All seven Delhi BJP MPs staged a hunger strike here on Thursday against the washout of the second part of Parliament’s budget session due to continuous disruptions, which the party blamed it on the Congress.

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, who represents the Chandani Chowk constituency, East Delhi MP Maheish Girri, New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi, West Delhi MP Pravesh Verma, North West Delhi MP Udit Raj, South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari participated in the day-long strike that will conclude at 4 p.m.

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu would also visit and meet the fasting Delhi MPs and party workers.

Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari said that he will continue his “indefinite hunger strike” to protest against the continuous biased neglect of development work in North East Delhi by the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fast while on a day-long visit to Tamil Nadu.

BJP President Amit Shah will observe a hunger strike in Hubli in poll-bound Karnataka, while party MPs will fast in their constituencies.

The BJP’s fast comes days after Congress President Rahul Gandhi led the party’s day-long hunger strike at the Rajghat here on Monday over alleged increasing atrocities on Dalits, adivasis, and minorities.

(IANS)

The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday directed the state government to file a written statement over its stand on Bandhs. It wanted the government to clarify its stand on granting permission to bandhs by pro-Kannada organisations, including Vatal Nagaraj’s outfit, over Cauvery issue on April 12th. The directive came as result of a batch of petitions challenging the permission to bandh were filed with the court.

The hearing included a division bench comprising Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice B M Shyam Prasad. At the hearing the advocate representing one of the petitioners submitted that the pro-Kannada organisations call bandh over and over again in violation of the court order.He contended that the state government had failed in controlling such bandhs and on contrary have supported the bandhs called by Vatal Nagaraj who also blackmails the government.

Justice Maheswari responded to the submission and observed that the court has already passed an order on February 2 in connection with the bandhs and no bandhs have been conducted since. “If you (petitioners) have proof to show that government has not taken any steps to control bandhs, submit that to the court,” he told them.

Justice Maheshwari observed that a Supreme Court order had been passed stating that bandhs called by any person or organisations is unconstitutional since they have no constitutional right to do so. Yet, petitions are being filed before the court.

The bench directed the advocate representing the state government to file a written statement over its stand on bandh. The case was adjourned to Wednesday 11th April.

C Raja, president of Rajajinagar Shradha Poshakara Sangha and others have challenged the pro-Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj and other organisations call for bandh on April 12 following the Cauvery water dispute.

A total of 5,000 advanced EVMs and VVPATs which can automatically detect errors and any tampering with the vote will be used in Bengaluru for the May 12 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, the state’s Chief Electoral Official said on Tuesday.

“We are going to use 5,000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines with advanced automation and can detect any errors and display on the screen if the vote cast was tampered with or dysfunctional,” CEO Sanjiv Kumar told reporters here.

Bengaluru-based Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) will be supplying this advanced election machinery to use in the city for the ensuing elections on a pilot basis.

“The new machines, which will be used for the first time in the state, will be deployed in the constituencies of Bengaluru,” Kumar said.

Training programmes for the election officials on using the new machines will be held, he said, adding that however, for the voters, there is no difference between the machines as all the elements remain the same.

Each EVM consists of a control unit and a balloting unit. As of date, there are 89,206 balloting units and 76,192 control units in the state.

“These units are enough for the 58,546 polling stations across 224 assembly segments in the state,” Kumar added.

Some of the units have been sourced from other states, including Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, to make up for the shortfall of some outdated machines which were discarded, and few others stuck in court cases over alleged rigging of votes in the past.

The southern state has 4.96 crore electors, including 2.52 crore men and 2.44 crore women and about 4,500 people who identify themselves as the third gender.

After a special drive was held on April 8 to register any voters left out in the state, 6.45 lakh applications were received, which will be scrutinized by the election officials and will be added to the electoral list if eligible to vote, Kumar said.

Since the model code of conduct was put in place across the state by the Election Commission on March 27, Rs 4.69 crore cash has been seized in the state by the surveillance teams for violation of the poll code.

Freebies for voters worth over Rs 9.96 crore were also seized by the poll officials.

About 10,500 liters of liquor valued at Rs 46 lakh was also seized by the state’s Excise Department.

