I am a strong ticket aspirant for Channapatna bypolls, says BJP MLC CP Yogeeshwara
Bengaluru, Aug 12: BJP MLC C P Yogeeshwara on Monday said he was a strong ticket aspirant for Channapatna Assembly bypolls and expressed hope that his party leadership along with alliance partner JD(S) will field him as their joint candidate.
He said in case he fails to get a ticket, he will contest as an independent, and wants to be back in the NDA fold later.
The JD(S) joined the BJP-led NDA in September last year, and the two parties contested the recent Lok Sabha polls in an alliance.
Channapatna bypoll is necessitated as the seat fell vacant following the election of its representative -- JD(S) leader and now Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy -- to Lok Sabha.
The byelection schedule is yet to be announced by the Election Commission.
"I'm also a strong aspirant for the Channapatna bypolls. Kumaraswamy and I have been traditional rivals politically", he told reporters here, noting that he was JD(S) leader's "closest opponent" in the 2023 Assembly polls. "There have been 10,000-15,000 votes difference in every election, so it's my claim that the seat vacated by him should be given to me."
Kumaraswamy's actor-turned-politician son Nikhil Kumaraswamy's name is also doing the rounds. Nikhil had lost the 2023 Assembly polls from neighbouring Ramanagara Assembly segment.
Kumaraswamy had won the Channapatna seat in 2018 and 2023. Before that Yogeeshwara had represented the seat from BJP and Samajwadi Party. He had earlier also represented the seat both as an independent and from the Congress.
Indications are that either Shivakumar or his brother D K Suresh, a former Congress MP who lost from Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha segment, may be fielded in Channapatna.
BJP central leadership has reportedly asked Yogeeshwara to come to New Delhi.
Yogeeshwara said he is confident that Kumaraswamy will agree to give him the ticket.
"With a lot of confidence, our party leadership has made him the central Minister. In case I had not cooperated for the alliance (with JD(S)) ....it is me who first pitched for the alliance, both of us have to come together. I don't know how Kumaraswamy has taken it, but I had internally worked for the alliance, which bore fruit and he (Kumaraswamy) too has benefitted from it," he said.
Yogeeshwara said he was very clear that people of the taluk have faith in him and would ensure his victory under any symbol.
"Earlier too when the parties did not give me the ticket, people of the taluk held my hand. So, like-minded, non-political people in the taluk have formed a forum and are asking me to contest. I will go to Delhi, meet our leadership. I have positive indications from state and central leaders, let's see, Kumaraswamy may change his mind. If he agrees, good, if not let's see the road ahead," he added.
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Why remove Mahatma Gandhi's name, asks Priyanka on move to replace MGNREGA
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday slammed the government over its move to change the name of MGNREGA, asking what is the government's intention behind removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi who is the tallest leader not just in India but in the world.
A bill to repeal the MGNREGA and bring a new law for rural employment -- Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 -- is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha. According to a copy of the bill, it seeks to introduce the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, in Parliament and repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) of 2005.
Asked about the government's move, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Whenever the name of a scheme is changed there are so many changes that have to be made in offices, stationery... for which money is spent. So, what is the benefit, why it is being done?"
"Why is Mahatma Gandhi's name being removed. Mahatma Gandhi is considered the tallest leader not just in the country but in the world, so removing his name, I really don't understand what is the objective? What is their intention?" she told reporters in Parliament House complex.
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"Even when we are debating it is on other issues not the real issues of the people. Time is being wasted, money is being wasted, they are disrupting themselves," Priyanka Gandhi added.
The bill aims at establishing a "rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047", by providing a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.
The bill has been listed in the Lok Sabha in the supplementary list of business issued on Monday.
Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in the statement of purpose of the Bill, said MGNREGA has provided guaranteed wage-employment to rural households over the past 20 years.
However, "further strengthening has become necessary in view of the significant socio-economic transformation witnessed in the rural landscape driven by widespread coverage of the social security interventions and saturation-oriented implementation of major government schemes", he said.
#WATCH | दिल्ली: कांग्रेस सांसद प्रियंका गांधी वाड्रा ने MGNREGA का नाम बदले जाने पर कहा, "...वे महात्मा गांधी का नाम क्यों हटा रहे हैं? वे इस देश के, इतिहास के और दुनिया के सबसे बड़े नेता माने जाते हैं। मुझे समझ नहीं आ रहा इसके पीछे इनकी(सरकार की) मंशा क्या है? सदन चल नहीं रहा।… pic.twitter.com/gp5wNLllDu
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