Suspense surrounds J&K govt formation after Sonia, Gadkari visit CM-in-waiting Mehbooba Mufti

January 11, 2016

Srinagar, Jan 11: As suspense over formation of new government in Jammu and Kashmir continued, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti was on Sunday visited by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for mourning but the meetings were seen with political significance.

Mufti
The meetings took place even as BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh expressed confidence that the alliance with PDP will continue as he said the party has written to Governor N N Vohra saying it will have a discussion on whatever decision the ally takes.

Gandhi, who arrived from Delhi, drove straight from the airport to the Fairview residence of Mehbooba in Gupkar here at 3 pm. She stayed with the PDP president for about 20 minutes and paid rich tributes to her father and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who passed away last Thursday.

Gandhi, whose party ran a coalition government with PDP between 2002 and 2008, described Mufti as a "fine administrator committed to the welfare of the people" of the state and one who reflected the best of Indian values rooted in respect for diversity and anchored in tolerance.

Noting that in 2002 he had committed to provide a 'healing touch' as Chief Minister, she said, "Mufti Saheb cut across party boundaries. He was beyond party affiliations. He belonged to everybody."

Gandhi was accompanied by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, party general secretary Ambika Soni, state Congress chief G A Mir and party leader Saifuddin Soz.

Azad later said "there is no politics in this and no politics should be understood of this (meeting). We have come here only for condoling and there is no other motive."

Gandhi had come here as Mehbooba has had long association with her and Congress, he told reporters.

Mehbooba and her father were in Congress before floating PDP in 1999. She represented Congress once in Lok Sabha also.

Soon after Gandhi's meeting, Gadkari, Union Surface Transport Minister and senior BJP leader, visited Mehbooba to offer condolences on the demise of her father.

"It is no time to talk politics. I have come here to convey condolences on behalf of the central government," he told reporters later.

Recalling his meeting with Mufti in Delhi, Gadkari said the late PDP leader had a dream for the state which included tourism, development and infrastructure among other things.

"We will try to fulfill all the assurances given to him on Jammu and Kashmir," the minister said.

The meetings are seen as politically significant as BJP, an ally of PDP, has yet not officially extended support to Mehbooba for the Chief Ministership after Mufti's demise.

Congress earlier shared power with PDP before having a bitter split in 2008.

Gandhi's flying into here to meet Mehbooba assumes significance as there are reports that PDP and BJP are bargaining afresh over the formation of a new government.

PDP has already given a letter to Governor N N Vohra, saying that all its 27 MLAs support Mehbooba for the Chief Ministership. But Mehbooba has reportedly said that she will not take oath till the end of mourning period for her father, which is the fourth day that falls on Sunday.

Vohra on Friday had asked both PDP and BJP to convey their position on the government formation. Since BJP did not convey its position, Governor's Rule was imposed in the state.

BJP has 25 MLAs in the 87-member Assembly while Congress has 12 and National Conference has 15.

Meanwhile, Nirmal Singh expressed confidence that the alliance will continue.

"Till now we all were in mourning. We will see. There have been no discussions on that (government formation), (but) it is expected that the way things were going earlier, that (alliance) would continue. I am praying that we soon have a system in place," he said in Bijbehara, Muftis' home town.

"The party has said we want and we have written a letter to the Governor yesterday and told him that we will have a discussion on whatever decision the PDP takes," he said.

Singh said no discussions on government formation in the state have taken place between PDP and BJP so far because of the customary four-day mourning period following the demise former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The mourning period ended on Sunday.

"Everyone is sad and mourning. After this, we will start discussions," he said when asked if BJP had any differences with its alliance partner over the succession of Sayeed's daughter and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti as the next Chief Minister.

Paying tributes to Mufti, Singh said Sayeed's endeavour was to provide good governance to Jammu and Kashmir.

"There is a huge responsibility now to provide good governance to people in his absence and to carry forward what he achieved in the last 10 months.

"A huge void has been created by his demise. Though he is not physically present now, his work and memories are before the people of Jammu and Kashmir and that needs to be carried forward," he said.

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May 10,2024

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New Delhi: In a big blow to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a Delhi court has ordered the framing of charges against the former Wrestling Federation of India chief in the sexual harassment allegations levelled by women wrestlers. The court has said there is sufficient evidence on record to do so, and the trial against him can now begin. 

Friday's order by the Rouse Avenue court comes days after the BJP decided not to repeat Mr Singh, who is the party MP from Uttar Pradesh's Kaiserganj, as the candidate from the constituency and decided to field his son Karan Bhushan Singh instead. 

The court has ordered the framing of charges under Indian Penal Code sections Ordered to frame charges against Brij Bhushan under sections 354 (outraging a woman's modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation). The Delhi Police had filed a chargesheet against under these sections and one additional section - 354D (stalking) - on June 15 last year. 

Charges should also be framed against the former assistant secretary of the Federation, Vinod Tomar, under Section 506, the court said. 

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Priyanka Rajpoot said the charges will be framed against Mr Singh for sexually harassing five wrestlers and that he stands discharged in the allegations levelled by the sixth.