A total of 15,42,000 youth in the 18-19 age group have enrolled to vote for the first time in the ensuing poll.

In all, 3,56,552 personnel will be deployed to conduct the polling. The vote count will be done on May 15.

Total of 10 FIRs have been filed for violation of moral code of conduct in Udupi region until now, said Priyanka Mary Francis, Deputy Commissioner of Udupi district.

Addressing a press meet at her office on April 9, she said the election commission had seized Rs 5,87,700 cash in four unique cases-Rs. 59,000 at Nejar, Kallianpur, Rs 70,000 at Sastan, Rs. 3,65,000 at Kundapur, Rs 93,700 at Kanjar, because of absence of substantial documentation. In the event that the general population concerned give legitimate documentation, at that point the seized sum will be come back to them, she said including that such enormous sums should be bolstered with appropriate documentation.

In the meantime, the posters on various life styles of the general population in the region was propelled by the deputy commissioner with a specific goal to encourage voting. The district administration, in different ways, would endeavor to help the general population to vote in the upcoming assemblies.

Shivanand Kapasi, CEO of Zilla Panchayat and SVEEP head and Anuradha G, Additional Deputy Commissioner were also present at the press meet.

Four-month-old Baby Vedika was successfully treated at Fortis Hospital in Gurgaon.

Bangalore, 9th April 2018: Fortis Foundation’s ‘Umeed-Smile’ initiative has recently supported the treatment of a four-month-old baby for her cleft lip surgery, making her the 100th child benefitting from the programme. The treatment was performed by a team of experts led by Dr. Gagan Sabharwal, Consultant – Dentistry and Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Fortis Memorial Research Institute and Dr. Rashmi Taneja, Senior Consultant – Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery, Fortis Flt. Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital at Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) in Gurgaon recently.

The patient, Vedika was first diagnosed with a cleft lip condition when her mother was in her seventh month of pregnancy. After her birth, she was unable to drink her mother’s milk and faced breathing difficulties. The family could not support her treatment with their monthly income of Rs.7500. After learning about Fortis Foundation’s Umeed-Smile initiative they reached out for possible support and treatment of Vedika.

Since its inception in 2018, the Umeed-Smile initiative has been working in collaboration with Mission Smile under Fortis Foundation’s Aanchal Programme to provide free surgeries for Cleft lip and palate to children from economically weaker sections of society. The Aanchal programme aims at providing medical treatment to children from economically weaker sections of the society.

Mr Jasbir Singh Grewal, Head, Fortis Foundation said, “The joy of bringing to smiles to children and their families is the greatest achievement for all of us at Fortis Foundation. These smiles give us the strength to go from child to child knowing that we are making a difference to their lives.

Speaking about the surgery, Dr. Gagan Sabharwal, Consultant – Dentistry and Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon said, “Fortis is committed to ensuring access to quality healthcare for all. There is very little awareness among the public that conditions such as cleft lip and palate deformities can be treated successfully. We are trying to create awareness. These surgeries are indicative of our pledge as doctors to make the maximum effort and help patients recover and lead normal lives irrespective of their economic status.”

Cleft Lips are the second most common congenital defect and approximately 1 in 500 children in India are born with this deformity. Cleft lip and cleft palate are thought to be caused by a combination of genes and other factors. It is estimated that over 1 million children in India continue to suffer from this deformity. Over 35,000 cleft affected children have been screened and 25,000 safe corrective surgeries have been performed in India.

The contradictions between the buyer and suppliers of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in India have been laid bare in replies to right to information queries.

But even in year-wise details, replies given by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the two public sector suppliers — Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) Hyderabad and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Bengaluru — have thrown up inexplicable discrepancies.

According to Mumbai-based activist Manoranjan S. Roy, whose efforts through RTI queries have shown the serious mismatches, this points to a rot which may run deeper than expected.

On the overall figures from 1989-1990 till 2014-2015, the ECI says it had received 1,005,662 EVMs from BEL, but BEL said it has supplied 1,969,932 — a difference of 964,270 machines. In the year-wise breakdown of figures, the ECI and BEL end up contradicting each other, says Roy, who has now moved the Bombay High Court seeking a probe into the whole affair.

