New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP on Wednesday of attempting to “buy” 10 of his party MLAs in Punjab by offering them Rs 25 crore each.

He also alleged that the saffron party is planning an “Operation Lotus” to poach MLAs from other parties in every state, either with the help of money or the fear of agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

“We came to know on Tuesday that they (BJP) tried to buy MLAs in Punjab by offering them Rs 25 crore each. Ten of our MLAs were approached. They will address a press conference on Wednesday and expose the BJP,” Kejriwal said.

“They are buying MLAs and making governments fall, which is dangerous for democracy,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader told a press conference here.

He alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using public money to “buy” legislators due to which inflation is rising in the country.

Kejriwal also hit out at the Congress after eight of its MLAs in Goa switched over to the saffron camp, saying the grand old party has failed to prevent its lawmakers from being poached.

“The party that is buying MLAs is dangerous for democracy but the Congress is also at fault. Why only Congress MLAs get poached? Why can’t they buy our MLAs despite their attempts?” he asked.

“They (BJP) tried to buy our MLAs in Delhi and now in Punjab, but we exposed them,” he added.

Eight Congress legislators in Goa, including former chief minister Digambar Kamat, joined the ruling BJP on Wednesday, in a body blow to the opposition party, which is now left with just three MLAs in the 40-member state Assembly.

Later, Kejriwal also took to Twitter and questioned the BJP’s source of money to “buy” MLAs.

“After Delhi, these people (BJP) have now reached Punjab to buy our MLAs. Where are these thousands of crores of rupees coming from? They should understand — we are not the Congress, no one can buy us. The way they are making elected governments fall one by one, this has become a very serious issue for the country and democracy,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.

The AAP’s Punjab leadership said it will submit a complaint to the director general of police along with evidence in support of its allegation that the BJP is offering Rs 20-25 crore each to its MLAs in an attempt to topple the Bhagwant Mann government.

Replying to a query on a photo being circulated on social media where he is seen travelling purportedly in a chartered plane, Kejriwal said it was a tactic of the saffron party to divert the attention of people from real issues ahead of the Gujarat polls.

“We are getting a good response in Gujarat. They (BJP) never debate on real issues. When you ask them about the condition of schools in Gujarat, they circulate some picture. These are tactics (to divert public attention from issues). Many such things will come up before the polls,” he said.

Asked about discrepancies in the delimitation of municipal wards in Delhi, Kejriwal said the AAP will report the issues to the delimitation commission.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday asked whether there is any authentic figure regarding dropping out of students from educational institutions in Karnataka because of the Hijab ban and the subsequent judgement by the high court on the issue.

“Do you have those authentic figures that because of this Hijab ban and the subsequent judgement of the high court, 20, 30, 40 or 50 students have dropped out?,” a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia asked after the counsel appearing for one of the petitioners raised the issue of students, especially girls, dropping out of school.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing one of the petitioners, referred to a report and said it has testimonies of several students.

“My friend (one of the lawyers) informed me that 17,000 students had really abstained from the exams after this particular judgement,” he said to the bench hearing arguments on a batch of pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict refusing to lift the ban on hijab in educational institutions of the state.

Ahmadi said the effect of the government order in the matter would be that girls, who were earlier going and taking secular education in schools, will be forced to go back to Madrasas.

“Why should someone feel that one religious observance will obstruct in any manner legitimate or secular education or unity? Why should anyone get provoked if someone wears a Hijab and goes to school? Why should other students have a problem?” he said.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for another petitioner, argued that one of the most important parts of this case is that a person wearing a hijab cannot be discriminated against on the grounds of religion and sex.

“The reason why this case is important is when it was decided, the headlines were not that dress code was upheld, the headlines were hijab has been struck down by the Karnataka High Court,” he said.

The bench observed that it does not go by what is written in the newspapers.

Dhavan argued that across India and in the entire world, whether it is an Islamic state or otherwise, Hijab is recognised as valid.

He said if according to the tenets of the faith, something is being done in a particular way and it is bona fide, then that has to be followed.

“We do not have to go back to the text. We have to examine whether the practice is prevalent or not prevalent. If the practice is prevalent and it is not mala fide As long as it is bona fide and exists as long as practice, that is enough,” he said.

Arguing that this is not a simple case of discipline, Dhavan said what is the justification, ocular or otherwise, to say that Hijab is opposed to public order.

“There is none,” he said, adding that there is a campaign that hijab must go.

“This is not a ‘yes’, ‘no’ issue. This is not an issue where you say we have a disciplinary code, follow it. What are the obligations on the authority concerned to bring a measure of inclusiveness as far this is concerned and to apply the least restrictive approach,” he said?

“It is probably targeting Muslims and Muslim women in particular and therefore contrary to Articles 14 and 15. And this kind of targeting without any sensitivity is contrary to law and the Constitution,” Dhavan said.

