FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ‘Next-Gen GST reforms to boost small businesses' BRIEFLY Xi and Putin reaffirm ‘old friend’ ties in the face of US challenges BJP slams Rahul after “hydrogen bomb” threat Page 5 I want to tell those who abused my mother in front of the people of Bihar - Modi might forgive you once, but the land of Bihar and India has never tolerated the insult to a mother. New Delhi, 2 September Hyderabad: BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday suspended his daughter and party MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha (photo) from the party with immediate effect, following her accusations that her cousins, T Harish Rao and J Santosh Kumar, had blinded him and indulged in corruption and were now framing him in the Kaleshwaram issue. The BRS stated that Ms Kavitha’s anti-party activities were damaging the party. P rime Minister Narendra Mo di Tuesday expressed outrage and pain over the alleged abuse directed at his late mother during a recent Congress-RJD rally in Bihar. Sp eaking via vide o conferencing while inaugurating an event in Bihar, PM Modi said: "A mother is our entire world... a mother is our pride. I never could have imagined what happened a few days ago in Bihar, a state with such a rich tradition. On the RJD-Congress platform in Bihar, my mother was abused... this abuse is not just an insult to my mother, but to the mothers, sisters, and daughters of this country." “You all know that my mother is no longer in this Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the gathering at the inauguration of the fourth edition of the 'Semicon India', at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi on Tuesday. ANI world. Some time ago, after completing 100 years of age, she left us all. My mother, who had nothing to do with politics, was subjected to vile abuses from the RJD-Congress platform. This is deeply saddening , painful, and distressing,” PM Modi said in his virtual address during the launch of the Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh platform. “What was the fault of that mother that she was made to hear such vile abuses?” he asked. Abuses were hurled at the Prime Minister’s mother during the Voter Adhikar Maha govt accepts Jarange-Patil’s key demands STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Mumbai, 2 September Maratha protesters at Mumbai's Azad Maidan began celebrating after a delegation of Maharashtra cabinet ministers led by Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who heads the cabinet's sub-committee on Maratha quota, met fasting Maratha quota protest leader Manoj Jarange-Patil on Tuesday and assured him that a Government Resolution (GR) will be issued, granting Kunbi OBC status to Marathas of Marathwada region. Mr Jarange-Patil withdrew his agitation on its fifth day after he received a draft of an official government resolution (GR) on the implementation of the Hyderabad Gazette, granting Kunbi OBC status to Marathas of the Marathwada region, which was given to him by the delegation of ministers at Azad Maidan on Tuesday evening. The delegation of ministersassuredMrJarange-Patil that the Government Resolution (GR) will be issued in an hour's time. Mr Jarange-Patil accepted the assurance and said that as soon as the GR is issued, he would leave Mumbai along with his supporters. The Fadnavis government has accepted six out of eight demands made by Mr Jarange-Patil. “The scholars have looked at the draft. We have accepted the draft. Now the government should issue the Government Resolution (GR),” Mr Jarange-Patil told his supporters. Mohta’s projects now under NKDA scanner STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 2 September All pending and upcoming projects, but especially those of the Merlin group of Sushil Mohta, the Surekha group of Pradeep Sureka and the JB group of Prakash Bachhawat, in the New Town-Rajarhat area will be subjected to intense scrutiny, say officials involved in sanction of buildings in the area. This decision has been taken after a Division Bench of Calcutta High Court held that sanction of a 16th tower in the Elita Garden Vista project promoted by Mohta and the others was obtained fraudulently, and in collusion with officers of the New Kolkata Development Authority, and ordered its demolition. The ruling, say officials, puts a shadow of suspicion on several projects, especially those of Mohta’s group, which is promoting several developments in the area. These include Merlin Rise, covering 15 acres in Rajarhat, with nine towers and 2,358 units; Merlin Lakescape covering 3.98 acres, with six towers and 550 flats in Action Area III and Merlin F Residence in Rajarhat, covering eight acres, with 11 towers and 1500 flats. All these projects have been promised with ample open areas and other facilities, as was done with Elita Garden Vista. An official of the Building department of NKDA, which is tasked with Page 12 PM slams Cong, RJD over