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Rapists don’t deserve death, boys make mistakes: Mulayam
Cong jibe at Modi’s marriage admission
Don’t make it an issue: Vaghela
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Kejriwal injured as AAP workers mob him at Amritsar rly station
52% turnout in Maoist-hit Bastar
Bokaro recruitments: CBI to quiz Paswan after poll
Delhiites flock to polling
booths, turnout 64.5%
BJP expels Jaswant's son from national executive
Azam in trouble over Modi, Shah remarks
Shah’s plea against FIRs dismissed as withdrawn
Pathak takes charge as BSF chief
EC notice to Beni for Modi remark 42 Punjabi youths lodged in US jail on fast for 3 days BJP expels Jaswant's son from national executive
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Rapists don’t deserve death, boys make mistakes: Mulayam
Lucknow, April 10 This shocker by the Samajwadi Party patriarch against stringent anti-rape laws -- introduced after nation-wide protests following the gruesome Nirbhaya gang-rape in Delhi in 2012 - came at an election meeting at Moradabad. Citing the recent example of a court sentencing three men found guilty of gang-raping two women in the abandoned Shakti Mills in Mumbai last year, Mulayam said there was a need to change the new law that provides for death sentence to repeat rape offenders. Virtually exonerating the Mumbai boys for rape he said “Ladke hain, galati ho jati hai, to kya unhein phaansi par chadha doge?” (Boys are boys, they make mistakes. Would you hang them for it?” He also hinted the photojournalist charged the boys of rape due to personal differences. Yadav said boys and girls fall in love but due to differences they fall apart later on. "When their friendship ends, the girl complains she has been raped," he said, stressing the need for changes in the anti-rape law. He said his party, if voted to power, would amend anti-rape laws to check large-scale misuse ensure punishment to those who make false complaints. Soon after the statement, the BJP flayed Mulayam for his "insensitive and shameful" statement. Vijay Bahadur Pathak, state spokesman, said the ex-chief minister's comments were unacceptable and very sad. Pathak said the statement of the SP supremo comes as a shock as he was very critical of rape cases during the Mayawati-led BSP regime in the state.
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Cong jibe at Modi’s marriage admission
Vadodara, April 10 Modi acknowledged his marriage to Jashodaben in his affidavit filed along with his nomination papers in Vadodara Lok Sabha constituency yesterday. In the Assembly polls, he had left the column pertaining to spouse blank. Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh tweeted, "Modi accepts his marital status. Can women of this country trust a man who stalks a woman, deprives his wife of her right? Vote against Modi." In the column in the affidavit about his wife's assets and liabilities, Modi has written that he has no information. Jashodaben, a 62-year-old retired teacher, and Modi were married very young and had also separated because he moved out of home as a young RSS pracharak. Digvijay’s reference to stalking of a woman is an apparent hint at the surveillance of a woman by the Gujarat Police allegedly at the behest of higher-ups in the state government. Seeking to contain the controversy, Modi's elder brother Somabhai said the marriage should be seen as a "social formality" which happened nearly 50 years ago. In a statement sent to the media by the BJP, Somabhai said, "Our parents had not studied much and we were a poor family. To them, Narendra was like any other child. They conducted his marriage at a tender age with Jashodaben, but it turned out to be just a social formality for the sake of it." Modi, after leaving the house has not kept any contact with the family," Somabhai said. "Service to the nation was his only religion. So he left home and material pleasures. His marriage was just a formality as he left the house soon after his marriage.” "Even Jashodaben has been living at her father's home and spending her life working in the education sector," Somabhai said. Gujarat strongman’s another sibling Prahlad said Modi has never denied that he is a married man. "He has never denied it (marriage). In the earlier election, (affidavits) the column (about spouse) would have been left blank due to some reasons. Whether he did it intentionally or not that is his personal issue," Prahlad said. — PTI
Marriage was a social formality, says brother
Our parents had not studied much and we were a poor family. They conducted his
(Modi) marriage at a tender age with Jashodaben, but it turned out to be just a social formality for the sake of it.
