Dalit man made to spend Rs 11K on feast for entering temple in Karnataka
Koppal, Sep 25: Close on the heels of a Dalit family being penalised Rs 25,000 over their two-year-old son entering a temple in Kustagi, a Dalit man was forced to arrange a feast spending Rs 11,000 for entering a Lakshmi Devi temple in a village at Karatagi about 11 days ago, a police officer said.
"Yes, it is true that the man spent Rs 11,000 to arrange feast for entering the temple. Our officers are investigating the matter," superintendent of Police T Sreedhara told PTI on Saturday.
According to him, the incident came to light only on Friday and since then the temple management led by the priest raised an alarm and forced the man to organise the feast.
Sreedhara said a few months ago, a theft had taken place in the village and it was decided that no one should enter the temple except the priest.
However, the Dalit man, whose identity has been withheld, entered as he had taken a vow to conduct some rituals.
On September 14, he entered the temple ignoring the collective decision taken by the elders of the village.
Other police sources said eight people have been detained in this connection.
The incident was a stark reminder of the September 4 incident when a Dalit family belonging to the Chenna Dasar community was harassed and asked to pay Rs 25,000 as penalty after their two-year-old son entered the temple in Miyapur village under Kushatagi police station limits in Koppal.
Five people were arrested in connection with the incident and several awareness meetings were held to educate masses against the evil of caste based discrimination.
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Surat LS candidate Nilesh Kumbhani whose nomination form was rejected suspended from Congress
Ahmedabad, Apr 25: The Gujarat Congress on Friday suspended from the party for six years its Surat Lok Sabha candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination form was rejected over discrepancies leading to the BJP's Mukesh Dalal getting elected unopposed.
A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or "in connivance with the BJP".
"To be fair to you we have given time to you to explain your case but instead of coming before the party disciplinary committee you have gone incommunicado. After your form was rejected by the authorities, BJP went ahead and got form of other eight candidates withdrawn. This has deprived people of Surat their voting rights," the Congress disciplinary committee headed by Balu Patel said.
"People of Surat and party workers have become very angry due to your action and are expressing their anger in different ways. The Congress party has decided to suspend you for six years from the party," the press note said.
Kumbhani's nomination form was rejected on April 21 after his three proposers submitted affidavits to the district returning officer claiming the signatures on the document was not theirs.
The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated on the same grounds.
In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said the three nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected after prima facie discrepancy was found in the signatures of the proposers and they did not appear to be genuine.
Kumbhani, a former corporator from Surat, had unsuccessfully fought the 2022 Assembly polls from Kamrej there.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency on April 22 after all other nominees, including one from BSP, withdrew from the fray one by one on the last day of withdrawing papers.
