External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has heaped scorn on the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of India ahead of General Elections.

Speaking at an event in London, Khurshid mocked the EC, saying the directions issued by the organisation only ensure that a party will lose elections and not win them.

“They are only three and they can decide which word you can use during election campaign. The broad philosophical approach is that you should do and say nothing that wins you an election, you should try your best to lose election,” Khurshid said.

The minister also mocked Supreme Court judges at the event.

“Judges sit and they say this is not to happen and of course go to the extent of threatening contempt proceedings against officials. Two judges can say anything about Parliamentarians that they will be allowed to contest or not, what kind of affidavit they have to file, what they can do and so on,” he said.

Khurshid also reportedly slammed Jagdambika Pal, describing the former Congress leader as greedy and fickle-minded.

Pal had upset Khurshid by raking up the controversy over a trust run by the minister’s family.

Reacting to Khurshid’s comments, former Congress leader Jagdambika Pal said that only a mentally-bankrupt person can make such comments on judiciary and the EC.

Former JD(U) leader Shivanand Tiwari also said that when Khurshid is in Congress, the party doesn’t need anybody else to ruin it.

BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said that Khurshid’s diatribe against the EC is nothing but his sheer desperation. Meanwhile, retired Justice RS Sodhi said that it is not wrong to criticise the SC but it should be constructive.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, known for losing her temper, is visibly angry. The firebrand leader is upset because she was on Wednesday ‘ditched’ by social activist Anna Hazare, who failed to turn up at the ‘joint rally’ in Ramlila Maidan.

Not long ago, 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.

So, what changed overnight that Anna came to Delhi on Tuesday for the rally but did not attend it.

The official reason given by his aides was that the Gandhian was unwell.

“He was feverish and suffering from exhaustion. When the TMC leaders came to escort him to the venue, Hazare expressed his inability to accompany them,” Anna aide Datta Awari was quoted as saying.

But sources made it amply clear that the reason behind skipping the ‘joint rally’ was something else.

Anna 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.

All this, coupled with the fact that very few people had turned up for the rally, made Anna skip the event, as his ‘main motive’ behind coming to Delhi was to address the people.

With people clearly giving a skip to the Ramlila Maidan, Anna had no reason to be there, sources stated.

Mamata had yesterday minced no words in stating that she didn’t care if others support her or not.

Mamata told the crowd: “Jo ladai humne shuru kari hai vo jaari rakhnege, chaahe koi saath de ya na de (we will carry on with the struggle which we have started, whether someone supports us or not).”

“I left my work to attend this rally, it was not a show of strength,” the firebrand leader said, adding it was Anna who wanted the rally to be held in Delhi.

Hinting that becoming the PM was not her ambition, she said, “I don’t want individual power; I want power for the public.”

“Muddai lakh bura chahe to kya hota hai, wahi hota hai jo manjoore Khuda hota hai,” she said further.

A mentally-challenged woman was allegedly raped by a miscreant in an ATM in West Bengal’s Howrah district early Wednesday, police said.

The incident happened in the Nazirganj area. The accused has been arrested, a police officer said.
The ATM did not have a security guard.

Witnesses said the alleged culprit saw the woman aimlessly loitering in the ATM and sexually assaulted her.

The man was caught by two people of a marriage party who were passing by. They handed him over to the police.

The victim, meanwhile, has been admitted to a state-run Hospital in the district. Medical tests have been conducted.

Raising its forecast for India, Boeing on Thursday said India needs 1,600 new aircraft worth USD 205 billion over next 20 years.

Last year’s forecast was 1,450 airplanes at USD 175 billion.

Dinesh Keskar, vice president, sales, Boeing commercial airplanes, told at India Aviation 2014 that the company was bullish about India.

He said their forecast was based on the thinking of the Civil Aviation Ministry and a lot of things planned for the development of the aviation sector.

He pointed out that the ministry expects the number of aircraft in India to go up from 400 to 1,000 in six years. “Another 1,000 airplanes will be added in 14 years,” said Keskar.

He said that the forecast is based on normal behaviour pattern and that they took into account infrastructure and policy framework.

Keskar reiterated that there are no safety issues involved in Dreamliners 787 supplied to Air India. “Boeing is committed to enhance reliability of 787 Air India to enhance the reliability of 787,” he said.

He also denied that Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) threatened Boeing. “We were asked to come and brief because DGCA as a regulator need to take action,” he said.

He said Boeing delivered 122 787s to 16 airlines worldwide and the airplanes so far flew 13.3 million passengers.

He claimed that a survey done in India done by Boeing showed that over 58 per cent of passengers who flew 787 said it exceeded their expectations while 32 per cent said it met their expectations.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad has turned to vaastu shastra ahead of the Lok Sabha polls to rid himself and his family of misfortune and ill-luck and to ensure good electoral performance of his party.

With over a dozen of his senior party leaders, including a Rajya Sabha member, half a dozen legislators and former ministers, deserting him and joining rival parties, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s alliance with the Congress not being seen as a winning combination, Lalu Prasad has ordered that a pond be filled up following a suggestion from an expert in vaastu shastra and an astrologer.

“A pond located inside the sprawling 10 Circular Road, the official residence of (his wife and former chief minister) Rabri Devi, was filled with a mix of mud and sand as per the advice of an vaastu expert,” said a staff at Rabri’s residence.

The pond was dug in 2006 for popular Chhath festival performed by Lalu and Rabri after they shifted from 1 Anne Marg, the chief minister’s official residence, since the RJD was ousted from power in November 2005.

According to RJD leaders close to Lalu Prasad, a vaastu expert suggested that the pond be filled up since it was located in the middle of the house and creating negative energy and obstacles for the family and the party.

