PM thought of sending delegations to divert attention from tough questions: Ramesh
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly thought of sending multi-party delegations of MPs to visit different countries to divert attention from the tough questions he is being called to answer, while his image globally has been "shattered".
The Congress general secretary made the remarks in a post to pay tribute to former Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on his death anniversary.
Since the 1950s, MPs from various political parties have been sent in delegations to the UN in New York every October-November and PM Modi stopped this tradition from 2014, Ramesh said.
"But now that he is desperate and his image globally has been shattered, he suddenly thought of such all-party delegations of MPs to visit different countries to divert attention from the tough questions he is being called to answer," the Congress leader said.
On the 34th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, Ramesh said, "The essential humanity, goodness, and decency of the man--qualities absent in Mr. Modi---come out poignantly in this story narrated by none other than his political adversary Atal Bihari Vajpayee."
He shared a video of Vajpayee talking about how Rajiv Gandhi got him included in a delegation to the UN so that his medical treatment could be done abroad and the expenses of that are taken care of.
On Saturday, the Congress said it was asked by the government to submit the names of four leaders for the multi-party delegations to be sent abroad to explain India's stance on Pakistan-backed terrorism. It nominated Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.
Of the four, only Sharma has been included in the seven delegations that will be visiting various countries.
Four Congress leaders -- Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Amar Singh and Salman Khurshid -- who were not part of the list sent by the Congress have been included in the delegations.
The Congress on Monday had taken a swipe at Prime Minister Modi with Ramesh saying the same prime minister who had abused the Congress publicly in countries such as Australia, the US, South Korea and China, was taking the help of the opposition party in these delegations.
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Four engineering students held hostage, robbed of Rs 1.5 lakh near Bengaluru
Bengaluru (PTI): Four engineering students were allegedly held captive and robbed of Rs 1.5 lakh while returning after having biryani at a popular food joint on the outskirts of the city, police said on Tuesday.
The incident occurred on December 21 when the students were returning on two-wheelers from an early morning trip to an eatery in Hoskote, they said.
One of the accused has been arrested, and efforts are on to nab the remaining suspects, police said.
According to the police, the students are from a private college in Bagalur. While returning from the eatery, they were allegedly intercepted near a toll plaza by a gang of men, who thrashed them and took away their mobile phones and two-wheelers.
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The gang allegedly took the students to a shed near Medahalli, held them captive, and robbed them. The assailants allegedly took Rs 40,000 in cash and transferred Rs 1.10 lakh from the victims’ bank accounts, a senior police officer said.
However, the students later got their vehicles back, he said.
Based on a complaint lodged by one of the students, a case has been registered at Avalahalli police station under sections related to kidnapping and dacoity. Further investigation is underway, police said.
