Prime Minister Narendra Modi woos Karnataka

MYSURU: Attacking the Congress government in Karnataka as a commission government Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the welfare of the people was never a priority for it and the state needs a mission government under the BJP to ensure all round development. As long as there is a Congress government in Karnataka the state cannot progress. Karnataka does not require a commission government but a mission government led by the BJP which will ensure all-round progress of the state. Congress has ruined the state and people will teach them a lesson http://wlodb.com/users/192293 in these elections he said addressing a public meeting here after dedicating various railway projects. Assembly elections are due in Karnataka in a few months. The Prime Minister claimed that despite the Congress ruling the country for over 50 years 4 crore families in the country are without power. For over fifty years it was only one party that ruled the country. What is the reason that about 4 crore families still lack power supply? Why have they not ensured their well-being for all these years he asked adding that the country can never repose faith in the Congress. He said wherever the Congress ruled in the country it tried to hamper the development of that state. Over the years several schemes were discussed and debated in Parliament but never implemented on the ground. When we came to power we identified them and initiated work on such projects he said. The Prime Minister said that creating a railway system which is modern and technologically advanced is vital. We are strengthening the railway networks across the country. Karnataka too is benefiting from it.
Bengaluru: The assembly elections in Karnataka barely months away the BJP has started a high-profile campaign in the state spear-headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah. On Sunday as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in the national capital PM Modi had landed in Chief Minister Siddarmaiah s home turf Mysuru with a number of engagements. Before he left on Monday Amit Shah landed in the state for a two-day visit.Mr Shah has a long to-do list - including chairing party meetings addressing students and visits to temples. But its highlight is expected to be a meeting with the family of Deepak Rao a BJP worker who was murdered at Surathkal in last month. The visit is meant to underscore the party s claims that in the recent years more than 20 of its workers and those of its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have been murdered in the state. Karnataka is the only state in the south where the BJP had been in power and it is going all-out to wrest the state from the Congress in the coming assembly elections. The party has pitched the lack of law and order enforcement as one of its key allegations against the Congress.Earlier this month at a rally in Bengaluru PM Modi had attacked the Siddaramaiah government saying Karnataka is becoming known for its ease of doing murder . The matter has been raised also by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who too held a political rally in the state.Mr Siddaramaiah has dismissed the BJP claims citing the crime data from states ruled by the party. It would be good if Modi looked at the top crime stats in the country... Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are much worse than us the Chief Minister had said.At a function on Monday to flag off a new train PM Modi accused the Congress government of non-performance calling it a government of commission . What do you need? A government of commission or a government of mission? A government which asks for 10 per cent commission to work or a government which works with the mission for development? the Prime Minister said.The Chief Minister responded with a tweet that took a dig at the Central government over the Rs 11 300-crore fraud in the Punjab National Bank linked to celebrity jeweller Nirav Modi. PM @narendramodi makes disparaging comments about certain Mysurians. CommentsClose X Mysuru has produced Tigers who fought the British built a modern state brought land reforms.Some one from Mysuru would never have allowed a fugitive runaway with 11500 cr under his Chowkidari. https://t.co/HW2q7ACNGN Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) February 19 2018Earlier too Mr Siddaramaiah hit back with figures -- countering BJP claims that the state government has swallowed the many grants by the Centre. He also countered allegations on corruption housing and schemes for the poor.
