Rahul should apologise for abuses hurled at PM, his late mother during 'Voter Adhikar Yatra': Shah
Guwahati (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said Rahul Gandhi should apologise for the “abuses” hurled at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother during the Congress leader’s 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar.
Shah claimed that Gandhi’s politics has touched the “lowest level” with his “Ghuspetiya Bachao Yatra (Save Infiltrators Yatra)” in Bihar.
“Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the PM, his late mother and the people of the country if he has any shame left. The nation is watching him and his party in disgust,'' he said, after inaugurating the newly constructed Brahmaputra wing of the Raj Bhawan here.
The Congress and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha have come under heavy attack by the BJP, after a purported video showed an unidentified person using a Hindi expletive against Modi from a dais raised during the yatra in Darbhanga town, from where Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Vadra and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav had left for Muzaffarpur on motorcycles.
''The Ghuspetiya Bachao Yatra is to protect Congress’ vote bank, but in any democracy, election is its soul. How can a nation be safe if infiltrators are allowed to pollute the system by enrolling their names in the voters’ list?'' Shah asked.
“The Congress’ politics is negative... Its leaders have indulged in many hateful acts in the past, but the party crossed all limits with the abuse of the PM and his late mother from the platform of its yatra in Bihar, where Rahul Gandhi was welcomed,'' the home minister said.
There can be no greater decline in public life and politics than “abusing Modi's mother'', who lived in a poor household, but raised a son who is now a world leader, Shah said.
“The issueless and hate politics of the Congress will not raise the party’s stature before the people... it will, instead, take them down to the pit,” asserted Shah.
The senior BJP leader claimed that “the abuse” of Modi is nothing new, and it has been continuing since his Gujarat chief minister days.
“Many Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, have earlier used derogatory language against the PM... But, no amount of abuse can stop the lotus from blooming,” Shah said.
“In every election, they have abused him, but had to bite the dust each time,'' the home minister said.
''The world is watching India's progress with wonder... the PM's respect has increased across the globe, with 27 countries bestowing their highest honour on him,'' said Shah.
Earlier, Shah inaugurated the newly constructed Brahmaputra wing of the Raj Bhawan here on the second day of his two-day visit to Assam.
“The inauguration of the new Assam Raj Bhawan wing is historic, reflecting the journey of the northeast region from struggle to the concept of 'Ashtalakshmi',” he said.
Referring to the Assam agitation against infiltrators from 1979-85, he said what the protesters had sought back then “is being realised by the PM and CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, and this will continue''.
The existing Raj Bhawan was a camp office of the governor when Shillong was the capital of Assam, but the new wing on the banks of the Brahmaputra is ''the most grand and beautiful residence'' of the highest constitutional office in the state, Shah said.
''The northeast has dealt with many twists and turns, but is now a peaceful and developed region, heading towards more progress,'' he said.
Shah also virtually inaugurated the Rs 45-crore National Cyber Forensic Laboratory-North East – the second in the country after Delhi – at the Lachit Barphukan Police Academy in Dergaon, from the Raj Bhawan premises.
Shah virtually inaugurated and laid the foundation for various development projects of the ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles, too, including housing complexes, barracks and hospitals.
Amid chanting of vedic hymns, he also offered prayers at a temple inside the Raj Bhawan, performed ‘gau pujan’ and planted a 'Sindur' tree.
He was welcomed by Governor Laxmi Prasad Acharya and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at the venue.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
_vb_22.jpeg)
