Reiterating that he would accept any decision taken by Sonia Gandhi, Amarinder Singh termed the meeting with Rawat as fruitful, adding the latter would take up the issues raised by him with Gandhi…reports Vishal Gulati.
After days of hectic lobbying and parleys within the Congress in Punjab over “defiant” former Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was in direct loggerheads with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Sidhu was on Saturday night appointed the state unit party President, replacing Sunil Jakhar, a prominent Hindu face who was at the helm for over four years.
His appointment comes in the wake of serious objections raised by Amarinder Singh, who wrote to interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi against the elevation of Sidhu, a Jat Sikh, to the post, saying it would upset senior leaders representing the Hindu community.
Gandhi appointed Sidhu as the party’s new Punjab unit President along with four working Presidents. They are Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhvinder Singh Danny, Pawan Goel, and Kuljit Singh Nagra.
A day before his appointment, Sidhu did hectic “lobbying” by reaching out to as many of his party colleagues while the “sulking” Chief Minister met Congress state in-charge Harish Rawat here on Saturday and categorically told him that he won’t meet Sidhu until he apologises for his “derogatory” tweets.
Reiterating that he would accept any decision taken by Sonia Gandhi, Amarinder Singh termed the meeting with Rawat as fruitful, adding the latter would take up the issues raised by him with Gandhi.
It was learnt that Rawat came to Chandigarh for a meeting between Amarinder Singh and his bete noire Sidhu, ahead of the official announcement of the latter’s appointment as the state unit chief by Sonia Gandhi.
However, an adamant Amarinder Singh, who is reportedly upset with Sidhu for targeting his government over the power crisis and the sacrilege issue, categorically had told Rawat that there would be no rapprochement until Sidhu apologises in public for his “derogatory tweets and interviews”.
Earlier, Amarinder Singh had even written to Sonia Gandhi, warning that the party would split if Sidhu was given charge of the state Congress.
In his letter, the Chief Minister had said that he will not contest under Sidhu if he is elevated to the top organisational post in the state.
The letter was delivered to Sonia Gandhi at her residence in Delhi before she met cricketer-turned-politician on July 16.
Just hours ahead of the revamp in the state unit, 10 MLAs issued a joint statement in support of the Chief Minister and said Sidhu was a celebrity and undoubtedly an asset to the party, but criticism of his own party in public has created the rift.
Cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu’s political innings with the Congress is just a new and his rivals see him a turncoat politician.
In March 2017, he was inducted as a Cabinet minister in the new Congress government in Punjab headed by Amarinder Singh.
At that time, Sidhu was not designated as Deputy Chief Minister, as was being speculated in political circles.
Sidhu, who joined the Congress in January, just days ahead of the February 4 assembly elections in Punjab, won the Amritsar-east Assembly seat with a margin of over 42,000 votes.
Sidhu had earlier remained Member of Parliament from Amritsar when he was part of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was elected MP in 2004, 2007 (by-election) and 2009.
He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Narendra Modi government in April 2016.
Ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections, Sidhu had resigned from the Rajya Sabha and said: “At the behest of the Prime Minister, I had accepted RS nomination for the welfare of Punjab. With the closure of every window leading to Punjab, the purpose stands defeated, now a mere burden. I prefer not to carry it.”
Within the Congress, Sidhu had been lying low since his resignation from the state Cabinet in July 2019.
He had resigned from his post as a Cabinet Minister in the state on July 14, 2019 after differences with Amarinder Singh over portfolio allocation. Sidhu was in-charge of local bodies but was shifted to the Power Department.
Time and again he was meeting top party leaders, including Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, and apprised them of the political situation in Punjab.
Appealing to the people to join him and “be part of the resurrection”, Sidhu, who has never been far from controversies, even hogging the limelight as fallout — whether for good or bad.
Only time will tell that whether Sidhu will be able to return his party to power with Amarinder Singh remaining the Chief Minister’s face for the upcoming election, slated in early 2022.
With the government set to introduce 17 new Bills, the Opposition plans to seek tough question about inflation, fuel price hike, Covid mismanagement, and the border issue with China, reports Asian Lite News
The stage is set for a stormy Monsoon session of the Parliament which will commence from tomorrow (July 19) and last till August 13.
