Questioning the Delhi University over its alleged silence on the procurement of EVMs used in DUSU elections, the Congress on Friday demanded that a revote be held with ballot papers.

The party also questioned the poll panel over “privately sourced EVMs” used in the student body elections, adding that its demand for the last two years on the use of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails in DUSU elections had been ignored.

“The Election Commission on Thursday clarified that they did not supply the Electronic Voting Machines used in Delhi University Students Union elections. After the EC clarification on the EVMs, why didn’t the varsity tell from where it got these EVMs,” Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken asked while speaking to the media here.

He also claimed the EVMs were tampered with, adding that it resulted in the defeat of Congress-affiliated NSUI on three of the four DUSU posts.

The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad won three of the four seats, while the National Students Union of India got one post in the elections, the results of which were declared on Thursday.

“Whenever there is EVM malfunctioning, the BJP ends up winning elections,” the Congress leader quipped.

The Congress leader said that the varsity issued a circular on September 10 to all affiliated colleges’ principals on the use of EVMs on election day.

“Hyderabad-based Electronic Corporation India Limited (ECIL) supplied EVMs to the Delhi University. It is the same company that provides EVMs to the Election Commission too,” Maken said, adding that without permission from the poll panel, ECIL cannot supply EVMs to anyone.

“When the EC’s committee concerned did not approve the EVMs’ supply to the DU, how did it happen? And if the EC did give the nod for the supply, why has the information been hidden from us?” the Congress leader questioned.

“The EVMs are being tampered. And if the EVMs have been tampered for the DU polls, why cannot they be tampered in the general elections?”

(IANS)

There has been speculation that Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy plans to divide Belagavi for better administration. This had evoked sharp criticism and now drawing curtains to it, the CM’s official sources called it a cunning plot by the opposition.

As the CM is all set to visit Belagavi district this Saturday, September 15, the rumours around Kumaraswamy’s plans to split Belagavi into Gokak and Chikkodi districts have been making rounds.

“CM Kumaraswamy started with dividing north and south Karnataka and when he didn’t succeed he now wants to divide districts. HDK has restored to playing with feelings of Kannadigas to save his CM seat. Hiding under the blanket of regional party HDK is becoming a threat to State,” tweeted state BJP.

(PTI)

Bihar’s seasoned politician and Lok Sabha member Pappu Yadav says that jailed veteran politician Lalu Prasad has become irrelevant in politics and his main backer, the powerful Yadav youth, are desperately looking for a new face outside the Lalu family to lead them.

“The era of Lalu’s monopoly in Bihar, mainly on Yadavs and Muslims, is virtually over. Yadav youth have no sympathy and affiliation with him now. The entire Lalu family exploited the Yadavs and Muslims in Bihar for decades,” claimed the 50-year-old Pappu Yadav, the founder of Jan Adhikar Party, in an interview to IANS.

Pappu Yadav is in active politics for about three decades and he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991. He defeated senior leader Sharad Yadav in the 2014 parliamentary polls in Madhepura to become a Lok Sabha member for the fifth time. Pappu Yadav’s wife Ranjeet Ranjan is a Lok Sabha member from the Congress from Bihar’s Supaul seat.

As per 2011 census, Yadavs make up 14 per cent of Bihar’s population while Muslims constitute 16.9 percent. Yadavs and Muslims have always been the core vote bank for Lalu Prasad.

“The older generation among Yadav and Muslim have some sympathy for Lalu because he is in ailing after being convicted in the fodder scam but I can tell you the Yadav youth dislike him and are looking for a fresh face who can economically empower them,” said Pappu Yadav.

“Every sensible brain in Bihar, particularly among Yadavs and Muslims, know that Lalu kept them economically poor deliberately in a bid to use them as vote bank for years. They had no option but to back up Lalu family but now youths are determined to get rid of Lalu family to overcome backwardness.”

He said that Yadavs in Bihar never trusted Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and there was still a big disconnect and trust deficit exist between Nitish Kumar and the Yadav community.

“For roughly three decades, Lalu tactically didn’t allow leaders from Yadav community to grow to a level where his leadership can be challenged. Thus the entire Yadav caste was further pushed to backwardness and so the case was with minorities in Bihar. Muslims were left with no option but to vote only for Lalu. But now youths are looking for a better option outside Lalu family,” Pappu Yadav contended.

