New Parliament building country's property, will attend its inauguration: HD Deve Gowda
Bengaluru (PTI): JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Thursday said he will be attending the inauguration of the new Parliament building in New Delhi on May 28, saying it is a property of the country and built from taxpayers' money.
The JD(S) patriarch questioned whether it was the office of the BJP and RSS for boycotting its inauguration. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to inaugurate the building on Sunday.
"I am attending the inauguration of the new Parliament building. It is the property of the country. It is not anyone's personal matter," Gowda said.
Speaking at the JD(S) introspection meeting following Karnataka Assembly poll results here, he said it is not anyone's personal programme, it is a country's programme.
"That magnificent building was built with the tax money of the people of the country. It belongs to the country. It is not a BJP or RSS office," he said, adding he is participating in the inauguration of the new Parliament building as a former Prime Minister and a citizen of the country.
As of now 21 opposition parties have said they will not be attending the inauguration ceremony, primarily taking exception to Modi doing the honours rather than President Droupadi Murmu.
Stating that he has many reasons to oppose BJP politically, Gowda, according to an official release said, "I do not like to bring politics in the matter of opening the Parliament building."
"I have been elected to both houses of Parliament. I have performed duty there in the constitutional framework, and I still am a member (of the Rajya Sabya)," he said.
"I have worked to protect the values of the Constitution. Therefore, I cannot bring politics into the matter of the Constitution," he added.
Noting that many parties have boycotted the inauguration of the Parliament building and many have asked him whether he will attend it or not, being a former PM, Gowda said, "I want to tell them that I am committed to the Constitution and will go to the inauguration of the Parliament building."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Notices issued to Himachal conductor, driver for anti-Rahul Gandhi audio clip playing in govt bus
Shimla, Nov 30: After finding itself in soup over a CID enquiry on "missing samosas", the Himachal Pradesh government is again in a tight spot for issuing notices to a state roadways conductor and driver after an audio clip with defamatory remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was allegedly played in their bus.
A man in his complaint to the Chief Minister's Office said defamatory words were used against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders in an audio clip which was played in the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus plying between Shimla and Sanjauli on November 5.
In a letter to the conductor and driver of the bus on November 25, the HRTC sought explanation from them. The letter went viral on the internet.
Talking to reporters on Friday, HRTC Managing Director Rohan Chand Thakur said a routine complaint was received from a customer after which a fact finding enquiry was initiated. The enquiry was closed as the allegations were found baseless.
However, the wording of the explanation sought could have been better and the officers have been verbally conveyed to improve in the coming times, he added.
The defamatory words were allegedly used in a debate being played in the audio clip.
Reacting sharply to the letter, BJP MLA from Dharamshala, Sudhir Sharma, said the government should appoint marshals to stop audios being played in buses.
"Such decisions of the government are damaging the reputation of the state government as well as the state," he added.
Earlier, the state CID department had ordered an internal enquiry on the samosas which were brought for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during a function and by mistake were served to the his security staff. A senior police official had termed the faux pas as an anti-CID and ant-Government act.