The session comes amid Covid-19 pandemic affecting Parliament sessions since March 2020, forcing early closure of last year’s budget and monsoon sessions and this year’s budget session. The 2020 winter session was skipped altogether due to the public health crisis. The high rate of vaccination among the lawmakers and Parliament staff improves chances of a longer Parliament session and higher productivity. More than 40 bills and five ordinances are pending before Parliament.
Power-packed schedule
The government is set to introduce 17 new Bills in the session, which includes changes in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) — replacing the Ordinance enabling prepackaged resolution schemes for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and allowing corporate debtors to propose a resolution plan for the stressed company.
Besides, the Centre will also introduce the Deposit Insurance Bill, increase insurance cover to Rs 5 lakh.
However, the much-awaited cryptocurrency Bill has been delayed and is not listed in the Lok Sabha Bulletin of the session.
The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 (Crypto Bill), was earlier listed for the Budget Session but couldn’t be tabled as the session was truncated because of the second wave of Covid-19. However, sources said the government is yet to finalise the contours of the Bill and is still evaluating the framework.
Of the 17 new bills lined up for the session are amendments in Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act, the Electricity Act and the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, apart from others.
The new bills that the Centre listed for introduction, consideration and passing are The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021; The Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Amendment Bill, 2021; The Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021; The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2021; The Cantonment Bill, 2021; The Indian Antarctica Bill, 2021; The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2021; The Indian Institute of Forest Management Bill, 2021; The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021; The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment)Bill, 2021; The Indian Marine Fisheries Bill, 2021; The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Amendment) Bill, 2021; The Inland Vessels Bill, 2021; The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021; and The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021.
Opposition draws the sword
Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has reconstituted the party’s parliament groups for both houses for effective functioning of the party. Putting all speculation to rest, Sonia Gandhi has let Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury stay as leader of the party in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress has decided to raise issues of inflation, fuel price hike, Covid mismanagement, and the border issue with China in the upcoming Monsoon session.
The party strategy group for Parliament, chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi, met on Wednesday evening and the party is of the view that it should raise the Rafale issue after the recent development in France, where a probe in alleged kickbacks has been initiated.
Coordination with other opposition parties has been entrusted to Rajya Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge as the party wants joint opposition strategy in the house to corner the government.
Congress leader P. Chidambaram, addressing the media had said on Tuesday: “Congress party will raise the issue of high inflation in the forthcoming session of Parliament and demand a full discussion on the subject as well as substantial relief for the people of India.”
Pawar politics
Ahead of monsoon session, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and talked for about 50 minutes, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
“Rajya Sabha MP Shri Sharad Pawar met PM Narendra Modi,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted.
The meeting took pace amid reports over fissures in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government in Maharashtra. On July 13, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had said that he has always been against the Congress and the NCP politically.
The Congress party and Sharad Pawar’s NCP are part of the MVA and allies of Thackeray’s Shiv Sena.
Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar
“Politically, I have been against Congress and the NCP, but this does not mean that I will call their good work in the government wrong. Neither I nor Balasaheb Thackeray thought this,” Uddhav Thackeray said.
Further, it has been observed that Sena has been seen warming up to the BJP – its former alliance partner. Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that the BJP and Sena are “not enemies”, the two parties only have a difference of opinions.
The party strategy group for Parliament, chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi, met on Wednesday evening…reports Asian Lite News
The Congress has decided to raise issues of inflation, fuel price hike, Covid mismanagement, and the border issue in the upcoming Monsoon session.
The party strategy group for Parliament, chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi, met on Wednesday evening and the party is of view it should raise the Rafale issue after the development in France, where a probe in alleged kickbacks has been initiated, and the border issue.
Coordination with other opposition parties has been entrusted to Rajya Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge as the party wants joint opposition strategy in the house to corner the government.
Congress leader P. Chidambaram, addressing the media on Tuesday, had said: “Congress party will raise the issue of high inflation in the forthcoming session of Parliament and demand a full discussion on the subject as well as substantial relief for the people of India.”
The meeting is likely to begin from 11 a.m. at Parliament premises, said sources….reports Asian Lite News
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has called an all-party meeting of all floor leaders on July 18 to discuss issues related to the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The meeting is likely to begin from 11 a.m. at Parliament premises, said sources.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi will also interact with the floor leaders during the meeting and take their views before the session starts its 19-day business from July 19, said sources.
The meeting has been called a day before the Monsoon Session, which will run between July 19 and August 13, the first Session after the second wave of ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The timings of the session will be from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. for both the Houses.
