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Congress’ KL Sharma to take on BJP’s sitting MP Smriti Irani from Amethi Lok Sabha Constituency

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ANI
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Congress' KL Sharma to take on BJP's sitting MP Smriti Irani from Amethi Lok Sabha Constituency 2

Amethi has been a stronghold of the Congress party for decades, until Bharatiya Janata Party leader Smriti Irani won the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, ending the Gandhi family’s stint there. Amethi, the most-watched seat in the fifth phase, will go to the polls on May 20. The results will be announced on June 4.

The Amethi seat comprises five assembly segments, including Tiloi, Salon, Jagdishpur, Gauriganj, and Amethi. The constituency is a general seat. This time, Smriti Irani is pitted against Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma, a longtime loyalist of the Gandhi family. The Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) has named Nanhe Singh Chauhan.

This is Iran’s third election from Amethi after losing in 2014 to Rahul Gandhi by 1 lakh votes and winning in 2019 by a margin of around 55,000. In 2019, Irani got 468,514 voters with 49.7 per cent votes, while Rahul Gandhi got 413,394 voters with 43.9 per cent votes.

Amethi, known as the Gandhi family bastion, was where party stalwarts like Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and top leader Rahul Gandhi contested successfully. The voters of Amethi remained loyal to Congress as they consistently elected members of the Nehru-Gandhi family or candidates backed by the party.

In 1981, former PM Rajiv Gandhi won from Amethi and continued to represent the seat until his assassination in 1991. After his assassination, Congress’ late Satish Sharma won the seat. Sharma continued to represent the seat in the Lok Sabha till 1998, when the BJP’s Sanjaya Sinh defeated him. In 1999, Sonia Gandhi was a candidate for the seat and won it.

Later in 2004, Sonia shifted to Rae Bareli, passing the baton to Rahul. Rahul Gandhi contested the polls from Amethi and remained an MP till 2019 until his defeat by Smriti Irani. Rahul Gandhi was a three-time MP from the seat from 2004 to 2019. There were speculations that the grand old party may field either Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from the constituency against Smriti Irani but putting all the speculations to rest, Kishori Lal Sharma was fielded by the Congress party on the last day of nomination for phase 5.

Kishori Lal Sharma, a close associate and loyalist of the Gandhi family, is originally from Punjab’s Ludhiana. He has been working for the Congress Party in Amethi for years. Reacting to his candidature from Amethi, Sharma expressed gratitude to the Congress leadership and said that he would work hard to win the seat.

“I want to thank Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for giving me the opportunity to contest from their traditional seats. I will work very hard. Rahul Gandhi is not someone who runs away from the ground. No one can predict anything (about votes). I will meet Priyanka Gandhi today,” he said. After Rahul Gandhi was named by the Congress as its candidate for the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat, Union Minister and BJP’s candidate from Amethi, Smriti Irani, said that Congress conceded defeat from the constituency even before a vote was cast, adding that the opposition party would not have fielded a “proxy candidate” (Kishori Lal Sharma) if they were hopeful about the outcome of the polls.

Meanwhile, Irani is questioning the Congress on what it has done for the constituency so far and accusing Rahul of “abandoning” the constituency after his 2019 loss to Irani. While KL Sharma is focusing on raking up his and the Gandhi family’s connections with the constituency. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will run for the MP from Rae Bareli, where his mother was a five-time MP, before taking the Rajya Sabha route to the Parliament this year.

Polling for 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh is being held across all seven phases. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.

Sanjay Raut criticises PM Modi’s roadshow in Ghatkopar, calls BJP leaders “election mafias”

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ANI
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Sanjay Raut criticises PM Modi's roadshow in Ghatkopar, calls BJP leaders "election mafias" 4

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut reacted sharply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar where 18 people were killed in a dust storm triggered hoarding collapse, calling BJP leaders “chunav mafias.”

“They (BJP leaders) just have to contest the elections and get ahead of the elections at any cost. They are election mafias (Chunav mafias) Today, PM Modi is in Nashik, Kalyaan… When will he sit in Delhi? When will he discharge his Prime Ministerial duties? Wherever PM Modi will visit, Shiv Sena Maha Vikas Aghadi will win and this is decided by the people. BJP is losing the battle here. PM Modi fears losing the elections that is why he is campaigning everyone,” Sanjay Raut said while addressing a press conference on Wednesday.

