All oppn parties should come together to save country: Naidu
Bengaluru, Nov 8: Days after he met heads of opposition parties, including Rahul Gandhi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Thursday held talks with former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and Karnataka counterpart H D Kumaraswamy and said it was necessary for the opposition to unite against BJP to save the country and institutions from destruction.
Aiming to forge an anti-BJP front ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Naidu alleged that every institution, including CBI and RBI, had been destroyed by the BJP-led NDA government.
"It is our responsibility to join hands together to save and protect this great nation and also save democracy and the Constitution," he told reporters after meeting Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy here.
Naidu hinted that the 1996 model of forming the government with Deve Gowda as prime minister with outside support of the Congress, could also be one of the experiments to form the government at the centre.
"PM candidate, we will decide. All of us will join together. First our aim is to protect democracy and save nation. What I am saying is, Congress is the main and major party. If you see only one experiment, that is under Deve Gowda's prime ministership.
At that time, the Third Front had come to power.
"Then we had take support from Congress from outside.
That is the only experiment... " he said.
Asked whether he was referring to 1996 model of forming government, he said, "I am interested in the nation and consensus. Everybody will join together. There is no organisation as of today.
I have taken some initiative and I am meeting everybody. After that, we will meet and decide how to go about."
Echoing similar views, Kumaraswamy said the prime ministerial candidate could be discussed later, "but at this point of time, the focus is to unite the opposition and save democracy."
He said a mega farmers rally would be held in December or January.
"I plan to hold the event by December-end of January (next year). All regional leaders, with the exception of BJP, will be invited," he said.
Flaying the BJP-led NDA government, Deve Gowda alleged the NDA has created problems by destroying various institutions of the country.
"It is the responsibility of all secular parties including the Congress to come together to oust the present government," he said.
The meeting came amid the ruling Congress-JDS coalition winning two out of the three Lok Sabha seats and two assembly segments that went to bypolls in Karnataka on November 3.
The BJP had managed to retain Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat, but lost Ballari, a bastion of the BJP and Reddy brothers.
Naidu, who had last week met heads of several opposition parties, including Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi, had termed his party's alliance with the Congress a "democratic compulsion" to protect the country.
Naidu Thursday said the prime ministerial candidate would be decided at later stage, but at this point of time, it was necessary for all opposition parties to unite together to not only save the country, "but also save institutions from destruction by central government."
"It is an initial exercise (of bringing opposition parties together). After that, we will work together," he said.
He said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Kumaraswamy were holding rallies in January.
"These things are happening. How to work out the unification of the parties and how to go about thereafter, we will all see in course of time," he said.
Lambasting the Centre, Naidu alleged that it was using CBI and income tax departments to "control opposition," conducting raids "indiscriminately and harassing politicians, which people have been witnessing even in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu."
Such raids also have been conducted recently in Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar besides Gujarat, he alleged.
"Even as these raids are taking place, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not making any statements," Naidu said.
"Besides, destroying the institutions, the Indian economy is in doldrums as demonetisation did not have good effect on it," he said.
Petrol prices have been increasing day by day and rupee is also depreciating, he added.
Launching a tirade against the BJP-led NDA government, Naidu alleged that the party had betrayed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh as it did not confer special status for AP.
The TDP broke away from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in March this year.
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.
Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
