Modi plays nationalism card, rakes up surgical strike in Karnataka

Agencies
May 3, 2018

Kalaburagi, May 3: Playing the nationalism card, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the Congress of "insulting national heroes" and the Indian Army by "questioning" the veracity of the cross-border surgical strikes.

He also said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi "disrespected" the national song 'vande mataram'.

"Forgetting the national heroes, patriots and history is the nature of a family in the Congress. (Jawaharlal) Nehru and V K Krishna Menon insulted General (KS) Thimayya, who had to resign. They neglected General (K M) Cariappa," Modi told an election rally in Kalaburagi in Karnataka, as he sought to connect with the voters of the home state of the two legends of the Army.

Invoking Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the prime minister said independent India's first home minister, was instrumental in forcing the Nizam of Hyderabad, who controlled the region where Kalaburagi is located, to accede to the country.

"But one family in the Congress loses its sleep whenever Sardar Patel's name crops up," he said.

Seeking to appeal to patriotic sentiments of voters, the prime minister raked up the issue of cross-LoC surgical strikes, claiming the Congress questioned the genuineness of the assault by the Indian Army.

"They (Congress) sought proof about the genuineness of the surgical strike. Bodies of Pakistani soldiers were carried on trucks, a newspaper said that...and they need proof. Should our soldiers go on such operations with a camera or a gun?" he said.

The prime minister said a Congress leader even called the Army chief a "goonda" (gangster) after the surgical strike.

The prime minister reached out to farmers of Karnataka, saying his government would take up farming of pulses in a big way.

Rejecting the Congress claim that it was a champion of Dalit causes, Modi referred to "atrocity" on a Dalit girl in Karnataka's Bidar. "But the state's ruling party did not speak about it. they had no candlelight protests," he said.

"This party (Congress) only knows how to prostrate before the members of one family. But we have decided to construct memorials to the tribals who fought against the British since 1857 to 1947 when India became independent," he said.

Comments

shahid
 - 
Thursday, 3 May 2018

This PM even doesnt know to stand still while the national anthem is played in russia, rather he started walking facing the russian army..... later a russian official stopped him by pulling his hand..... waa marl maraya..... can u speak on this topic Mr. PM???

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News Network
June 23,2020

Bengaluru, June 23: Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar has urged his party colleagues to be active on social media to counter the propaganda of Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking to media persons, the KPCC president said that no more than 20 out of the 68 Congress MLAs are active on social media.

“All those MLAs who are doing well need to be projected. We want leaders, not mere followers. They all should be the face of Congress in Karnataka. Party should not depend on just my face or Siddaramaiah’s,” he said.

Shivakumar’s diktat has resulted in the party’s social media unit scrambling to get leaders to create their accounts.

“We’re pressuring all the party MLAs and leaders. We’re asking their personal assistants or gunmen to operate their accounts if they are not savvy with social media,” KPCC social media chief A N Nataraj Gowda said.

He pointed out that the 20 MLAs who are active on social media include U T Khader, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Priyank Kharge, Krishna Byre Gowda among others.

“We’re also trying to get the accounts verified of those who are beginning to get active. For example, it was only recently that we got the accounts of S R Patil and Vijay Singh verified,” Gowda said.

Tapping the full potential of social media is crucial for the Congress because the BJP has found much success in reaching out to voters through various online platforms.

In fact, ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress found that there were 10 ministers and some 40 MLAs who had turned a blind eye towards social media.

Shivakumar said he was also working on putting in place a system in the party under which all developments related to the state and country will be communicated to all party leaders at 10 am every day.

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News Network
March 13,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 13: District administration in Kalaburagi, where the first death in India due to COVID-19 was reported, has identified over 25 people, who come close to the deceased and quarantined for observation, Minister for Health B Sreeramulu said on Friday.

In reply to a debate on the issue during Zero Hour of the Legislative Assembly, the Health Minister said that two members of the victim’s family and 23 others are suspected of COVID-19.

Mr. Sreeramulu said all the schools of the district have been as a preventive measure to contain the deadly virus.

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News Network
February 8,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 8: The BJP on Saturday drew flak on Twitter for taking a swipe at Muslim women who appear to be standing in a line to vote in Delhi's assembly polls. ""Kaagaz Nahi Dikayenge Hum" ! ! ! Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during NPR exercise (sic)," the party's Karnataka Twitter handle posted using the hashtag #DelhiPolls2020. 

The video, which appears to have been taken from one of the polling booths in Delhi on Saturday, shows burqa-clad women flashing their voter ID cards. While the threatening tone of the tweet is unmissable, the tweet contradicts the government's statement that no person needs to submit any documents during the house-to-house survey for updating the National Population Register (NPR) and that information provided by individuals would be accepted and recorded. 

The tweet has added to the prevailing confusion regarding the NPR exercise in the country. 

The NPR is a list of "usual residents" of the country. In 2010, the data for NPR was collected along with the house-listing phase of the Census of India 2011. The data was updated in 2015 by conducting a door-to-door survey.

Currently, it has been decided to update the NPR along with the house-listing phase of Census 2021 during April to September 2020 in all the states/union territories except Assam.

Most of the opposition parties see NPR as a prelude to the contentious National Register of Citizens (NRC), which has been opposed by even NDA allies like the JD(U). The NPR questionnaire asked details like the birthplace of parents. In combination with the recently amended citizenship law, protesters fear that the registry might be eventually used for NRC. 

As a result, people, predominantly Muslims, have hit the streets as India witnesses one of the most widespread civilian unrest of recent times.

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