PM Modi urges citizens to celebrate 150 years of Vande Mataram
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the national song 'Vande Mataram' depicted a vibrant and magnificent image of India, and urged citizens to make the 150th year of the song memorable by carrying forward its values for future generations.
In his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat Radio' address, he said many programmes related to 'Vande Mataram' will be organised throughout the country to commemorate 150 years of the national song penned by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and first sung by Rabindranath Tagore in 1896.
In his 30-minute address, the prime minister touched upon several unique initiatives undertaken by citizens in different parts of the country, including efforts to revive mangroves in Gujarat, setting up of Garbage Cafes in Chhattisgarh and attempts to revive lakes in Bengaluru.
The prime minister also lauded the efforts of the paramilitary forces -- BSF and CRPF -- to induct Indian dog breeds in their units and recalled that a Mudhol Hound had won laurels at a competition leaving behind dogs of foreign breeds.
"Our indigenous dogs have also displayed amazing courage. Last year, during a patrol in a Maoist-affected area of Chhattisgarh, an indigenous dog of CRPF detected 8 kg of explosives," Modi said.
He said the BSF and CRPF have inducted Indian breeds such as Rampur Hounds, Mudhol Hounds, Mongrels, Kombai and Pandikona in their dog squads and some of these will take part in the parade organised at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31.
Modi also lauded the efforts to cultivate coffee in Odisha's Koraput, which is benefiting people in the region.
"There are people in Koraput who are cultivating coffee through their sheer passion. There also are many women whose lives have been pleasantly transformed by coffee," the prime minister said.
He said Indian coffee is becoming very popular all over the world be it Chikmagalur, Coorg and Hassan in Karnataka; the areas of Pulney, Shevaroy, Nilgiri and Annamalai in Tamil Nadu; the Biligiri region on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border; or the areas of Wayanad, Travancore and Malabar in Kerala - the diversity of Indian coffee is truly remarkable.
The prime minister said the world of culture and social media has lent Sanskrit a new lease of life and many young people were speaking in and about the language through reels.
"Many even teach Sanskrit through their social media channels. One such young content creator is Bhai Yash Salunke. What's special about Yash is that he is both a content creator and a cricketer. His reel on playing cricket while speaking in Sanskrit has been very popular," Modi said.
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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
