Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje says people from TN plant bombs in Karnataka, Stalin fumes
Bengaluru: Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje on Tuesday slammed the Congress government in Karnataka over the deteriorating law and order situation and claimed that people from Tamil Nadu plant bombs in the state, remarks which drew criticism from neighbouring state’s Chief Minister M K Stalin.
During an agitation by the BJP against the attack on a trader for playing ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ during the ‘Azaan’ (Islamic call for prayer) here on Sunday, Karandlaje accused the Congress government of indulging in ‘vote bank politics’ and hurting the interests of Hindus.
”Law and order in Karnataka has deteriorated. People who come from Tamil Nadu plant bombs here, people from Delhi chant ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans and people who come from Kerala were involved in acid attacks,” the BJP Bengaluru North candidate told reporters here.
”The person who should have been in jail attacks a man for playing Hanuman Chalisa. Where is law and order in the state? Where are you Home Minister G Parameshwara? Why are you silent Chief Minister Siddaramaiah?” she asked.
Hindus are paying the price for the Congress’ ‘vote bank politics’, she alleged.
”Injustice is being meted out to Hindus under the Congress rule. Hindus are being hoodwinked. We should understand this,” the BJP leader said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin condemned Shobha Karandlaje’s remarks. ”Strongly condemn Union BJP Minister @ShobhaBJP’s reckless statement. One must either be an NIA official or closely linked to the #RameshwaramCafeBlast to make such claims. Clearly, she lacks the authority for such assertions. Tamilians and Kannadigas alike will reject this divisive rhetoric of BJP,” the TN CM said on the micro-blogging site ‘X’.
He urged the Election Commission of India to initiate appropriate legal action against Shobha for causing threat to peace, harmony and national unity.
He also appealed to the EC to take note of the ‘hate speech’ and initiate stringent action immediately.
According to the sources close to Karandlaje, she was referring to the blast that took place near the BJP office at Malleshwaram in the city 11 years ago in which some people from Tamil Nadu were arrested.
In the February 27 incident where three people were arrested for chanting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, one of the accused is from Delhi.
In another incident on March 4 in Mangaluru, a man from Kerala hurled acid on three girls studying at a government pre-university college.
Strongly condemn Union BJP Minister @ShobhaBJP's reckless statement. One must either be an NIA official or closely linked to the #RameshwaramCafeBlast to make such claims. Clearly, she lacks the authority for such assertions. Tamilians and Kannadigas alike will reject this… https://t.co/wIgk4oK3dh
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) March 19, 2024
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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