You cannot fool people with speech: Siddaramaiah lashes out at Modi
‘Get recharge for Lok Sabha poll’
Bengaluru, July 21: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a dramatist. I have never seen such a dramatist. But he cannot fool the people with his rosy words for a long time. Because, people want ‘kaam ki baat, not mann ki baat’”, said former chief minister Siddaramaiah.
Making a scathing attack on BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a KPCC office-bearers meeting here on Saturday, Siddaramaiah said that “BJP does not have an ideology. It blows the emotional issues out of proportions and create communal violence to get political mileage. The BJP has been doing the same for years”, he said.
Defeated due to false propaganda
The Congress tasted the defeat in the Assembly election due to false propaganda of the BJP. In percentage of votes, the Congress was much ahead of the BJP. But the Congress did not get more seats in the election. Do not disappoint from the defeat in the election. Get recharge yourself and prepare for the Lok Sabha election. Prepare yourself for the Lok Sabha elections from today as the objective of the party was to defeat the BJP. The previous Congress government had introduced various pro-people programmes. But the BJP had taken up the Hindutva issue than development and it helped the saffron party, he said.
This Lok Sabha election would be different. Congress workers should educate the people on what was the promises of the Narendra Modi government and what did they do in the last five years. The Congress government in the state had worked for the welfare of all sections of the society. But the BJP does not believe in social justice. It was only Congress which advocate social justice, Siddaramaiah said.
The Narendra Modi government had done injustice to the farmers in the last five years. The Prime Minister did not show the courtesy to give clarifications to the letters from the state. All central government programmes were bogus. So, the party workers should educate the people about the programmes announced by the BJP and implemented in the last five years, he said.
Modi had termed the Congress government as percentage government. But he did not speak a word about Lokpal Bill. BJP was a curse to the society. It was the objective of the Congress to defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha election, he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwar, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao, State Incharge KC Venugopal, KPCC working president Ishwar Khandre and others were present.
“Lok Sabha election might be announced by December. There is all possibility to announce the election notification in October first week. This election gained much importance. In the Assembly election, the party’s performance was not satisfactory. We had a setback in Mysuru, Hassan and Mandya. Party workers are facing problem. But at the time, there is an inevitability to protect the coalition government and strengthen the party. So, party workers and leaders should give importance to this issue”.
- Dinesh Gundu Rao, KPCC president
‘I won’t contest LS poll’
“I will not contest in the Lok Sabha election. I have no such desire. The news that I would contest the LS poll is a lie. I have no such interest. The party high command has appointed me as AICC executive committee member. The party wanted me to involve in national politics. I am going to New Delhi tomorrow to participate in the AICC meeting. I will discuss with the party high command”.
- Siddaramaiah, former CM
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Ensure paid holiday for postal staff on polling day in Kerala: John Brittas writes to Scindia
New Delhi (PTI): CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas on Sunday wrote to Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia, seeking his urgent intervention to ensure that postal employees in Kerala are granted a statutory paid holiday on April 9 for the Assembly elections in the southern state.
In his letter, Brittas expressed serious concern over the Kerala Postal Circle’s instructions to treat all postal employees as “absentee voters in essential services (AVES)”, directing them to opt for a postal ballot within an “extremely limited” timeframe.
The Department of Posts operates under the Ministry of Communications. Along with the Department of Telecommunications, it is one of the two main sections within the ministry headed by Scindia.
In his letter, Brittas pointed out that the circular dated March 19 required the collection of Form 12D by March 20 (Eid al-Fitr), and submission of the compiled details at the respective collectorates by March 22 (Sunday), both holidays in Kerala, making meaningful compliance difficult and raising apprehensions about the “arbitrary” nature of the directions.
The CPI(M) leader also pointed out that the Election Commission, in a communication dated March 16, reiterated the requirement under Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that every person employed in any establishment and entitled to vote shall be granted a paid holiday on the polling day, without any deduction or abatement of wages.
He said even where certain services are treated as essential, the long-standing administrative practice has been to maintain only minimal required operations on polling day, without denying employees the opportunity to vote in person.
Brittas argued that in some other states going to polls this month, including Assam, most postal employees have been granted a holiday on polling day, in accordance with the statutory provisions.
During the 2021 Kerala polls, postal establishments had observed a holiday on polling day, subject only to limited essential arrangements, he claimed.
The present deviation, Brittas said, raises concerns about inconsistency in the application of law and the avoidable curtailment of the democratic rights of employees.
Stating that the right to vote lies at the core of India's democratic framework, Brittas urged Scindia to examine the matter urgently.
“Given the proximity of the polling date, I earnestly seek your kind indulgence to have the matter examined on priority, and to issue urgent directions to the postal authorities in Kerala to ensure that the statutory entitlement of postal employees in Kerala to a paid holiday on the day of polling is duly ensured,” Brittas said in the letter.
The 140 seats in the Kerala Assembly will go to polls on April 9, and the results will be out on May 4.