abusive slur against his late mother STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BRS suspends K Kavitha for anti-party activities US Open: Sinner dominates Bublik NATION Page 9 Page 4 Wednesday, 03 September 2025 SPORTS WORLD NATION | sanction of building plans and surveillance of unauthorised construction, told The Statesman on condition of anonymity that residential projects of these builders in particular, but of others as well, would be scrutinized minutely to prevent fraud and ensure that NKDA is spared from the sort of judicial strictures it had to face in the Elita Garden Vista case. The official told The Statesman: “Some of these builders flaunt their proximity to senior politicians and bureaucrats, and have in the past gotten away with illegalities. But now, we won’t let this happen, because we are not prepared to face Vigilance and criminal action due to their corrupt acts. We also do not want to face criticism of flat owners whose homes will be demolished if constructed illegally”. In its comprehensive order of 29 August, a Division Bench of Calcutta High Court, comprising Mr Justice Rajasekhar Mantha and Mr Justice Arun Kumar Gupta, had directed: “The Engineers who have signed the revised sanction plan, and all the officers of the NKDA and the promoter and their men and agents who were involved in the process of the grant of the revised sanction plan, for the 16th tower shall inquired into and be proceeded against both departmentally and under the criminal laws for acts of omission and commission after such inquiry is conducted by the State Vigilance Commission.” The Statesman sought comments from Mr Debashis Sen, who headed NKDA at the time the revised sanction plan was signed for the Elita Garden project in 2015, but he refused to respond. A questionnaire was also sent to the present chairman of NKDA, Mr Alapan Bandopadhyay. When contacted for a response, he said he had no comments to offer. Mr Bandopadhyay was asked seven questions: 1. Are you aware of the order of the Division Bench of Calcutta High Court directing demolition of the 16th tower of Elita Garden Vista? 2. As directed by the court, have you taken steps to identify those responsible for grant of the illegal sanction for this structure? 3. What action is proposed to be taken in respect of demolition and against those responsible within NKDA? 4. The Court has held that NKDA colluded with the promoter to allow sanction and construction of the 16th tower. What steps do you propose to take to ensure such collusion does not take place in the future? 5. Has NKDA initiated steps under criminal law against its officials and the promoter? 6. How many other projects of the promoters in this case - Sushil Mohta of Merlin, Pradeep Sureka of Sureka group and Prakash Bachhawat - has NKDA approved in the past three years? Do you plan to scrutinise these to ensure no other irregularities have been committed, in light of the question posed by the Hon'ble Court in para 171 of the judgment? (The court had asked: “The NKDA wants to avoid an answer as to whether there was evidence before the NKDA that the promoter had the exclusive right to construct the 16th tower. Will the NKDA adopt the same approach towards other promoters vis-à vis the existing flat owners?) 7. Does NKDA usually sanction building plans without ascertaining ownership of the land on which projects are to come up? NARENDRA MODI, PRIME MINISTER Yatra in Bihar’s Darbhanga, from the stage featuring Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav’s posters; however, neither of them was present at the venue when the incident happened. Slamming the Congress-RJD alliance, PM Modi said the mentality that abuses mothers, the mentality that abuses sisters looks down upon women as weak human beings. It is this mindset that treats women as objects of exploitation and oppression. The Prime Minister further said that whenever the dispensations with anti-woman mentality have come to power, "our mothers, sisters, daughters have had to endure the most suffering". PM Modi further stressed the respect given to mothers, particularly in Bihar, where 'Chhatti Maiya' is worshipped, and stated that people won’t forgive such abusive acts. “I want to tell those who abused my mother in front of the people of Bihar -- Modi might forgive you once, but the land of Bihar and India has never tolerated the insult to a mother,” he said. The incident has sparked a heated debate, with BJP leaders strongly condemning the alleged abuses. PM may visit Mizoram & Manipur on 13 September STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Guwahati, 2 September Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Mizoram and Manipur on 13 September, in what officials describe as a significant political and developmental outreach to the North-east. The trip is likely to blend infrastructure inaugurations with a delicate political message, particularly in Manipur where ethnic unrest continues to simmer.