Unmanned level crossing accidents

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December 3, 2018

While crossing unmanned level-crossings, the primary responsibility lies with the road user, and not with the railways and it is quite understandable. In the wake of several deaths in the unmanned level crossings in the country, it is a must to have a protective gate in these pockets and guarded by a responsible security located in such places for safety reasons. It was reliably learned that 1,565 of the unmanned level crossings were eliminated in 2017-18 and the target is of removing 1,600 in 2018-19 lies in the hands of Railway Ministry.

Three hurt as local train rams into a bus at Juhi level crossing raised the question of providing a guarded gate in future. Four years back a 502 Best Bus suffered the same fate and this time it was 18 number NMMT bus service which got hit by an empty train. People are really looking for safety in public carriers in general and Railways in particular. Despite commencing Railway services in the year 1853 we are still lagging behind. There are number of the unmanned level crossing in cities and there is a number of accidents involving vehicles and trains in this corridor.

The Indian Railway has been in the recent past plagued by accident and the priority of the Railway Minister should be for safety first rather than increasing the speed of the trains. More thrust should be given for safety on the road approaching unmanned level crossing appointing more staff to cope up with the requirement. Railway Minister should make it a point to cover all unmanned level crossings with proper gate and security staff. The fracture caused to the school children will matter much for the child. Railways should be vigilant in this pocket and see to it that such accidents did not occur in future with timely remedial measures.

Some six years back, new bus route of BEST 502 met with the same accident in the Juhi Nagar level crossing and the bus got damaged in the process. This is a very serious case as bus drivers are risking their lives and that of passengers. Nearly four decades ago saw, an unmanned level crossing near New Ghaziabad station, a school going girl trying to cross the unmanned level crossing got her new cycle struck up and fearing punishment at home, stayed back to retrieve the cycle lost her life and the vehicle got totally damaged. That is how we are facing inevitable in such unmanned level crossing and it is time to give a thought about providing protection to these gates.

While crossing UMLCs, the primary responsibility lies with the road user, and not with the railways. The rule while crossing such railway lines is to look both ways, stop and then proceed. In most of the cases, the driver did not stop and that was the root cause of accidents. Despite taking all the precautions, the national carrier takes could not be held responsible for the negligence of people and there is a need for taking all precautions while crossing tracks. Our thoughts are thoughts are with families of the deceased and I pray for the early recovery of the injured. Ministry of Railways will provide an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh for those with serious injuries and Rs 50,000 for those with simple injuries.

According to railway sources, a review of the existing unmanned level crossings was done based on the density of rail and road traffic. It was decided to convert most of them in a phased manner and as per funds available with the railways. After being pulled up by the Railway Board for not meeting the March 2018 deadline, steps have been taken for a fast-track mission to close all unmanned level crossings prone to accidents.

It is confirmed that the construction of ROBs and RUBs helped in safer and faster movement of trains. It also helps us to save manpower and cost of maintenance. Each manned gate has an average of four employees. There have been accidents even at manned railway gates. So it is time to apply caution and make sure that there is no danger of trains on the tracks while crossing an unmanned level crossing by foot or while crossing it on a vehicle. Especially buses used for public transportation and School buses met with such fatal accidents.

It is a must situation in the event frequent accidents on this corridor demands a major development that will enhance safety and punctuality of trains and provide all the unmanned level crossings with a support system, which can safeguard the interest of the people and the railway property.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Letters to the Editor: December 03, 2018

By

Web Team

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December 3, 2018

Shraddhanand Martyrdom Day as a public holiday

BJP led central government should honour Swamy Shraddhanand by declaring his martyrdom day of 25th December as a gazetted holiday to respect the sentiments of millions of Arya Samajists, without practically adding a holiday because the day is already a holiday for Christmas. The building where Swami Shraddhanand breathed his last is in the congested Shraddhanand Marg (Naya Bazar) of Old Delhi. The government should acquire this building to convert it into a national monument in memory of this great freedom-fighter whose activities were of prime importance not only for the freedom struggle but also for the uplift of downtrodden, Dalits and women.

