KOTTAYAM l saturday l march 09, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION oN WOMEN’S DAY, GAS PRICES CUT, sUDHA mURTY NOMINATED TO rs Modi woos women voters by announcing J100 per cylinder price cut, nominates noted philanthropist Sudha Murty to the Rajya Sabha price cut seen as easing financial burden Second drop in prices in six months Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the reduction in LPG cylinder prices to mark Women’s Day will significantly ease the financial burden on millions of households across the country. On Sudha Murty, he said her presence in the Upper House is a powerful testament to Nari Shakti, exemplifying the strength and potential of women in shaping the nation’s destiny ■ ■ This is the second reduction in LPG prices in six months. Rates were slashed by H200 in August ahead of assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram Non-subsidised cooking gas price will be cut to H803 per cylinder in the national capital with effect from midnight of Friday/Saturday 33 CRORE DOMESTIC COOKING GAS USERS are there IN THE COUNTRY CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI It’s official: Rahul to contest from Wayanad; Tharoor in T’Puram P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Much along expected lines, the Congress on Friday unveiled the first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with former party president Rahul Gandhi seeking a mandate from Wayanad for the second term. The other prominent names include former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel from Rajnandgaon, Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram and Congress general secretary K C Ve n u g o p a l f r o m Alappuzha. Announcing the names at a press conference in the capital, Venugopal said the party’s utmost priority is to dislodge the BJP government in the 2024 elections and win maximum Lok Sabha seats. Out of the 60 seats discussed by the Central Election Committee (CEC) on Thursday, 39 names were cleared for eight states. Of the 39 candidates, 15 belong to the general category and 24 from the SC, ST, OBC, and minority communities. Besides, 12 of them are under the age of 50, he said. While in Kerala the party has retained most of its sitting MPs Party calls tax department’s action politically motivated, to move Delhi High Court for relief @ Kozhikode The Congress zeroed in on a reluctant Shafi Parambil to take on CPM stalwart K K Shailaja in Vadakara to assuage the Muslim community miffed by the denial of an extra seat to the IUML. Shafi is the lone Muslim in the Congress candidate list announced on Friday for 16 constituencies in the state. Congress leaders K C Venugopal (centre), Ajay Maken (right) and Pawan Khera address a press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi on Friday | PTI KERALA ROSTER T’Puram - Shashi Tharoor Thrissur - K Muraleedharan Attingal - Adoor Prakash Palakkad - V K Sreekandan Mavelikkara- Kodikunnil Suresh Alathur - Remya Haridas P’thitta- Anto Antony Kozhikode - M K Raghavan Alappuzha- K C Venugopal Vadakara - Shafi Parambil Ernakulam- Hibi Eden Kannur - K Sudhakaran Idukki - Dean Kuriakose Wayanad - Rahul Gandhi Chalakudy - Benny Behanan Kasaragod - Rajmohan Unnithan except one, among the most watched contests would be in Wayanad, where Rahul will take on his INDIA bloc ally CPI’s Annie Raja. Rahul, who was previously an MP from Amethi, lost the seat in 2019 but Keen to address the discontent in the minority community the , Congress had a few options before it to accommodate a Muslim candidate. Once it was decided that Congress general secretary ( o r g a n i s at i o n ) K C Venugopal would contest from Alappuzha, where the party’s sole Muslim candidate lost in 2019, the Congress was looking towards Wayanad should Rahul Gandhi decide to TDP-JSP-BJP alliance almost done; seat-sharing deal yet to be finalised P H a r e e s h @ Vijayawada THE tripartite alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and Jana Sena Party (JSP) that was finalised in principle on Thursday night made no headway on Friday as the leaders of the three parties are yet to come to a consensus on seat sharing. TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan stayed put in New Delhi on Friday, waiting for a call from the BJP leadership to cut ice. They flew to the national capital on Thursday and held talks with BJP national president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, where the TDP reportedly expressed its readiness to join the National Democratic Alliance. They are likely to hold discussions with the BJP leadership again on Saturday . BJP’s Andhra Pradesh chief Daggubati Purandeswari, who was in Delhi, reached Hyderabad on Friday night as she is scheduled to attend a public meeting addressed by former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Nellore on Saturday . Sources in the state BJP said the party had initially put a main bank accounts were frozen on February 16 consequent to an income tax demand of `210 crore for assessment year 2018-19 and alleged discrepancies and delays in tax returns. It has also accused the taxmen of arbitrarily withdrawing `65 crore from its accounts in different