Diggi on Twitter
Modi accepts his marital status. Can women of this country trust a man who stalks a woman, deprives his wife of her right? Vote against
Modi.
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Don’t make it an issue: Vaghela
Ahmedabad, April 10 Even as state Congress president Arjun Modhvadia launched a scathing attack on Modi demanding that his nomination for the parliamentary elections from Vadodara should be "rejected" and he be disqualified as a member of the state Assembly for "filing a false affidavit under oath, Vaghela, a former Union minister, said marriage was a "personal matter" and should not be brought under public glare. "It is a personal matter, he may have reasons to hide the fact all these years and may have some compulsions to disclose it now... It should not be made an issue," he said.
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Kejriwal injured as AAP workers mob him at Amritsar rly station
Amritsar, April 10 Many AAP supporters gathered at the railway station to welcome Kejriwal. The train pulled into the Platform No. 1 around11 pm. The incident occurred when scores of AAP workers started heading towards Kejriwal as soon as he got down from the train. The Punjab police and the GRP had made tight security arrangements for the AAP leader following recent cases in which he was slapped during his poll campaigns. When the policemen on duty tried to keep AAP workers from Kejriwal, it led to a stampede-like situation at the railway station as the passengers who alighted from the train also got stuck in the melee. Many people, including some media persons, fell down and were injured. A security person attached with Kejriwal was seriously injured as his leg was stuck in a barricade within the railway station premises. Both Kejriwal and his security guard were taken to a private hospital in the city for treatment. Kejriwal reportedly suffered a sprain in his leg. The policemen on duty threw a cordon around Kejriwal and took him out of the station. However, there was no official confirmation from AAP about the injury to Kejriwal and his security man as AAP candidate Dr Daljit Singh could not be contacted.
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52% turnout in Maoist-hit Bastar
Raipur, April 10 The Naxals, who had called for the boycott of elections, ambushed a police team escorting polling officials on their return after conclusion of polling in Sukma district. A police constable was injured in the attack, Additional Superintendent of Police Neeraj Chandrakar said. "The incident took place in the forests between Dhruwaras and Munga when rebels triggered a pressure bomb blast and followed it with indiscriminate firing," he said. "Constable Raju Alami was injured in the blast," he said, adding that he was being shifted out from the area. Firing was reported near several polling booths; explosives were recovered from some places. Bastar was the only constituency in the tribal-dominated state that went to the polls today. "Around 52 per cent of electorate cast their votes," state's Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Kujur said. The highest turn-out was recorded in Bastar district (67%) followed by Kondagaon (55%), Narayanpur (45%), Dantewada (42%), Sukma (25%) and Bijapur (25%), he said. — PTI
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Bokaro recruitments: CBI to quiz Paswan after poll
New Delhi, April 10 Sources said they had already questioned his personal staff in connection with the case and Paswan might be summoned after the elections. The role of Paswan came under the scanner of the agency following recovery of some documents which, agency sources claimed, indicated that his staff might have been actively involved in extending favours to some candidates. Paswan has denied allegations. In January, the CBI registered two separate cases related to alleged irregularities in the appointments in the middle and junior management level in the public sector undertaking in 2008 in which a former executive director of the plant and other former senior officers have also been named as accused. The agency has named junior managers SM Razi, Rajkumar Jatia and Yogesh Chandra Patnaik in the case. They are relatives of a former Governor, a former Union minister, who is now a Rajya Sabha candidate, and a former High Court judge, respectively, as stated in the FIRs. Paswan was the Union minister for chemicals, fertilisers and steel during the UPA government between May 2004 and May 2009 and these alleged fraudulent appointments were made during his tenure. "Such actions cannot be taken at the level of lower-rung staff without the approval of the minister concerned. We may question him (Paswan) in this connection. A final decision on the timing of questioning will be taken as the probe progresses," a senior CBI official said. The documents submitted by some successful candidates had Paswan's seal, his official address and supporting letters from his staff recommending their names for the position in the Bokaro plant, sources said. — PTI
