Modi remembers Veer Savarkar, Nehru
New Delhi, May 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday remembered Hindutva proponent Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, saying the memories of this month are linked with him.
"This was the very month (May) in 1857, when Indians had displayed their strength against the British. In many parts of the country, our youth and farmers demonstrated their bravery whilst standing up against the injustice.
"... it was Veer Savarkar who boldly said that whatever happened in 1857 was not a revolt but was indeed the First War of Independence," he said in the 44th edition of his monthly radio programme, Mann ki Baat.
Born on May 28, 1883, Savarkar -- who remained President of Hindu Mahasabha -- coined the term 'Hindutva' to create a collective Hindu identity as an essence of the country.
"It is also an amazing coincidence that the month, which witnessed the first struggle for Independence, was the one in which Veer Savarkar ji was born.
"Savarkar ji's personality was full of special qualities -- he was a worshipper of both weapons or 'shastra' and knowledge or 'shaastras'," the Prime Minister said, adding that Savarkar was also a poet and a social reformer who always emphasised on goodwill and unity.
Modi also spoke of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's account about Savarkar -- Savarkar meant brilliance, sacrifice, penance, substance, logic, youth, arrow and a sword.
Even though Modi spoke extensively about Savarkar, he paid tribute in just one sentence to former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his 54th death anniversary.
"My dear countrymen, today is May 27, the death anniversary of the first Prime Minister of (independent) India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ji. I render my 'pranam' to Pandit ji," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Women's quota bill would have ensured defeat of democracy, Constitution: Aaditya Thackeray
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday said that the passage of the women's quota bill would have ensured a "total defeat of democracy", alleging that the legislation, linked with a delimitation exercise, was a political tool designed to reduce the voice of states.
Thackeray, in a post on X, claimed that the Bill would have amended the Constitution for the political means of the ruling regime to increase seats, reduce the voice of many states and enable the gerrymandering of constituencies to ensure unfair victories.
"The very amendment that would have ensured the total defeat of democracy and the Constitution in India stands rejected by the unity of the Opposition MPs," he wrote.
The legislation should have been called "Delimitation to ensure unfair victory Bill", the former minister said, adding that there was a genuine need to enable 33 per cent reservation for women in the current number of seats.
"Now, it is up to the government to ensure that it is implemented in the 543 seats of the Lok Sabha for the 2029 elections and all elections across India, if that is the real intent of the government," he wrote.
A Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated on Friday in the Lower House.
While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
According to the Constitution Amendment Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
