Report Wire

Category: Politics

  • RS polls expose chinks in Karnataka BJP, raises morale in ruling Congress

    A BJP MLA allegedly voted for a Congress candidate while another party MLA abstained from voting in the polling for four Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka on Tuesday, catching the saffron party by surprise.

    The outcome of the election was on expected lines with AICC leader Ajay Makan and sitting Congress members GC Chandrashekar and Syed Naseer Hussain, and BJP candidate Narayansa K Bhandage emerging winners.

    The polls, however, exposed the chinks in the BJP ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha polls months away. The party is now mulling tough action against ST Somashekar, a Bengaluru MLA, on charges of defying the party whip. Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur) absented himself, and the party has decided to wait and hear him out before taking a call on him.

    The two MLAs were earlier with the Congress and switched over to the BJP in 2019, along with a bunch of others, helping the saffron party unseat the JDSCongress coalition regime and form a government of its own. Speculations swirled around for some time that the two lawmakers would return to Congress.

    The JDS and BJP workers held protest demonstrations and burnt the effigy of Somashekar, while urging him to quit the BJP.The BJP has decided to seek disqualification of Somashekar for crossvoting in the polls, defying the whip, as it amounted to violating the antidefection law, the party legal cell head Vivek Subba Reddy said. He was confident that Somashekar’s membership would get disqualified henceforth. The party would move the Supreme Court if the Speaker delayed a decision, he said.The BJP, which had hoped the two MLAs would not ditch it, has decided to take Somashekar’s case to its logical conclusion. Former BJP minister and mining magnate G Janardhan Reddy (Gangavati) is said to have voted for the Congress. Reddy, against whom Siddaramaiah had waged a war and led a padayatra from Bengaluru to Ballari in 2010, has maintained a cordial relationship with the ruling party.

    The success of all three Congress candidates has raised the morale of Congress workers and is sure to leave Deputy CM Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, with one more feather on his cap. Known for pulling off election winning strategies in the past, Shivakumar managed to keep the Congress MLAs together and ensured the party got votes of independents too.

    The CM attacked the JDS for fielding a candidate though the party lacked the number of votes it needed to win. “The party tried to lure the Congress MLAs..Do they have a conscience,” he posted on X.

    Shivakumar called the act of the two BJP MLAs as their way of casting a “vote of conscience.” He wondered why the BJP candidate got 47 votes while the votes needed to win polls was 45 votes. “The BJP could have transferred surplus votes, but it has shortchanged the JDS by retaining 47 votes for its candidate,” he said, in a bid to pit the JDS against its alliance partner BJP. As for Somashekar, he said it was a vote against the unholy BJPJDS alliance,” Shivakumar, who is also the president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee said.

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

  • Is Bharat Ratna to Swaminathan ploy to conceal Centre’s antifarmer stance: Sharad Pawar group

    The Nationalist Congress PartySharadchandra Pawar on Sunday asked if the Narendra Modi government bestowed the Bharat Ratna on eminent agricultural scientist late Dr MS Swaminathan to divert attention from its antifarmer stance. One of the main demands of the farm outfits protesting currently is the implementation of the Minimum Support Price mechanism based on the formula of Swaminathan but the Center was unwilling to implement it, said Clyde Crasto, national spokesperson of the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP.

    “It is more than two weeks since the current farmers’ protest started. The farmers have been stopped by the government from entering Delhi and placing their demands. They protested in 202021 too and after many lives were lost, the government took back the three farm laws as demanded by the farmers,” he said in a statement.

    The act of the Union government to give the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, to Swaminathan was to divert attention from their anti farmer stance, Crasto claimed. If the BJP truly believes in the move to give Bharat Ratna to Swaminathan, then it should also implement his MSP formula for the welfare of farmers, Crasto added.