The meeting is crucial as the Monsoon Session is set to be stormy with the opposition ready with strategy to corner the government over several issues that include rising petrol and diesel prices and the infrastructure lapses during the second wave of Covid.
Meanwhile, top BJP leaders and Union Ministers, including party President J.P. Nadda, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, held a meeting last evening to discuss matters related to the upcoming Monsoon Session and frame the party’s strategy to counter the opposition. The meeting was held at Union Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence.
Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Bhupender Yadav and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ministers of State Arjun Ram Meghwal and V. Muraleedharan, among others, were present in the meeting. Besides them, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also attended the meet.
With the coronavirus pandemic still raging, the session will be held in both the Houses of Parliament with all the necessary protocols and arrangements being made to accommodate the MPs on a social distancing basis.
Parliament Sessions have been affected ever since the pandemic hit the country last year forcing early closure of last year’s Budget and Monsoon Sessions and this year’s Budget Session. The 2020 Winter Session was skipped completely due to the public health crisis.
The high rate of vaccination among the lawmakers and Parliament staff has improved chances of a longer Parliament Session and higher productivity.
Around 17 Bills are listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha, including five Bills for consideration and passage, and a similar number of Bills are expected to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha as well during the session.
The dates for the Monsoon Session were decided after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla took stock of preparations earlier this week.
A party insider said that the meeting was held at Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence and lasted for around three hours…reports Asian Lite News.
Senior Union Ministers and BJP chief J.P. Nadda met on Tuesday to discuss the party’s strategy for the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament starting from July 19.
A party insider said that the meeting was held at Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence and lasted for around three hours.
Union Ministers Amit Shah, Dharmendra Pradhan, Pralhad Joshi, Bhupender Yadav, Arjun Ram Meghwal and others were present in the meeting along with party chief Nadda.
“Strategy for the upcoming monsoon session was discussed. Strategy for countering opposition attacks on issues like Covid management, inflation and others were discussed in detail,” the party insider said.
The government is expecting a stormy session in which opposition parties are likely to corner it on Covid management during the second wave, and fuel prices.
“It was decided that we will counter the opposition attack by highlighting government efforts to contain the second wave and plans for managing the third wave, and measures for people and measures taken to boost the economy,” a source said.
The BJP has to also appoint a new Leader of House in the Rajya Sabha after Union Minister Thawarchand Gehlot was made Governor of Karnataka. Names of senior party leaders and some Union Ministers are already doing rounds for the possible replacement.
This will be the first parliament session after Assembly polls in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Keral and Puducherry.
The incident occurred in Rajpura town, some 40 km from the state capital….reports Asian Lite News
BJP leaders, who were taken hostage with family members by protesting farmers in a house in a Punjab town, were rescued early Monday by police after an over 12-hour ordeal and with the intervention of the high court.
Rescued leaders blamed the farmers for unlawful act in the pretext of protesting against the three farm laws enacted by the Central government. They blamed the state Congress government for supporting the farmers.
The incident occurred in Rajpura town, some 40 km from the state capital, where state general secretary Bhupesh Aggarwal was taken hostage along with others in a house on Sunday evening.
Aggarwal told the media that he along with other party leaders and workers assembled in the town a day earlier for a district-level party meeting at the Bharat Vikas Parishad building. The farmers reached the meeting venue and disrupted it.
Later they decided to hold a meeting in a house and they assembled there. The farmers reached there and held them hostage by snapping the water and electricity supply.
In a video on social media, protesters could be seen chasing and heckling local councillor Shanti Swarup and even tearing his clothes while he was being taken away by policemen. This incident occurred on Sunday.
However, the police denied he was attacked.
A police team led the Deputy Inspector General Vikramjit Duggal was at the spot to rescue and escort the hostage leaders to safety. The situation throughout the night remained tense.
When the holed up leaders were rescued by the police they claimed that the farmers chased, abused and heckled them. Also their vehicles were pelted with stones.
However, farmer leader Prem Singh Bhangu blamed Aggarwal for provoking farmers by using abusive language. He said the incident flared up when Aggarwal’s bodyguard pointed a pistol at the peacefully protesting farmers.
The BJP approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court late Sunday and sought its intervention for the safety of its leaders.
Directing the state to ensure the persons alleged to be illegally detained “are provided safe exit with adequate security and no harm is caused to anyone of them”, Justice Suvir Sehgal asked the state to summit the report on July 12 at 2 p.m.