Swami Shraddhanand though being a disciple of Arya-Samaj founder Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati, was an icon of national integration against the British regime. He was the only non-Islamic leader having been invited to address from the historic Jama Masjid of Delhi as unity-symbol of all Indians to fight for the independence of their country against the British. His boldness to challenge the British police to fire on his bare chest in front of the Town Hall at Chandni Chowk in Delhi, made the Congress party to gather around him for its Delhi session in the British era where leaders like Motilal Nehru, Dadabhai Noroji acknowledged him as bravest leader of those times.

– Subhash Chandra Agrawal

Airlines should build good relationships with customers

The recent issue of charging for web check-in seats by an airline seems to have taken the government by surprise. Such a move comes at a time when the Government is caught off-guard as it is too busy looking up to Tatas-Jet Airways-Etihad Airlines merger deal and its own issues related to stake sale of Indian Airlines. The issue of charging exorbitant ticket fares in the guise of recent ATF price rise, UDF at some airports, the inevitable GST component added to the basic ticket fares seems to have taken a back seat amidst gloom in the Indian aviation market.

While the rail fares are comparably reasonable and affordable, with the exception of time frame to reach a destination; the railway fares are approved under coaching tariff component by the Indian Railway Conference Association under the aegis of Railway Board and Ministry of Railways. It is ironical to note that even Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA and AERA are reluctant to play such a big brother role to keep an eye on such kind of exorbitant charges being levied with much publicity. The airlines in the guise of mounting losses and in a bid to make a faster brand presence in the market are quick to snatch every opportunity citing peak and non-peak season fares, festival fares, year-end sale, inaugural fares etc.

Hence an umbrella body like AERA needs to take up immediate, necessary and stringent steps to ensure fair ticket pricing including seat allotment tweaks adopted by some airlines. The blocking of seat by an extra amount itself burns a deep hole in the consumers’ pocket and hence the concept of web check-in, which otherwise should ease check-in process, will only lead to further complication. Instead of taking the consumers’ morale for granted for the want of space in the Indian skies, the airlines otherwise need to invest their strategy highly in an innovative way to build a strong relationship with the customers both in-flight and on the ground.

– Varun Dambal

Youngster motorcycle accident: Driving without a helmet

The death of a 21-year-old in Nerul opens up the Pandora’s Box for the need of wearing a helmet while driving. The protective headgear certainly reduces the severity of the impact on the brain. Unfortunately, the majority still prefer a severely injured brain to a fractured helmet. They don’t realise that head injuries occurring in those wearing helmets are almost never critical, provided they were a quality helmet, preferably an ISI mark helmet. The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Bangalore has also confirmed that the severity of head injury, death due to head injury, the incidence of skull fracture and occurrence of post-traumatic epilepsy were higher among those who were not using the helmet as compared to those who did. City Police have taken the lead and it is a right step in the right direction to wear a helmet and safeguard the head from fatal injuries.

– Nikhil Krishnan

Carry on Kartarpur mission

Kartarpur marks not just the reopening of a route closed by the Partition, but also the beginning of an unprecedented form of diplomacy between Indian and Pakistan. Thanks to Navjot Sidhu for another great opening innings that kindled the fire to go in for a mission.

Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district. It was established by the Sikh Guru in 1522. The first Gurdwara, Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, was built here, where Guru Nanak Dev is said to have died.

But all Credit for this goes to our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as the saying goes Modi means business. Go East, Go West, Narendra Modi is the best. Our PM Shri Narendra Modi is the person who can dare to take hard decisions like Demonetisation, GST, Surgical strike and even Kartarpur corridor. It is better to make a try rather than not to take no-decision as the UPA government was doing for a decade.

This is a corridor to the shrine of peace, harmony and humanism, to the universal vision of a world as one family, to the service to humanity. This is a corridor that opens new doors. It is a path that opens up new possibilities. In a world that is increasingly torn with narrow tunnel vision, bigotry and dogmatism, a world that is being fragmented and divided, a world that is witnessing needless violence and endless conflicts, we need all the strength to dispel the darkness that constantly threatens to envelop individuals, communities and nations.

