The Bombay High Court asked the union government and the Election Commission of India to consider a PIL seeking to share data collected during the process of issuance of Aadhar cards with the EC which can subsequently use it to register voters.
The PIL filed by NGO ‘Matoshri Health Trust’ sought a direction to the government to share the data it has collected from people across the country while issuing Aadhar cards with the Election Commission of India which in turn can use it for registering voters automatically.
“Over 60 crore persons have applied for Aadhar cards as per RTI information. The government can share this data with the Election Commission,” petitioner’s advocate Jamshed Mistry said.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha was, however, skeptical and said “there are already certain objections raised that the details collected from people for issuance of Aadhar cards are personal and should not be disclosed. If this data is shared with the Election Commission, then chances of political parties have access to it.”
Advocate Rajeev Chavan, appearing for the union government, told the court that the process for registering oneself as a voter was on and the deadline has been extended.
“Any person can come and get himself or herself registered,” Chavan said.
The advocate, appearing for the Election Commission, told the court that the data collected for Aadhar cards does not include all the information that is required while registering oneself for voting.
The bench accepted this argument and directed the Union Ministry of Information and Technology and the Election Commission to treat the PIL as a representation and consider it and pass appropriate orders within four weeks.
The Thane Police are inquiring into a complaint by activists that 80 Muslim men were rounded up by cops from Mumbra, on Wednesday night and were “illegally” detained for three to four hours.
A lawyer and activist Shehzad Poonawala has registered a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and National Commission for Minorities alleging that cops, “ostensibly on the lookout for certain persons belonging to Baloch Iranian descent with a criminal background, illegally and unjustly rounded up Muslim men of Rashid Compound…at around midnight and herded them into police vans which took them to the local police station despite the fact that these men bore no resemblance whatsoever to the persons of interest.”
Mr. Poonawala alleged that among those detained were “working professionals, old people, some as old as 75 years, workers, students going to high schools, graduate students.”
He said at about midnight, a dozen police vans arrived and about 200 policemen broke doors to search houses and took the men to the Mumbra police station. “The action was conducted under ACP Amit Kale of Thane district,” Mr. Poonawala has alleged in his petition.
“The only rationale for their detention,” Mr. Poonawala alleged, “seems to be the fact that they were Muslims.”
A 44-year-old poet Obaid Azam Azmi told that he was returning home from a poetry session that night when cops detained him “because of the way I look.”
Activists have accused the cops of “highhandedness” with the people detained and have sought punishment for them. Mr. Poonawala said Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, which deal with equality for all and protection of life and personal liberty, were violated by the policemen.
The 26-year-old activist has attached with his complaint to the human rights panel, several pictures of the alleged late night operation.
The Thane police have said that a combing operation was being carried out as they were looking for anti-social elements ahead of elections.
The police described it as a “routine check” and said that everyone was let off.
Top police officers have promised strict action if anyone is found guilty.
Union Minister and Congress leader Milind Deora on Friday said if Rahul Gandhi had joined the UPA government in 2009, it would have made a big difference to the fortunes of the party which is bracing for a tough electoral battle beginning next month.
“He would have brought a fresh approach in the government and the party’s image would have been different. A party in power needs to use young leaders and their talent,” said Deora, who is seeking re-election from Mumbai South seat.
According to the 38-year-old MP, who hails from a political family, the Congress Vice-President’s involvement as a minister would have brought the right mix of experience, wisdom, youth and enthusiasm in the government, which is now battling graft charges and perception of policy paralysis. He did not agree with criticism that young MPs were not utilised effectively by his party.
“Many of us were given opportunities to serve in the government and also the party,” the Minister of State for IT and Telecom said. Asked about factionalism in Mumbai Congress, Deora said there was a scope for making the local unit cohesive with better coordination. “All of us have to do it.
All party MPs have worked hard to be in touch with people and stood up for their issues instead of the party. I myself voiced people’s concerns on many occasions like on the ordinance on convicted MPs (which was eventually dropped).
“We had the courage to speak out what people say. I have been a people’s MP and used people’s voice effectively. All the city MPs have done the same,” he said. Deora felt Congress’ chances in Mumbai in upcoming election were good because many critical infra projects like metro, monorail and eastern freeway were conceptualised and implemented under the party’s watch.
Congress won five of the six Lok Sabha seats in last Lok Sabha polls. The sixth seat was bagged by its ally NCP. Deora said he did not agree with criticism that the party leadership had been mostly silent on critical issues.
