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Voting begins for Karnataka Assembly polls

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Bengaluru: The polling for the Karnataka Assembly elections began amid tight security on Wednesday.
The voting started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.
All three major political parties in the state — BJP, Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS)– have put in efforts to woo voters, making promises and levelling accusations at each other to secure a majority in the state’s 224-seat Assembly.

The Lingayat and Vokkaliga voters will play a major factor in the elections. Lingayats comprise 17 per cent of the population and Vokkaligas 11 per cent.
The voting is being held for 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka with 2,615 candidates in the fray. The fate of the candidates will be known on May 13, the day of the counting of votes. Polling is scheduled across 58,545 polling stations including auxiliary polling stations.
According to the Election Commission of India, the majority mark to form the government is 113 seats.
A total of 42,48,028 new voters have been registered to vote for the assembly elections.
As many as 5.3 crore general voters are going to cast their vote in 58,545 polling stations in 37,777 locations. Out of which 11,71,558 are young voters and 12,15,920 are 80+ senior citizen voters. There are also 5,71,281 PwD voters. Around 4,00,000 polling personnel are engaged in poll processes.

84,119 State Police Officers and 58,500 CAPF police in 650 CoYs are on Law and Order and security duty today across the state. All Police officers are on rounds to ensure Law and Order efficiently and handle MCC violations. 185 Interstate Border Check-posts are on high alert by the Police and other personnel. 100 Excise interstate border check-posts are also on high alert. The Commercial Tax officers are deployed in 185 Check Posts (SSTs) and 75 Excise Check-posts.
CEC Rajiv Kumar said “CEO and DEOs have been instructed to provide all facilitation will be provided across more than 58k polling booths set up across 224 ACs. Specifically, 996 Women Managed Booths, 239 Booths were managed by Persons with Disabilities, 286 were managed by youths, and 737 theme-based and ethnic Polling stations.” Basic facilities like drinking water, toilets, ramps, wheelchairs, electricity, volunteers, shades, help desks and parking facilities have been provided at all the polling stations.
The high-voltage campaign for the assembly elections in Karnataka ended on Monday with all party leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding 19 public meetings and six roadshows while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi camped in the state for 12 days.
Some of the key constituencies which will make a major mark in the polls are Varuna, Kanakapura, Shiggaon, Hubli-Darwad, Channapatna, Shikaripura, Chittapur, Ramanagara, and Chikmagalur.
Both BJP and Congress are fielding some of their top guns in the major constituencies. The BJP has also taken a chance by contesting 50 new faces in its 224 candidates list. This move by BJP to deny tickets to several senior leaders ultimately led to them quitting the party and joining Congress or JD(S).
One of them is former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar who was denied a ticket for the Hubli-Darwad West Assembly constituency then joined the Congress and will be contesting from the same constituency as the Congress candidate. It is a seat Shettar has won multiple times.
Meanwhile, Karnataka’s Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is yet another key candidate who is contesting from the Shiggaon constituency where he has won three consecutive terms.
Also, Varuna is yet another-eyed constituency. Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah is contesting from Varuna which is also his sitting seat with a winning streak starting from 2008.
BJP’s veteran leader and former CM BS Yediyurappa declined to field his son BY Vijayendra from Varuna though reports suggested that party workers wanted Vijayendra to be fielded against Siddaramaiah. BY Vijayendra will be contesting from Shikaripura which is a stronghold of his father BS Yediyurappa.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar will be contesting from Kanakapura. He is also the Congress party’s chief ministerial candidate and he will be contesting against BJP’s Vokkaliga strongman and state revenue minister R Ashoka.
Coming to Channapatna, a seat of the hot battle between JD (S) leader and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, BJP’s Yogeshwar and Congress party’s Gangadhar. Both Kumaraswamy and Yogeshwara belong to the dominant Vokkaliga community.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge will be contesting from the Chittapur Assembly constituency. He was also a former minister in the Siddaramaiah government.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Deve Gowda’s grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy will be contesting from the Ramanagara Assembly constituency after hitting a loss in the 2019 elections. He will be facing Congress veteran HA Iqbal Hussain and BJP’s Gowtham Gowda.
Lastly, Chikmagalur is also among the major seats BJP will be eyeing during this poll. The party is fielding its national general secretary CT Ravi from the seat. Ravi has a winning streak from the Chikmagalur from 2004 and belongs to the Lingayat community giving him a stronghold in the constituency.
The BJP which is facing an air of anti-incumbency factor, is eyeing a second term in the state and has exuded confidence in retaining power with a full majority.
Significantly, Karnataka is the only state in the South where BJP is in power.
With top leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah campaigning for the party, BJP has put all its might to strengthen its support base.
The Congress also conducted high-decibel campaigning with high promises with top leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are some of the promises assured by the BJP in its manifesto.
Congress in its manifesto promises to bring back the Muslim quota, higher reservations for various classes, cash handouts and freebies.
The counting of votes will take place on May 13.
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#Voting #begins #Karnataka #Assembly #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 10, 2023
PTI supporters vandalise Pak Army properties after Imran’s arrest