Reacting to attack on the party leaders, Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma said: “This is an attack on democracy. There is complete lawlessness in Punjab as police have become mute spectators.”
The farmers in Punjab and Haryana have been protesting against the farm laws as they feel that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporate entities.
They are boycotting the BJP leaders too.
In October last, the vehicle in which BJP chief Ashwani Sharma was travelling was attacked by 30-40 people with bricks and sticks near the toll plaza in Hoshiarpur town.
Also the police fired tear gas shells and used water cannons in January to disperse protesting farmers, who stormed the helipad and vandalised the stage where Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was to address a ‘kisan mahapanchayat’ to highlight the benefits of Centre’s agriculture laws.
Ahead of the Sonia Gandhi-Amarinder Singh meet, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi had met Sonia Gandhi….reports Asian Lite News
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday met interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi amid escalated tension in the state unit.
After the meeting which lasted an hour, Amarinder Singh said: “Whatever we discuss in such meeting with the Congress President is confidential. We can’t say it in public and it is not for public consumption.”
“But we have discussed about the developmental issues of the state, including politics… I will accept whatever decisions will be taken by the party high command.”
He, however, declined to comment on disgruntled Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Ahead of the Sonia Gandhi-Amarinder Singh meet, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi had met Sonia Gandhi.
The Congress has constituted a committee under Malliakarjun Kharge to resolve the issue pertaining to the state and it had submitted its report.
Kharge was also present at the meeting, which comes against the backdrop of the suggestions made by the Congress high command to the Punjab government and changes in the state unit of the party, days after Sidhu met Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
After these meetings, there was speculation that Priyanka Gandhi has suggested Sidhu’s name as the Punjab Congress chief. However, Amarinder Singh and some of the other faction leaders in the party were not accepting this formula.
Sources said that Punjab leaders may accept Sidhu as the Working President, but not as the full-fledged state unit chief as the Chief Minister is keen on having a non-Sikh face in the role.
Harish Rawat, had said that it’s a good sign that Rahul Gandhi has met the former-cricketer-turned politician, adding that the issue is likely to be resolved around next week…reports Asian Lite News.
Amid escalating infighting in Punjab Congress, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is likely to meet Sonia Gandhi and apprise his side of the story to the interim Congress President.
The proposed meeting comes in the backdrop of the suggestions made by the Congress high command to the Punjab government and changes in the state unit of the party, days after disgruntled Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu met Rahul Gandhi.
After Sidhu met Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi separately last week, there is a speculation that Priyanka Gandhi has suggested Sidhu’s name as the Punjab Congress chief. However, Amarinder Singh and some of the other factions in the party are not accepting this formula.
Sources said that Punjab leaders may accept him as the working president, but not as a full-fledged state unit chief as the Chief Minister is keen on having a non-Sikh face as the state Congress President.
The Punjab in-charge for Congress, Harish Rawat, had said that it’s a good sign that Rahul Gandhi has met the former-cricketer-turned politician, adding that the issue is likely to be resolved around next week.
Meanwhile, Amarinder Singh had called the MLAs supporting him for lunch in Chandigarh the day Sidhu left for Delhi and is believed to have discussed the future strategy.
The move had reportedly upset the party high command, which viewed it as a show of strength, especially after the panel formed by the Congress to look into the Punjab issue said that there is no question of removing the Chief Minister.
Roy Chowdhury claimed in his petition that medicines administered to Mookerjee must be probed because Mookerjee had refused to be injected with the medicine….reports Shantanu Guha Ray
A monk turned lawyer’s public interest litigation (PIL) in Calcutta High Court to seek reasons behind the mysterious death of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee has stirred a hornet’s nest in the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The BJP, which calls the former barrister and academician its father figure, has done little to probe his death except talking about India’s first industries minister at big events, lighting lamps and creating study centres which largely remain within files.
Kolkata-based Samarjit Roy Chowdhury has asked for an inquiry commission headed by a retired chief justice of India. The application will come up for hearing by the end of July, 2021.
Roy Chowdhury, who shared details of his petition with his reporter, said Mookerjee, who died on June 23, 1953, was detained without trial by Sheikh Abdullah’s government after his arrest in Kathua on May 11, 1953.
Government records claim Mookerjee died in the custody of Jammu and Kashmir Police. He was provisionally diagnosed with a heart attack and shifted to a hospital but died a day later.
