Message from Kashmir to Kohima ---- "India as a country can never have two Prime Ministers, two constitutions and two flags" - Amit Shah

The message is for across the country -- from Kashmir to Kohima !!  

Yet another time -- firm assertion ---- "India as a country can never have two Prime Ministers, two constitutions and two flags" - Amit Shah in Lok Sabha

Governor Ganesan and PM 

“We had been saying since 1950 that a country should have only one PM, one flag and one Constitution and not two and we have done it (removed the error)," the Home Minister said in Lok Sabha in no uncertain term. 

Making a brief intervention in the Lower House of Parliament on Dec 5th, Shah said certain remarks from Trinamool Congress MP, Saugata Roy vis-a-vis Jammu and Kashmir were “objectionable”. 

Shah said, “Whosoever did it (two flags etc) was wrong. Narendra Modi has corrected it. Your approval or disagreement do not matter. The entire country wanted it.”

This comment was made in reference to the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. The House was debating the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill.

At one point, Union Commerce minister Piyush Goyal said while the Trinamool member Roy mentioned about Late Syama Prasad Mukherjee, he should have also recalled his "sacrifice". Mukherjee was a pioneer in the nationwide movement against two flags and two constitutions for J&K and also against the Article 370.

The Modi government in its second stint on Aug 5, 2019, had abrogated the controversial Article and it also marked fulfillment of a major BJP commitment to the electorate of this country. 

 

The Naga peace talks that made significant progress under the Modi government now virtually stands stalled since October 2019 as there is a deadlock over the demands for a separate Naga flag and constitution from the NSCN-IM. The centre has more than once rejected the demand. 

Countering Saugata Roy of Trinamool - a party that makes virtue of its blatant Muslim appeasement policy, the Home Minister asserted that Syama Prasad Mukherjee's statement “one symbol, one head, one Constitution” was not a mere election slogan. Roy had said -- “ek nishan, ek pradhan, ek samvidhan (one flag, one head, one Constitution)” was a “political slogan” and this provoked the senior BJP leader.

The statement has a significance as the Home Minister's remarks makes it clear that the Modi government has 'ensured' that the country will now have only one flag and one Constitution. Shah also told Roy that perhaps age was catching up with him.

Shah asserted that the concept of “one flag, one prime minister, one Constitution” was not a political slogan and the BJP firmly believes in the principle and finally implemented it with regard to Jammu and Kashmir.

Recently, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who heads NDPP-BJP regime since 2018, admitted that there is "deadlock" in Naga peace parleys.  

Notably, a section of political leaders in Nagaland had earlier in 2021 claimed that 'removal' of R N Ravi was an 'achievement' and was in the process of putting the Naga peace talks that began in 1997 on the fast track. 

The reality is however different. Ravi had touched the raw nerve in Nagaland's socio-political contexts when he raised the bogey of extortion. 

 

Last month former Nagaland Assembly Speaker, Z Lohe, has made a veiled attack on the Neiphiu Rio-led NDPP-BJP government and especially the Chief Minister when he said, "Those who were responsible for the removal of the Interlocutor Mr. RN Ravi are indeed solely responsible for the delay of the Naga political solution". 

In an article Lohe said, "Ravi's removal (as Governor of Nagaland and interlocutor) became the greatest setback for a timely solution" to the oldest insurgency problem in the northeast.

The Modi government has come under intense pressure from multiple quarters for expediting the peace talks with the Naga rebel groups - NSCN(IM) on one hand and the NNPG on the other hand. Led by N Kitovi Zhimomi, the NNPG is not against signing of a peace pact at the earliest and they have counseled taking up a more pragmatic path vis-a-vis controversial issues and demands.

"Emotive issues such as the flag and (Naga) constitution are mere pretext to hoodwink the Nagas. In other words, there was, and is, never a real intent to bring honourable political solutions to the Naga people," stated the umbrella organisation NNPG of Naga militant groups. 

Former Nagaland CM and ex-Governor Gujarat, S C Jamir in a letter to PM Modi on Dec 3 congratulated the latter for BJP's spectacular win in key states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. 

He also urged Mr Modi to take a final call on the Naga issue "before your (PM's) second term ends -- in fact in next two months".

"As someone who joined Naga politics decades back and as someone who has seen so many ups and downs; I am assuring you, in all my sincerity, your name will be recorded in golden letters in Naga history if a peace pact is inked now," Jamir wrote.  

Nagaland Governor La Ganesan in his pre-statehood day message on Nov 30, 2023, also made an interesting observation when he said, "unemployment, the quest for enduring peace, equitable growth, and rapid advancement are the battles we continue to fight".

   

Veteran Jamir 

"India is the outstanding performer now. It is a powerhouse...."

Rajya Sabha Discusses about Economic Situation with Focus on Inflation and Achievements  

 

 "एक वह भी िदवाली थी,

 जब उजड़ा हुआ गुलशन था, 

 रोता हुआ माली था।

..... (there was a time when there were no flowers in the garden, and the gardener was himself a sad person; but now things are changed under the Modi Govt) 

.....  

"India's economy is expected to power ahead in the next years of leading growth in the region," BJP lawmaker Sudhanshu Trivedi says during a Short Duration Debate quoting experts. 

Referring to what Kristalina Georgieva, IMF chief, said, Trivedi said: 'India deserves to be called a bright spot". 

The Rajya Sabha on Day 2 of Winter Session of Parliament took up a short duration discussion on the economic situation in the country. 

Initiating the discussion, Derek O’ Brien of Trinamool Congress aid that since 2014, the prices of rice, wheat, pulses and LPG gas cylinders have gone up. He alleged that for the first time in six years, rural inflation is higher than urban inflation. He alleged that 80 percent of the budget allotted to the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' scheme is being spent on publicity only. 

Congress leader, P Chidambaram, also a former Finance Minister, tried to corner the government over the issue of unemployment. He wondered why the  BJP-led government does not talk about 2 crore jobs annually which it had promised.  

The former Finance Minister said, “Of the worker population, that is 46% of the total population, male workers are 69% but female is only 22%. Of the worker population, less than 50% actually work,” he said, adding that what the Centre promotes is jobless growth. 

“It means that only 23% of the people work. This is more or less constant in the last nine and half years of the BJP government. Why, I ask, if we have such scintillating growth, why is this number not improving?” he said, quoting the periodic labour force survey data.

Participating in the  discussion, Sudhanshu Trivedi of BJP highlighted the government's achievements with regard to modernization of Railways, increase in number of airports and infrastructure development in the country. 
He said, India is the fastest growing economy due to the effective economic policy of the Narendra Modi government. He said, non-performing assets have come down drastically. 

Quoting Nobel prize winner Michael Spence, Trivedi said, "The global economy is undergoing a ‘regime change’ today. India is the outstanding performer now. It is a powerhouse in the digital and life sciences realms. 

It has a thriving digital ecosystem and in India, instead of digital systems replacing existing retail systems...".   

Over Rs 15,000 crore confiscated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from defaulters have been paid back to public sector banks, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. 

“As of December 1, 2023, assets amounting to Rs 15,186.64 crore under the PMLA have been confiscated by the ED out of which Rs 15,183.77 crore have been restituted to the public sector banks. PMC Bank (now merged with Unity Small Finance Bank) has recovered Rs 104.02 crore with active cooperation and support from agencies. 

Assets amounting to Rs 692.89 crore have been confiscated under the provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018,” Sitharaman said replying to supplementary questions in the Rajya Sabha.