After Supreme Court’s verdict on the removal of ban on dance bars. The NCP on Thursday accused the Maharashtra government of presenting a weak side before the Supreme Court on the dance bar ban due to its alleged nexus with the association of bar owners.
It also demanded that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis takes immediate legal steps to ensure that dance bars do not start operating in the state once again.
“The government presented a weak side before the Supreme Court in the case due to the nexus between the government and association of dance bar owners. Because of this nexus, the present situation has emerged,” Malik said.
Leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde seconded Malik.
“The government has once again fallen short in presenting its side on dance bar ban before the court. Concerned about effects of the decision in future. The government should immediately take legal steps to see dance bars do not start operating again,” Munde said on Twitter, tagging the Chief Minister’s office in the post.
The Supreme Court on Thursday paved the way for the reopening of dance bars in Maharashtra by setting aside some provisions of a 2016 law imposing restrictions on their licensing and functioning.
The apex court quashed the provisions of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working therein) Act, 2016, like the mandatory installations of CCTV cameras in the dance bars saying they violated privacy.
The bench, however, upheld the provision restricting the timing of operation of dance bars from 6 pm to 11.30 pm.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Thursday entered the women’s singles quarterfinal of the Malaysia Masters with a straight-game win over Hong Kong’s Pui Yin Yip here.
Saina, seeded seventh, took 39 minutes to tame Yip 21-14 21-16 in her second round encounter. Saina will play second seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the last-eight stage of the first Super 500 tournament of the year on Friday.
World no. 9 Saina holds an 8-4 overall head-to-head record against Okuhara, which includes back-to-back wins over the current world no.2 in the last two tournaments at the last year’s Demark Open and the French Open. If Saina manages to go past Okuhara, the Indian might run into fourth seed Carolina Marin, who is placed in her half of the draw.
Later Thursday, seventh seed Kidambi Srikanth will take on Vincent Wing Ki Wong of Hong Kong in a men’s singles second round match, while Saina’s husband Parupalli Kashyap will be up against sixth seed Anthony Sinisuka Gingting of Indonesia. In women’s doubles, the Indian pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Siki Reddy will square off against Indonesia’s Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istarani and Rizki Amelia Pradipta in a second round tie.
BJP national general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal was admitted to a hospital in Noida where he was undergoing treatment for fever on Thursday.
He was running fever on Wednesday night and is still under observation. Some blood tests have been done and reports are awaited. He is fine but under observation, officials at Kailash Hospital here said.
Khemchand Sharma, member of BJP’s national IT and social media campaign, said that the 66 years old party office-bearer was in the hospital for “regular checkup”.
BJP National General Secretary (Organization) Shri Ram Lal ji admitted to Kailash Hospital in Noida just for regular checkup. I just had a discussion with his team. Nothing to worry, he will be discharged by today evening, Sharma tweeted.
Ram Lal has worked as a pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in western Uttar Pradesh before he was appointed to the current post in the BJP.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday termed opposition parties as ‘Compulsive Contrarians’ and accused them of manufacturing falsehood and subverting democracy by weakening an elected government.
Nations are built by those with positive mindsets and a national vigour, not by the ‘Compulsive Contrarians’, he said in a Facebook blog without naming Congress or other opposition parties.
Jaitley, according to sources, is in the US for a medical checkup.
“The Compulsive Contrarians had no qualms about manufacturing falsehood. They could concoct arguments even if they went against the general interest of the country. They could masquerade corruption as crusade. They could adopt double standards whenever it suited them”, he said in a Facebook post titled ‘The Compulsive Contrarian and his Manufactured Logic’.
Citing the tirade mounted by political parties on host of issues including 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections and the Rafale defence deal, Jaitley said that the ‘Compulsive Contrarians’ believe that this Government can do no good and hence its every act must be opposed.
