TUESDAY www.thestatesman.com 29 NOVEMBER 2022 FIND US ONLINE Scan this with your smartphone twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd facebook.com/thestatesman1875 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR NETANYAHU SIGNS COALITION DEAL WITH FAR-RIGHT PARTY OUR CRAFTSMEN ARE AMBASSADORS OF HERITAGE P5 WEATHER PARTLY CLOUDY SKY. MIST IN THE MORNING. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 27 AND 08 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max: 95% PRINCE WILLIAM FOCUSES US TRIP ON CLIMATE P9 P10 Give up caste politics in Gujarat: PM to Cong Modi was addressing the public meeting in Palitana of the Bhavnagar district Min: 38% TEMPERATURE Max: 27.2°C (+2) SUN RISES 06:55 hrs MOON RISES 12:49 hrs Min: 07.6°C (-2) SUN SETS 17:24 hrs MOON SETS 23:07 hrs THUMBNAILS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BHAVNAGAR, 28 NOVEMBER P rime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a public meeting here on Monday attacked the Congress, and said that "people have thrown the Congress out of power because of its caste politics, and if it wants to be part of the state, it has to give up this caste politics and change its style." Modi was addressing the public meeting in Palitana of the Bhavnagar district. He said, "During the Congress rule people were feeling unsafe, bomb blasts were very common. Every other day there used to be a blast. Since the BJP came to power, the shutters of these shops have been pulled down. Now in BJP rule people feel safe and secure, this is the gift of BJP." He appealed to the people to participate in voting at each and every polling booth, and said, "You have to ensure that Lotus keeps flourishing in the state... you have to work hard on each and every seat for the thumping majority of the BJP. In the next 25 years we have to make this the best state in the world, for which I need your support." The Prime Minister said, "Once upon a time people were migrating from Gujarat in search of jobs, now people from across the country are coming to Gujarat in search of jobs, because of fast industrialisation." Attacking the Congress, Both Ashok Gehlot & Sachin Pilot are assets for Congress: Rahul STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 28 NOVEMBER Amid the escalating rift between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Congress leader Sachin Pilot, former party president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said both leaders are assets to the grand old party. The former Congress president made this remark while addressing a press conference in Indore during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The Congress leader, however, said he would not want to create any controversy by making any comment on this particular issue, he said, and added, "What I can say is that both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot are assets for the Congress." Notably, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is in Madhya Pradesh right now, will enter Rajasthan on December 4, as per the schedule. While responding to the Congress MLAs who shifted to the BJP that had resulted in the collapse of Kamal Nath government in 2020 in Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi said they should not be given a place in the party again. "Though, it is up to the Madhya Pradesh leadership to decide on this subject, but it is my personal belief that those MLAs who have taken money from the BJP to dissolve the Congress government should not be given the place again. It is my personal view, because they have been bought by the BJP, then they are not trustable," Gandhi added. During the press conference, he was also asked to share his opinion on 10 per cent reservation for general category, however, Gandhi maintained that at present, he has turned complete focus on Bharat Jodo Yatra, and not any other political issue. "It may be that I will answer this question later, but at present my complete focus is on how to complete this Bharat Jodo Yatra." Rahul Gandhi also said that he was not thinking about the party or any political issue during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. "Will Bharat Jodo Yatra have any impact on Congress? And at what level? I am not thinking about all these issues. I am not even thinking about the Congress. I am walking around 25 km every day, meeting with people and listening to them and I have made my complete focus on the yatra only," Gandhi added. Should not have happened: SC on Law Minister’s remarks on collegium STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 28 NOVEMBER The Supreme Court on Monday took strong exception to Law Minister Kiren Rijiju's recent comment on the collegium system of appointing judges, saying it should not have happened. The apex court said if the recommendations were withheld since the law passed by the Centre on setting up the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) could not pass the muster. A bench comprising justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and A.S. Oka said, "When someone in a high position says that...it should not have happened...". The apex court clarified once the recommendation has been reiterated, the names have to be cleared. It further added that is the end of the matter as per the law as it stands on the day. Senior advocate Vikas Singh brought to the notice of the court Law Minister Kiren Rijiju's interview to a TV channel, wherein he had said, "Never say that the government is sitting on the files, then don't send the files to the government, you appoint yourself, you run the show then". Justice Kaul told the Attorney General R. Venkataramani, representing the Centre, "I have ignored all press reports, but this has come from somebody high enough......." He added, "I am not saying anything else. If we have to, we will take a decision". The bench said, "We have expressed our anguish. It appears that the government is not happy that the NJAC has not passed the muster". It further queried the Centre's counsel, "Can that be the reason to not clear the names". The bench said, "Please resolve this and don't make us take a judicial decision in this regards", and added that the whole process for appointment of judges already takes time. The bench said the Intelligence Bureau inputs are taken and also Centre's inputs are taken, and then the apex court collegium considers these inputs and sends the name. The bench asked the AG and Solicitor General to convey the "sentiments of the bench" to the government and ensure that the law of the land is followed. After hearing arguments, the bench scheduled the matter for further hearing on December 8. the Prime Minister said, "Till 2014 the Congress was in power in Delhi, only 60 villages had Internet connectivity, since the BJP formed the central government, in just eight years three lakh villages have got connectivity." Talking about the benefits extended to the farmers, he reminded that the central government was bearing Rs 1,600 to 1,700 subsidy per Urea bag. Whereas the farmer was paying only Rs 200 to 300 per bag. RUTURAJ GAIKWAD CREATES HISTORY P12 It’s a menace: Centre to SC on forced religious conversion STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 28 NOVEMBER The Union government on Monday told the Supreme Court that the issue of forced religious conversion "is a menace", and it is cognizant of the gravity and the seriousness of the issue. A bench comprising justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar, at the beginning of the hearing, said "this is a serious issue". Citing Centre's reply in the matter, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, this "is a menace". Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing on behalf of an intervenor, submitted that the petition is not maintainable and pointed out that the same petition was filed twice earlier and then withdrawn. Petitioner advocate Ashwini Upadhyay opposed the plea for intervention saying that there will be a flood of applications if the present application is allowed. The bench scheduled the matter for further hearing on December 5, as the matter came up for hearing when court was rising for the day. The Ministry of Home Affairs, in an affidavit, said it is cognizant of the gravity and the seriousness of the issue raised in the present writ petition and enactments are necessary for protecting cherished rights of vulnerable sections of the society including women and economically and socially backward classes. "It is submitted that that public order is a state subject and in pursuance to the same various states over the course of the years passed enactments seeking to curb the practices highlighted in the present petition." The Centre said nine state governments have already have legislations in place on the present subject -- Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Haryana. It said that the reliefs sought in the present petition would be taken up in all seriousness by it and appropriate steps shall be taken as it is cognizant of the menace. The Centre's response came on a plea by Upadhyay against fraudulent religious conversion and religious conversion by intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits, as it offends Articles 14, 21, and 25. The plea claimed that if such conversions were not checked, Hindus would soon become a minority in India. In the affidavit, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said: "It is submitted that the right to freedom of religion does not include a fundamental right to convert other people to a particular religion. The said right certainly does not include the right to convert an individual through fraud, deception, coercion, allurement or other such means." The Central government said the petitioner has highlighted a large number of instances carried out in an organised, systematic and sophisticated manner of conversion of vulnerable citizens in the country through fraud, deception, coercion, allurement or other such means.