Bengaluru: Noted actor and scholar Prakash Rai clarified that “There is no question of contesting the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections on Congress ticket”.
Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, Rai said that “I believe in secular ideology. So, there is no need to identify with any political parties. But if the Congress leaders are following the secular principles, let them support me in the election”, he said.
“Both BJP and Congress are the two faces of the same coin. BJP is following bitter Hindutva ideology, while the Congress is following soft Hindutva. So, it is not possible to raise voice against the exploited classes being in Congress. I will not backtrack from the electoral politics”, he said.
Raj said he will not bring people to do politics. It was not his politics and he would seek opinions of people and proceed with them.
“Instead of thinking who is opponent, let us speak about with whom we are working. It is not a cricket match to speak about victory and defeat. People are not like any political parties. After electing the elected representatives after five years, they have their own works. People will entrust the responsibility to us to do works”, Rai said.
Reservation in Muslim dominated areas
“Political reservation was introduced where Muslim population was more and it was mentioned in the Justice Rajendra Sachar Commission report. If the report is implemented honestly and with concerns, the Muslim community could be empowered”.
- Prakash Raj, actor
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Itanagar (PTI): Fourteen candidates are in the fray for the two Lok Sabha seats in Arunachal Pradesh, which will go to polls on April 19, an official said on Friday.
Eight candidates will contest in the Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency from where Union Earth Sciences minister Kiren Rijiju and Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Nabam Tuki are trying their luck.
The total number of candidates, contesting in the Arunachal East parliamentary constituency, is six after the nomination of Techi Rana, an independent candidate, was found invalid during scrutiny on Thursday, the official said.
Eight independent candidates are fighting the Lok Sabha polls from the two constituencies.
Besides Lok Sabha polls, assembly elections in the northeastern state will be held on April 19.
Altogether 169 candidates are in the fray for the 60 assembly seats, the official said.
The number of valid nominations for the assembly elections includes 59 of the BJP, 23 of the Congress, 16 of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and 23 of the National People's Party (NPP).
There are 29 independent candidates in the assembly elections, he added.