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Kishan Reddy lashes out at Cong on BC reservations

Kishan Reddy lashes out at Cong on BC reservations

Hans India2 days ago
Hyderabad: Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has deposited Rs 2,000 crore into the accounts of 10 crore farmers through the PM Kisan Samman Yojana. While addressing the OBC Morcha protest programme at Dharna Chowk on Saturday, he criticised Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for making irrelevant comments.
He said the Chief Minister referred to the Prime Minister as a 'converted BC.' He questioned how the BC community, which joins the BCs, could be considered a converted BC, noting that in 1971, Lambada joined the STs. He emphasised that mere words do not equate to heroism or greatness, adding that people are not inclined to forgive those who mislead them. He stated, 'People are observing all parties and leaders. This is why you received a clear message in the last parliamentary elections; out of every 100 voters who arrived at the polling station, 37 wanted the saffron flag to fly in Telangana. Revanth Reddy needs to understand this.'
Kishan Reddy criticised the Congress party for its pre-election promise during the Kamareddy Declaration to provide 42% reservation for BCs within 100 days of coming to power. He stated that even after two years, the issue of BC reservations remains unresolved, and Congress is attempting to shift the blame onto the BJP-led central government due to its incompetence.
He further said that the 42% reservation proposed by the Congress party is not beneficial for BCs, but rather serves Muslim interests for political and electoral gains. He highlighted that Telangana had implemented 34% reservation in local body elections under previous BRS governance and criticised CM KCR for attempting to push for 12% religious reservations for Muslims, stating that this is not truly for their benefit. Reddy pointed out that KCR has reduced BC reservations from 34% to 23%. He asked Revanth Reddy if the 34% reservation for BCs has increased or decreased, emphasising the lack of progress. He noted that if 10% is deducted from the proposed 42% reservation for Muslims, only 32% remains for BCs. He warned that the benefits being touted are 2% less than previous reservations for BCs, that the law is detrimental, not advantageous, for them.
Kishan Reddy called on the Congress party to act sincerely and implement the full 42% reservation for BCs. He warned that if there are attempts to deceive the community, they will not stay silent. On behalf of the BJP, he stated that it is unfair to allocate 32% reservation while undermining the backwards classes (BCs). 'As you have announced, 42% reservation should be granted,' he insisted. He accused Congress leaders of spreading false propaganda and attempting to gain attention by going to Delhi for protests. Reddy asserted that the BJP demands that the promised 42% reservation for BCs be implemented. He highlighted the BJP's achievements, stating that the party has had a BC as Prime Minister for 11 consecutive years since independence. He emphasised that the BJP legally granted constitutional status to the BC Commission, empowering it significantly, and has appointed 28 BCs as ministers in the central government. He challenged the Congress party, asking if it has ever appointed a BC as Prime Minister or Chief Minister while governing the country and the state since independence. He criticised their inability to elevate BCs to such positions despite numerous opportunities, stating, 'The Congress party has no moral right to criticise the BJP.' He pointed out that the British conducted a caste census before independence.
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Fall of Sheikh Hasina: An uprising, urban guerilla tactic or army inaction?
Fall of Sheikh Hasina: An uprising, urban guerilla tactic or army inaction?

India Today

time27 minutes ago

  • India Today

Fall of Sheikh Hasina: An uprising, urban guerilla tactic or army inaction?

