Regional

Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly, V.D. Satheeshan said that Congress has never discussed such a subject.

He also said that the MP had moved the bill without consulting the party and added that the party had asked him withdraw the bill.

After Eden moved the private member's bill in parliament, the Union Home Ministry sought the opinion of the Kerala government.

However the state government rejected the demand, with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan noting in the file that the demand was impractical and hence, was being rejected.

Satheeshan, while speaking to media persons at Kochi, said: “Hibi is like my younger brother and when I noticed the news, I had immediately contacted him and told him about the party’s dissatisfaction on this. This is not the decision of the party. He has moved a private member's bill and party has asked him to withdraw the bill with immediate effect.”

He said that he was also from Kochi but never had the urge to make it the capital city and added that Thiruvananthapuram was a good capital city for Kerala.

Thiruvananthapuram MP and senior Congress leader Dr. Shashi Tharoor also told media persons that there was no need for such a demand.

Vadakara MP K. Muraleedharan said that the demand of Eden has to be rejected outright, and reiterated that Thiruvananthapuram was a good place to be the capital of the state.

He asked whether he could demand Vadakara as the capital of Kerala, adding that these were all immature suggestions.

Several other senior state Congress leaders came out strongly against the demand of Eden.

Meanwhile, Kerala Industries Minister P. Rajeev told media persons that the demand of Eden is an indication that he was the candidate for Ernakulam Lok Sabha seat again.

--IANS

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Rahul Gandhi unveiled the promise at the mammoth public meeting ‘Telangana Jana Garjana’ organised here Sunday evening.

He recalled that the party had already announced farmers’ declaration at Warangal and youth declaration at Hyderabad.

“Today we are announcing another historic step. Senior citizens and widows will get Rs.4,000 each as pension every month,” he said.

The BRS government currently provides Rs.2,016 per month as the pension for senior citizens and widows under Aasara Pension Scheme.

He also promised that if voted to power, the Congress will return Podu lands to tribals. He said all those lands taken away by KCR government from farmers and Dalits will also be returned to them.

Welcoming former Khammam MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy into the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi said he accepted the ideology of the party. Srinivasa Reddy was recently suspended from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for anti-party activities.

The Congress leader noted that Khammam is a stronghold of the Congress party. He told people that they always supported Congress and the ideology of the Congress party is in their heart and blood.

Rahul Gandhi also declared that the doors of the Congress party are open for all those who quit Congress party in the past. “For all those who agree with our ideology, our doors are open. We have nothing to do with those who support the ideology of BJP and BRS,” he said.

He reiterated that the Congress party’s ideology is to unite the country while on the other side there is the ideology of hate and violence. He said during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, the entire country supported the Congress ideology and vowed that they will not allow hate and violence to spread.

As the public meeting also marked the culmination of 1,360 km long padyatra of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Rahul Gandhi felicitated him.

He thanked Bhatti for undertaking the yatra and raising the issues of people and weaker sections.

Terming Congress workers as the lions of the party, he said they did not leave the party even in testing times and despite the repression by the BRS.

--IANS

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Addressing a public meeting, he claimed that after the Karnataka poll outcome, BJP has been eliminated in Telangana and there will be direct contest between the Congress party and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

Dubbing BRS as ‘BJP Rishtedar Samithi’ and ‘B team of BJP’, Rahul Gandhi said the Congress defeated the corrupt and anti-poor government of BJP in Karnataka as all poor stand with the Congress.

“On one side there was BJP and their billionaires on the other, there were farmers, labourers, tribals, Dalits, small traders, minorities and weaker sections. The same is going to be repeated in Telangana. On one side there will be the Chief Minister, his family and his 10-15 billionaire friends and on the other side there will be all the poor, Dalits, farmers, tribals, small traders, minorities and weaker sections. What happened in Karnataka will be repeated in Telangana,” he said.

Titled ‘Telangana Jana Garjana’, this was the first major public meeting of the Congress party after the party’s victory in Karnataka.

With Sunday’s massive show, the Congress party has kicked off its campaign for Telangana Assembly elections due to be held later this year.

Rahul Gandhi said that earlier it was being said that the fight in Telangana is between BRS, Congress and BJP but BJP is finished in Telangana without the party even realising it.

“The fight will be between Congress and BJP B team. The way we defeated BJP in Karnataka, same way we will defeat BJP B team in Telangana,” he said.

He said that Congress refused to attend the opposition meeting if they had invited BRS. “We made it clear that we will not attend a meeting with the BJP B team. Will not sit with them and we will defeat them. We can never compromise with the BJP B team,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He also launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) over corruption and his support for the BJP government on key bills in the Parliament.

“KCR does whatever Narendra Modi wants. His remote control is in the hands of Narendra Modi,” he said.

Referring to Delhi excise policy case in which the name of KCR’s daughter had also figured, Rahul Gandhi said that because of corruption, KCR’s is under pressure from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Stating that Congress workers are the backbone of the party, he said they can easily defeat BRS. “You demonstrated your power in Karnataka and now show your might in Telangana.”

