New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the result of the Chandigarh mayoral poll in which the BJP candidate had emerged an unlikely winner, and declared defeated AAP-Congress alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the new city mayor.

It also ordered prosecution of the returning officer for the poll, Anil Masih, a BJP leader, for his “misdemeanour”, after finding serious faults in the conduct of the January 30 election.

The apex court made it clear that it was not quashing the entire electoral exercise and restricting itself to dealing with the wrong-doings in the counting process which led to invalidation of eight votes cast in Kumar’s favour.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said it was evident that Masih made deliberate attempt to deface eight ballot papers.

The BJP had won the mayoral poll defeating the comfortably placed AAP-Congress alliance candidate after the returning officer declared as invalid eight votes of the coalition partners, drawing accusations of tampering with ballots.

Manoj Sonkar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had defeated Kuldeep Kumar after polling 16 votes against his rival’s 12 to bag the mayor’s post. Sonkar, however, resigned subsequently, while three AAP councillors defected to the BJP.

Returning officer of the Chandigarh mayoral polls Anil Masih

New Delhi: Returning officer of the Chandigarh mayoral polls Anil Masih on Tuesday faced the wrath of the Supreme Court which ordered his criminal prosecution for allegedly giving false statement before it and his “misdemeanour” during the counting of votes.

The apex court, which declared defeated AAP-Congress alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the new mayor of the union territory by setting aside the January 30 poll result, said Masih had put marks on eight ballot papers to create a ground for treating them as invalidly cast.

“That apart, it is evident that the presiding officer (Masih) is guilty of serious misdemeanour in doing what he did in his role and capacity as a presiding officer,” a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said.

The bench, also comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, directed the registrar (judicial) of the apex court to issue a notice to Masih to show cause as to why proceedings should not be initiated against him under section 340 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for allegedly making false statement before the court.

It said he can file his response to the notice and the matter would be taken up after three weeks.

In its verdict, the Supreme Court bench said Masih’s conduct as the presiding officer has to be deprecated at two levels.

“Firstly, by his conduct he has unlawfully altered the course of the mayoral election… Secondly, in making a solemn statement before this court on February 19, the presiding officer expressed falsehood for which he must be held accountable,” the bench said.

It said as a returning officer, Masih could not have been unmindful of the consequences of making such a statement before the court. The bench noted that before recording Masih’s statement during the hearing on Monday, the court had placed him on notice about the serious consequences if he was found to have made an incorrect statement.

The BJP had won the Chandigarh mayoral polls on January 30 defeating the comfortably placed AAP-Congress alliance candidate after the returning officer declared as invalid eight votes of the coalition partners, drawing accusations of tampering with ballots.

Manoj Sonkar of the BJP defeated Kuldeep Kumar after polling 16 votes against his rival’s 12 to bag the mayor’s post. Sonkar, however, resigned subsequently, while three AAP councillors defected to the BJP.

In its verdict, the bench observed that Masih had made a deliberate effort to deface eight ballots which were cast in favour of Kumar to secure a result in which Sonkar would be declared as an elected candidate.

“During the course of these proceedings, for the above reasons, we have come to the conclusion that the result which was declared by the presiding officer is clearly contrary to law and will have to be set aside. We order accordingly,” it said.

The bench observed that votes in the eight ballot papers, which were invalidated by Masih, were duly cast in favour of Kumar.

It said that as the returning officer, Masih had clearly acted beyond the term of his remit under the statutory regulations.

“We accordingly order and direct that the result of the election as declared by the presiding officer stands quashed and set aside. The petitioner (Kumar) is declared to be the validly elected candidate for election as mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation,” the bench said.

It referred to Masih’s statement made before the court on Monday in which he had stated that besides signing the ballot papers, he had put ‘X’ mark at eight ballot papers during the course of counting of votes to identify them as defaced.

The bench, which perused the ballot papers during the hearing and also saw the video recording of counting process, said none of these ballot papers were defaced as claimed by Masih.

Masih, a nominated municipal councillor, is a member of the BJP’s minority wing and has been associated with the party since 2015 and has been seen attending party events. He was nominated as a councillor in the Chandigarh civic body in October 2022.

Masih, who acted as the returning officer on January 30 mayoral polls, studied at a government school in the union territory and did his graduation from the DAV college there.

Shivpal Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday declared its third list of five candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, fielding senior leader Shivpal Yadav from Budaun parliamentary constituency.

