'Life, Liberty Exceedingly Important': Supreme Court On Arvind Kejriwal's Arrest

NEW DELHI, April 30: The Supreme Court today threw a question to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on why Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested just before the general elections began.

Kejriwal had challenged his arrest in the Delhi liquor policy case.

Explaining the reason behind why the question of the timing of the arrest arose, Justice Sanjeev Khanna told the ED to make it clear whether the central agency can take up criminal proceedings without having gone through judicial proceedings in the case.

The Bench also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju to reply on the question of the timing of the arrest, and said, "Life and liberty are exceedingly important. You can't deny that."

"No attachment action has been taken so far in this case, and if it has been done, then show how Kejriwal is involved in the matter," Justice Khanna said. "Tell me, why the arrest before the general elections?" he said.

The Supreme Court noted that in the matter linked to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the investigators have claimed they have found material, but in Kejriwal's case nothing has been brought up.

The Supreme Court told the ED to explain why there has been such a huge gap between the beginning of proceedings and the arrest. The court then ordered the ED to respond on Friday.

Kejriwal, who has decided to continue as Chief Minister from jail, is being kept in Delhi's Tihar under judicial custody after his arrest on March 21.

The Supreme Court had issued notice to ED on April 15 and sought its response to Kejriwal's challenge against his arrest.

On April 9, the Delhi High Court upheld Kejriwal's arrest, saying there was no illegality and the ED was left with "little option" after he skipped summons and refused to join the investigation.

The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) election campaign is being managed by party leaders Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, along with other senior party colleagues. Kejriwal's wife Sunita has also joined in reaching out to her husband's supporters.

Prajwal Revanna: Karnataka MP's 'sex abuse' tapes spark outrage

BENGALURU, April 30: Thousands of videos allegedly showing an Indian MP sexually abusing women have circulated in the southern state of Karnataka, sparking outrage.

Police are investigating allegations against Prajwal Revanna who is accused of assaulting several women.

Revanna has not commented but an official from his office denied this, saying the videos are doctored.

The MP belongs to the Janata Dal (Secular) which is an ally of PM Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.

His father HD Revanna, who is a legislator in the Karnataka state assembly, is also an accused in the police complaint lodged by a former employee of the family. He has denied the allegations, calling them a political conspiracy.

On Monday, the JD(S) announced it was suspending Prajwal Revanna. The party was founded by Mr Revanna's grandfather HD Deve Gowda, who is a former Indian prime minister.

Karnataka's Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah said that a special investigation team (SIT) will look into the case, based on a request by the state's women's commission.

The allegations against Revanna first came to light in June last year, but he obtained a court order preventing media from reporting what was described as "morphed videos". But five days before the 26 April voting in Hassan - from where Revanna is the MP and seeking another term - thousands of pen drives were circulated in public places such as bus stands and parks.

The clips, which reports say were shot by Revanna himself, showed the faces of the women he had allegedly abused.

Following a complaint from a woman, Karnataka's women's commission chief Nagalakshmi Chaudhary wrote to the state police chief seeking action against the perpetrators.

"Your blood boils when you see some of the videos," she told the BBC. "There is one woman who is begging... 'please don't, please don't'. You feel sick."

On Sunday, a 47-year-old woman, who worked as a cook for the family and identified herself as a cousin of Mr Revanna's mother, filed a police complaint alleging that she was sexually abused by the MP and his father.

"When I joined, six other maids would say they were scared of Prajwal. The male employees, too, would ask us to be wary of [HD] Revanna and his son Prajwal," she said in her complaint.

"Whenever his wife was away, [HD] Revanna would repeatedly touch me inappropriately, disrobe me and sexually assault me. While I was working in the kitchen, Prajwal would grope me from behind," she added.

The woman claimed she decided to come forward after watching clips of other victims online.

She also accused Prajwal Revanna of abusing her daughter, and his father of stalking and criminal intimidation.

Police say Prajwal Revanna has left the country, with some reports saying that he is in Germany. But his father has denied the claim and said they were willing to face investigation. "We won't run away scared. We're right here. We'll counter these charges as per the law," he told reporters.

The case has sparked a political storm in Karnataka. Many questioned how someone "accused of such a horrific act" was permitted to leave without questioning.

A state minister wrote on X, formerly Twitter, asking Modi to explain why the alliance had fielded Prajwal Revanna for the election "knowing that hundreds of women had been abused by the candidate".

A local BJP leader, G Devaraje Gowda, had written to the state leadership in December, asking that Prajwal Revanna or any family should not be fielded as a candidate of the alliance because of the videos.

A BJP spokesperson told the BBC, "We cannot tell the alliance partner not to field this or that candidate. It is left to the party."

The JD(S) has also distanced itself from the two politicians. HD Revanna's brother, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, on Monday called them "an embarrassment to society".

"Don't blame the family," he told reporters. "HD Revanna and his family are separate. I don't keep track of his movements."

Senior party leader GT Deve Gowda said party leaders would take disciplinary action against the two men if the charges were proven.

NDA Cabdidate & Deve Gowda's Grandson Revanna 'raped' hundreds of women

BENGALURU, April 29: A case has been filed against Karnataka MP Prajwal Revanna amid a row over explicit videos - allegedly showing the him sexually assaulting multiple women.

The video clips, allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna, surfaced on social media a day after he voted on April 26 in Phase 2 of the elections.

Prajwal Revanna - grandson of JDS chief and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda - has, however, denied the allegations and filed a complaint claiming that the videos being circulated are doctored.

The Karnataka government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to look into the obscene videos case.

The decision to set up the SIT came after the state women's commission recommended the Siddaramaiah government to take action.

The scandal involves explicit videos that were allegedly shot by the MP and were circulated widely in the Hassan constituency.

This was followed up by a woman filing a police case against Prajwal Revanna, accusing him of sexual assault. She alleged she had been sexually abused multiple times between 2019 and 2022.

The complainant also claimed that Prajwal Revanna misbehaved with her daughter over a video call and had "vulgar conversations" with her.

The woman alleged that Prajwal's father HD Revanna also sexually assaulted her when his wife was not at home. She also said that there is a threat to her life as well as other members of her family.

BJP Leader Devaraje Gowda, who was the party's Holenarsipura candidate during the 2023 Assembly elections, has now claimed that had written to then state president BY Vijayendra in December last year, flagging "grave allegations" against the HD Deve Gowda family, including Prajwal Revanna.

He claimed that he had received a pen drive containing 2,976 explicit videos of women - which were then being used to blackmail them into continuing to engage in sexual activities.

"If we align with the JD(S) and if we nominate a JD(S) candidate in Hassan for the Lok Sabha elections, these videos can be used as a brahmastra and we will be tainted as a party that aligned with the family of a rapist. This will be a big blow to the image of our party nationally," Devaraje Gowdahad written in the letter.

Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of former prime minister H D Devegowda.

Prajwal Revanna is the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate in the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, where voting was held in the second phase on April 26. Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), joined the NDA in September last year.

The 33-year-old left for Germany Saturday morning, shortly after the videos emerged online.

He has filed a police complaint claiming the videos were doctored and they were being circulated to "tarnish his image and poison voters' minds".

Prajwal's father HD Revanna, who is also an accused in the case filed by their former house help, is MLA from Holenarasipur constituency.

The row has also snowballed into a political squabble between the JDS and the BJP.

The BJP has distanced itself from Prajwal Revanna amid the controversy around his purported sex tapes. "We, as a party, have nothing to do with the videos and neither do we have any comments to make on the SIT probe announced by the state government into the alleged sex scandal involving Prajwal Revanna," BJP state spokesperson S Prakash said.

Prajwal Revanna 's uncle and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said he would like to wait for the facts to come out of the investigation into the alleged scandal involving his nephew, but asserted that there is no question of forgiving anyone who has committed a crime

Another JD(S) leader, Sharangouda Kandkur has demanded the suspension of Prajwal Revanna. In a two-page letter made public Monday morning, Mr Kandkur told HD Deve Gowda the JDS had been left "embarrassed by the circulating videos, and it damages the reputation of both you and your party," he said.

The Congress has hit out at the BJP, alleging that the party helped Prajwal Revanna flee the country amid row over alleged sex clips involving him. Congress leaders and workers also staged a protest in Bengaluru demanding his immediate arrest.

Lovely Quits Delhi Unit Post; Not Joining Any Party

NEW DELHI, April 28: Arvinder Singh Lovely, who stepped down from the post of the Delhi Congress chief earlier today, has clarified that he is not joining any party.

Lovely said he has not resigned the primary membership of the Congress and only stepped down from the post as a mark of protest against the tie-up with Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party.

"This pain is not just mine. It belongs to all leaders of the Congress. I shared it with Mallikarjun Kharge in a letter," Lovely said at a press conference.

"And those of you spreading rumours that i ave done this because i was upset over ticket distribution, you know i introduced the candidates three days ago at a press conference," he added.

In a letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Lovely had pointed to the jailing of several AAP ministers in connection to corruption cases. Still, the Congress formed an alliance with Arvind Kejriwal's party for the Lok Sabha elections. Unable to protect the interests of the Delhi Congress workers, he was resigning from the post, he added.

Lovely said since he announced his resignation, around 35 leaders have called or met him.