“We were the first government to face RTI, social media, 24×7 news media and adapt to them. Sometimes we did well and sometimes fared poorly.” The good thing now is that there is transparency in public life, the Union Minister added.
Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is under scanner with the Opposition alleging that the Shiv Sena leaders are misusing corporation funds to fight elections.
Sena candidate from Mumbai South Central Rahul Shewale, who has replaced veteran leader Manohar Joshi, is already at an advantage as he has Rs. 40 crore to spend on projects in his constituency. Shewale, a three-time corporator, also holds the powerful position of standing committee chairman of the cash rich civic body BMC.
Infact, the Opposition is alleging that the Sena corporators have used their brute majority in the standing committee to get projects worth crores of rupees with an eye on elections.
The Sena-BJP combine has been out of power in the state for more than a decade is leaving no stone unturned now.
Member of the Standing Committee Rais Shaikh said, “This is a clear violation of the municipal laws. These funds have been taken from various departments and have been arbitrarily distributed among the Sena leaders for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.”
The Sena-BJP combine has been out of power in the state for more than a decade and with 2014 their best shot at regaining power they are leaving no stone unturned.
Mumbai Mayor Sunil Prabhu has been allocated Rs. 11 crore and leader of the House Yashodhar Phanse Rs. 10 crore. Last month, the standing committee increased the development fund for all 227 corporators from Rs. 40 lakh to Rs. 1 crore.
Shewale said, “I haven’t misused any funds. South Central corporators had asked for special funds.”
The Opposition in the BMC has cried foul as the best they could manage was Rs. 2.5 crore and the MNS hasn’t been allocated a penny from the additional fund.
Only few days are there before the nation goes for the first phase of poll but BJP is yet to announce its complete list of candidates for Lok Sabha. God knows how in a little time these selected candidates will do their homework in their constituencies. Recently, BJP announced its third list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has finally decided to field Pramod Mahajan’s daughter, Poonam, from Mumbai North-West Constituency after senior leader Kirit Somaiya refused to make way for her candidature from Mumbai North-East. She will take on Congress’s Priya Dutt in the Lok Sabha polls. If we talk about dynasty politics then BJP have fielded Pramod Mahajan’s daughter & Yashwant Sinha’s son for the Lok Sabha election. Have they done any work for the nation? Not mentioned anywhere! Where do we go from here? We should better find the answer soon. Just go through the candidates’ profile in your constituency and then decide whom to elect. After 66 years of despair, your vote can still save this country. BJP has failed this time to make selection of appropriate candidates. Gopinath Munde has randomly distributed tickets as they want to lose elections, to avoid Narendra Modi from being prime minister. There are two political parties spending almost Rs. 500cr each for media space. There is another small party which is collecting Rs. 100/- as donations for survival. Interestingly, it will be a case study for the students in future for sure that how this newly formed party is using the budgets and supporters of National parties for its own publicity and using media space for the same. In spite of all such lavish advertisements, the poor candidates’ selection may harm BJP. Priya Dutt is a seasoned politician and has lots of good will of people in her constituency. She and her late father Sunil Dutt have worked hard for this constituency. She has a very strong vote bank here. Poonam Mahajan is famous for her page 3 appearances and she doesn’t know much about the constituency. After her father’s murder in 2006, Poonam Mahajan joined the BJP as a basic member of the party. With the favours from her uncle Gopinath Munde she became the national secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party. On 13 August 2010, Poonam Mahajan was made National Vice President of BJP Yuva Morcha. Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha is the youth wing of the parent body and as per internal constitution, it elects/selects new team after every 3–5 years.
Priya Dutt has better goodwill and Poonam may not give her a tough fight. Let’s see whether this election makes any difference here. Poonam’s only qualification is that she is the daughter of BJP’s master strategist late Pramod Mahajan. Presently, she is the national secretary of BJP. She contested 2009 assembly elections from Ghatkopar West constituency but lost to the MNS candidate Ram Kadam. Her uncle Gopinath Munde was the former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra when BJP-Shiv Sena coalition was in power. Gopinath Munde is known as a jittery minister and he could not hold the success of BJP in Maharashtra. Munde’s brother and nephew have joined NCP. Till Pramod Mahajan was there, BJP was having hold in Mumbai.
Before finalising Poonam Mahajan, BJP had approached actors such as Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini and Anupam Kher as they felt that only a celebrity or an actor would be able to take on Dutt who had won by massive margins of 1.7 lakh votes in the past elections. But despite the party’s persuasions, nobody agreed to take up the offer.
