Saffron power to submerge democratic values: Hamid Ansari
New Delhi, Oct 3 : Former Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Wednesday said Bharatiya Janata Partys success was "sectoral" and regional rather than at the national level. He said saffron partys ideology "seeks to submerge" the democratic values of diversity and inclusiveness.
Speaking at the book launch "Rise of Saffron Power: Reflections on Indian Politics," Ansari said: "Saffron ideology seeks to submerge the democratic values of diversity and inclusiveness in an alternate paradigm of exclusion and homogenization."
He said in the last four years, the BJP-led government had "failed" in its economic policies. "This is evident as grievances were being expressed by farmers, students and unemployed youth," he said.
He congratulated the author Mujibur Rahman and said this book would be an essential reading for anybody working on cotemporary Indian politics.
CPI lawmaker D. Raja said: "BJP coming to power is not change of government. It is the quality shift in Indian polity, which is emerging as the fascist regime.
"We are not only passing through economic or political crisis but we are witnessing a kind of ideological and philosophical crisis," he said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
