CM Bommai postpones New Delhi trip to Feb 7
Bengaluru, Feb 2: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said he has postponed his scheduled trip to New Delhi for February 7, on the request of Members of Parliament from the state.
The Chief Minister had earlier planned to leave for Delhi tomorrow morning.
"I had planned to go to Delhi tomorrow, for a meeting with Members of Parliament from the state there, but on the request of all our MPs I will go to Delhi on Monday," Bommai told reporters here.
Earlier in the day, he had said that he is likely to travel to Delhi tomorrow morning for a meeting with MPs from the state during the ongoing Parliament's budget session, and for a meeting with lawyers representing Karnataka regarding inter state water disputes.
Responding to a question on possible discussion with the BJP high command regarding expansion or reshuffle of his cabinet, during the Delhi visit, he said, "I don't want to have any open discussion on this matter."
There is pressure mounting on the CM to expand or rejig his cabinet soon, amid talks in party circles that the exercise is likely, only after the Assembly elections in five states.
Citing assembly polls in the state in 2023, several legislators including Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and M P Renukacharya have openly said that if cabinet exercise is delayed and carried out after election in five states, it will be too late for new ministers to make any mark, even in their own constituencies.
Recently some legislators have even been advocating Gujarat-like overhaul of the Karnataka Cabinet soon, to make way for new faces.
In September, the BJP completely overhauled the Gujarat's Council of Ministers by selecting new faces for the Bhupendra Patel government, with no Minister from the previous Vijay Rupani-led Ministry being inducted.
Bommai had repeatedly stated that he is waiting for the BJP leadership's consent on going ahead with the cabinet exercise.
There are currently 30 Ministers in the State Cabinet, including the Chief Minister, against the sanctioned strength of 34.
Noting that the union budget presented on Tuesday has separate documents that will have department and state wise allocation details, among others, the CM, in response to a query, said a detailed study will give a clear picture on allocations for old and new schemes, and about grant in aid for the state from the Centre and regarding loans.
"Based on all this we will decide on our (state) budget....after February 7, I will have pre budget consultative meetings with various departments. After gathering their opinion I will take budget related decisions," he said.
Bommai, who also holds the finance portfolio, is likely to present the state budget, his first, in the first week of March.
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Catholic Bishops' body slams Bhagwat's remarks
New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India on Thursday slammed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his reported remark that Pranab Mukherjee, when he was President, had said tribals would turn "anti-national" if there is no "ghar wapsi"Catholic Bishops.'
In a statement issued here, CBCI, a body of Catholic Bishops, referred to reports which said Bhagwat, at an event on Monday, claimed that Mukherjee, while he was President had appreciated ghar wapsi and told him that had it not been for the Sangh's work on reconversion, a section of Adivasis would have turned "anti-national".The CBCI called the report "shocking".
"Fabricated personal conversation being attributed to a former president of India and its posthumous publication with the vested interest of an organization with questionable credibility raises a grave issue of national importance," the CBCI claimed.
"Is it not the violent ghar wapsi program of VHP and other similar organizations, curtailing the exercise of freedom of conscience of economically deprived tribals, the real anti-national activity?" it asked.
'Ghar wapsi' is a term used by the RSS and affiliated organisations to refer to reconversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, based on the belief that they were originally Hindus before converting to other religions.
The CBCI also questioned why Bhagwat did not speak about it while Mukherjee was alive.
"We, the 2.3 percent of Indian citizens who are Christians feel extremely hurt by such manipulated and motivated propaganda unleashed," it said.
In a post on X following the statement issued by CBCI, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said, "Speak up. This is a start!"
"Bishops body have issued a statement condemning remarks made by Dr Mohan Bhagwat and RSS for defaming the Christian community," he said.
O'Brien added that they should ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi more questions, including why Christmas Day has been turned into "Good Governance Day".
The TMC leader, in a blogpost earlier this month, had said "hard questions" must be asked to the government with regards to the Christian community, including why the FCRA has been 'weaponised', and why has Manipur been 'ignored'.
