Will accept Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister if he is not fascist: UR Ananthamurthy

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September 25, 2013
Bangalore, Sep 25: Jnanpith winner U R Ananthamurthy on Tuesday said that India lacks “leaders of national stature”.

The writer, whose critical remarks against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had raised a storm, however, added: “I will accept Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister if he is'not a fascist', unlike Narendra Modi.” He said that one “need not be a genius to become a Prime Minister, but one should be honest.”

URA

Reiterating his stand on Mr. Modi at an interaction organised by the Press Club of Bangalore and the Bangalore Reporters' Guild, Prof. Ananthamurthy alleged that Mr. Modi was a practitioner of “destructive politics”.

Sarvodaya

The writer said that Mr. Modi was aiming at catering to the interest of the corporate class, rather than the underprivileged, and the need of the hour is'Sarvodaya' (inclusive development) not the development model being advocated by Mr. Modi.

Citing several episodes from the Mahabharata, Prof. Ananthamurthy said that a leader had to take decision after “meditating on the pros and cons”, and he should have compassion.

Mr. Modi had not understood Hindu religion in its real spirit as understood by Mahatma Gandhi. “That is why I am apprehensive of Mr. Modi and the Sangh Parivar,” Prof. Ananthamurthy noted.

He said that leaders orchestrated what appear to be “spontaneous violence” to escape blame, citing the genocide of Partition and the riots against Sikhs of 1984 as examples. But those at the helm of affairs have to take responsibility for human tragedy.

“A.B. Vajpayee (former Prime Minister) knew that and that was why he admonished Mr. Modi for not following the'Rajdharma', which was also professed by Bhishma in the Mahabharata,” he said.

Prof. Ananthamurthy said that he did support the UPA-led Congress government at the Centre comparing the Congress to the'polluted Ganga'. He, however, said that fresh water could cleanse the party.

“The Congress is a better party, as it has a memory; but the BJP doesn't have any,” he said.

Expressing anxiety over the increasing influence of the right wing forces, he said that he was not against the rightists per se but only opposed to their “fascist tendencies”.

“Rajaji (Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, the last Governor-General of India) was a rightist, but not a fascist; he was conservative,” he said.

He said that Mr. Modi had started speaking to army officers and “bridging the gap between politics and army, which is very dangerous.”

Cow slaughter

Speaking on cow slaughter, he said that sacrificing and eating cow meat was in practice during the Vedic times. “People stopped killing them when they started using them as agricultural animals. The economy around the cow is now much changed,” he said.

On his being vocal about the political situation in the country, Prof. Ananthamurthy said: “My body tells me to keep quiet, but my mind says I am obliged to speak.”

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News Network
October 3,2024

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Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao reminded that V D Savarkar was not against cow slaughter as he himself was non-veg eater, PTI reported on Thursday.

"As a Brahmin he was eating meat, and he was openly propagating eating meat," said the minister at an event in Bengaluru.

Reacting to Gundu Rao's claim, BJP MP Anurag Thakur called Congress a "factory of lies" as he warned that India won't tolerate any disrespect towards Savarkar.

"By disrespecting Veer Savarkar they have shown that they don't respect freedom fighters. During the Congress government, Sardar Bhagat Singh was termed a separatist in textbooks...By making those who want to break the nation join the congress party, Rahul Gandhi is taking forward the ideology of 'tukde tukde' and he is a 'modern Jinnah' who speaks ill of the country abroad...," he said.

Meanwhile, a court in Maharashtra's Nashik district summoned Congress MP Rahul Gandhi earlier this week in a defamation case filed against him for his alleged objectionable remarks against the Hindutva ideologue.

The complainant, who is the director of an NGO, claimed he watched a press conference addressed by Gandhi in Hingoli and also a speech made by the Congress leader in November 2022.

He alleged that Gandhi, on the two occasions, by his words and visual representations knowingly harmed the reputation of Veer Savarkar and also tried to defame the latter's image in the society.

