Attempt to shield 'infiltrators': BJP ahead of Cong's rally against 'vote theft'
New Delhi (PTI): Ahead of the Congress' rally over the "vote theft" issue, the BJP on Sunday alleged that the main opposition party was holding the event in its bid to "protect infiltrators" from being removed from the electoral rolls.
The ruling BJP asserted that the Congress will not succeed in its design of misleading people as well as "insulting and defaming" constitutional institutions, because the entire world knows that India's democracy is "very robust".
Stepping up its campaign against the alleged "vote theft" by the BJP in elections, the Congress has organised a rally at the Ramlila Maidan here on Sunday that will be attended by the party's top leaders, including general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, and Sachin Pilot.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi are expected to address the gathering. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is also likely to be present at the event.
Ahead of the event, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Congress was holding the rally even as Union Home Minister Amit Shah "exposed" the opposition through his point-by-point rebuttal to their "fabricated" allegations during a debate on electoral reforms during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament.
"This shows that you do not have truth in your hand, yet you are trying to create an atmosphere of confusion. The Congress' rally is an exercise to protect 'ghuspaithiyas (infiltrators)'. This is what the Congress is doing," the BJP MP told reporters here.
"The Congress party may try all it wants to mislead the people as well as insult and defame our constitutional institutions. But, the entire world knows that India's democracy is very robust and it cannot be shaken," he added.
The BJP leader accused the Congress of holding the rally to pursue its "appeasement politics" and dared Rahul Gandhi to challenge the Bihar assembly polls if he felt that there was any irregularity.
"Rahul ji, you still have perhaps 10 days left in your hands. You can still file a complaint if you feel that there was any irregularity (in the poll process) in any of the seats in the Bihar assembly polls," Patra said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Senior Congress MLA, former Minister Shamanuru Shivashankarappa passes away
Bengaluru (PTI): Veteran Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa passed away at a private hospital here on Sunday due to age-related ailments, official sources said.
He was 95 and represented the Davanagere South Assembly constituency. He had been undergoing treatment at the hospital for some time.
Shivashankarappa is survived by three sons, including S S Mallikarjun, Karnataka Minister for Mines and Geology and Horticulture, and four daughters.
His daughter-in-law, Prabha Mallikarjun, is the Member of Parliament from Davanagere.
A former minister, Shivashankarappa, served as treasurer of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) for several decades and was the president of the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of the influential Veerashaiva-Lingayat community.
He was also a noted educationist who established several educational institutions and was an industrialist.
