BJP copying Cong's guarantee schemes for election 'jumla': Mallikarjun Kharge
Bengaluru (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused the BJP of copying his party's guarantee schemes and making similar announcements in poll-bound states as part of its election "jumla" (rhetoric).
Hitting out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he strongly defended the Karnataka Congress government's guarantee schemes, and said his party implements the promises made as it always works for the welfare of the people.
"I have responded to them in detail in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Even now, I ask them to study our Karnataka (state) budget. About Rs 52,000 crore has been allocated for the five guarantee schemes in the budget, 47 per cent of which has already been spent... probably they have not seen the budget," Kharge claimed, while responding to a question on BJP leaders and Modi targeting state's guarantee schemes during their election campaign.
Without any proper budget (allocation), the BJP has now made several announcements, he said, adding, "taking clues from five guarantees that we announced in Karnataka, they made announcements in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat Rajasthan and other places...."
Speaking to reporters here, Kharge said the BJP is on a propaganda to bring a bad name to the Karnataka government to which no one should lend their ears.
"They have copied our (Congress) guarantees. We are at least implementing guarantee schemes promised. We had done it while in the Central government, we are doing it now in the states where we are in power."
The BJP and Modi have not fulfilled or implemented any of their guarantees, he said, referring to "announcements such as Rs 15 lakh to every bank account when black money repatriated from abroad", creating 2 crore jobs, hiking MSP on crops, bullet trains, among others.
"Everything is jumla. They speak things for the sake of elections, while Congress always works for the welfare of the people," he added.
Not willing to give any direct response to a question on the Waqf related controversy in Karnataka, the Congress chief said, "joint select committee is looking into it. I have no role in it, I can't speak....once the joint select committee report comes to the Parliament, we can speak on it."
Regarding doubts being expressed about the sanctity of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) ahead of Maharashtra polls, Kharge said, "I don't want to speak on it repeatedly. We have a team on EVMs including leaders like Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Many are working on it. Let's see."
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Two held in UP's Bijnor for contact with Pakistan linked Dubai handler
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Bijnor (PTI): Two men were arrested in this Uttar Pradesh district on Friday for allegedly being in touch with a Pakistan-linked handler based in Dubai, police said.
Circle Officer, Najibabad, Anjani Kumar Chaturvedi said Uvaid Malik and Jalal Haider were arrested following inputs on their alleged links with Aqib, a resident of Meerut currently staying in Dubai.
According to police, Aqib had earlier come into the spotlight after a video surfaced on Instagram purportedly showing him displaying an AK-47 rifle and explosives.
During interrogation, the arrested men allegedly told police that Aqib used to incite youngsters against Hindus and encourage anti-national activities, the officer said, adding that detailed questioning of the accused is underway.
On April 6, Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Jha said the video first surfaced in November last year. Aqib, a native of Sathla village in the Mawana area of Meerut, was allegedly seen in the video brandishing weapons.
Following the viral clip, a case was registered at the Nangal police station by sub-inspector Vinod Kumar. However, the then station house officer and investigating officer Satyendra Singh had recorded Aqib's statement and filed a final report, stating that the weapons seen in the video were toys, effectively giving him a clean chit.
Police said fresh developments have now revealed Aqib's suspicious links and the probe has been handed over to the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS).
The SP said action has been taken against the officials concerned, with the then SHO and investigating officer suspended and Circle Officer Nitesh Pratap Singh removed from his post.