“The PM who alleged Praful Patel of having relations with Dawood and Iqbal Mirchi, he was with the same Praful Patel yesterday. He (Praful Patel) put the turban of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on the head of PM Modi, we don’t give that turban to someone, it’s special. Who has given this right to Praful Patel?… PM Modi and Praful Patel have disrespected Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Maharashtra,” he further said. PM Modi is set to hold a roadshow in the Ghatkopar area on Wednesday. Traffic police have made elaborate arrangements for his roadshow.

In a post on X, Mumbai Traffic Police said, “The LBS road will remain closed for vehicles from Gandhi Nagar junction to Naupada junction, and the Mahul-Ghatkopar road will remain closed from Meghraj junction to RB Kadam junction from 2 pm to 10 pm.” PM Modi will also hold election rallies in Kalyan in an attempt to strengthen the BJP poll campaign for the Lok Sabha polls.

Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second-largest after Uttar Pradesh. The first and the second phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections are over. While the first phase took place on April 19, the second phase was conducted on April 26. The third and fourth phases will be conducted on May 7 and May 13 respectively. Next, the elections in Maharashtra will be held on May 20. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.

Google adds new lightweight, faster model to Gemini family

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Web Team
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Google adds new lightweight, faster model to Gemini family 6

Google has introduced a series of updates across the Gemini family of models, including Gemini 1.5 Flash, an AI model that’s lighter-weight than Gemini 1.5 Pro. The new lightweight model is designed for speed and efficiency.

Gemini 1.5 Pro and 1.5 Flash are both available in public preview in more than 200 countries and territories, with a 1 million token context window in Google AI Studio and Vertex AI. Additionally, 1.5 Pro is now available with a 2 million token context window via waitlist to developers using the API and to Google Cloud customers.

Both models will be generally available in June 2024.

In parallel, Google has announced that the Gemini AI chatbot (gemini.google.com) is now available to Enterprise and Business users in more than 35 languages and new territories including France and French Territories and Hong Kong.

With this expansion, Gemini now supports the following languages:

Arabic
Bulgarian
Chinese (Simplified / Traditional)
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Estonian
Farsi
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hungarian
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Latvian
Lithuanian
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Swahili
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Vietnamese

For admins, the new languages will be available in Gemini (gemini.google.com) by default to all Gemini Enterprise and Business users. For end users, you can use Gemini (gemini.google.com) in any of the above languages by simply entering your prompts using one of these languages.

Gemini Enterprise is available as an add-on for the following Google Workspace editions:

Business Standard and Plus
Enterprise Standard and Plus
Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus and Fundamentals
Frontline Starter and Standard
Enterprise Essentials and Essentials Plus
Nonprofits

Gemini Business is available as an add-on for the following Google Workspace editions:

Business Starter, Standard and Plus
Enterprise Starter, Standard and Plus
Frontline Starter and Standard
Essentials Starter
Enterprise Essentials and Essentials Plus
Nonprofits

UN condoles death of ex-Indian Army officer in Gaza, believes vehicle struck by Israeli tank

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PTI
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Colonel Waibhav Anil Kale, Waibhav Anil Kale, UN, United Nations, Gaza, Indian Army Soldier
UN condoles death of ex-Indian Army officer in Gaza, believes vehicle struck by Israeli tank 8

The United Nations condoled and expressed apologies to India over the killing of a former Indian Army officer, who died in war-torn Rafah in Gaza when the vehicle he was travelling in was attacked by shots fired from what it believes was an Israeli tank.

Colonel Waibhav Anil Kale, 46, who retired prematurely from the Indian Army in 2022, joined the world body as a Security Coordination Officer in the UN Department of Safety and Security (DSS) two months ago.

He was killed, and another DSS staffer from Jordan was injured when their UN-marked vehicle was struck when they were travelling to the European Hospital in war-torn Rafah in Gaza on Monday morning.

Kale, who had commanded the 11 Jammu & Kashmir Rifles in Kashmir, is the ”first international casualty” for the world body since the Israel-Hamas conflict started last year.

“We also express our apologies and our condolences to the Government and people of India,” Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at the daily press briefing on Tuesday in response to a question by PTI. “We appreciate the contribution that India has made,” he said.

Haq said the UN has established a fact-finding panel to look into the deadly attack.

“It’s very early in the investigation, and details of the incident are still being verified with the Israeli Defence Force (IDF),” Haq said.

The fact-finding mission is being set up by the Department of Safety and Security.

