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BJP targets Congress leadership over Maha drug case, slams DMK on Madurai land scam

BJP targets Congress leadership over Maha drug case, slams DMK on Madurai land scam

New Delhi, July 15 (UNI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a scathing attack on Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge, alleging that their close associate was involved in a narcotics case in Maharashtra.
The party also criticised the ruling DMK government in Tamil Nadu over alleged irregularities in land record management in Madurai.
Addressing a press conference here, BJP national secretary and spokesperson Anil K. Antony referred to the arrest of Lingaraj Kanni, a Congress functionary and Block President of Kalaburagi in Karnataka, along with two associates, Irfan and Tausif, in Thane, Maharashtra. The three were reportedly found in possession of 120 bottles of banned narcotic substances and were arrested for alleged drug trafficking.
Antony alleged that Kanni shares close ties with AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge, the latter being Kharge's son and an MLA from Kalaburagi. He criticised the Congress party for what he described as its silence over the arrest of senior leaders' close aides, while frequently demanding accountability from the BJP on various issues.
'When will Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyank Kharge and Rahul Gandhi break their silence on this matter?' Antony asked.
Turning his attention to Tamil Nadu, Antony raised concerns over an alleged land revenue scam in the Madurai Municipal Corporation, governed by the DMK. He accused the administration of manipulating software systems to undervalue land records, resulting in a reported tax revenue loss of Rs 150–Rs 200 crore to the state exchequer.
'This is yet another scam under the DMK regime, which has already seen controversies related to fisheries, sand mining, ETL infrastructure, TASMAC liquor sales, and now land records,' Antony said.
With Tamil Nadu Assembly elections scheduled for 2026, the BJP leader appealed to the electorate to consider voting for a 'clean, transparent and development-oriented NDA government.'
He also urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to initiate strict action against those involved in the Madurai land scam and uphold standards of good governance.
'The reality is that only the BJP and the NDA can provide a corruption-free, accountable administration in Tamil Nadu,' Antony said.
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Former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj (1903-75), 122nd whose birth anniversary was celebrated on July 15, 2025 was known for organisational skills as well as fortifying the Congress in Tamil Nadu. In his long career, he had shepherded the national party in the State so ably that the Congress won most of the electoral battles since 1946. Of course, in 1967 and 1971 Assembly polls, the limits of Kamaraj's leadership qualities and electoral judgement came to the fore. There were, however, two electoral contests - bye-elections to the Gudiyatham Assembly constituency in 1954 and to the Nagercoil (now called Kanniyakumari) Lok Sabha seat in 1969 - wherein he was a principal player and on both occasions, he achieved success with finesse. The two bye-elections had one common feature: both were held in regions outside his native district - Ramanathapuram, under which Virudhunagar [the place of his birth] fell between 1910 and 1985. 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The vacancy in the Legislative Assembly had existed only for Gudiyatham, which was part of the erstwhile North Arcot district (now split into Vellore, Ranipet, Thirupathur and Tiruvannamalai districts). At that time, Gudiyatham was a double-member constituency with one seat reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC). While Kamaraj, in June 1954, made it clear to the party that he would like to enter the fray for the general seat, the Scheduled Castes' Federation (SCF), established by B.R. Ambedkar, had approached him with a request to let the Congress adopt its member for the reserved seat, according to a report of The Hindu on June 22, 1954. The report had even mentioned that [in the event of the request being accepted,] 'this will be the first time' for the Congress and the SCF to have an electoral understanding. However, this proposal did not fructify, possibly due to the tense ties between Ambedkar and the Congress at the all-India level. 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There was 'one more miracle' - the Dravidar Kazhagam and the Muslim League declaring publicly their support for him and commencing their canvassing. Also Read | When BJP talks of Kamaraj rule… Kamaraj was not one who would get carried away by 'such widespread support.' He plunged himself in the campaign and carried out his work in villages. With a few weeks to go for the date of polling, he had covered 100 out of 160 villages in the constituency, The Hindu wrote on July 18, 1954. Responding to the criticism of the Communists that the Congress, despite being in power at the Centre and in States, had not resolved many problems of the country, Kamaraj, at a meeting in Cherlapalli, wondered how 'age-long difficulties' of people could be removed within seven years of the country gaining Independence. Krishnamachari told the voters that Kamaraj was the 'friend and follower' of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. 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The 'old guard' in the ruling party was experiencing the phase of decline and naturally, there had been reports of difference between the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and some of her Cabinet colleagues, who were considered members of the 'old guard.' As the Congress' pre-eminent position in the country's politics had started waning, new political forces were emerging. Nagercoil Lok Sabha constituency The death of 'Marshal' A. Nesamony had necessitated the bye-election to the Nagercoil Lok Sabha constituency. Kamaraj, who was looking for an opportunity to regain people's confidence after the Virudhunagar defeat, announced his candidature on December 1, 1968, this newspaper reported the next day. There were six other contestants. But, the battle was between him and M. Mathias, who was backed by the DMK-led alliance that included the Swatantara and the Muslim League. 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As for the complaint regarding the involvement of senior DMK Ministers in the campaign, Karunanidhi reasoned his party was 'only following the example' set by the Congress. Kamaraj's response was his party had refrained from inviting Union Ministers to campaign in the constituency, even though they were 'ready to come.' The bye-election frenzy rose to the boiling point on the midnight of January 4 when a worker of the DMK, Kittu, was killed and two others suffered stab injuries. That day, the head of the State police (which was called Inspector General) R.M. Mahadevan reached Nagercoil to oversee the preparations. The Superintendent of Police S. Dayasankar chose to go on medical leave for a month. He was immediately replaced by K. Srikumara Menon, Deputy Commissioner, Traffic. Madurai. On the day of polling (January 8), the then Chief Election Commissioner, S.P. Sen Verma, himself visited as many as 35 polling stations of the constituency, according to this newspaper. Given the high-decibel campaign, the voter turnout exceeded 75%, a few percentage points higher than what Nagercoil recorded in 1967. There was no element of great surprise in the result. Kamaraj won the bye-election by a huge margin of 1,28,201 votes over Mathias, by polling 2,49,437 votes. Commenting on the former Chief Minister's electoral battles, A. Gopanna, who had also authored his biography, feels Kamaraj always attached greater emphasis on drawing support from the people directly than anything else. R. Kannan, a biographer of former Chief Ministers C.N. Annadurai and M.G. Ramachandran apart from writing 'The DMK Years', says Kamaraj, by contesting in Nagercoil, had 'wanted to stay relevant.' Kamaraj's participation in the two bye-elections had only shown how much importance he, as a political leader, had paid to securing legitimacy from the public.