“For instance, in 2003-2004, BEL said it supplied 193,475 EVMs to EC, which said it received only 167,850 — a shortfall of 25,625. The following year, the ECI said it received 36,395 EVMs, but BEL supplied only 2070,” Roy said.

Just in one year — in 2008-2009 — the shortfall in supply to ECI from BEL was a 962,000 EVMs. In 2010-2011 the variation was 13,490 EVMs but in 2013-2014, ECI received an excess of 51,713 EVMs against the BEL’s supply of 139,725. One of the worst years of mismatch was 2014-2015, when BEL supplied 62,183 EVMs but ECI received none.

Ditto is the scenario with ECIL, which supplied 1,944,593 EVMs to ECI between 1989-1990 to 2016-2017 but ECI said it received 1,014,644 — a gaping shortfall of 929,949. A similar mismatch rules the year-wise numbers with ECIL.

“In 2003-2004, ECIL said it supplied 303,878 EVMs to EC, which said it received only 168,195. In 2008-2009, the ECI said it received 78,000 EVMs, but ECIL figures say it supplied 816,000 EVMs,” Roy said.

In 2013-2014, the ECI received 191,438 EVMs, but ECIL had supplied none. The situation, however, reversed in the next three years — 2014-2015 to 2016-2017 — when ECI said it received zero machines, but ECIL figures stated 173,962, 120,103 and 272 EVMs were supplied, respectively.

As mentioned in earlier reports, the ECI said it had incurred a total expenditure of Rs 536.02 crore on acquiring EVMs from BEL which says it received Rs 652.56 crore. The ECI expenditure on acquiring EVMs from ECIL are not available.

Curiously, ECIL said it had not supplied a single EVM to any state between 2006-2007 till 2013-2014.

Nevertheless, ECIL — through ECI — recovered an amount of Rs 50.64 crore from Maharashtra government between March-October 2012.

“The question is why such huge discrepancies in the EVMs figures received by ECI from the two companies? Where have the excess machines supplied by BEL and ECIL actually gone?” Roy asked. Same goes for the discrepancy in the money spent.

Even on the question of destroying old EVMs, there is lack of clarity. On July 21, 2017, the ECI said that it had not sold any EVMs as scrap. The EVMs procured in 1989-1990 were said to have been destroyed by the manufacturers themselves.

The ECI said that the process of destroying (old/outdated/irreparable) EVMs received by ECI between 2000-2005, “is still under consideration”, thus implying that all machines are still under its possession.

Political parties have multiple sources of funding and therefore accountability and transparency should be an
important aspect of their functioning. It is essential to have comprehensive and transparent accounting methods
and systems which should reveal the true financial position of the parties.
The National Parties include Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP),
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and All
India Trinamool Congress (AITC).
Submission of audited reports by the National Parties
• The due date for submission of annual audited accounts for the parties was 30th Oct,’17.
• BSP, CPM and AITC submitted their audit reports on time while CPI submitted its audit report 22 days after
the due date for submission.
• NCP submitted its audited report on 19th January, 2018, more than two months after the due date for
submission.
• BJP submitted its audited report on 8th Feb, 2018 (99 days delayed) and INC submitted its audited report
on 19th March, 2018 (138 days delayed).
Total Income and Expenditure of National Political Parties for – FY-2016-2017
• 7 National Parties (BJP, INC, BSP, NCP, CPM, CPI and AITC) have declared a total income of Rs. 1,559.17 cr,
collected from all over India.
• The 7 National Parties declared a total expenditure of Rs 1,228.26 cr.
• BJP declared the maximum expenditure of Rs 710.057 cr during FY-2016-17 while INC incurred a total
expenditure of Rs 321.66 cr (Rs 96.30 cr more than its total income).
• 70% of total income of BSP, 31% of the total income of BJP & CPI and 6% of the total income of CPM during
FY 2016-17 was declared unspent.