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

  • Atishi declares order of appointing Delhi govt standing counsel on interim basis ‘invalid’

    NEW DELHI: Delhi Law Minister Atishi has declared as “invalid” an order issued by the principal secretary (Law) appointing another lawyer as standing counsel to represent Delhi government before the Delhi High Court on interim basis instead of standing counsel (civil) Santosh Kumar. Tripathi.

    The minister, in an order issued on February 15, said “Tripathi will continue to handle the responsibilities of standing counsel (civil), Delhi High Court, GNCTD”.

    A copy of the order has also been sent to the registrar general of the high court.Earlier this month, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had said that government counsel have made “misleading” statements before the high court related to a report on the opening of Liquor vends in conforming and nonconforming wards while implementing the nowrescinded excise policy in the national capital, officials had said.

    Later on February 14, the principal secretary (Law) issued an order stating, “As an interim arrangement and to ensure proper representation of GNCTD of Delhi before Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, Shri Anupam Srivastava, Additional Standing Counsel (Civil) is hereby appointed Standing Counsel (Civil), Delhi High Court NCT of Delhi till further orders. He will perform all the duties of Standing Counsel (Civil), Delhi High Court, GNCT of Delhi and conduct the cases presently handled by Shri Santosh Kumar Tripathi. “

    Taking note of this, the next day Atishi issued an order saying that the principal secretary (Law) had issued the order on the directions of the LG and the Chief Secretary and the appointment of the standing counsel is a transferred subject and is a decision taken. by the Council of Ministers of the Delhi government.”Removal or appointment of a standing counsel (whether in a permanent or interim manner) is outside the, purview of the Hon’ble LG. Neither is this covered under the GNCTD Amendment Act 2023, ” she said in the order.”The impugned order has been issued by principal secretary (Law) without the approval of the minister incharge and is therefore without basis in law, and is in violation of Allocation of Business Rules, Transaction of Business Rules, GNCTD Act and Article 239AA of the Constitution. Therefore, the impugned order is ab initio null and void, and therefore declared invalid,” she said.

    The principal secretary (Law) on the instructions of LG, had also asked Tripathi not to appear on behalf of Delhi government before any court of law till further orders and till the decision is taken in the matter by the competent authority.

    A similar order was also issued to advocate Arun Panwar, who is also a panel counsel of Delhi government.

    Earlier, Raj Niwas officials had said the proposal of the Excise Commissioner to submit the report of the committee set up on the orders of the Delhi High Court regarding conforming and nonconforming wards to the court was moved for LG’s approval on. August 18, 2022.

    However, it was stalled by the then minister twice, officials had said.

    “All this while the government kept telling on record in HC, that the report was pending with LG. It prompted the court to request the LG thrice to clear the file for submission of the report expeditiously, despite the fact that the file was not with LG.

    “The proposal was cleared by Atishi (Delhi minister) who sent it for further recommendation to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who cleared it on January 16 this year and sent it to LG,” an official had said.

    In a file noting to Kejriwal, Saxena noted that the file relating to the approval of the report was received at the LG Secretariat on January 16 this year after a lapse of one year and five months since it was first moved for LG’s approval on August 18, 2022, the official had said.

    Saxena had noted in the file that the case is a “sad reflection on the manner in which the state government counsels made false and misleading statements” before the court, showing the Lieutenant Governor and his office in poor light in the eyes of the court.

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

  • ‘You will not get free electricity, I have been saying this from beginning’: CM Nitish in Bihar Assembly

    Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addresses the Bihar Assembly on electricity tariff. He says, “…I have been saying since the beginning that it will not be given for free. We provide it at a very low price. In some states, they announce that they will provide it for free but we never said that. …”

  • Karnataka backtracks on making MNCs display number of Kannadiga employees, no such law in place yet, says Priyank Kharge

    Amid dissent from prominent industry voices, the Karnataka government has backpeddaled from its recent stance of asking multinationals to openly disclose the number of Kannadigas they employ. IT minister Priyank Kharge clarified that there was no such Act as of now. The government, he said, ultimately wanted to ensure that more investments came to Karnataka.