Shivpal Yadav, the uncle of party chief Akhilesh Yadav, is an MLA from the Jaswantnagar assembly constituency in Etawah district.

The other candidates on the list are Surendra Singh Patel from Varanasi, Iqra Hasan from Kairana), Praveen Singh Aron from Bareilly and Ajendra Singh Rajput from Hamirpur.

With this list, the Samajwadi Party has so far declared the names of 31 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh.

In its first list, the SP had fielded Dharmendra Yadav, the son of party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger brother Abhay Ram Yadav, from Budaun.

The Akhilesh Yadav-led party has offered 17 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress, an alliance partner in the INDIA bloc. Altogether, the state has 80 LS constituencies.

LUCKNOW: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’s UP leg reached his erstwhile traditional constituency of Amethi on Monday, drawing huge crowds. He hit out at the BJP government for “not inviting” the Dalits, backwards and even the President to the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya. “It was an insult to them,” he said.

“By inviting industrialists and Amitabh Bachchan to the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple, Modi gave the message that the country’s 73% of people have no importance,” Rahul said addressing a gathering at Lalganj Indira Chowk in Rampur Khas Assembly seat.

Continuing with his onslaught, Gandhi said that it was their (BJP) India. “This is not yours. All you do is chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, while all they do is have helicopter rides and make money,” he said.

Reiterating the party’s promise to provide a legal guarantee of MSP to farmers, he said: “Farmers were stopped from entering Delhi. Modi government has put barricades, and constructed walls to stop farmers. What are they demanding? All they are asking for is MSP; it is not a big thing.”

Incidentally, BJP MP Smriti Irani and Rahul Gandhi were present in Amethi on Monday. Rahul’s attack prompted the BJP MP from Amethi to challenge the former Congress chief and party’s Wayanad MP to contest from Amethi if he had the confidence to win.

The developments seem to suggest that Rahul would contest from Amethi this time.

“In 2019 he (Rahul Gandhi) left Amethi, today Amethi has left him. If he is confident, then without going to Wayanad, let him fight from Amethi alone,” said Irani. She tried to underplay Rahul’s Naya Yatra by claiming that “empty roads” of Amethi were the testimony of Rahul’s popularity.

Holding a Jan Samwad programme in Amethi as part of a four-day visit to her parliamentary constituency, Irani said that despite having won three consecutive elections from Amethi, Rahul Gandhi did very little for the constituency.

“Congress had to call workers from Sultanpur and Pratapgarh to welcome the Yatra,” Irani said. “Amethi was

distressed to note how its former representative insulted his voters in Wayanad. Also, the invite to consecration of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya was rejected by him and his family. Amethi is dismayed at this also,” she said.

The Union Minister also claimed that sensing the mood of the people of Amethi where the voters went for a change in 2019, the Gandhi family decided to stay away from Raebareli ahead of the 2024 polls.

LUCKNOW: Uncertainty looms large over the INDIA alliance of the opposition bloc in Uttar Pradesh, with a seat-sharing pact between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress for the Lok Sabha still being a distant dream. Moreover, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is reportedly skipping Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, saying that he would join Gandhi only after the seat-sharing pact between the two parties gets sealed.

Akhilesh was to join the yatra in Rae Bareli on Tuesday. Earlier on Monday, the SP offered 17 seats to the Congress, calling it the final offer to the grand old party. Notably, the negotiations between the two parties had been going on with Congress initially demanding 25 seats but then scaling it down to 21. However, the SP does not want to spare more than 17 seats for its ally.

Last month, the SP chief unilaterally announced 11 Lok Sabha seats for the Congress in UP. Caught off guard, the baffled leadership of UP Congress said that the seat-sharing talks with the SP were still on and the central leadership would take the final decision.

Later, the SP released the first list of candidates for 16 seats, including many like Lakhimpur Kheri and Farrukhabad, which the Congress had demanded. Meanwhile, on Monday, immediately after offering 17 seats to the Congress, the SP released a second list of 11 party candidates for the polls. It covered at least three seats, which the Congress was demanding.

Dealing a blow to the INDIA bloc in the state, RLD president Jayant Chaudhary recently decided to part ways and switch over to the ruling NDA.

However, the support of the SP in Amethi and Rae Bareli is significant for the Congress as it has been winning both seats over the past few decades, banking upon the former’s support. SP and BSP have not been fielding their candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli in support of the Congress for the last few elections to check the division of votes.