Vaastu shastra is an ancient Hindu architectural doctrine that is believed to help occupants of the structure or house lead a happy life.

Lalu “has faith in superstition, astrology and rituals to perform religious worship”, an RJD leader said.

The RJD chief has been visiting various temples and tombs and even paid a visit to a tantric or self-claimed god man Pagla Baba in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district last year.

A ruling JD-U leader recalled that Lalu was a different man when he took over as the chief minister of Bihar for the first time in March 1990.

“Lalu was radical. (He) used to make fun of babas and religious beliefs, but over the years troubles and uncertainty in politics have turned him superstitious.”

AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa on Thursday lambasted DMK for fielding former Union ministers A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran, accused in 2G and Aircel-Maxis cases respectively.

Addressing an election rally here, Jayalalithaa said while Raja was facing corruption charges in the 2G case, Maran was an accused in Aircel-Maxis, besides illegally procuring 300 telephone connections at his residence.

Taking a dig at the defence offered by DMK chief M Karunanidhi that cases against the leaders were “weak”, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister asked, “What does it mean if there is no witness? Karunanidhi thinks that he can justify scam-tainted candidates contest and cheat the people.”

Jayalalithaa, who has been criss-crossing the state to ensure her party’s victory in 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, appealed to the electorate to teach a lesson to the DMK for giving tickets to tainted leaders.

She also appealed the voters to ensure AIADMK’s victory for an inclusive government at the Centre and criticised policies of the Congress-led UPA government.

The Gujarat BJP on Thursday announced that Chief Minister Narendra Modi will contest elections from one seat in the state, without ruling out the possibility that he may fight on a second seat from Uttar Pradesh.

“I can definitely say that Modiji will fight elections from one seat in Gujarat,” state BJP general secretary Vijay Rupani told reporters here.

“There has been a clamour to invite Narendra Modi to fight elections from four main cities of the state–Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara and Surat. Our party workers wish that he should contest from Gujarat,” Rupani said.

“Our (state BJP) parliamentary board had met over the last four days in which it was finalised that Modi would contest from one seat in Gujarat,” he said, adding that the decision on which seat he will contest is yet to be taken.

When asked if Modi will also contest from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP leader said, “I do not know anything about that seat, but it will be decided by our central parliamentary board.”

There has been lot of confusion on from which seat Modi will enter the poll fray.

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate is at present in Delhi to attend the meetings of central parliamentary board and central election committee.

To a question on whether party veteran LK Advani will be contesting from Gandhinagar, from where he holds the seat for five terms, Rupani said, “The central parliamentary board will decide about it.”

“We have not finalised panel of names for the Lok Sabha seats in the first round of meeting of parliamentary board. We will sit again after Holi festival to do that,” he said.

BJP Gujarat unit’s parliamentary board had met on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the residence of Modi, in his presence.

“Our (state) parliamentary board is likely to meet again to finalise the names of panels of candidates for the 26 Lok Sabha seats,” state BJP spokesperson Harsad Patel said.

Gul Panag has travelled a long way since hitting the spotlight in 1999, when she won the Miss India beauty pageant. A stint in the world of fashion and cinema followed soon after. Her Bollywood sojourn saw her acting in films like Dor, which were critically acclaimed, but her career stalled. The 35-year-old, also a fitness enthusiast, is very active on Twitter, with some 8 lakh followers. She has now decided to take the aam aadmi route to enter the dirt and grime of politics.

Gul, whose father Lt. Gen (Retd.) H S Panag is one of the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party, today joined Arvind Kejriwal’s outfit and has been declared as its candidate from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. She replaces Savita Bhatti, widow of popular satirist-cum-actor, the late Jaspal Bhatti, who pulled out of the race earlier this week.

Gul hit the campaign trail even before her name was formally declared by Mr. Kejriwal’s party. “Chandigarh is my home. I was born and brought up in Chandigarh. Like you, I also want an atmosphere of clean politics. That is why I have joined this. It is my humble request to all of you to become a member of this movement,” she told while campaigning in the city. Sporting the trademark AAP cap and dark glasses, the model-turned-actor-turned-politician mingled freely with the crowd, seeking their support to enter Parliament

Gul is expected to take on former union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, a three-term Congress heavyweight, whose candidature has reportedly been cleared by the Congress election committee. Mr. Bansal, 65, had to resign from the Union Cabinet in May after his nephew Vijay Singla was arrested for allegedly accepting bribe to facilitate a plum posting for a senior official in the Railways. A CBI probe, however, gave a clean chit to Mr. Bansal two months later, citing lack of evidence.

Congress would finalise its candidates for the coming elections in Andhra Pradesh by March 28, Digvijaya Singh who is in charge of party affairs in the state said.

In the wake of separate PCCs being appointed for Telangana and Seemandhra, the AICC general secretary today began consultations in Hyderabad with the office-bearers of the two units on election preparations.

“The Telangana Congress Committee meeting is there today and on 15th (of March) Seemandhra Congress Committee, election committee meeting would take place. The names that have come from blocks and districts would be placed before the AICC screening committee. We will finalise our candidates between March 22 and 28,” he told upon his arrival in the city.

Moving forward following the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, Congress on March 11 appointed separate PCC chiefs for Seemandhra and Telangana.

N Raghuveera Reddy has been appointed PCC chief for Seemandhra, while the party has named Ponnala Lakshmaiah as the state chief for Telangana.

Besides, Uttam Kumar Reddy has been appointed as the working president for Telangana.

Congress hopes to do well in Telangana though the TRS has ruled out a merger with the national party and suspense continued whether the two parties would have an alliance for the elections or not.