Congress demands full-time CM for Goa
Panaji, May 12: A day ahead of BJP President Amit Shah's visit to Goa, the Congress on Saturday demanded he immediately appoint a new Chief Minister to replace an ailing Manohar Parrikar.
Parrikar is undergoing advanced treatment for pancreatic cancer in a US hospital.
Former Union Minister of State for Law and senior Congress leader Ramakant Khalap also said the Congress would petition the Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court challenging the constitutionality of the three-member minister advisory Committee appointed by Parrikar to administer the state in his absence.
"We are demanding from Shah to give the state a full-time Chief Minister, in place of Parrikar. In 2017, we got the people's mandate to form government but Shah usurped it from us," Khalap told reporters in presence of Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar.
"The state has no fully functional Chief Minister and the BJP does not even bother to fulfill its responsibility towards that end by giving a full-fledged Chief Minister," Khalap told reporters in presence of state Congress president Girish Chodankar.
Parrikar was shifted to the US in March, a month after he was first admitted for stomach pain, which was subsequently diagnosed as pancreatic cancer.
Khalap also said the Congress would soon file a petition in the High Court bench in Mumbai, challenging the constructional validity of a three-member committee of ministers appointed by Parrikar which includes one minister each from ruling coalition alliance parties and one minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"We hope the High Court bench in Goa will take cognisance of the 'unconstitutional manner' in which the state is being governed," Khalap said.
"There is no provision for three persons to rule a state. The result is chaos in administration. We are challenging the appointment of this committee," the Congress leader added.
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'Well-planned conspiracy by UP CM Adityanath, BJP-RSS': Cong on Sambhal violence
New Delhi, Nov 24: In the wake of violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, the Congress on Sunday alleged that the Yogi Adityanath administration is squarely responsible for killing innocents and only the BJP-RSS is guilty of "setting fire" to the peace and harmony there.
The opposition party said the videos of direct firing on the protesters in Sambhal depict the horrifying result of a "well-planned conspiracy" by Adityanath and the BJP-RSS.
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said Adityanath's administration has once again shown a blatant disregard for communal harmony.
"In this entire matter, the BJP neither wanted the survey to proceed nor to stop it; its sole objective was to destroy harmony," he alleged.
Three people were killed and scores of others, including around 20 security personnel, were injured as the protesters opposing a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque Sambhal clashed with police on Sunday.
"No citizen in Uttar Pradesh is 'safe' under CM Adityanath, who gave the reprehensible slogan of 'Batenge toh Katenge'. This is evident by the highly deplorable incidents of Sambhal today," Khera said in a statement.
The videos of direct firing on the protesters in Sambhal depict the horrifying result of a "well-planned conspiracy" by Adityanath and the BJP-RSS, he alleged.
Western Uttar Pradesh, which has been a symbol of goodwill and harmony for years, has today witnessed three people killed and many injured under a "well-planned conspiracy", the Congress leader said.
"We say with full responsibility that the Adityanath administration is squarely responsible for killing innocents and only the BJP-RSS is guilty of setting fire to the peace and harmony of Sambhal. Modi-Yogi 'double assault' governments, which consider the minority community as second-class citizens, hurriedly got a petition filed in court," Khera said.
It is public knowledge that the court ordered an immediate survey without hearing the other side, he said.
"No action was taken against the rioters who accompanied the survey team. This makes it clear that after the by-elections in the state, the Yogi government has further intensified the politics of violence and hatred," he added.
The Congress leader said that questions are being raised about the role of the police and the administration because many innocent people have lost their lives in this violence and more than two dozen people have been injured.
"Inciting communal hatred and driving a wedge between two communities - is the DNA of BJP-RSS!" Khera said.
"On one hand, there is an empty slogan of 'Ek Hai Toh Safe Hain' - on the other hand, they divide communities! On one hand, there is lie of 'Sabka Saath- Sabka Vishwas' that has been going on for a decade, on the other hand, the minority community is constantly being targeted in Uttar Pradesh," he added.
The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is destroying communal harmony and brotherhood for political gains, which is highly condemnable and objectionable, Khera said.
"We appeal to the BJP to prioritize the nation's interests over their political ambitions," he added.
"We want to ask Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Adityanath whether they will follow the statement of their own Mohan Bhagwat ji in June 2022 (even if it is pretentious!) in which he said that 'History is something that we cannot change. Neither today's Hindus nor today's Muslims made it, it happened at that time.... Why see Shivling in every mosque?.... Now we do not have to do any agitation..?'" Khera said.
"Neither Modi ji, nor Chief Minister Adityanath nor Mohan Bhagwat ji have the answer to this!" he added.
Khera said Rahul Gandhi has been continuously and stridently talked about 'Nafrat Ke Bazaar Mein Mohabbat Ki Dukaan' and in such a situation, an appeal is made to the people of Sambhal to recognise the politics of hatred, maintain mutual unity, amity and harmony, and take steps to protect their rights in a legal manner.
Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said the protesters torched vehicles and pelted stones at the police, who used tear gas and batons to disperse the mob.
"Shots were fired by the miscreants... the PRO of the superintendent of police suffered a gunshot to the leg, the police circle officer was hit by pellets and 15 to 20 security personnel were injured in the violence," he said.
Singh said that a constable also suffered a serious head injury, while the deputy collector fractured his leg.
Internet services have been suspended in Sambhal tehsil for 24 hours and the district administration declared a holiday on November 25 for all students up to Class 12.
Purported images shared on social media showed the protesters pelting stones at cops from atop buildings and in front of the Shahi Jama Masjid. Later, the police personnel were purportedly seen cornering and hitting people as they tried to disperse a large crowd in a narrow alleyway.
Our statement on the tragic and avoidable riots in Sambhal:
— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) November 24, 2024
संभल में हुए दुखद एवं परिहार्य दंगों पर कांग्रेस पार्टी का वक्तव्य: pic.twitter.com/uOpKjYbw8g
