- Wednesday, March 12, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Here are news in brief related to India politics for Tuesday, August 23, 2022:
The convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case of Gujarat were released following a Supreme Court order, but it was wrong if a person accused of a crime is “felicitated” and there can be no justification for such an act, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday. Replying to a discussion in the state’s legislative council on an incident in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district, where a 35-year-old woman was sexually assaulted allegedly by three people, he said there was no reason to raise the Bilkis Bano issue in the House.
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday suspended T Raja Singh, one of its lawmakers from the southern state of Telangana, over his controversial remarks made against the Prophet Muhammad. Singh, who is known for his hardline Hindutva views and controversial statements targeting Muslims, was suspended after a video published by him in which he was seen mocking the Prophet caused an outrage in the state capital of Hyderabad. The police had to intervene in rein in the protesters and arrested Singh, who represents the constituency of Goshamahal in Hyderabad.
Senior Indian National Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday told NDTV that former party president Rahul Gandhi “can’t be forced to become Congress president” if he is unwilling. Singh’s remark came a day after Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of the north-western state of Rajasthan, made a passionate appeal to Rahul to change his mind. The grand-old party is set to pick its new president to succeed the ailing Sonia Gandhi next month.
Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday called on president Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. “President, Indian National Congress Sonia Gandhi called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted along with a photo of the two leaders.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday termed as “disgraceful” the alleged derogatory remarks made of Telangana’s Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker T Raja Singh against the Prophet Muhammad and asked whether it is not the the responsibility of the party’s leadership to restrain its people to maintain peace in the country. Singh was arrested on Tuesday after his remarks caused outrage and protests in Hyderabad. On Monday (22), the BJP MLA released a video criticising stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, who recently performed in the city, in which he was purportedly seen making the comments against the Prophet.
The Indian National Congress on Tuesday launched the logo, tagline and website of its upcoming ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ (Unite India March), billed as a mass contact programme of an unprecedented scale, Press Trust of India reported. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the main ‘yatra’ will cover 3,570 kilometres from Kanyakumari in the south to Kashmir in the north over a period of about five months beginning September 7. Simultaneously, smaller ‘Bharat Jodo Yatras’ will be taken out in various states. Digvijaya Singh, who heads the party’s yatra-organising committee, told the press conference that Congress president Sonia Gandhi wants people from every religion, caste and community to participate in the campaign.
The detailed schedule for the election of the Congress president will be out soon and the whole process in all likelihood will be completed around the given time-frame of September 20 without any “major postponement”, party sources said on Tuesday. Uncertainty over party presidency is looming large with several party insiders saying Rahul Gandhi has not changed his stance of not becoming the president. The party’s election authority has said it will stick to the schedule of electing a new chief by September 20.
