Would Like To See Rahul Gandhi As Prime Minister: Sudheendra Kulkarni
Mumbai, June 19: Sudheendra Kulkarni, BJP veteran L K Advani's former aide, on Monday said India needs a leader who can solve "big problems" such as the Kashmir issue and therefore he would like to see Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as the future prime minister.
Listing disputes with Pakistan and China, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "failed" to solve the big problems.
Speaking at a panel discussion in Mumbai, Sudheendra Kulkarni praised Rahul Gandhi, saying he is a "leader with good heart".
He said dialogue is the only solution to solve the long-standing dispute with Pakistan, and normalising ties with the neighbouring country is key to India becoming a great nation.
"We must state what is required for solving the problem with Pakistan. And which is why I made a suggestion that I would like to see Rahul Gandhi as future prime minister," he said at the event organised by All India Professionals' Congress.
The event was attended by senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, whose book 'Spectrum Politics' was launched there.
Mr Kulkarni added: "(Rahul Gandhi) is young and he is idealist. He is a man with compassion. No political leader in recent times had spoken the language of love, affection and compassion."
Ahead of the 2019 general elections, Sudhendra Kulkarni said Rahul Gandhi should make a visit to the neighbouring countries and emerge with ideas to solve the "big problems".
"Like Rajiv Gandhi did when he was in the opposition... He went to Afghanistan. Similarly, Rahul ji should go to Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and emerge as a leader with new ideas on how to solve big problems that Modi ji has failed to solve," Mr Kulkarni said.
He described himself as a "well-wisher" of the Congress and pitched for a dialogue between the party and the RSS notwithstanding their differences.
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Karnataka Cabinet to meet again to discuss SC internal reservation during recruitment
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Cabinet has decided to meet again to discuss the issue of providing internal reservation among Scheduled Castes for direct recruitment in the government sector, as deliberations on the matter remained incomplete.
While no specific date for the next meeting has been announced, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil told reporters it would be held "at the earliest" and reiterated the government's commitment to the issue.
The issue came up for discussion at the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, amid reports of rifts between SC(Right) and SC (Left) factions within the ruling Congress over providing internal reservation in the recruitment to 56,432 vacant posts.
"The government is committed to providing internal reservation. We will meet again for further discussion. The chief minister will decide when to meet at the earliest. It will be a Cabinet meeting and will be held as early as possible," Patil said.
He said, "We had a detailed discussion on this matter for some time, but it was incomplete because many ministers are yet to speak on this. The order already issued (for filling up vacancies) will not be disturbed, and about other things, we will discuss in the next meeting."
The state government decided to conduct recruitment for 56,432 vacant jobs based on the reservation order in force before December 28, 2022, (15 per cent for SCs and 3 per cent for STs), due to the stay on the enhanced quota and internal reservation, while continuing to pursue its case in court.
The previous BJP government had increased the reservation quota for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, raising the state's total reservation to 56 per cent, exceeding the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent ceiling.
While this matter is still in court, the Congress government decided to provide internal reservation by slicing up the 17 per cent reservation matrix given to 101 scheduled castes, under three groups, with a formula of six, six, and five per cent respectively.
According to sources, the SC(Left)/Madiga community, which has fought for internal reservation for decades, opposes recruitment for 56,432 jobs without providing internal reservation.
The SC (Right)/Holeya community, however, favoured recruitment without providing internal reservation.
At the meeting, the Cabinet gave administrative approval for Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation to purchase 144 'BS-VI' urban transport diesel buses at an estimated cost of Rs 62 crores.
It also granted administrative approval for the purchase of hardware and software for implementing ICJS (Inter-operable Criminal Justice System) and IT services in the state under the Police Modernisation Project at an estimated cost of Rs 227.58 crores.
The Cabinet also asked the health minister to speak with officers, doctors and other staffers appointed on a permanent, contract, temporary, or outsourced basis in the health department, who have threatened to go on strike over their various demands.
Approval was also given for amendments to certain sections of the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964, and the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, regarding advertisement charges under local bodies.