banks. Speaking to this newspaper, Vivek Tankha said the Congress will move the HC at the earliest. “We are disappointed with the order of the tribunal. They have denied us the standard order. We are a na- P REETHA N AIR @ New Delhi won from Wayanad. In a surprise move, Vadakara MP K Muraleedharan has been shifted to Thrissur and Palakkad MLA Shafi Parambil has been asked to contest from Vadakara. Congress fields Shafi in Vadakara to assuage Muslim community Express News Service Setback for Cong as I-T tribunal refuses to free up funds in banks proposal for 10 Lok Sabha and 13 Assembly seats. A senior leader told TNIE, “We are ready to settle for less Assembly seats, but will insist for at least 6-7 Lok Sabha seats.” He pointed out that the saffron party was able to get a good share of MP seats in all other states where it was striking an alliance. “In Odisha, where there are 21 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP is likely to get 15 seats and the ruling BJD six. If this is the case in a state where the alliance partner is in ruling, we can negotiate for more seats in AP too,” he said. In 2014, the BJP in alliance with TDP had contested 12 MLA and four MP seats. JSP was part of the alliance, but did not contest the elections. Sources said the BJP is keen on contesting the four Lok Sabha seats it had won in the previous elections. The TDP has reportedly said it can concede Tirupati, Rajahmundry Narasapur, Visa, khapatnam and Araku. try his luck from somewhere outside the state. However, with Rahul’s candidature from Wayanad getting the nod, all eyes were on state Congress chief K Sudhakaran who had expressed reluctance to defend his Kannur seat. After the name of Sudhakaran was fixed for Kannur, the only option left for the Congress was Vadakara. Padmaja Venugopal’s entry to the BJP also came handy for the party to think of ● More on P4 alternatives. IN a setback to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal on Friday rejected its plea to lift the restrictions clamped on its bank accounts by the I-T department in connection a tax dispute. The I-T tribunal also rejected the request of senior advocate and Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha to keep the order in abeyance for 10 days so that the party can approach the Delhi High Court for relief. The Congress has alleged its tional party and we very well argued our case and the case was to come for final hearing in April,” he said, adding that the freeze on funds has put the party at a disadvantage in the election season. The tribunal had earlier allowed Congress to operate the accounts till a final decision was reached. However, it also put a lien of `115 crore on the accounts, which means the party could access only the remaining funds. Describing the tax department’s action as ‘politically mo- Centre rejects state’s demand for `19,370 cr addl borrowing E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ T’Puram The reasons for seeking additional borrowing were clearly mentioned before the court. However the Union finance secretary did not agree to the demand Once again, the Kerala government will move the Supreme Court against the Union government as the latter has rejected the demand for borrowings worth `19,370 crore, in addition to the `13,608 crore ordered by the Supreme Court. The talks between the Union and state governments on the issue of additional borrowing space were held in Delhi on Friday as directed by the SC, which is hearing a petition filed by the state government challenging the Centre’s stand. Chief Secretary V Venu, who led the Kerala delegation, told reporters that the Union finance secretary did not agree with the state’s demand. Talking to the media in Delhi, Venu said the reasons for seeking additional borrowing were clearly mentioned before the court. However the Union finance secre- V Venu, Chief Secretary tary did not agree to the demand, he said. According to the state government, the Centre’s calculation on the eligible borrowing space for the state was wrong. This includes the miscalculation of the funds parked in the public account, which was adjusted from the net borrowing ceiling. Sources from the state government pointed out that Kerala was eligible for additional borrowing worth `19,370 crore. “Our request to the Union government was to rectify an error in the calculation of the borrowing space allocated to Kerala. The state has accepted the calculation based on principles endorsed by the Union government. However, it was discovered that the borrowing space allotted to the state was erroneously reduced by the Centre. The request from the state government was to rectify this mistake,” said an official. At its hearing on Wednesday , the SC asked both the governments to resolve the issue through dialogue. The court asked the Centre to give sanction for bor rowing worth `13,608 crore, which was withheld due to the court case. The state government, however, told the court that the amount was insufficient and at least `15,000 crore more was required to meet the immediate demands. Now, the state government will again approach the Supreme Court to intimate about outcome of the discussion with the