Thanking them, he said he has stepped down only from the post of the Delhi Congress chief and is still with the party. "Right now, I have no plan to join any other party," he added.

The Congress and AAP, both part of the Opposition bloc INDIA and known for their differences, have entered into a seat sharing agreement in Delhi amid much resistance from the their rank and file.

Similar resistance elsewhere, especially in Punjab, has scuttled any possibility of seat sharing. In many seats, the two parties are in direct contest violating INDIA bloc's one-on-one contest gameplan.

EC issues notices to Modi, Kharge, Rahul

NEW DELHI, April 25: In a significant first by the Election Commission in Delhi, the poll panel issued notices to BJP boss JP Nadda and his Congress counterpart, Mallikarjun Kharge, on complaints by each other accusing Modi and Rahul Gandhi of hate speech and Model Code violations.

The EC's show-cause notice did not mention either the PM or Gandhi, or even Kharge, in the context of the alleged hate speeches. It did, however, attach copies of the complaint in its notices and, for the first time, held party bosses responsible for their star campaigners' speeches.

Essentially, the EC said it required Nadda and Kharge to ensure BJP and Congress star campaigners must follow its guidelines on "a higher quality of discourse".

Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav To Contest Lok Sabha Polls From UP's Kannauj

LUCKNOW, April 24: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj - the seat that sent him to Parliament thrice and also voted for his wife, Dimple Yadav, and Mulayam Singh Yadav, the late SP patriarch - his party said Wednesday in a post on X.

Yadav, a former UP Chief Minister, will file his papers at noon tomorrow, the SP said. He also won the Azamgarh seat in 2019, but quit after he was elected to the UP Assembly from Karhal in 2022.

Speculation the SP leader will return to the Lok Sabha battlefield had been doing the rounds. Earlier today SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav was quoted as saying the decision had been taken.

Yadav's proverbial homecoming will mean SP leader Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, who was named as the candidate earlier this week - will not contest. Tej Pratap Yadav is Akhilesh Yadav's nephew; he is the grandson of Mulayam Yadav's brother Ranveer, and won the Mainpuri seat in the 2014 election.

Sources said the switch was the result of discontent among SP workers on the ground, who were keen that the party boss contest the family seat. Yadav had originally opted against contesting this election since he wanted time to plan the overall strategy.

Kannauj was a Samajwadi Party stronghold till the BJP's Subrat Pathak won it - by fewer than 14,000 votes - in 2019. The seat was won by Akhilesh Yadav's wife in a bypoll in 2012. She retained it in the 2014 election, but lost it to Pathak five years later. Mrs Yadav was later fielded from Mainpuri in the 2022 bypoll due to the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav. She won by nearly three lakh votes.

She has been re-nominated from the Mainpuri seat.

Akhilesh Yadav won the seat in the 2000 bypoll and retained it in the 2004 and 2009 general elections, winning by more than three lakh and 2.5 lakh votes respectively.

The SP is allied with the Congress-led INDIA bloc in this election. It is contesting the lion's share - 63 - of UP's 80 Lok Sabha seats. The other 17 have been allotted to the Congress.

This includes that party's bastion of Raebareli and Amethi, for which candidates have yet to be named amid buzz that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could make her poll debut in the latter and Rahul Gandhi could return for a third match-up with the BJP's Smriti Irani in the former.

UP's 80 seats are the most of any state, making it a crucial battleground for the BJP's 'abki baar, 400 paar' efforts, and the opposition's attempts to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming a third consecutive term.

Kannauj will vote in the fourth phase of the 2024 election, i.e., on May 13. Results for all seven phases - the first was on April 19, the second will be on Friday - will be declared on June 4.

'My Mother Sacrificed Her Mangalsutra For India': Priyanka Gandhi Amid Row

BENGALURU, April 23: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today countered Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments about the Congress robbing people of their wealth to give to "infiltrators", questioning if such a thing has ever happened in the 50-year rule of the party. As for mangalsutras, her mother's was sacrificed for the country and her grandmother's gold was donated during the war, she pointed out.

Speaking in Bengaluru today, Ms Gandhi Vadra questioned her audience what they heard these days when they turn on the television. Not plans for their welfare or development, but "crazy talk" and demands.

"He says the Congress wants to take away your gold, your mangalsutra. The country has been independent for 70 years. The Congress ruled for 50 years. Has anyone robbed you of your gold or your mangalsutra? When the war was on, Indira Gandhi gave her gold to the country. My mother's mangalsutra was sacrificed for this country," she said.

"The Prime Minister says they will cross 400 seats and change the constitution... sometimes he says he is being abused, or talks about religion. You are among the most qualified cities in the world... do you deserve this?" she said.

Modi's comment that the Congress is planning to redistribute the country's wealth in favour of "infiltrators" generated a huge political row since the weekend, which has reached the Election Commission.

At a rally in Rajasthan, Modi had said the Congress manifesto promises that if they come to power, "everyone's property will be surveyed, it will calculate gold belonging to mothers and sisters and then redistribute it". They "won't even spare your mangalsutra," he had added.

Today, he doubled down on the comments, saying he had "revealed some truths" which has "scared" the Congress. He also said that listening to Hanuman Chalisa has "become a crime under the Congress", recounting an incident about a man being beaten up badly in Karnataka, a Congress-ruled state.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned if the Prime Minister understood the importance of mangalsutra.

"If Modi ji had understood the importance of 'Mangalsutra', he would not have said such things. When demonetisation happened, he took away the savings of women. During the farmers' protest, 600 farmers lost their lives, Did Modi-ji think about the 'Mangalsutra' of those widows?" she said.

Arvind Kejriwal, K Kavitha To Stay In Jail, Custody Extended By 14 Days

NEW DELHI, April 23: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Telangana lawmaker K Kavitha - opposition politicians arrested last month - weeks before the start of the Lok Sabha election - in the alleged liquor policy scam - have been sent to extended judicial custody for 14 days.

The Aam Aadmi Party boss and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader - both in Delhi's Tihar Jail - will be produced in court next on May 7.

The Delhi Chief Minister has a plea pending in the Supreme Court, in which he has challenged his arrest March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate on money laundering charges. The court heard the matter on April 15, but denied Kejriwal immediate relief pending a reply from the federal agency.

The court will hear the plea on April 29, three days after the election's second phase.

Earlier the Delhi High Court rejected the same plea, noting the ED had submitted enough material to back its claim - that Kejriwal was allegedly involved in forming the now-scrapped policy and demanding bribes of ₹ 100 crore used to fund the AAP's Punjab and Goa election campaigns.

The AAP and Kejriwal have denied all charges, and have counter-accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of "political vendetta" against a rival before the election. The AAP and the opposition have repeatedly claimed federal agencies - like the Enforcement Directorate - target opposition leaders on instructions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. The centre has denied this claim.

In a related matter earlier today, Kejriwal - a Type 2 diabetes patient - received his first shot of insulin in (reportedly) 32 days. The injection was administered after his blood sugar levels spiked to an alarmingly high 320 mg/dl. Kejriwal had moved the court last week and this asking for insulin injections, but the plea had been opposed by the ED, which claimed the Chief Minister had deliberately eaten high sugar food items to elevate glucose levels and apply for medical bail.

On Monday a Delhi court directed a panel of specialists from the centre-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences to assess the Chief Minister's condition and establish if insulin is, in fact, needed.

Ms Kavitha - the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao - will learn on May 2 the outcome of a bail plea in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court after a reserved order.

The plea is against Ms Kavitha's arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation - which took her into custody while she was still in jail - in the ED's case. The ED arrested her - from her home in Hyderabad - on March 15, triggering a sharp row with her brother and BRS leader KT Rama Rao.

The case against the BRS leader is that she was part of the 'South group' - a cartel of businesspersons who paid an alleged ₹ 600 crore in bribes to the AAP for allotment of liquor licences.

Ms Kavitha has also denied the charges and, like Mr Kejriwal, has questioned the timing of ED, CBI action against her, coming as it did weeks and days before the general election.

The ED has also arrested two other AAP leaders in this case - former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was arrested in February last year and has been in jail since, and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who was arrested in October and received bail earlier this month.

While granting bail to Singh, the Supreme Court observed investigating agencies had failed, so far, to recover any of the alleged bribe money. "Nothing has been recovered... there is no trace (of money allegedly received by AAP as bribes from the 'South group')..." the court remarked.

The same point has been made by the AAP and Ms Kavitha's BRS colleagues.

Supreme Court Allows Termination Of 28-Week Pregnancy Of 14-Year Old Rape Survivor

NEW DELHI, April 22: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed an urgent plea for terminating the pregnancy of a 14-year-old minor rape survivor. While exercising its powers to do complete justice under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Court directed the Dean of Sion Hospital, Maharashtra to undertake the medical termination of the 28 weeks pregnancy.

The bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala took note of the fact that the medical board which freshly examined the minor rape survivor, clearly opined that the continuation of the pregnancy may impact the physical and mental well-being of the minor. ASG Aishwarya Bhati representing the Union assisted the Court.

The petition filed by the mother of the minor challenged the Bombay High Court order dated 4 April 2024, which declined to grant the said relief of termination. The minor was subjected to sexual assault and FIR under sections 376 IPC and S. 4 of the POCSO Act has been registered in this regard.