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Lahore: Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) headed to the army installations in many parts of the country on Tuesday as the law and order situation continued to deteriorate following the arrest of Imran Khan, media reports said.
Videos emerged on social media soon after former Prime Minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan was arrested from outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday, Samaa TV reported.
The clips showed charged PTI activists raising slogans against the government as well as the Pakistan Army, the report said.

The baton-wielding demonstrators reached inside the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Pakistan Army in Rawalpindi, Samaa TV reported.
Large protests have broken out in Pakistan over the arrest of former PM Imran Khan. In Rawalpindi, protestors stormed the front gates & stormed into the PAK Army HQ. In Lahore, protestors have burned down the Lahore corps commander’s residence. Take a look:pic.twitter.com/AJ3R6WJPaN
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) May 10, 2023
In other videos, they could be seen vandalising army properties in different cities, including Lahore and Karachi.
The police fired tear gas shells to disperse the demonstrators but to no avail as the law enforcers retreated.
There are reports of PTI supporters breaking into the residence of a military officer in the cantonment area in Lahore, Dawn reported.
Journalist Murtaza Ali Shah shared this information in a tweet, saying, “PTI supporters break into military officer’s house in Lahore Cantt.”

He also shared a video showing a group of men, some of them with their faces partly covered, entering a gated premises with sticks. They were later seen using the sticks to hit walls, Dawn reported.
Mass riots rage in Pakistan.Clashes, headquarters fires, assaults and car hijackings in several Pakistani cities following the arrest of Imran Khan . pic.twitter.com/07Di9XU2io
— Spriter (@Spriter99880) May 9, 2023
Men in uniform could also be seen on the premise.
Meanwhile, PTI workers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gathered on the streets of Lakki Marwat district under the leadership of provincial party president Muhammad Iqbal after the arrest of Khan.
The PTI supporters resorted to burning tyres and closed down the Indus Highway.
After Khan’s arrest, PTI had called for protests across Pakistan following which roads were blocked on the main thoroughfares in the major cities, including Karachi.
Take a look as multiple fires are set in the streets of Karachi, Pakistan, over the arrest (read: abduction) of former PM Imran Khan today in Islamabad:https://t.co/bMZL4tNxpb
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) May 10, 2023
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi reiterated the party’s call for “peaceful protest”, following the arrest of Khan.
In a video message shared on PTI’s Twitter habdle, Qureshi could be heard urging the people to “protest peacefully and express solidarity with PTI Chairman Imran Khan”.
Qureshi said he was leaving for Islamabad where he had called a meeting of the PTI leadership and a six-member committee to determine the next course of action, Dawn reported.
Qureshi said, “In my view, the plan to hold a series of rallies earlier announced by Imran Khan Sahib still holds. We have to convert them into rallies of peaceful protests.”

