'Goonda raj' in UP, even SC has to intervene: Modi

February 19, 2017

Fatehpur (UP), Feb 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today lambasted the SP government for its "failure "to maintain law and order in Uttar Pradesh, saying 'goonda raj' was prevailing there and even the Supreme Court has had to intervene to get a minister booked in an alleged rape case.

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"The SC had to intervene to get the FIR registered against Gayatri Prasad Prajapati. 'Goonda raj' is prevailing all over UP and police stations have become Samajwadi Party office," Modi said at an election rally here.

With the apex court breathing down its neck, UP Police yesterday filed an FIR against the tainted minister in connection with cases of alleged gangrape and attempt to rape a woman and her minor daughter.

"The glow has disappeared from Akhilesh Yadav's face, his voice has become feeble, he is afraid and looking for right words while talking to media," he said, adding that the SP chief has "accepted that he has lost the game".

"Why is the policing system so inefficient in UP? Why are complaints not registered? What work culture is it? SP is least concerned about improving law and order situation in UP. I urge people to elect a government that will ensure safety of people," he said, putting SP government on the dock.

Modi referred to the CM's rally to campaign for Prajapati and wondered whether "the (Cong-SP) alliance was as holy as Gayatri."

Prajapati, who is contesting as a candidate of the alliance in the prestigeous Amethi constituency, was sacked by Akhilesh from his cabinet in 2016 but later reinstated in the council of ministers sans the lucrative mining portfolio.

Terming SP's alliance with Congress as an "insult" of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia, he said "SP has insulted Lohia by forging alliance with the Congress."

In a jibe at Rahul Gandhi without taking his name for forging alliance with SP, Modi said, "Those born with silver spoon in mouth have realised that the situation is not in their favour on the ground. After '27 saal, UP behal' slogan, Congress was compelled to form alliance with SP because of this reason."

The Prime Minister also said development has been "in exile for 10 years" in Uttar Pradesh.

Modi also took a dig at the Chief Minister over the rift between him and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.

"UP is like my 'mai-baap' (parent). I am not a son who will ditch his 'mai-baap'. I will always take care of Uttar Pradesh," Modi said.

He said "Krishna was born in Uttar Pradesh but made Gujarat his 'karma bhoomi' (workplace). I was born in Gujarat but Uttar Pradesh has adopted me. It is a privilege for me."

Highlighting the initiatives taken by his government, Modi said development of the state will get a significant boost if BJP formed government here and asked the people across the state to vote for the BJP and ensure development on priority.

On the Congress, he said he would like to "laugh at their ideology" as during 2014 polls, they promised the people that they would raise number of subsidised cylinders from 9 to 12.

"Over 1.15 crore people gave up their LPG subsidy on my request. My mother used to cook food using wood as fuel, I used to feel so bad about it. 1.45 crore poor people got LPG connection after we came to power," he said.

"You all were being looted in the past over LED bulbs. You were charged 300 to 400 rupees for a bulb. After we came to power, we ensured that the poor get LED bulbs at a cheap price. Now you get them at Rs 80 to Rs 90," he said.

Claiming that BJP worked on the principle of "Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas", Modi said "people come to you asking for votes on the basis of caste and religion but only BJP thinks about your development."

"It is the responsibility of a government to ensure that there is no discrimination. We are determined to do that. Why is it that for securing jobs, one has to bribe? This must end. Youth should get jobs on the basis of their merits." he said.

Recalling Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, he said "had the previous governments implemented his guidelines, fate of our country would have been different."

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News Network
April 26,2024

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The Supreme Court of India on Friday, April 26, rejected pleas seeking 100% cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and said “blindly distrusting” any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered two concurring verdicts. It dismissed all the pleas in the matter, including those seeking to go back to ballot papers in elections.

An EVM comprises three units – the ballot unit, the control unit and the VVPAT. All three are embedded with microcontrollers with a burnt memory from the manufacturer. Currently, VVPATs are used in five booths per assembly constituency.

EVM VVPAT case: Supreme Court issues two directives

1.    Justice Khanna directed the Election Commission of India to seal and store units used to load symbols for 45 days after the symbols have been loaded to electronic voting machines in strong rooms.

2.    The Supreme Court also allowed engineers of the EVM manufacturers to verify the microcontroller of the machines after the declaration of the results at the request of candidates who stood second and third. The top court said the request for the verification of the microcontroller can be made within seven days of the declaration of the results after payment of fees.

Option for candidates to seek verification of EVM programmes

•    Candidates who secure second and third position in the results can request for the verification of burnt memory semicontroller in 5% of the EVMs per assembly segment in a Parliamentary constituency. The written request to be made within seven days of the declaration of the results.