Virtually nothing is known about the cause of the death of Mookerjee, a minister in undivided Bengal and in Nehru’s cabinet. Mookerjee, the youngest vice chancellor of the Calcutta University at 33 was a prominent Opposition leader and founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. The Jana Sangh eventually gave birth to the current day BJP.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (R), father of the constitution of India, and Dr. Shamprasad Mukherjee (L), talking on the Campus of Parliament, 1951(wikipedia)
“I am surprised at the silence, we must know how Mookerjee died,” said Roy Chowdhury.
Political cognoscenti in India feel the PIL, if accepted, could open a pandora’s box in politically-sensitive India where similar efforts have opened up many unheard details of national leaders like Subhas Chandra Bose and Lal Bahadur Shastri. In both cases, movies have been made and tomes written to highlight what many claim was gross disparities in what historians peddled for many years.
The PIL takes note of the correspondence between PM Jawaharlal Nehru and Mookerjee’s mother, Jogomaya Devi.
On June 30, 1953, Nehru wrote to Jogmaya Devi, Mookerjee’s mother, conveying his condolences. On July 4, Devi responded: “My son died in detention, detention without trial. You say, you had visited Kashmir during my son’s detention. You speak of the affection you had for him. But what prevented you, I wonder, from meeting him there personally and satisfying yourself about his health and arrangements?… Ever since his detention there, the first information that I, his mother, received from the Government of Jammu and Kashmir was that my son was no more. And in what cruel cryptic way the message was conveyed.”
Roy Chowdhury claimed in his petition that medicines administered to Mookerjee must be probed because Mookerjee had refused to be injected with the medicine.
As per government records, Mookerjee was arrested upon entering Kashmir on May 11, 1953. He and two of his arrested companions were first taken to Central Jail of Srinagar. They were later transferred to a cottage outside the city. Mookerjee’s condition started deteriorating and he was diagnosed with dry pleurisy from which he had also suffered in 1937 and 1944. The doctor prescribed him a streptomycin injection and powders, however, Mookerjee informed him that his family physician had told him that streptomycin did not suit his system. The doctor, however, told him that new information about the drug had come to light and assured him that he would be fine.
(L to R sitting) B. R. Ambedkar, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Sardar Baldev Singh, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, John Mathai, Jagjivan Ram, Amrit Kaur and Syama Prasad Mukherjee.(wikipedia)
On June 22, he felt pain in the heart region, started perspiring and started feeling like he was fainting. He was later shifted to a hospital and provisionally diagnosed with a heart attack. He died a day later.
What is interesting is that in 2004, Atal Bihari Vajpayee claimed in Parliament that Mookerjee was murdered in a “Nehru conspiracy”. Roy Chowdhury said he found it extremely surprising that the BJP, whenever it was in power, refused to push for a probe into Mookerjee’s mysterious death. “Would you not probe the death of the father of your party? Strangely, the BJP did nothing to uncover the mystery,” said Roy Chowdhury.
Roy Chowdhury said on November 27, 1953, a resolution was moved in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly to hold an inquiry into the circumstances of Mookerjee’s death while in detention in Kashmir. It argued for holding an inquiry through a commission headed by a Supreme Court judge. Surprisingly, an Assembly member from the Congress party, Shankar Prasad Mitra, moved an amendment to this resolution asking for the words “for holding an inquiry”, to be substituted with “for requesting the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to hold an inquiry”. Worse, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, then CM of West Bengal, declined the move for an inquiry.
The PIL says what had been asked for was an inquiry by a SC judge who could take cognisance of evidence from across India, including Kashmir. “In this case, the Kashmir government was the accused party. How could it then sit in judgement over this inquiry? But members of the Congress, including Roy, argued in favour of the amendment. The Congress, in effect, sought acceptance of the amendment, and succeeded.
BJP National President JP Nadda addresses a virtual meeting on the birth anniversary of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, through video conferencing from the party’s headquarters in New Delhi on July 6, 2020. (Photo: IANS)
The West Bengal government forwarded the resolution passed in the Assembly to the Ministry of States (Kashmir section), Government of India. This letter was received on February 23, 1954. After six months, the matter was eventually processed in the Ministry of States,” said the PIL.
