Nirmala hits out at Rahul, terms his plenary speech as the 'rhetoric of a loser'

Agencies
March 19, 2018

New Delhi, Mar 19: Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi's remarks at the Congress's plenary session, the BJP on Sunday said that the party which questioned the "fundamental existence" of Lord Ram today wants to be identified with the Pandavas.

Giving a point-by-point rebuttal of Gandhi's speech, senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman termed his address as the "rhetoric of a loser" and "devoid of substance."

Recalling the two warring sides of the epic Mahabharat, Gandhi today said the BJP, like the Kauravas, fought for power, while his party, on the lines of the Pandavas, battled for truth.

"The party which questioned the fundamental existence of Shri Ram today wants to identify itself with Pandavas," Sitharaman said.

"I have never heard of a Congress' priest and a BJP' priest, but Rahul Gandhi has narrated a whole story on that, just a way to mock Hindus and Hinduism," she said.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi had narrated a story about his meeting and conversation with priests during his visit to a temple.

Taking on Gandhi over his attempt to link Modi with fugitives Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, she termed it as "a fake narrative".

"Mr Gandhi who himself is out on bail in the National Herald case shares a surname with the Father of the Nation, is that a reflection on the Mahatma," Sitharaman said.

Hitting back at Gandhi over his attack on Amit Shah, Sitharaman said that it was astonishing that the Congress president chooses to make allegations against the BJP chief even though he has been cleared by a court.

"Gandhi himself is out on bail in the Herald case, whereas our party President Amit Shah Ji, has been cleared by the court," she said.

On Gandhi's remarks on the independence of the judiciary and the media during the Modi government's tenure, Sitharaman wondered when the Congress became the protector of the judiciary.

"Do I need to remind how Indira Gandhi treated the judiciary when one verdict went against her. Rajiv Gandhi in 1988, almost brought a bill to curtail the freedom of the press. Indira Gandhi blacked out the media during the Emergency. And the grandson is talking about the freedom of the press," she said.

Reacting to senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's jibe at the RBI that it should learn to count money from Hundi collectors in Tirupati, Sitharaman said, "The RBI should hire the Congress for counting black money, as they are familiar with counting it."

On Gandhi's charges against Narendra Modi and the BJP-led government at the Centre, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Congress president should apologise for his party's misdeeds first and then attack the prime minister.

"While accusing the Modi government he forgets that the Congress did the worst of the genocide of Sikhs. They brought media censorship and are known for all kinds of corruption and scams. He should first apologise for all these," he said.

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News Network
November 18,2024

Advisors to US President-elect Donald Trump have instructed his allies and associates to refrain from using the inflammatory language they previously employed when discussing issues related to migrants and the deportation of asylum seekers, in a bid to avoid “looking like Nazis.”

US media reports said that Trump’s associates had been asked to stop using the word “camps” to describe potential facilities that would be used to accommodate migrants rounded up in deportation operations across the country.

The reports said the US president-elect’s allies had been ordered to stave off such charged terms as they would bring to mind “Nazis,” and be used against Trump.

“I have received some guidance to avoid terms, like ‘camps,’ that can be twisted and used against the president, yes,” one Trump ally told American monthly magazine Rolling Stone.

“Apparently, some people think it makes us look like Nazis.”

The presidential advisers also cautioned surrogates and allies to keep racist terms, which have dogged Trump’s campaign, out of their remarks.

They said with Trump’s heated rhetoric that used to compare undocumented immigrants to “animals” and his slight that they are “poisoning the blood of our country,” detractors did not need to reach too far to find parallels to Nazi Germany.

Stephen Miller, who Trump tapped to be his deputy chief of staff of policy, specifically used the word “camps” to describe holding facilities that he hoped the military could put together for immigrants.

Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is chosen by Trump to be in charge of the US borders, was no stranger to such language.

“It’s not gonna be a mass sweep of neighborhoods,” he said in an interview earlier this week. “It’s not gonna be building concentration camps. I’ve read it all. It’s ridiculous.”

Becoming a little more forthright about the new government’s aggressive deportation plans, Homan likened the early days of the Trump administration to the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“I got three words for them – shock and awe,” he said. “You’re going to see us take this country back.”

Trump made immigration a central element of his 2024 presidential campaign but unlike his first run, which was mainly focused on building a border wall, he has shifted his attention to interior enforcement and the removal of undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

People close to the US president and his aides are laying the groundwork for expanding detention facilities to fulfill his mass deportation campaign promise.

The businessman-turned-politician deported more than 1.5 million people during his first term.

The figure do not include the millions of people turned away at the border under a Covid-era policy enacted by Trump and used during most of Biden’s term.

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News Network
November 14,2024

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday backed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over his claim that the BJP had offered Rs 50 crore each to 50 Congress MLAs in an attempt to "topple" the state government.

Addressing reporters here, Shivakumar, also the Congress state president, said, “The BJP indeed lured 50 Congress MLAs with Rs 50 crore each.”

He defended Siddaramaiah’s statement and said the Congress MLAs were briefed about the BJP’s alleged 'Operation Lotus', a term used to describe the BJP's attempts to destabilise ruling governments through horse-trading.

“Some of our MLAs informed the Chief Minister about this matter, and he, in turn, shared it with the media,” Shivakumar said.

At an event in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah reiterated the claim that "none of the Congress MLAs had accepted the offer".

He also accused the BJP of filing false cases against him in a bid to "remove him and overthrow his government".

The BJP has yet to respond to the allegations.

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News Network
November 18,2024

resort.jpg

Mangaluru: The Ullal police have arrested Manohar, the owner of Vazco Beach Resort, and its manager Bharath in connection with the drowning of three college girls from Mysuru at the resort’s swimming pool on November 17.

City Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal confirmed the arrests, stating that a case has been registered under Section 106 of BNS. The bodies of the victims, all in their twenties, have been handed over to their parents. The women had arrived at the resort for a weekend getaway on November 16.

Following the tragic incident, the resort was sealed by officials led by Mangaluru Assistant Commissioner Harshavardhan. The trade license of the resort, issued on June 13, 2024, has been suspended, and the tourism department has temporarily revoked the resort's registration. These actions prohibit the resort from engaging in any tourism-related activities until further notice.

Someshwara TMC Chief Officer stated that the suspension was due to the resort's failure to implement adequate safety measures, which resulted in the loss of three lives. Further investigations are underway.

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