UP CM must be sacked for 'shielding' rape accused: Congress
New Delhi, April 14: The Congress on Saturday demanded that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath be sacked for "utterly failing in his constitutional duties as CM" and for "safeguarding the interests of Unnao rape accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar".
"BJP leaders have mastered the art of extending state protection to rapists, shaming the victim and her family, defending the accused and crying conspiracy, blatant cover-ups, absolute whataboutery and superficial damage Control, and the Adityanath government has perfected this art to the hilt," Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a statement.
"'Jungle raaj' and 'gunda raaj' actively aided and abetted by Adityanath government has become a pain for the people of the state and has conclusively exposed BJP's slogan of 'Beti Bachao'," he added.
Citing a recent high court order, Surjewala said: "In a damning rebuke to the BJP's claims, the Allahabad High Court has unravelled the real truth of the Unnao rape case."
He said the high court was taken aback by the insensitive stand and callous attitude of the Advocate General, who represented the state government in court and received his brief from the highest levels.
"Naari Virodhi (anti-woman) Adityanath has not only utterly failed in his constitutional duties as the Chief Minister and abused the oath of office but also played an important protagonist in safeguarding the interests of the rape accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar," he added.
Pointing out that the BJP rule in the state had become "Ravana Rajya" for women, Dalits and farmers, the party said there was a 33 per cent increase in crime against women in Uttar Pradesh -- from 33,728 cases in 2016-17 to 44,936 in 2017-18.
"The real culprit of Unnao's victim, who was raped reportedly in June 2017, and who pleaded at the doorstep of the BJP CM even attempting self-immolation is no one but the Chief Minister and he should immediately be sacked," said Surjewala.
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India has agreed already to drop its tariffs to nothing: President Trump
New York/Washington, May 7 (PTI): US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said India has “agreed” to drop its high tariffs “to nothing”.
“I mean, India as an example, has one of the highest tariffs in the world. We’re not going to put up with that, and they’ve agreed already to drop it. They’ll drop it to nothing. They’ve already agreed. They would have never done that for anybody else but me,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump and visiting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke to reporters as they met in the Oval Office to discuss the US-Canada trade.
“So we’re going to put down some numbers and we’re going to say our country is open for business and they’re going to come in and they’re going to pay for the privilege of being able to shop in the United States of America. It’s very simple. It’s very simple,” he added.
In the past, Trump has called India “tariff king” and a “big abuser”.
Last month, Trump had said that negotiations with India over a bilateral trade deal are “coming along great” and he thinks “we’ll have a deal with India”.
