Will fight tooth and nail if any word is touched in Constitution: Mallikarjun Kharge
Bengaluru (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said that the party will fight tooth and nail if any word is touched in the Constitution.
He was reacting to RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's call to review the words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble.
Speaking to reporters at his house in Bengaluru, Kharge called Hosabale "a man of Manusmriti".
"He doesn't want the poor class people to come up. And what was practiced thousands of years ago, he wants the same to continue. That's why he doesn't like socialism, secularism and liberty, equality and fraternity," the Congress president said.
According to Kharge, this is not only Hosabale's line, but that of the RSS.
Hosabale, while addressing an event on the Emergency recently, said that "the preamble of the Constitution Baba Saheb Ambedkar made never had these words."
"During the Emergency, when fundamental rights were suspended, Parliament did not work, and judiciary became lame, then these words were added."
The RSS leader said discussions were held on this issue later but no effort was made to remove them from the Preamble. "So whether they should remain in the Preamble should be considered," he added.
Kharge said, "RSS is always against the poor people, the downtrodden and Scheduled Caste and other communities. If they are so interested, they could have removed untouchability. They claim they are the champions of the Hindu religion. If they are so, they should remove untouchability."
The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha also said that RSS should deploy all its volunteers to make sure untouchability is removed and keep the country united. "Instead of that, simply talking, making noise and creating confusion in the country--that is very bad, and we are against it. The party will fight tooth and nail if any word is touched in the Constitution," said Kharge.
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