Congress MLA NA Haris son surrendered to the Cubbon Park Police in Bengaluru on Monday two days after he assaulted a man in a restaurant. Mohammed Haris Nalapad who was suspended as the general secretary of the Bengaluru District Youth Congress was remanded in police custody for two days ANI reported.Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara told reporters on Sunday that Nalapad was suspended from the party for six years. Play Karnataka: Congress MLA NA Haris s son Mohammed Haris Nalapad has surrendered. He is accused of allegedly thrashing a man in a pub in Bengaluru s UB City pic.twitter.com/K2iJiTw8M0 ANI (@ANI) February 19 2018 Nalapad s lawyer B Usman said he was named an accused on the basis of CCTV footage from a pub. He said a Bharatiya Janata Party MP s son was also seen in the footage but was not named an accused.The complainant Praveen Venkatachalaiah said Nalpad picked an argument with his friend Vidvat who had broken his leg four weeks ago and had stretched his leg out because he could not move it. The Congress leader got angry and asked Vidvat to apologise for stretching his leg out. When Vidvat refused an argument ensued and soon after Nalapad and his supporters started beating him up Venkatachalaiah said.Nalapad and his supporters are believed to have also visited Vidvat at the hospital and warned him against filing a complaint.Meanwhile BJP workers protested outside Cubbon Park Police Station in Bengaluru demanding that Nalapad be booked for attempt to murder. They also demanded Haris s resignation. The police had to baton-charge the protestors to bring the situation under control.#BIGNEWS: #Congress and #BJP workers clash outside Cubbon Park police station. Police lathicharge agitators to bring situation under control. BJP workers demand resignation of Cong MLA @naharisblr. pic.twitter.com/VUCZXoyXs8 NEWS9 (@NEWS9TWEETS) February 19 2018
BENGALURU: Congress plans to woo young voters who have been staunch supporters of PM Modi ahead of the forthcoming assembly polls. We are showcasing the youth leadership and telling them we want to listen to your aspirations and work with you to achieve them agriculture minister Krishna Byre Gowda told ET. The outreach called Nanna Karnataka (My Karnataka) with about 500 students drawn from colleges who don t belong to the Congress youth or student wings is to be launched in Bengaluru on Tuesday just a day after Mohammad Nalapad Harris the son of Congress MLA NA Harris was arrested for assaulting another youth. Nalapad has been expelled for six years and the state government has come down harshly on the police who delayed in arresting him. The timing is a bit off but we are ready to take questions on the issue. We genuinely want to listen to what the youth have to say and what they want from the government he added. Unlike BJP which regularly holds youth interactions and discussions this is the first time the Congress is directly reaching out to youth across class gender and caste. We will be hold about 100 town-hall meetings with people aged between 17 and 27. Ten young Congress leaders will interact with them take questions share their thoughts former state Youth Congress president and MLC Rizwan Arshad told ET. Congress stands for what youngsters want. Youngsters are inclusive progressive.
If potholes in Bengaluru won t kill you a politician s son will. That s the takeaway from the ghastly incident that took place at Farzi Café at UB Mall on Saturday in which Congress MLA from Shanti Nagar constituency in central Bengaluru NA Haris son Mohammed Haris Nalapad and his gang of goons assaulted Vidwath. They however did not stop with the vulgar display of muscle power at the café. They even landed up at the hospital where Vidwath was admitted to threaten him again. The injuries on the 24-year-old were so severe that it is a miracle he is still alive. The video of a badly injured Vidwath will leave you upset disturbed and angry. And it is important for voters of Shanti Nagar the rest of Bengaluru and Karnataka to retain that anger when they go to vote to elect their new MLAs a couple of months from now. For this episode is a testimony to the arrogance of power the tu jaanta nahin mera baap kaun hai syndrome that so far the civil Bengaluru thought was exclusively a Delhi trait. FIle image of Mohammed Haris Nalapad. News18 And pray what was Vidwath s crime that invited Nalapad s wrath? When Nalapad walked into the cafe Vidwath had his leg stretched out because he was recovering from a fracture. The body language irked Mohammed and a fracas ensued. Why have we come to this pass? Because in states across India sons have emerged as extra-constitutional authorities in the peshis of their politician fathers. Check any big or small-ticket neta in India and in 9 out of 10 cases you would find he reposes his trust in his blood. Unelected and unanswerable these spoilt brats function as access control to their fathers. This is like a probation period for them and depending on how well one can be a conduit for shady financial deals arrange for funds at short notice use money power and muscle power effectively they move from being a quasi neta to a full-fledged politician. In this case Nalapad had proven his worth which is why he was rewarded with the post of the general secretary of the Bengaluru unit of Youth Congress. What makes it even more galling is that Nalapad is known to throw his weight around in the commercial establishments that dot his father s constituency. Yet at no stage his MLA father seems to have thought it necessary to rein him in and told him not to cross the line. The episode shows the Bengaluru police in poor light as well. Vidwath s friend Ramesh Gowda alleged that the Cubbon Park Police Station officer made them wait four hours before they registered the FIR. Clearly an attempt to