The bench, while setting aside the Bombay High Court's order also observed that allowing the termination at the present stage would pose fewer risks to the life of the minor than in continuing the pregnancy term till its very end.

"While a certain degree of risk is involved, the board has opined that the threat in carrying out the termination is not higher than the risk in full delivery...."

The Court has directed that a medical team be constituted by the Dean of the Sion Hospital for carrying out the termination procedure. The state is further directed to bear the expenses towards the procedure and safety of the minor. Any after-care post-termination for the minor should also be given to the minor to recover fully.

The Court was informed that the FIR itself was recorded beyond the period of 24 weeks of the Medical Terminal of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971. It may be noted that the recent amendment of 2021 to the MTP Act has pushed the upper limit for termination from 20 weeks of pregnancy to 24 weeks for certain categories of women which will be defined in the MTP Rules. These categories will include 'vulnerable women' including rape victims.

Last Friday , the Court had directed the medical examination of the girl.

CAA Will Be Repealed: Chidambaram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, April 21: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be repealed in the first session of Parliament after the INDIA Bloc forms the government at the Centre.

Chidambaram said the intention of the Congress party is to repeal the CAA even though it is not mentioned in its manifesto.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPI(M) has been constantly lashing out at the Congress saying its manifesto fails to mention the CAA.

Talking to the media, P Chidambaram claimed it was not mentioned in the manifesto "because it became too long".

The former union minister said the 10-year-rule of the BJP has caused tremendous damage to the country as it misused the "brute majority" in Parliament.

"There is a long list of laws among which five laws will be absolutely repealed. Take it from me, I am the chairman of the manifesto committee. I wrote every word of it, I know what the intention was. The CAA will be repealed, not amended. We have made it clear," Chidambaram said.

The CAA will be repealed in the first session of Parliament in which the INDIA Bloc forms the government, he added.

Dismissing the claims of Vijayan that the Congress has not opposed the Law, Chidambaram said Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has spoken against the CAA in Parliament.

When asked whether the Ayodhya Ram temple inauguration will have any impact on the elections, Chidambaram said he hopes not.

"Ayodhya now has a temple. We are happy. People wanted the temple and a temple has come up. That should be the end of the story. Why should a temple in Ayodhya play a role in politics or in elections and on who should rule the country. It should have no role at all," Chidambaram said.

The Congress leader also criticised Vijayan, who has been vocal these days against the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, and asked the Left leader to look at this election as a national election, which it is.

He alleged that its ally in the INDIA Bloc, the CPI(M) was fighting this election in Kerala as if it is a state election.

"And from a national point of view, who is better placed to fight the BJP and form a government in Delhi. Who is better placed to fight the BJP across India? It is obviously the Congress and not the CPI(M). CPI(M) is literally a single state party now," Mr Chidambaram said.

He appealed to the people to vote the INDIA bloc to power in Delhi.

Polling will be held on April 26 in Kerala for the Lok Sabha election, and the nationwide results will be declared on June 4.

Elon Musk postpones India visit, cites 'very heavy' Tesla obligations

SAN FRANCISCO, April 20: Tesla CEO Elon Musk's two-day visit to India, where he was supposed to announce plans to enter the Indian market, has been postponed. Elon Musk was scheduled to visit India on April 21 and 22 and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a post on X, Elon Musk said his visit to India had to be delayed due to "very heavy Tesla obligations".

"Unfortunately, very heavy Tesla obligations require that the visit to India be delayed, but I do very much look forward to visiting later this year," the SpaceX CEO tweeted.

Musk has to reportedly attend a crucial conference call on April 23 in the United States to answer questions about Tesla's first quarter performance.

Last week, Musk posted on X that he was "looking forward" to meeting Modi.

Musk, who also owns SpaceX, was expected to announce an investment of $2-3 billion to build a factory for entry-level cars amid the long-awaited Tesla Inc's entry into the Indian market. Recently, the government announced a policy lowering high tariffs on imported cars if firms invest locally.

The billionaire entrepreneur was also expected to unveil plans to introduce Starlink, a satellite network that provides high-speed internet connection.

Musk, the world's fourth-richest man, was also expected to meet Indian space tech startups during his visit. The government had reportedly invited companies like Skyroot Aerospace, Dhruva Space, Piersight, and Digantara for talks with the SpaceX CEO in New Delhi.

Nearly 64% Voter Turnout In Phase 1 Lok Sabha Polls

NEW DELHI, April 19: The first phase of voting for the 18th Lok Sabha elections began in 21 states and Union territories today. Nearly 64% voter turnout was recorded across the states.

Seats in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Puducherry went to polls today.

More than 16.63 crore voters, which include over 8 crore men and women each, will cast their vote at nearly 2 lakh polling stations.

Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Bhupendra Yadav, Kiren Rijiju, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Sarbananda Sonowal are in the fray in the first phase. Congress's Gaurav Gogoi, DMK's Kanimozhi and BJP's Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai are also contesting the polls today.

While the BJP-led NDA is seeking a stronger majority, the opposition INDIA bloc are hoping for a rebound. In 2019, the UPA had won 45 of the 102 seats at stake on Friday and the NDA 41. Six of these seats have been redrawn as part of the delimitation exercise.

The general elections to elect 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha will be held in seven phases, from April 19 to June 1. The results will be announced on June 4.

Terrorists Kill Migrant Worker From Bihar In Targeted Attack In J&K

SRINAGAR, April 17: A migrant worker from Bihar has been shot dead by terrorists in a targeted attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district, officials said on Wednesday.

The Kashmir Zone Police posted on X that the worker, identified as Raju Shah, was rushed to a hospital but died during treatment.

"The injured person, who was shot at by #terrorists, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Search #operation underway in the area. Further details to follow. @JmuKmrPolice," the post read.

An earlier post from the handle had said Shah was shot in Zablipora in Anantnag's Bijbehara.

The attack comes barely a week after a resident of Dehradun was shot at by terrorists in south Kashmir's Herpora last Monday. Dilranjeet Singh survived the attack. Two workers from Punjab had also been shot dead in Srinagar in February and a Pakistan link had emerged later, following the arrest of a terrorist.

While such attacks have decreased in frequency this year because of the crackdown on militancy, the latest killing comes at a time when campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections is approaching its peak in Anantnag, which will vote on May 7. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and Mian Altaf Ahmed of the National Conference are expected to file their nomination for the constituency on Thursday.

Earlier on Wednesday, two suspected terrorists were arrested from Bijbehara and arms and ammunition were recovered from them.

"On specific Intelligence input, a joint operation was launched by #IndianArmy & @JmuKmrPolice on 17 Apr at Naina, Bijbehara in Anantnag. Two suspected individuals have been apprehended along with the recovery of one Weapon, one Hand Grenade and other war-like stores," the Indian Army's Chinar Corps posted on X.

Centre Notifies New FDI Rules For Space Sector Ahead Of Elon Musk's Visit

NEW DELHI, April 17: The government has notified amendments to the foreign direct investment policy in the space sector to attract offshore investors in satellite manufacturing and satellite launch vehicles segments.

Amendment made in the FDI policy for space sector through a gazette notification dated April 16, 2024, prescribes liberalized entry route and provides clarity for FDI in satellites, launch vehicles and associated systems or subsystems, creation of spaceports for launching and receiving Spacecraft and manufacturing of space-related components and systems.

"These rules may be called the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) (Third Amendment) Rules, 2024," the gazette notification said.

The liberalized entry routes under the amended policy are aimed at attracting potential investors in the Indian companies in space.

The Union Cabinet earlier this year gave approval to these amendments.

The notification comes days ahead of the scheduled visit of Tesla CEO Elon Musk who is expected to meet with various Indian space companies during his visit from April 21 to 22.

Concurrently, approvals for Musk's satellite internet project, Starlink, are nearing finalization.

As per the notification, up to 74 per cent FDI for satellite manufacturing & operation, satellite data products and ground segment & user segment are allowed under automatic route. Beyond 74 per cent these activities are under government route.

FDI up to 49 per cent is allowed for Launch Vehicles and associated systems or subsystems, Creation of Spaceports for launching and receiving Spacecraft are under automatic route but beyond 49 per cent government permission would be required.

Besides, 100 per cent FDI allowed for manufacturing of components and systems/ sub-systems for satellites, ground segment and user segment without government permission.

As per the earlier norms, FDI was permitted in establishment and operation of Satellites through the government approval route only.

In line with the vision and strategy under the Indian Space Policy 2023, the Union Cabinet has eased the FDI policy in the Space sector by prescribing liberalized FDI thresholds for various sub-sectors/activities.

The Department of Space consulted with internal stakeholders like IN-SPACe, ISRO and NSIL as well as several industrial stakeholders. NGEs have developed capabilities and expertise in the areas of satellites and launch vehicles. With increased investment, they would be able to achieve sophistication of products, global scale of operations and enhanced share of the global space economy.

Top Maoist Leader Among At Least 29 Killed In Big Chhattisgarh Encounter

RAIPUR, April 16: Twenty-nine Maoists, including a senior rebel leader - Shankar Rao, who had a bounty of ₹ 25 lakh on his head - were killed by security forces during an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district on Tuesday afternoon. A huge quantity of weapons, including Ak-47 and INSAS rifles, were recovered.