The six-time MP has been at the centre of a huge political storm since last year, when sexual harassment charges were levelled against him and protesters had hit the streets led by Olympic medallists Sakshee Malikkh and Bajrang Punia, as well as Commonwealth Games and Asian Games medallist Vinesh Phogat.

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News Network
May 17,2024

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New Delhi: In fresh claim, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that his government sent an envoy to Israel urging them to stop the airstrike in Gaza during Ramadan. He said that he urged Israel to maintain peace rather than engage in combat during the holy month.

In an interview with Aaj Tak, PM Modi said that his envoy told Israel they should not bomb Gaza, at least during the auspicious month of Ramadan.

"During the month of Ramadan, I sent my special envoy to Israel to meet and explain to Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) that he should not carry out bombings in Gaza during Ramadan. They made every effort to follow it, but in the end, there was a fight for 2-3 days," he said.

The Prime Minister said that he does not publicise such things even though people in India keep "cornering him on the Muslims issue".

PM Modi said that some other countries also tried to speak to Israel to halt the bombings and may have also achieved results.

"They may have got the results too. I also tried," he said.

During the interview, PM Modi also said that he made standalone visits to both Israel and Palestine, unlike earlier governments which used to display token secularism.

"There was a fashion earlier that if one has to go to Israel, a visit to Palestine is a must. Do secularism and come back. But I refused to do it," he said.

The Prime Minister also recounted an episode when he needed to travel to Palestine via Jordan.

"When the President of Jordan, who is a direct descendent of Prophet Muhammad, came to know that I am going to Palestine over (the airspace of Jordan), he told me 'Modi ji, you cannot go like this. You are my guest and will use my helicopter'," Modi claimed.

Describing the unique amalgamation of circumstances, he continued, "I went to his home for dinner, but the helicopter was of Jordan, the destination was Palestine, and I was escorted by Israeli flight attendants. All three are different but for Modi, all came together in the sky."

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News Network
May 6,2024

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The stage is all set for the third phase of voting for the Lok Sabha election, which will take place on Tuesday, May 7. The polling will take place across 94 Lok Sabha constituencies covering ten states and two union territories.

Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seats were also to vote in the third phase of polling. However, due to several connectivity issues, the Election Commission of India rescheduled it to May 25.

The voting in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election will begin at 7 am on Tuesday and conclude at 5 pm. The results will be declared on June 4.

Lok Sabha election Phase 3: List of states and constituencies:

Karnataka Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davangere, Shimoga 
Assam Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Gauhati
Chhattisgarh Sarguja, Raigarh, Janjgir-Champa, Korba, Bilaspur, Durg, Raipur
Bihar Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Araria, Madhepura, Khagaria
West Bengal  Maldaha Uttar, Maldaha Dakshin, Jangipur, Murshidabad
Goa North Goa, South Goa
Gujarat  Kachchh, Banaskantha, Patan, Mahesana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad East, Ahmedabad West, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Anand, Kheda, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Chhota Udaipur, Bharuch, Bardoli, Surat, Navsari, Valsad    
Uttar Pradesh Sambhal, Hathras, Agra (SC), Fatehpur Sikri, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Budaun, Aonla, Bareilly
Madhya Pradesh Bhind, Bhopal, Guna, Gwalior, Morena, Rajgarh, Sagar, Vidisha, Betul
Maharashtra  Baramati, Raigad, Osmanabad, Latur (SC), Solapur (SC), Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Hatkanangle
Dadra and Nagar Haveli Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Daman and Diu Daman and Diu

Over 1,300 candidates, including 120 women, are in the fray in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election. Some of the key candidates include bigwigs such as union ministers Amit Shah, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mansukh Mandaviya, Parshottam Rupala, Pralhad Joshi, and SP Singh Baghel. Former Madhya Pradesh chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Digvijaya Singh are also contesting the election in Madhya Pradesh. At the same time, the fate of former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai will also be decided in the third phase. Meanwhile, several members of Mulayam Singh Yadav's family are also contesting in this phase in Uttar Pradesh.

List of key candidates and their constituencies

Amit Shah (BJP) - Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat

Digvijaya Singh (Congress) - Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh

Shivraj Singh Chouhan (BJP) - Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh

Dimple Yadav (SP) - Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh

Supriya Sule (NCP) - Baramati, Maharashtra

Purshottam Rupala (BJP) - Rajkot, Gujarat

Jyotiraditya Scindia (BJP) - Guna, Madhya Pradesh

Pralhad Joshi (BJP) - Dharwad, Karnataka

KS Eshwarappa (BJP) - Shimoga, Karnataka

Praniti Shinde (Congress) - Solapur, Maharashtra

Hasmukbhai Patel (BJP) - Ahmedabad East, Gujarat

Pallavi Dempo (BJP) - South Goa, Goa

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress) - Berhampore, West Bengal

The Lok Sabha elections are being held in seven phases - with the first phases concluded on April 19 and April 26. The third phase will be held on May 7; the fourth phase will be held on May 13; the fifth phase will be on May 20; the sixth phase will be on May 25; and the seventh phase on June 1.

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