Priya Dutt Roncon was first time elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from Mumbai North West constituency in by election on 22nd November 2005 after the sudden death of her father and became the representative of this area. She is currently representing Mumbai North Central constituency in the 15th Lok Sabha since 2009. Priya is the daughter of the late Bollywood actor and politician Sunil Dutt, and actress turn politician Nargis. Both her parents were elected to represent the Indian National Congress, and her father was a Sports Minister. Since her election, Priya has been appointed secretary of the All-India Congress Committee. Priya also runs a charity, The Nargis Dutt Memorial Charitable Trust. Dutt, a popular politician in the area, has undertaken several civic improvement initiatives in the constituency over the past five years and recently led an agitation demanding a cut in power tariff for Mumbai consumers. Local citizen activists view her as approachable, often attending local meets on civic issues.
It’s the constituency that has been closely watched ever since Congress MP Priya Dutt won the seat by over 3 lakh votes after her father Sunil Dutt’s death and a seat that Dutt retained in 2009 by polling more votes that the Shiv Sena-BJP and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena candidates. This time, the prestigious Mumbai constituency is set to see a battle between daughters of two politicians-Dutt and Mahajan. It is believed that not too many local BJP workers were willing to contest against Dutt. The Lok Sabha constituency covers six legislative assembly constituencies, of which, five are with the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party and one is held by the Shiv Sena, making the seat seem formidable for Dutt’s opponents. In 2009, Dutt had retained her seat with a margin of 1,74,554 votes with the BJP’s Mahesh Jethmalani winning 144792 votes. BJP workers who have been assisting Mahajan in her on-ground activities are pinning their hopes on the suburbs’ upper middle and affluent population that, they believe, will turn up to vote in large numbers this time.
The BJP, on the other hand, is hopeful on capitalising on the “Modi wave” especially in the Gujarati-dominated localities of Vile Parle and Juhu and the alleged tensions between Dutt and a few MLAs from her constituency. The North Central seat covers the heart of Mumbai’s affluent suburbs-Bandra, Vile Parle and Juhu, a stretch that houses numerous businessmen and several Bollywood stars. Let’s see who rules in the end.
After 10 days of the implementation of model code of conduct 40 per cent of the hoardings are yet to go.
Hoardings continue to remain visible across the city despite the model conduct has come into effect. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had set a deadline of March 13 for the removal of hoardings from public places but it has already expired. This only goes to show the lackadaisical attitude on the part of the civic body. Few days back, MNS supremo Raj Thackeray had instructed to remove all the hoardings in Pune but banners were not pulled down.
Most of the banners which are being seen in city belong to political parties. In most of the hoardings, parties have wished their leaders on the occasion of their birthdays. While in some others, leaders have mentioned about the work done by them in their constituency. All these steps are taken by politicians to woo voters before the Lok Sabha election.
Senior BMC officials had instructed the administration to remove all such illegal posters and banners as soon as possible before the expiry of the deadline. However, the civic body has failed to perform its duties amicably.
According to the civic body’s license department, more than 7,131 banners were removed after the model code of conduct was imposed on March 5. Over 60 per cent of illegal banners, posters and hoardings put up across Mumbai since the beginning of the year have been removed in the last nine days by the BMC.
According to the data provided by the department, BMC has removed 7,131 illegal banners and boards from January to March 12, a majority of which were political. As many as 2,548 political banners, 667 boards, 437 posters, 1,160 flags and 36 wall defacement were cleared — which make a total of 4,848 out of the 7,131. The rest comprised 1,940 posters in the religion category and 343 in commercial.
According to the data provided by the department, a whopping 30,865 illegal banners, posters and boards were removed last year by the civic body — a majority of them were political.
Sharad Bande, Superintendent of the License Department said, “Almost all the illegal hoardings and banners have been removed from across the city. The work is complete almost, though there may be a few sites where these illegal advertisements continue to remain. These will be removed within a day or two. We will see to it that all illegal hoardings are removed.”
The BMC officials have failed to finalize a policy to regulate the proliferation of such illegal advertisements. From March 14, the corporation will enforce a complete ban on them as per the guidelines of the Election Commission.
A press conference called by the Aam Aadmi Party on Friday turned into a warzone between journalists and the party spokespersons over AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s recent attack on the media. At a charity dinner in Nagpur, Kejriwal had said that he will send all the “paid media houses” to jail if he is voted to power.
At the press conference, his spokespersons tried hard to defend him.
“Kejriwal only meant that a section of the media is sold. The AAP fully supports his statement. We also want to add that there are many journalists and editors who are honest and want to do good work. However, we demand a probe into the Press Council report on paid media,” AAP spokespersons Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh said.
