Congress believes in the Hindutva of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda: DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Nov 30: Congress Karnataka unit president D K Shivakumar on Monday said Hinduism is no one's property and the party believes in the Hindutva of Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda, and in protecting the interest of people belonging to all communities.
"Ours is Mahatma Gandhi's Hindutva, Vivekananda's Hindutva...Hinduism is no one's property....India's tradition, culture is the wealth that belongs to all of us .
We (Congress) will protect and safeguard the interest of everyone as said in our constitution," Shivakumar told reporters in response to a question about recent developments regarding inter-faith marriages and Hindutva politics.
"Protecting the constitution is our commitment and our stand," he added.
Shivakumar had convened a meeting of senior leaders of the party today on developments in the state and strengthening the Congress as an organisation.
Shivakumar said booth and panchayat level committees will be formed in the coming days towards organising the party and to make Congress a cadre based party.
The booth committees will be called "Praja Pratinidhi" and it will have representation from across sections of the society.
"We will implement it during the upcoming gram panchayat elections itself," he said.
The Karnataka State Election Commission on Monday announced polls to 5,762 gram panchayats in the state in two phases on December 22 and 27, and the model code of conduct has come into immediate effect.
Welcoming the announcement of the polls, Shivakumar said "For the gram panchayat election we are forming nine teams.All our leaders will be part of it.
However senior they (leaders) are, they will visit various parts of the state from district to assembly level.
MLAs have been given responsibility of neighbouring constituencies," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Five railway staffers injured as van headed to Rajdhani Express fire site overturns in MP
Ratlam (MP) (PTI): Five railway staffers were injured, one of them critically, when their van carrying repair equipment to the site of a Rajdhani Express fire overturned in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district on Sunday, officials said.
The blaze erupted in an AC coach of the Delhi-bound Thiruvananthapuram-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express between Vikramgarh Alot and Lunirichha stations under the Kota division of the railways in Ratlam at 5.15 am.
It disrupted the movement of several trains on the Mumbai-Delhi route, as per the officials.
A van carrying necessary equipment to Alot overturned on the way when a cow suddenly strayed into the middle of the road, they said.
ALSO READ: Fire breaks out in coach of Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express in MP's Ratlam; no casualties
Five railwaymen were injured, one of them critically, the officials said.
The incident took place when the van carrying essential equipment for overhead electric line repair, among other things, was on its way to Alot from Shyamnagar in Ratlam, West Central Railway's chief public relations officer Harshit Shrivastava told PTI.
The injured persons were rushed to the hospital and were subsequently referred to Kota in Rajasthan, officials said.
No casualties were reported in the train fire.