“KCR thinks he is the raja of Telangana and Telangana is his jagir. KCR is snatching the lands which Indira Gandhi and Congress party had given to the poor, Dalits and tribals,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He said that KCR has left no stone unturned as far as corruption is concerned. He alleged that Rs.1 lakh crore were siphoned off in the Kaleshwaram project and there was massive corruption in Mission Kakatiya.

“KCR is using the Dharani portal to snatch your lands. He has snatched the rights of every section,” he said.

Stating that Telangana was a dream of poor, farmers, labourers and weaker sections, he said BRS shattered this dream during its rule during in last nine years.

--IANS

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Congress General Secretary, in charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh said: "Clearly the BJP's washing machine has resumed its operations. A number of new entrants into the BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra today had been facing serious corruption charges with ED, CBI and Income Tax authorities after them. Now they have all got a clean chit."

"The Congress will intensify its efforts to free Maharashtra from the clutches of the BJP," he added.

Congress General Secretary, Organisation, K.C. Venugopal said: "The BJP’s dirty tricks department is working on overdrive in Maharashtra. This is not a legitimately elected government, but an ED-facilitated power grab. The Maharashtra government is a product of corruption and sin. The people have very well identified the traitors, corrupt and compromised leaders of Maharashtra and each of them will be taught the lessons of their lifetime in the next elections."

"On June 29, PM Modi had spoken about corruption. It appears he switched on the washing machine and these leaders are now squeaky clean after this oath taking ceremony," he said.

He also said that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi spoke to NCP President Sharad Pawar and extended support to him.

The Congress leaders' remarks came after Sharad Pawar maintaining his cool ‘thanked’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ‘blamed’ the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Addressing media persons, Pawar, 83, said that just recently, Modi had hurled allegations of corruption against the Congress-NCP. “Today, his party has joined hands and sworn-in (as Ministers) some people from the same (NCP) party against whom Modi had pointed fingers. This means that Modi’s allegations were baseless and we are now ‘absolved’ of all the charges. I am thankful to him for this… I am happy for those facing enquiries who have taken oath today,” he said.

The NCP supremo said that some of his party leaders were uneasy about the investigations by various probe agencies like ED, and after the PM’s accusations, they got very uneasy, prompting them to take the move on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar after taking oath, also staked claim over the NCP, which entered its Silver Jubilee year last month, and its symbol ‘clock’.

Addressing a crowded media conference, Ajit Pawar, 64, who took oath as Deputy CM for the 5th time, said that the entire NCP is with him and he had blessings of everyone in the party.

--IANS

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Addressing a crownded media conference, Ajit Pawar, 64, who took oath as Deputy CM for the 5th time, said that the entire NCP is with him and he had blessings of everyone in the party.

Giving a peek into the top-secret political drama which erupted on Sunday, Pawar revealed that he had already resigned as the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s Leader of Opposition in the Assembly on last Friday.

Interestingly, the date was June 30 - the first anniversary of the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis – though the MVA was blissfully unaware of the goings-on for over 60 hours till Sunday afternoon.

“We had been negotiating this for many days. I quit as the LOP on Friday, and after discussions with my colleagues, we took the plunge. The entire NCP is with me and we have joined the government as ‘NCP’. We shall also fight all the future polls – civic, Assembly, and parliament elections under the same name and symbol,” he asserted.

To a pointed query whether he had support of NCP President Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar said diplomatically: “We have the blessings of all the seniors in the party, all the MLAs, MPs and leaders are with us."

Asked how the NCP could ally with the BJP, Ajit Pawar shot back that if the NCP could join the Shiv Sena (of ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray), and the BJP in Nagaland, then it could also go with the Shiv Sena of Shinde and the BJP alliance in Maharashtra.

He also gave full marks to Shinde who “is working well as the CM” and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leading the nation strongly ahead on the path of progress and development has earned laurels from all over the world.

--IANS

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Palaniswami, in a statement, said that the Stalin government failed to take up the issue of the Karnataka government taking up the construction of Mekedatu dam across Cauvery river.

Mekedatu is a drinking water and power project which was proposed by Karnataka and it would lead to building a balancing reservoir in Kanakapura in the state's Ramanagar district.

Tamil Nadu is opposed to the construction of the dam across the Cauvery river in Karnataka that would affect the flow of river to it.

As per the Cauvery water agreement also, constructing a dam across the Cauvery involves having detailed and threadbare discussions with the affected states. The project is aimed at ensuring drinking water supply to Bengaluru and adjacent areas and the total cost of the project is around Rs 9,000 crore.

Palaniswami, who is also the Leader of Opposition, lashed out at Stalin and said that he was a ‘Puppet’ Chief Minister who did not safeguard the interests of the people of Tamil Nadu.

He blamed him for not properly opposing the statement of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, D.K. Shivakumar who had announced the construction of Mekedatu dam.