Three security personnel were injured in the gunfight, which took place in forests near the village of Binagunda after a joint team of District Reserve Guard and Border Security Force were attacked.

Two of the three injured are from the BSF. Their condition is stable but the third - from the DRG - is in critical care. All three received treatment at a local hospital and are to be shifted to a larger facility.

Sources said the fighting began at around 2 PM, when a joint DRG-BSF team was conducting an anti-Maoist operation. The DRG was set up in in 2008 to combat Maoist activities in the state, and the Border Security Force has been deployed extensively in the area to for counter-insurgency ops.

There was another encounter in the district last month, in which two people - a Maoist and a cop - were killed, and security forces recovered a gun, some explosives, and other incriminating materials.

Personnel from the DRG and Bastar Fighters, both units of the state police force, with the Border Security Force, were involved in that operation, officials said. The patrolling team was cordoning off a forested area when fired on indiscriminately, leading to the gun battle.

In February, three Maoists were killed in another encounter in Kanker.

In November last year, while the state was voting in the first phase of an Assembly election, a gunfight broke out between security forces and Maoist rebels in the same district.

An Ak-47 rifle was recovered from the encounter site.

On the same day, while polling was taking place, Maoists fired at DRG personnel deployed near a polling station in Banda in Dantewada district.

Arvind Kejriwal's judicial custody extended till April 23

NEW DELHI, April 15: A Delhi court on Monday extended the judicial custody of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 23 in connection with the excise policy case.

Kejriwal appeared before the court through virtual conference. The court noted that the judicial custody of co-accused K Kavitha is also extended till April 23.

The 55-year-old Aam Aadmi Party convenor is in Tihar jail after he was sent to judicial custody after his Enforcement Directorate (ED) remand had ended. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 night after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the central agency.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court sought a response from the ED on a plea filed by Kejriwal challenging his arrest. The top court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta asked the ED to reply by April 24, and said that the matter would be heard in the week commencing April 29.

On April 9, the Delhi high court had upheld the AAP convenor's arrest, saying that the agency was left with 'little' option' after Kejriwal skipped nine summonses and refused to join the probe.

The court had dismissed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's petition challenging his arrest by the ED and subsequent remand in the federal agency's custody.

The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 that was later scrapped.

Kejriwal is the first sitting chief minister to be arrested. His other colleagues Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain are also lodged in jail in the same case. Earlier this month, AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh walked out of Tihar jail after getting bail from the Supreme Court.

Jagan Reddy Injured In Stone-Throwing While Campaigning In Andhra Pradesh

HYDERABAD, April 13: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has been injured after being hit by a stone thrown by an unidentified person while campaigning in Vijayawada.

The YSR Congress Party chief was campaigning on a bus as part of his Memantha Siddham (which loosely translates as "We Are Ready") Bus Yatra on Saturday. The stone hit the chief minister above his left eyebrow, narrowly missing his eye, and reports said that he needed two stitches.

Sources from the party said the stone was thrown from a nearby school. "The attack is a conspiracy by the TDP alliance. (TDP chief and former chief minister) Chandrababu Naidu's nervousness is showing," said a YSRCP member.

A video showed the chief minister standing atop the vehicle and greeting crowds that had gathered by the sides of the road. The video then cuts to him holding his hand up to his left eye. One of the people who were with him dabs his left eyebrow with a cloth and the chief minister greets the crowd with folded hands before climbing into the bus.

He was treated inside the bus by doctors and then continued his campaign.

Elections will be held for the 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly and the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state on May 13. The YSRCP had won 151 of the Assembly seats and 22 Lok Sabha constituencies in 2019. This time, the ruling party faces a challenge from an alliance of the TDP, BJP and the Jana Sena.

Congress Fields Virbhadra Singh's Son Against Kangana Ranaut In Himachal

SHIMLA, April 13: The stage is set for a battle royale in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi Lok Sabha seat as the Congress on Saturday pitted state minister Vikramaditya Singh, the titular king of the erstwhile princely state of Bushahr, against BJP candidate and actor Kangana Ranaut.

Himachal Pradesh PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh is the son of six-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh and Pratibha Singh, the sitting MP from Mandi and the Congress' state unit president.

Historically, the Mandi constituency has favoured scions of erstwhile princely states, electing royals in 13 out of 19 elections, including two bypolls since 1952.

Vikramaditya Singh, the two-time MLA from the Shimla (rural) assembly segment, is not new in the parliamentary constituency as his father and mother each won the seat thrice. In the 2021 Lok Sabha bypoll to the seat, Singh had campaigned extensively for his mother.

Even before his candidature was announced, Vikramaditya Singh was involved in a spat with the actor-politician of Bollywood film 'Queen' fame with neither pulling any punches. While Singh had termed Ranaut "queen of controversies", the BJP's Mandi candidate indirectly termed the state minister as "Chota Pappu".

Last Thursday, Ranaut launched a blistering attack on Vikramaditya Singh and said, "Yeh tumhare baap-dada ki riyasat nahin hai, ke tum mujhe dara, dhamka ke vapis bhej doge (This is not the estate of your father or grandfather that you will threaten me and send me back).

The BJP candidate's retaliation came in response to Vikramaditya Singh's jibe a few days earlier about her reported comments over beef-eating.

"I pray to Lord Ram to give her wisdom and hope she goes back pure from 'Dev Bhoomi' Himachal to Bollywood because she will not win the elections as she knows nothing about the people of Himachal," Singh had said.

Indirectly dubbing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Vikramaditya Singh as "Pappu", Kangana had said there is one "Bada Pappu" in Delhi and the "Chhota Pappu" in Himachal says she eats beef. She asked why he was not showing evidence of her consuming beef.

Terming Vikramaditya Singh as "'ek number ka jhootha' (liar No. 1)" and "paltubaaz" (one who repeatedly changes stance), she wondered what can be expected from him when "Bada Pappu" talks about destroying "Nari Shakti" (women power).

"I have made my name in the film industry without the help of my father and mother... I want to join politics and serve the people," she said and asserted that politics is an expression of service and anyone from a king to a beggar is entitled to that expression.

The factors working in favour of Ranaut are former Himachal Pradesh chief minister and senior BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur's hold over Mandi and that the party has won all the nine assembly segments under the parliament constituency.

BJP leader Khushal Thakur, a Kargil war hero who lost to Pratibha Singh by a margin of 7,490 votes in Lok Sabha bypolls held in November 2021, has rendered his support to Ranaut. "There are over one lakh ex-servicemen in this Parliament constituency", he said.

Moreover, BJP leader and the titular king of Kullu Maheshwar Singh, who earlier opposed Ranaut's candidature, has extended his support to her.

Of the 17 assembly segments under the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, eight are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled castes.

Since 1952, the parliamentary seat has been represented by Raj Kumai Amrit Kaur of Kapurthala dynasty and Raja Joginder Sen Bahadur of the princely state of Mandi once each, Raja Lalit Sen of Suket twice, Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh thrice each and Maheshwar Singh thrice.

Three-time MP from Mandi and former Union minister Sukh Ram, two-time winner Ram Swaroop and Ganga Singh were the exceptions and did not hail from royal families.

Woman Hid Source Of Income, Court Sets Aside Maintenance Order

NEW DELHI, April 13: A sessions court here has set aside a magisterial court order directing a husband to pay a monthly maintenance of ₹ 15,000 to his wife, holding that the woman had not disclosed her true income.

Additional Sessions Judge Aanchal was hearing two appeals filed by the couple. While the husband assailed the court's order of April 2023, the wife sought raising the maintenance to ₹ 1.25 lakh.

The magisterial court had passed the order on the wife's petition filed under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

Noting the evidence before it, the court said the wife, who had an MBA degree, concealed the fact that she was having sufficient income to meet expenses and maintain herself.

"So, once it has come on record that the wife had been concealing her source of income, the court can neither draw (the inference) that the wife who is otherwise working and earning is unable to maintain herself nor can draw that she is living in a status lower than what she had been used to at her matrimonial home," the court said.

So, the husband cannot be directed to give her maintenance, enabling her to maintain a particular standard of living, it added in an order passed on April 5.

"Therefore, this court is of the view that the wife is not entitled to maintenance for omission in disclosure of true particulars on her part and an income earned by her," the judge said.

J&K Assembly polls and statehood soon: Modi

UDHAMPUR, April 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday dared the Opposition to restore Article 370, saying he hadn’t only abrogated the provision but also buried its “debris deep in the ground”.

“Post revocation of Article 370, the Congress led INDIA alliance tried to spread misconception about it in other states. But we have made Article 370, a history. I challenge Congress and other parties... do they have the guts to restore it. If they do, people will never see their face,” Modi said in his first election rally in Udhampur to seek support for Union minister Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore, who are seeking their third consecutive term from Udhampur and Jammu, respectively.

The prime minister underlined how the situation in Jammu and Kashmir had improved over the last decade, particularly after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, saying this was the first time after decades that elections were taking place in J&K without fear of terrorism and cross border firing.