We want good relationships with all our neighbours. But India will never accept terrorism; it will not help those who send terrorists to India. It just shows that India-Pakistan relations can change very quickly, and change over issues which are not expected to take a final shape. Both PM Modi and Pakistan PM Imran Khan are putting “bitterness” between the countries aside for Sikh Pilgrims and that is a good beginning for strengthening the relationship in future.

Finally, the concept of a “faith corridor” for pilgrims itself is unusual, as cross-border human corridors are usually used for refugee crises and anti-terror operations, and the Kartarpur corridor may set a precedent for other such cases in the future and that will in turn help to bring peace in the sub-continent.

– Anandambal Subbu

Shirdi Sai comes to rescue! Maha Govt to finish irrigation project

By

Moumita Mukherjee

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December 2, 2018

All that glitters is not gold! The Maharashtra government that is determined and proudly willing to afford a whopping amount of Rs 3,600 crore to erect a mid-Arabian Sea Shivaji statue has suddenly become so ‘cash-starved’ that it had to beg for an interest-free loan of Rs 500 crore from Shirdi Sai Trust to complete the Nilwande irrigation project which is concerned about meeting the drinking water needs of most tehsils in Ahmednagar district. Therefore, the aforesaid adage perfectly fits the incumbent Maharashtra government, an administration which is unfortunately so engrossed in the statue building spree, whose 18,000 villages in 182 talukas have been declared drought-prone, and whose decision making potential on the prime governing concerns of the state has gone haywire as it looks like.

Along with Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Kerala, Tirupati, and Vaishno Devi in Jammu, the Shirdi Sai Trust is considered amongst the richest temple trusts in the country and it manages the saint’s resting place at Shirdi. The proposal to borrow Rs 500 crore for the long-pending Rs 1,200 crore project from the trust was cleared in a meeting chaired by Fadnavis on February 1 while the fund release order in two installments was delivered on Saturday.

Congress spokesperson Raju Waghmare stated, “There’s no certainty about how this Rs 500 crore loan will be used or will it be used or not! First thing is that the non-government organisations cannot give loans like these for any government’s purpose. This government is spending so much on unnecessary things that they don’t have money for the better and necessary purposes.”

The trust’s Chairperson and BJP member Dr. Suresh Kashinath Haware granted the request made by the Fadnavis-led state government and the reason it grabbed so many eyeballs is that this is the first when such a huge amount is accorded to a state-run corporation without interest. As per reports, although the Saibaba Temple Trust and the Godawari-Marathwada Irrigation Development have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the same, repayment of the loan so far has no fixed timeframe.

The Nilwande Dam project on Pravara River is expected to benefit 182 villages in Sangamner, Akole, Rahata, Rahuri, and Kopargao tehsils in Ahmednagar district and Sinnar in Nashik. Moreover, it also received Rs 2,232 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sanjivani Yojana in June this year.

It is quite known that Maharashtra has become a home to the highest number of farmer suicide due to crop failure. Now, this year, Maharashtra has witnessed a subdued monsoon with observing scanty rains during October in a few parts of the state. These inadequate rains have resulted in arid conditions across the state which has further worsened the condition of the already grieving farmers with a dry spell after two years.

Congress MLA Bhai Jagtap exclaimed, “There’s nothing wrong in borrowing money for the irrigation project from the trust. However, the Shivaji Memorial could have waited a bit while that money would have been used for some useful purposes.”

Water scarcity in some parts due to the erratic monsoon of the state and excessive exploitation of groundwater acts as a curse and standing months away from the 2019 summer and just after the monsoon, water sources have already dried up in Marathwada and north Maharashtra making the situation nothing than worse. And, what are the after effects of this situation? They are depressing and many — the distress sale of cattle, no farm produce or damaged produce, rise in debt, spike in farmer suicides, fatal accidents while trying to draw water from drying wells and so on! Questions are also being raised whether Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan was a bluff!

Senior BJP MLA Yogesh Sagar said, “I don’t think there is any problem in taking money from the trust. The government has borrowed money and the government will repay it. Both the statue and the irrigation project will be done. If the government is getting a loan without an interest, where’s the problem?”