When he said that today, there is a lot of discontent in the majority community to knock down whatever comes by way of a claim in the name of Islam and cited the example of cow lynching, the bench observed, “You will be well advised to confine to this case rather than others.”

Ahmadi said if a woman chooses to wear a Hijab, why should that provoke anyone else?

“And if it does, you have to actually address that. Because otherwise, you are effectively allowing someone to be bullied,” he said.

Ahmadi argued that to say, one would not tolerate someone wearing Hijab, is completely contrary to the spirit of fraternity as enshrined in the preamble.

“The GO (government order) does not say no Hijab,” the bench observed.

When Ahmadi argued about the dropout of students, the bench said this argument has been raised at this stage and it was not part of the petition filed earlier before the high court.

“It is not a legal question, it is a factual question. Whether there is a dropout, . drop out rate of girls or the boys. What is the age group? These are all factual,” the bench said.

Ahmadi said, “We all know why a person wears a Hijab. There is a level of conservativeness in those families”.

Referring to the National Education Policy, he said the legitimate state interest should be to promote education.

“Does public interest lie in enforcing discipline or does it lie in promoting education? And what is the degree of discipline which is compromised by allowing someone to hear a Hijab,” he said.

“It is that balance that your lordships will have to strike and the state will also have to strike,” he told the bench during the arguments which would continue on Thursday.

The state government’s order of February 5, 2022, by which it had banned wearing clothes that disturb equality, integrity, and public order in schools and colleges, was referred to in the apex court.

Several pleas have been filed in the top court against the March 15 verdict of the high court holding that wearing of hijab is not a part of the essential religious practice which can be protected under Article 25 of the Constitution.

Mangaluru: The organs of a 16-year-old boy were retrieved and successfully sent to various recipients by a private hospital here on Wednesday.

A PU student who was critically injured after falling from a city bus a week ago and was under treatment at the hospital here was declared brain dead on Tuesday. His grieving parents had decided to donate his organs to needy patients.

Yashraj, son of Tyagaraj and Mamatha, residents of Mastikatte in Ullal fell off a city bus on September 7. He was a first year PU student of computer science. He was travelling in the bus from Ullal Masthikatte NH66 when he got thrown out of it and suffered critical head injuries.

He was admitted to a private hospital for treatment. However, his condition did not improve even after a week’s treatment and he was declared brain dead Tuesday afternoon.

As parents of the boy expressed their willingness, his liver, kidneys and cornea were retrieved to be transplanted.

The procedure of organ transplantation was carried out by ‘Jeevasarthakate’ that has been constituted by the Karnataka government for a sustained deceased donor (cadaver) transplantation programme in the state.

The doctors said the family of donor plays an integral part in organ transplant. Awareness about the benefit of organ transplant needs to be spread to the general public, they said.

LAKHIMPUR KHERI: Six people were arrested on Thursday in connection with the rape and murder of two Dalit teenage sisters in Nighasan here, police said.

Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police (SP) told reporters, “We have arrested Junaid, Sohail, Hafizur Rehman, Karimuddin, Arif and Chottu in an overnight operation.”

Junaid and Sohail were in a relationship with the two sisters, the SP said.

“As per the preliminary investigation, the two sisters left their home on Wednesday afternoon on the persuasion of Junaid and Sohail. Junaid and Sohail have confessed that they strangulated the girls after raping them,” said the SP.

The girls’ mother had on Wednesday claimed that they were murdered.

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday took a swipe at Ghulam Nabi Azad, who quit the party recently, saying “climate change” has taken place and he has become a “loyal soldier” of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh tagged a tweet of a video clip of Azad, in which the former Congress leader is heard saying that he opposes the government’s policies but does not abuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi like Rahul Gandhi.

“Climate change ho gaya hai aur ab yeh janab BJP ke wafadaar sipahi ban gaye hain (climate change has taken place and this gentleman has become a loyal soldier of the BJP),” Ramesh tweeted.

Azad ended his five-decade association with the Congress last month, saying the party was comprehensively destroyed and lashing out at Rahul Gandhi for “demolishing” its entire consultative mechanism.

The Congress had slammed Azad, alleging that his DNA had been “Modi-fied”.

The opposition party had also linked his resignation to the end of his Rajya Sabha tenure.

The Congress slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday over his remarks at the world dairy summit, saying the “white revolution” was entirely because of Tribhuvandas Patel, V Kurien and the great cooperative institutions they created.

Speaking after inaugurating the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022 on Monday, Modi had said since 2014, “our government has worked relentlessly to enhance the potential of India’s dairy sector”.

“Today, its result is visible in terms of milk production as well as the increased income of farmers. In 2014, India produced 146 million tonnes of milk. Now, it has increased to 210 million tonnes. That is, an increase of about 44 per cent,” the prime minister had said.