“Terrorism, separatism, Article 370, stone pelting, bandhs (strike calendar of the separatists) are no more poll issues. People in Kashmir including women give me a lot of blessings because their life has changed. They know that their sons now wouldn’t not go astray,” he said while referring to improved security scenario since 2015 and especially after abrogation of Article 370.

“Now schools are not being burnt, they are decorated. Now, there is a lot of development of infrastructure in health, education, industry and other sectors,” he added.

Modi said the Centre was committed to restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. “The time is not far when assembly elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir also. Jammu and Kashmir will get back its state status. You will be able to share your dreams with your MLAs, and your ministers,” Modi said.

“These family-controlled parties have caused damage to J&K.They believe in the doctrine of by, for, and of the the family…. However, their false narratives will not work now.They try to spread false narratives about Article 370. These people must ask the women of J&K that how abrogation of Article 370 has ended discrimination with them. How Valmikis , Gurkhas , refugees, Paharis, Padris, Gadda Brahmins got benefits after abrogation of Article 370,” he said.

Supreme Court's ‘will rip you apart’ warning in Patanjali ads case; Uttarakhand official says ‘please spare me’

NEW DELHI, April 10: The Supreme Court on Wednesday was unrelenting in its criticism of the Uttarakhand licensing authority for not taking action against Patanjali Ayurved for publishing misleading advertisements.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah pulled up the state licensing authority officials for "pushing the file" to delay action on complaints against Divya Pharmacy and going into a slumber since 2018.

“We have strong objection to use of the word 'bonafide' for officers. We are not going to take (it) lightly. We will rip you apart,” the court said in an unusually stern reprimand.

The apex court also refused to accept the affidavits filed by yoga guru and businessman Ramdev and managing director of Patanjali Ayurved Balkrishna tendering unconditional apologies over publishing "misleading" advertisements. The court questioned whether the apology was "even heartfelt" and asserted that the duo did so when "caught on the wrong foot".

"Having regard to the entire history of the matter and the past conduct of the contemnors…, we have expressed our reservations about accepting the latest affidavit filed by them," the bench said while dictating the order in the courtroom.

The court declined the apologies saying, "We don't want to be so generous in this case."

"The apologies that are on record are on paper. We think that having been caught on the wrong foot and noticing that their back is actually against the wall and having gone to town saying all kinds of things on the very next day of the order passed where your counsel had given undertaking, we don't accept this affidavit," it said.

"We decline to accept or condone it. We consider it a wilful and deliberate violation of the order and the breach of the undertaking…," the bench told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Ramdev and Balkrishna.

Describing the state authority as being in a "deep slumber" for four to five years, the court expressed astonishment at its lack of action in addressing the issue at hand.

Justice Hima Kohli said that the licensing authority was hand in glove with Patanjali and did nothing “except pushing the file around.”

Dr Mithilesh Kumar, the Joint Director of the state's Food and Drug Administration, begged for mercy with folded hands.

"Please spare me..." Dr Kumar said to the court, "I came in June 2023... this happened before me."

The court, not in a mood to relent, said “Ab ghar pe time bitayiye (now spend time at home).”

Arvind Kejriwal Petition Against Arrest Rejected

NEW DELHI, April 9: Arvind Kejriwal will remain in jail, the Delhi High Court said Tuesday afternoon as it knocked back the Chief Minister's challenge to his March 21 arrest in the alleged liquor policy scam. Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party responded swiftly, confirming, within the hour, that it will appeal to the Supreme Court.

The court noted the Enforcement Directorate submitted material to suggest the Aam Aadmi Party leader had conspired to formulate the now-scrapped policy and was involved in demanding alleged kickbacks of ₹ 100 crore, some of which was used to fund campaign expenses for the 2022 Goa election.

The court also noted the ED's submission of statements by approvers (accused turned government witnesses) and an AAP Goa candidate claiming he had been paid with the alleged kickbacks.

Kejriwal's arrest was therefore ruled valid and his plea dismissed. The court, therefore, upheld earlier remand orders - which sent him to the ED's custody and then to Delhi's Tihar Jail till April 15.

Kejriwal is the first sitting Chief Minister to be taken into custody.

Reading out the verdict - scheduled for 2:30 pm and then delayed to 3:15 pm - the court took a dim view of Kejriwal's arguments from April 3, in which he questioned approvers' statements.

The court said doubting grant of pardon to accused (in exchange for information implicating other accused) "amounts to casting aspersions on the judicial process". "The law is over 100 years old... it is not a one-year-old law falsely enacted to implicate the petitioner," the court said sternly.

Last week, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued, "... in first statements there will be nothing against me. Some are arrested and, for first time, they give a statement against me and get bail. Then they get pardon and become approver."

There was reference back then to the Supreme Court granting bail to AAP MP Sanjay Singh, who was arrested in this case. The court noted that one of the approvers did not initially implicate Singh.

The Delhi High Court, though, noted that Kejriwal would have an opportunity to inspect and question all such documents, but at "the appropriate stage". "... this is not that stage," it said.

The court also shot down questions over the timing of the arrest.

Kejriwal and the AAP have alleged the arrest was timed for just before the Lok Sabha election - to side-line the party's senior-most leaders, including the Chief Minister, and disrupt campaign plans.

"'Level playing field' (before an election) is not just a phrase. It is part of 'free and fair elections' which is part of a democratic structure. This case reeks of timing issues," Singhvi said.

"What is this urgency? I am not talking about politics... I am talking about law," he continued, arguing the arrest was meant to "demolish Aam Aadmi Party before first vote is cast".

The court, though, said the probe agency acted irrespective of the election dates. It also noted that Mr Kejriwal - who skipped multiple summons, dating back to October - would have known that the election was fast-approaching and, therefore, would have had limited time to join the investigation.

"Political considerations can't be brought before a court of law... the matter before this court is not a conflict between the central government and Arvind Kejriwal. It is a case between Arvind Kejriwal and the ED," Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said.

Protesting Trinamool MPs Dragged, Detained By Cops Outside Poll Body Office

NEW DELHI, April 8: A 10-member delegation of Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress sitting on a dharna outside the Delhi headquarters of the Election Commission, have been detained by the police. Visuals from the spot showed the police pushing, pulling and in some cases, lifting the MPs, and loading them onto a waiting bus.

The MPs have been demanding a meeting with the full-bench of the poll body with a complaint of "misuse of central agencies" by the BJP-led Central government.

The chiefs of four central investigation committees should be removed by the Commission ahead of the election, they have demanded. The party has now said it would continue its 24-hour dharna inside the Mandir Marg police station.

The delegation of MPs was being led by the party's Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien. Among the protesting MPs are Dola Sen, Sagarika Ghosh, Saket Gokhale and Shantanu Sen. Demanding a "level playing field", the MPs had promised a 24-hour sit-in.

The police action started an hour into the dharna, when the leaders declined repeated requests to leave after meting the poll commissioners. Visuals from the spot showed the 63-year-old O'Brien being hauled to the bus by a couple of policemen.

The leaders are alleging that the central agencies are focussing on Opposition leaders ahead of the general election and the motive of the arrests made by the agencies is purely political.

"In a case of 2022 an arrest is made in 2024 by the NIA. Law and order is a state subject and the local police should have been informed… Strictly the chiefs of the four central agencies should be changed," said Trinamool MP Dola Sen.

"We had met the Election Commission officials on April 1. A level playing field is basic in electoral democracy,' said Sagarika Ghosh.

"The manner in which officials CBI, NIA, ED and Income Tax are acting, they appear to be branch members of BJP. It is making the life of opposition difficult. A member of BJP had a meeting with an NIA official at the latter's residence," she added.

Giving examples, she said in on the intervening night of April 5 and 6, raids were conducted without informing local police. "This time, action has been taken by the NIA in a two-year-old case… Homes of women were raided at 3 am in the morning. Officials barged into the houses at 3 am, where they harassed and molested women," she said.

The MPs, she said, have requested the poll commission to change the chiefs of NIA, ED, CBI and income tax.

The protest comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's warning that at a recent election rally in Jalpaiguri that action against corruption will pick up pace after June 4, when the results of the election are to be declared. "Should we not end corruption? Should we not send corrupt people to jail? Should we not get rid of the TMC corruption? This is a Modi's guarantee," he had said.

Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today that her party is not scared. But the BJP, she alleged, is using the agencies for political purpose. "They say Modi ka Guarantee. What is Modi's guarantee? That he will put everyone in jail after June 4," she alleged.

7 injured after stage collapses during Modi's roadshow in Jabalpur

JABALPUR, April 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi started election campaign in Madhya Pradesh by holding a road show in Jabalpur on Sunday.

During the PM's roadshow, a large number of people were present on the road.

Half a dozen people were injured as a stage collapsed during a road show in Gorakhpur Jabalpur.

City superintendent of police HR Pandey said, “During the road show of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a welcome stage was erected on the roadside on Rampur-Gorakhpur road. As soon as the Prime Minister's vehicle passed in front of the stage, people climbed on the stage to get a glimpse of him due to which the stage collapsed.”

“As soon as the Prime Minister's convoy moved forward, the stage collapsed. Seven people were injured in this incident. Among the injured, four people including a girl and a policeman have suffered fractures in their hands and legs. Three women have received minor injuries. Due to this incident, there was chaos for some time during the road show. The security personnel immediately brought the situation under control,” CSP Pandey added.