According to the reports in July, the Maharashtra government’s flagship water conservation scheme called as ‘Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan’, which was launched in 2016, claims to have rejuvenated water bodies and created an additional storage potential, in a state where some parts perennially face a drought-like situation. The official figures released by the government states that under the scheme, a water storage capacity of 17,27,229 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) has been created across 16,521 villages in 34 districts of the state since 2015. The data mentions that in 2015-2016, 100 per cent work under the scheme was completed in 6,202 villages.

The micro-irrigation project involves deepening and widening of streams, construction of cement and earthen stop dams, and digging of farm ponds, and gave a word to make the state free of drought by 2019. Nonetheless, the experts believe that the figures claimed by the government are contradicting totally with the reality as with the nearing of 2019 and the state is catching a sight of becoming parched. Here the question arises that is the state government not prepared enough in terms of financial resources, water management strategies etc.?

Recently, replying to PILs, the Bombay HC refused to stay the Shivaji Maharaj Memorial considering it a ‘national importance’ and the ruling government called it a ‘big relief’. Why don’t we see the same activeness and fighting spree in the government when it comes to ease the struggles of its own state people? What is more important for the government? Will the taxpayers ever get the answer?

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Majeed Memon expressed, “If the government has enough money to spend on other projects, why does it need to borrow money for helping the farmers who have been struggling for water?”

Wealthy Indian temples must step forward to help humankind

By

Vaidehi Taman

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December 2, 2018

In India, there are thousands of religious places and some of them are the richest by all means. There was always an approach that rich temples of India should be taken over by the state governments and utilise the accumulated fund for the nation building by doing developmental work. Well, the religious institutions are not only restricted to the temples, but there are also many mosques and churches in India that are hugely funded by different countries for the betterment of their own communities. If all these religious places come together and think of helping the state governments, the nation would not be needing loans from the World Bank.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government has borrowed Rs 500 crore from Shirdi Saibaba Temple Trust to complete Nilwande irrigation project. The interest-free loan has been secured to complete the pending works in the irrigation project, which will provide drinking water for Ahmednagar district. The trust’s chairperson Dr. Suresh Kashinath Haware, who is a BJP member, gave the nod to the request made by the BJP-led government in the state. The repayment schedule hasn’t been fixed as of now.

The move is extraordinary, as no state corporation has been granted an interest-free loan before. The proposal was cleared in a meeting chaired by Fadnavis on February 1 and the order to release the funds in two tranches was given last week. Saibaba Temple Trust and Godawari-Marathwada Irrigation Development have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the same. The trust will release Rs 500 crore for the irrigation project worth Rs 1,200 crore. The work has been long pending on the project. As per reports, more than 70,000 devotees visit the Shirdi temple every day and during the festival season, the number balloons to 3.5 lakh. Some regions in the Ahmednagar district face acute shortage of water and the project will benefit all tehsils in the district. Akole, Sangamner, Rahuri, Kopargain, and Shirdi and other villages will benefit once the projected is completed. As a devotee and as a citizen, I personally felt good about the entire episode. This is what is expected for the other temples too.

In India, there are two main types of temples. The Small and Medium Temples are maintained by the people of the village or by Private management trust and the Large Temples are maintained by the HR and CE department. The money that you put in Hundi, goes for God’s purpose. The trust maintains the whole temple in this Hundi money. Maintaining a temple is not an easy task. Everyday flowers, prasadam, ritual items, clothes for God have to be purchased. Every fortnight at least one or two festivals come and they have to distribute the money for it. Many offer huge donations and gold that is the surplus amount and that amount piles up and becomes permeate asset value of the Temple trust.

For famous temples, normally money, gold, and maintenance are not at all problems (Like Tirupati). Our ancient Kings and Jamindars have granted lands for the maintenance. So, the money also comes from these sources. Temple inscriptions have this evidence. Most of the large temples are maintained by the bigger trusts and HR department. But they don’t carry out all the rituals and only important ones are carried out. Again, they can distribute the money easily as they are maintaining many temples and they can direct the money from one famous temple to a simpler one. What happens to the huge donations received by any NGO from charitable and gullible foreigners, same fate can be attributed to all the temples that get unaccountable and non-taxable uncountable money in terms of cash and in kind like gold, diamond, and other ornaments, which the devotees pour on their God as a reciprocity and reverence!