BHOPAL: While exuding confidence that the BJP will win 370-plus seats on its own in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the target will be achievable once the party adds 370 new votes to its best ever votes tally on each polling booth.

“Even the prominent opposition leaders are now admitting that the 400 seats-plus figure for the NDA in the coming polls is achievable. I’ve been hearing about 400-plus seats for the NDA and 370-plus seats for the BJP on its own.For the BJP to win 370-plus seats on its own, we’ll first have to find out the party’s best performance on each polling booth in the last three elections.” he says.

“Once the best tally of votes is found, then our efforts should be focused to add 370 new votes to that best ever tally of votes on each booth. Once we add 370 new votes to our best ever tally on each booth, the 370-plus seats target for BJP will be assured,” Modi adds while addressing the Vishal Adivasi Mahakumbh in Bhil tribe dominated Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh.

“For adding 370 votes in BJP’s best ever tally on each booth, you’ll have to reach out to every voter, educate them about the schemes and achievements of the government. Tell them which schemes have benefitted the voters. But those voters who are yet to be benefitted by the schemes, assure them that the benefits will be ushered to them, once Modi returns to power,” the PM said while addressing the gathering which included BJP workers from Jhabua and adjoining tribal dominated districts of western MP as well as party’s tribal leaders from adjoining Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha and Jharkhand.

Before addressing the mega tribal gathering, Modi unveiled and laid the foundation of development projects worth over Rs 7,500 crore for MP. He laid foundation of multiple projects, including CM Rise School in Jhabua, Talavada Project for drinking water to people in Jhabua, Ratlam and adjoining tribal dominated districts.

CHANDIGARH: In yet another setback to the Opposition INDIA bloc post Nitish Kumar’s somersault, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal announced that his party would contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and the lone seat of Chandigarh UT. It virtually closes all doors for the laboured projection of the Congress-AAP alliance in the state.

Kejriwal was addressing a rally at Khanna, a town known for the grain market in Ludhiana district, on the launch of the party’s free ration scheme. “Bless AAP with a victory on all 14 seats of Punjab and Chandigarh the way you did in the Assembly polls two years back by AAP victory in 92 out of the 117 Punjab Assembly seats,” Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal took a dig at the Congress and SAD, saying neither the Akalis nor Congress took any step for the well-being of the people in their party rules. “If I ask you today, in 75 years, the Congress ruled for so many years, tell me one good work the Congress has done. You will not remember. If I ask you Akali Dal ruled for so many years, tell me one good work the Akali Dal has done, you will not remember,” said Kejriwal.

Kejriwal’s announcement will add to the turmoil in the opposition bloc. TMC chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has already said her party would go it alone in the state for LS polls.

Mann said the centre has adopted a hostile attitude against all non-BJP-ruled states. He blamed the Centre for the now-scrapped farm laws, adding that the BJP continues with the hostile attitude by stalling funds meant for various welfare schemes in Punjab.

Punjab CM Mann said that candidates for all the 13 Lok Sabha seats will be announced by month-end

BHOPAL: It will be the first-time sitting MP son Nakul Nath and not his nine-time former parliamentarian father Kamal Nath who’ll contest the coming Lok Sabha polls from Chhindwara seat – the opposition Congress’s lone unconquered citadel of the 2019 polls.

“Assembly polls were held in November 2023 in three states, but Chhindwara parliamentary constituency remains the only constituency, where all the assembly segments were won by the Congress. The credit for it goes to all our workers present here. Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha polls are totally different, there are many candidates which leads to groupism in assembly polls. But there is no groupism in LS polls as there is only one candidate, I am your candidate in the coming Lok Sabha polls,” Nakul Nath said.

Addressing a meeting of Congress workers in Parasia assembly segment of Chhindwara LS constituency in father Kamal Nath’s presence, the sitting Congress MP said, “Let me clear the uncertainty about whether I or Kamal Nath Ji will contest from Chhindwara, by stating that I’ll contest from Chhindwara LS seat. The election in Chhindwara will be fought by me under his (Kamal Nath) guidance and support. You’ll have supported Kamal Nath and the Nath family for 42 years, I’m confident that the Nath family will get the same support and affection in the coming election also,” Nath Jr added.

The sitting Congress MP’s announcement happened just two days after his former CM and nine-times former parliamentarian father Kamal Nath had told journalists that winnability factor will guide the Congress party in deciding candidates on all seats, including Chhindwara.

