16,000 inmates. The executions were carried out after the men exhausted every possible legal avenue to escape the gallows. Their desperate attempts only postponed the inevitable by less than two months after the first date of execution was set for January 22.

They were hanged at 5.30 am, Director General of Prison Sandeep Goel said.

After raping and brutalising the woman, the men, one of whom was a juvenile at the time, dumped her on the road and left for dead on the cold winter night. Her friend who was with her was also severely beaten and thrown out along with her. She was so severely violated that her insides were spilling out when she was taken to hospital. She died in a Singapore hospital after battling for her life for a fortnight.

Six people, including the four convicts and the juvenile, were named as accused.

While Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail days after the trial began in the case, the juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.

The road to the gallows was a long and circuitous one, going through the lower courts, the High Court, the Supreme Court and the president's office before going back to the Supreme Court that heard and rejected various curative petitions.

The death warrants were deferred by a court thrice on the grounds that the convicts had not exhausted all their legal remedies and that the mercy petition of one or the other was before the president.

On March 5, a trial court issued fresh death warrants for March 20 at 5.30 am as the final date for the execution.

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