Ramesh flays BJP MPs' praise of Modi, compares Parliament to North Korea's Assembly
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Congress leader and senior parliamentarian Jairam Ramesh has criticised BJP MPs for "excessively" praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Parliament, saying their actions sometimes give him the feeling that he is sitting in the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, a totalitarian Communist country.
In an interview with PTI, Ramesh responded to questions related to India's foreign policy in the wake of attacks on Iran by the forces of the US and Israel, alleging that all matters concerning the country- -including external affairs and finance- -are handled by a single man.
The longtime Rajya Sabha MP said he sometimes felt he was "sitting in the Parliament of North Korea"- -a reference to the actions of members of the SPA when their supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, enters- -when he listened to speeches from the treasury benches in New Delhi.
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"Today, it's a one-man show. It's a one-man band. So it's the PM's foreign policy, it's the PM's budget. Everything is the PM," Ramesh said.
The AICC general secretary in-charge (Communications) said that when he sat in Parliament in the morning, he was the first to arrive and the last to leave.
The senior leader said he came, sat regularly and diligently, and remained there throughout the day.
"Sometimes I get the impression that I'm sitting in the Parliament of North Korea. I listen to the people from the BJP. Whatever be the subject, whatever the issue, 90 per cent of the speech will be praising the Prime Minister. Nothing to do with the subject, nothing to do with the bill. They will be praising the Prime Minister."
"When the Prime Minister enters, slogans, you know, table thumping, sloganeering, 'Modi, Modi, Modi.' This is the Parliament of India," Ramesh alleged.
He said even at moments of national triumph, such scenes were rare.
Referring to the 1971 war with Pakistan, he said then prime minister Indira Gandhi may have received an enthusiastic response on December 16, 1971, when Pakistan surrendered, and when the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee called her "Durga".
"Maybe that day everybody would have cheered her. But this one, every time he walks in... Modi bhajanam," he said.
"This has never happened. When Mr Nehru walked in, nobody said, ‘Nehru, Nehru, Nehru," Ramesh said, launching a broader attack on the foreign policy of Prime Minister Modi, particularly in the context of developments in West Asia.
"It is very clear that the Modi government is totally allied with Israel. It is afraid of (US President Donald) Trump. It has embraced Israel. It is very unfortunate," he said.
Referring to the 2023 attacks by Hamas in Israel, Ramesh said: "What happened on October 7, 2023, was absolutely unacceptable. No question about it."
However, he added, "What Israel has done subsequently, and what the US has supported along with Israel to do in Gaza and in Iran, that also is equally unacceptable."
He accused the government of abandoning India's traditional position.
"We recognised the State of Palestine on November 18, 1988. We were amongst the first countries in the world. And look at what we are doing now. In this regard, India has demonstrated moral cowardice," he said.
On India's economic exposure to the Middle East region, Ramesh noted the scale of migration and remittances.
"The total number of Indians working in the region is almost 10 million. We get about 40 or 50 billion dollars in terms of remittances every year. Kerala's economy is heavily, absolutely dependent," he said, stressing that "the security and safety of Indian citizens is absolutely important."
Ramesh alleged that India's independent foreign policy was now "a thing of the past".
"It's not foreign policy, it's not diplomacy. I call it huggomacy. Hug everybody and show that you're personal friends," he said, taking a dig at PM Modi.
He alleged that key announcements were being made from Washington rather than New Delhi.
"The first announcement that Operation Sindoor was going to be halted came from Washington. The first announcement of the trade deal came from Washington. The first announcement of stopping Russian oil came from Washington. Why can’t we take our people into confidence," he asked.
Responding to suggestions that the Congress position amounted to a Leftist stance, he said: "It's not a left position. This is the nationalist position. We are taking a nationalist position."
He cited India's stand during the 1971 Bangladesh crisis.
"Look at 1971, the American position on Bangladesh, how they tried to make life impossible for Indira Gandhi and how she stood up to Richard Nixon," he said.
Ramesh said that India's strategic autonomy must be preserved.
"Nobody can dictate to us what our relationship with Russia will be," he said, referring to longstanding defence and energy ties.
He alleged India's standing had declined.
"In my view, our standing has come down dramatically," he said, alleging that foreign policy was increasingly being used for domestic political polarisation.
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Man booked for duping firm of Rs 6 cr by posing as Infosys CSR official
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against a man and his accomplices for allegedly cheating a firm of Rs 6 crore by falsely claiming to be associated with an IT company and promising to facilitate CSR funds for its projects, police said on Friday.
The crime is said to have taken place between September 1, 2025 and March 20, 2026, and after consultation with legal experts the company decided to file a complaint at the Devanahalli police station here, they said.
The FIR was registered on March 30 following a complaint by Mysore Mercantile Company, alleging that a person named Gagan N Deep approached them, posing as the Regional Head (CSR) at Infosys Ltd, they said.
According to the FIR, Deep claimed he reported to senior officials - Harsh J, Senior Regional Manager - Infrastructure, Facilities Operation, Public Relations and CSR Works, and Niladri Prasad Mishra, Senior Vice President and Head - Global Infrastructure and Climate Action.
The FIR alleged that the accused expressed interest in the activities of their associated trust, Heggunje Rajeeva Shetty Charitable Trust, Bangalore, and assured facilitation of CSR funds from Infosys Ltd.
It further stated that the accused sent a team of four to five individuals representing Infosys, including persons identified as Chethan and Tejas, to Udupi, Mangaluru and other places to verify the trust’s activities.
According to the complaint, the accused subsequently induced the complainant to pay an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to alleged regular vendors of Infosys as a condition for approval of CSR grants.
The complainant stated that a total amount of Rs 6 crore was paid, including Rs 1.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of Anitha Ventures and Rs 3.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of ANS Engineerings, apart from an additional cash payment of Rs 30 lakh allegedly handed over to the accused through his driver near Nandi Upachar Hotel in Devanahalli, as per his instructions.
The FIR further alleged that the accused issued a purported sanction letter dated October 21, 2025, allegedly from Infosys bearing the signature of Mishra, and executed a grant agreement dated January 8, 2026 between Infosys and the charitable trust for the construction of more than 855 houses across Karnataka with a total grant of Rs 179 crore.
Another grant agreement dated January 13, 2026 was also executed for construction of primary health care centres across the state with a total grant of Rs 178 crore, it stated.
However, the complainant later suspected that the representations made by the accused were false, the documents were fabricated, and the entire transaction was fraudulent in nature, as the accused dishonestly induced them to part with substantial amounts under the pretext of EMD for CSR grants.
"Despite repeated follow-ups neither has any grant materialised nor have the amounts been returned, and the accused is now unresponsive and deliberately avoiding communication," the FIR added.
A case has been registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), Section 319(2) (cheating by personation), Section 336(3) (forgery for the purpose of cheating), police said, adding that further investigation into the matter is underway.
Efforts are being made to nab the suspects in the case, they added.