Lok Sabha battle much closer than predicted by media: Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI, April 5: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that democracy and the Constitution was never at risk as much as today and announced that the election is “much closer” than what the media is predicting adding that it will be difficult for the BJP to get 160-180 seats.”

Speaking to media persons at the launch of the party’s election manifesto, Gandhi pointed out that the manifesto is written by the people of India and maintained the ensuing Lok Sabha election is a fundamentally different election.

“I don’t think democracy and Constitution is at risk as much as today”, he said.

When asked who the PM face of the Congress is, Gandhi maintained that the Opposition parties have formed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) alliance to wage an ideological fight and there is an agreement among the allies that the leadership issue will be decided after the election.

The former Congress chief also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a monopoly of political finance by using ED, CBI and IT.

“PM Modi wants the monopoly of political finance in his hands. The entire political finances are in his hands. The entire structure is rigged. This election is about those who are trying to destroy the Constitution vs those who want to protect the Constitution and democracy. Once this fight is won, it is important to see that India is run not for 2-3 people but for all,” Gandhi said.

He emphasised that it will be a much closer election than what is propagated by the media.

“We will fight and win the election. There was a similar feeling generated by the press when (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee was the PM. We have a similar INDIA Shining moment with few additional dimensions,” Gandhi said.

In 2004, the BJP government banked on the INDIA Shining campaign, but the Congress launched a transformative campaign on “Aam admi ko kya mila” coupled it with “Congress ka haath, aam admi ke saath” slogan. The BJP was defeated as the India Shining had not percolated in the semi-urban and rural India.

Former Union minister P Chidambaram, the chairman of the manifesto committee drew a parallel between the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guarantees and the Congress’ guarantees and said, “The Congress’ guarantees are concrete guarantees. We have spelt out what each guarantee means. Modi’s guarantees are empty promises. He is giving guarantees to ensure he gets a third term. I can narrate 50 such promises of Modi which are empty promises.”

When questioned on why the manifesto didn’t have any mention of Old Pension Scheme, Chidambaram said, “It is very much in our minds. The government has appointed a committee to review the NPS. It will be premature to take a stand now.”

As several Congress party leaders abandon the party to join others ahead of the Lok Sabha election, party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said that the leaders are severing their ties out of fear due to their wrongdoings.

The Congress chief, while speaking at the event organised for launching the party’s manifesto for the general election, took a swipe at Modi, saying that the latter is sloganeering for ‘400 paar’ to induct Congress leaders.

“At this time, some people are running away from us out of fear. They are the same people who have done something wrong. The one who stands straight on his principles, no one can scare him. We are the people who will get scared. Our leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi do not fear, but the PM does. He talks about ‘400 paar’ after taking our people. He could not go to Manipur but went all over the world. When our leader Rahul Gandhi went there, why couldn’t he? He did not go because he fears and the one who gets fear, cannot run a country,” Kharge said.

“They say that they would eradicate corruption. You took our 25 senior leaders and two of them were exonerated... People who are going to Shah’s washing machine, are coming out to be clean. The corrupt people are with you, and we are being blamed,” Kharge added.

Cong manifesto: Raising 50% quota cap, right to apprenticeship among guarantees

NEW DELHI, April 5: A constitutional amendment to raise the 50% cap on the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Class (OBC) quota and a new Right to Apprenticeship Act are among the guarantees listed in the Congress’s manifesto released on Friday ahead of the April-June Lok Sabha polls.

The party pledged to enact a law to provide reservations in private educational institutions for these communities as well as a nationwide census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions. “Based on the data, we will strengthen the agenda for affirmative action,” the manifesto said.

The manifesto underlined that OBC, SC, and ST constitute nearly 70% of India’s population, but their representation in high-ranking professions, services, and businesses is disproportionately low. “The people belonging to the SC, ST, and OBC communities have not yet been able to catch up with the rest and are still left behind,” said the manifesto. “No progressive modern society should tolerate such inequality or discrimination based on ancestry and the consequent denial of equal opportunity.”

The manifesto said Congress has been the most vocal and active champion of the progress of the backward and oppressed classes and castes but discrimination remains a reality.

The promise for raising the 50% cap on quota as part of addressing the discrimination comes even as a challenge to the Tamil Nadu law providing 69% reservation remains pending before the Supreme Court. The law was included in the Constitution’s Ninth Schedule, which has ensured a limited scope of judicial review.

The Supreme Court set the cap in the Indra Sawhney ruling in 1992. A five-judge bench in 2021 endorsed it as it quashed a 2018 Maharashtra law for reservation to Marathas in jobs and educational institutions.

Years after 26-year-old University of Hyderabad PhD student Rohith Vemula’s suicide in 2016 triggered a wave of nationwide protests against caste discrimination, the Congress said it will enact the Rohith Vemula Act to address discrimination faced by students belonging to the backward and oppressed communities in educational institutions.

The Congress promised to bridge historical inequities by also enhancing institutional credit to SC and ST for home-building, starting businesses, and purchasing assets. It pledged to establish an authority to monitor the distribution to the poor of government land and surplus land.

The Congress pledged to expand the scope of the Public Procurement Policy to award more public works contracts to contractors belonging to the SC and ST communities. “Funds for scholarships for OBC, SC, and ST students will be doubled, especially for higher education. We will aid SC and ST students to study abroad; and will double the number of scholarships for them to pursue a PhD.”

The party promised to establish a network of residential schools for the poor, especially SC and ST students, and extend them to every block. The Congress promised to fill all the backlog vacancies in posts reserved for SC, ST, and OBC within one year and include in the school curriculum the work of social reformers to spread the message of social justice.

Under the Right to Apprenticeship Act, Congress said a one-year apprenticeship will be provided in private as well as public sector firms to diploma holders or college graduates below the age of 25. “Apprentices will get ₹1 lakh a year. The apprenticeship will impart skills, enhance employability, and provide full-time job opportunities for millions of youth.”

The Congress called inequality of income and opportunity India’s ugliest truth. It added it is the moral and political responsibility of any government to ensure that every Indian family is assured of a basic income every month.

The Congress resolved to launch a Mahalakshmi scheme to provide ₹1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfer. “The amount will be directly transferred to the bank account of the oldest woman of the household. Absent a woman, it will be transferred to the account of the oldest member of the family.”

Congress said it will give a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) every year and implement Swaminathan Commission recommendations for 50% profit over the complete cost of production. It added the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices will be made a statutory body and MSP will be directly credited digitally to bank accounts of farmers. The Congress promised to appoint a Permanent Commission on Agricultural Finance that would report periodically on the extent of agricultural credit and the need for loan forbearance. “Crop insurance will be made farm and farmer-specific.”

The Congress promised freedom to the farmer to sell agricultural produce at the farm gate or at any other place of choice with an option to upload the sale-and-purchase agreement on a digital ledger. It pledged maternity benefits to all women. “All employers shall mandatorily grant paid maternity leave for their employees.”

The Congress promised separate legislation for the registration of sports federations/bodies/associations which will ensure full compliance with the Olympic Charter, allow for autonomy and full accountability, and provide recourse for members and sportspersons against discrimination, bias, sexual harassment, abuse, wrongful termination, etc.

Supreme Court Puts On Hold Banning Of UP Madrassas

NEW DELHI, April 5: In a big relief to about 17 lakh madrassa students in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court today paused an Allahabad High Court order scrapping the UP Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004. This allows about 16,000 madrassas in the state to continue functioning under the 2004 law.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that the high court decision was prima facie not correct and issued notices to the UP and central governments, and the Madrassa board.

The high court had last month declared the 2004 law "unconstitutional" for violating the principle of secularism and directed the government to accommodate the madrasa students in the formal education system.

The Supreme Court put it on hold on Friday, saying that the aims and objectives of the Madrassa Board are regulatory in nature and that the establishment of the board itself will not affect secularism.

"The high court, in striking down the provisions of the Act, directed the relocation of the students. This would affect the 17 lakh students. We are of the view that the direction of relocation of students to other schools was not warranted," said the Chief Justice.

If the purpose of the PIL is to ensure that madrassas provide secular education in core subjects such as mathematics, science, history, and languages, the solution would not be to repeal the provisions of the Madarsa Act 2004, he added.

The central and state governments backed the high court judgment in the Supreme Court, with the centre saying suspected entanglement of religion and other relevant issues must be debated.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the madrassas, said religious education cannot mean religious instruction and that the high court order will leave 10,000 madrassa teachers and 17 lakh students in lurch. But the state government said it has made arrangements for the teachers and students.

Singhvi argued it is wrong to say madrassa education doesn't have quality, isn't universal in nature, and is not broad-based. Singling out the madrassas for a ban is discriminatory and the Supreme Court had said so in the Aruna Roy vs Union of India, 2002 verdict, he pointed out.

The Chief Justice said that the issues that have been raised merit closer reflection and posted the matter for further hearing in the second week of July.

5.3 Earthquake Hits Chamba In Himachal Pradesh

SHIMLA, April 4: An earthquake of 5.3 magnitude hit Chamba town in Himachal Pradesh this evening. Strong tremors were felt across the town and also in Manali, which is around 100 km from Chamba. No major damage has been reported so far.