Nations are built by those with positive mindsets and a national vigor, not by the Compulsive Contrarians. Didn’t left-liberals find fault with the various actions that Gandhiji took during the freedom movement? Weakening a Sovereign Elected Government and strengthening the unelectable is only a subversion of democracy, he wrote.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the BJP is fully committed to fulfilling the dreams and aspirations of the country’s talented youngsters, as the party’s youth wing launched its campaign for his return to power in the Lok Sabha polls.
I commend the energetic BJYM team for their #VijayLaksh2019 movement that will mobilise Yuva Shakti from all over India on a large scale for a strong mandate for the BJP. Our Party is fully committed to fulfilling the dreams and aspirations of our talented youngsters. #NaMoYuva, Modi tweeted.
The prime minister’s tweet came after Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) chief Poonam Mahajan launched a campaign of 17 different programmes aimed at connecting with young voters with the slogan ‘Laksh hamara, Modi dobara’ (Our aim, Modi again).
The BJYM has named the exercise “Vijay Laksh 2019”.
The Supreme Court on Thursday relaxes strict restrictions and set aside certain provisions of a law imposing restrictions on the licensing and functioning of the dance bars in Maharashtra.
A bench headed by Justice A K Sikri quashed certain provisions of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working therein) Act, 2016 like the mandatory installation of CCTVs and a partition between bar rooms and the dance floor.
The top court, however, upheld some provisions. It allowed the payment of tips to performers but made it clear that showering of currency notes cannot be allowed.
It quashed the provision mandating that dance bars in Maharashtra should be one kilometre away from religious places and educational institutions.
It also upheld the condition fixing the timing of dance bars in the state from 6 pm to 11.30 pm.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with BJP’s booth-level workers from South Goa parliamentary constituency through tele-conferencing on January 20.
Around 4,000 booth-level workers would attend the interaction to be held at a school ground in Margao town of South Goa, located around 35 km from Panaji, BJP Lok Sabha member Narendra Sawaikar told reporters on Wednesday.
Sawaikar, who represents South Goa constituency in the Lok Sabha, expressed confidence that the BJP will retain both the parliamentary constituencies (the other being North Goa) from the state in the forthcoming general elections.
“Goa has witnessed a big development push as the BJP has been at the helm at the Centre and in the state,” he said.
Various infrastructure works, including the construction of bridges, are among the highlights of the Union government’s performance, he added.
Amidst the fever of elections across the nation from Panchayat to states to the Centre, all the political parties are leaving no stones unturned to come to power. But since the BJP has come back to power, after a sabbatical of 10 years, the party is determined to win them all, by hook or crook. In a new shock to BJP ahead of the elections, a huge cache of weapons was seized from a shop owned by BJP leader in Mumbai have hit the headlines. However, the question here arises that can this word prove to be a drawback to the party that earlier promised for clean governance?
When Afternoon Voice called the CMO asking why the leader was not expelled from the party and why the CM of the state, who’s also a BJP leader, is maintaining silence on such crucial issue ahead of the 2019 general elections, while the CM was unavailable for comment, his office bearers too maintained blatant silence to our queries.
Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde stated, “Kalyan and Dombivali which was earlier popularly known for its cultural activities will now be known as a criminal hub. Strict action should be taken against the BJP leader interrogating him on how and where he got the weapons from. As claimed, if the ammunition are kept for business purposes, he must be having a legal license. Since it’s not, there must be some illegal intention behind that.”
On Wednesday, the police have recovered around 180 weapons including swords, knives and kukris, worth Rs 1.86 lakh during a raid at a fashion products shop in Dombivli district owned by BJP leader Dhananjay Kulkarni. The raid was conducted on early Wednesday following a tip-off, the official said, adding that the owner of the shop has been arrested. The weapons were kept on sale at the shop named Tapasya House of Fashion, which deals in fashion and cosmetic products, Sanju John, senior inspector of Kalyan unit of Thane Crime Branch, said.
“During the raid, around 170 weapons, including air guns, 10 swords, 38 press button knives, 25 choppers, nine kukris, nine guptis (bladed weapon concealed in a wooden case), five knives, three axes, one sickle, were recovered,” he said.