hush up the matter or trying to take instructions from the political higher-ups on how to deal with the case. The Cubbon Park police inspector was subsequently suspended for dereliction of duty and the ACP shunted out. On Monday morning Nalapad was allowed the privilege of surrendering before the Cubbon Park Police Station instead of being arrested and dragged into the Cubbon Park Police Station. This even as several of Haris supporters had gathered outside the police station in a show of strength. The optics were telling and the suspicion obviously is that Nalapad will be treated with kid gloves by a police force wary of inviting the wrath of the politically powerful. What it shows is that it s not enough for Bengaluru cops to be a Twitter-friendly police force that makes its presence felt on social media or brags about having 8 69 000 followers on the microblogging website. What matter is how the cops at the local thana behave. The Congress under pressure from the media decided to expel Nalapad from the party. The chief minister realising Nalapad was a political hot potato emphasised that offenders will be punished regardless of who they are. Well done! However one wonders if the party would have done the same if Karnataka was not going to polls in a couple of months. And why shouldn t Haris be held answerable for his son s criminal conduct? At the end of the day the MLA is Nalapad s calling card. The doubt over whether the case will be given a quiet burial in due course of time arises because simultaneously a sob narrative is being built with the Congress claiming that it is a case of a father whose son has gone astray. There is whataboutery also at work with the ruling party asking why no action was taken by BJP against its MP Anant Kumar Hegde who had assaulted a doctor at Sirsi in 2017. The BJP which is taking Congress to the cleaners over the Nalapad issue is a hypocrite because a few months after the Sirsi incident in September Hegde was inducted into the Union Cabinet. As far as the common man in Karnataka is concerned it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. During its election campaign BJP has also been focusing on lawlessness in Karnataka. But instead of talking of citizens it emphasises on the killing of 24 Hindus who it claims were all Sangh Parivar activists. Who pray is to talk of common citizens like Vidwath? Just last week the Cauvery verdict meant Congress could trumpet its success in getting more drinking water for Bengaluru. That achievement has been washed away by Haris junior s show of hooliganism. What Congress has done is expose a goon in a neta s attire and that a common man may dare to confront them at the risk of losing his life and limb. You need to only look at Vidwath s photographs on the hospital bed for a reality check. Ironically this election is seeing scores of sons and daughters of senior Congress leaders demanding a ticket to contest the election. The son-rise may well happen in many families in Karnataka. And if there are more Nalapads in Karnataka the citizen in the state faces the risk of being eclipsed.
Amit Shah was received by BJP lawmaker Nalin Kumar Kateel at the Mangaluru airport BJP president Amit Shah is in Karnataka as part of the party s election campaign for the upcoming assembly election in the state. After arriving in Mangaluru last evening he addressed a small public meeting near the airport. He will start the day with a visit to the Kukke Subramanya temple before he inaugurates Nava Shakthi Samavesh at Sullia. Later he will address students at Vivekananda Institutions in Puttur on the role of the youth in building a New India .Amit Shah will also visit the family of BJP worker Deepak Rao a BJP worker who was murdered last month. After a press conference at Surathkal Mr Shah will attend the Fishermen Convention at Malpe before heading to the Sri Krishna Matt.Elections are due in Karnataka in a few months. BJP in an attempt to consolidate its presence in the south has launched a rigorous campaign in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Karnataka on Monday to flag off a new train and address voters.Here are the LIVE updates of Amit Shah s Karnataka visit:Feb 20 201808:59 (IST)Amit Shah s Karnataka schedule for today. No more content CommentsClose X
MANGALURU: President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday approved the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Bill making Kambala a legal rural sport in Karnataka. Karnataka government had promulgated Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance 2017 on July 20 last year after getting the approval from the then President Pranab Mukherjee on July 3. Union minister for statistics and programme implementation D V Sadananda Gowda said that the President has approved the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Bill 2018. I express gratitude to the Honourable President for signing the Bill pertaining to kambala which is a folk sport of the coast. With this all apprehensions and obstacles that were preventing kambala have been cleared. A circular in this regard has already been sent to the state government. Thanks to all who strived for the success stated Gowda in a tweet. It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had refused to grant an interim stay on kambala after hearing a petition filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on February 12. A bench comprising A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud however had fixed March 12 for a final hearing on the plea by animal rights body PETA in the matter. PETA has opposed the upcoming Kambala festival on grounds of cruelty to animals. Kambala Academy president Gunapala Kadamba told TOI that the approval of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Bill has increased the responsibility