If you take some of the richest temples, their annual income might be a staggering amount that could be understood only in terms of billions of dollars or pounds. The Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple is probably the richest in the whole world which takes the credit of having crossed nearly Rs 20 billion worth of assets found in one out of four treasures followed by Tirupati Venkatachalapathi earning Rs 2 crore per day and the annual income crossing around Rs 700 crores. Vaishno Devi also crosses around Rs 600 crores whereas the much talked Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak Temple trailing behind to Rs 60-70 crores per year. Shirdi Baba, who was not given proper clothes and roti and buttermilk while alive, is getting around Rs 400 crores per year revealing the bitter truth how a phantom of a man is more powerful than the actual man in blood and flesh.

Though each temple has its own auditing system, there is no accountability for them either to any external agency or government. Probably, God thinks the money that is being swindled in His name is nothing compared to the money that is laundered and manoeuvred by selfish and dishonest politicians in exploiting the BPL Indians. The beauty is to be registered into your brain here is that the devotee, who donates to his beloved God, does not care about the fate of his money that he put in Hundi.

In fact, it is interesting to hear from some great brains of India if such huge dead wealth is deposited in RBI, the Indian Rs 1 would demand $100 just reversing the current trend. Since they are good and genuine people, they want to utilise the holy money but not to unearth black money hidden with bad people.

The recent move of depositing the excess gold/cash with the RBI for which interest can be gained and gold can also be taken back after some lock-in time is to be utilised by the concerned temples, especially those which do not know what to do with such huge quantum of Gold. In such a situation, the temples can loan that amount to respective governments and help towards same humankind who are the donors and devotees of the temple.

Given chance, will young leader Scindia satisfy the youngsters of MP?

By

Vaidehi Taman

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November 30, 2018

There is a big anticipation for Congress in Madhya Pradesh. Here, the Congress party basically revolves around three personalities — Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kamal Nath, and Digvijay Singh. All of them have done their part very well, each trying to overpower the other two. On the other hand, former chief minister and All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Digvijay Singh has undertaken the Narmada Parikrama as a completely “personal and spiritual undertaking” and is also considered to be a frontrunner. Further, Kamal Nath, nine-time Lok Sabha MP and former Union Cabinet Minister, has also been speculated to be in the running for the party’s nomination for the top post. Although there seemed to be a competition for leading the party in the Assembly elections, reports suggest that a compromise has been reached and that Jyotiraditya Scindia is all set to assume the lead role and shall also be announced for the post of the Chief Minister. Scindia is seen as a young leader ready to take on a responsibility, a great sign for our democracy. Since Rahul Gandhi’s elevation as the party President, he has assumed a larger role in attacking the Union Government and its policies. The set of elections in late 2018 shall be his first real test in consolidating the anger against the government policies into fruitful results for the party. However, the extent of his involvement is open to speculation due to the conflict between success in elections and Gandhi’s projection as Modi’s direct rival.

As seen in Gujarat, the Congress has the ability to consolidate all the issues of consequence and thereby force the narrative in the campaign, rather than sporadically questioning the government of the time, without a well thought out plan. With several issues cropping up over a significant period of time, and of a varied nature, a good strategy and targeting of voters should do the trick for Congress. In Madhya Pradesh, anti-incumbency of Shivraj Singh Chouhan is at its highest. It’s almost comparable to Digvijay Singh’s times back in 2003.

The Tribal vote will be consolidated under the Congress-BSP alliance (It will have a deciding effect in 35–40 seats). Congress won the by-polls in Kolaras and Mungaoli by a few thousand votes only because BSP didn’t compete.

