Minister Umesh Katti draws flak for asking farmer to die for seeking more rice in PDS
Bengaluru, Apr 28: Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Minister Umesh Katti on Wednesday drew flak from Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and opposition parties for reportedly asking a farmer to die when he requested enhanced supply of rice though the Public Distribution System.
Katti later withdrew his statement, tendered an apology and said he never wanted anyone to die and that everyone should prosper.
Ishwar, the farmer activist from Gadag in North Karnataka, rang up Katti on Wednesday and asked him how he expected people to survive on just two kg of rice a month when the lockdown has rendered thousands jobless.
To Ishwar's query, the minister replied that the Centre would be giving five kg foodgrains in May and June in view of the lockdown.
This did not satisfy the farmer, who then sought to know whether people should fast till that period or die.
"It's better to die. It's better that you stop the business of selling rice. Don't ring me again," Katti said.
The government had decided to give two kg of rice and three kg of ragi through PDS in South Karnataka,and two kg of rice and three kg of either maize or wheat in North Karnataka.
The minister later clarified that he never meant anyone should die and that all 6.5 crore people in Karnataka should prosper and survive.
He said the entire quota of food grains under the PDS for April, alloted by the Centre, had already been disributed.
"What can I do if someone makes such a statement? We are giving the Central quota from May 1 to May 10. No one should die and no one should ask such questions."
The Chief Minister's Office, in a statement, quoted Yediyurappa as saying that he disapproved of the remarks and that it does not behove a minister to tell a farmer to die when the latter demanded five kg of rice.
"Arrangements are being made to give five kg of rice to the people in the area who do not need wheat," he said.
Congress state chief D K Shivakumar slammed Katti's remarks and demanded that the government remove him from his post.
"BJP Minister Umesh Katti has abused a citizen & asked him to 'go die' just because he asked him why Karnataka Govt has cut Rice under PDS to just 2 kgs! "CM @BSYBJP (Yediyurappa) must immediately throw him out of the cabinet for this most insensitive statement.
Does this Govt have any shame?" Shivakumar tweeted.
Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy too lambasted Katti for his statement.
"The Food and Civil Supplies Minister, who is supposed to come to the aid of the starving people in this COVID-19 pandemic, has displayed his mental distortion," he tweeted.
He said it was 'inhumane' on the part of the Minister to make such a statement.
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Top leaders of INDIA bloc will scramble for PM's post if it comes to power: Amit Shah
Jhanjarpur (Bihar), Apr 29: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday warned that a victory of the opposition INDIA bloc, “even by mistake”, will lead to a scramble among top leaders of the alliance for the prime minister’s post.
Shah claimed that leaders like M K Stalin, Sharad Pawar, Lalu Prasad and Mamata Banerjee may agree to a year each of premiership, by turns, and “Rahul baba (Rahul Gandhi) will have to settle for whatever is left of the tenure”.
In contrast, he said, “a third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead to elimination of corruption from the entire country, including Bihar, and eradication of casteism in the state”.
“Modi’s return to power is certain. But, suppose, even by mistake, if the INDIA alliance comes to power, what will happen? Who will be the prime minister? Will it be Stalin, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee or Rahul Gandhi? They will all settle for sharing the top post for a year each. Is it how the country can be run?” Shah said.
The senior BJP leader, who addressed election rallies in Jhanjharpur and Begusarai Lok Sabha constituencies of Bihar, also charged the opposition bloc with seeking restoration of triple talaq.
"Should we have triple talaq? INDI alliance leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Lalu Prasad say they will protect Muslim Personal Law. They should forget their plans. The BJP government will implement a Uniform Civil Code across the country,” Shah asserted.
Claiming that Modi’s victory and a third term in office were certain, he also cautioned against "political instability" that may follow if the INDIA coalition manages to form a government “even by mistake”.
"We need a leadership that is strong and not helpless. If the INDIA alliance comes to power... M K Stalin, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Lalu Prasad, all of them may become PM for a year each. Rahul baba will settle for whatever is left of the tenure,” Shah said.
The home minister, who is often credited with abrogation of Article 370, also accused the Congress and its allies with having protected special status to Jammu and Kashmir like an "auras Putra” (one's own offspring).
"Rahul Gandhi had tried to scare us by claiming that scrapping Article 370 will cause rivers of blood to flow. But, when the Modi government made the move, nobody even dared to throw a pebble,” said Shah.
Slamming Gandhi for his “new-found concern for OBCs”, the home minister said “the Congress party has always been against the Other Backward Classes. It had opposed the Mandal Commission. Modi has emerged from among the OBCs and the community has been empowered during his tenure as never before”.
He also showered encomiums on Modi for abrogation of Article 370 and strong counter-terrorism steps like surgical strikes in contrast with the previous Congress-led UPA regime, “when for 10 years, terrorists struck at will”.
Attacking the opposition for alleging misuse of central agencies, Shah said, “Should there be no action against the corrupt? Whoever is found guilty of swindling money meant for the poor people of the country, must be in jail”.
He also said the opposition camp had neither leaders nor resolve, alleging “Sonia Gandhi’s sole concern is making her son the prime minister, while Lalu Prasad wants to make his son the chief minister of Bihar”.
Shah alleged that the Congress and the RJD supremo did not give due respect to former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur, but the BJP recognised his contribution and conferred the Bharat Ratna on him.
In Begusarai, where Union minister Giriraj Singh seeks to retain the seat for BJP, Shah mockingly referred to main rival CPI as "laal bhai" and urged the people to vote for the sitting MP "in huge numbers so that the next time they do not muster the courage to enter the fray".
