Row over cash seizure from Karnataka minister's clerk
Bengaluru, Jan 5: The alleged seizure of a large amount of cash from a clerk in the office of Karnataka minister for backward classes welfare C Puttarangashetty snowballed into a major controversy Saturday with the BJP and a senior leader of ruling coalition partner JD(S) demanding the resignation of the Congress minister.
Chief Minister H.D Kumaraswamy said an investigation was on and a decision will be taken once a detailed report comes out.
Mounting an attack on the ruling Congress-JDS coalition government, the BJP demanded that the minister step down following the seizure of cash from the clerk in the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, Friday night.
"Yesterday the police seized Rs 25.76 lakh from Puttarangashetty's PA at Vidhana Soudha. The cover bore the name of Minister Puttarangashetty.
"He must resign immediately and the matter should be thoroughly investigated," BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa said in Shivamogga.
Taking a jibe at the state government, BJP general secretary and party spokesperson N Ravi Kumar wondered "how much money other ministers would be making if the daily collection of a minister is Rs 25.76 lakh".
JD(S) MLC Basavaraj Horatti too demanded that the minister resign on moral grounds.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said investigations were on and accordingly action would be taken against the accused.
"With regard to the investigation, police will take their own decision. I am not the one to misuse power and influence investigation. We will take a decision when a detailed report comes out after a transparent investigation," he said.
Former chief minister and state congress leader Siddaramaiah said investigation has to be carried out to find out how the accused got such a huge amount of cash.
A case has to be registered, he said.
According to police, the clerk Mohan was intercepted when he was taking the cash inside Vidhana Soudha and was later arrested.
The clerk could not give any satisfactory reply to the queries on the source of the money and the motive behind taking it inside the state secretariat, they said.
Puttarangashetty had said he has no clue about the cash and that he was not in the office when the person was caught.
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Women BJP MLAs protest against opposition in UP assembly premises
Lucknow (PTI): Women BJP MLAs held a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan complex before the one-day special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly, slamming the opposition for defeating the passage of a bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Law, in the Lok Sabha.
This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading public in the name of women's reservation.
The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly premises, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall of Vidhan Bhawan carrying the banners.
Participating in the protest, the state Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development, Baby Rani Maurya, told reporters that all opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed the women's reservation, a stance for which they would have to pay a heavy political price.
"On this issue, all of us women stand united. We will ensure that we secure our reservation," she said.
BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state.
Singh asserted that the opposition has betrayed women by creating hurdles in the path of women's reservation. The current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement, she said.
Minister Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women). Their action was directed against the very bill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced to empower and strengthen Nari Shakti (women's power), and which he strived to pass expeditiously."
Uttar Pradesh assembly is holding a one-day special session on Thursday. During the session, the government is set to move a censure motion against the opposition parties over their failure to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, in the Lok Sabha.