In 2013 polls, BJP won 44.88 per cent vote share against Congress’ 42.67 per cent. BJP got 165 seats while Congress only got 58 seats. A 2 per cent vote share difference is enough to create a 100+ seat difference. BSP vote over the last three elections has been 7 per cent. Congress+BSP vote share is 50 per cent or around 170 seats. This is purely arithmetic and the assumption is that vote share remains same from last elections and there is a seat-sharing agreement between Congress and BSP. But politics is not purely arithmetic. According to me, Congress vote share will increase drastically as will BSP’s and that would be the perfect storm for BJP.

Moreover, the Modi effect has faded. Modi’s message would be much less appealing to an agrarian and rural population like that of MP.

Various unhappy sections in MP, like farmers, Dalit, youth, the state government officers (promotion in the reservation is an issue and will dent the vote share of BJP. SAPAKS will take away around 1.5-2 per cent vote share from BJP). As with any administration that has been there for a long time, rust has set in the CM’s rule. A few bureaucrats are taking calls on behalf of the CM and are catering to their personal agendas. Massive scams have been swept under the rug. The people would disown when thick layers of corruption would be unwrapped. Congress had planned a determined and focused campaign. Factions inside the state Congress were united like they were under Madhav Rao Scindia back in the early 90s. Troublemakers and bad names like Digvijay Singh were sidelined in their election campaign.

The Mungaoli and Kolaras by-elections showed a poor performance by the ruling BJP government. The Indian National Congress managed to retain its seat in the two constituencies. Despite the discourse of development, it portrays and the fact that they have been ruling the state for the past 15 years now, the BJP couldn’t snatch the seats from the Congress. The battle for Madhya Pradesh seems tough with Congress trying to play hard to come into power by re-arranging its unit while the BJP is also fighting hard to hold on to their state with the decreasing influence of BJP wave in the states. The SP will also contest the elections in MP this time and one might see an alliance between the SP/BSP and the Congress. Already the regional parties trying to unite against BJP for 2019, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are beginning of new equations. If we look at BJP in a larger perspective, Shivraj Singh Chouhan is neck deep in corruption; he is a sand mafia to the main conspirator in Vyapam scam. The BJP has been ruling Madhya Pradesh since the kick out of Digvijay Singh from the state. Shivraj Singh Chouhan had a good image among the public until recent past. He is known as MAMA of the state’s children. But there has been a sharp decline in his image in the past few years. Many scams had come up in the latter half of his tenure. There are many allegations against the CM, his wife, and other senior BJP leaders of the state. Apart from scams, farmers’ issues are not less in the state. The state has witnessed many farmers committing suicides due to the burden of agricultural loans, unavailability of perennial water, etc. But the victory or defeat in an election depends not only on the works of the current government, but it also depends on what alternative is available to the masses. Although people are currently not happy with Shivraj Singh Chouhan and surprisingly they have an option to choose Congress for their young CM face. There are not one or two, but seven to eight prominent groups led by Kamal Nath, Digvijay Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Suresh Pachauri, Ajai Singh, Arun Yadav, Kantilal Bhuria etc. Most of them have pockets of influence in a specific region, but none of them statewide, except for Digvijay. Everyone wants decentralisation of power. Real democracy lies in the hand of people. No party can meet the expectations of people because they have lots of ethnic diversity and hence, have lots of views. But, there is a need of change and this time people of Madhya Pradesh thrive for Scindia with a hope that he may do something new for the youngsters, else Mama’s rule may prove disastrous.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

#AssemblyPolls2018: Narrow margin win for BJP in Madhya Pradesh?

By

Moumita Mukherjee

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November 30, 2018

While the soaring 76 per cent or highest ever voter turnout in the recently concluded Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, which is an almost 3.5 per cent increase from 2013, has triggered Congress’s anticipation of a strong anti-incumbency vote alike 2003 that pushed Congress away from power, political analysts and many Exit Polls have postulated a thin margin win for the ruling party.

Madhya Pradesh is one of the largest states in India and the state contributes 29 Lok Sabha members. This poll result is also supposed to shape the future trajectories of both the national parties. Hence, after winning the Karnataka Assembly polls and increasing seat share in the Gujarat Assembly polls, Madhya Pradesh is considered crucial for Congress before the 2019 general elections.

