NCP in Maharashtra has to fight for 27% seats for OBC in local body polls 2
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has decided to give 27 per cent seats to candidates from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the upcoming local body polls in Maharashtra, its state president Jayant Patil said on Monday.
Elections to 92 Nagar Parishads and four Nagar Panchayats (bodies that govern smaller towns in semi-urban areas) in Maharashtra will be held on August 18, the State Election Commission (SEC) had announced on Friday. No provision for OBC reservation has been made in elections to these civic bodies as a related case is pending before the Supreme Court.
“Since it is important that the OBC community gets justice, the NCP has decided to give 27 per cent of the total seats in the local body polls to the candidates of the community,” Patil tweeted. The Supreme Court had refused to restore OBC reservation in local bodies in the state for want of empirical data.
Patil said the apex court’s decision regarding OBC quota is being awaited and his party will make all efforts to ensure that backward communities get political reservation in local self-governing bodies. The BJP had earlier opposed the holding of local body elections until the OBC quota, set aside by the Supreme Court in March last year, was restored.
The party is now in power in the state along with the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The August 18 elections will be held for local urban bodies in Pune, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Jalna, Beed, Osmanabad, Latur, Amravati and Buldhana districts. Counting of votes will take place on August 19.
13 Sena Lok Sabha MP present in the prez poll supported Murmu 4
Thirteen of the 18 Lok Sabha MPs of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Monday physically attended a key meeting on the presidential elections and a majority of them suggested supporting the BJP-led NDA’s candidate Droupadi Murmu, party leader Gajanan Kiritkar said.
However, party MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut claimed of the 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha, 15 attended the meeting held at ‘Matoshree’, the private residence of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in suburban Bandra.
He did not provide details. Besides 18 Lok Sabha members in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena also has its MP, Kalaben Delkar, in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Kiritkar said 13 MPs physically attended the meeting, while three others — Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Mandlik and Hemant Patil — could not make it to the gathering, but affirmed their support to the leadership.
“Most of the MPs were of the opinion that the party should support Droupadi Murmu,” Kirtikar told PTI. Two Lok Sabha MPs of the Sena – Bhawana Gawali and Shrikant Shinde (son of Chief minister Eknath Shinde) – did not attend the meeting, he added. The presidential elections will be held on July 18.
Mumbai: Eknath Shinde camped MLA Bharat Gogawale's car met with an accident 6
The car in which rebel Shiv Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale was travelling met with an accident on Mumbai’s Eastern Freeway on Monday morning after a vehicle ahead of it applied brakes suddenly, though no one was injured in the incident, a police official said. The pile-up took place near Orange Gate on the arterial road and saw five cars rear-ending each other as a chain reaction after the vehicle ahead applied brakes, he said. “None of the persons in the cars, including MLA Bharat Gogawale and his driver, have approached police with a complaint. Therefore, no case has been registered,” the official added.
Cash and jewellery were dumped outside the house of BJP leader Prasad Lad 8
The incident has put the authorities on alert mode as they fear that instead of these articles, something that could cause potential harm could also have been dropped, creating a problem with the law-and-order situation in the city. In a bizarre incident that reportedly took place in the early Sunday morning, police officials in Mumbai found a bag – containing articles like – cash, coins, the idol of God and jewellery – outside the house of BJP leader Prasad Lad.
Lad is one of the ten newly-elected members of the Maharashtra Legislative Council who were sworn in on Friday. In a video shared by news agency ANI on Twitter, three to four plastic bags filled with coins can be seen lying on the ground. A stack of notes can also be seen in the video.
#WATCH | Mumbai: A bag full of cash, coins, Ganpati idol, etc found outside BJP MLC Prasad Lad's residence. Investigation on
Says, "Police saw a suspicious man passing by my house at 5.30-6 am. When they approached him, he fled&left the bag.Tomorrow it could be something lethal" pic.twitter.com/bvhRkebBJj
Apart from this, the clip shows some utensils, a gold-coloured idol of the Hindu god Ganesha intact in a plastic box, a pot full of bangles and several other items. A stack of jewellery, presumably containing a necklace, bangle and earrings can also be seen lying on a crumpled pink paper.
Explaining the details of the incident, officials told ANI that all these items were dropped by a man outside the Lad’s house at around 5:30 am. When the cops confronted the man, he fled the spot. The incident has put the authorities on alert mode as they fear that instead of these articles, something that could cause potential harm could also have been dropped, creating a problem with the law-and-order situation in the city.
“Police saw a suspicious man passing by my house at 5.30-6 am. When they approached him, he fled and left the bag. Tomorrow it could be something lethal,” an official was quoted as saying. The motive of the act and the identity of the accused is yet to be established and an investigation in the matter is currently underway as per the officials. As per the reports, Prasad Lad’s house is currently under tight security.
