BSP pitches for ‘dabang’ Mayawati, says Rahul can’t be PM as his mother is a foreigner
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Monday projected its president Mayawati as the prime ministerial candidate for next year’s general election, and said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi could not aspire to the post due to “his mother’s foreign origin”.
Addressing the first workers’ conference to discuss the party’s strategy for the Lok Sabha election, BSP national co-ordinators Vir Singh and Jai Prakash Singh said it was “high time that Mayawati became the prime minister of the country”, and that she was the only one who could take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“After playing a pivotal role in making HD Kumaraswamy the chief minister of Karnataka, Mayawati has emerged as a powerful politician. She is the only ‘dabang’ (fearless) leader who can stop the winning chariot of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in the electoral battle,” Jai Prakash Singh said.
“She is not only a towering Dalit leader but also has the support of all the communities. Time has come when she should be made the PM after the 2019 Lok Sabha election,” he added.
On Gandhi, who is widely believed to be the Congress’s PM face, Singh added: “Rahul looks more like his mother than his father. And his mother is a foreigner, thus he can never be PM”.
Congress representatives refused to react to the comment.
Singh said the BSP chief had more credentials than Congress president Rahul Gandhi to become prime minister. “Mayawati is a grass roots leader who has served as Uttar Pradesh chief minister four times,” he said.
“During the oath-taking ceremony of HD Kumaraswamy, the leaders of opposition parties rallied behind Mayawati on the dais. This clearly indicates that she is playing a pivotal role in anti-Modi alliance,” said BSP state unit president RS Kushwaha.
Reacting to the BSP leaders’ comments, BJP Rajya Sabha member and head of party’s media department, Anil Baluni said: “Anyone can dream of becoming PM even if they do not have a single seat in Lok Sabha. A leader with 44 seats like Rahul Gandhi is dreaming of becoming the PM and a leader like Mayawati with no seat is also dreaming of becoming the PM.”
courtesy : hindustantimes.com
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Wine Merchants’ Association alleges corruption in excise dept, Minister Thimmapur refutes charge
Bengaluru, Nov 5: The Karnataka Wine Merchants’ Association has alleged that the Excise Minister R B Thimmapur’s office has collected Rs 16 crore from various excise department officers by transferring them in and around Bengaluru.
While the Minister refuted the allegation, the opposition BJP got new ammunition to target the ruling Congress.
In a letter to the Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Secretary and the Karnataka Lokayukta, the Association alleged that the Minister's office is involved in rampant corruption.
“Huge bribes and money laundering took place in the excise minister office in Bengaluru in transferring excise officers and to control illegal collection of money for election purposes from excise officials,” the letter sent by mail read.
Explaining further, the Association said about Rs 16 crore has been collected on a single day from three deputy commissioners of excise, nine excise superintendents, 13 deputy superintendents of excise and 20 excise inspectors “for transferring in and around Bengaluru from past 2 to 3.5 years, as their tenure was getting completed within a month.”
Naming a deputy commissioner, the letter said the officer was collecting money somewhere between Rs 25 lakh to Rs 40 lakh from each officer for transferring them.
The Association said Rs 2.5 crore to Rs three crore was collected from deputy commissioners (excise) working in Bengaluru.
The association has demanded action against those involved "in this corruption."
“No such thing has happened. You must ask them why they went to pay money. Why would anyone pay if everything is correct?” Thimmapur told reporters at Shiggaon in Haveri district.
He also assured to take action against officers if they have collected money.
“The matter is that when these people (wine merchants) do something wrong then they (officers) harass them. The wine merchants should rectify themselves,” the Minister said.
The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, R Ashoka alleged that there was a Rs 700 crore liquor scam in the state.
“The Karnataka Wine Merchants’ Association in its letter to CM @Siddaramaiah has alleged that State Excise Minister R B Timmapur is involved in blatant extortion and bribery, unfolding another dark episode of the series of scams by 'SCAM'gress Govt in Karnataka,” he said in a post on ‘X’.
He said the Association has alleged that CL7 bar licences were given after collecting a bribe amount of anywhere between Rs 30 lakh to Rs 70 lakh each by the Minister.
In the last one year, 1,000 such illegal licences were given by the excise minister, amounting to Rs 300 crore to Rs 700 crore in corruption, Ashoka alleged.
“After the Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation Scam, MUDA land scam, KIADB land scam, Waqf Scam, this Liquor scam is yet another fresh addition to the series of scams by CM Siddaramaiah led Congress Government in the last 17 months,” the BJP leader alleged.