Congress candidate Harish Tularam Beman (Mehra) asserted, “BJP will lose and Congress will form the government in Madhya Pradesh this time. EVMs were intentionally malfunctioned and we have full faith in the Election Commission. The vote has been impartial and we hope this continues in the future.”

“The increased voter turnout definitely indicates that people have voted against the existing government. People were not satisfied with the government and everyone wanted a change in the power corridor,” he added.

Incumbent Chief Minister of the State Shivraj Singh Chouhan in his 15 years of power has been a popular face in terms of governance. However, its last term was mostly about facing anti-incumbency. With the majority of lawmakers both in the State and Centre, voters’ sentiments against his government got intensified with the BJP coming in power at the Centre.

On the Election Day, around three hours during the assembly polls, Congress started demanding re-polling for few seats as complaints started pouring regarding malfunctioning EVMs. Moreover, reports too showed that the Election Commission across the state had to replace hundreds of EVMs and voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines and that led to hours of delay in conducting the poll. However, Shivraj Singh Chouhan attacked Congress for the same calling it as their excuse being prepared for defeat in the polls.

BJP’s national vice-president, Prabhat Jha, who handled the campaign closely for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, spoke to AV and said, “I hope that we shall get a comfortable majority in the state. I don’t know what the Exit Polls or political analysts say, but we politicians know each and everything that happened in Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections and hope to get a good majority here.”

The good voter turnout this time is being compared to the 2003 assembly polls of the state when the voter turnout too saw a 7 per cent jump and marked 72.13 per cent. Similar to the present situation, then CM Digvijaya Singh too was facing strong anti-incumbency wave after being into the power for 10 long years. He was dethroned in the 2003 polls. Although BJP is keeping calm explaining the rich poll turnout as the voter mobilisation by RSS, the other side or Congress is really hopeful of their sweeping victory. Encouraging the mood, many senior party leaders too have appreciated how Congress this time has remained focussed and efficiently and smartly led their election campaigns instead mud-slinging at own party members. However, the question that strikes the mind is, talking about the failed Mahagathbandhan attempt between Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party, will the lack of alliance cost Congress the golden opportunity this time?

BSP leader Pradeep Narayan stated, “BJP is not winning this election with a majority and will not win more than 95-96 seats.

The increasing voter turnout in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections indicates that BJP is going to be overthrown and BSP will definitely form a government on its own. If we don’t get a majority, no one else will! No other party will be able to form the government without Bahujan Samaj Party.”

Asked about if the unsuccessful alliance attempt with Congress can affect the mandate, he said, “About Mahagathbandhan, our party leader Mayawati has already said that BSP was ready to ally but unfortunately the Congress party leader Digvijay Singh alleged that Mayawati is under pressure because of CBI.”

Against the ongoing negative sentiments around the present governance, this election is also a significant one for the BJP and as per the analysts, if they manage to win, it will only strengthen CM Chouhan’s political and governing eminence and revitalise BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. There’s also another group of political scrutinisers who are paying no attention to the possibility of a change of government this time. According to them, this jump of polling turnout neither signifies anti-incumbency nor that taxpayers’ sentiments were against the Opposition. Whatsoever the surveys say, whose fate will see the political shine will only be certainly said when the results will be announced on December 11.

Murdered man’s body washes ashore in Mumbai: Police

By

Afternoon Voice

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November 30, 2018

The body of a 34-year-old man, which had marks caused by a sharp weapon, was washed ashore at Mahim in Central Mumbai on Thursday, police said.

The body was later identified as that of Afsar Khan, a resident of neighbouring Navi Mumbai, an official said.

Afsar Khan’s body surfaced at the seashore behind Hinduja Hospital at Mahim west, he said.

A case of murder has been registered against unidentified persons and a probe is underway, the official added.

Fadnavis government creating rift between Muslims, OBCs: Khan

By

Afternoon Voice

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November 30, 2018

Former Maharashtra minister and Congress leader Mohammed Arif Naseem Khan Friday accused the BJP-led government in the state of trying to create a rift between Muslims and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

He said there was no need for Muslims to approach the State Backward Class Commission (SBCC) for a survey to establish backwardness of the community as sought by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Talking to reporters, Khan, who was Minority Affairs Minister in the erstwhile Congress-NCP government, demanded reservation in jobs and education for the minority community.

