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Diversionary tactic, follow 1991 law in letter and spirit, says Congress

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 Terming the Gyanvapi case a “diversionary tactic” of the ruling BJP, the Congress has demanded strict adherence to the provision of the 1991 Act in letter and spirit saying any kind of change in the status of places of worship would lead to a massive conflict.

Seeking maintenance of status quo at the places of worship, Congress General Secretary Ajay Maken said: “The matter is under the purview of the Supreme Court and we hope justice would be delivered as the case of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute was decided on the basis of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which says that the religious character of a place of worship shall continue to be the same as it existed” on August 15, 1947.”

Dubbing it a “political” move, the Congress says its a “diversionary” tactic by the BJP to push the issues of inflation, unemployment and rupee downfall into the back-burner.

Recently, former Home Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram had said that the status quo on all places of worship should be maintained else it would lead to a conflict.

“Places of Worship Act was passed by the Narasimha Rao government with the lone exception of Ram Janmabhoomi. All other places should have the status quo as any kind of change could lead to a huge conflict,” he had said.

The Congress is in a catch 22 situation as the party in its ‘Chintan Shivir’ has come up with a social and economic agenda to counter the BJP. The party leaders, who deliberated over the issue, said that ideological differences with the BJP is core to the Congress politics and to fight for the people’s cause is the key takeaway from the brainstorming session. But the party has now been put on test in Gyanvapi row which could be a new controversy in political discourse as it has rethink about the strategy on the issue.

“The data of caste census of backward classes by the Congress-UPA government is deliberately not being made public by the Union government. The direct goal behind this is to deprive the backward classes of their rights. The Indian National Congress resolves to begin a decisive struggle for the demand to make the caste census data public and get the backward classes their rights,” the party has said in its resolution.

The Congress thought to fight the BJP and counter it on Hindutva through a social and economic agenda but now the party has to adopt a new stance–even Rahul Gandhi has alleged that -“Distracting people won’t change facts. India looks a lot like Sri Lanka,” Rahul tweeted.

To counter BJP’s Hindutva, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi has announced two major mass contact programmes — one is the agitational programme against inflation to restart from June 15 and the footmarch ‘Bharat Jodo’, from October 2.

The Congress resolution also mentioned about the fight for all sections of society and particularly about the caste census, which is a big OBC push and the Congress leaders pointed that it may affect the BJP’s social engineering in many states, especially in the election-going states.

National

Hindi ‘imposition’ row: Raj Thackeray to organise morcha on July 6

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Mumbai, June 26: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday announced to organise a morcha from Girgaum to Azad Maidan in Mumbai on July 6 to protest against the “imposition” of Hindi as the third language in Marathi and English schools.

He alleged that it was a conspiracy to destroy the Marathi language, which has recently been awarded Classical Status, saying that the party will not allow the “imposition” of the Hindi language in the state.

Raj Thackeray was speaking to the reporters after meeting School Education Minister Dadaji Bhuse.

“There will be no compulsion in the language, be it Hindi or any other. I am appealing to all the parties that on July 6, we have decided to take out a morcha from Girgaum. There will be no flags in this morcha. It will be a morcha of Marathi people; we are inviting everyone. I have chosen Sunday so that everyone can come,” said Raj Thackeray.

He added that all literary figures, Marathi lovers, film personalities and all political parties should participate in the morcha.

“We should come together for Maharashtra without any arguments,” he said.

Speaking about his meeting with Minister Bhuse, Raj Thackeray said that there is a shortage of teachers for the Hindi language. But the government is saying that it will recruit 10,000 teachers.

“Do you have the money to pay the salaries? There are many big issues before the state, so why is it coming to the language? Is there an attempt to hide something big?” he asked.

“Will you get work in films by learning Hindi? Maharashtra is big because of the education system. Then why this argument in favour of Hindi to make Maharashtra great,” Raj Thackeray said.

“If the government is going to promote arts and sports to increase the merits of students instead of a language, then we have no objection,” he said.

Raj Thackeray said that his party does not accept the government’s stand on Hindi at all.

“We will remain opposed to the imposition of Hindi,” he said.

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Business

No toll proposed for 2-wheelers, says Nitin Gadkari amid viral reports

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New Delhi, June 26: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, on Thursday dismissed media reports suggesting that two-wheelers will be required to pay tolls on National Highways from July 15.

He called the reports misleading and clarified that no such proposal is under consideration.

Taking to social media platform X, the Union Minister said: “Some media houses are spreading misleading news about toll tax being levied on two-wheelers. No such decision has been proposed.”

“Two-wheelers will continue to be exempt from tolls. Spreading such baseless news without verifying the facts is not responsible journalism. I strongly condemn it,” the Union Minister stated.

The clarification comes after a report claimed that toll payment would soon be made mandatory for two-wheelers at all national highway toll plazas, and that riders would need to equip their vehicles with FASTag.

The report also claimed that violators could face penalties of up to Rs 2,000. This comes just days after Gadkari announced a new annual FASTag pass worth Rs 3,000 for private four-wheelers, aimed at simplifying toll payments and reducing congestion.

Set to launch on August 15, the pass will be valid for one year or 200 trips — whichever comes first — and can be activated via the Rajmarg Yatra app or official websites of the NHAI and the MoRTH.

The government has significantly expanded its highway infrastructure in the last decade, with the total length of national highways increasing from 91,287 km in 2014 to 1,46,204 km in 2024 — a rise of over 60 per cent.

The pace of highway construction has also tripled from 11.6 km/day in 2014 to 34 km/day in 2024.

As of now, 1,366 highway projects covering 32,366 km are under construction across the country, many of which are expected to be completed in phases by FY 2028.

With a 570 per cent increase in the road transport and highways budget over the last decade, the Centre continues to prioritise infrastructure development — but for now, two-wheeler riders can rest assured that tolls are not on the horizon.

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National

SC agrees to hear plea against Maratha quota law in July

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New Delhi, June 26: The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear, in July, a plea challenging the decision of the Bombay High Court, which had directed that the interim order passed last year, allowing the Maratha community to avail 10 per cent reservation in educational institutions and public employment, will continue to remain in force.

After a lawyer mentioned the matter for urgent listing, a Bench of Justices K.V. Viswanathan and N.K. Singh assured of listing the plea on the re-opening of the top court (i.e. after July 14).

In an order passed on June 11 this year, the Bombay High Court allowed the Maratha community to provisionally avail the benefit of 10 per cent reservation, subject to the final outcome of the petitions challenging the validity of the contentious Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backwards Classes (SEBC) Act, 2024.

The SEBC Act, allowing 10 per cent quota for the Maratha community, was passed by the previous Eknath Shinde-led government in February last year after the Justice (retd) Sunil Shukre-led Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) opined that “exceptional circumstances and extraordinary situations exist” to grant benefit of quota to Maratha community beyond the 50 per cent threshold.

Notably, the Supreme Court had struck down a similar quota law enacted by the Maharashtra legislature in 2018 for having breached the 50 per cent cap fixed in the 1992 landmark Indra Sawhney case (Mandal Commission case).

A five-judge Constitution Bench, in its judgment passed in May 2021, had opined that it could not find any exceptional circumstances or extraordinary situation for allowing a 12-13 per cent quota for the Maratha community and struck down the Maharashtra Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018.

Further, the Supreme Court had declared that states do not have the power to prepare lists for socially and educationally backward classes and ruled that the President had the sole power to identify a community as backward.

It had also declined to entertain the review plea moved by the Maharashtra government seeking a relook at the judgment. Before this, the apex court had dismissed a plea by the Union government seeking reconsideration of the May 5, 2021, judgment.

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