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#PTI #supporters #vandalise #Pak #Army #properties #Imrans #arrest
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 10, 2023
Pak high court upholds ousted PM Imran Khan’s arrest ‘Legal’

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Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday night upheld the arrest of Imran Khan, saying that all legal formalities were fulfilled by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) while carrying out the arrest of the former prime minister, dashing the hopes of his party.
The court issued its reserved ruling, upsetting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which claimed the arrest was illegal and that the IHC would rule in favour of party chief Imran Khan.
The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday summoned top officials and police officers after paramilitary Rangers dramatically arrested former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan in a corruption case from the court premises but reserved its ruling.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq took notice of the arrest by paramilitary Rangers when the PTI party chief was present at the court to mark his biometric attendance before the start of the hearing of a corruption case.
Khan, 70, who travelled from Lahore to the federal capital Islamabad, was arrested after the Rangers broke open the glass window and arrested him after beating lawyers and Khan’s security staff.
The arrest of the cricketer-turned-politician comes a day after the powerful army accused him of levelling baseless allegations against a senior officer of the spy agency ISI.
The IHC summoned various officials and heard arguments on the merit of the arrest and if it was legal to arrest someone present inside the court.
After hearing the case, the chief justice reserved the judgment.

The chief justice initially ordered the interior secretary, Inspector General (IG) Police Islamabad and other officials to come and respond to the arrest within 15 minutes.
The chief justice added that he was showing “restraint” in the matter and warned to summon the prime minister if the Islamabad police chief failed to appear.
“Come to court and tell us why Imran has been arrested and in which case,” Justice Farooq said.
IG Akbar Nasir Khan duly appeared before the court and said that Khan had been arrested by the NAB in a case about him and his wife, Bushra Bibi, for alleged corruption.
Khan’s lawyer Faisal Chaudhry told the court that the PTI chief was illegally arrested when he was present inside the court to record his biometric attendance.
Barrister Gohar Khan, another lawyer of Khan, claimed that the cricketer-turned-politician was hit by an iron rod on his head and injured his leg during the arrest.
Khawaja Harris, Khan’s other lawyer, said that the court should take action against NAB as Khan was arrested from inside the court, a violation of the sanctity of the court.
After hearing the lawyers, the chief justice summoned NAB officials before taking a break. When the court reconvened, Director General NAB Rawalpindi Mirza Irfan Baig appeared with Deputy Prosecutor General NAB Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi.
Abbasi told the court that the anti-corruption watchdog was in its legal right to arrest Khan, who had failed to join the investigation in the case.
“An accused can be arrested from any place if resistance is shown,” he said.
Advocate Harris contended the NAB argument by saying that arrest was made in violation of the rules and the court should take action.
“The court should annul the arrest as it is illegal and order the NBA to set Imran Khan free immediately,” he said.
Supporters of the former prime minister stormed the Pakistan Army headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi and the Corps Commander’s residence in Lahore after Khan’s dramatic arrest.
Khan has been facing a slew of cases since his ouster through a no-trust vote in April last year. He has rejected all these cases as political victimisation by the ruling alliance.
Currently, Khan has said he is facing over 140 cases related to terrorism, blasphemy, murder, violence, and inciting violence.
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#Pak #high #court #upholds #ousted #Imran #Khans #arrest #Legal
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 10, 2023
Battlelines over ‘Kerala Story’ harden as legal notice on ban is sent by filmaker

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Kolkata: Amidst a raging controversy over West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s announced ban on the screening of the controversial film ‘The Kerala Story’ in the state, political battlelines hardened over the decision.
This happened as filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri on Tuesday said he has sent a legal notice to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for defaming his movie “The Kashmir Files”.
The BJP continued to maintain the move was aimed at appeasing the minority, while a right-wing cultural organiation which had been promoting viewership complained of high handedness by the state government.

