Union Minister Suresh Gopi calls Indira Gandhi "mother of India"
Thrissur (Kerala) (PTI): Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Wednesday described former PM Indira Gandhi as the "mother of India" and late Congress Chief Minister K Karunakaran as a "courageous administrator".
The BJP leader also called Karnuakaran and Marxist veteran E K Nayanar as his "political gurus".
Gopi was speaking to reporters after visiting the memorial of Karunakaran, "Murali Mandiram" located in Punkunnam here.
Interestingly, Suresh Gopi had won Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency by dashing the hopes of Karunakaran's son and Congress leader K Muraleedharan who finished third in a triangular contest in the April 26 polls.
Urging mediapersons not to add any political connotation to his visit to Karunakaran memorial, the BJP leader said he came here to pay his respects to his "guru".
He said like Nayanar and his wife Sarada Teacher, he had close relations with Karunakaran and his wife Kalyanikutty Amma also.
He had visited Nayanar's home in Kannur and renewed his relationship with his family members on June 12.
Gopi said as he viewed Indira Gandhi as "bharathathinte mathavu" (mother of India), Karunakaran was the "father of the Congress party in the state" for him.
He explained that describing Karunakaran as the "father" of the Congress in Kerala was not a disrespect to the founders or co-founders of the grand old party in the southern state.
The actor-turned-politician also hailed the administrative capabilities of the Congress veteran and dubbed him as a "courageous administrator" of his generation.
He further said though he had expressed his desire to visit the Murali Mandiram in 2019 also, the veteran's daughter Padmaja Venugopal, who recently defected to the BJP, discouraged him due to political reasons.
Later, Suresh Gopi also visited the famous Lourde Mata Church in the city and offered prayers.
He and his family's presentation of a golden crown to the idol of St Mary during his daughter's marriage was used by his political opponents to target him, alleging that it was not made of yellow metal but copper.
Gopi won the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat, opening an account for the BJP in Kerala.
Thrissur had witnessed a three-way contest for the Lok Sabha polls, with major candidates from the Congress, BJP, and CPI locked in a neck-and-neck battle.
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.
Uttarakhand Assembly passes censure motion against opposition over women's reservation bill
Dehradun (PTI): The Uttarakhand Assembly passed a censure motion against the Congress and other opposition parties on Tuesday for allegedly blocking the passage of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, in Parliament.
The motion, which expressed the House's formal disapproval of the opposition's conduct, triggered a massive uproar by Congress members, leading to the adjournment of the House sine die.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Subodh Uniyal moved the censure motion, citing the "uncooperative attitude" of opposition parties toward the bill seeking 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative bodies.
Addressing a special daylong session convened specifically to discuss "Nari Samman -- Rights in Democracy", Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the bill's passage would have benefitted every political party.
Dhami noted that after delimitation, the number of Assembly seats in the hill state would have gone up to 105, with 35 reserved for women. He added that the number of Lok Sabha seats from Uttarakhand would have risen from five to seven or eight.
"The opposition fears that if women from ordinary households enter politics, the shops of dynastic politics run by certain parties will shut down," the chief minister claimed.
He compared the opposition's conduct in Parliament to the assembly in Mahabharat where Draupadi was insulted. Dhami further likened the opposition's behaviour to the "arrogance of Ravan".
The chief minister highlighted his government's initiatives, asserting that Uttarakhand was the first state to implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to protect women's rights. He said the UCC freed Muslim women from practices like "halala", "iddat", polygamy and child marriage.
Leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya questioned the technical feasibility of the bill, calling the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) claims of providing reservation by 2029 "misleading".
He argued that the bill is linked to census and delimitation processes. The Congress leader said the 2026 census would conclude by 2027 and the final data publication would take two more years.
"The delimitation process will take another six years. The actual implementation of this bill is not possible before 2034," Arya said, describing the move as a strategy to protect the BJP's "political ground".
The session also saw high drama outside the Assembly gates, where Congress MLA Virendra Jati staged a protest, demanding the payment of "outstanding" dues to farmers by sugar mills.
Jati arrived at the Assembly's main gate with a tractor-trolley loaded with sugarcane and dumped it on the road. The move brought the traffic to a halt, prompting traffic and security personnel to intervene and clear the area.
Women Congress workers also staged a demonstration against the "anti-people policies" of the state government.