Haq said that a weapon appears to have impacted the back of the white UN vehicle that was carrying the two UN staff members, killing Kale and injuring the other DSS female staff member who is receiving medical attention and “we believe that she will make it through.” “The deceased staff member has been identified. He is Waibhav Anil Kale of India, and we send our condolences to his family,” he said.

Haq confirmed that this was the “first international casualty” for the UN in Gaza and added that currently, the world body has 71 international staff in Gaza.

When asked if the UN is in contact with Israeli officials regarding the attack, Haq replied in the affirmative and said, “I think the point is we are in discussion with Israel to determine exactly how this incident happened and the nature of what happened.” ”I don’t think at this stage we are in doubt about where the shots came from as much as what the circumstances were,” he added.

Haq said the UN believes the shots came from a tank in the area.

When asked that only the IDF have tanks in the region, Haq said, “I think that’s a safe assumption to make, yes.” He said the convoy was going to the European hospital as ”there’s regular work that’s going on in terms of bringing people to different sites and this was part of that.” When asked if Israel apologised to the UN and if the world body sees this as a deliberate attack, Haq said the case is “still under review”.

”We’ll see what the review results in,” he said, adding that “as the review proceeds, we’ll need to see what the precise nature of the circumstances were.” The Permanent Mission of India to the UN had said in a post on X that it is “deeply saddened” by the loss of Col Waibhav Kale. “Our deepest condolences are with the family during this difficult time,” it said.

UN chief Guterres expressed sadness to learn of Kale’s death and injury to the other DSS staffer and condemned all attacks on UN personnel, calling for a full investigation.

Guterres sent his condolences to the family of the fallen staff member.

“With the conflict in Gaza continuing to take a heavy toll – not only on civilians but also on humanitarian workers – the Secretary-General reiterates his urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” Guterres said.

He said that more than 190 UN staff have been killed in Gaza.

”Humanitarian workers must be protected. I condemn all attacks on UN personnel and reiterate my urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire & the release of all hostages,” he said.

The BJP’s strongman in Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi, passes away at 72

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ANI
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The BJP's strongman in Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi, passes away at 72 10

Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who had been battling cancer for the last seven months, passed away at the age of 72 on Monday evening. The 72-year-old senior BJP leader passed away at AIIMS Hospital in Delhi and was battling cancer for the last seven months.

Sushil Modi announced his treatment last month and did not participate in the Lok Sabha election campaign. The last rites of the former Rajya Sabha MP will be performed later in the day.

On April 3, this year, Sushil Modi revealed he was suffering from cancer and requested the BJP to relieve him of assignments related to the Lok Sabha elections. In a post in Hindi on X, he said, “I have been battling with cancer for the last six months. I feel that now the time has come to make it public. I would not be able to do my work during the Lok Sabha polls. I have shared this with the PM. My gratitude to the country, Bihar and my party.”

Over his three-decade-long political career, Modi played a pivotal role in shaping Bihar’s political environment. Sushil Modi held various positions in his three-decade-long political career. He served as an MLA, MLC and member of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The BJP leader was born on January 5, 1952, and began his political journey as a student activist at Patna University, where he served as the general secretary of the Students’ Union in 1973.

He was elected as an MLA for the first time in 1990 from the Patna Central constituency, where he defeated sitting Congress legislator Akil Haider. He also served as the leader of the opposition in the state assembly from 1996 to 2004.

In 2004, Sushil Modi was elected as a member of the Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur. Sushil Kumar Modi got 345,151 votes, with 45.6 per cent votes by defeating Communist Party of India (M) leader Subodh Ray. Then later, he stepped down from his Lok Sabha post in 2005 to become a member of the legislative council and was appointed as the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister alongside Nitish Kumar.

He served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar from 2005 to 2013 and again from 2017 to 2020. Several BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and incumbent Bihar Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, expressed grief and extended their condolences to Sushil Kumar Modi’s bereaved family.

Prime Minister Modi said he is “deeply saddened” by the untimely demise of his friend for decades.

In his post on X, PM Modi said, “I am deeply saddened by the untimely demise of Sushil Modi ji, my valuable colleague in the party and my friend for decades. He has played an invaluable role in the rise and success of BJP in Bihar. Strongly opposing the Emergency, he made a name for himself in student politics. He was known as a very hardworking and sociable MLA. He had a deep understanding of the issues related to politics. He also did a lot of commendable work as an administrator. His active role in the passage of GST will always be remembered. My condolences are with his family and supporters in this hour of grief. Om Shanti!”

