Baba Budan Giri row: Recommendation of sub-committee gets Cabinet nod
Bengaluru, July 1: Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy on Friday said the State Cabinet has accepted the recommendation made by its sub-committee to be placed before the High Court regarding the Baba Budan Giri-Datta Peeta issue in Chikmagalur district.
The High Court of Karnataka last month granted six weeks to the Cabinet sub-committee to arrive at a decision on the issue.
"We have submitted the Datta Peeta report to the Cabinet, which is to be submitted before the High Court...the Cabinet has accepted the recommendations that we are going to file before the High Court of Karnataka," Madhuswamy said, not willing to share its contents citing court procedures.
Speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, he said "The decision of the High Court was that the government has to come with some report. When the case came up before the Court again three-four weeks back, we had sought time stating that we will file an affidavit before court within four weeks."
On June 1, the State had sought time during the hearing of an intra-court appeal challenging the quashing of the appointment of a Muslim Maulvi, Syed Ghouse Mohiyuddin Shah Khadri, to conduct rituals at the disputed religious site.
The March 19, 2018 order of the government making the appointment was quashed by the High Court on September 28, 2021. The government order was challenged by Guru Dattatreya Peeta Devastana.
Following this, the matter was remitted to the State government with a direction to re-consider the matter afresh.
In compliance, the government had constituted a Cabinet sub-committee comprising the Minister of Law and Parliamentary affairs, Home Minister and Endowments Minister.
The High Court was informed on June 1 that the sub-committee visited the spot and consulted various stakeholders, and with a view to amicably resolving the dispute between the parties, a decision would be taken within six weeks.
The court was also told that the State government does not intend to alter or interfere with the "performance" of any religious activities in the place of worship in question till the decision is submitted.
Deferring the proceedings for six weeks, the court had said the decision which may be submitted by the government shall be subject to result of the appeal and it would be open for either of the parties to raise an objection with regard to the decision, which may be taken by the State government.
The Datta Peetha shrine issue has been a controversial one in Karnataka for several years. A temple in the name of Dattatreya and a dargah in the name of Sufi saint Baba Budan Dargah are located at the cave in the Bababudangiri Hills of the Western Ghats.
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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."
