Cong chief Kharge to host dinner for INDIA bloc MPs on Monday
New Delhi (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will hold a dinner for INDIA bloc MPs on Monday, sources said amid a concerted bid by the opposition grouping to close ranks against the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and alleged poll rigging.
Opposition leaders and MPs would also take out a protest march on Monday from Parliament to the Election Commission office over the "poll fraud" issue.
The same day, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Kharge will host INDIA bloc MPs for dinner at the Hotel Taj Palace, Chanakyapuri, sources said.
This comes just days after, in a show of unity, top INDIA bloc leaders held a dinner meeting at the residence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and vowed to fight against the electoral rolls' revision in Bihar as well as what they described as the "vote chori model" of the BJP-Election Commission.
This was the first physical meeting of top leaders of the opposition bloc since they last met in June 2024, soon after the Lok Sabha elections at Kharge's residence.
Several leaders from 25 parties were present at the meeting, which included Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference supremo Farooq Abdullah, PDP's Mehbooba Mufti, SP's Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, TMC's Abhishek Banerjee, Shiv Sena(UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, DMK's Tiruchi Siva and T R Baalu, CPI(M)'s M A Baby, CPI's D Raja, CPI(ML)'s Dipankar Bhattacharya and MNM chief Kamal Haasan.
During the meeting, Rahul Gandhi gave a presentation on the "vote chori model" being allegedly perpetrated by the BJP through the Election Commission.
Gandhi explained the entire "game" of how the BJP and the Election Commission were "rigging" the elections, the Congress said.
"A united front against electoral manipulation! We are committed to protecting democracy and will save it from being destroyed at all costs," the Congress had said in a post on X later.
At a press conference earlier, Gandhi had made a presentation with explosive claims of a "huge criminal fraud" in polls through "collusion" between the BJP and the Election Commission.
"The way opposition parties have been united in Parliament in national interest and have cornered the government, the same unity was visible in the meeting as well," Congress' deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi had said.
Opposition parties have been protesting against the SIR exercise underway in Bihar, stating that it would lead to disenfranchisement of many.
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Karnataka govt seeks agency to manage rural drinking water units: Minister
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said the state government is working to appoint an agency to manage clean drinking water units in rural areas.
The state Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister was responding to a question by Hirekerur MLA U B Banakar in the legislative assembly.
"In the rural areas of the state, many clean drinking water units have been set up under corporate social responsibility (CSR) grants, including contributions by MLAs and MPs, and handed over to gram panchayats. After the maintenance period, problems have arisen in keeping these units operational," Priyank said.
He added that a proposal has been made to award a maintenance contract to one of the country’s reputed drinking water unit manufacturing companies, but so far, no companies have come forward to take up the work.
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"The government is continuing its efforts and will resolve this problem soon," he said.
On a query regarding fluoride content in water, the minister said water quality testing is being conducted monthly in all zilla panchayats.
"Laboratories have been opened for this purpose. Around 6.5 lakh water samples have been tested across the state, and water testing kits have been provided to villages," he added.