The TMC for its part defended the move which it termed as one which ensured communal harmony in the state, which its rivals in the saffron camp were trying to disrupt.
By banning the film, TMC has proven it follows a policy of appeasement, despite all talk of freedom of expression, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said.
“The film is against terrorism and Islamic State. The film exposes their modus operandi. This (ban) has been brought to appease a section of the minority community,” Ghosh told PTI Tuesday.
Sagnik Sengupta, a spokesperson of Voice of Hindustan, a right-wing cultural organisation which has been promoting watching the film in large numbers, told PTI “we protest the decision of the West Bengal government to take away the right of citizens to watch the film … Once The Kerala Story was cleared by the Censor Board, this government has no right to unilaterally stop its screening”.
TMC spokesperson Jaiprakash Majumdar however told PTI that “the BJP and RSS have an agenda of disrupting communal and social harmony and ties by promoting the Kerala Story”.
While the film’s makers’ have claimed to the authorities that “the film was fictional, outside the police station and courtroom they are claiming it was entirely based on real life incidents of conversion,” Majumdar said.

On the other hand, CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty maintained to PTI the banning of the film will strengthen the hands of BJP and right wing forces.
“Kerala Story carries a false propaganda about conversions of thousands of Hindu women, banning the film after its release was a wrong decision as it will raise interest about the film which can now be watched on internet-based platforms over which the state doesn’t have any control,” Chakraborty said.
Banerjee on Monday ordered a ban on the screening of “The Kerala Story” in the state to avoid “any incident of hatred and violence,” according to officials.
Agnihotri said he had sent the legal notice along with his actor-wife Pallavi Joshi and producer Abhishek Agarwal.
He shared a copy of the document in his Twitter post.
“I have, along with @AbhishekOfficl & Pallavi Joshi, sent a LEGAL NOTICE to the Chief Minister, Bengal @MamataOfficial for her false & highly defamatory statements made with malafide intention to defame us & our films #TheKashmirFiles & upcoming 2024 film #TheDelhiFiles,” the filmmaker tweeted.
Directed by Sudipto Sen, “The Kerala Story” on women being forcefully converted and recruited by the terror group Islamic State (IS), released on May 5 to a huge political debate. It has been made tax free in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, while multiplexes in Tamil Nadu have cancelled its screenings.
INOX Regional Director Amitava Guha Thakurta told PTI “the film was being screened in 100 audi units of INOX across West Bengal with around 70-80 per cent occupancy on an average on two weekend days.”
“Once we got the notice from the government, we suspended the remaining night shows and refunded the money to the audience,” he said.
Satadip Saha, the distributor of the film, also confirmed to PTI, the screening has been stopped.
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#Battlelines #Kerala #Story #harden #legal #notice #ban #filmaker
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 10, 2023
Karnataka High Court permits serving free food after voting

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Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday allowed distribution and serving of free food at hotels after voting in the Karnataka Assembly elections on Wednesday.
The court has permitted hotels to serve food in order to encourage voting. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had prohibited serving of free food on election day after voting as many hotels came up with the offer.
The State Election Commission had also warned hotels of strict action on this count. However, the Hotel Owners’ Association and the owners of Nisarga Grand Hotel in Bengaluru had challenged the order and approached the high court. The high court, after admitting the petition, has quashed the orders in this regard by the BBMP and the State Election Commission.

Senior counsel Satish Bhat, who appeared for the Hotel Owners’ Association and the Nisarga Grand Hotel, submitted before the court that the hotels have come up with the offer to create awareness among the voters.
It would have been a lure if the food was to be offered before voting, the court noted. The food will be served only after checking the black ink mark on the fingers of the voters. Considering this argument, the court permitted serving of food.
Krishnaraja S.P., the owner of Nisarga Grand Hotel, welcomed the decision.
“Free food and cold drink are served to the voters after polling at the hotel to create awareness among the electorate,” Krishnaraja said.
Nisarga Grand Hotel will offer butter dosa, Mysuru pak (sweet dish) and cold drinks to the people after voting. Free cinema tickets will also be offered to 100 first-time voters, he said.

Many hotels across the state have made similar offers.
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#Karnataka #High #Court #permits #serving #free #food #voting
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 9, 2023
India needs oppn that is not afraid of ruling party; Mamata should be PM: Swamy

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Kolkata: Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Subramanian Swamy said on Tuesday that the country needs a genuine opposition which is not afraid of the ruling party.
Describing West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee as someone who cannot be “blackmailed”, he said she should be the prime minister of India.
“I do think that the country needs a genuine opposition which cannot be blackmailed by people in power,” Swamy said while speaking at an interactive session organised by FLO, the women’s wing of FICCI, here.