According to the complainant, Gandhi said "Savarkar is BJP and RSS jin" which was defamatory in nature.

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News Network
October 8,2024

Mangaluru: The by-election to the legislative council from the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi local authorities' constituency will be a contest among four candidates. An independent candidate, Muhammed Riyaz, has withdrawn his nomination on Monday, the last day for withdrawal.

Deputy commissioner Mullai Muhilan MP stated that candidates Kishore BR (BJP), Raju Poojary (Congress), Anwar Sadat S (SDPI), and Dinakar Ullal (independent) will be in the fray. 

Polling will be held at 392 booths in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts between 8am and 4pm on Oct 21.

A total of 6,032 voters from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi are eligible to vote. While there will be 234 polling booths in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi will have 158 stations. Gram panchayat members, corporators of the Mangaluru City Corporation, members of city municipal councils, town municipal councils, town panchayats, MLAs, MLCs, and Lok Sabha members are eligible to vote.

Election observer of the Election Commission of India (ECI), Pankaj Kumar Pandey, reviewed the poll preparations at the deputy commissioner's office on Monday. He issued directions to officials regarding arrangements to be made during the election and counting of votes.

The deputy commissioner stated that out of 6,032 voters, 3,127 are women and 2,905 are men. He said the counting of votes will be held at St Aloysius PU College in the city on Oct 24.

Udupi deputy commissioner Vidya Kumari K, city police commissioner Anupam Agrawal, Dakshina Kannada ZP CEO Anandh K, Dakshina Kannada SP Yathish N, Udupi SP Arun K, and additional deputy commissioners Santhosh Kumar G and Mamatha Devi were present.

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News Network
September 28,2024

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Bengaluru, Sep 28: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing charges against arrested Karnataka BJP MLA N. Munirathna Naidu, including allegations of rape, honey-trapping, and other offences, on Saturday conducted raids at his residence and 15 other locations across the city.

Sources confirmed that the raids were taking place at his Vyalikaval residence and other properties owned by the BJP MLA. The operation is being conducted by the SIT under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) led by ACP Kavitha.

The team is examining documents, electronic devices, and other materials related to the rape and honey-trapping case. The SIT is being supported by experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), with Superintendent of Police (SP) Sowmya Latha also participating in the search and inspection at Munirathna’s Vyalikaval residence.

According to sources, the raids were triggered by information provided by the victim, who alleged that Munirathna recorded footage of sexual assaults and used it to blackmail politicians and public servants, including IAS and IPS officers.

The victim reportedly revealed that she was used to entrap the woman who had lodged a rape case against a senior IFS officer. She was allegedly instructed to frame the rape victim in a drug peddling case.

The complainant told police that she was tasked with capturing compromising videos of the rape victim who had filed the case against the IFS officer. She claimed that, after several failed attempts to obtain the videos, the victim was drugged with sleeping pills, and obscene footage was recorded without her consent. Later, the IFS officer was bailed out from the charges.

Furthermore, the complainant has accused MLA Munirathna of raping her at his office within the state legislature, in his official vehicle, and at his godown. She has alleged that he recorded videos of these assaults.

Police sources also revealed that the victim in the MLA's case provided details of a plot involving sending HIV-infected women to Munirathna's targets in an attempt to ruin them politically and personally. She also disclosed the names of several politicians whom she had entrapped through honey-trapping.

The woman further claimed that Munirathna had threatened to have her son kidnapped and killed if she refused to comply with his demands. According to her, the MLA had a well-organised team dedicated to carrying out these honey-trapping operations, and she provided details about his close associates and relatives involved in the scheme.

Munirathna, who was in judicial custody following his arrest in the rape and honey-trap case, has now been taken into the custody of the SIT.

The MLA was transferred from Bengaluru Central Jail to the CID office on the night of September 24. The BJP legislator, however, has denied all the allegations, claiming they are false.

Karnataka Congress leader D.K. Suresh had alleged that Munirathna was trying to infect his adversaries with HIV and that the government should investigate the matter.

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