Washim (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday alleged that the Congress is being run by a "gang of urban Naxals", and asked people to unite to defeat the "dangerous agenda" of that party.

He also accused the Congress of looting the poor and not improving their condition for its selfish politics.

"They (Congress) think that if we all unite, then their agenda to divide the country will fail," Modi said, addressing a rally in Washim district of Maharashtra after launching various projects.

"Congress only knows how to loot the poor and keep them poor for its selfish politics. It only knows how to divide people. We have to be alert and remain united. Congress is run by a gang of urban Naxals," he alleged.

Everyone can see how closely Congress stands with those people who do not harbour good intentions for India, Modi said.

"Drugs worth thousands of crores of rupees were seized in Delhi recently. A Congress leader is suspected to be the kingpin. Congress wants to contest elections from the money it gets by pushing the youth towards drugs," he said.

Modi alleged that Congress' thinking has been foreign from the very beginning.

"Like the British rule, this Congress family also does not consider Dalits, backward and tribals as their equals. They feel that India should be ruled by only one family. That is why they have always maintained a derogatory attitude towards the Banjara community," he said.

"Saints from the Banjara community inspired culture and spiritualism. Britishers harassed the community, but when they left, successive Congress governments continued the trend and prevented the community from coming into the mainstream," the PM alleged.

The PM also accused the Congress of leaving no stone unturned to make the lives of farmers miserable.

"The governments run by the Congress used the money meant for farmers and irrigation schemes for corruption," he alleged.

Modi asked people to beware of the Congress propaganda of false assurance of farm loan waiver.

"People in Telangana are still waiting for the loan waiver. In Karnataka, the Congress government stopped the irrigation schemes started by the BJP regime," he said.

Stating that Maharashtra has the capacity to lead the country to economic progress, Modi said the state government was giving double benefit to farmers in terms of financial assistance, in addition to what the central government was providing.

When the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in power, it put a speed breaker in the work of the Poharadevi pilgrimage centre upgradation, which was started during the chief ministership of Devendra Fadnavis. But it has now been completed at a cost of Rs 700 crore, he said.

As long as MVA was in power in Maharashtra, it worked with only two agendas - to stop the projects related to farmers and to commit corruption in the money of these projects. The funds sent by the Centre were being diverted away from the beneficiaries by that government, he claimed.

The prime minister, who launched various initiatives of Rs 23,3000 crore related to agriculture and animal husbandry sectors, expressed happiness over the completion of the Banjara Virasat Museum in Poharadevi.

This museum would introduce future generations to the ancient culture and vast heritage of the Banjara community, he said.

"Our Banjara community has played a big role in India's social life and journey of development," he said.

Modi paid tributes to several revered figures from the Banjara community, including Raja Lakhi Shah Banjara and Sant Sevalal Maharaj.

"The Banjara community has given many such saints who have given immense energy to the spiritual consciousness of India," he said.

The PM highlighted their efforts in preserving and nurturing the country's cultural legacy over centuries and lamented that during British rule the entire Banjara community was branded as criminals.

"Our government's every decision, every policy is committed to Viskit Bharat, and our farmers are a major foundation of this vision," PM Modi said.

Farmers in Maharashtra, especially Vidarbha, faced big hardships for many decades, he said.

On the disbursal of the 18th instalment of the PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi worth about Rs 20,000 crore to around 9.5 crore farmers, the prime minister said the state government strives to provide double benefits to its farmers.

Speaking about providing assistance to beneficiaries of Ladki Bahin Yojna, the PM said the scheme is empowering the capabilities of 'nari shakti' (women power).

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.



Bengaluru, Oct 5: The Karnataka High Court has stayed a single judge order, directing app-based cab aggregator Ola to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to a woman who alleged sexual harassment by an Ola driver in 2019.

A division bench of Justices S R Krishna Kumar and M G Uma passed an interim order on ANI Technologies Private Limited's (Ola) appeal against the single judge verdict dated September 30.

In his verdict, the single judge bench had held that the relationship between ANI Technologies Private Limited (Ola) and its drivers was that of employer-employee.

He had directed Ola and its Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh, along with Rs 50,000 in legal costs, to the woman who had filed the sexual harassment complaint against the driver.

The judge had also termed as 'unjustified' Ola’s refusal to act on the complaint based on the claim that drivers are not employees under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (PoSH Act).

Subsequently, the company filed a writ appeal challenging the ruling of the single judge, which required Ola to address complaints of sexual harassment involving its drivers.

During the hearing on Friday, senior advocate Dhyan Chinnappa, representing Ola, argued that the earlier judgment had erred in establishing an employer-employee relationship.

He contended that drivers merely use Ola’s platform to offer cab services and are not direct employees of the company.

Get all the latest, breaking news from Karnataka in a single click. CLICK HERE to get all the latest news from Karnataka.