Udupi: Former minister Pramod Madhwaraj absent from PM Modi’s program
Udupi: Former minister and BJP leader Pramod Madhwaraj remained absent from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s programme in Udupi on Thursday after his name was reportedly dropped from the official guest list.
Madhwaraj had donated a gold covering worth several lakhs of rupees to the Kanaka Kindi of Sri Krishna Math as a service offering. The plan originally included his participation in the event along with Prime Minister Modi during the inauguration of the gold covering.
The math administration had sent the proposed list of participants to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). However, the final list approved by the PMO did not include the name of Pramod Madhwaraj. Following this, he chose not to attend any of the Prime Minister’s programmes in Udupi.
Responding to queries, Madhwaraj confirmed the development, stating that since his name did not appear in the PMO-approved list, he opted out of the event. He added that no one contacted him afterward regarding the issue.
He expressed satisfaction that the gold covering he donated as a service was inaugurated by the Prime Minister, saying that alone gave him happiness.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
