Will Congress support issues like triple talaq: Modi
Azamgarh, July 14 : Raking up the reported remarks of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi that Congress is a party for Muslims, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he was not "surprised" by that but asked whether it would support Muslim women on issues like triple talaq.
Addressing a public rally after laying the foundation stone of the Purvanchal Expressway here, Modi said: "For the last two days I am hearing, that a naamdar leader (Rahul Gandhi) recently said that Congress is a party of Muslims. I'm not surprised."
"Even Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once said that Muslims have the first right over nation's natural resources."
"But I want to ask the naamdar of Congress, please tell that is the party only for Muslim men? Because they don't stand with Muslim women on issues of triple talaq and Nikah halala," he said.
The Prime Minister's attack on Gandhi and the Congress on the issue of Muslims came a day after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused the Congress of dividing the country on communal lines and playing a dangerous game before 2019 general elections.
Citing a report in an Urdu daily which claimed that Gandhi told a meeting of Muslim intellectuals earlier this week that Congress is a party for Muslims, she had demanded an apology from Congress President.
The Prime Minister also accused the opposition parties of not allowing Parliament to function. "They don't allow the Parliament to function. They stall the proceedings," he alleged.
Modi also said that Purvanchal Expressway will take Uttar Pradesh to greater heights. "More than Rs 23,000 crore will be spent on project. All cities, towns between Lucknow and Ghazipur, that fall on this route will witness a change," he said.
The Prime Minister also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has changed perception about Uttar Pradesh.
"Yogi Adityanath government has been able to control crime rate, corruption in Uttar Pradesh. He has contributed immensely in the state's development," Modi said.
He also said that the work on beside highways, waterways and airways is also being carried out.
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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses EC of ‘bias’, defends state guarantee schemes ahead of bypolls
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused the EC of "double standards" and "bias" after it sought details on the state’s guarantee schemes in Davanagere and Bagalkot districts, where bypolls are scheduled for Thursday.
In a post on 'X' on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah said the Election Commission of India had asked the Karnataka government for information on fund releases under five ongoing guarantee schemes in the constituencies going to polls.
The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, respectively.
The schemes are Gruha Jyothi, which provides 200 units of free electricity to every household; Gruha Lakshmi, offering Rs 2,000 to women heading families; and Anna Bhagya, supplying 10 kg of rice per month to each member of BPL families.
In addition, Yuva Nidhi grants Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders aged 18–25 for two years, while Shakti enables women to travel free of charge within Karnataka on government non-luxury buses.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the ECI had remained silent when similar cash transfer schemes were announced in Maharashtra and Bihar ahead of elections, calling the scrutiny of Karnataka’s schemes a "clear case of bias".
"In states like Maharashtra and Bihar, cash transfer schemes were announced or fast-tracked just before elections, directly benefiting voters. Yet the ECI remained silent. This is not neutrality—it is complicity," he said.
The CM accused the BJP and NDA governments of "a double standard", noting that when they act, the ECI "looks the other way", but when Karnataka fulfils its promises, it faces "intense scrutiny".
He added that targeting the state’s guarantee schemes is "not just political but anti-poor, anti-women, and anti-Karnataka."
Siddaramaiah clarified that these schemes were not launched in connection with the bypolls but are ongoing programmes implemented as part of the Congress government’s commitments from the 2023 Assembly elections.
Funds are transferred regularly to beneficiaries in a transparent and structured manner, he added.
"The guarantees are part of governance—a direct investment in human dignity, household stability, and economic participation, not inducement," he said.
He also accused the BJP of "hypocrisy", saying that while it criticises Karnataka’s schemes as "freebies", it rolls out similar programmes in states it governs.
"The Karnataka model has set a benchmark for the country. What is deeply concerning, however, is the ECI’s selective approach," Siddaramaiah added.
