Some tit bit of news that caught my attention today, would like to share the same with you:
1 Sometimes I failed to understand what is this INDI alliance. Now Kerala CM is telling why Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Wayanad, Rahul is not contesting against any candidate of NDA. INDI alliance was formed only for the purpose of stopping NDA from coming back to power. The purpose is defeated as Rahul Gandhi is contesting against a CPI candidate, and CPI is part of INDI alliance.
2 In another state, namely Jharkhand, fissures have appeared in INDI alliance, with Left parties announcing candidates in eight of the state’s fourteen LS seats despite a tentative seat-sharing plan. As per the Left parties, they find themselves ‘almost left out’ in the seat-sharing talks, which take place between JMM, RJD, and Congress.
3 With Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal having been sent to judicial custody till 15th April 2024, as per social media reports buzz over his replacement has intensified, although officially the AAP party leaders are maintaining that Kejriwal will continue to head the government no matter how long he stays in jail. There are rumours floating around that Kejriwal’s wife Sunita is likely to assume a significant role in the coming days, indicating that she may be asked to become CM.
One more question which has caught everyone’s attention is that “ Can the CM rule the state from the jail?” While the law does not say anything on this, but till now whenever a sitting CM has been jailed, the person has resigned and someone else is made CM. The case Laloo Prasad Yadav is well known, when he was about to be arrested, he resigned and made his wife Rabri Devi as CM, and recently when Hemant Soren, CM of Jharkhand was arrested, he resigned and some one else took the oath of CM.
Ruling a state from jail may create a problem, while the law may not have any issue, but the jail manual will create problems since Kejriwal can have restrictions of meeting specific number of people within stipulated period. Delhi’s LG has made a statement that ruling from jail may not be unconstitutional but it is not going to be practical, he further added that if AAP does not replace Kejriwal as CM, then the alternative available to him will be to recommend President’s rule.
4 Election Commission (EC) has strongly censured BJP MP Dilip Ghosh and Congress spokeperson Supriya Shrinate over their degratory remarks against West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, and actress & BJP candidate from Mandi Kangana Ranaut, respectively. Ruling that the impugned comments by the politicians were ‘low-level personal attacks’ and thus in violation of model code of conduct. Specifically condemning the disrespectful post made from Shrinate’s handle against Kangana, EC said the former being chairperson of Congress’s social media and digital platform at national level is expected to know sensitivity of wider communication.
In another instance, Taking strong exception to Rahul Gandhi’s “match fixing” remark at the IDI alliance rally, BJP urged EC to take ‘strictest action’ against Congress and issue directions to lodge FIR against Rahul Gandhi. BJP also urged EC to direct the Congress leaders to tender an “unconditional public apology” to the nation and PM for leveling false allegations.
5 This news item took me by surprise- The Supreme Court (SC) issued notice to Election Commission (EC) on PIL filed by an activist seeking complete count of voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) paper slips, as opposed to the current practice of only five randomly selected electronic voting machines (EVMs) in each assembly segment of parliamentary constituency. To me it seems that the judges of the SC have enough free time to listen to these types of PIL. Counting every VVPAT slip means manually counting each and every vote. To do away with labourious and time consuming practice EVM were introduced. As per me, this PIL should have been rejected at the first stage only. These activists and some of the opposition parties have the habit of blaming when the candidate backed by them loses, that time the EVMs are rigged, and when their candidate win that time they do not make any comment.
Waiting for your feedback on this blog
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
2nd April 2024