“I know a lot of people today. They will not go beyond a point against the present government. Because they are afraid that ED will turn up or something else will turn up. That’s not good for Indian democracy,” the BJP leader said.
He also reiterated that India needs an opposition which is “not a friend” of the ruling party.
“You can find many people like that. Some do it boisterously and some do it quietly,” he said.
“Mamata Banerjee should be the prime minister of India. She is a gutsy woman. Look at how she fought the communists. I met her 10 days ago but nobody knows (that),” Swamy said, adding that he knows her since she was fighting the CPI(M).
Asked about what transpired between Banerjee and him in that meeting, he said it was on how 2024 would be and what would be the shape of the economy then.

Referring to the TMC supremo, Swamy said it is “impossible to blackmail” her.
Asked about his opinion on the most powerful woman in the country today, the former MP said, “There was a time Jayalalitha could have been; there was a time when I thought of Mayawati. In the present situation…Mamata Banerjee. She is the only woman leader who has the guts to stand up. She is not complicit. “
Referring to Hinduism, he said it is the longest-surviving religion in the world today. “With that, you have a broadminded attitude.”
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#India #oppn #afraid #ruling #party #Mamata #Swamy
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 9, 2023
Sexual Harassment Case: DCW issues summons to DCP over failure to arrest accused

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New Delhi: The Delhi Commission for Women has summoned the Deputy Commissioner of Police of New Delhi district over failure to arrest the accused in the cases of alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers.
The panel said it has learnt that no accused has been arrested in the matter till date and has asked the DCP to appear before the Commission on May 12 with an action taken report.
“It is also learnt that statements of survivors including the minor girl, under 164 CrPC have not been recorded till date, despite the passage of 10 days since the registration of FIRs,” it claimed.

the DCW has issued a summons to DCP New Delhi district and has sought an explanation in the matter, it said.
The women’s rights body has received a complaint regarding the alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers by Brijbhushan Singh, President of the Wrestling Federation of India.
The women wrestlers had approached the Supreme Court and two FIRs were registered on April 28.
One FIR has been registered against Brij Bhushan Singh under POSCO in the matter of sexual harassment with a minor girl while another FIR has been registered for sexual harassment with other complainants, the panel said.
“The Commission has asked for reasons for failing to record statements of survivors under 164 CrPC along with details of action taken against concerned police officers for failing to record statements. The Commission has asked DCP to appear before the Commission on May 12 with an action taken report,” it said.

The country’s top wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat, resumed their sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar on April 23, demanding the arrest of the WFI president.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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#Sexual #Harassment #Case #DCW #issues #summons #DCP #failure #arrest #accused
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 9, 2023
Kejriwal House Row: LG seeks chief secy’s report on Delhi CM’s house renovation

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New Delhi: Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has sought a detailed report from the chief secretary within a week into allegations levelled by Congress leader Ajay Maken about “extravagant” expenditure and violations in the renovation of the chief minister’s official residence.
Also, the National Green Tribunal has formed a panel, which includes the chief secretary, to ascertain the factual position after a petition claimed violation of environmental norms by the public works department (PWD) in carrying out constructions at the chief minister’s residence and properties adjacent to it.
However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hit out at Maken over his letter to the LG in which he has sought a probe into the alleged violations, calling him a puppet of the BJP in Delhi and stating that false claims were being made to tarnish Kejriwal’s image.

In a letter to the LG, Congress’ senior spokesperson Ajay Maken had claimed that the amount spent on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence was not Rs 45 crore but Rs 171 crore and that too during the time of the Covid pandemic when people were struggling to get hospital beds and oxygen.
Maken had also expressed his deep concern and disappointment regarding the “extravagant” expenditure, environmental damage, and violation of heritage protection and zonal plans in the construction of the chief minister’s residence in Delhi.
After receiving the letter, the L-G in a communication to the chief secretary directed that a report be submitted to him within seven days.
“Hon’ble LG has desired that a detailed report on each of the issues raised in the aforesaid representation be furnished within seven days,” the communication read.
The NGT, meanwhile, asked the committee it has set up to submit a report within three weeks and in case of violations, take remedial action in coordination with the statutory authorities in accordance with law.

