Himanta defends speech against Chhattisgarh minister Md Akbar; says Cong hid info from EC
Guwahati (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday defended his speech against a Chhattisgarh minister during a campaign in the poll-bound state last week.
Defending his speech, Sarma claimed it was a "legitimate criticism" of Chhattisgarh minister Mohammed Akbar.
The Election Commission had on Thursday slapped a show-cause notice on Sarma for prima facie violation of the Model Code of Conduct and asked him to respond by October 30 evening.
"Congress has withheld the material information from the Hon'ble Election Commission that Mohammed Akbar is their candidate from Kawardha Constituency. Therefore legitimate criticism of a candidate does not amount to communal politics," he wrote on X.
Sarma asserted the Congress will have to face legal consequences for not revealing the crucial fact in their representation.
"I have full faith in the collection (sic) wisdom of the Hon'ble Election Commission," he added.
However, the Congress on October 19 had filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Sarma for his remarks against Akbar, who was declared the party's candidate from Kawardha on October 15.
The grand old party had alleged that Sarma's remarks showed a clear-cut intention to incite sections of society against one another.
While issuing the notice to Sarma, the Election Commission had reminded him of a provision in the poll code which states that "no party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic."
The Assam chief minister was reacting to a post on the microblogging site by Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, who termed the BJP leader a "serial offender" and hoped that the poll watchdog will take this case to its "logical conclusion".
Sarma had made the controversial remarks targeting Akbar during the Assembly poll campaign on October 18 at Kawardha in Chhattisgarh.
"If one Akbar comes to some place, he calls 100 Akbars. So, send him off as soon as possible, otherwise the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled," he had said.
Mata Kaushalya, the mother of Lord Ram, is believed to hail from what is modern day Chhattisgarh.
Elections to the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly will be held in two phases -- November 7 and 17.
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Sculptor Ram Sutar, designer of Statue of Unity, passes away
New Delhi (PTI): Noted sculptor Ram Sutar, known for designing the world's tallest statue — Statue of Unity — in Gujarat, passed away late on Wednesday night at his Noida residence, his son said.
He was 100 and ailing with age-related illnesses.
"It is with profound grief that we inform you of the passing of my father Shri Ram Vanji Sutar on 17th December midnight at our residence," his son Anil Sutar said in a note shared with the press on Thursday.
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Born in a humble family in Gondur village under the Dhule district of present-day Maharashtra on February 19, 1925, Sutar is known to have been drawn to sculpting from his childhood.
A gold medallist from JJ School of Art and Architecture, Mumbai, Sutar, has to his credit a long list of achievements.
The iconic statues of Mahatma Gandhi seated in a meditating pose and of Chhatrapati Shivaji riding a horse on the Parliament premises rank among his finest creations.
The Statue of Unity honours Sardar Patel, country's first deputy prime minister and home minister.
Sutar was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016.
Recently, Sutar was conferred with the Maharashtra Bhushan Puraskar, the state's highest award.