“Jagadguru of Jhoot is now claiming to have made India the world’s largest milk producer, which it became in 1998,” Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet, in an apparent reference to Modi’s remarks at the summit.

“The White Revolution was entirely because of Tribhuvandas Patel, Dr.V. Kurien and the great cooperative institutions they created,” the former Union minister added.

In his remarks at the summit, Modi had said milk production is growing at the rate of 2 per cent in the world, whereas in India, its growth rate is more than 6 per cent.

“The per capita availability of milk in India is much higher than the world average. In the last three-four years, our government has directly transferred about Rs 2 lakh crore to the bank accounts of small farmers,” he had said.

A large part of this amount was credited to the bank accounts of the farmers associated with the dairy sector, he had said.

Due to the hard work of small farmers and their livestock, India is currently the largest milk-producing country in the world, the prime minister had said.

CHANDIGARH: Traditional logic in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh could indicate that the state is low-hanging fruit for the Congress – no party in the past has won consecutively.-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 

The reality, however, is no music for the badly divided party banking on freebies. And then, an aggressive AAP is knocking on the doors of power after a landslide in neighbouring Punjab.

The ruling BJP is emboldened enough to claim a repeat performance. The party is organizing itself at a micro-level with the slogan ‘Mission Repeat’ under the leadership of the PM, who is due to address a rally in the state on Sept 24.

The AAP has announced 10 ‘guarantees’ for the people. Some of these include Rs 1,000 per month to every woman, an unemployment allowance, and free pilgrimage for the elderly. The party believes its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal has enough of charisma to counter both the BJP and Congress.

Congress continues to play up the legacy politics. New state party chief Pratibha Singh banks on her late husband, former Virbhadra Singh. She has announced a string of sops — five lakh jobs, Rs 1,500 allowance to women and 300 units of free power.

In the last assembly polls, the BJP won 44 of the 68 assembly seats with a vote share of 48.8%, improving the party’s vote share from 38.47% in 2012.

The 2017 polls saw the best-ever performance by the saffron party in terms of vote share since it first contested elections in the state in 1982.

In terms of seats, the party put up the second-best performance: in 1990, it had won 46 seats.

Congress won 21 of the 68 seats with a vote share of 41.7%, slightly down from 42.81% in 2012. The state in the last assembly polls recorded the highest voter turnout of 74.61% breaking the previous record of 74.51% in 2003.

Both the Congress and BJP have taken turns to rule the state since 1985.

Political analysts believe that it will not be easy for AAP to create much impact in Himachal given the entrenched two-party system in the state.

The Congress on Tuesday dubbed the AAP as “B team of BJP” and said the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is trying to mislead the voters of Himachal Pradesh by making false promises in the name of pre-poll guarantees.

Congress spokesperson Alka Lamba told the media here that there would be a direct contest between the ruling BJP and the Congress in the hill state in the coming assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year.

The Himachal bypolls have proved that only Congress is in a position to defeat the “double engine” government of BJP, she said, adding that the coming assembly polls would be fought on the issues of unemployment, inflation, apple orchardists and women security.

Congress defeated BJP in HP bypolls to Mandi Lok Sabha seat and three assembly seats of Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai held in October last year.

The AAP, “BJP’s B team”, is making “false promises” in the name of poll guarantees in an effort to mislead the electors of the hill state, she added.

Congress was in direct contest with BJP in Uttarakhand and Goa polls but AAP contested elections in both the states to “ensure” BJP’s victory, Lamba alleged.

AAP is “B team of BJP” and it is evident from the fact that AAP’s CM candidate in Uttarakhand joined BJP after losing his security deposit, she said.

Lamba further stated that the entire AAP unit of Himachal Pradesh had also joined BJP overnight in the presence of its national president J P Nadda.

At the press conference, Punjab Youth Congress president Barinder Singh Dhillon claimed that the voters of Punjab have fed up with the AAP government within a few months as it failed to maintain the law and order situation.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJP will take suggestions from at least 50,000 people to prepare its manifesto for the upcoming polls, state BJP president Suresh Kashyap said.

Kashyap told the media here that the party had taken suggestions from 7,000 people for its manifesto during the last Assembly elections.

Now, the BJP will take suggestions from at least 50,000 people to prepare its “vision document”, he added.

The BJP has made 21 sub-committees and is also sending letters to all sections of society to seek their suggestions, he added.

It has also launched its web portal, Bjphpsankalpatra2022.org, for getting suggestions online, he said, adding that a WhatsApp number will also be released.

The “vision document” will target the common man to improve their quality of life, he added.

Over 20 lakh people of the state have been directly benefitted from various schemes launched by the Jai Ram Thakur-led BJP government, he said, adding most initiatives were started on the basis of the promises made in the vision document.

