Sushma Swaraj says BJP will turn up poll heat on air strike sceptics
Mumbai: The BJP will use leaflets to ask people whether they would vote for parties that questioned the valour of the country's armed forces in connection with the February 26 air strike and the aerial engagement with Pakistan fighter jets the next day.
Speaking at a gathering of the BJP's women workers here on Sunday, senior leader and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj signalled that the military action against Pakistan after the February 14 Pulwama attack would be a poll issue for the ruling party.
"We should ask questions about whether our jawans should count the dead bodies (after dropping bombs on terror camps) or return safely after carrying out the air strike. BJP workers should ask counter-questions to those who raise doubts about the impact of our air strike," Swaraj said.
The February 26 air strike is at the centre of a political slugfest with some opposition parties demanding that the Narendra Modi government furnish proof of its efficacy in terms of terrorist casualties at the Jaish-e-Mohammed camp that was bombed.
"We (BJP) should ask questions like whether you (voter) will support parties that side with separatists. We should ask people whether they want to vote for those who question the valour of our jawans," she said.
"We will have two leaflets of which one will be about these logical counter statements. BJP workers should use it during the poll campaign. The other leaflet will be about government welfare schemes for women. The two leaflets will be made available soon," Swaraj said.
Speaking at the function, Swaraj said, "This is my last public appearance before the model code of conduct comes into force. At the same time, it is my first rally to ensure a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi."
The country was full of nationalistic fervour now, she said, adding that she wanted its people to be safe under the leadership of Modi.
"I was also asked about this third surgical strike by a local BJP leader. I told him that the third surgical strike is going to be done by this country's voters on expectations and plans of the opposition," she said.
"It will prove predictions of political pundits wrong and there would be a mammoth mandate again in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This will be the third surgical strike, which voters will do," she said.
Earlier, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said on Saturday at a public rally in Karnataka that there had been three surgical strikes in the last five years.
Singh, however, had added that he would not reveal details of the the third cross-border action.
Swaraj also praised the Ujjwala Yojana, under which LPG cylinders are being given to rural families.
"Earlier, rural women had to waste time collecting wood, and then carry it on their heads. It used to cause hair loss among women. The smoke from the wood fire would affect their eyes. With this LPG scheme, we have prevented hair loss and eyes getting exposed to smoke," she claimed.
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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.”
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