of kambala patrons and fans in the coastal districts. The Bill in no way promotes any kind of cruelty to animals. We need to be more responsible and will have to strive to protect the traditional kambala which is a part of agriculture and worship. In the meantime a scientific study also needs to be conducted on various aspects of kambala and buffaloes used in the traditional sport he added. Kambala events of the season are yet to be held at Uppinangady Bangadi Kakkepadavu and Talappady in the coastal region. The season was commenced with the 15th annual Kambala organised by the Koti-Chennaya Jodu Kare Kamabala Samiti at Ontikere in Moodabidri on https://armorgames.com/user/kkmyntra November 11 2017. Kambala fans had celebrated a Vijayotsava following the promulgation of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance 2017 by the state government then. Later events were held at various places in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.
Bengaluru Candidates of political parties and independents who will be contesting the upcoming Karnataka legislative assembly election have to disclose the sources of their income and assets as directed by the Supreme Court state Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said. All candidates contesting in the upcoming state assembly election will have to disclose the sources of their income and assets along with that of their spouses and dependents in their nomination papers as mandated by the Supreme Court the poll official told IANS here. The 15th assembly elections in Karnataka are due in April-May. A division bench of the apex court headed by Justices J. Chelameshwar and S. Abdul Nazeer on Friday directed the Election Commission to make disclosure of the source of income and assets of candidates contesting elections mandatory.

Narendra Modi to address rally in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah's home district, today

HYDERABAD: India is the hotspot of digital innovation across sectors and stands on the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution with new-age technologies which are disruptive in nature and poised to have a deep impact on the way we live and work said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday while flagging off 22nd edition of World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2018. This is the first such IT congress to be held in India. He urged the gathering of over 2 000 top global IT honchos and professionals who converged in the city for the three-day WCIT and 26th edition of the Nasscom India Leadership Forum (NILF) to reflect on changing nature of jobs in the emerging age of intelligent automation. Modi stressed on the importance of skilling citizens for the workplace of the future. Disruptive technologies such as Blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) will have a deep impact on the way we live and work and require rapid adaptation in our workplaces he said. https://www.udemy.com/user/robert-vadra/ Nasscom India Leadership Forum (NILF) to reflect on changing nature of jobs in the emerging age of intelligent automation. Modi stressed on the importance of skilling citizens for the workplace of the future. Disruptive technologies Startups key to finding economic solutions Modi who kicked off the joint WCIT-NILF 2018 inaugural session via video-conferencing and remotely unveiled Nasscom s skill development platform FutureSkills said while India launched the National Skill Development Mission to prepare its children and youth for a bright future it also needs to ensure that existing workforce is able to re-skill as new technologies emerge. Pointing out that India has a rising number of innovative entrepreneurs and a growing market for tech innovation he said: We believe our startups are the key to finding viable and economical solutions across sectors and verticals. India is best placed to leverage power of technology and leap-frog into the future while empowering every citizen. We were and we remain one of the most tech-friendly populations in the world with over one lakh villages linked with optical fibre 121 crore mobile phones 120 crore Aadhaar and 50 crore internet users. We have successfully completed this life-cycle in last three-and-half years. Attributing this success to the government s Digital India programme he said Digital India is a journey ushering digital inclusion for digital empowerment aided by digital infrastructure for digital delivery of services. Leveraging technology in such a holistic manner was unthinkable few years ago. This has been possible through a change in public behaviour and processes. Digital India has not remained merely a government initiative but has become a way of life. Technology transcended power-point presentations and become an inseparable part of people s lives. While most government initiatives depend on a government push Digital India is succeeding because of the people s pull he said. Dwelling at length on his government s tech push he spoke about how the JAM trinity of combining 320 million Jan Dhan bank accounts of poor with Aadhaar and mobile with direct benefits of welfare measures had saved 57 000 crore how around 22 million digital hospital transactions across 172 hospitals in India were bringing comfort in lives of patients and National Scholarship Portal for easy scholarships today had 14 million students registered on it. Digital payments through BHIMUPI has registered transactions of 15 000 crore in January 2018. The unique Umang app launched only three months back is already offering 185 government services he said. On the Pradhan Mantri Rural Digital Literacy Mission launched to ensure digital literacy in every household by making 60 million adults digitally literate in rural India he said 10 million people have already been trained.