BENGALURU: Both Houses of the Legislature, which are in session from Monday, will discuss floods and related woes across the state, especially in Bengaluru, for two to three days from Tuesday and in the end, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will give the government’s reply on Thursday.

On Monday, Opposition Congress members demanded at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) that the government allow the discussion on floods. The government agreed for two days of discussion with a possible extension of one more day if more legislators want to present their views.

While Congress has slammed the government for its failure to prevent flooding in Bengaluru by clearing encroachments on stormwater drains, BJP has hit back saying it was during the Siddaramaiah government that constructions on storm water drains were allowed.

During the session, the government is proposing to table 15 bills, while opposition members said that not more than two pieces of legislation should be tabled and enough time should be allotted for proper discussions. The Karnataka Land Revenue Act, establishment of Bengaluru transport authority, amendment to the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Bill are among the bills that are likely to be moved.

Congress leaders, meanwhile, are gearing up to attack the state government on irregularities in police sub-inspector recruitment, 40 per cent commission as alleged by the Contractors’ Association and failure to give succour to people in flood-affected areas.

HYDERABAD: With the death toll increasing to eight including women, two are pronounced critical injured at the fire accident that took place in Ruby Hotel on late Monday

Police and fire tenders still continuing to clean up the spot, identified victims from the spot are said to be belonging to Delhi, Chennai, Bihar including Andhra Pradesh.

Dead bodies of the victims are currently placed in Gandhi Hospital for postmortem and the respective families were informed.

Initial investigation revealed that one of the bikes or generator possibly exploded. Locals along with police and fire departments worked hand in hand to rescue the inmates that were stuck in the hotel.

At the time of the accident, there were 25 occupants in the hotel, which is located close to the Passport Office.

Most of the victims were asphyxiated.

The death toll is likely to increase, official sources said. Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand said it was suspected that either an e-bike or a generator placed in the Ruby Motors showroom exploded leading to the fire.

The flames leapt up the staircase and soon engulfed the cellar, ground, first and second floors of the building. More than the fire, it was the smoke that suffocated the inmates.

The thick smoke kept billowing out several hours after Fire Department officials rushed to the spot and started rescue operations. A few locals who were nearby also joined in and helped rescue precious lives.

The fire and smoke from the showroom engulfed Hotel Ruby Pride situated above the showroom killing the victims.

“It appears there are 23 rooms in all four floors in the hotel. The smoke traversed through the staircase from the bottom up to the top floor and completely engulfed all floors.”

“Some people who were sleeping in the first and second floors came to the corridor through the thick smoke and died due to asphyxiation,” Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand who visited the spot told reporters.

Exact reasons for fire, whether it is due to short circuit or charging of batteries in the cellar or in the first floor where the scooter showroom is located, will be known after the Fire Department’s investigation, he said.

“The cellar which usually should be used for parking–obviously they are doing something else. That is a matter of inquiry,” the official added.

About 24 people were said to be staying in the hotel at the time of the incident.

Firefighters rushed to the spot and rescued seven guests, who were trapped in the multi-storeyed building.

Fire Department DG Sanjay Jain said two fire tenders were pressed into service after the fire broke out at 9.20 pm. The injured were rushed to Gandhi Hospital and Yashoda Hospital.

The hotel has 23 rooms and roughly 50 per cent of the rooms were occupied when the fire broke out.

Cinematography Minister and Sanathnagar MLA Talasani Srinivas Yadav also reached the spot to supervise rescue operations.

As there was no emergency exit in the ground+four-storeyed building, seven persons jumped off from different floors to save themselves. Some of the occupants tried to climb down the pipeline.

The Fire Department rescued four persons using a hydraulic elevator. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished for a quick recovery of those who were injured. 

The prime minister’s office tweeted that Rs 2 lakh would be paid to the family members of each of the deceased, and Rs 50,000 to the injured. 

“Saddened by the loss of lives due to a fire in Secunderabad, Telangana. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be paid to the next of kin of each deceased. Rs. 50,000 would be paid to the injured,” he tweeted.

The ex-gratia is being paid through the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao has also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh to the families of each of the deceased on behalf of the State government. 

Fire sprinklers out of order at Ruby Pride Hotel: Cop

Speaking to the media, both Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand and Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav said that the rescue operations were on and investigations would reveal what actually caused the explosion and fire.

The building has fire sprinklers but they did not function at the time, said DG Fire, Sanjay Jain.
A fire distress call was made at 9.37 pm and fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot.

There are several vehicles parked in the building’s cellar as well.

CV Anand said: “There were some 20 to 23 people in the building. Most of the residents were business people and seem to be north Indians. The smoke engulfed the building through the staircase. Some of them seemed to have died because of asphyxiation caused by the smoke. Four persons died in Gandhi and one in Yashoda. A woman has also succumbed.”