Authorities know about Maoists' weapons, they will be brought following due process: CM Siddaramaiah
Mysuru, Jan 10: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said authorities are in the know about the place where the weapons of six Maoists, who have surrendered, are kept, and that they will be brought following due process.
He also defended the Maoists surrendering before the government, which has come under criticism from the opposition BJP, stating that the intention of the administration is to end Naxalism and the people involved in such activities should come to the mainstream giving up arms.
"Weapons are there. Their mahajar will be done and they will be brought. We know where it is. After mahajar it will be brought," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question.
Speaking to reporters here, he said that the government's intention is that there should be no Naxalism, and it wants any agitation to be peaceful.
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"There should be no armed agitation. Babasaheb Ambedkar too said the same thing that constitutional methods should be used. There should be no usage of unconstitutional methods. No one should take law into their hands in the name of protest or agitation," he added.
Earlier in the day, Home Minister G Parameshwara said that six surrendered Maoists have not handed over their weapons, and the police are working to locate and recover them from the forest where they are believed to have been disposed of.
Noting that one Maoist, expelled from the surrendered group, is still at large and efforts are underway to trace him, the minister said there is no one else involved in Naxal activities in the state.
To a question about one Maoist being still at large, the CM said, "We are not sure whether one more Maoist is there are not. If he is there, I appeal to him too, to come to the mainstream."
To a question by farmers' protest against the central government, demanding for a 'legal MSP guarantee', Siddaramaiah said, "The Government of India is not a government that is pro farmer. Farmers are protesting, demanding to provide a legal framework for MSP, but they (govt) are not ready to do so. They are not agreeing to farmers' demands; this is an inhuman and anti-farmers government."
Asked about BJP planning 'Bhima Sangama' campaign as part of which party leaders will have food with Dalit families, Siddaramaiah, calling it a "joke", said, BJP's feelings and respect towards Ambedkar is known from Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement (referring to his alleged comments during a debate on the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha last month).
"The BJP and its leaders speak about changing the Constitution. RSS leadership and Savarkar from Hindu Mahasabha had opposed the Constitution. While Congress is committed to the Constitution, we are protecting and implementing the Constitution and its objectives," he said.
Stating that he held discussions with the protesting Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA workers) from Karnataka, demanding a fixed monthly honorarium and other benefits, the CM said, he has told them the government will ensure that they get Rs 10,000 every month including incentives, and they have said that they will withdraw the protest.
"Currently Rs 8,000 is being given to them. It will be made Rs 10,000, including incentives. For those to whom the incentives don't add up to a total of Rs 10,000, we will give it," he said, adding that the fiscal position of the state is good.
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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."
