MP Surendranagar, leaving Rajya Sabha as Samajwadi Party MP, comes barely a fortnight after the Samajwadi Party lost MP Neeraj Shekhar, who quit Rajya Sabha to join the BJP.

LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party on Friday suffered yet another jolt when its MP Surendra Nagar, resigned from the Rajya Sabha. He is expected to join the BJP in a day or two.

This development comes barely a fortnight after the Samaajwdai Party had lost an MP to BJP – Neeraj Shekhar, son of late Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, had quit Rajya Sabha to join the BJP.

According to sources, Nagar, who is a prominent Gujjar leader from western UP, gave his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and it has been accepted.

Nagar met senior BJP leaders in Parliament after his resignation which clearly indicates that he will join the saffron party and may be re-elected to the Upper House on its ticket.

Apart from Neeraj Shekhar and Surendranagar, Congress MP Sanjay Singh has also resigned from the Rajya Sabha to join the BJP. All three are likely to be returned to the Rajya Sabha from UP.

As per the district police authorities, after the incident, Azam, Zahid and Guddu Sonkar, now in police net, had provoked Khaliq’s family to issue a false and fabricated statement.

LUCKNOW: Revealing the truth of the Chanduali incident where a teenage boy had died of burns, the district police arrested three persons for allegedly spreading communal hatred on social media by claiming that the boy was set ablaze by some elements for refusing to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan in Syedraja area of eastern UP district on Sunday. The boy had succumbed at Varanasi divisional hospital on Tuesday, police said.

As per the district police authorities, after the incident, Azam, Zahid and Guddu Sonkar, now in police net, had provoked Khaliq’s family to issue a false and fabricated statement that he was set afire by four youths on refusing to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’.

According to Chanduali Superintendent of police, Santosh Kumar Singh, during investigation it came to light that the victim Abdul Khaliq, 17, went to Shaheed Kale Khan Baba mausoleum for ‘learning’ some magic and set himself on fire there. His slipper and half burnt clothes were also recovered from there, he added.

According to the cops, after the incident Khaliq’s statement was initially recorded in which the boy said he went for attending nature’s call near Manrajpur village where four youths with their faces covered allegedly caught him and poured kerosene on him before setting him afire. Then he changed his statement saying four persons met him near Kshatem village, which is around 2 km off Manrajpur in opposite direction. He later on changed his statement over the spot of the incident.

“The boy is constantly changing his statement. CCTV footages examined by police do not show him in certain places he mentioned,” said the officer.

The district police chief had rebut the claim of the victim and his family saying that discrepancies were found in statements of the boy and that of an eyewitness, a newspaper hawker Dinesh Maurya.

As per the SP, the eyewitness confirmed that there was no one around and the victim was alone at the time of incident. “Till noon it was a case of boy being set afire by unidentified men. But in the afternoon, the victim and his mother were allegedly convinced by some anti-social elements to draw ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan into it to get immediate attention,” said the officer.
 
However, later the mother of the deceased accepted that her son was not set ablaze for refusing the slogan, said the police sources.

The police authorities said that the three persons arrested also spread the rumour on social media with an intention to create religious frenzy. They said a probe revealed that they were involved in spreading false information. Thereafter, a case was registered against them under section 153 A (promoting enmity on different groups on ground of religion), 295A (malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings), 420 (cheating), 120 B (conspiracy), 182 (false information) of the IPC and the 66 IT Act was registered against them and the trio was subsequently arrested.

The Rajya Sabha seat from Rajasthan fell vacant after the death of BJP leader Madan Lal Saini on June 24

NEW DELHI: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh may be renominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Congress from Rajasthan, party sources said.

The Rajya Sabha seat from Rajasthan fell vacant after the death of BJP leader Madan Lal Saini on June 24.

He was elected to the Upper House last year.

With the Congress in a majority in Rajasthan, the party is likely to win the seat.

The party, sources said, is actively considering nominating Singh for the lone seat and if elected, he will have a Rajya Sabha term up to April 3, 2024.

The Election Commission on Thursday issued a statement listing out the schedule of election for filling up the Rajya Sabha seat in Rajasthan.

The election to the seat will be held on August 26 and the result will be declared on the same day after counting.

The notification for the election will be issued on August 7.

August 14 will be the last date of nominations and after scrutiny on August 16, candidates can withdraw their application till August 19.

Singh has been a five-time Rajya Sabha member from Assam and has been a member of the Upper House for almost three decades.

His term came to an end on June 14.

There has been no vacancy for the Congress after that and Singh could not be renominated as the party is not in power in the northeastern state.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission also declared that election will be held for one Rajya Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh on August 26, with the same schedule as that for Rajasthan.

The seat had fallen vacant after Neeraj Shekhar resigned his seat on July 15, 2019.

Shekhar, the son of former prime minister Chandra Shekhar was a Samajwadi Party leader and has since joined the BJP.

The TMC supremo said she would not be able to participate in the rally because of some pre-scheduled engagements.

KOLKATA: MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday endorsed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s demand to replace EVMs by ballot papers and said the Trinamool Congress supremo has assured him of her support in his party’s fight to save the democracy.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supremo said he came to Kolkata to invite Banerjee to attend an anti-EVM rally in Maharashtra on August 21.

The TMC supremo, however, said she would not be able to participate in the rally because of some pre-scheduled engagements.

“I’ve come here to invite Mamata ji for a rally scheduled in Maharashtra on August 21 to demand bringing back ballots in place of EVMs. This will be an anti-EVM movement. She is one of the key leaders in the country, voicing concern against EVMs,” Thackeray told reporters, with Banarjee by his side.

