No govt can survive without support of farmers: Former PM Deve Gowda
New Delhi, Nov 29: No government can survive without the support of farmers, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda said Thursday, assuring the agitating peasants here that he stood by them in their struggle.
Thousands of farmers from across the country converged Thursday at the historic Ramlila Ground after journeys that took some as long as 36 hours to complete to press for their demands, including debt relief and remunerative prices for their produce.
Addressing the massive gathering of farmers, Gowda said, he understood their pain and problems as, "I, myself am a son of a farmer."
"I have come to assure you (farmers) that we stand with you in this hour of struggle. I understand your pains and as a prime minister truer to do whatever I could for farmers," he said.
Later, interacting with reporters at the Ramlila Maidan, he asked the Union government to listen to the demands of farmers.
"No government can survive without (the support of) farmers. The Union government must listen to their demands. The farmers of this country has awakened and they cannot be fooled," Gowda said.
The historic ground, known for hosting big political events over the years, resonated with slogans like 'Ayodhya nahi, karz maafi chahiye' earlier in the day.
They are spending the night at the ground before marching to Parliament on Friday to put forward their demands.
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Nitish Kumar's son Nishant among 32 to take oath as Bihar ministers
Patna (PTI): In a major expansion of the Cabinet of Bihar's first BJP-led government, JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar's son Nishant Kumar and 31 others took oath as ministers on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Altogether 32 leaders, drawn from all constituents of the five-party NDA in the state, were administered the oath of office by Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain at a grand ceremony that was also attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Health Minister J P Nadda and BJP president Nitin Nabin.
Prominent inductees included Nishant Kumar, the son of JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, who stepped down as chief minister last month to enter the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP, which is the single largest party in the 243-member assembly with 89 MLAs, has 15 ministers, who took oath on Thursday.
Most of the inductees were those who were part of the Nitish Kumar cabinet formed in November last year after the NDA stormed back to power in the assembly polls.
The JD(U) is represented by a total of 15 ministers, 13 of whom took the oath at the Gandhi Maidan on Thursday. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav had taken oath in April along with Samrat Choudhary and were designated as deputy chief ministers.
Sanjay Kumar Singh and Sanjay Kumar Paswan, both from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) headed by Union minister Chirag Paswan, are back as ministers, and so are Santosh Kumar Suman and Deepak Prakash, sons of Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, respectively.
