'Are Naxals/Maoists part of Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka?' asks BJP MP
Bengaluru, Oct 3: BJP Rajya Sabha member Lahar Singh Siroya on Monday asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to clarify whether "Naxals/Maoists and their sympathisers" were part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra that is underway in Karnataka.
He has posed 10 questions to Gandhi and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah seeking clarity on certain issues, while asking whether the opposition party would seek a probe by central agencies into the affairs of "Naxals/Maoists" and their sympathisers in the state.
"As they walk across Karnataka, can I request Sri Rahul Gandhi and Sri Siddaramaiah to give the nation and the state clarity on the following issues. Can they confirm that Naxals/Maoists and their sympathisers are not part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra's Karnataka leg? Were these people involved in the planning of the yatra?" Siroya said in a statement.
"Can they confirm if some Congressmen have helped Naxals/Maoists to collect large sum of money to build and run media outlets in recent years? Will they agree to a probe into the money sources of these people?" he further asked.
The Yatra which entered poll-bound Karnataka on September 30 via Gundlupet in Chamarajanagar district, has reached Mysuru on Monday.
Siroya expressed "suspicion" about the then Congress administration, which ruled the state between 2013-18, and asked Siddaramaiah to point out his government's policy towards the Naxals in that period.
"Can they confirm if the Siddaramaiah-led government deliberately looked away as Naxals/Maoists exploited the death of a famous journalist to strengthen their operations? Did friends of Siddaramaiah give monetary and logistics help to Naxals/Maoists to organise memorial functions for the journalist?" he asked.
The journalist he seemed to be referring to is Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead on the night of September 5, 2017, from close range near her house in Rajarajeshwari Nagar here.
"Like the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had a soft corner for PFI, did it also have a soft corner for Naxals/Maoists? Why did some underground elements come overground during his time? Recently, when action was taken against PFI, Siddaramaiah said there should be action against RSS too. Has he ever sought action against Naxals/Maoists?" he questioned.
Asking as to why Siddaramaiah first agreed to be part of a Chinese association function which wanted to protest against US "involvement" in Taiwan, and suddenly withdrew after it became a public issue, he wanted to know, "Did Siddaramaiah seek action against his friends and partymen involved in organising the function?"
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