The MNS chief said Banerjee assured him that she would support his party to “save the democracy”.

Thackeray also referred to his visits to the Election Commission to demand reintroduction of ballots in elections.

“The situation which has emerged is not right. There were at least 370 constituencies in the country where there were problems regarding EVMs during the elections,” he said.

“When most of the countries across the world have stopped using the EVMs, why are we (India) using it?” asked Thackeray.

Asked if the rally scheduled in Maharashtra would be an anti-Modi move, Thackeray said, “This is not an anti-Modi rally but an anti-EVM one. But if it develops into an anti-Modi movement, there is no problem.”

Banerjee endorsed Thackeray’s remarks and asked why was India still using voting machines when countries like the USA and Japan have stopped using them after coming to know of their drawbacks.

Raising doubts over authenticity of polling through EVMs, the chief minister said one particular party predicted even the seat it would win in the election much before the polling.

Banerjee recalled that the TMC along with 23 other political parties had approached both the Election Commission and the Supreme Court against the use of EVMs in the elections but their complaints were dismissed.

The legislation provides for stricter punishment for various traffic-related offences as well as higher penalties. But that is just not it, click here to read more.

NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill to tighten road traffic regulations such as the issuance of driving licence and imposed stricter penalties for violations in an attempt to improve road safety.

The Upper House passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 with 108 votes in favour and 13 against it, with three amendments moved by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.

The legislation was passed by the Lok Sabha on July 23 but the bill will be sent to Lok Sabha again because of a typo.

Replying to a debate on the bill, Gadkari allayed concerns of states, saying the Centre was not encroaching on any of their rights including the right to levy vehicle registration charge and permit fee, besides posting of officials.

Not a single penny of state revenue would be taken by the Centre, he asserted. Also, the rights of the states to set up driving training institutes too will remain untinkered.

The legislation provides for stricter punishment for various traffic-related offences as well as higher penalties, including compensation of Rs 5 lakh for death and Rs 2.5 lakh for grievous injury in a motor vehicle accident case.

Gadkari said the legislation will instil fear of law in people who violate traffic rules as an intelligent traffic system will monitor traffic offences.

The minister said India was facing shortage of 22 to 25 lakh drivers and to fill this gap, driver training institutes were planned pan India and the Centre was ready to provide Rs 1 crore subsidy for each centre.

He said such centres were not needed in metropolises like Delhi, Mumbai or Chennai but in remote rural areas to uplift tribals and poor and 1,000 such centres were planned.

The minister also allayed fears of members regarding roping in of corporates, saying no rights were being given to companies and in fact a few firms had come forward with Rs 20-25 crore free-of-charge training centres under CSR.

Gadkari said the process for obtaining driving licenses would now be computerised and anyone, whether a minister or MP, will get licenses only after passing online tests.

He said the government has no intention to intervene with the power of states and state transport corporations were free to run their buses.

He advocated the London transport model, stating that many state government undertakings had turned NPAs and the government was also exploring bringing in foreign funds.

The minister made it clear that vehicle registration rights remained with the states and asserted that the Centre was not benefitting by even a rupee. He also stressed on the need to promote electric buses and having a transport policy. He said a 265-seat bus skybus was planned between Dhaula Kuan and Manesar.

The bill proposes a National Transportation Policy for ushering in guidelines on the transportation of goods and passengers.

The minister said it will be framed only after holding consultations with the states.

Once the bill becomes a law, the new vehicles will be registered at the dealers level and it will eventually remove buyers’ interface with the registration authorities.

The bill, which was pending for approval in the Rajya Sabha, had lapsed after the term of the 16th Lok Sabha ended.

It proposes Rs 10,000 fine for not giving way to emergency vehicles and Rs 10,000 for driving despite disqualification.

Aggregators violating driving licences will be fined up to Rs 1 lakh.

The proposals are based on the recommendations of transport ministers from 18 states, which were vetted by a standing committee of Parliament.

The bill includes penalties in the range of Rs 1,000- 2,000 for over-speeding.

Driving without insurance will be punishable with Rs 2,000 fine, while driving without helmets will attract Rs 1,000 penalty and 3-month suspension of licence.

Also, the guardian/owner will be deemed guilty in case of road offence by juveniles, while registration of the vehicle will be cancelled.

As per the new provisions, “guardian/owner shall be deemed to be guilty and there will be a penalty of Rs 25,000 with three years imprisonment and cancellation of registration of the Motor Vehicle”.

Traffic violations would now attract a penalty of Rs 500 in place of Rs 100 earlier, while disobedience of orders of authorities will attract a minimum penalty of Rs 2,000 in place of Rs 500 earlier.

Penalty for unauthorised use of vehicles without licence has been proposed at Rs 5,000 while those driving without licence will have to shell out the same amount and those found driving despite disqualification would be fined Rs 10,000.

Penalty for dangerous driving would be increased to Rs 5,000 from Rs 1,000, while drunken driving under the proposed new law would attract a fine of Rs 10,000.

“If aggregators are found violating lincensing conditions, they will be charged a sum of up to Rs 1 lakh” while overloading of vehicles would attract a penalty of Rs 20,000.

Earlier participating in the debate, members raised concern over the growing number of road accidents and said that there should be a compensation mechanism for the deceased.

The Congress alleged that the Centre has “hoodwinked” the Rajya Sabha on the bill as it was “defective” and not in the form passed in the Lok Sabha last week.