Mysuru: Attacking the Congress government in Karnataka as a commission government Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the welfare of the people was never its priority and the state needs a government with mission under the BJP to ensure all-round development.Addressing a public rally in the city the prime minister said as long as there was a Congress government in Karnataka the state could not progress.Repeating his comment made earlier this month in Bengaluru where he had said that the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka worked for 10 per cent commission Modi said: You have a choice to elect a party (BJP) which runs a government with a definite mission and reject a party (Congress) that works only for commission. Karnataka does not require a commission government but a mission government led by the BJP which will ensure all-round progress of the state. Congress has ruined the state and people will teach them a lesson in the elections he said speaking at the Maharaja College ground in the city after dedicating various railway projects.Assembly election is due in the state in late April or early May. Every day a new scam new corruption charges and new allegations are cropping up against their leaders and ministers or those related to government schemes. The Congress leaders spread lies and repeat them believing that the people would believe them. But the people are wiser and they never accept such lies for long noted PM Modi.Lamenting the lack of development in the states where the Congress was in power PM Modi said the grand old party would act like a bump on the path to speedy progress.Although the central government provided funds to the state the Congress government could not utilize them on development projects he said.The prime minister claimed that despite the Congress ruling the country for over half-a-century four crore families in the country were without power. For over 50 years it was only one party that ruled the country. What is the reason that about four crore families still lack power supply? Why they did not ensure their well-being all these years he asked adding that the country could never repose faith in the Congress. Over the years several schemes were discussed and debated in Parliament but never implemented on the ground. When we came to power we identified them and initiated work on such projects he stressed. CommentsClose X According to the prime minister creating a railway system which is modern and technologically advanced is vital. We are strengthening the railway networks across the country. Karnataka too is benefiting from it. The party s state leaders like B S Yeddyurappa and central ministers Piyush Goel Prakash Javdekar Ananth Kumar and D V Sadananada Gowda attended the rally and felicitated PM Modi with the famous Mysore peta (headgear).