    “When the issue of 60% of Kannada should be used on billboards or name boards came up, other suggestions came up from the members of the Council and the Assembly…It will be discussed,” he said. The committee to create the proper framework which would decide the inclusions and exclusions for this rule was already in place, he added.

    The suggestion, he said, had come from members of the legislature. “If more job opportunities are created for Kannadigas, more economic prosperity happens for Karnataka,” he added. Kannada and culture minister Shivaraj S Tangadagi announced in the state legislative council on Tuesday that MNCs must display the number of Kannadigas employed on notice boards on their campuses. Failure to do so, he added, might lead them to lose licenses.

    The statement led to backlash from the industry, with prominent leaders like former Infosys board member TV Mohandas Pai calling out the government for leaving companies open to the risk of vandalism in the name of linguistic pride.

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

  • Rajya Sabha polls: Congress may sequester its MLAs in resort

    The ruling Congress is said to be planning to sequester its 135 MLAs in a private resort ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled for February 27 as the party leaders are worried over reports of its MLAs and independent members being approached by the NDA leaders.

    The presence of Kupendra Reddy, a wealthy businessman, as JDS candidate in the electoral fray has disturbed the peace of top Congress leaders, especially, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar.

    He had, on Monday, accused JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy of making “offers” to Congress MLAs to influence them to vote for his party candidate in the February 27 polls. The Congress has even filed a complaint with the Vidhana Soudha police accusing the Opposition parties of trying to lure its MLAs with offers of bribes for voting for the JDS candidate in the RS polls.

    Reddy has emerged as NDA’s surprise fifth candidate. If not for him, the four candidates would have won unopposed.

    The Congress is confident of securing the full support of its 135 MLAs, and three independents to get its three candidates through. There are only four RS vacancies in Karnataka, and the BJP and Congress have fielded one and three candidates, respectively. The JDS has maintained that it has fielded Reddy not to let the NDA’s surplus votes go waste. AICC leader Ajay Maken and sitting Rajya Sabha members GC Chandrashekar and Syed Naseer Hussain are contesting from the Congress while the BJP has fielded former MLC Narayansa Bhandage. A candidate needs 45 votes to win.

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

  • Chandigarh Mayor election: Congress leaders accuse BJP of conspiracy to “murder democracy”, hail SC verdict on Chandigarh Mayor election

    Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “dirty election manipulation and “institutional sabotage”, Congress leaders on Tuesday said that the Supreme Court has saved democracy with its verdict in the Chandigarh Mayor election case.

    Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi made a scathing attack on BJP after the Supreme Court verdict which quashed the election result and said that AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar is the winner in the election for Chandigarh Mayor.

    Rahul Gandhi said that Returning Officer Anil Masih, who was the Returning Officer for the election, was just a pawn in the conspiracy. “In the BJP’s conspiracy to murder democracy, Masih is just a pawn, behind it is ‘face’ of Modi,” Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X.

    A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra quashed the decision by Anil Masih by which be declared BJP candidate Manoj Kumar Sonkar as Chandigarh Mayor on January 30.

    The order of the apex court came as it found that the Returning Officer had deliberately defaced eight ballots that were cast in favor of Kuldeep Kumar to make them invalid.The apex court today physically examined the ballot papers and found that they are not defaced. It directed that Kuldeep Kumar be declared as mayor with 20 votes (12 votes which he received and 8 which were for him and were defaced by Masih). Kharge said all Indians must fight the “onslaught on the Constitution” collectively.

    “The Supreme Court has saved Democracy from the fangs of an autocratic BJP, which resorted to dirty election manipulation. The institutional sabotage in the Chandigarh Mayor Polls is only the tip of the iceberg in ModiShah’s devious conspiracy to trample Democracy. All Indians must fight this onslaught on our Constitution, collectively. Never forget. Our Democracy shall be at a crossroads in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections!” Kharge posted on

    Supreme Court further directed the Registrar Judicial to issue notice to Anil Masih for perjury proceedings under Section 340 CrPC for making a false statement before the court that the mark was made on eight ballots as they were defaced.