“Our government had instituted a commission under former IAS officerMehmood- ul-Rehman to do a survey regarding backwardness of the community.

“We listed 52 sub-castes who were socially, educationally and economically backward and gave 5 per cent quota in jobs and education,” he said.

“The court upheld the quota (for Muslims) in education (but stayed the same in public service). We want the government to restore the ordinance(regarding Muslim quota) which has lapsed,” the Congress MLA demanded.

He said the Fadnavis government is trying to create differences between Muslims and OBCs by suggesting that the minority community approach the SBCC to establish its backwardness.

Khan’s comments came in the backdrop of the state legislature approving a bill granting 16 per cent reservation to Marathas in government jobs and education after the commission, following a survey, established they were socially and educationally backward.

HC dismisses Cong leader Nirupam’s 2014 LS poll plea against BJP MP

By

Afternoon Voice

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November 30, 2018

The Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam challenging the election of BJP’s Gopal Shetty in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Nirupam had sought for Shetty’s election from Mumbai North Parliamentary constituency in the 16th Lok Sabha elections held on November 24, 2014 to be declared null and void.

Nirupam had claimed that Shetty had not disclosed information regarding a property owned by the latter and his wife in suburban Borivli in the nomination form and the affidavits.

Shetty had opposed the petition, and said provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 state only about disclosure of criminal cases, and that there is no provision in respect to disclosure of properties or consequences of the failure to disclose the same.

Shetty further claimed that the property in question was no more under his ownership as all the flats in the said building had been sold in 2010 itself.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar on Friday delivered a judgment in the petition and accepted Shetty’s argument.

“I am of the view that in this petition, considering the facts and nature of the property, non-mentioning the said property in the nomination form and in the affidavit as an asset is not a substantive defect,” the court said.

“In the present case, there is no false declaration but there is elimination of details of one property, that is non-disclosure of one property,” Justice Bhatkar said.

The court noted that section 33A of the Act makes it obligatory for candidates to disclose his or her criminal record, pending cases and if he or she has been convicted and the sentence therein.

“There is no such specific provision like section 33A in respect of disclosure of assets. It is mandatory on the part of the candidate to disclose the property and assets as per Form 96 prescribed under the Act,” the order said.

However, there are no specific directions or special provisions like section 33A of the Act, the HC stated while dismissing the petition.

HC allows tunnelling work for Mumbai Metro 3 to proceed

By

Afternoon Voice

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November 30, 2018

The Bombay High Court Friday allowed digging and tunnelling work near two Parsi temples in south Mumbai for the third phase of the Mumbai Metro project to proceed.

The Parsi community had objected to the work on the ground that it would cause damage to the temples, which were heritage structures, and the sacred fire pits and wells therein.

A bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice M S Karnik allowed the tunnelling work to proceed after the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) assured it that no damage would be caused.

The bench imposed certain restrictions to ensure that the temples were protected.

Pronouncing its verdict, the bench vacated the stay imposed in May on the tunnelling and digging work for the Metro 3 project.

The MMRC had told the court that it was incurring a loss of Rs 4 crore for every day the work was stayed.

The petitioners, representatives of the Parsi community, requested for a stay Friday, saying they were going to approach the Supreme Court against the ruling.

But the bench refused to stay its order, thus making it possible for the MMRC to resume the tunnelling work.

The high court also considered a report of experts from the government-run Veermata Jijabai Technical Institute (VJTI).

The experts, after a site inspection, stated that the work was not likely to cause any damage to the Parsi temples.

The bench directed the VJTI to continue monitoring the work at the site to ensure that the MMRC was implementing all possible safeguards to protect the temples.

It also directed the MMRC to install protective machinery during the blasting and tunnelling work.

According to the MMRC plan, the tunnels will pass directly under two fire temples, one at the Princess Street junction and another at Kalbadevi in south Mumbai.

The MMRC had told the court that following objections from the Parsi community, it had altered the alignment of the tunnels by around four metres.