Pappu Yadav slammed the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government and said development of Bihar had been stalled, youth migration to other states in search of jobs had risen, the law order situation has worsened and sexual assault on women and girl child has increased to all time high now.

He added that Bihar had also become a safe haven for mob lynchers.

(IANS)

Former Meghalaya Chief Minister Donwa Dethwelson Lapang on Thursday resigned from the Congress, with which he was associated for four decades.

Lapang’s resignation is a major blow to the opposition Congress in the northeasten region as it has come ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, and the upcoming Mizoram assembly elections.

In his resignation letter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Lapang, 84, noted that he is quitting the party as it has embarked upon a policy of phasing out senior and elderly people.

“In my opinion, it means that services and contributions of senior and elderly people are not useful to the party. Since the spirit and enthusiasm to work for the people is still burning inside me, this restriction made me frustrated and compelled me to be no longer comfortable in the party,” Lapang said.

“With my present age and health condition, I have decided to serve the country, my state and its people in the same manner wherever I am,” he noted.

The veteran political leader stated that he worked devotedly, leaving no stone un-turned while performing his service for the party, as a “true and disciplined Congress man and always cooperated with the AICC (All India Congress Committee) even to the extent of accepting sacrifices for the sake of unity and strength of the party. …”

The five-time Chief Minister of Meghalaya did not contest the February 2018 assembly elections but campaigned for the Congress.

(IANS)

The Congress party on Thursday denied having received any invitation from the RSS for its President Rahul Gandhi to attend a three-day lecture series and said the BJP-RSS have been spreading fake news.

“RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak sangh) and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) have been spreading this fake news for a while with regard to sending invites as if it was some kind of Medal of Honour,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

No such invite has been received by the Congress party, and in any case, it is not a medal of honour as their inherently divisive, sectarian and hate-filled agenda is known to one and all, he added.

The RSS was critical of Rahul Gandhi for drawing comparisons of between the Sangh and Islamic State (IS) and Muslim Brotherhood, and was planning to invite him for a three-day lecture series next month to enlighten people about the organisation.

(IANS)

The CBI said Thursday the change in a 2015 Look Out Circular against liquor baron Vijay Mallya from “detain” to merely informing about his movements was an “error” in judgement because he was cooperating in the probe and there was no warrant against him.

Three years later as the controversy surfaced again Thursday, the CBI sources said when the first Lookout Circular (LoC) was issued on October 12, 2015, Mallya was already abroad.

Upon his return the agency was asked by the Bureau of Immigration (BoI), if Mallya should be detained as sought in the LoC to which the CBI said there was no need to arrest or detain him as he was a sitting MP and there was no warrant against him, they said.

It said the agency only wanted information on his movements, they said.

Besides, the probe was in an initial stage and the CBI was collecting documents from the IDBI in the Rs 900 crore loan default case, they said.

The CBI issued a fresh LoC against Mallya in the last week of November, 2015 asking airport authorities across the country to “inform” it about Mallya’s movements, thus replacing its previous circular which had sought detention of the businessman if he attempted to leave the country, they said.

The LoC depends on the issuing authority and, unless it asks the BoI to detain a person or to stop him from boarding a plane, no action is taken.

The sources said Mallya travelled abroad in October and returned in November, then made two trips in first and last week of December and also a trip in January, 2016.

In between, he had appeared for questioning thrice since the lookout notices were issued — once in New Delhi and twice in Mumbai between December 9 and 12, 2015.

The sources said the change in the notice was an error in judgement and since he had been cooperating, there was no reason to stop him from moving abroad.

On March 2, 2016, Mallya left the country and has been in the United Kingdom where he has been fighting the extradition case.

A local court in Maharashtra has issued an arrest warrant against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and 15 others in a 2010 case related to an agitation by them over the Babli project across river Godavari.

The judicial first class magistrate of Dharmabad in Nanded district, N R Gajbhiye, issued the order, directing police to arrest all the accused and produce them in the court by September 21.