As per the reports, the outlet has been in operation over the last seven months. According to police, the accused had procured the arms from Crawford Market in south Mumbai, as well as from Punjab and Rajasthan. Kulkarni was on Wednesday produced before a local court, which remanded him in judicial custody at Kalyan Court.
BJP spokesperson Shweta Shalini said, “According to my knowledge, the weapons found with Dhananjay Kulkarni were air guns and brought for the purpose of his personal business use. BJP will never support such criminals nor the party is linked with any such illegal works. The investigation is on and soon the truth will come out. In case, if weapons were brought for the illegal reasons, justice will be done.”
NCP MLC Vidya Chavan stated, “BJP is becoming an organisation that supports the criminals and it’s a hub for the leaders that are involved in crimes. The saffron party is always ahead to provoke communal violence ahead of the elections. Looking at the history of the BJP leaders like its party President and the PM, Dhananjay Kulkarni is also following their footsteps and ideology. The BJP-led government always tries to shut such cases. The party is at back foot both at the Centre and State; hence, by creating violence, they are trying to gain the vote bank which they have always been doing.”
In a similar case, earlier in August last year, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra police arrested Vaibhav Raut, who was a suspected member of a right-wing Hindu organisation, Sanatan Sanstha at Nalasopara in Palghar district near Mumbai and seized eight crude bombs and explosives from his house. Nonetheless, in a recent revelation where BJP leader was caught red-handed with arms and ammunition, many fingers are being pointed out at Kulkarni for his connections with the outfit linked to two high profile murder cases, including that of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, and also terror activities in Goa and Maharashtra.
Congress MLA Arif Naseem Khan commented, “Until now, wherever raid has been conducted, the accused are linked to either BJP or Sangh Parivar. Their agenda is to create violence and riots in the nation; in this case, the accused arrested is also somewhere linked to BJP and the party is linked to Sangh Parivar and has brought the weapons for the same purpose. The right-wing organsiations are harmful to this country. There has been no conclusion on any such previous matters like the most recent one, where a Sanastha member from Nalasopara was arrested but currently there is no update on it and the cases are being manipulated. The ruling party is supporting all the criminal-minded people.”
Recently in the assembly, BJP faced a major flow and is already biting the dust in all its bastions, while the Congress and other oppositions are making all efforts to dethrone the saffron party. However, the Congress has managed to recover its sheen and their leaders are not giving any opportunity to take a dig at them, be it corruption or other cases. The opposition is looking out for a chance to return to power; in such a scenario, BJP and its leaders need to be more careful in their conduct.
Justice (retired) B.G. Kolse-Patil expressed, “In our country, BJP and Sangh Parivar are the masterminds behind all the riots that have taken place after 1993. Dhananjay Kulkarni is caught, however, the mastermind behind this is yet to be caught. Since the elections are near, BJP is planning to create communal riots. In the past, BJP created violence in Bhima-Koregaon and no action was taken against the main accused Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote and they were released soon. Similarly, in this case, also, Dhananjay will also be released soon without any investigation. BJP and Sangh Parivar always want to create riots and never want this country to be in peace.”
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
A bacchanalia of self-destruction is underway in the BJP. The party that claims to be different has many skeletons in their back yard. Our Prime Minister who promised the people of India about intolerance towards criminal and corrupt politicians are now energetically backing his ministers who brazenly intervened in the CBI’s investigations into scams. He keeps silent on all those politicians who have committed blunders. BJP in its nature has always taken a U-turn on every promise that they made to the voters during the 2014 election campaigns.
This is not the first time that a BJP leader is arrested for keeping arms. Nearly 108 types of weapons including guns, swords, machetes, and knives were recovered from the shop of the BJP leader Dhananjay Kulkarni in Maharashtra’s Thane. However, the State, as well as the Central BJP governments, have maintained silence. The weapons were recovered in a raid conducted by the Kalyan Crime Branch. Kulkarni is the Deputy Chief of BJP in Dombivali (Thane). He has been sent to judicial custody.
