Rajput case to attack on govt — gossip over ex-Mumbai Police chief’s BJP link
Former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh’s son, Rohan, is married to BJP leader Sagar Meghe’s daughter. Over the past one year, Singh’s supporters and detractors have gossiped over this fact, giving it a political twist of their convenience, on two occasions.
When the BJP was questioning Singh’s handling of actor Sushant Singh Rajput death probe, many would cite Rohan’s marriage to Meghe’s daughter Radhika and the BJP leader’s family links with Singh, and ask if the party really thought the IPS officer was so incapable.
In the current situation, with Singh’s explosive letter last week making the Uddhav Thackeray government uncomfortable, the same fact is once again a topic of discussion.
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Karnataka minister’s open challenge to all ‘Harishchandras’
Karnataka’s Health Minister K. Sudhakar has thrown an open challenge to all legislators in the state asking them to prove their “morality”, and if they were in a monogamous relationship. He called for an investigation into the private lives of all 225 legislators to find out if they have had extra-marital relations.
This retort from the minister came after the Congress demanded that Sudhakar and the other five ministers, who sought a media ban on any news that would “defame them”, should resign on moral grounds. The ministers had moved the court seeking an injunction against the publication or broadcast of defamatory, unverified news against them , a day after the controversial “sex CD” allegedly involving former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi flashed on news screens.
Sudhakar said, “Those projecting themselves as Maryada Purushas and Sri Ramachandras, let me throw a challenge… Let all 225 MLAs face an inquiry. Let it be known who has had illicit relationships or extra-marital affairs. Everybody’s character will be known… who did what when they were chief ministers in their private lives. Anyway, this is a question of morality and values, right?”
He also began naming senior leaders like Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar, former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) and others as part of his “open challenge”.
“KR Ramesh Kumar, V Muniyappa, Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Kumaraswamy… they are all Satya Harishchandras… they follow monogamy strictly, right? Let them agree to this (challenge),” Sudhakar said.
Uncomfortable Covid reality for Uddhav — within & without
As the number of Covid-positive patients in Maharashtra continues to surge, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray finds himself in a predicament.
On one hand, the rising numbers has brought his administrative experience into question. On the other, even as the CM tells people to stay at home and not meet too many people to stem the spread of the virus, those around him have been testing positive. First, it was his son, Aaditya, a state cabinet minister, who tested positive. Next, his wife Rashmi Thackeray got the virus.
On Wednesday, actor Aamir Khan, who had met the CM just a few days ago, also said he had tested positive.
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