Total Income of National Parties FY 2016-2017
• The total income of the National Parties has been compiled from the income from various sources pan India,
as submitted in their Income Tax Returns.
• BJP has shown the highest income amongst the National Parties with a total income of Rs 1,034.27 cr during
FY 2016-17. This forms 66.34% of the total income of National Parties added together during FY 2016-17.
• INC has shown the second highest income amongst the National Parties with a total income of Rs 225.36
cr during FY 2016-17. This forms 14.45% of the total income of National Parties added together during FY
2016-17.
• CPI declared the lowest income of Rs 2.079 cr which forms a mere 0.13% of the total income of the 7
National Parties during the FY 2016-17.

Comparison of total income of National Parties between FY 2015-16 and 2016-17
• Between FY 2015-16 and 2016-17, the income of BJP increased by 81.18% (Rs 463.41 cr) from Rs 570.86 cr
during FY 2015-16 to Rs 1,034.27 cr during FY 2016-17 while the income of INC decreased by 14% (Rs 36.20
cr) from Rs 261.56 cr during FY 2015-16 to Rs 225.36 cr during FY 2016-17.
• Income of BSP increased by 266.32% (Rs 126.195 cr) from Rs 47.385 cr during FY 2015-16 to Rs 173.58 cr
during FY 2016-17 while the income of NCP increased by 88.63% (Rs 8.098 cr) from Rs 9.137 cr during FY
2015-16 to Rs 17.235 cr during FY 2016-17.
• It is to be noted that between FY 2015-16 and 2016-17, the income of AITC decreased by 81.52% (Rs 28.188
cr), CPM decreased by 6.72% (Rs 7.224 cr)

Top 3 sources of income of BJP and INC for FY-2016-2017
• BJP and INC have declared donations/contributions as one of their 3 main sources of income. BJP- Rs 997.12
cr and INC- Rs 50.626 cr.
• Grant/ donations/ contributions of Rs 997.12 cr declared by BJP forms 96.41% of the total income of the
party during FY 2016-17. Declaration of Rs 115.644 cr under Revenue from issuance of Coupons by INC
forms the top most income of the party, contributing 51.32% of the total income of the party during FY
2016-17.

Top 3 items of expenditure of BJP and INC Parties for FY 2016-2017
● The maximum expenditure for BJP during FY 2016-17 was towards Election/ General Propaganda, which
amounted to Rs 606.64 cr followed by expenses towards Administrative Cost, Rs 69.78 cr.
● INC spent the maximum of Rs 149.65 cr on Election Expenditure followed by expenditure of Rs 115.65 cr
on Administrative and General Expenses.

All sources of income declared by National Parties: FY 2016-17
• 7 National parties have collected maximum 74.98% (Rs 1,169.07 cr) income from Voluntary contributions
for FY- 2016-17.
• During FY- 2016-17, National Parties have received Rs 128.60 cr income from Interest from Banks & FD.
• 7.98% or Rs 124.46 cr was income generated through Revenue from Issuance of coupons by National
parties during FY- 2016-17.

Observations

· 4 out of 7 National Parties (BJP, INC, NCP and CPI) have consistently delayed submitting their audit reports for the past five years. The top major parties, BJP and INC, have delayed submitting their audit reports by an average of almost 6 months.

· It is observed that the 7 National Parties’ total income has increased by 51%, in other words by Rs 525.99 cr. The total income of the 7 National Parties increasing from Rs 1,033.18 cr during FY- 2015-16 to Rs 1,559.17 cr during FY- 2016-17.

· 7 National parties have collected maximum 74.98% (Rs 1,169.07 cr) income from voluntary contributions for FY- 2016-17. In contrast, the parties had have received 60% (Rs 616.05 cr) of their income from voluntary contributions during FY- 2015-16.

Recommendations

· The Supreme Court gave a judgment on September 13, 2013 declaring that no part of a candidate’s affidavit should be left blank. Along the same lines, we recommend that the Election Commission India impose rules that no part of the Form 24A submitted by political parties providing details of donations above Rs 20,000 should be left blank.

· Full details of all donors should be made available for public scrutiny under the RTI. Some countries where this is done include Bhutan, Nepal, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, the US and Japan. In none of these countries is it possible for 75% of the source of funds to be unknown.