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Bhopal: Congress state president Jitu Patwari on Tuesday wrote to Union road transport and highways minister seeking immediate repair of the Ganesh Ghat section of the busy Agra-Mumbai National Highway (NH-3). Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "I would like to draw your attention to the extremely worrying and dilapidated condition of the realignment portion of Ganesh Ghat located on Indore-Khalghat section of Agra-Mumbai National Highway (NH-3) in Madhya Pradesh," Patwari wrote in a letter. "The construction work of this section was completed in Nov 2024 at a cost of Rs 109 crore. Its length is 8.8 km and width is 10.3 meters and now it has been completely damaged after just 6 inches of rain. Hundreds of deep potholes have formed on it, many of which are so big that an entire car can fit into it," he wrote. Patwari said it was unfortunate that a reputed institution like the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is contending that "potholes will definitely be there after the first rain". "This argument looks even more ridiculous when, after a deadly traffic jam in Indore some time back, NHAI had told in a court, why do people even leave their homes? This shows what their priority is regarding the safety and convenience of the people," Patwari argued. He further said bus and truck drivers travelling on this dilapidated section of Ganesh Ghat have reported that due to the potholes, the vehicles ahead have to suddenly apply brakes, which poses a serious risk of accidents. "At some places, even the patchwork material has completely disintegrated, which has further increased the risk of two-wheeler riders slipping. It is necessary to mention that there is one-way traffic of 25,000 to 30,000 vehicles on this new alignment every day, and due to these potholes, vehicles are taking an additional 30 to 45 minutes to cross this 8.8 km section," the Congress leader said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "The construction company has to maintain the road for five years, but the quality of the patchwork done under maintenance is also under question. This clearly appears to be a major case of corruption where crores of public money have been wasted on poor quality construction," he said. Patwari asked for an immediate high-level enquiry into the corruption in this stretch of National Highway and initiation of strict action against the culprits. He also asked the Union minister to ensure immediate and quality repairs so that serious accidents can be prevented and inconvenience to lakhs of commuters is eliminated. Bhopal: Congress state president Jitu Patwari on Tuesday wrote to Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari seeking immediate repair of the Ganesh Ghat section of the busy Agra-Mumbai National Highway (NH-3). "I would like to draw your attention to the extremely worrying and dilapidated condition of the realignment portion of Ganesh Ghat located on Indore-Khalghat section of Agra-Mumbai National Highway (NH-3) in Madhya Pradesh," Patwari wrote in a letter. "The construction work of this section was completed in Nov 2024 at a cost of Rs 109 crore. Its length is 8.8 km and width is 10.3 meters and now it has been completely damaged after just 6 inches of rain. Hundreds of deep potholes have formed on it, many of which are so big that an entire car can fit into it," he wrote. Patwari said it was unfortunate that a reputed institution like the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is contending that "potholes will definitely be there after the first rain". "This argument looks even more ridiculous when, after a deadly traffic jam in Indore some time back, NHAI had told in a court, why do people even leave their homes? This shows what their priority is regarding the safety and convenience of the people," Patwari argued. He further said bus and truck drivers travelling on this dilapidated section of Ganesh Ghat have reported that due to the potholes, the vehicles ahead have to suddenly apply brakes, which poses a serious risk of accidents. "At some places, even the patchwork material has completely disintegrated, which has further increased the risk of two-wheeler riders slipping. It is necessary to mention that there is one-way traffic of 25,000 to 30,000 vehicles on this new alignment every day, and due to these potholes, vehicles are taking an additional 30 to 45 minutes to cross this 8.8 km section," the Congress leader said. "The construction company has to maintain the road for five years, but the quality of the patchwork done under maintenance is also under question. This clearly appears to be a major case of corruption where crores of public money have been wasted on poor quality construction," he said. Patwari asked for an immediate high-level enquiry into the corruption in this stretch of National Highway and initiation of strict action against the culprits. He also asked the Union minister to ensure immediate and quality repairs so that serious accidents can be prevented and inconvenience to lakhs of commuters is eliminated.

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