Congress targeting RSS only to appease minorities: CM Bommai
Bengaluru, Oct 20: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said the Congress has been targeting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) only to allegedly appease the minorities.
"In the by-polls, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress are not getting any other topic. Hence, they are dragging RSS into the byelection campaign.
"They are commenting on RSS with a hope that they will get the votes of the minorities but they will never succeed in their efforts," Bommai said in village Naregalla in the bypoll-bound Hanagal Assembly constituency.
The Chief Minister was here to campaign for the BJP candidate Shivaraj Sajjanar who has a direct fight with Srinivas Mane of Congress and Niyaz Sheikh of the JD(S).
Replying to query on Congress leaders, especially Siddaramaiah, making allegations against him and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Bommai said he would refrain from commenting on the statements because they were too petty for him to respond.
"Their trifling statements will not help them win in Sindagi and Hanagal Assembly by-polls. People of Hanagal have trust in us (BJP). I am confident that the people of Hanagal constituency will elect Shivaraj Sajjan with a huge victory margin," Bommai said.
Bommai refused to also react to former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy's comments on the RSS.
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.
Waqf (Amendment) Bill 'assault' on Constitution: Sonia Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday termed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill as a "brazen assault" on the Constitution, saying it was part of the BJP's strategy to keep society in a state of "permanent polarisation".
Hours after the Lok Sabha passed the Waqf amendment bill, Gandhi said the bill was "bulldozed" through in the lower house.
Addressing Congress MPs at a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in Samvidhan Sadan here, she also said that the One Nation, One Election Bill is another subversion of the Constitution and the party would strongly oppose it.
"Whether it is education, civil rights and liberties, our federal structure or conduct of elections, the Modi government is dragging the country into an abyss where our Constitution will remain on paper and we know their intention is to demolish even that," she charged.
"It is vital for all of us to continue to fight for what is right and just, to expose Modi government's failing and intention to turn India into a surveillance state," Gandhi told MPs at the meeting.
All party MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, were present at the meeting.
Sonia Gandhi also alleged that the prime minister has rebranded, repackaged and marketed numerous initiatives taken during 2004-2014 as his own personal accomplishments. That too needs to be exposed through our own public outreach activities, she asserted.
Speaking on the functioning of both houses of Parliament, she charged that the Leaders of Opposition are not allowed to speak and the treasury benches are often found to be creating disturbance in a bid to not allow the Congress to raise their issues.
Noting that the BJP members aggressively target Congress-ruled state governments, with "total falsehoods", she urged party MPs to be equally aggressive and raise the failures and mis-governance in BJP-ruled states.
This will mean much more pointed homework and research on our part, she noted.
The Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill well past midnight after a 12-hour debate.
The Bill was passed after all amendments moved by the opposition members were rejected by voice votes. It was passed after division of votes -- 288 in favour and 232 against. The Bill will now come up in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
_vb_75.jpeg)