New Delhi: Samajwadi Party lawmaker Naresh Agarwal had the government benches in the Rajya Sabha up in angry protest today when he referred to Hindu Gods in comments that have been expunged or removed from records. The Upper House of Parliament had to be adjourned amid loud protests.

Mr Agarwal has since expressed regret.

Since the comments have been expunged, they cannot be reported. The Samajwadi Party lawmaker was speaking in a fractious debate in the house on recent incidents of mob lynching and murders in the name of cow protection when he made the comments.

“He has linked each of the Hindu Gods with a brand of alcohol. If he would have made this statement outside Parliament, he would’ve been booked. Do you have the audacity of repeating this in relation to any other religious denomination? Would you do this?” said Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, demanding an apology.

Mr Agarwal later said he had “not meant to hurt anyone.”

Earlier in the debate, he alleged that people linked to the BJP were behind recent mob attacks by cow vigilantes, which was firmly rejected by Minister of State for Home affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir.

The minister drew protests from the opposition when he said states have all the powers to deal with such incidents and that there was no need to change existing laws. He said the home ministry has already issued an advisory to all states to immediately start registering FIRs in such cases and asked them to take action and arrest culprits. He also pointed out that the Prime Minister has spoken against killings in the name of cow protection which will not be tolerated.

Samajwadi Party members came to the Well or Centre of the house and raised slogans expressing dissatisfaction over the government’s reply to questions on the steps taken by the Centre to stop the mob murders.

(Agencies)

REUTERS/Amit Dave

New Delhi: Ram Nath Kovind, the NDA candidate, was on Thursday elected as India’s 14th President receiving an overwhelming majority of votes from the country’s lawmakers.

Mr. Kovind defeated opposition’s Meira Kumar, a former Lok Sabha speaker, garnering more than 65 per cent of the votes in the Electoral College, the Returning Officer for the poll announced on Thursday.

The 71-year-old, who will be the second Dalit to hold the top constitutional position, received 2930 votes with a value of 702044, the returning officer, Anoop Mishra, said.

Mr. Kovind will be the first BJP member to be elected president.

Ms. Kumar, also a Dalit, polled in 1844 votes with a value of 367314.

The Electoral College comprises of Members of Parliament and members of legislative assemblies of all states.

A total of 4,896 voters — 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs — were eligible to cast their ballot. MLCs of states with legislative council are not part of the electoral college.

While the value of an MLA’s vote depends on the population of his or her state, the value of an MP’s vote remains the same at 708.

The polling was marked by cross-voting in various states where many opposition members favoured Mr. Kovind.

The Vice-Presidential election will be held on August 5.

While BJP has nominated a former party president, Venkaiah Naidu, the opposition has fielded former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi.

(Agencies)

Kohima: Naga People’s Front leader and ruling DAN chairman TR Zeliang was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Nagaland on Wednesday at Darbar Hall, Raj Bhavan in Kohima. Governor PB Acharya administered oath to Zeliang after Shurhozelie Liezietsu failed to turn up in the special emergent session of the State Assembly to take a floor test. The governor has asked Zeliang, who claimed to enjoy the support of 47 legislators, to prove his majority by July 22. The Cabinet members will be sworn-in only after the floor test.

Zeliang becomes the 19th chief minister of the Northeastern state. He was appointed as the chief minister in the morning by the governor. Speaker Imtiwapang Aier had submitted his report to governor Acharya, stating that former CM Liezietsu was not present in the special emergent session of the House on Wednesday morning “to avail the opportunity granted by the Hon’ble Governor to prove his majority in the House.” The House was then adjourned sine die.

The Guwahati High court had dismissed Liezietsu’s petition for a stay on the governor’s directive to him to seek vote of confidence in the House on or before July 15.

Zeliang, who had stepped down in February this year following large-scale violence after several groups opposed holding civic polls in the state with 33 per cent reservation for women, had for the past three weeks claimed that majority of the DAN legislators were in favour of his return to the chief minister’s post. Zeliang and his supporters – whose numbers had increased to 47 in a House of 59 – had accused chief minister Liezietsu of nepotism, favouritism and failure to govern the state. Liezietsu, who is not a member of the Assembly, incidentally is contesting a by-election on July 29 from the North Angami-I constituency.

(Agencies)

Chennai: Tamil Nadu has announced almost 100 percent hike in salary of MLAs of the house. The announcement which is like a jackpot for many, was made by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy in the state assembly. MLAs will now get Rs 1.05 lakh per month from Rs 55,000 earlier.

According to reports, the chief minister also announced that MLA Local Area Development Fund would be increased from Rs 2 crore to 2.5 crore.

Ex MLAs also get a raise to Rs 20,000 as opposed to Rs 12,000 earlier.

The new salary retrospectively came into effect from July 1.

After the chief minister’s announcement, most MLAs appeared very enthused. But DMK legislators restrained themselves from celebrating.

“Each and every MLA must be happy inside. But due to party restrictions, they may not be able to express their joy,” remarked Speaker P Dhanapal.

(Agencies)

Panaji: Religious leaders like Sadhvi Saraswati, who deliver hate speeches in Goa, should be arrested and banned from visiting Goa, deputy speaker and BJP MLA Michael Lobo told the state Assembly on Tuesday.

“Sadhvi Saraswati had said that beef-eaters should be hanged. Why do they come to Goa and make such statements? Police should act against her, or someone else will come and say something else. Who all would we be able to stop,” Lobo asked during a discussion on the motion of thanks on the governor’s address.

“There should be a precedent. An FIR should be filed against anyone who gives hate speeches. They must be summoned to the police headquarters,” Lobo said.

Madhya Pradesh-based Sadhvi Saraswati, who was in Goa to attend a four-day All India Hindu Convention, had said that those who eat beef should be hanged.

Lobo said that such “rabble rousers” should be banned from Goa on the lines of Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik.

“Such type of people should be banned from entering Goa, whoever it is… We have to have full control of all these things. We should not allow this. Those who want to disturb Goa, they have no place here,” he said.

More than 30 percent of the state’s 1.5 million population comprises conventionally beef-eating minority communities.

(Agencies)

Beijing: The Chinese Army moved tens of thousands of tonnes of military hardware into the remote mountainous Tibet region after the standoff with Indian troops in the Doklam area in the Sikkim sector, the mouthpiece of the PLA said today.

The vast haul was transported to a region south of the Kunlun Mountains in northern Tibet by the Western Theatre Command – which oversees the restive regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, and handles border issues with India, reported the PLA Daily, the official mouthpiece of Chinese military.

The move took place late last month and involved hardware being moved simultaneously by road and rail from across the entire region, the report said.

China’s state-run media has stepped up its rhetoric against India in recent weeks but there was no way to confirm the veracity of such claims.

Early this week, state-run CCTV had broadcast People’s Liberation Army troops taking part in heavy military exercises using live ammunition on the Tibetan plateau.

The location was not far from the disputed Doklam area where Chinese and Indian troops are locked in a standoff, the Hong-Kong based South China Morning Post reported.

The PLA Daily report, however, did not say whether the movement of the military equipment was to support the exercise or for other reasons.

Wang Dehua, an expert on South Asia studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said the scale of the troop and equipment movement showed how much easier it is for China to defend its western borders.

“Military operations are all about logistics,” he said. “Now there is much better logistics support to the Tibet region.”

Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face- off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area.

China claimed that they were constructing the road within their territory and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from the disputed Doklam plateau.

New Delhi has expressed concern over the road building, apprehending that it may allow Chinese troops to cut India’s access to its northeastern states.

India has conveyed to the Chinese government that the road construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for it.

Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.

(Agencies)