· According to the Finance Bill, 2017, Section 13A of the IT Act was amended to state that tax exemption will be given to registered political parties “Provided also that such political party furnishes a return of income for the previous year in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (4B) of section 139 on or before the due date under that section.” Thus, any party which does not submit its IT returns on or before the due date, their income should not be tax-exempted and defaulting parties should be derecognized.

· Those parties not following the ICAI guidelines for auditing of reports should be scrutinized by the IT department.

· The National political parties must provide all information on their finances under the Right to Information Act. This will only strengthen political parties, elections and democracy.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an advisory to all states to take necessary precautionary measures in the view of Bandh called for Tuesday. A week after Dalit groups across the country held a nationwide protest against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court, which witnessed massive violence in different parts of the country leading to the death of nine people, a Bharat Bandh against caste-based reservation in education and jobs has been called today. According to security sources, calls for an anti-quota bandh started circulating on social media after Dalit protests last week. Separate security alerts have also been issued in a number of states, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, from where the deaths were reported on April 2. “No group has come forward to say they are organising a call for a bandh. These messages are doing the rounds in social media,” said Jaipur police chief Sanjay Agarwal. “We are holding meetings with community liaison groups and traders. Nobody will be allowed to take the law into their hands,” he added.

Schools to remain shut today in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad: Schools for students of Class I to IX will remain closed today, as a precautionary measure, in the wake of Bharat Bandh called on Tuesday.

MHA asks states to tighten security: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in its advisory said, “MHA has advised the states to beef up security and make appropriate arrangements to prevent any untoward incident, including issue of prohibitory orders, if necessary. It has asked for intensification of patrolling in all sensitive locations so as to prevent any loss of life or damage to property.”
Internet services to be suspended in Jaipur: In view of Bharat Bandh called by different groups, prohibitory orders will be clamped in Jaipur. Police Commissioner Sanjay Aggarwal, in a press conference, said that no procession or protest will be allowed on Tuesday and strict action will be taken against offenders. Internet services will remain suspended in the city till Tuesday night. STF teams have been deputed at different locations of the city, he added.
Bharat bandh in Bihar: Rail and road traffic has been disrupted by protesters in Bihar’s Arrah. Buxar passenger train was stopped at Arrah station. Bandh supporters have taken to the streets, organised a bike-rally in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar. Hundred of protesters, opposing caste-based reservation, have blocked roads at several places, halted trains and forcibly closed markets in Patna, Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Muzaffarpur, Bhojpur, Sheikhpura and Darbhanga districts in Bihar. Over a dozen people have been injured in violent clashes in Bihar.

Bharat bandh in Uttar Pradesh: Internet services have been suspended in Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Hapur in western Uttar Pradesh amid anti-reservation protests.
Section 144 to be imposed in Bhopal: Section 144 has been imposed in Bhopal today in the wake of Bharat Bandh. Around 6000 police personnel will be deployed in order to ward off any violence or untoward incidents. Although the section has been imposed in several other districts of Madhya Pradesh, but Gwalior, Bhind and Morena are deemed to be the sensitive areas.

BSP team meets Yogi Adityanath, claims party workers being harassed post April 2 Bharat Bandh: A delegation of BSP leaders, led by party national general secretary SC Misra met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday alleging harassment of party supporters on the pretext of taking action against arson and violence during Bharat Bandh on April 2.

“We met the chief minister and apprised him of how Dalits, especially supporters of the BSP, are being targeted in the name of action against those who indulged in arson and vandalism during the April 2 agitation called by Dalit organisations,” Misra told newspersons after meeting Adityanath.

Bharat bandh violence – 3 more held in Muzaffarnagar: With the arrest of three more persons, 90 people have been held so far in connection with the violent agitation during the countrywide protests by Dalit groups on April 2 against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, police said.

Dhiraj Kumar, Sumit and Arjun were arrested on Monday. With the latest development, more than 40 cases have been registered in the district under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Madhya Pradesh govt staffers suspended for taking part in April 2 protests: Four Madhya Pradesh government employees have been suspended by the collector of Bhind for allegedly taking part in the “Bharat bandh” called by Dalit outfits on April 2 to protest against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

MP cops gear up for social media-fuelled April 10 shutdown call: A call on social media and WhatsApp groups for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ on April 10, reportedly by people opposed to caste-based reservations in jobs and education, led Madhya Pradesh police to issue an appeal for calm and peace.
5,000 booked, 32 arrested for rioting in Ghaziabad: As many as 5,000 people have been booked for creating ruckus and damaging public and government properties during protests against “dilution” of the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the SSP said. Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna said police have lodged reports against 5,000 unidentified and 285 named miscreants under various sections the IPC.

