Periyar's statue attacked to divert attention: Kamal Haasan
Mumbai: Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Friday said the vandalism of Dravidian icon Periyar's statue in Tamil Nadu was to divert attention from pressing issues like Cauvery water sharing dispute with Karnataka.
At the IndiaToday Conclave 2018, Haasan, said he was not anti-BJP but anti everything, including extremism, that brings people hardships. "I am anti everything that goes wrong for the people. As for extremism, Hindu extremism exists, read the Tamil papers," he said.
He said the vandalism of Periyar's statue in Vellore was also an act of extremism and "a diversionary tactic to take people's attention away from more pressing issues such as sharing Cauvery water".
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Tax money pays for free ration scheme but BJP trying to take credit, says Mayawati
Lucknow (PTI): Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati hit out at "BJP and company" on Thursday, saying they want to take credit for providing free rations to the country's poor.
"Far from freeing the people of the country from rising inflation, poverty, unemployment and backwardness, people of BJP and company are bent on extracting electoral gains for giving the poor a little bit of ration. This is not right as this is not kindness," she wrote in Hindi on the social media platform 'X'.
"The free ration to the poor is not a favour by the BJP or the government, it comes from the tax money paid by the people. Therefore, it is inappropriate to make fun of the poor by asking them for votes in return...," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister added in another post.
BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, list the government's free ration scheme in every political rally. The party has even mentioned in its manifesto that it will continue the scheme till 2029 after coming to power.
The Congress claims that it brought the law to ensure food security to the poor. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said at a joint press conference with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday that on coming to power, they will not just improve the quality of the ration but also double its quantity.
