Sena lauds Rahul for being dignified while criticising PM Modi

Agencies
May 10, 2018

Mumbai, May 10: The Shiv Sena on Thursday praised Congress president Rahul Gandhi for being dignified while attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speeches and said he could pose a challenge to the BJP in 2019.

The BJP should have welcomed Gandhi's declaration of his prime ministerial ambitions, the NDA ally said, adding that it was against democracy to make fun of Gandhi over his remark.

The BJP should have challenged him to defeat it in the 2019 general polls.

Gandhi had said two days ago that he was ready to occupy the prime minister's post if his party wins the most seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, making known his ambition for the top executive post.

Reacting to the comment, Modi wondered whether the country would ever accept such an "immature and naamdar (famous)" leader for the post.

Rebuking the BJP for criticising Gandhi's comments, the Sena said people would decide if the Congress president would become the prime minister in 2019 or face defeat.

"However, saying that he (Gandhi) is eager to become the prime minister or making fun of him is against democracy," it said in an editorial in the party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

"If there is democracy left in the country, the BJP should have welcomed Gandhi's statement and challenged him to defeat it in 2019," the Sena said.

Lavishing praise on the 47-year-old Congress leader, the Sena said, "Rahul Gandhi today is not the same as he was in 2014. He has become a strong-minded person after bearing criticism. He can pose a challenge to the BJP in 2019 and the Gujarat Assembly polls have proved this."

According to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, the BJP uses "derogatory" language against Gandhi but he has never stooped to those levels to attack Modi and has "respected" him as the prime minister.

Gandhi's opponents have to agree that he has maintained a "certain degree of political class", the Sena said.

Taking a jibe at Modi, it said, "The PM has started remembering his 'alliance dharma' now. We are happy to hear that."

It said the BJP thinks there is no dialogue between the Congress and its allies. But what has been the BJP's level of interaction with its coalition partners and how many decisions in the interest of the country have been taken by working together, the bickering ally sought to know.

Allies were being "stabbed in the back" with the sword of power, which the BJP got due to the collective efforts of NDA partners, the Marathi daily said.

If the BJP asks how Gandhi can be the contender for the prime ministerial post when there are seniors in the Congress and UPA allies, then BJP stalwarts like L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi will be the right persons to answer, the Sena quipped.

"Similarly, Modi and (BJP chief) Amit Shah appointed the (country's) president without talking to NDA partners," the publication claimed.

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Agencies
July 27,2020

New Delhi, Jul 27: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said he is not going to lie about Chinese transgressions in eastern Ladakh even if it costs him politically, asserting he will say the truth as far as Indian territory is concerned.

Gandhi made these remarks in a tweet, along with an over-a-minute-long video, as part of a series launched by him on the India-China face-off along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Asked in the video how he would react to people who say his questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on China weakened India, the former Congress chief said, "If you want me to lie that the Chinese have not entered this country, I am not going to lie. I will simply not do it. I do not care if my whole career goes to hell. I am not going to lie."

"This disturbs me. Frankly, it makes my blood boil. How can some other nation just come into our territory?"

"Hiding the truth is anti-national. Bringing it to people's attention is patriotic," Gandhi said.

"So frankly, I do not care if it costs me politically. I do not care if I have no political career at all after that. But I am going to say the truth as far as Indian territory is concerned," he added.

Gandhi has been repeatedly attacking the prime minister and the government over Chinese transgressions on the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

"As an Indian, my number one priority is the nation and its people," he said on Monday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit back at Gandhi over his attack on the government on the Ladakh face-off, alleging he is seeking to politicise defence and foreign policy matters and "wash their past sins of 1962 and weaken India".

BJP president JP Nadda has also alleged that for years, a dynasty has been trying to destroy Modi, while adding that those who want to destroy the prime minister will only end up causing further damage to their own party.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
July 20,2020

Jaipur, Jul 20: In a startling revelation, Rajasthan Congress MLA Giriraj Singh Malinga has claimed that rebel leader Sachin Pilot offered him Rs 35 crore to switch to the BJP but he refused. 

Speaking to the media in Rajasthan capital Jaipur, Malinga, who represents Bari constituency, said he had informed Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot about Pilot’s “offer”.

“I, too, had offers but I refused. I had spoken to Sachin ji, he asked me to switch sides and I refused. This is a wrong thing, I will not do it for money,” Malinga said.

“I said that when we left Bahujan (BSP, in 2008), where one has to give money to get a ticket, whereas in Congress and BJP, that is not the system. I was offered a lot of money. Sachin Pilot had said money is not an issue, you ask what you want and you will get… Rs 35 crore or more, but I said it is wrong,” he added.

Malinga said he had had the conversation with Pilot 2-3 times, first in December during the panchayat delimitation, and later before the Rajya Sabha elections last month.

He added that the BJP had never reached out to him, and neither had he spoken to them. “I have no animosity with Pilot but I am speaking the truth,” he said.

The state plunged into a political crisis after former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot declared rebellion on 12 July, claiming to have the support of 30 MLAs. By the next day, however, he could not prove the support of more than 18 legislators.

On 14 July, 19 MLAs, including Pilot, were served notices by Speaker C.P. Joshi, who asked them to respond by Friday after a petition filed by the chief whip of Congress sought their disqualification from the state assembly. The party also sacked Pilot and two Rajasthan cabinet ministers from their respective posts the same day.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 1,2020

New Delhi, July 1: In a terrific incident with chilling echoes of the 2015 Dadri mob lynching, a Muslim man, who was carrying meat, was savagely attacked by a mob belonging to a saffron outfit in the presence of in BJP ruled Haryana on the eve of Eid al-Adha. 

The incident occurred at around 9 a.m. on Friday, July 31 at Badshahpur village in Haryana’s Gurgaon, when Lukman was transporting meat in a pic-kup truck. 

The attack was captured on mobile phones by onlookers and the video clips of the incident are now spreading on social media. 

A group of saffronite cow vigilantes chased the truck for about 8 km managed waylay it. Lukman, who was driving the truck was pulled out and brutally assaulted on the suspicion that he was transporting cow meat.

Just like Dadri, the police were faster at sending the meat to a lab for testing than catching any one of the suspects. One of the assailants - Pradeep Yadav- has been arrested. 

After being beating to an inch of his life, Lukman was bundled into the pick-up truck and taken back to Gurgaon's Badshahpur village where the goons started thrashing him again.

This is when the police stepped in and stopped them - only to find the assailants fearless enough to even take on them.

Lukman was taken to a hospital and the police filed a case against "unidentified individuals" even though the video of the incident recorded by witnesses shows the faces of the assailants.

The owner of the vehicles said that the meat was buffalo and he has been in the business for 50 years.

The police have so far refused to give a statement on record on the incident and explain their inaction as seen on video.

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