New Delhi: The Congress on Monday sharpened its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi dubbing him Maun Modi (silent Modi) for his continued silence on issues critical to the country and alleged that raids by agencies in the bank scam are a mere eyewash to befool the public. Leading the attack was Congress president Rahul Gandhi who fired yet another salvo at the prime minister over his silence on the multi-crore PNB bank fraud asking where the country s watchman was when jeweller Nirav Modi fled the country like liquor baron Vijay Mallya. Gandhi took the swipe at the prime minister for his refrain during poll rallies that he would act as a watchman for the country and cited his na khaoonga na khaane doonga (will neither do nor allow anyone to do corruption) statement. File image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. AP The Congress chief said the entire country was keen to know the secret behind his silence and alleged that it screams out loud where his loyalties were. First Lalit (Modi) and then (Vijay) Mallya now Nirav (Modi) also fled the country. Where is the country s watchman who claimed Na khaoonga na khaane doonga (Will neither do nor allow anyone to do corruption)? The public is longing to know the reason of saheb s silence. His silence screams out loud who is he loyal to? he asked in a tweet in Hindi. पहले लल त फ र म ल्य अब न रव भ हुआ फर र कह ँ है न ख ऊँग न ख ने दूँग कहने व ल देश क च क द र? स हेब क ख म श क र ज़ ज नने क जनत बेकर र उनक चुप्प च ख च ख कर बत ए व क सके हैं वफ द र#ModiRobsIndia Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) February 19 2018 The Congress on its official website also dubbed Modi as Maun Modi a term used by the BJP against former prime minister Manmohan Singh for his silence on various scams during the UPA Government. Congres spokesperson Manish Tewari said the government should tell who facilitated the escape of accused designer jeweller Nirav Modi and his partner Mehul Choksi despite a court order declaring Choksi as an absconder and a proclaimed offender. He said fresh revelations have come in the matter and the court of chief judicial magistrate had on 4 August 2017 declared Mehul Choksi the managing director of Gitanjali Jewellery and Vipul Chaitalia the company s authorised signatory as a proclaimed offender and absconding . How was this man allowed to leave the country? The question arises that how can a person who is a declared proclaimed an offender and an absconder by a court of law be allowed to leave the country and we would like to ask the NDA-BJP Government. We would like to ask the prime minister of India and the finance minister of India that who facilitated the exit of this man from the country despite the order of a competent court which brings us to certain other questions that we would like to ask he told reporters. The Congress asked on Twitter Is it too much to expect Maun Modi who had promised to be the chowkidar of the nation to speak one word on this systematic loot of the banking system? In an article headlined Maun Modi: The Art of Silence the Congress said the age-old proverb Silence is golden has caught the fancy of the verbose Prime Minister while the nation ponders over the reasons behind his reticence. PM Modi has mastered the art of remaining silent while scam after scam hits the nation. He possibly believes that his silence will help distract the nation. #MaunModihttps://t.co/mEPHzKUOvw Congress (@INCIndia) February 19 2018 What could explain this? When the country s biggest banking scam hit the airwaves Narendra Modi was found passing on unsolicited tips to students on how to cope with exam stress inaugurating the swanky new headquarters of BJP and holding forth on artificial intelligence. It looks like the chowkidar of the nation s wealth has abdicated all responsibility moral and otherwise it said. Tewari said Modi speaks on everything referring himself as chowkidar (watchman) of the country and its pradhan sevak (servant). But we would like him to answer some questions on issues that are critical and the country is demanding answers the Congress leader said. Tewari demanded that the government issue a white paper on the health of the banking sector and a complete list of all NPAs of banks be published on their website to enable people who have invested money in these banks to know their fiscal health. On the country-wide raids launched by various agencies in the bank scam case he asked Who are they attempting to fool? This is an activity merely for the sake of activity for creating a smoke-screen for trying to give an illusion of action when the horses have already bolted. This activity is merely an eye-wash. It is for the benefit of cameras he alleged. Tewari demanded answers from the prime minister on Amit Shah s son s company the Rafale price at which the aircraft were purchased the purchase of stake by ONGC in Gujarat Petroleum Corporation and on the issue of death of Justice Loya asking why he has not answered questions of the The Congress said Whenever the prime minister speaks it is either to dish out more rhetoric or to badmouth the Congress party or to point towards the past and claim victimhood . The Opposition party also took out a video of Modi sleeping while scamsters like Mallya and Nirav Modi fled. Have you heard of this amazing scheme by the Modi govt to create more billionaires? PM Modi has mastered the art of remaining silent while scam after scam hits the nation. He possibly believes that his silence will help distract the nation the party said.
