Archives for April 2018

An Unwell Congress candidate A. L. Pushpa, who failed to get ‘B’ Form even though her name featured on the list of Congress candidates, was admitted to a private hospital in Bengaluru.

In the recent Congress list for the Karnataka Assembly elections, Jagalur ticket was given to Pushpa. However, MLA Rajesh succeeded in getting the ‘B’ form by putting pressure on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress High-command, it is learnt.

A visibly dejected Pushpa had openly criticised KPCC President Parameshwara for denying her the ‘B’ form in spite of getting the ticket from Jagalur. In an open allegation, she complained of cheating a Dalit woman and shed tears.

Sources close to the family said that these developments affected her health and she has been admitted to the hospital for further medical care.

The Calcutta High Court has asked the State Election Commission to announce fresh panchayat poll dates in West Bengal and extend the nomination dates after opposition parties alleged that the ruling TMC government had unleashed a reign of terror and stopped their candidates from filing nominations.

A single-judge bench of Justice Subrata Talukdar asked the poll panel to consult with the state government for the fresh dates and issue a notification soon. The decision is a blow for the Mamata Banerjee-led state government as it had fought against the extension.

The order was passed in response to a writ petition filed by the state’s opposition parties alleging large scale violence and intimidation by the ruling TMC that led to obstruction in filing of nominations.

Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called the order a moral victory. “The EC was acting on behalf of the state government. I have also requested the high court for deployment of central forces during panchayat polls,” he said.

The panchayat election in the state — scheduled to be held between May 1 and May 8 had been stalled by an order of Justice Talukdar last week after the state election commission extended time for filing nominations but then then reversed it the next day.

The opposition parties in the state – BJP, Congress and the Left – had accused the election watchdog of toeing the line of the state government by reversing its decision on the nomination date. After the parties moved the court, the SEC told the court that the judiciary could not intervene once the election process had started.

Chief Minister Banerjee had accused the opposition of deliberately delaying the polls and said that it had stalled development works in West Bengal, as the model code of conduct was in force.

“If you really believe in the people, then why are you not going in for the elections? You are deliberately delaying the process, putting up various political questions. I will not comment about the court’s verdict. The state has progressed a lot. But I feel sorry that because the code of conduct is in place, we cannot take any new decision,” she had said.

TMC general secretary Partha Chatterjee had alleged that the opposition parties were not ready to face the poll process. “They know that they will be rejected by the people and therefore they are delaying the process,” he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released its third list of candidates for the Assembly elections next month. BS Yeddyurappa’s son BY Raghavendra is yet to be named in any of the lists. The party announced 59 new names and a change of candidate in its latest list. The Janata Dal (Secular), too, has released its second list of 56 candidates, taking the number of names declared for the 224-member Assembly so far to 182. Most names on JDS’ list are turncoats who shifted from other parties to the JD(S) in the last few days. Earlier in the day, the Congress approached the Election Commission against BJP’s Sanjay Patil over his alleged hate speech in Belagavi region. He was booked for the same. Patil had termed the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections as a ‘Hindu vs Muslim’ fight. He has been booked under Section 125 of Representation of People Act and IPC Sections 153A and 295A.
The day began with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah addressing an election rally in Mysore, in which he launched a scathing attack on the BJP. He will file his nomination papers today, but suspense remains over whether he will contest from Badami as well apart from Chamundeshwari. Several top leaders in the state, including Kumaraswamy will file their nomination papers today, considered to be an auspicious day. With voting to be held on May 12, a Saturday, and counting on May 15, a Tuesday and Amavasya, politicians in the state are leaving no stone unturned to woo the stars and planets.

The day the Supreme Court dismissing petitions seeking an SIT probe into the death of Judge B.H. Loya, the BJP asked its MPs to attack Congress President Rahul Gandhi demanding his apology by holding press conferences and on social media platforms.

A letter issued by BJP Parliamentary party on Thursday also provided written material for all the party MPs asking them to run campaign against Gandhi and the Congress for defaming party President Amit Shah in their respective constituencies.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud on Thursday dismissed the PIL seeking the SIT probe into the death of Judge Loya in 2014 in Maharashtra’s Nagpur.

Loya was heading the trial court that was holding a trial in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh alleged fake shootout case in which Amit Shah is an accused.

“Every MP should give byte to local TV channels, issue a press statement and hold press conference asking Rahul Gandhi to apologize for defaming Amit Shah,” the letter issued with a sign of BJP’s parliamentary secretary Balasubrahmanyam Kamarsu read.

The party also asked the MPs to use all the social media platforms, including Twitter and WhatsApp or SMS, to campaign over the issue.