It was hearing a petition alleging permanent and semi-permanent constructions were raised and more than 20 trees cut in the course of developing 6, Flag Staff Road (CM’s residence) and 45-47 Rajpur Road (properties adjoining it).
“In view of the significance of the requirement of compliance for cutting trees and providing green belt as a condition for constructions in the congested and polluted city of Delhi, we consider it necessary to ascertain the factual position by constituting a joint committee ,” a bench of chairperson Justice A K Goel said.
The bench constituted the committee comprising the chief secretary and Principal Secretary (Environment & Forest) of Delhi along with a nominee of the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) and the District Magistrate of North Delhi.
“Meeting of the committee may be held within one week and report may be furnished within three weeks from today The committee will be free to interact with any other department or authority and undertake a visit to the site and it may meet online or offline as may be found viable,” the bench said.
The AAP alleged that the BJP and Congress are colluding against it.
“Everyone knows that this is a false case meant to tarnish the image of Kejriwal ji. Ajay Maken’s complaint shows that BJP and Congress are both together and working against AAP,” it alleged in a statement on the LG’s decision.
“Ajay Maken is a puppet of the BJP in Delhi. What does the Congress have to say about the Rs 2000 cr liquor scam in Chhattisgarh?” the party said,
Claiming that the renovation of the chief minister’s house has violated the Master Plan Delhi (MPD) 2021, Maken had alleged that it has been constructed in the Civil Lines Old Bungalow Zone, an area protected under MPD 2021.
The AAP has maintained that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence was built in 1942 and the roof had collapsed thrice. Following the roof collapse incidents, the Public Works Department suggested a new house be built, the party had said `
“The construction of the new CM house has cost the exchequer around Rs 171 crore, with 15 out of 22 officers’ houses adjacent to CM’s house at Flagstaff Road being demolished or got vacated,” he said.
“The rest have been asked to not re-allot with time. This figure (Rs 171 crore) includes around Rs 126 crore spent on purchasing 21 new Type 5 flats in the CWG Village to compensate for the housing shortage,” the former Delhi Congress chief had claimed in the letter.
“I thus request you to conduct an inquiry into the matter. And if found guilty, grant sanction for prosecution of the principal beneficiary, the chief minister and the principal perpetrator the PWD minister of GNCTD,” Maken had said.
The BJP has accused the city’s AAP government of having splurged Rs 45 crore on renovating and refurbishing the official residence of Chief Minister Kejriwal.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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#Kejriwal #House #Row #seeks #chief #secys #report #Delhi #CMs #house #renovation
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 9, 2023
Nitish meets Patnaik, both claim no talks held on alliance for 2024 poll

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Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar met here for more than an hour on Tuesday but later claimed that there was no discussion on politics or any alliance for the 2024 general election.
Kumar, also the JD(U) supremo, callled on Patnaik, who is the BJD president, at his residence ‘Navin Niwas’ here amid speculation that the two non-BJP and non-Congress leaders will discuss the proposed partnership among the non-BJP parties ahead of the 2024 general election.
The speculation on an emerging alliance at the national level ahead of the poll had its roots in Nitish Kumar’s earlier meetings with AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party leader Akilesh Yadav and others. Kumar had also made it clear that he was in the process of uniting the non-BJP leaders.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is now likely to call on Maharashtra stalwarts Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray later this week, sources in the JD(U) said in Patna.
The Bihar chief minister also had his lunch with Patnaik at his home.
However, both the leaders after the hour-long meeting said that being old friends they talked of matters other than politics fuelling curiosity.
The meeting between the two took place ahead of Patnaik’s proposed three-day trip to Delhi from Wednesday, while the JD(U) in a tweet later claimed that Nitish Kumar has become the leader of the united-Opposition against the BJP-led NDA.
“Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has become the leader of opposition unity, went to Odisha and met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik uniting opposition parties without personal ambition,” the JD(U) tweeted in Hindi.

