Congress' Chief Whip in Rajya Sabha resigns over party's stand on J&K issue
NEW DELHI: On a day it fronted protests in parliament against a massive government move to scrap special status for Jammu and Kashmir under the Article 370 of the constitution, the Congress lost a key voice, Bhubaneswar Kalita, who, as Chief Whip, was supposed to keep the flock in line.
Bhubaneswar Kalita, a senior Congress leader from Assam, resigned from the Rajya Sabha and quit the party saying he disagreed with its stand on Article 370 as it was "against the mood and emotions of the nation".
He said in a statement: "The Congress has asked me to issue a whip on the Kashmir issue. But the truth is that the mood of the nation has completely changed and this whip is against the public sentiment across the country... It seems the Congress is committing suicide with this ideology and I don't want to be part of this. I will not follow the whip and I resign... today's Congress party leadership is trying to destroy the Congress. I believe nothing can stop the party from being ruined."
The Congress has strongly opposed the scrapping of provisions under Article 370 and the government's bill to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories. "I had never imagined that the head of the state, which is India's crown will be chopped off," said Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. "You have made light of the state of Jammu and Kashmir," he added, calling it a "matter of shame" that the centre had reduced the state to a non-entity.
courtesty: ndtv.com
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50,000 cows being slaughtered daily in UP, govt silent: BJP MLA Kishore Gujar
Ghaziabad, Jan 4: Bhartiya Janata Party MLA from Loni Nand Kishore Gujar on Saturday alleged that under the Yogi Adityanath government around 50,000 cows were being slaughtered daily in the state.
"Under our government, 50,000 cows are being slaughtered every day. These officers are eating into the money meant for the welfare of cows. This means there is loot everywhere. The matter must reach the chief minister and the head of all these people is the chief secretary," Gujar told reporters here.
The Loni lawmaker said the MLAs' pleas are being ignored and wondered whether it was being done at the behest of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
He also referred to a video that emerged two days ago, showing two head constables getting caught extorting money in Loni.
"If action is taken against these corrupt officials, the BJP could win as many as 375 seats (of the total 403) in the next assembly elections," he claimed.
Otherwise, he warned, several of the party candidates may lose their deposits.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav shared a portion of the MLA's on X and said the public was getting shortchanged because of the infight in the BJP.
"The officers are baking their bread in the fire of this friction. The reason for this fight is the earnings from corruption, which everyone wants to monopolise," the former UP chief minister said.
