'Acceptability eludes Dalits even at top post': Bihar Congress chief breaks down over attack on CJI
Patna (PTI): Bihar Congress president Rajesh Kumar Ram, the party's Dalit face in the poll-bound state, on Tuesday burst into tears while voicing anguish over the attack on Chief Justice of India BR Gavai.
Addressing a press conference, Ram alleged the incident reeks of the RSS's ideology.
"Even after reaching the most respectable constitutional posts with efforts of a lifetime, acceptability eludes Dalits," he said, breaking down.
"The incident reeks of RSS' ideology," he alleged, claiming that the BJP wants to replace the Constitution, which has empowered Dalits, with 'Manusmriti'.
Ram alleged that Dalits are still facing atrocities in daily life.
"We, as Dalits, have been facing discrimination day in and day out -- within the House and beyond," he said.
A lawyer, identified as Rakesh Kishor, attempted to hurl a shoe towards CJI Gavai in his courtroom on Monday.
The CJI, who remained unfazed during and after the incident, asked Supreme Court officials and security personnel to "just ignore" it and let off the errant lawyer with a warning.
Ram, who is aiming for a hat-trick from the Kutumba assembly seat this time, also charged the NDA governments, both at the Centre and in the state, with doling out "election-centric tokenistic welfare measures" for women.
Speaking alongside him, Jharkhand minister Dipika Pandey Singh questioned the authenticity of the NDA government's claim of ensuring financial empowerment for women.
"What has the PM given the women of Bihar? A mere Rs 10,000?" she asked.
Pandey announced that if voted to power, the Mahagathbandhan will give Rs 30,000 to women per year, and even provide them with ownership of plots measuring 3-3.5 decimal.
She highlighted that the Mahagathbandhan government in Jharkhand is already giving Rs 30,000 per year to women, which, she emphasised, is "not centred around elections".
She alleged that 64 per cent of people in Bihar have been pushed into the "quagmire of poverty" by the NDA government.
"The condition of education, health, and security is deplorable in the state, let alone the prospects of financial empowerment. Women are the worst sufferers of this abject poverty," she claimed.
"If PM's intentions were right, he would have made provisions for the entire nation, and not just Bihar. If Nitish Kumar is healthy enough to govern Bihar, he should come forward and lay his vision for the women of Bihar," she added.
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Record Rs 4.27cr in cash seized from flat of Odisha officer arrested in corruption case
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Stacks of notes packed in trolley bags, totalling over Rs 4.27 crore, were allegedly recovered from the house of an Odisha Mines Department officer, who was arrested in a corruption case, officials said on Wednesday.
The cash was seized from the Bhubaneswar flat of Deputy Director of Mines Debabrata Mohanty, arrested by the state Vigilance Department on Tuesday night, they said.
Vigilance Director Yeshwant Jethwa said this is the highest-ever cash seized by the anti-corruption agency in the state.
Bhubaneswar division's Vigilance SP Saroj Kumar Samal said that so far, cash worth Rs 4.27 crore has been counted.
"Mohanty was booked in a similar corruption case in 2009, and the trial against him is still going on at a court in Mayurbhanj district," he added.
Attacking the ruling BJP, state Congress president Bhakta Charan Das alleged that the recovery of the cash exposed the staggering scale of corruption flourishing right under the watch "of the so-called double-engine government" in the state.
Mohanty was apprehended while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 from a licensed coal vendor in exchange for facilitating smooth operations, officials said.
Following his arrest, the Vigilance Department conducted simultaneous searches at his Bhubaneswar flat, his parental house in Bhadrak district, and his office in Cuttack, and made the seizures, they said.
Additionally, Rs 1.20 lakh in cash was recovered from Mohanty's office drawer, they added.
Other assets detected so far include a palatial double-storey house in Bhubaneswar and approximately 130 gram of gold.
Besides, there is a 2,400 sq ft plot in his name where a two-storied building is being constructed, officials said.
"Mohanty has 10 bank accounts and lockers in his name. Those are also being verified," the SP said.
A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered, officials said.
Mohanty entered government service as a junior mining officer at a salary of Rs 8,000 in 2004. He worked in Bolangir, Baripada, and Berhampur before being transferred to Cuttack, where he is posted at present, they said.
The previous highest cash seizure made by the agency was Rs 3.4 crore, found at the residence of an assistant engineer in the Minor Irrigation Division in Ganjam district on April 7, 2022.