Ghatkopar hoarding collapse: Police register FIR against Bhavesh Bhinde, owner of Ego Media

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PTI
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Ghatkopar hoarding collapse: Police register FIR against Bhavesh Bhinde, owner of Ego Media 12

The Mumbai police registered a case against the owner of Ego Media and others after a hoarding collapsed on a petrol pump in the Ghatkopar area on Monday, killing nine people, an official said.

The owner, Bhavesh Bhinde, and others were booked under sections 304 (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 338 (causing grievous hurt by an act endangering the life or personal safety of others), and 337 (causing hurt to another person by acting rashly or negligently) of the Indian Penal Code.

The case has been registered at Pantnagar police station and the investigation is underway, he said.

At least eight people were killed and over 70 others injured when the 100-foot tall billboard fell on the petrol pump at the Cheddanagar Junction amid gusty wind and rain, officials said.

According to civic officials, the billboard was illegal and no permission was given to install it.

BJP’s Madhavi Latha courts controversy, asks Muslim women to prove identity inside voting booth

By
ANI
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BJP's Madhavi Latha courts controversy, asks Muslim women to prove identity inside voting booth 14

Madhavi Latha who is the BJP’s candidate from Hyderabad courted controversy after she was seen in a video clip checking the voter ID cards during her visit to a polling booth. In the video, the BJP candidate can be seen asking Muslim women inside the booth to remove the Burkha and identify themselves along with checking their voter identity cards.

Speaking about the video, the BJP leader told ANI that she had only requested the women to verify their identity and there was nothing wrong with this. “I am a candidate. As per law candidate has the right to check the ID cards without the facemasks. I am not a man, I am a woman and with a lot of humbleness, I have only requested them – can I please see and verify with the ID cards? If somebody wants to make a big issue out of it, that means they are scared,” she said.

Earlier in the day, Madhavi Latha had alleged discrepancies in the voter list in her constituency. “The Police personnel seem very dull, they are not active…They are not checking anything. Senior citizen voters are coming here but their names are deleted from the list. A few of them are residents of Goshamahal but their names are in the list of Rangareddy…,” the BJP leader said while speaking to ANI.

Madhavi Latha cast her vote at the Amrita Vidyalayam polling station in Hyderabad for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections and asserted that “Sabka Sath mai hi Sabka Vikas Hai.” Madhavi Latha is pitted against a formidable opponent in the form of four-time Lok Sabha MP and AIMIM chief, Asaduddin Owaisi, from Hyderabad Lok Sabha Constituency and BRS’ Gaddam Srinivas Yadav. This is the first time that the BJP has fielded a female candidate from the Hyderabad constituency.

Asaduddin Owaisi has been the elected representative from Hyderabad since 2004. He was previously elected as an MLA twice in the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh. Voting for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in 96 Parliamentary Constituencies across nine states and one Union Territory got underway today at 7:00 am.

AAP MP Swati Maliwal alleges assault by CM Kejriwal’s aide; no official complaint filed yet

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PTI
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AAP MP Swati Maliwal alleges assault by CM Kejriwal's aide; no official complaint filed yet 16

In a post from his official X handle on Monday, BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya claimed that the AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP and former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson, Swati Maliwal alleged that she was assaulted by the personal assistant to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The incident allegedly went down at the office of the ruling party in the national capital.

However, neither the DCW chief, the AAP nor the police make any official statement on the alleged incident. Further, no official complaint was registered in connection with the alleged incident at the time of filing this report.

“AAP RS MP and former DCW chief Swati Maliwal alleges that Delhi CM’s PA assaulted her. Call made from Delhi CM’s House. Remember, Swati Maliwal had maintained radio silence on Kejriwal’s arrest. She was not even in India at that time and didn’t return for a long time,” Malviya posted from his X handle on Monday. However, according to sources in Delhi Police, Maliwal made a PCR call twice from the CM’s residence alleging that she was ‘assaulted’ by Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar.

Speaking to ANI, DCP (North) Manoj Meena said, “A PCR call was received by the Civil Lines police at 9.34 am in which a woman claimed to be assaulted at the CM’s residence. After some time, the MP Madam (Maliwal) visited the Civil Lines police station. However, she left soon after saying he would file a complaint later.” Acting on Maliwal’s complaint over the phone, a Delhi Police team reached the CM’s residence but did not find her there, sources added.

