BJP to protest against Cong's 'anti-constitutional attitude' in Bengaluru on Aug 5: BY Vijayendra
Bengaluru, Aug 2 (PTI): Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra on Saturday announced that the party will protest against the Congress party's "anti-constitutional attitude" in Bengaluru on August 5, on the same day when Rahul Gandhi will be leading a protest against the alleged incidents of "votes theft".
He said his party members will be protesting near the Gandhi Statue in Vidhana Soudha premises here.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will participate in a protest at the Freedom Park here on August 5 against the alleged incidents of "votes theft". The BJP had also sought permission from the Bengaluru police to organise their protest at the same venue. However, they were denied permission, citing law and order and lack of space owing to Congress's already planned protest there.
Amid the raging row over the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, has alleged that elections are being "stolen" in the country and claimed that his party has figured out the modus operandi of the "votes theft" by studying a parliamentary constituency in Karnataka.
Terming the attitude of the Congress party "totally unconstitutional", Vijayendra said that the Bharatiya Janata Party has taken this matter very seriously.
"They have lost faith in democracy. They have lost faith in constitutional bodies. They are alleging Election Commission. Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar have also joined their voices. So my direct question is if at all... if there are any allegations, how did the Congress party come to power here in Karnataka? How did they win all three by-elections?" he asked while talking to reporters.
Vijayendra alleged that Congress and Rahul Gandhi are not able to digest Narendra Modi's leadership at the Centre and that his dream of becoming Prime Minister remains unfulfilled. He alleged that Gandhi was misguiding the people of this country and also the state with his repeated allegations against the Election Commission. It's an insult to the voters and people of this country.
The BJP leader said if the Election Commission can be "manipulated" as being claimed, then how did Congress win elections in Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka? "Since we have taken this matter seriously, BJP, all our MPs, MLAs, MLCs, former MPs, MLAs will be protesting against the Congress party's anti-constitutional attitude. We will be protesting near the Gandhi Statue in Vidhana Soudha," he added.
Responding to Gandhi's claim that his party has an "atom bomb" of evidence against the Election Commission on poll irregularities, Vijayendra said, "If they have an atom bomb, they can't keep it in their pockets. If the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi have any proof, they should give it to the Election Commission of this country, or they can challenge it in the Supreme Court".
"Rather than doing that, creating drama here in Bengaluru, Karnataka, is not going to help them. They should challenge it before the Supreme Court," he added.
Further he said that if Gandhi was coming to Bengaluru on August 5, he should apologise to the people of Karnataka for the June 4 stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium which resulted in loss of 11 innocent lives, alleging that the incident happened due to the "irresponsibility" of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
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Rupee rises 42 paise to close at 91.51 against US dollar
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee gained 42 paise to close at 91.51 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, a day after the Union Budget 2026-27 was presented, largely as crude oil prices retreated from their elevated levels.
Forex traders said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seemed to be defending the 92 per dollar level with a lot of resolve.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 91.95 against the US dollar, then gained some ground to touch an intraday high of 91.45 and a low of 91.95 against the greenback.
At the end of the trading session on Monday, the rupee was quoted at 91.51 (provisional) against the greenback, registering a gain of 42 paise from its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee hit a record low of 92.02 before ending 6 paise higher at 91.93 against the US dollar.
For the rupee, the Budget offered reassurance, not relief, and the government's high borrowing plan is likely to weigh on investor sentiments going ahead.
The government is likely to borrow Rs 17.2 lakh crore in the next financial year to fund its fiscal deficit projected at 4.3 per cent of the GDP.
"Overall, it looks like a prudent budget, focusing on continuity. Given the geopolitical uncertainties and challenges, it seems the government it seems has chosen to go a bit slow on fiscal consolidation," IFA Global said in a research note.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.09 per cent higher at 97.07.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 4.46 per cent lower at USD 66.23 per barrel in futures trade, as the US and Iran were talking about avoiding US strikes on Iranian soil.
The oil prices had touched USD 72 per barrel after traders expected a US strike on Iran during the weekend.
"As the Budget volatility subsides, the Indian rupee and domestic equities have emerged as regional outperformers. A combination of cooling commodity prices, enhanced fiscal control, large forex reserves and suspected corporate dollar selling has provided a tailwind for the local currency," Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said.
In the near term, the USD-INR spot is likely to consolidate within a tight range, finding support at 91.10 and facing resistance near 91.85, Parmar added.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 943.52 points to settle at 81,666.46, while the Nifty surged 262.95 points to 25,088.40.
On Sunday, equity markets reacted negatively to the FY27 Budget as it proposed a higher securities transaction tax on derivatives and changes to buyback taxation, raising concerns over increased costs for investors.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 588.34 crore on Sunday, according to exchange data.
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