In the state of Uttar Pradesh in Balrampur at a village two men from a village drowned on Monday while bathing in the canal. The villagers who usually visit the canal for bathing went to have a bath today but they were drowned in the Saryu canal this was been said by the state police.
As per the report, this incident was reported at Judikuiya village and the Saryu canal also passes from the same where this incident was reported.
In the report mentioned in PTI according to police “ Five men had gone to bathe in the Saryu canal and struggled to stay afloat when they went too deep”. After this incident police said, “ The locals who rushed to help them when they heard their shouts they could rescue only 3 of them”.
In a report as per the local people, they could only rescue 3 people and the other 2 were found dead the deceased were identified as Sonu at the age of 24 and Faizan whose age was 28.
The case was been handled by Panchpedwa Police Station and the SHO Alok Rai of the same police station as quoted in the PTI report “ The bodies of both men were recovered and handed over to their family members after legal formalities.
After this incident, the former minister and local MLA S P Yadav met the relatives of the deceased and demanded 10 lakh rupees from the government to be given to the deceased family members.
Panneerselvam appears set to repeat war for 'Dharma' 11
The beleaguered O Panneerselvam who initiated a ‘Dharma Yudham’ in 2017 to reclaim his position in the party appears to be heading towards the same path, this time ‘war for Dharma, 2.0,’ after his expulsion from the AIADMK on Monday.
Panneerselvam, following his dismissal from the party and when authorities descended on the AIADMK headquarters to lock and seal the premises in view of the violence, told reporters he would meet party workers, take legal action and approach court.
Precisely, this was what Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS had done years ago against VK Sasikala that culminated in the coming together of the factions led by him and Edappady K Palaniswami (EPS).
In the present ’round two,’ political observers say one cannot be sure about the outcome of such moves. Also, the BJP, which is aggressive now in Tamil Nadu is yet to take a firm stand on taking sides in the AIADMK’s bickering.
After being the Chief Minister thrice, Panneerselvam agreed to be the deputy CM in 2017. Following DMK’s win in Assembly election last year, he also accepted the offer of Deputy Leader in the Assembly, while EPS became the Leader of Opposition. All along, the supremacy of Palaniswami in the party was unmistakable. With his expulsion, OPS is also set to lose his Deputy Leader position in the House.
He has already approached the Election Commission and in his June 27 memorandum to the panel, had underscored a bid to ‘sabotage’ the party administration by raking up the demand for a single leadership favouring EPS, neglecting him and thereby violating party bylaws.
Panneerselvam had just stopped short of requesting the EC to intervene to help establish his rights as per AIADMK bylaws and had said his representation was for the panel’s ‘kind consideration’, as required under the Representation of People Act, 1951.
Asked on what could be the future course of OPS’s action, political analyst Sumanth Raman told PTI that currently Panneerselvam has very ‘limited options’ to make a comeback in the AIADMK.
Political commentator M Bharat Kumar said Panneerselvam may consider taking steps like blocking party’s Two Leaves symbol and pursue other legal measures to scuttle Palaniswami from further firming up his grip on the party apparatus.
“Panneerselvam may join the BJP if the saffron party agrees or consider joining hands with Sasikala if her camp is okay with it. He may also toy with the idea of floating a new party. However, his chances to return to the AIADMK and especially to his previous top position is very slim,” he told PTI.
It is an open secret that Panneerselvam does not enjoy the support of party MLAs and office-bearers.
“OPS claims he has the support of party workers. However, that is limited to select regions,” he said.
After he was sidelined by Palaniswami camp, Panneerselvam has all along been playing the ‘victim card,’ claiming that his ‘sacrifices’ for the party has been forgotten. However, ‘barging’ into the party headquarters, staging a dharna and breaking open the doors of party office has created a sense of negativity against him and his supporters among the people and party workers, Kumar said.
If OPS had quietly staged a protest outside the party office, which was locked by Palaniswami’s supporters, it could have earned the sympathy of people and party workers for Panneerselvam, he added.
While the General Council meet was in progress elsewhere OPS’s storm troopers entered the office, apparently breaking open the doors and forcing their way into the headquarters.
Later, Panneerselvam arrived and waved to party workers from the upper floor of the headquarters. OPS’s supporters say that waving to cadres from the very same spot used by ‘Amma’ was not only similar to J Jayalalithaa’s style but it is OPS’ way to assert he was the choice successor of the late party matriarch and his way of asserting his right in the party.
AIADMK had on Monday elected Palaniswami as its Interim General Secretary and vested in him full powers to helm the organisation and expelled Panneerselvam and 3 of his loyalists from the party.
The Supreme Court on Monday said the Centre is bound to honor its commitment given to Portugal and release gangster Abu Salem on completion of his 25-year sentence in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.
Salem had said his sentence could not exceed 25 years as per a solemn assurance given by India to Portugal for his extradition in 2002.