“Retweet the tweets by central BJP leaders and use local languages,” the letter read.

Congress Spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala posted the letter on his twitter account, saying the effort was to stop an enquiry into the case.

“Lameduck efforts by a vile BJP to stop an enquiry into Judge Loya death reaches its zenith as copycats are regimented to toe the fascist line!,” Surjewala said in a tweet.

He said: “So much for democratic functioning where power to think, speak and tweet is held captive by self anointed shenanigans of free speech!!!”

A political slugfest erupted on Thursday after the court’s verdict with the BJP accusing Rahul Gandhi as the “invisible hand” behind the pleas for “character assassination” of Amit Shah.

Gandhi had attacked Shah, saying truth has its own way of catching up with people like him.

(IANS)

The Congress-led seven opposition parties on Friday met Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu and submitted an impeachment motion for the removal of Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

“We have moved an impeachment motion for removal of CJI Dipak Misra under five listed grounds,” Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told a press conference after meeting Vice President Naidu.

He said while submitting the motion, the opposition party leaders did not discuss its merits but just requested that “this is our motion and the number required is sufficient under the constitution”.

He said that 71 MPs from seven political parties had signed the impeachment motion but as seven have retired, the number is now 64.

The BJP on Friday April 20 released its third list of candidates for the crucial Karnataka assembly elections.

The BJP has named 59 candidates in its third list. In the first two lists, it had named a total of 154 candidates.

From the coveted constituency of Mangaluru South, BJP has fielded Vedavyas Kamath. He will be up against Congress’ sitting MLA J R Lobo.

Santosh Kumar Rai has been fielded from Mangaluru (Ullal) constituency, against Congress’ minister and MLA U T Khader.

Vedavyas Kamath (L) and Raghupati Bhat

In Mangaluru North, the BJP has decided to bank on Dr Bharath Shetty as the candidate against Congress’ sitting MLA Mohiuddin Bava.

In Udupi, former MLA Raghupati Bhat has been given the ticket. He will be facing sitting MLA and minister Pramod Madhwaraj of Congress.

In Kaup, it will be BJP’s former MLA Lalaji R Mendon against Congress candidate and sitting MLA Vinay Kumar Sorake.

Accusing the Congress of using impeachment as a political tool, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said it was a revenge petition to intimidate the judiciary following the Supreme Court’s verdict on Judge B.H. Loya’s death.

“It (impeachment motion) is a revenge petition after the falsehood of the Congress has been established in the Justice Loya death case,” he said in a Facebook post under the heading “Judge Loya Death Case – The One That Almost Created a Judicial Mutiny.”

His comments came after opposition leaders met Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu and submitted an impeachment motion for the removal of Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

“It is an attempt to intimidate a judge and send a message to other judges that if you don’t agree with us, 50 MPs are enough for a revenge action,” he said, adding that Congress and “its friends” had started using impeachment as a “political tool”.

The Minister said impeachment of a Supreme Court judge was to be done only in the case of either his incapacity or on proven misconduct.

“Trivialising the use of that power is a dangerous event… To use the power as intimidatory tactics when neither you have a case of ‘proven misconduct’ or the numbers on your side is a serious threat to judicial independence,” he said.

It was not difficult to collect 50 signatures of the Rajya Sabha or hundred signatures of the Lok Sabha members even on frivolous issues, he said, referring to the 71 MPs who signed the impeachment motion.

Jaitley said the judgement on Judge Loya exposed the conspiracy to generate falsehood as propaganda in the public and political space and alleged that there was connivance among some politicians, judges, lawyers and media.

“Never ever so blatantly in the past have national political parties, a few retired judges and some senior lawyers so closely identified themselves with the generation of falsehood that they almost come out as conspirators,” he said.

Jaitley said BJP President Amit Shah had no role in the Sohrabuddin case and that “the Caravan Magazine’s stories and investigations are a textbook example of fake news”.

The news website had reported about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Judge Loya in Nagpur in November 2014. Loya was hearing the alleged fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in Gujarat in 2005 in which now BJP President Amit Shah was an accused.

Holding that public interest crusaders had graduated into “institution disruptors” picking up false causes, Jaitley said the Congress through its lawyers was too willing to identify with these “institution disruptors” and thus intimidate courts.

“A divided court is finding itself helpless to respond to these initimidatory tactics,” he said.

Referring to the press conference in January where four senior judges of the Supreme Court virtually revolted against the Chief Justice over allocation of cases including Judge Loya’s case, Jaitley said a divided court was the single greatest threat to judicial independence.

“What has happened today is a price the Indian judiciary has to pay for misadventures of many. There is no better time for judicial statesmanship and political foresight,” he added.