The earthquake hit Chamba at 9:34 pm, at the depth of 10 km, said National Center for Seismology.

"Felt quite strong tremors in Manali. It lasted for about seven seconds," said Divyanshu, a Manali local.

"I felt a strong jolt lasting a couple of seconds. Just when I was thinking of rushing downstairs, the tremors stopped," Sanjay Kumar, a Chandigarh resident, said.

AAP's Sanjay Singh Out Of Tihar After 6 Months

NEW DELHI, April 3: Having spent six months behind bars in the Delhi liquor policy case, senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh has been released from Tihar jail. He walked out of the prison on Wednesday evening, a day after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court, which noted that there was "no trace" of the money allegedly received as bribes by the AAP for allotting liquor licences.

Singh was released after the bail order was received by the jail authorities and was welcomed by a huge crowd of AAP supporters. Addressing the crowd from atop a vehicle, the AAP leader said, "Arvind Kejriwal, who is the biggest leader, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain have been kept behind bars."

"Mera bharosa hai ki jail ke taale tootenge, hamare saare neta chhutenge (It is my belief that all jailed AAP leaders will be freed)," he thundered.

In what is being seen as a political statement, Singh went straight to the house of Kejriwal, who was arrested in the case on March 21, to meet the Delhi chief minister's wife, Sunita. He is then expected to head to the AAP office and address workers there.

Like Kejriwal, Singh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the money laundering angle in the Delhi liquor policy case. After the MP was granted bail on Tuesday, senior AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi had said that the Supreme Court's order had vindicated the party's stand on the agency being unable to trace the bribe money in the alleged scam and on the alleged coercion of witnesses.

Kejriwal's former deputy, Manish Sisodia, and BRS leader K Kavitha have also been arrested in the same case and the opposition parties have made the alleged misuse of central agencies by the BJP a central plank of their campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. They have pointed out that the arrests of opposition leaders, coupled with the freezing of Congress' accounts, have deprived them of a level playing field, which is crucial for free-and-fair elections.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh Gets Bail After 6 Months In Jail In Liquor Policy Case

NEW DELHI, April 2: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh and posed tough questions to the Enforcement Directorate - which had arrested Mr Singh - including asking why he had been jailed for over six months without a trial or recovery of alleged bribe of ₹ 2 crore.

"Nothing has been recovered... there is no trace (of money allegedly received by the AAP as bribes for allotting liquor licences to the 'South Group')..." the court told the agency, which claims the party received ₹ 600 crore in bribes.

The court then directed Additional Solicitor General SV Raju to confer with the ED and decide if custody of Singh is warranted at this stage. Singh was released after the Enforcement Directorate said it did not want custody.

"I am making this statement (not opposing bail) without going into the merits of the case and keeping all the rights and contentions open," Raju said.

The court earlier observed Dinesh Arora, an accused who turned approver, or government witness, did not implicate Singh in his initial statements. Singh was arrested on the basis of statements by Arora, who got bail in August.

Sanjay Singh has been in Delhi's Tihar Jail since his arrest in October in the alleged liquor policy scam, which has roiled the opposition party - and seen the arrests of Sisodia and his former boss, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal - weeks before the election.

Singh was arrested on money laundering charges linked to the alleged scam.

His earlier bail pleas - including in the Delhi High Court - were turned down; in February, in fact, the High Court said "no ground" for relief had been made.

The ED then had opposed the bail plea, alleging Singh was involved in acquiring, possessing, concealing, dissipating and using proceeds of the crime generated from the alleged liquor scam.

That relief was finally granted this afternoon, after a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Dipankar Datta, and Justice Prasanna B Varale said Singh could be released during pendency of the trial.

The court said the terms and conditions of the release are to be fixed by the trial court. What is significant, though, is that Singh can participate in political activities, meaning he can campaign for the AAP, which faces a potential shortage of big-name leaders in the run-up to the polls.

He has, however, been cautioned against commenting on the investigation.

The court also said the bail could not be treated as precedent in similar cases.

News of Singh's release has been welcomed by his colleague and Delhi PWD Minister Atishi, who posted "satyameva jayate", or "the truth will win", on X (formerly Twitter). Atishi has been leading the AAP's fight back and protestations of innocence since Chief Minister Kejriwal was arrested.

This morning she claimed four other AAP leaders, including herself, had been earmarked for arrest by central agencies - in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam - if they do not join the Bharatiya Janata Party. The opposition has routinely accused the BJP of using central agencies to target rivals, particularly before an election. The BJP has equally routinely denied the charges.

Arvind Kejriwal Sent To Jail After Probe Agency Claims He's 'Uncooperative'

NEW DELHI, April 1: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will spend the next two weeks in jail in the liquor policy case after his Enforcement Directorate custody ends today. The probe agency did not seek custody of the AAP leader, after which a local court this morning sent him to jail till April 15.

The court has also allowed him to meet his wife Sunita Kejriwal and ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj before he is shifted to the Tihar Jail.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 in the alleged liquor policy scam after he skipped nine central agency summons, and has been running his government from the ED lock-up since then.

In Delhi's Rouse Avenue court, where Mr Kejriwal was produced this morning before the expiry of his probe agency custody, the ED said he had been "uncooperative" and was giving evasive answers. He did not reveal the passwords of his digital devices, the ED told the court.

The central agency, which is probing money laundering charges in the alleged liquor policy scam, also said it may need his custody again in the future.

The agency said Kejriwal gave false evidence against other AAP members, and when confronted with the statements of his own party leaders, he called them confused. He also said that Vijay Nair, AAP communications in-charge who has turned an approver, didn't report to him but to Atishi and Bhardwaj, according to the ED.

Kejriwal's lawyer has demanded some medicines and a special diet for him inside the jail in view of his illness. A request has also been made to provide a copy of Ramayan, Shrimad Bhagvad Gita, and How Prime Ministers Decide (by Neerja Chowdhury) to the jailed Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister has also moved the Delhi High Court against his arrest, arguing that his fundamental rights were violated by the probe agency. The court had issued a notice to the ED, seeking a reply by April 2. The hearing will resume on April 3.

Kejriwal is the third AAP leader after his former deputy Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh to be arrested in the liquor policy case. He has dubbed his arrest a "political conspiracy".

He had also addressed the courtroom during his last hearing and asserted no court had proven him guilty. "The CBI has filed 31,000 pages (of chargesheets) and ED filed 25,000 pages. Even if you read them together... the question remains... why have I been arrested?" he had said.

The excise policy was introduced to bring an overhaul to the liquor business in Delhi but was scrapped after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a probe into the alleged irregularities in the policy.

The ED believes the policy provided a high profit margin and bribe money was allegedly used to fund the AAP's election campaigns.

‘Need delicate balance between seizure powers and individual’s right to privacy': CJI DY Chandrachud on probe agencies

NEW DELHI, April 1: Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Monday called for a ‘delicate balance' between the search and seizure powers vested with probe agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and an individual's right to privacy.

“In the realm of criminal justice, the delicate balance between search and seizure powers and individual privacy rights stands and this is at the cornerstone of a fair and just society,” the CJI was quoted as saying during his keynote address at the 20th D P Kohli memorial lecture in the Capital.

The CJI said that at the ‘heart of this balance’ lies the need to uphold due process.

The CJI also flagged what he called ‘unwarranted confiscation of personal devices’, saying there was a pressing need to strike a balance between investigative imperatives and individual privacy rights.

Asking the probe agencies to “pick their battles” instead of spreading out too thinly in various cases, the CJI said they should “concentrate on crimes that threaten security and economic health of the country and public order.”

"The landscape of crime is evolving at an "unprecedented pace" and probe agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) must build their capacities to tackle them apart from harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools," added.

While commenting that the world has become increasingly interconnected through the expansion of digitial technologies right from cyber crime and digital fraud to emerging technologies, the Chief Justice of India said that the law enforcement agencies like the CBI are faced with new and complex challenges that demand innovative solutions.

The investigating agencies have to keep up with the radical change in crime, he added.

SC issues notice to EC on INDIA bloc's 100% VVPATs plea

NEW DELHI, Arpil 1: The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Election Commission regarding plea demanding 100% VVPATs counting. Calling it a first step, Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh sought the decision in the matter before elections commence.

“It bears constant repetition that the Election Commission has refused to meet a delegation of INDIA party leaders who have been demanding 100% VVPATs in order to increase public confidence in EVMs and to ensure the integrity of the electoral process," wrote Jairam Ramesh on X.

“The notice is an important first step, but for it to be meaningful, the matter should be decided before the elections commence," he added.

The order in the case was passed by the SC bench of justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta. The petition sought inter-alia counting of all Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) paper slips in polls. While announcing order, the bench tagged the petition with another plea filed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Earlier, in a similar petition filed by the ADR, the EC had cited practical difficulties in verifying all VVPATs. The bench hearing the matter also expressed reservations about the demand of 100% VVPAT verification, observing that it will add to the ECI's burden without much significant advantage.

The petition contended, “If simultaneous verification is done and more number of officers are deployed for counting in each assembly constituency, then complete VVPAT verification can be done in matter of 5-6 hours."