A bench of Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh said the Central government is bound to advise the President of India for the exercise of power under Article 72 of the Constitution and the national commission on completion of his sentence. ”The necessary papers be forwarded within a month of completion of 25 years. In fact, the government can itself exercise the power of remission under CrPC within the time period of one month upon completion of 25 years,” the bench said.
On February 25, 2015, a special TADA court awarded life imprisonment to Salem in another case for murdering Mumbai-based builder Pradeep Jain in 1995 along with his driver Mehndi Hassan.
Salem, also a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, was extradited from Portugal on November 11, 2005, after a prolonged legal battle.
Three men drowned in Chuna Dari Waterfall here while on a picnic, police said on Monday.
The waterfall, which comes under Ahraura Police Station area, was immediately closed for tourists by the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, Mirzapur, till further orders.
The deceased had come from Varanasi to have a picnic at the Chuna Dari Waterfall on Sunday afternoon. They slipped their foot while taking a bath and drowned in the gushing water, police said.
All three did not know how to swim, they said.
The deceased were identified as Sandeep Kharwar, 26, Prince, 23, and Rishu, 22, Additional SP Sanjay Verma told PTI.
Their bodies were recovered by the local divers after struggling for about four hours, he said.
Meanwhile, Constable Vinod Kumar who was posted there has been attached to Police Lines for informing about the incident late.
Assembly Speaker not to act on disqualification against Sena MLAs: SC 15
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Rahul Narwekar not to take any action on the new disqualification notices issued against the members of Shiv Sena. A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Maharashtra Governor, to inform its direction to the newly-appointed Assembly Speaker.
The order of the bench came after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Uddhav Thackeray camp, mentioned the matter for urgent listing of the pleas saying the matters were posted for today but were not listed today. “The disqualification plea is listed tomorrow before the Speaker.
Let there be no disqualification until the matter is decided,” Sibal told the bench. Hearing this, the CJI asked Solicitor General to inform the Assembly Speaker not to take any decision until the pleas are decided by the apex court. “Please inform the Assembly Speaker not to take any decision until the plea is decided.
Please inform the speaker through your office,” the CJI told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who agreed to convey the message to the Speaker. The bench said the matter will require the constitution of the bench and it will take some time to be listed. It also clarified that the matter will not be listed tomorrow as well.
During the summer vacation, the bench had listed a number of petitions on the Maharashtra political crisis on July 11. There are various petitions pending before the apex court filed by both the factions of Shiv Sena.
Uddhav Thackeray-led faction has recently approached the top court challenging the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari’s decision to invite Eknath Shinde to form the government and also the Speaker’s election and floor test. They had also challenged the newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker’s action recognizing the whip of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde group as the whip of Shiv Sena.
The plea said the newly appointed Speaker has no jurisdiction to recognize whips nominated by Shinde as Uddhav Thackeray is still the head of Shiv Sena’s official party. Thackeray camp’s Sunil Prabhu had filed a plea seeking suspension from the Maharashtra Assembly of new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification pleas are pending.
Shinde group’s plea challenging the disqualification notices issued by the Deputy Speaker to 16 rebel MLAs as well as the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader, is also pending before the apex court. On June 29, the top court gave a go-ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30.
Refusing to stay the Maharashtra Governor’s direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30, the bench had issued notice on Prabhu’s plea against floor test. On June 27, the top court granted interim relief to Shinde and other rebel MLAs to file their reply on disqualification notices issued to them by Deputy Speaker by July 12, 5.30 pm. Earlier, Deputy Speaker had granted them time to file a reply by June 27, 5.30 pm.
Giriraj makes fresh pitch for stringent population law 17
Union minister Giriraj Singh on Monday made a fresh pitch for a stringent law to control the population of the country, which he compared to the ever-expanding mouth of mythical female demon “Sursa”.
The firebrand BJP leader came out with a video statement on the occasion of World Population Day and shared it on Twitter.
Singh, who represents the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, rued that in the past three decades, India lost out to China in the pace of economic progress but surpassed its neighbour in the growth of population.
“We have limited resources. Our population is expanding like the mouth of Sursa. The perverse mindset (vikrit mansikta) out of which one person sires 10 children can not be allowed,” Singh fumed.
He added that the need of the hour was a stringent law (‘kada kanoon’) for population control, “applicable across the country and to people of all religious affiliations”.
“The demand for such a law must be raised, from Parliament to the streets (‘sansad se sadak tak’),” said the BJP leader.
The declamation of Singh is in sharp contrast to the view held by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose JD(U) is the BJP’s largest ally at the national level.
Kumar has often disapproved of a legislative route for achieving population stabilisation and cited the state’s own experience where fertility rates have shown a decline corresponding to the rise in women’s education.
Moreover, political parties have often been of the view that the BJP raises the bogey of population explosion for dog-whistling against Muslims whom it accuses of trying to change the demographics by procreating more.
Interestingly, anxieties over “changed demography” has often led “fringe elements” to appeal to Hindus that they should produce more children.