The AAP leaders also named three news channels as being “paid media houses” and said it will approach the Election Commission with proof against these.
“When we hold a press conference, or when Kejriwal speaks, he is asked all the valid questions related to public and social welfare but when Modi gives a speech, all these issues are forgotten. Also, where did the media get the story that Kejriwal had spoken in favour of Modi? Is this journalism?” Singh said.
Kejriwal has attracted brickbats for his remarks from other political parties.
“Ye ‘khaasi baba’ se ‘maafi baba’ ban gaye hai. Pehle comment karte hain, phir maafi maangte hai. (From an old man coughing regularly, he has now become someone who seeks forgiveness after making careless remarks),” BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
“Media has an important role to play and anyone who makes comment like this is unfortunate. Those who are in public life and politics they must face the media and criticism but I would like to tell media that since campaign for 2014 has begun they should also be balanced,” Congress leader Manish Tewari said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, too, criticised Kejriwal, tweeting, “I really don’t get AAP & Arvind Kejriwal’s criticism of the media. But for the blanket coverage he has received AAP wouldn’t exist today.(sic)”
Two days after Anna Hazare skipped the much-hyped joint rally with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in the national capital, the social activist on Friday said that he supports the West Bengal Chief Minister but not her party.
While heaping praise on West Bengal Chief Minister, Anna said that he respects Mamata. “I think she is the best chief minister of the country,” he asserted.
Anna blamed his associate Santosh Bharatiya for the poor turnout at Ramila Maidan at his joint rally with the TMC supremo.
Anna’s clarification comes after, the joint rally of him and Mamata in Delhi, seen as an attempt to pitchfork the West Bengal Chief Minister on the national stage, proved to be flop show with the Gandhian staying away and only a few hundred people turning up at the sprawling Ramlila Maidan.
Banerjee looked a forlorn figure on the stage where seating arrangements had been made only for her and Hazare, who only last month extended his support to her for the Lok Sabha election.
Reports had suggested that the social activist was reportedly not happy with the manner in which the rally was promoted. As per sources, the activist thought the rally had been publicised as a political event, and that people had been given the impression as to how the West Bengal Chief Minister had managed to get Anna for the rally.
Recently, Anna had endorsed Mamata for the PM’s post, saying she was the only leader in the country who had replied to his letter on 17-point agenda for the nation.
BJP general secretary Varun Gandhi has ruled out campaigning against his estranged cousin and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi constituency.
The 34-year-old leader, likely to contest on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket from Sultanpur, told media late Thursday that he believed in political decorum and never harboured any ill will against his opponents.
“I have a positive mindset towards politics and have always believed in certain lines of decency that I would never cross,” he said, adding he will not campaign against Rahul Gandhi in the neighbouring Amethi constituency, where the latter was seeking a re-election.
Varun Gandhi, a sitting MP from Pilibhit, has shifted base to Sultanpur.
Varun Gandhi’s mother Maneka Gandhi, currently a BJP parliamentarian from Aonla in Uttar Pradesh, is likely to contest from Pilibhit in the Lok Sabha 2014 election, a seat she has held in the past.
Armed Maoists torched a petrol pump owned by a BJP MLA, hurled bombs and opened fire at his residence late last night in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, police said on Friday.
Around 15-20 armed Maoists swooped on the petrol pump of BJP MLA Ram Surat Rai in Ahiapur police station area, around 10-km from district headquarters, SSP Saurabh Kumar said, adding, the ultras took the staff hostage and set on fire an oil tanker and portion of the petrol pump.
They mercilessly beat up the petrol pump staff before vandalising the petrol pump and setting it on fire, the SSP said.
After plundering the petrol pump, the Maoists went to Rai’s residence in Bocha police station area and opened fire besides hurling bombs, the SSP said.
The legislator from Aurai was neither at the petrol pump nor at his home during the attack. His wife and children, present at home, however, were unhurt, he added.
The Maoists, against whom the locals put up a brave resistance, escaped as soon the SSP along with a police force reached the spot, Kumar said.
A case has been registered in the Ahiapur police station as well as in the Bocha police station in this connection, the SSP said.
After 10 days of the implementation of model code of conduct 40 per cent of the hoardings are yet to go. 
A press conference called by the Aam Aadmi Party on Friday turned into a warzone between journalists and the party spokespersons over AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s recent attack on the media. At a charity dinner in Nagpur, Kejriwal had said that he will send all the “paid media houses” to jail if he is voted to power. 