CHENNAI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to visit Chennai to launch the AIADMK government s Amma scooter scheme on February 24 former chief minister J Jayalalithaa s birth anniversary. The event is being held at a time when a couple of important high court verdicts are set to be delivered by the Madras HC. The PM s interest in the state s welfare will be on display at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai when the scheme will be officially launched. Modi s visit assumes significance as the HC is expected to come out with a ruling in the case of disqualification of 18 MLAs by the Tamil Nadu assembly speaker. The fate of the one-year-old Edappadi K Palaniswami government hinges on the outcome of the case. Highly placed sources told TOI that the state government officially invited Modi a few days ago for the event and the PMO confirmed participation on Monday morning. PM advised me on merger due to his affection for Jaya A senior minister who wished to remain anonymous said A tentative schedule has been received by the government. Modi who will be attending Auroville s 50th anniversary celebrations and a public meeting in Puducherry on February 25 has agreed to participate in the TN government event in Chennai to be held the previous day. The function will be held at Kalaivanar Arangam at 5.30pm. Meanwhile on Monday deputy CM O Panneerselvam sought to clarify that Modi had asked him to join hands with EPS to save the government. During my visit to New Delhi Modi asked me about T T V Dhinakaran s attempt to topple the government with the help of 18 MLAs. When I consulted him about joining hands (merging with the EPS faction) he said it will be good. It reflects the goodwill he has for us the deputy CM told reporters in Madurai. When parties want to benefit out of creating divisions Modi has offered advice because of his affection towards the former chief minister. There is no hidden agenda and it only shows his magnanimity Panneerselvam said. His rival Dhinakaran took a dig at the BJP leadership saying the party was controlling the ruling AIADMK. While the PM s visit is seen as an attempt to put to rest speculations about strain between BJP and the ruling camp AIADMK MP V Maitreyan said the visit by PM was to be seen as a goodwill gesture. He is the PM of the country. This is a programme announced by Amma on her birthday and to inaugurate it on her birthday is a good way of paying obeisance to the departed leader Maitreyan said.
Modi asked me to join hands with Edappadi
Nearly six months after he merged his breakaway faction with the ruling camp of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (pictured above) said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to do so.Modi told him that the two factions should merge to save the party Panneerselvam claimed according to ANI. I agreed but said that I will not become a minister and will only take a party position he said. Modi however did not agree and told him to continue with politics . That is why I am a minister today the deputy chief minister said. I don t want to be a minister The Hindu quoted him as saying. Amma former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had made me an MLA four times and chief minister twice. I can live with that pride. In August 2017 the two factions of the AIADMK announced their merger after months of political drama that followed Jayalalithaa s death in December 2016. The announcement was made by O Panneerselvam and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami the leaders of the two camps. After the merger Panneerselvam became the deputy chief minister and got the finance ministry portfolio.The problems I faced harassment I faced was limitless. If anybody else would have been in my place he would have committed suicide. I faced it all only because of Amma: O Panneerselvam Deputy CM Tamil Nadu pic.twitter.com/XbhHOAloQ9 ANI (@ANI) February 17 2018
Let me stick my neck out to make a prediction. Tamil Nadu can brace itself for a sequel to Dharmayuddham (Holy war) a pompous title that O Panneerselvam chose for his revolt against VK Sasikala in February last year. Expect the footfalls at Jayalalithaa s samadhi at Marina beach in Chennai also to go up with Panneerselvam s utterances an indication that he wants to launch Dharmayuddham 2.0. On Friday the day Tamil Nadu was unhappy with the Supreme Court verdict that reduced its share of Cauvery water by 14.75 TMC feet OPS chose to talk politics in his backyard of Theni. But while he continued to harp on his erstwhile position as a trusted minister of Jayalalithaa and on his dislike for Sasikala he bowled a googly by revealing Narendra Modi s hand in the merger of the two AIADMK factions last year. OPS quoted an anecdote reportedly related to him by the Prime Minister to pat himself on the back. The prime minister told me that when he came to Chennai Amma had invited him for a meal. He told me that Amma said a lot of things to me about you and that I should take charge to protect the party OPS quoted Modi as saying. File image of O Panneerselvam. PTI Having established that Jayalalithaa held him in high esteem OPS then went on to showcase his monk-like attitude to positions of power. I said okay but explained to him that I did not want a minister s position and that