Race for CM posts: Rahul Gandhi asks Cong workers in three states to tell their choice
New Delhi, Dec 12: Amid hectic lobbying for the post of chief minister in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has asked the party workers to tell their top choice for the chief minister post in each of the three states, party sources said.
Using an internal messaging platform for the party workers, Gandhi sent out to them a pre-recorded audio message seeking their feedback for selection of the chief minister in their respective states, the sources said.
Despite repeated attempts, the party spokespersons did not comment on the message and its content. The exact time when the the message was sent could not be ascertained.
Sources, however, said the message has been sent to a large number of party workers in the states that went to polls.
With more than one name doing the rounds for each of the three states where the Congress has secured numbers to form the government, Gandhi said in his message the party workers' choice would reach him directly and would not be known to anyone else.
A senior MLA in one of the three states also confirmed having received the pre-recorded message through the ShaktiApp used by the Congress chief for communicating with the party workers. The MLA said he recorded his choice for the chief minister post in a direct message to the party chief through the application.
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Karnataka Assembly passes Social Boycott Prevention Bill
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill unanimously.
The bill was introduced in the House by the Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa on December 12.
The bill defines social boycott as a gesture or an act, whether oral or written, of any social discrimination between the members of the community.
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The bill proposes three years of imprisonment and a fine extending up to Rs 1 lakh. It also prohibits people from gathering, assembling, or congregating at any time and at any place with the view or intention to deliberate on the issue of imposing social boycott on any member of the community. It prohibits gathering to impose social boycott.
The bill also says that if the accused is convicted, the court should hear the victim on the quantum of sentence and then only pass the sentence.
During the discussion, Mahadevappa termed the bill historic and said the aim of the bill is to bring equality in society and to protect backward people from further getting marginalised through social boycott.
The BJP and the JD(S) MLAs welcomed the bill.