Naidu and others, then in the opposition in the united Andhra Pradesh, had been arrested and lodged in a jail in Pune in connection with the agitation staged by them near the Babli project site in Maharashtra, opposing it on ground that it would affect the people downstream.

All were released later though they did not seek bail.

The court order, dated July 5 and supposed to be executed by August 16 but corrected to September 21, was issued on a petition filed by a Maharashtra resident.

Besides Naidu, state Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and Social Welfare Minister N Anand Babu, former MLA G Kamalakar (who subsequently joined the TRS) were among the Telugu Desam Party workers booked in the case.

They have been charged with the Indian Penal Code offences, including assault or criminal force, to deter public servant from discharge of duty, voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means, act endangering life or personal safety of others, criminal intimidation among others.

Naidu was the leader of opposition in the united Andhra Pradesh then and the case has been pending trial all these years.

Reacting to the news about the court order, Naidu’s son and state Information Technology Minister N Lokesh said his father and other TDP leaders would attend the court.

“He fought to protect the interests of Telangana. He even refused to seek bail when he was arrested,” Lokesh said.

The chief minister is currently camping in Tirumala near Tirupati, attending the annual brahmotsavam of Lord Venkateswara temple there.

(PTI)

Rejecting Rahul Gandhi’s demand for resignation of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the BJP on Thursday sought to turn the tables by asking Congress President to quit from his post because of his alleged involvement in the National Herald case.

The party also dismissed the claims of Congress leader P.L. Punia, who told the media that Jaitley and fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya met in the Central Hall of Parliament before the latter fled the country on March 2, 2016.

“Rahul Gandhi, who is facing serious criminal charges, should first resign. The people of the country should thank Arun Jaitley, who is working to bring the money back which was looted during the Congress rule,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal told a press conference in response to a question over Gandhi’s demand for Jaitley’s resignation.

“Those, who took loans from hawala companies and accumulated wealth by taking government land free of cost or at lower rate from National Herald and whose case was rejected by the Delhi High Court, should resign first,” he added.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was responding to the charges made by Rahul Gandhi, who demanded Jaitely’s resignation after accusing him of colluding with fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya “and giving him a free passage” to flee the country.

Gandhi asked why the Minister did not inform the investigating agencies about Mallya’s plans to leave India.

Responding to the charges, Goyal said that comments of a criminal or a person who is under the glare of law cannot be taken for any credibility.

“It was a one-way traffic. He (Mallya) was trying to talk to somebody in the passage. By that logic, I was watching Twitter. Lots of people have put up photographs where Rahul Gandhi was seen with Arun Jaitley. I don’t think we can run away from Rahul Gandhi because he is a person accused of fraud of huge amount and high court has also dismissed his plea,” he said.

The BJP leader dubbed the charges levelled by Congress MP Punia as “incredulous” and suggested he appear before the investigative agencies. He claimed that Punia was forced to speak under pressure.

“Where was he for the last two-and-half years. He should respond to the investigation agencies. Two-and-half-years later he remembers the conversation, the time and a so-called meeting which never took place. One suddenly raises questions on the credibility…a party colleague of Rahul Gandhi is making such incredulous claims,” he said.

Punia had claimed the meeting between Jaitley and Mallya lasted 15-20 minutes and alleged that Mallya took Jaitley’s permission after holding consultations with him about his planned flight abroad.

The Union Minister for Railways said that the Narendra Modi government never interferes in the work of investigative agencies.

“This government has acted the most against bank defaulters. I think this government took such steps to get the money back looted during Congress rule…,” he said.

Showing video clips of the statements made by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi in 2010, which showed that the then government was trying to get Kingfisher out of trouble, the BJP leader accused the Congress of breaking rules to pave the way for restructuring loans to Mallya.

“How since 2010, the Congress and the Gandhi family were having their say in the government? The PM also then said that they wanted to bail out Kingfisher airlines. This proves they allowed the loot… Congress, the Prime Minister, then Aviation Minister were also involved in the conspiracy to save Kingfisher Airlines,” he said.

“The Congress party should clarify what relations they had with Kingfisher Airlines. This shows the propensity to which the Congress can lie to cover up their sins,” he said.

(IANS)