In a similar case, a few months ago, the BSF personnel recovered a pistol, live ammunition, and contraband drugs from a residential house in Tarapur area of Dhanpur constituency, an area very close to the India-Bangladesh border. Commandant of the 145 battalion of the BSF recovered the arms and ammunition from the house of Abdul Rahman, who is a BJP leader. A large number of arms and ammunition that was supposed to be smuggled across the India-Bangladesh border before the Assembly election in Tripura was recovered from his house. Rahman is an active BJP worker and he has contested the 2015 Panchayat elections as a BJP candidate. This is a very dangerous trend; go to any state, some or the other violence cases are lodged against the BJP leaders but our beloved Prime Minister has no time to sack them or condemn these acts. Ahead of the elections, if such things are hitting headlines, one can imagine what kind of violence is expected in the future. Kalyan Crime Branch conducted raid early on Wednesday morning on the shop of the BJP’s Dhananjay Kulkarni leading to the recovery of a huge arsenal from the premises. Kulkarni was in the business of procuring the weapons from Mumbai and selling it to the local goons in Kalyan and Dombivli. He was an arms mafia and how can BJP ever entertain such candidates as their leaders?
Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari was so right in saying that the BJP has so much power that it can change a criminal into Maharishi Valmiki. He was speaking at the Maharashtra BJP’s two-day annual convention. Arrogance, lust for power, and religious bigotry have unfortunately made these politicians inhuman, ignoring thousands of years of our heritage, our culture of tolerance and acceptance; and our ability to assimilate with fellow human beings. The foot soldiers of the political parties are bullies who always pick on those of our countrymen who are simple voters. Unfortunately, over a period of time, our past and present political leaders have encouraged them to do only their bidding and not what they are trained to do, viz. upholding the laws of the land. One can cite the innumerable instances of recent years where the keepers of the law and order have not just shirked their duty but colluded with the culprits because they are either in awe of them or for currying their favours for rewards of one kind or the other. We are now in an election year of numerous elections from Panchayat to states to the Centre. Elections in our country have always been a no holds barred affair, but since the BJP has come back to power, after a sabbatical of 10 years, it is determined to win them all, by hook or crook. Unfortunately, all governments since Independence have failed the people; some more than the others. Dear voters, vote with responsibility by choosing a good leader who can think of your well-being and progress by not luring in false sentiments or promises.
The time has come that the saffron masterminds should learn from the grave blunders even once. They had got wild to lose Manipur and Goa. They were boastful about Bijepur in Odisha but had to bite the dust like never before. Their boss began to talk like an extortionist wherever he went to campaign for the party before polls. Lately, they lost major states recently. BJP workers were made to believe that the turn belongs to the BJP as Shah has made all arrangements to ensure win to form a monopoly government in MP, Rajasthan and, Madhya Pradesh, but they have to take the humiliating loss. No Modi magic or strategies of Amit Shah worked here. People are switching to Congress because of nonsensical blunders committed by the BJP leaders. To take voters in confidence, this is the time that BJP should come forward and must condemn the charlatans within the party. The more they maintain silence; more would be the doubts in the voters about PM’s integrity. As the BJP is already biting the dust in all its bastions, the Congress is celebrating. However, Congress has managed to recover its sheen. The most attacked Rahul Gandhi has matured to challenge the ruling party and the PM. Their leaders are maintaining their stand as such there is nothing fresh to take a dig at them, be it corruption or other cases. Congress is looking out for a chance of returning to power; in such a scenario, BJP and its leaders need to be more careful in their conduct.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
Telangana BJP President K Laxman on Wednesday took a swipe at opposition parties over their proposed grand alliance, saying that they were not able to decide their prime ministerial candidate.
On the other hand, the BJP would go to the people seeking their mandate to bring back the “decisive leadership” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he told reporters here.
There can be no comparison between the leadership of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Modi, he claimed.
Noting that the previous experiments of forming fronts at the national level had failed, he also said that the regional parties come together without a national prospective.
Though BJP did not fare well in the December 7 assembly elections in Telangana, the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls would be different, he added.
