War of words breaks out between Kumarasamy, Karnataka Cong
Bengaluru: JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday stepped up his attack on the Congress, saying it bowed before his party and made him chief minister of the coalition government in Karnataka and did "back-seat driving" as the two erstwhile allies were locked in a war of words.
After the state Congress unit took to twitter and slammed him over his criticism of the party's nation-wide "Save Democracy campaign", Kumaraswamy tweeted back saying the party's stalwarts, "unable to question him directly", have attacked him through the social media and ran away.
A day after the former chief minister criticized the nation-wide "Save Democracy" campaign against the BJP in the backdrop of the Rajasthan political crisis, the state Congress asked whether its 'morality' suited him when he shared power in the state.
In a series of tweets, it also wondered whether he had become "so innocent" that he did not know the difference between MLAs voluntarily joining a ruling party and "Operation Lotus" to pull down elected governments.
"Congress' morality was good for you (Kumaraswamy) when you allied with the party, sat on the Chief Minister's seat, and ran the administration. Is the question of morality arising when there is no power? What is the morality of your party that has become invisible and irrelevant when the state is in difficulty," Congress tweeted.
On Tuesday, Kumaraswamy had alleged "Congress is another name for horse-trading" and it was an expert in dividing political parties, purchasing MLAs and in fact, the term horse trading in politics came to be in use because of it.
For the sake of one Rajya Sabha seat, the party's government in Karnataka had purchased eight JD(S) MLAs in 2016, he charged.
On Wednesday, he tweeted: "Despite us declining, the Congress high command and state leaders bowing before JD(S) made me sit on the Chief Minister's chair. Then you (Congress) did back seat driving by putting pressure. Where was your morality then?" he asked.
Stating that he had to follow "Raja Dharma" by waiving farmers' loan, the JD(S) leader claimed, that's the reason he followed "Chanakya Neeti" in the interest of the people despite knowing Congress' game plan then.
"There was no personal gains from it."
He also alleged that leaders in Congress had halted the chances of veteran party leader Mallikarjun Kharge from becoming the Chief Minister after 2018 assembly polls, pointing out that JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda had suggested Kharge's name to that party's leaders.
Hitting back at Congress' jibe of JD(S) being invisible and irrelevant, Kumaraswamy asked, "in how many states Congress is relevant?.... is there any leader who can respond to this?"
Rejecting Congress' defence that JD(S) MLAs had voluntarily joined it after cross-voting in 2016 Rajya Sabha polls, he said, "there was no major difference in admitting other party MLAs in the disguise of 'voluntarily joining' and BJP's operations to bring down any government."
This is the fresh exchange of barbs between Congress and JD(S) after they parted ways following the collapse of the coalition government headed by Kumaraswamy in July last year.
Leaders of both parties have earlier too indulged in verbal spat holding each other responsible for the fall of the coalition government and helping BJP to come to power in the state.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
