Congress demands full-time CM for Goa
Panaji, May 12: A day ahead of BJP President Amit Shah's visit to Goa, the Congress on Saturday demanded he immediately appoint a new Chief Minister to replace an ailing Manohar Parrikar.
Parrikar is undergoing advanced treatment for pancreatic cancer in a US hospital.
Former Union Minister of State for Law and senior Congress leader Ramakant Khalap also said the Congress would petition the Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court challenging the constitutionality of the three-member minister advisory Committee appointed by Parrikar to administer the state in his absence.
"We are demanding from Shah to give the state a full-time Chief Minister, in place of Parrikar. In 2017, we got the people's mandate to form government but Shah usurped it from us," Khalap told reporters in presence of Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar.
"The state has no fully functional Chief Minister and the BJP does not even bother to fulfill its responsibility towards that end by giving a full-fledged Chief Minister," Khalap told reporters in presence of state Congress president Girish Chodankar.
Parrikar was shifted to the US in March, a month after he was first admitted for stomach pain, which was subsequently diagnosed as pancreatic cancer.
Khalap also said the Congress would soon file a petition in the High Court bench in Mumbai, challenging the constructional validity of a three-member committee of ministers appointed by Parrikar which includes one minister each from ruling coalition alliance parties and one minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"We hope the High Court bench in Goa will take cognisance of the 'unconstitutional manner' in which the state is being governed," Khalap said.
"There is no provision for three persons to rule a state. The result is chaos in administration. We are challenging the appointment of this committee," the Congress leader added.
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Centre spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print media ads for RSS centenary, reveals RTI
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.
Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.
“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.
RTI reply shows Min of Culture Govt of India spent a Whopping Rs 76L,13K,129 on Advertisement in Print Media on occasion of 100 yrs of #RSS
— AJAY Basudev Bose (@AjayBos93388306) April 16, 2026
When Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??@RSSorg… pic.twitter.com/dW4IUtdNCg
Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”
Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.
In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”
"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added.
Why is public money being used to serve a private ideological project?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 16, 2026
Modi Sarkar spent ₹76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS.
Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to… pic.twitter.com/EoZ6Pim3IM
According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.
Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.
