''Has India outsourced its foreign policy to US?'' asks Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge
Bengaluru/Kalaburagi, May 13 (PTI): Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation as ‘yet another monologue’, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday sought to know why the US President Donald Trump announced the "ceasefire" and not the Indian Prime Minister.
Kharge, the son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, wondered whether India has outsourced its foreign policy to the United States.
"Prime Minister has given yet another monologue," the Minister told PTI in Kalaburagi.
He was referring to Modi’s address to the nation on Monday night.
Kharge said the Congress and all the opposition parties have clearly stated that they were with the government for any decisive decision that they are taking in the interest of the country.
“We are asking the PM for an all-party meeting, brief us on what has happened, what the ceasefire is for, what the conditions of the ceasefire were, and why the American President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire and not the Prime Minister of India,” the Minister said.
He said the Congress has asked the BJP-led Centre to convene a parliament session to inform the nation what has happened during the ‘Operation Sindoor’.
"But unfortunately, as usual, the PM chooses to go in for a monologue rather than the dialogue with the people of the country,” the Minister said.
Kharge said the Congress and other opposition parties had made it clear that they were with the government and the Indian army “but things need to come clear”.
“Has the government of India, has the Prime Minister, or the External Affairs Minister outsourced the foreign policy of the country to the United States of America?” the Minister said.
He added, “Why is the US President tweeting not once but thrice saying that he is the mediator for the ceasefire and he is saying, he has gone to the extent of saying that he spoke to both the Prime Ministers and it is more of an economic ceasefire, rather than a military ceasefire.”
Priyank Kharge underlined that it was the Prime Minister of India whom the Indians look up to and not the president of another country.
He also sought to know why a bilateral issue is becoming an international issue when Modi is at the helm of affairs.
Congress MLC B K Hariprasad said Modi did not even show 0.1 per cent of the courage and determination of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
He recalled that in 1971, Indira Gandhi faced several impediments and adversaries in the international forum, but she divided Pakistan into two.
“It is obvious to remember Indira Gandhi on this occasion, who had earned the fame of the Iron Lady in the entire world,” Hariprasad told reporters in Bengaluru.
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Oppn to take joint call on impeachment motion against CEC, says Congress; Akhilesh voices support
New Delhi (PTI): The entire Opposition will take a collective call on moving an impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Congress leader K C Venugopal said on Wednesday, a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called for such a move.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also extended support to Banerjee in her fight against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, however, refused to comment on the matter.
Talking to mediapersons in the Parliament House complex, Venugopal said they are “positively” looking at the suggestion.
Banerjee, who was in the national capital as part of her campaign against the SIR exercise in West Bengal, on Tuesday called for the impeachment of the chief election commissioner (CEC) and sought to rally support from the other opposition parties on the issue.
Banerjee also appeared in the Supreme Court on Wednesday and argued her petition against the SIR exercise, alleging unfair targeting of West Bengal by the poll panel and bulldozing of its citizens.
Asked about Banerjee's call to move an impeachment motion against CEC Kumar, Venugopal, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications, said, “The Trinamool Congress has already contacted the Congress... I think the entire Opposition will take a call on the matter, which is one of the most relevant issues raised by the Trinamool. We are positively looking at it.”
Akhilesh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party is the second largest party in the Lok Sabha with 37 MPs, came out in support of the Trinamool supremo, and said, “Mamata Banerjee has donned a black coat against the black deeds of the BJP.”
“People must come forward. Losing your vote is losing your right. Everything will be lost one by one... Your citizenship would be questioned. We are with honourable Mamata Banerjee,” he added.
Asked about Banerjee's remarks, Rahul Gandhi, however, said, “I am not commenting on that.”
In the meantime, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi stressed that transparency should be maintained by the Election Commission.
“The way the BJP is misusing the SIR and using the Election Commission to violate voters’ rights by deleting their names on a large scale is deeply concerning. Mamata Ji is fighting this battle because, in West Bengal, a large number of votes belonging to people who traditionally vote for her party have reportedly been removed,” she said.
“She has taken this matter to the Supreme Court, and I welcome the step. On the impeachment motion she is talking about, if the Election Commission, an institution expected to uphold institutional morality, sets that aside and follows someone’s agenda, it is completely wrong,” Chaturvedi said.
“I hope that the Supreme Court, which is a constitutional provision and part of the legal process available to political parties, takes cognisance of this matter so that the credibility of the Election Commission does not collapse. The transparency of the poll panel must be maintained, and voters’ rights must be protected. I believe she will achieve victory in this fight,” she added.
The Trinamool supremo’s remarks came a day after she, along with her delegation, walked out of a meeting with CEC Kumar and other election commissioners on the issue of SIR, alleging that the poll panel chief showed arrogance and humiliated them.
Flanked by people from her state allegedly affected by the SIR exercise, Banerjee claimed at a presser that the electors whose names were being deleted were Trinamool supporters.
The process for impeaching the CEC is similar to that for a Supreme Court judge. The removal can take place only on the grounds of proven misbehaviour or incapacity.
A motion for removal may be introduced in either House of Parliament and must be passed by a special majority – a majority of the total membership of the House and a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.