Responding to the alleged incident, BJP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi labelled the CM’s CM’s PA as a ‘rogue’, adding that she was aware of ‘dynamics’ within AAP from her time as a member of the ruling party in the Capital. “There is dirt within AAP and I know all about it as I was formerly with the party. i know how their inner party relations and internal dynamics work. The dynamics keep changing from time to time. This isn’t the first such incident as, in 2018, former chief secretary Anshu Prakash was similarly assaulted at the CM’s residence. Kejriwal denied the claim at the time but two of his MLAs were charge-sheeted in the case,” Ilmi said in a personalised video on Monday.

Making further claims on the PA, the BJP leader said, “All that Bibhav knows is to misbehave with people or humiliate them. I was also a victim of his misconduct. He is rogue and anything is possible in this party.”

Violence breaks out in several parts during Phase 4; TMC, BJP workers clash in Durgapur, WB

By
ANI
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Violence breaks out in several parts during Phase 4; TMC, BJP workers clash in Durgapur, WB 18

Incidents of violence were reported in several parts of West Bengal during polling on Monday in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections. A clash broke out between BJP and Trinamool Congress workers in Durgapur.

In Birbhum, BJP workers alleged that their stall outside a polling station was vandalised by workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress. TMC leader Ram Prasad Haldar said, “Since 6 am these (BJP) people have been coming with the central forces and trying to influence the voters. We protested against it, voters also protested. They are trying to bring polling agents from outside. Central forces are threatening the people and influencing them. People in the area are opposing them here. They are trying to bring polling agents from outside.”

BJP MLA Laxman Ghorui alleged that their polling agents were thrown out of the polling booth located at TN School in Durgapur. Ghorui said, “Our polling agents were repeatedly thrown out of the polling booth located at TN School in Durgapur. Alpana Mukherjee from booth number 22, Somnath Mandal from booth number 83 and Rahul Sahni from booth number 82 were repeatedly thrown out of the polling booth by TMC goons.”

He further said that he had called up and informed the SDO, who he alleged responded after three telephone calls were made to him and only after the arrival of media persons. “The behaviour of the presiding officer is very bad. He came at 6 am and was not letting us inside. TMC goons since 6 am misbehaved with voters and women. The women were crying. When I reached, the presiding officer did not allow me to enter. Only when the press came and after the intervention of the SDO, we are now being allowed to enter,” he said.

Earlier, BJP candidate from Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha constituency Dilip Ghosh alleged that “goons of TMC” were preventing the polling agents from entering the booths. Ghosh said, “When I went to villages, women asked me with folded hands if they would be able to cast their votes or not. It is their (TMC) habit to threaten people who want to cast their votes. The goons of TMC are not letting the polling agents enter the booths, including the presiding officer. Yesterday night, they threatened people in certain areas not to come out to vote. I hope the situation will improve and voting will be done smoothly. I will reach the places wherever required.”

Voting for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in 96 Parliamentary Constituencies across nine states and one Union Territory began on Monday at 7:00 am. Eight seats in West Bengal have gone to the polls today. Though still a part of the opposition bloc–INDIA, the TMC chose to go it alone in Bengal and announced candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The Congress and the Left Front have a seat-sharing arrangement in the state under which the Left parties contest 30 seats and the Congress contests the remaining 12 seats. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC took the lion’s share of the electoral spoils in the state, at 34, while the BJP had to be content with just 2 seats. The CPI(M) and the Congress won 2 and 4 seats, respectively.

However, in a poll stunner that few saw coming, the BJP turned the tables on the ruling TMC in the 2019 polls, winning 18 seats. The ruling party in the state saw its tally reduced to 22. The Congress fared a lowly third in the tally with just 2 seats while the Left Front was down to just a lone seat.

Supreme Court rejects plea to remove Arvind Kejriwal as CM, defers to Delhi LG

By
PTI
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Supreme Court rejects plea to remove Arvind Kejriwal as CM, defers to Delhi LG 20

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal from the post of chief minister after his arrest in a money laundering case related to an excise policy scam.

”It is up to the Delhi LG to act if he wants to but we will not interfere,” a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said.

The court said it is a matter of propriety but there is no legal right to seek the removal of Kejriwal as chief minister following his arrest.

“When the matter was being heard, we had posed the same question to them. Ultimately, it is a matter of propriety and there is no legal right,” the bench told the petitioner.

The top court was hearing a plea of petitioner Kant Bhati challenging the Delhi High Court’s order dated April 10 by which his plea was dismissed.

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