Cancel Dussehra rally, redirect funds for flood victims: BJP to Uddhav
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra BJP's chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye on Monday demanded that Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray cancel his party's annual Dussehra rally and utilise the expenditure for flood relief in Marathwada.
When Thackeray was the state's chief minister, he "failed to act and remained at home", Upadhye alleged, adding that this is the time to "atone".
Several parts of Maharashtra, including the usually drone-prone Marathwada region, have been battered by heavy rains, causing floods and widespread damage.
Holding the Dussehra rally is a long-standing tradition for Thackeray and the Sena. This year, he is also slated to address the rally at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai on the occasion of Dussehra on October 2.
"Marathwada is reeling under severe floods, with people losing everything. Thackeray has already toured five districts for three hours and expressed anguish at the pain and suffering of the affected. Now is the time for action. He should cancel the Dussehra rally and spend that amount for flood victims. That would give meaning to his expressions of sympathy," Upadhye said in a post on X.
The BJP leader charged that when in power, Thackeray had "failed to act and remained at home".
"This is the time to atone. Cancelling the rally and diverting the funds will show genuine concern for the people," he added.
Upadhye also criticised the content of Thackeray's annual rally, saying that in the past, under Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, the event was known for its ideological direction.
"Now, it has been reduced to repeating the same script of calling others traitors and alleging that his party was stolen. Why should ordinary workers be burdened with lakhs of rupees for such theatrics, when the same lament continues daily in (Sena-UBT mouthpiece) 'Saamana'," he remarked.
Thackeray recently visited flood-affected areas in five districts of Marathwada, where he met the affected people and heard their grievances.
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21 hours raid fetch nothing for ED, claims Karnataka Cong MLA’s son
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Congress MLA N A Haris' son Mohammed Haris Nalapad on Tuesday claimed that the 21 hours of search by the ED in his house and other locations did not fetch anything.
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday raided the premises of the two sons of Haris (Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad), Aqeeb Khan, grandson of ex-Union cabinet minister K Rahman Khan and an alleged crypto hacker named Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki in a crypto currency-linked money laundering case.
More than a dozen premises in the city have been covered as part of the action executed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
"My grandfather is 89-year-old. There is not a single bad mark. My father (N A Haris) is a four-time MLA. There is not a single accusation against him. Their only intention was to target myself and my brother. As simple as that," Mohammed Nalapad, who is a former Karnataka Youth Congress president, told reporters.
According to him, the ED officials carried out raids for 21 hours.
"After 21 hours of search, they took away only two mobile phones from our house. They did not get a single paisa. The ED will testify it," the Congress leader said.
Exuding faith in the law, he said he is ready to fight the case in court.
"Me and my father have opted for politics and we are in public life. You can call me whatever you want but I have not done anything wrong," Mohammed Nalapad said.
Regarding his relationship with Sriki, he said he knew him but had no clue what he was doing.
"I have never said that either me or my brother do not know Sriki. But how will I know what he does in his house? Can his crimes be linked to us," he asked.
The money laundering case stems from some Karnataka Police FIRs and chargesheets filed in a 2017 case of hacking of national and international websites, stealing of bitcoins and sale of these 'stolen' virtual digital assets (VDA) through crypto platforms by the alleged hacker Sriki and his associates.
The Nalapad brothers and Aqeeb Khan are alleged to be the beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime generated through this alleged crypto-linked crime, the ED said.