BJP MPs protests ‘harassment’ of Dalits by police after April 2 stir: On Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member Udit Raj joined the ever-lengthening list of party’s Dalit MPs to go public with their unhappiness at the manner in which the BJP governments at the Centre and in states have handled Dalit-related issues.

Supreme Court declines urgent hearing on a plea seeking review of the verdict on SC/ST Act:

The Supreme Court on Monday declined an urgent hearing on a plea which sought a stay and review of its recent verdict on SC/ST Act by which certain safeguards were put in place on automatic arrest of individuals. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said that the petition will be heard in due course of time.

Advocate Manoj Gaurkella, appearing for the employees federation said that the recent verdict passed by the apex court on March 20 was “unfair and unjust and it should be stayed”.

Cases of atrocities on Dalits continue to rise amid falling convictions: A Business Standard analysis shows there could be an objective basis to the growing perception that atrocities on Dalits are increasing while the conviction rate in these cases is falling. Numerically, there were more than 33,000 cases of atrocities on SCs in 2008, which peaked at 45,000 cases in 2014 while 40,800 cases were recorded in 2016, according to the National Crime Records Bureau data. Similarly, cases of atrocities on STs rose from 5,582 in 2008 to 11,451 in 2015 while 6,568 cases were recorded in the year 2016, according to the NCRB.

Soon after BJP MLA N R Ramesh was denied the BJP ticket from Chickpet, his supporters protested against their own leader R Ashok. N R Ramesh too openly expressed his displeasure over candidate selection in the first list. Now, there are messages doing the rounds on social media like Facebook and WhatsApp that a ‘deal’ was struck between the Congress and BJP leaders in this regard.

N R Ramesh was expecting a ticket from Chickpet constituency but the party chose businessman Uday Garudachar over him.

In the viral message, it is alleged that R V Devaraj who is a Congress ticket aspirant from the same constituency ‘decided’ his opponent in the Assembly polls and allegedly paid Rs 2 crore to the BJP so as to score an easy victory.
The message further claims that the Congress leader struck a deal by offering Rs 2 crore to union minister Ananth Kumar.

Soon after the message went viral on social media, BJP president B S Yeddyurappa refuted the allegations and said that N R Ramesh does not speak such falsehoods. “I will speak to him and resolve the issue. There is no discontent in the party,” he said.

Upset over missing the ticket from the party, N R Ramesh had resigned as the city spokesperson on Monday April 9 and alleged that Chickpet was offered to Uday at the behest of union minister Ananth Kumar.

He publicly made a statement that Ananth Kumar did not respect a genuine party worker like him in the BJP.

Over a dozen of people were injured on Tuesday in a violent clash in Bihar during the “Bharat Bandh” called by various groups to protest against reservation policies, police said.

Supporters, mostly upper castes youths, blocked roads and forcibly enforced the nationwide shutdown in Ara town, Bhojpur district.

“More than a dozen people were injured in the violent clash between supporters of the Bharat Bandh and a pro-reservation group comprising OBCs and Dalits,” a district police official said.

Additional security have been deployed in Ara.

According to reports reaching here, hundreds of youths opposing reservation to SC/ST and OBCs and supporting Bharat Bandh, have blocked roads at several places, halted trains and forcibly closed markets in Patna, Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Muzafffarpur, Bhojpur, Sheikhpura and Darbhanga districts.

The clash comes a day after the Union Home Ministry issued an advisory to all states to take precautionary measures in view of calls on social media for the “Bharat Bandh” by various anti-reservation groups to protest clashes during the April 2 SC/ST shutdown.

The Bharat Bandh on April 2 by Dalit groups against the alleged dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by a Supreme Court order had led to violence and arson in many parts of the country which claimed several lives and left hundreds of civilians and policemen injured.