The PIL includes the following observation from the relevant file in the Ministry: “It is for consideration whether we may inform the Government of West Bengal that as the matter primarily concerns the Government of J&K, the Government of India did not consider it proper to pursue the matter. When the request for an inquiry into the circumstances of Mookerjee’s death was raised in Parliament, the attitude which we adopted was that this was a matter which concerned the Government of J&K alone. The resolution passed by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly is consistent with this stand since it only asks the Government of India to pass on the request to the Jammu & Kashmir Government. We have now two courses open to us: We may either send the copy of the resolution and proceedings to the J & K Government for such action as they may consider necessary; or we may return the proceedings to the West Bengal Government and ask them to address the J&K Government themselves. While the latter course might be strictly correct one, it would have the effect of rebuffing the Government of West Bengal where Mookerjee’s death has agitated the public mind very much. There may therefore be no harm if we adopt the first alternative. I do not think this is likely to give rise to any misunderstanding with the J&K Government.”
Portrait of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in Parliament of India(wikipedia)
The PIL says K.N.V. Nambisan from the Ministry of States signed this note on September 7, 1954. The first course was agreed upon by both the secretary and the minister. On September 22, 1954, the Ministry of States forward the resolution to the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, for such action as considered necessary. Nothing came out of this routine letter sent by the Ministry of States to the Government of J&K.
The PIL further said a notice for a starred question was given in Parliament on August 19, 1954 — the Minister of Home Affairs was asked to clarify whether the Bengal CM had visited Kashmir in June 1954 and made an inquiry about Mookerjee’s death. On July 20, 1954, the Ministry of States had asked the Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary about the reported visit of Roy. On July 19, 1954, the Ministry of States had written to the Lok Sabha secretariat stating that they had no information except what appeared in the newspaper about the stay of Roy in Jammu and Kashmir. The letter further stated that the circumstances relating to the death of Mookerjee, while in detention, was a matter which concerned the Jammu and Kashmir government, not the GoI. On August 5, 1954, Ghulam Ahmad, chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir wrote to V. Narayanan, joint secretary to the GoI (Ministry of States): “Dr B.C. Roy did come to Kashmir for a holiday and spent about a month here. During his stay he visited various beauty spots in the Valley. He did see the bungalow where Mookerjee was putting up during his stay in Kashmir as well as the room in the hospital to which he had been removed prior to his death. Col. Sir Ram Nath Chopra, our Director Health Services, took him to the hospital one day and Dr B.C. Roy might have made some verbal enquiries on the spot. You will, therefore, see that no official inquiry was held by the Doctor and as such no report could have been submitted by him. The question in the Lok Sabha may, therefore, be replied suitably on the basis of this information.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-gLLGYuO-c
Interestingly, PM Narendra Modi remembered Mookerjee in his 45th Mann Ki Baat show. “His efforts towards national integration will never be forgotten,” said Modi. The PM had said that while Mookerjee was associated with many fields, education was close to his heart. “Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee was associated with many fields, but the areas which were closest to his heart were education, administration and parliamentary affairs; very few people would know that he was the youngest vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta at merely 33 years of age,” said the PM.
Modi also said it was on Mookerjee’s invitation that Rabindranath Tagore addressed the convocation in Kolkata University in Bangla. “Very few people would also be knowing that in 1937, on the invitation of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore addressed the convocation in Kolkata University in Bangla. This was the first time under the British rule that the convocation in Kolkata University had been addressed in Bangla.
All eyes are now on the Calcutta High Court. If it’s admitted, then work will start on one of India’s biggest political mysteries. If not, the father figure of BJP will be remembered during lighting of lamps during mega functions, or confined to files. Mookerjee’s home, for the records, is currently in a total dilapidated state in South Kolkata, haunted by bats and insects.
Mayawati’s statement comes after the Congress had flayed the party alleging that the “B” in BSP stood for the BJP….reports Asian Lite News
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) President Mayawati on Sunday said that the “C” in Congress meant “cunning”.
Mayawati’s statement comes after the Congress had flayed the party alleging that the “B” in BSP stood for the BJP.
“The ‘B’ in BSP stands for ‘Bahujan’ which includes Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and religious minorities. This group is in majority and that is why it is termed as ‘Bahujan’,” the BSP supremo said in a tweet.
Mayawati said the Congress was cunning because even though it asked votes from the ‘Bahujan’ but made sure that they remained their slaves.
She further said that no election — big or small — could be held in a free and fair manner if the BJP, Congress or the Samajwadi Party were in power.
