Meeting with Amit Shah not about change of leadership: Karnataka HM Basavaraj Bommai
Bengaluru, May 10: Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said his meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently was regarding the COVID situation and not about any change of leadership in the state.
"I would like to clarify that there was no political reason behind our Delhi visit. Other than talks on the issue of COVID, there was no other purpose behind our visit to Delhi. We did not even have any such discussion (change in leadership)," Bommai told reporters here.
Rumour mills were agog that Bommai along with BJP state vice-president and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's son B Y Vijayendra landed in Delhi as a change of guard was on the cards.
A few news reports even suggested that Bommai would be the next Chief Minister of the state.
However, clarifying the reports, the minister said, "The very thought of leadership change is a blunder. At a time when everyone is fighting against COVID together, such thoughts should not even emerge. These are all far from truth, pure lies."
According to him, Amit Shah expressed his happiness over the COVID management in Karnataka but insisted that more should have been done in view of alarming rise in infections in the state.
Bommai said he gave details about the oxygen requirement of the state.
He said he asked permission to utilise the oxygen produced in the state instead of bringing it from other states and shortage of tankers hitting the oxygen supply.
In response, the Union Home Minister said the Centre would sanction four tankers, Bommai said adding that 10 more tankers would be given to the state in future but it would take some time.
The Minister said this week 2.67 lakh Remdesivir vials would be given by the Centre.
Shah assured Bommai that the Centre would try its best to provide Karnataka's share of oxygen as directed by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court on May 7 stated that the minimum requirement of Karnataka, as projected by the state government on May 5, 2021, was 1,162 metric tonnes.
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Assam to lift all cases against Koch Rajbongshis in Foreigners' Tribunals: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.
''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.
The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.
The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.
''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.
Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.
These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.
The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.