Congress leaders in Karnataka, including Chief Minister Siddaramiah and Shivakumar, had conducted protest marches across the state for the construction of Mekedatu dam while they were in the opposition.

Palaniswami, who is a former Chief Minister, said that when his government was in power, the Mekedatu dam issue was never discussed in the Cauvery Management Authority (CMA) meeting.

He said that immediately after the Congress government assumed office in Karnataka, Shivakumar had raised the issue of constructing Mekedatu dam and had even asked the officials to commence moving papers regarding the same.

Shivakumar has now taken up the matter with the Central government and had even written a letter to Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Palaniswami said, adding that if the DMK government led by Stalin had given a befitting reply to Shivakumar, immediately after he raised the issue, the situation would not reached the stage wherein he would have approached the Union government.

The former Chief Minister slammed Stalin and said that he should meet the Prime Minister with all the MPs from the state to prevent Karnataka from going ahead with the Mekedatu dam plan.

He also claimed that whenever DMK was in power, the state’s interests were ceded.

--IANS

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While cooperative societies and other groups can avail subsidy of 80 per cent, individual farmers will get 50 per cent subsidy.

Khuddian said the department has submitted the plan of Rs 350 crore to the Centre to provide funds and over 20,000 machines would be made available on subsidy to individuals for crop residue management and 1,000 Custom Hiring Centers would be established.

He said the department has invited applications from farmers, cooperative societies, FPOs and panchayats interested in availing subsidy on various crop residues management (CRM) machinery during the Kharif season.

Under the scheme, Super SMS, Super Seeder, Smart Seeder, Happy Seeder, Paddy Straw Chopper, Shredder and Mulcher, Hydraulic Reversible Mould Board Plough and Zero Till Drill for in-situ management and baler and rake in ex-situ machines are being made available on subsidy.

The rate of subsidy on the machines for the individual farmers is 50 per cent of the cost of equipment and 80 per cent for cooperative societies, FPOs and panchayats.

Also, the department would also launch an Information Education and Communication campaign to educate and train farmers about the technologies for management of crop residues.

--IANS

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His new status on Twitter reads as ‘Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra’, MLA from Baramati, former Leader of Opposition of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

After splitting the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and taking away around three dozen MLAs, he maintains the status as – ‘NCP Leader’.

Previously, Pawar, 64, served twice as the Dy CM under former Congress Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan (tenures - November 2010-September 2012, Octobre 2012-September 2014), the third time (November 23-26, 2019) with Bharatiya Janata Party’s CM Devendra Fadnavis when he took the oath in a dawn ceremony but their government crashed in 80 hours.

Later, he bounced back as the Deputy CM for the fourth time (December 2019-June 2022), under the Maha Vikas Aghadi ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray, and the fifth time on Sunday under the Shiv Sena CM Eknath Shinde.

--IANS

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In a statement here, the Chief Minister said this was a serious crime against the state and its people, adding that those involved in it will have to pay for it.

He said for reasons best known to them both Capt Amarinder Singh and Randhawa extended largesse to notorious gangster for his comfortable stay in jails of Punjab.

Mann said why should the state waste taxpayer's money in this way just because those in power at that time had a strong bond with Ansari.

The Chief Minister said this is brazen loot of the public money which cannot be tolerated. For reasons best known to the previous regimes this notorious criminal was kept in the Ropar jail with full comforts.

Mann said apart from ensuring comfortable stay the state government ensured that this hardcore criminal does not face any sort of difficulty within the jail and escapes the legal action against him.

The Chief Minister said that surprisingly the then government spent Rs 55 lakh of taxpayers' money to safeguard the interests of this criminal lodged in the Jail.

He said this atrocious loot of the public money is totally unwarranted and undesirable, adding this open plundering of the common man's money cannot be tolerated at any cost.

He said Capt Amarinder Singh and Randhawa will have to pay this money from their own pocket else their pensions and other benefits will be stopped to recover this money.

--IANS

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Interestingly, she is herself a Trinamool Congress candidate in the forthcoming elections for the three-tier panchayat system in the state scheduled to be held on July 8.

"My father, who had been associated with the youth Trinamool Congress, had been facing threats from the old-timer faction in the party. We informed the police but they did not take any action. So we do not have any more faith in the state police and we want a CBI probe into the matter. We also have faith in the Governor C.V. Ananda Bose," she told media persons.

Since Saturday evening, local residents said, pockets of Fulmalancha area in Basanti, have witnessed sporadic clashes between the supporters of two factions of the ruling party.

When Molla was returning home late Saturday night, four to five armed assailants shot him on his belly and stomach from a close range and fled the scene.

He was rushed to Canning sub- division hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Trinamool Congress state vice-president Jaiprakash Majumdar claimed that the media was trying to create a narrative from some statements made by the grief-stricken family members of the slain Trinamool Congress leader.

With this killing, pre election death toll has risen to 12 since announcement of poll date on June 8. Maximum number of casualties (four) have been reported from South 24 Parganas district. Area-wise Bhangar in the same district has reported three casualties.

--IANS

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