Importantly, much before the Congress officially declared candidates for the seven assembly segments of his parliamentary seat in 2023 polls, Nakul Nath had himself announced the names of the same candidates at separate public meetings in Chhindwara, while his father was the state Congress chief and party’s CM face in MP.

Importantly, Chhindwara seat was the lone parliamentary constituency in Madhya Pradesh, which was won by the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. All other 28 seats in the state, including two other Congress citadels – Jyotiraditya Scindia’s Guna seat and Kantilal Bhuria’s Ratlam-Jhabua ST seats – were won by the BJP.

In the 2019 elections, Nakul Nath had made a winning Lok Sabha polls debut from his family’s pocket-borough by 37,536 votes, while Kamal Nath-led Congress government was in power in MP. Nakul Nath’s winning margin, however, was more than three times smaller than the 1.16 lakh-plus votes winning margin of his father in the 2014 LS polls from the same seat.

The Chhindwara seat since four decades has become synonymous with the Nath family headed by ex-union minister and former MP CM Kamal Nath, who won it nine times between 1980 and 2014, while his wife Alka Nath won it in 1996. In the last 43 years, the BJP has won the seat only once, when ex-CM Sunder Lal Patwa emerged victorious in the 1997 by-election.  

CHIKKAMAGALURU: Exuding confidence ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, BJP state president BY Vijayendra has predicted that the BJP-JDS alliance will win all the 28 seats in the election, with the Congress drawing a blank.

Speaking at a function at the party office here, where Devaraja Shetty took charge as the new Chikkamagaluru district BJP president on Wednesday, Vijayendra said the Congress is living in false hope that it will win 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

“If one looks at the statement of Magadi MLA HC Balakrishna, who said that the five guarantees will be stopped if voters do not ensure the victory of Congress candidates in the LS polls, it seems that the Congress has already accepted its defeat. People are eager to see Narendra Modi as the prime minister again. Development works of the Modi government are giving sleepless nights to Congress leaders,” Vijayendra said.

Admitting that the BJP suffered a setback in the Assembly polls due to its own mistakes, the party state chief expressed confidence that the BJP will romp home to power by winning 130 to 140 seats in the next Assembly election. “The state is reeling under drought. Over 500 farmers have committed suicide. But the state government has not come out with any scheme to bail out the farmers. It is only dangling a carrot in the name of guarantees in front of the people,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka alleged that CM Siddaramaiah was playing divisive politics by causing fissures among castes. “He hates saffron colour. Siddaramaiah may have Rama in his name, but he has Tipu in his heart,” he claimed.

NEW DELHI: Even as the Uttarakhand government is preparing to bring a draft bill on Uniform Civil Code (UCC) next week, the BJP’s long-time poll promise of a nationwide UCC is unlikely to materialise before the Lok Sabha elections, according to highly placed sources in the government.

According to the source, the 22nd Law Commission of India, which is tasked with drafting of the bill, is yet to complete consultations with stakeholders to formulate a comprehensive draft bill on UCC. “The consultations are still on and it is unlikely that the commission will submit its report before LS polls,” said the official.

The UCC, which comes under Article 44 of the Constitution of India, calls for a common set of laws for all religious communities on matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession.

While the Uttarakhand UCC is expected to be a model for the Central UCC, the official said, “We cannot replicate a state model for the Central law. Indian personal law is pretty complex with each religion having its own specific laws. In each state, the situation is different. We may adopt some elements from it,” he said.

The commission, headed by justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, is in the process of holding consultations with experts and stakeholders, including religious scholars and representatives from various religious and women’s organisations, said the source. While various tribal groups across the country, including northeastern states, have strongly opposed the proposed UCC, the official said that the government is likely to exclude tribals from the ambit of the UCC.

In June last year, the Law Commission issued a notification calling for the opinion of various stakeholders on the proposed legislation. A political row broke out after Prime Minister Modi made a strong pitch for the implementation of nationwide UCC. Many political parties have questioned the Law Commission’s decision to revisit UCC despite the previous commission’s detailed consultation paper on the subject in August 2018.

Speaking to this paper, a member of the 21 st Law Commission said that Muslim personal laws will have to be codified before drafting laws for UCC as Hindu and Christian personal laws have already been codified.

Different UCCs defeat the purpose: Oppn

Though two other BJP ruled states – Gujarat and Assam — are expected to follow Uttarakhand in implementing the Uniform Civil Code, opposition parties argue that if different states have different UCCs, the purpose of having a ‘common law for all’ will be defeated.