On August 5 last year, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina boarded a military helicopter in the nick of time to flee from Bangladesh as lakhs of protesters headed towards her official residence in Dhaka. Such was the haste that she couldn't even record an address to the nation that she wanted to. But how did the regime of Hasina, who ruled with an iron fist for 15 years, crumble within weeks?advertisementWas it more than just a student-led uprising? Did urban guerilla-style attacks aided by Hasina's political rivals and the hands-off approach of the military play as big a role as the agitation itself in pulling down the Awami League-led government?Bangladeshi political experts and activists in Dhaka and those in self-imposed exile describe how it was a perfect storm that combined all the above to blow away the regime that had the backing of the security and intelligence apparatus and foot soldiers of her Awami League and its student wing, the Chhatra League. 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On July 16, six protesters, including 25-year-old student Abu Sayed, were killed by police firing."For the Hasina government, after July 17, it was all about crushing the movement. People retaliated, and then the regime started killing people indiscriminately," says Salam, who has been living in Australia in a self-imposed exile for a image of Abu Sayed inviting bullets with open arms went on to define the protests. Videos of brutal attacks and killings of protesters unnerved all sections of Bangladeshi society."Urban guerilla tactics work by creating victims, and fighting the war around them," says the political commentator from tried to buy peace by promising a probe, but the situation had spiralled out of control. On August 3, the Students Against Discrimination came out with a single-point demand -- Sheikh Hasina's organic protests do not last beyond days without support from established political or civil structures. That the students-led agitation and the students themselves survived and fought for weeks pointed at the role of political parties and the military in the fall of Hasina. A student of English literature, Abu Sayed defiantly stood with a stick in his hand before he was shot and killed at close range by the police. (Image: Social Media) advertisementMASTANS OF BNP, JAMAAT PROVIDED STREET MUSCLEPolitical parties like the BNP and the Jamaat, facing political suppression, had been emaciated. Such was the situation, that the Jamaat didn't manage to even unlock its sealed office in Dhaka over the students' protest gave the parties the much-needed oxygen, and they used the students' agitation to launch a full-scale attack on the Hasina apparatus."After July 19, police were attacked not by university students, but by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami activists and daily-waged labourers who had joined in the protests by then," Salam tells India Today evidence of that, the activist points to a video of protesters chasing away a team of security personnel in five vans, which went viral."You can see one person starts running at the police, and then a crowd follows him and starts chasing the cops. The person who first started chasing the cops was later identified as a BNP member. This was the case in most instances. 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The retaliation was evidence that the fear of the Hasina regime was gone, and it could be toppled," explains goes on to show that it wasn't the students who were mostly involved in the street warfare was that the worst violence took place after Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5. There were political reprisal killings in which scores of Awami League and Chhatra League leaders were massacred."Members of Islamist organisations and Jamaat members were at the forefront when it came to attacking cops and Awami League leaders. They followed urban guerilla tactics to bring down the Hasina government, and exact revenge after that," said the Dhaka-based had descended into lawlessness and chaos for days after the fall of the Hasina regime, and the army had to step in. Following Hasina's flight, the Bangladeshi army took control, and oversaw the transition of power amidst the chaos. (AFP Image) BANGLADESH ARMY'S NOT TO SHOOT DECISION WAS GAMECHANGERWaker-Uz-Zaman was appointed Bangladesh Army Chief in June 2024, when the country was already a relative of Hasina, operated with fairness during the entire agitation, according to multiple then, protests had even started in Defence Officers Housing Society areas in Dhaka. This was unprecedented because military officers were pampered by Hasina and their children brought up in relative affluence."Hasina not only took care of the military with unprecedented largesse, but she also changed the Constitution to deter political intervention by the military, making it a crime of high treason," says lower-rung officers and sepoys, like some of the civilian officials, had by then gone into a civil-disobedience mode. That was a result of news of young relatives falling prey to bullets, sources told India Today August 4, with the Hasina government finding itself embattled with millions ready for the long March to Dhaka a day later, a shoot-at-sight curfew was in a meeting with the top Army commanders on August 4, decided that his force would not shoot at protesters. This, and the reports of military officers unwilling to act against protesters earlier, boosted the confidence of the of thousands started pouring into Dhaka at daybreak on August 5. That is when General Zaman visited Hasina and asked her to board the military helicopter and save her life."Ultimately the military had to force her collapse, mostly because the sheer number of people on Dhaka's streets with bricks and sticks were simply multiple folds of the count of ammunition the security establishment had at their disposal," says only did the army take a hands-off approach, some lower-ranking military personnel were also looking at options to bring down the regime if Hasina lasted beyond August 5."A military official told me he considered resigning and arming civilians for urban guerrilla warfare if Hasina had not fled on August 5," says activist-writer Salam, adding, "This tells you this was a civil war situation." Students chanted anti-Hasina slogans near Dhaka University after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee. (AFP Image) HASINA'S BANGLADESH EXIT NOT JUST DUE TO STUDENTS AGITATIONThough students were the ones who started the fire, but it became an inferno because political parties and Islamist organisations added their muscle to the in morgue and those injured reveal the extent to which political and religious outfits participated in the street cheers that greeted the army and personnel flashing the victory sign also reveal that the military ensured a transfer of power in what can be interpreted as a coup-de-lite, albeit in the face of a massive people's movement."Hasina's regime collapsed because, towards the end, it became fashionable for all segments of Bangladeshi society to resist her, which includes laypersons, the political class, the military and even her cronies, who, towards the end, played their cards in such a way that the regime collapsed," sums up Rabbee.- EndsMust Watch

NITI Aayog conducts ‘evaluation study' of MGNREGS amid proposal for 5.23 lakh crore outlay till 2029-30
NITI Aayog conducts ‘evaluation study' of MGNREGS amid proposal for 5.23 lakh crore outlay till 2029-30

Indian Express

time27 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

NITI Aayog conducts ‘evaluation study' of MGNREGS amid proposal for 5.23 lakh crore outlay till 2029-30

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Cong leader Priyanka Gandhi urges Kerala govt to allocate more rural roads for Wayanad
Cong leader Priyanka Gandhi urges Kerala govt to allocate more rural roads for Wayanad

Hans India

time27 minutes ago

  • Hans India

Cong leader Priyanka Gandhi urges Kerala govt to allocate more rural roads for Wayanad

Wayanad(Kerala): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has asked the Kerala government for allocation of more kilometers when constructing rural roads in this hilly district in view of its unique circumstances, like the high density of tribal population, the party said on Tuesday. In a statement, the party said that Priyanka, the MP from Wayanad, has asked the Kerala State Rural Roads Development Agency (KSRRDA) to allocate the additional kilometers in view of the guidelines which state that priority should be given to tribal villages in blocks and areas with high tribal density. The other reasons cited by her were that Wayanad was an aspirational district and has a significant tribal population, making it eligible for special consideration, the statement said. Considering the unique circumstances of the Wayanad parliamentary constituency, connectivity is crucial for all development in the health and education sectors, it said. Gandhi has claimed that of the 500 kilometers of rural roads to be built in Kerala, only 20 kilometers have been allocated to Wayanad district for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) and contended that it was "completely inadequate", the statement said. She has requested the state government to expedite the process of preparing DPRs for the 300 roads that have been approved by the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA) in Wayanad district, it said.

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