The petition was filed through advocate Neha Rathi. In her petition, Rathi stated that the government has spent ₹5000 crores on the purchase of 24 lakh VVPATs, but VVPAT slips of only 20,000 VVPATs are verified (approx)

"Given that many questions are being raised by experts with regard to VVPATs and EVMs and the fact that large number of discrepancies between EVM and VVPAT vote count have been reported in the past, it is imperative that all VVPATs slips are counted and the voter is given an opportunity to properly verify that his vote as cast in the ballot is also counted by allowing him to physically drop his/her VVPAT slip on the ballot box," the plea added.

Modi gave clean-chit to China: Chidambaram spars with Jaishankar

NEW DELHI, April 1: Ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union Government is trying to corner Congress on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's 1974 decision to hand over Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka, prompting the Congress to come out with a sharp rebuke on the BJP goverment's failure to check China's aggression into the Indian territory.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram engaged in a war of words on Monday, sparring on the historical aspects of the Katchatheevu Island issue.

After Modi's remarks on the Katchatheevu Island issue, Jaishankar read out the observations made by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on the issue, to put the Congress on the back foot.

"This is an observation by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in May of 1961. He says, I attach no importance at all to this little island, and I would have no hesitation in giving up our claim to it. I do not like matters like this pending. Indefinitely and being raised again and again in Parliament. So, to Pandit Nehru, this was a little island. It had no importance. He saw it as a nuisance," the foreign minister quoted India's first PM as saying.

"This view continued to Indira Gandhi as well," Jaishankar added.

Former Home Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram reacted sharply to S Jaishankar's remark, quoting from a 2015 Right to Information (RTI) response in which the Narendra Modi-led government justified the circumstances under which India acknowledged that the small island belonged to Sri Lanka.

"Tit for tat is old. Tweet for Tweet is the new weapon. Will Foreign Minister Jaishankar please refer to the RTI reply dated 27-1-2015? I believe that Jaishankar was the FM on 27-1-2015. The Reply justified the circumstances under which India acknowledged that the small island belonged to Sri Lanka. Why is the Foreign Minister and his ministry doing a somersault now? How quickly can people change colors? From a suave liberal Foreign Service officer to a smart Foreign Secretary to a mouthpiece of the RSS-BJP, the life and times of Jaishankar will be recorded in the annals of acrobatic sports," P Chidambaram said in a post on X.

P Chidambaram didn't just stop at S Jaishankar and questioned why PM Modi raked up the 1974 Katchatheevu Island issue while Chinese troops occupied 2,000 sq km of Indian territory. The senior Congress leader alleged that PM Modi has given a clean chit to China and should speak about what happened in the last three years.

"Why is the PM raking up an issue that was settled in 1974? In 1974, the Indira Gandhi government, in order to help lakhs of Tamils, negotiated with Sri Lanka. Katchatheevu Island was acknowledged as belonging to Sri Lanka. In return, 6 lakh Tamils were allowed to come to India. The issue was closed 50 years ago," P Chidambaram said.

“2,000 sq km of Indian territory has been occupied by Chinese troops. The PM says no Chinese troops are present in Indian territory and no part of Indian territory is in occupation of Chinese troops. You gave a clean chit to China. He should talk about what has happened in the last 3 years instead of what happened 50 years ago. Chinese occupation is aggression. I would request the PM to speak about that," the former home minister said, putting the ball on to the BJP"s court as the controversy escalates.

The controversy over Katchatheevu Island was raked up by BJP's Tamil Nadu unit president K Annamalai, who dug out RTI documents to charge that former PM Indira Gandhi had callously given away the island to Sri Lanka.

'No Coercive Steps Over ₹ 3,500 Crore Demand': Tax Relief For Congress

NEW DELHI, April 1: In a big relief to the Congress ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Centre told the Supreme Court today that it will not act against the Opposition party to recover tax dues amounting to over ₹ 3,500 crore.

The matter, the court said, will be heard next on July 24.

The Congress had approached the Supreme Court after it received notices from Income Tax department, seeking payment of tax dues amounting to a whopping ₹ 3,567 crore.

The Opposition party has accused the ruling BJP of "tax terrorism" and alleged the Income Tax department's move as an attempt to choke it financially in the run-up to polls. The party has said this was disrupting the level-playing field for the polls and also urged the Election Commission to intervene.

Earlier, tax authorities withdrew a sum of ₹ 135 crore from a party's accounts for dues from previous years.

When the case came up before a bench led by Justice BV Nagarathna today, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the central agency will take no coercive action against the Opposition party's during polls.

"They were given an option to pay 20 per cent in 2024, ₹ 135 crore (was) recovered. ₹ 1,700 crore demand has been raised later. Therefore, the matter pertains to ₹ 1,700 subsequently raised. This whole matter can be fixed for post elections. We will not take any action till then," he said.

When the court asked if the Centre is pausing the tax demand, Mr Mehta replied, "No, we are just saying that we will not take any action till the election."

Appearing for the Congress, Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi said the Centre has collected ₹ 135 crore by attaching properties. "We are not a profit-making organisation, only a political party."

The Solicitor General said he has much to say on the merits.

The court noted that the issues arising in the appeals are yet to be adjudicated upon and that the matter will be heard on merits going forward.

For now, however, the Congress has reason to feel relieved.

The Congress had earlier said the ruling BJP was in serious violation of tax laws, but the Income Tax department was not acting against it.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had warned that when the government changes, exemplary action will be taken to ensure no one dares to take such steps again.

"When the government changes, action will definitely be taken against those who have disrobed democracy. And such exemplary action will be taken that no one will dare to do all this again. This is my guarantee," he said in a post on X.

Senior party leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that efforts were being made to financially cripple the Congress, "but we are not going to be cowed down".

Party leader Ajay Maken said the Congress was being selectively targeted. "What we are saying is that there should be a level-playing field. This action was designed to choke the Congress financially and prevent, stop, delay and disable any election-related expenditure by the party on advertisements, travel, salaries, agencies etc. It is indeed appalling that the financial years assessed go back to 1993-94, when the late Sitaram Kesri was the party's treasurer," he said.

"These orders are based on manufactured and planted diaries and so-called raids by the BJP's frontal organisation on third parties. Several of these raided third parties enjoy stay orders from courts based on vitiated search procedures by I-T department," he had alleged. Maken claimed, adding that the same interim relief is not being granted to the Congress.

Big Exit From Jayant Chaudhary's Party After BJP Tie-Up

NEW DELHI, April 1: Shahid Siddiqui, the national vice president of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, has resigned from the primary membership of the party and its post following the party's merger with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Siddiqui, in a post on X, said that he resigned from the party as he cannot "silently watch undermining of all the institutions which have united and made India one of the great nations of the world."

"Yesterday I resigned from the position of National Vice President of RLD & its membership. Me and my family stood up against Indira's Emergency & today can't silently watch undermining of all the institutions which have united & made India one of the great nations of the world. My regards & best wishes to @jayantrld & other colleagues in the party," he said on Monday.

Jayant Chaudhary, after months of speculation, joined the NDA after the centre conferred his late grandfather and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh with the Bharat Ratna.

The BJP which eyes Western UP with optimism, to achieve its ambitious target of 370 seats on its own, despite facing setbacks in the last elections, wants to consolidate its base among the Jats, which are the RLD's core base, and place it ahead in at least seven seats in the region.

The Jat community has significant influence in a dozen Lok Sabha and around 40 Assembly seats in West UP. They are estimated to make up between 10 and 15 per cent of the population in some 15 districts but are socially dominant, vocal, and have the capacity to build a political atmosphere.

In 2014, the BJP secured 24 out of 27 seats in the region, which dwindled to 19 in 2019, with all eight seats going to the SP-BSP combine.

Siddiqui, however, wrote a separate post for Jayant Chaudhary and hailed his "commitment to secularism and constitutional values".

"Respected Jayantji, we have worked together for 6 long years and have respect for each other. I, for one, look upon you more as a younger brother than a colleague. We have stood shoulder to shoulder on significant issues and at creating an atmosphere of brotherhood and respect among different communities. No one can doubt your commitment to secularism and the Constitutional values we both cherish. From the time of your late grandfather, Bharat Ratna Choudhary Charan Singhji, your late father Ajit Singhji, and yourself--all of you, as indeed the party you created have stood for these values," Siddiqui said.

He further said that the RLD becoming a part of the NDA puts him in a bind and a piquant situation.

"I have struggled long and hard in my mind and heart but find myself unable to be associated with an alliance headed by the BJP. I am aware of your political compulsions and am not in a position to advise you otherwise. But speaking for myself I am constrained to withdraw myself from this ongoing campaign, as indeed from the RLD," the former RLD leader said.

"Kindly accept my resignation. As always wishing you all the very best in the forthcoming elections," he added.

Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning April 19. Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, will vote in all seven phases.

With political dynamics shifting in the state, the BJP is spearheading a robust alliance, encompassing parties like RLD, SBSP, Apna Dal (S), and Nishad party bolstering its position.

On the other hand, while Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav aligns with the opposition bloc, Mayawati embarks on the electoral journey solo.

Voting for phases one and two will be held on April 19 and April 26. Next, the state will once again poll in phases three and four on May 7 and May 13. The Uttar Pradesh electorate will also vote in phases five, six and seven on May 20, May 23 and June 1 respectively. The votes will be counted on June 4.