    The bench slammed Masih saying he had “unlawfully altered the course of the mayoral election”.

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

  • Abhishek Banerjee: Abhishek Banerjee slams Center for withholding MGNREGA funds.

    Trinamool National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday slammed the central government for blockade of MGNREGA funds for the last two years and “From the last two years, BJP blocked Bengal’s funds because they lost Bengal in 2021. When we went to fight for our rights in Delhi, our women MPs were dragged by their hair. The entire country saw these horrific visuals,” Banerjee alleged, speaking at a program in his Diamond Harbor Constituency.

    “Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in 2018 that by 2022, everyone will have a pucca house or roof over their head. What happened to it?”

    After six days, Diamond Harbor MP Abhishek Banerjee to hold another administrative program in Maheshtala.”I give details of expenses incurred regarding the work done by me in the constituency,” Banerjee said while speaking about his accountability to people in his constituency.

    “I challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman none of them would be able to give accountability to people,” Banerjee said.

    “In next five years, I will show you where West Bengal stands. We will take Bengal to greater heights where New Delhi leaders will come seeking for assistance.

    Speaking on Central Agencies or Commissions coming to West Bengal, “The Center who think by sending these agencies or ED raid would corner us they don’t have any idea about us. We won’t cow down. You will have to release people’s money. .”The MGNREGA workers have been deprived of their hardearned wages for the last 2 years. This is not an amount allocated to a new scheme but the wages of the workers. It is an established law that the Center is bound to release these funds within 15 days,” Abhsihek Banerjee said. “Just because they have been defeated in Bengal, the funds are being withheld. Mamata Banerjee has said that a Swanirbhar Bangla will be created,” he said.

    “We are not living at the mercy of anyone and that is why the rightful dues worth Rs 4000 crore of 25 lakh workers will be sent to their bank accounts directly by March 1 as promised by the Mamata Banerjee government,” Banerjee added.

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

  • Pinarayi Vijayan: Attempts are being made to turn India into a religious nation: Kerala CM

    Malappuram (Kerala): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday expressed concern over the alleged attempts being made to turn India into a religious nation, and accused those in power at the Center of trying to blur the lines between religious institutions and the state.

    Without mentioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said nowadays those who hold constitutional positions are turning into priests during religious ceremonies. The Left veteran was apparently referring to the recent consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in which Modi was the ‘yajman (master of a yajna)’.

    “Attempts are being made to turn India into a religious nation… This evokes great concern,” Vijayan said, speaking during the valedictory session of the 10th Mujahid State Conference at Karipur in this northern district. He labeled as “pathetic” the attempts by certain leaders “even in Kerala” to justify such events. In present India, those who are in power are attempting to blur the lines between religion and the state, Vijayan further said. The chief minister also accused the Center of sabotaging projects meant for minority communities.

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

  • Sandeshkhali: Local TMC leader held in Sandeshkhali land grab, sexual abuse case

    One of the prime accused in the case of alleged land grab and sexual harassment of women in Sandeshkhali in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district was arrested on Saturday, police said. Local TMC leader Shibaprasad Hazra, who has been named in police complaints along with party colleagues and other two prime accused Shajahan Sheikh and Uttam Sardar, was nabbed from a hideout in Sandeshkhali.

    He will be produced before a local court on Sunday.

    “We have arrested Shibaprasad Hazra from Sandeshkhali this evening. He will be produced before the court tomorrow,” an officer of Nazat Police Station told PTI.Earlier, police have also arrested Uttam Sardar but Shajahan Sheikh remains absconding.

    With the fresh arrest, two of the three prime accused have been nabbed. A total of 18 people have been arrested in the case so far.

    Meanwhile, the police added IPC sections 376D (gangrape) and 307 (attempt to murder) in the case after a survivor recorded her statement under Section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure before a magistrate, a source said.

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)