Patnaik, however, refuted speculations about any political understanding between the two leaders. “No discussion was held on any alliance today. I am delighted that Nitish ji came to Bhubaneswar. We are old friends and colleagues ever since we served in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet,” he told reporters.
He said the Odisha will provide 1.5 acres to Bihar government free of cost in Puri for building facilities for tourists coming for darshan of Lord Jagannath.
He shared some photographs from the meeting and tweeted, “Glad to meet #Bihar Chief Minister Shri @NitishKumar in #Bhubaneswar. #Odisha shares a special bond with Bihar and the people of the neighbouring state. Hope he had a pleasant and fruitful stay in Odisha”.
Kumar said, “Our relation with his (Naveen) father Biju Babu (Patnaik) and Naveen ji is a very old one. We could not meet due to the pandemic. No political discussions were held (during the meeting). We have good relations and there is no need to discuss any politics.”
Earlier in the day, Kumar was welcomed at the Biju Patnaik International Airport by state minister Ashok Chandra Panda and BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra.
Both Kumar and Patnaik lead their respective parties and it was expected that they would discuss politics ahead of the 2024 polls and work towards unity among regional parties.
Kumar is opposed to BJP, with which his party broke its alliance in August 2022, and has claimed that the JD(U) maintains an equal distance the saffron party and Congress.
Banerjee had met Patnaik in March in Bhubaneswar.
Odisha BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said the meeting between Patnaik and Kumar will not have any impact on the party.
“Naveen Patnaik always does whatever is in his interest. If he thinks that joining the third front will help him, he might do so and if he thinks it won’t, he will not join it,” he said.
BJD MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik said, “Kumar wants a reformative and alternative front in the country. He may discuss the matter with Naveen Patnaik. But Patnaik has already made it cleared that BJD will maintain equidistance from both Congress and the BJP.”
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#Nitish #meets #Patnaik #claim #talks #held #alliance #poll
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 9, 2023
‘Dangerous proposition’: Jamiat on stand that SC rule on same-sex marriages

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New Delhi: The Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that arguments made by petitioners’ counsel that the top court should make a declaration about legal validation for same-sex marriage as Parliament is not likely to do anything about it will be a “dangerous proposition”.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Jamiat, submitted before a five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud that he was “very worried” at the beginning of the hearing when the petitioners’ side said that Parliament is not going to do anything about it so the court should make a declaration.
He said it would be a wrong step forward if there were to be a declaration on the premise that Parliament is not likely to pass a law on same-sex union and emphasised that any law of this nature requires public discourse, which includes discourse within and outside parliament.

“I say that it is a very dangerous route to take,” Sibal contended before the bench, which also comprises Justices S.K. Kaul, S.R. Bhat, P.S. Narasimha and Hima Kohli.
Sibal said after the declaration by the court there will be no scope for debate in the Parliament — one that same-sex union is a fundamental right; two, it has to be recognised.
However, the top court said the Parliament can overrule a declaration. Sibal replied that “once your lordships have declared, the Parliament can’t overrule it. I hope that stage has not come for Parliament to overrule what your lordships decide.”
He said the court is now deciding two things — sexual unions and recognition by the state of sexual unions.
Sibal said if question arises whether that sexual union is akin to a marriage and, if yes, is it founded in any provision of the Constitution, and for it to result in certain rights, it can only be done through recognition by the state through legislation, and stressed that there can’t be a declaration from the court.

The top court observed that it takes Sibal’s point that “don’t go into an area where you declare a right to marry.”
Sibal, in the context of acceptance, said it is also at three levels – first by two individuals themselves, then by the family, and thereafter by the society. He argued that nobody can dispute the fact that same-sex couples have a separate sexual identity and even the government has not disputed it.
The top court will continue to hear a batch of petitions seeking legal sanction for same sex marriages on Wednesday.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 9, 2023