BJP leaders welcomed Middle East Sheikhs but watched Sufi shrine vandalism with glee: Mehbooba
Srinagar (PTI): Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday lashed out the BJP saying that its leaders rolled out red carpets for Sheikhs from the Middle East but watched with glee when the shrine of Sufi poet Baba Bulleh Shah was vandalised.
"BJP leaders pose in mosques abroad and roll out red carpets for Middle Eastern Sheikhs. But back home, they watch with glee the shrine of Sufi poet Baba Bulleh Shah being vandalised," Mehbooba said on X.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister accused the saffron party of deliberately adopting double standards.
"This hypocrisy is not accidental but deliberate. Destroying symbols of harmony is easier than answering for rising poverty, mass unemployment and a future stolen from the younger generation," she added.
Mehbooba was reacting to right wing Hindu activists vandalising the shrine of Baba Bulleh Shah in Mussoorie on January 24.
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Bihar CM Nitish Kumar takes oath as Rajya Sabha member
New Delhi (PTI): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday took oath as a member of Rajya Sabha, marking the end of his two-decade rule in the eastern state and paving the way for a new chief minister.
The oath was administered by Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan in his chamber at a brief ceremony. The Chairman later welcomed him as a member of the Upper House and also on his return in Parliament.
Kumar took the oath in Hindi in the presence of Union Minister J P Nadda, who is also leader of the house, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ram Nath Thakur and Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal.
Bihar deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary was also present at the oath-taking.
JDU leader and party's working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh, besides BJP MP and former union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy and BJP chief whip in Lok Sabha Sanjay Jaiswal, were among those present during the oath-taking.
"Vice President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan, administered the oath to Shri Nitish Kumar as an elected Member of Rajya Sabha, from Bihar, at Parliament House today," the Vice President's office said on X, while sharing pictures of the oath-taking.
After the oath-taking, Kumar came out of the new Parliament building and spoke about the time he was a member of the Lok Sabha and sat in the old Parliament building.
As Kumar assumes the Rajya Sabha role, it marks the end of his long two-decade rule in Bihar. Kumar will soon resign as chief minister and the NDA is likely to elect a new chief minister of Bihar on April 14.
He has already resigned as a member of the State Legislative Council on March 30 after he was elected to Rajya Sabha.
The JD(U) supremo was elected to the Upper House of Parliament on March 16, and he had to quit as an MLC in the 14-day period after his election.