Union government. A Delhi police sub inspector (SI) on Friday was suspended for kicking and shoving a few persons, who were offering namaz on a road in north Delhi’s Inderlok area. The incident occurred around 2 pm near Inderlok Metro Station. A sizable gathering had assembled at a mosque in the neighbourhood as it was Friday, resulting in some men spilling to the street to offer prayers. An alleged video of the incident went viral on social media triggering outrage among netizens. Following the incident, the locality remained tense for several express read Padmaja: Cong, BJP ideologically same T’Puram: A day after joining the BJP, Padmaja Venugopal -daughter of the late Congress leader K Karunakaran -- said there is no ideological difference between the Congress and the BJP. More Congress leaders will join the BJP after the Loka Sabha elections, she said. “Those days are gone. Now, people from different castes and religions work together in the BJP,” Padmaja said on Friday. P4 10,000 mumps cases reported in 70 days T’Puram: Kerala is facing an outbreak of mumps, a contagious viral infection that spreads the same way as cold and flu, with over 10,000 children affected in less than 70 days. The average number of children seeking treatment daily has increased from 50 in January to 300 in March, indicating the prevalence of the disease, according to health department data. P2 No plan to join BJP, says ex-MLA Rajendran SI suspended for kicking men praying on road u j w a l j a l a l i @ New Delhi tivated’, Tankha said: “We’ve given logical and reasonable points to the tribunal but they did not accept them. They took away our exemption under 29C for a delay of 20 days or something (in filing tax returns). But I’m still an income tax payee. I have an income of `199 crore and an expenditure of `197 crore. So the total tax component would be only `60 lakh. Instead of that they are forcing over `135 crore,” he said. He also stressed that now only constitutional courts can rescue elections, democracy, and political parties. Idukki : Refuting speculation that he is planning to join the BJP, former MLA S Rajendran of the CPM said on Friday that he has not so far taken any decision to quit the party. However, he expressed resentment against the CPM state leadership for not taking any steps to withdraw his suspension from the party. hours with the approach road to the mosque blocked by protesters for traffic. The administration deployed paramilitary personnel in conjunction with the police to prevent any breakdown of the law and order situation. Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Manoj Kumar Meena said the protesters dispersed after they were shown the suspension order of the SI, Manoj Kumar Tomar. The blocked roads were then reopened. Necessary disciplinary action is also being taken against the Tomar, Meena added. The news of the officer’s suspension was announced through the mosque’s mike, he added. B’luru cafe blast: NIA detains two youths A Delhi police sub inspector seen kicking a person offering namaz on a road in Inderlok area in the national capital on Friday | pti Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths probing the case pertaining to the Rameshwaram Cafe bomb blast in Bengaluru have taken two youths into custody after it was found that they were talking to the suspected bomb planter who arrived in Ballari from Bengaluru. P5 Historian’s findings ‘Salafis, British colluded to deny rights of Muslim women’ M P P r a s h a n t h @ Kozhikode In the popular imagination, Salafis, or Mujahids, in Kerala are the progressive face of the Muslim community, who fought for the rights of women, while traditional Sunni Muslims are considered obscurantists and misogynists. But a researcher has come up with a finding that the Salafis have, in fact, dismantled the matrilin- eal system of family that allowed more rights to Muslim women, including property rights. In a recent book, ‘Matrilineal, Matriarchal, and Matrifocal Islam: The World of WomenCentric Islam’, edited by Dr Abbas Panakkal, a historian with UK-based University of St Andrews’ School of History argues that Sala, fis joined hands with British colonialists to destroy the ‘marumakkathayam’, or matrilineal, system existing Salafı-Wahhabi, and other political Islamist movements attacked the distinctive nature of matrilineal Islam and labelled its practices un-Islamic — Dr Abbas Panakkal writes in the book among Muslims in Kerala. “Salafı-Wahhabi, and other political Islamist movements attacked the distinctive nature of matrilineal Islam and labelled its practices un-Islamic,” he writes. Dr Panakkal argues that Wahhabis condemned the integration of local customs into Islam because they thought that it would corrupt the religion. They wanted to purge Is- lam from all its regional and local ‘contaminations’ and to impose the ‘real Islam’, which in effect was nothing but the Arab variety of the religion. “From the last quarter of the nineteenth century onwards, these ‘reformists’ campaigned against local practices and admonished Malabar Muslims to revert to the ‘real Islam’,” writes Dr ● More on P4 Panakkal.
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