just a party role would do. He said No no you have to take up a minister s role and be part of the government. It is because of this that I took up the minister s position. I told the other ministers about this who said I should not say no to him. That is why I am a minister today. Not because I have the desire to be a minister. Amma made me chief minister twice. That honour is enough for me said OPS who is now deputy chief minister in the Tamil Nadu government. Even though the BJP indulging in backseat driving in Tamil Nadu is the worst kept secret in Chennai party spokespersons have repeatedly denied playing any role in facilitating the AIADMK merger. This assertion by OPS shows they were either lying all along or were completely ignorant of the moves of their party bosses in New Delhi. But the important question is why did the usually reticent OPS decide to reveal this critical detail now exposing the prime minister s advisory role. It is not as if he does not know that it will embarrass the BJP as a party with no MLAs in the Tamil Nadu assembly and less than 3 percent vote share in the 2016 elections. By invoking Modi and highlighting the prime minister s friendship with Jayalalithaa OPS is making two things clear. One that contrary to the perception that he hankered after power and therefore waved the white flag with EPS he did so only when compelled by Modi. Two OPS is sending across the message to EPS that not only he was Amma s chosen one but he also has New Delhi s blessings. This is possibly a precursor to OPS moving closer to the BJP in Tamil Nadu expecting that the AIADMK government s days are numbered. Ahead of the elections the grand plan could possibly be to create a rainbow coalition of Rajinikanth BJP and the OPS faction of the AIADMK. OPS also targeted Sasikala and her family accusing them of trying to ensure his defeat in the 2016 elections. It was his attack on Sasikala that gained him traction a year ago and elevated his stature from that of a permanent nightwatchman under Jayalalithaa to someone who had a spine to protest. A year later OPS is falling back on the same formula to raise his political stature. What do his statements in Theni indicate about the goings-on in the AIADMK? Sources say AIADMK senior leaders are on tenterhooks with the impending judgment of the Madras High Court in the case relating to the disqualification of 18 MLAs belonging to the TTV Dhinakaran camp. If the Speaker s decision disqualifying the MLAs is upheld it will push the government into a minority. Tamil Nadu is also abuzz with rumours of EPS reaching out to Sasikala s Mannargudi family asking it to back him while keeping Dhinakaran out. While the possibility of it happening is very remote sources say OPS is feeling marginalised within the party power structure and fears he could be the fall guy in case EPS strikes a deal with his former friends. The Mannargudi clan has never forgiven OPS for backstabbing Sasikala. Why would EPS strike a deal with Sasikala when he knows it won t amuse the BJP? In Tamil Nadu given the state s aversion to the Hindi and Hindutva template of the BJP Palaniswami has realised that being seen as remote controlled by the BJP is not helping his political equity. He is already witness to Dhinakaran MK Stalin and Kamal Haasan trying to occupy the anti-BJP space that because of the fellow traveller arrangement overlaps with the anti-AIADMK space. The question however is whether a second OPS revolt will have any credibility. The latest revelations are a move by Panneerselvam to capture the rebel space once again.
Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi s session with students preparing for exams Pariksha Par Charcha on February 16 schools have been asked to submit photo or video proof that students watched the national telecast of the PM s counselling. Sources said the HRD ministry instructed all state governments to compile reports soon after the PM s interaction. The state governments in turn had sent out instructions to all schools regardless of the boards to provide details of students who watched the speech as well as submit photographs or videos of their participation http://www.basenotes.net/members/26231165-kkclear. Schools across the country received circulars from their respective state education departments to submit the evidence by February 19. Circulars issued by various district chief education officers also included a form which sought details of the total number of schools enrolment figures number of schools where students viewed or heard the telecast number of students who viewed it through television or radio or web streaming on the websites of the PMO MHRD Doordarshan MyGov.in and through internet channels. A senior HRD official said The ministry has not asked for any report on participation of schools in the event. It was a routine feedback where no mandatory clause was given. A senior HRD official said that it has been a practice for states or autonomous bodies like KVS and CBSE to submit their feedback for events like the PM s recent session with students Pariksha Par Charcha . No evidence was sought the official said. The chief education officers in Tamil Nadu however confirmed to TOI that they had received instructions from the HRD ministry to send out the forms to all schools in the state.