•    *On receiving such a written request, the EVMs shall be checked and verified by a team of engineers from the manufacturer of the EVMs.

•    Candidates should identify the EVMs to be checked by a serial number of the polling booth.

•    Candidates and their representatives can be present at the time of the verification.

•    After verification, the district electoral officer should notify the authenticity of the burnt memory.

•    Expenses for the verification process, as notified by the ECI, should be borne by the candidate making the request.
What did the Supreme Court say?

•    "If EVM is found tampered during verification, fees paid by the candidates will be refunded," the bench said.

•    "While maintaining a balanced perspective is crucial in evaluating systems or institutions, blindly distrusting any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism...," Justice Datta said.

Who filed the petitions?

NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, one of the petitioners, had sought to reverse the poll panel's 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass through which a voter can see the slip only when the light is on for seven seconds.

The petitioners have also sought the court's direction to revert to the old system of ballot papers.

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News Network
April 25,2024

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Kolkata: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh or Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari could have been the prime minister, said Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, subtly taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders relegated to the second rung of the organisational echelons.

Banerjee’s nephew and the TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, on the other hand, attempted to stoke trouble within the BJP’s unit in West Bengal, saying that at least 10 more state legislators of the saffron party were keen to join his party and in touch with him.

"You (Rajnath Singh) are surviving at the mercy of Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi). You are saluting Modi daily to save your chair. You or Nitin Gadkari could have been the PM (prime minister) today," the TMC supremo said in an election rally at Ausgram in Bolpur Lok Sabha constituency on Wednesday. "There would have been no problem...at least there would have been a gentleman in the chair who knows minimum courtesy," she added.

Banerjee was responding to Singh’s diatribe against herself and the TMC government led by her. The defence minister, who had addressed an election rally in Murshidabad on Sunday, had criticised the TMC government for alleged corruption and anarchy in West Bengal.

Singh had referred to the attacks on the Enforcement Directorate officials on January 5 during a raid at the residence of the TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district of the state. It was followed by an agitation by local women protesting against atrocities by Shahjahan and his aides known to be owing allegiance to the TMC.

Singh questioned how the state government, led by a woman as the chief minister, could allow such atrocities on women to take place. He went on to say that Banerjee had lost all ‘mamata’ (affection and compassion) for people.

Banerjee shared a cordial relationship with Singh since the days when they both were ministers in the central government led by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Singh avoided personally criticising Banerjee in the past.

He, however, went ballistic against Banerjee on Sunday, triggering a strong response from the TMC supremo on Wednesday.

"The BJP is trying to get into the game of breaking parties, but they can't win in it. They poached two of our MPs, and we replied by taking two of their MPs, Arjun Singh and Babul Supriyo. Recently, by using ED raids, they inducted Tapas Ray. At least 10 top leaders of the BJP are in the queue to join the TMC," Abhishek said in another election rally in Murshidabad on Wednesday.

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News Network
April 22,2024

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The BJP has opened its account in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The party's candidate from Gujarat's Surat constituency, Mukesh Dalal, has won the polls as all his opponents are now out of the fray.

BJP's Mukesh Dalal elected unopposed from the Surat Lok Sabha seat after all other candidates withdrew from the contest, the party's Gujarat unit chief CR Paatil said today. Today was the deadline for withdrawing nominations.

The nominations of the Congress party's Surat candidate and his substitute were rejected by the returning officer over alleged discrepancies in paperwork, a development that the Congress called an attempt at "match-fixing".

"Surat has presented the first lotus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I congratulate our candidate for Surat Lok Sabha seat Mukesh Dalal for getting elected unopposed," Mr Paatil posted on the microblogging website X, referring to the BJP's election symbol.

Eight candidates - seven of them independents - and Pyarelal Bharti of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) withdrew their papers.

The nomination papers of the Congress's Surat candidate Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected on Sunday after the district returning officer Saurabh Parghi found discrepancies in the signatures of the proposers.

The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress's substitute candidate from Surat, was also found invalid.

The returning officer had said the four nomination forms submitted by the two Congress candidates did not appear genuine. The proposers, in their affidavits, had said they had not signed the forms themselves, the returning officer said in the order.

Congress lawyer Babu Mangukiya said the party will approach the high court and the Supreme Court for relief.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in a post on X said the Surat developments indicate "democracy is under threat". "Our elections, our democracy, Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution - all are under a generational threat. This is the most important election of our lifetime," Mr Ramesh said.

Mr Ramesh alleged the "distress" of micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) owners and the business community in PM Modi's "Anyay Kaal" and their anger have "spooked the BJP so badly that they are attempting to match-fix the Surat Lok Sabha polls, which they have won consistently since the 1984 Lok Sabha elections."

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