Politics

Supreme Court refuses to stay EC’s Sena order; issues notice on team Thackeray plea

Published

1 month ago

February 23, 2023

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay Election Commission‘s February 17 order recognising the Eknath Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena and permitting it to use the party’s bow and arrow symbol.A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, however, issued notice on a plea filed by the Uddhav Thackeray faction challenging the EC order and ordered listing of the case after two weeks.

The bench permitted the Thackeray faction to retain the name ‘Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)’ and the symbol ‘flaming torch’ in view of the EC order. EC had allowed this interim arrangement in view of Maharashtra bypolls slated for February 26. The Shinde faction gave a verbal undertaking that it would not take precipitative action against the Thackeray faction by issuing disqualification proceedings.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Thackeray faction, sought status quo by arguing that the offices and bank accounts of the party are being taken over by the Shinde group. The bench, however, refused to pass any directions in this regard. Speaking for the bench, the CJI remarked that EC’s order under challenge “does not contain anything regarding bank accounts or properties”. He said: “Something which is a part of the order we can certainly look into. This does not form part of the order. EC order is confined to the allotment of the symbol. Now, they have succeeded before EC. We cannot pass an order which has the effect of staying it without hearing them.”

“Ultimately there is a contractual relationship within a political party,” the CJI added, saying that for any further action not based on EC order, the Thackeray faction will have to “exhaust other remedies available in law”.

At the outset, senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing the Shinde faction, raised a preliminary objection to the maintainability of the Thackeray faction’s plea. He argued the Thackeray faction should first approach the concerned high court. Kaul said the Thackeray faction on previous occasions had approached the Delhi High Court against EC’s interim orders.In a related development, the Thackeray faction, before a 5-judge bench, trained its guns on the Maharashtra governor for “legitimising defections in Shiv Sena”. Sibal said “there was a certain taint against those defected members pending. The governor could have said he knows about the disqualification notice. That is the conditional path he should have adopted…” He said the governor revived the concept of a split and gave it legitimacy.

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Politics

AAP posters against PM Modi; raises slogan like “Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao”

Published

8 hours ago

March 31, 2023

ironity

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched a nationwide poster campaign with slogans like “Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao” in 22 states, said AAP’s state convener Gopal Rai on Thursday.Gopal Rai also alleged at a press conference that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is engaged in ending the country’s democratic systems instead of fixing the education-health system and removing unemployment.

Posters in Hindi, English and all other regional languages are being put up in 22 states across the country. Rai said that from April 10, similar posters would be put up at universities across the nation to make students aware about the campaign.

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Politics

HC disqualifies JDS D C Gowrishankar Swamy legislator

Published

8 hours ago

March 31, 2023

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JDS MLA from Tumakuru Rural constituency in Karnataka D C Gowrishankar Swamy was disqualified by the High Court of Karnataka on Thursday in a case relating to alleged electoral malpractice. The Court, however, kept the disqualification in suspension for one month, allowing Swamy to file an appeal in the Supreme Court. A single-judge bench of the high court was delivering its verdict on a petition filed by defeated BJP candidate B Suresh Gowda, which alleged electoral malpractice by Swamy for distributing fake insurance bonds to voters during the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election.

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Politics

BJP steps up OBC outreach to sway Nitish Kumar’s Luv-Kush base

Published

8 hours ago

March 31, 2023

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The BJP has upped its game in Bihar by stepping up its OBC outreach, especially among Kushwahas, one of the two castes of Nitish Kumar‘s Luv-Kush vote base, and has appointed PM Modi’s key aides to look after its work in the state.The BJP is going to celebrate Emperor Ashok’s birth anniversary on April 2 in Sasaram, which will be attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. This comes days after BJP appointed Samrat Choudhary as its Bihar unit president, who is also a Khushwaha. The community sees Ashoka as their ancestor.

Luv-Kush is the alliance between the Kurmi and Koeri castes, which together constitute approximately 15 % of the state population. Nitish Kumar a Kurmi himself, had garnered the support of this caste alliance, to take on the Muslim-Yadav alliance of his once staunch rival Lalu Prasad Yadav.

“The BJP is organising a big public programme to mark the birth anniversary of Samrat Ashoka, whom Khushwahas see as their ancestor. Now, the Luv-Kush alliance whom Kumar treated as his bonded labourers, will now go with BJP, worshippers of Lord Ram,” Choudhary told ET.He said the genesis of Luv-kush alliance was to counter Yadav’s politics of appeasement.

Meanwhile, the BJP has appointed a new co-incharge for Bihar, Sunil Ojha from Gujarat who worked closely with the prime minister and was looking after the party’s work in eastern Uttar Pradesh, a region comprising Modi’s constituency Varanasi.

With Ojha’s appointment, there will be two key BJP functionaries — he and Bhikhubhai Dalsaniya, organisational secretary for BJP’s state unit — both from Gujarat and have worked with Modi for many years since his days as Gujarat chief minister. Ojha was relocated to Varanasi from Gujarat and registered as a voter from Modi’s constituency in 2018.”I was handling the party’s work in eastern Uttar Pradesh, which borders Bihar. So, the demography and social structure in both regions is the same,” Ojha told ET. Ojha’s appointment also came days after the appointment of the new state unit chief.

Bihar has always been an uphill task for the BJP dispensation, and has constantly been posing challenges for the party.

Now, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has redrawn its strategy with new state unit chief and incharges. The coming together of the JD(U) with RJD after parting ways with the BJP, poses a serious challenge for the BJP, as these two parties make caste equations unfavourable for the BJP.

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