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Delhiites flock to polling
booths, turnout 64.5%
New Delhi, April 10 A whopping 150 candidates are in the fray in Delhi, where for the first time there is a three-cornered contest as a result of the emergence of AAP. While the faction-ridden BJP tried to sail on the 'Modi wave', AAP and Congress attempted to regain lost ground. The turnout, which could not beat the highest ever of 66 per cent in last year’s Assembly polls, had both the BJP and the AAP enthused, with the Congress lagging far behind. At the time of filing of this copy, Delhi Election Commission officials said around 65 per cent of the 1.27 crore eligible voters had exercised their franchise. The percentage may go up, as thousands were in queue in various areas of the city, especially North-West Delhi, even after the deadline for voting ended. The overall voting percentage was recorded at 52.3 per cent in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and had increased to 66 per cent in the 2013 Delhi Assembly election. Long queues were seen outside several polling stations as men, women and the elderly turned up in large numbers as soon as polling began at 7 am. Delhi poll panel officials said the highest percentage was recorded in North East Delhi (63 per cent). |
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BJP expels Jaswant's son from national executive
New Delhi, April 10 Manvendra, an MLA in Rajasthan, has been campaigning for his father and former Union Minister, contesting as an Independent, and refraining from attending party meetings in favour of its official candidate. The party had expelled Jaswant Singh for entering the electoral fray in Barmer as an Independent candidate against the party's official nominee after he was refused the party ticket. BJP fielded Choudhary, a Congress defector, for Barmer LS seat. The party's Rajasthan unit had resented Manvendra's actions of supporting a dissident leader and BJP state unit president Ashok Parnami had written to the party's central unit seeking action against him. As per the party's constitution, the state unit of the party cannot initiate disciplinary action against a leader who is a member of the national executive. Taking into consideration the recommendation of BJP's Rajasthan party chief, BJP President Rajnath Singh decided to remove Manvendra Singh from the national executive, paving the way for further action against him. — PTI
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Azam in trouble over Modi, Shah remarks
New Delhi, April 10 The directive is part of the notice issued to Khan last night over his divisive comments made on Indian Armed Forces' victory during the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan while campaigning in western parts of Uttar Pradesh. The EC has taken umbrage at Khan's words. The commission has said his words were in violation of the model code of conduct that came into force on March 5. On all three issues - divisive claim on Kargil, derogatory language against Modi and calling Amit Shah a murderer -Khan has been given time till 5 pm on April 11 failing which the EC will take its final call.
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Shah’s plea against FIRs dismissed as withdrawn
Allahabad, April 10 A Division Bench comprising Justices Arun Tandon and Satish Chandra held that the petition stood "dismissed as withdrawn following the application moved by the applicant in this regard". It was submitted before the court by Shah’s counsel and senior BJP leader Keshri Nath Tripathi that the petitioner wished to withdraw the petition as "he wants to reply to the EC notice issued in the matter before seeking legal remedy". The move came a day after the court summoned CDs of video footages of the alleged hate speeches made by the BJP leader. Shah had challenged the FIRs lodged at Bijnore and Shamli under relevant sections of the IPC and the Representation of People Act wherein he had been accused of delivering hate speeches while exhorting members of the Jat community to take "revenge" for the Muzaffarnagar communal riots by voting for the BJP. In his petition Shah, who is the party’s national general secretary in-charge of UP, had sought a stay on his arrest and quashing of the two FIRs lodged in the two districts. — PTI
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Pathak takes charge as BSF chief
New Delhi, April 10 Pathak is the 23rd DG of the BSF, the world’s largest border guarding force having 2.5 lakh personnel. The BSF which was established on December 1, 1965, currently guards the India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders. Pathak is a 1979-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre. He was serving as a Special Director General of the BSF and since this March 1, he was holding the additional charge of the DG BSF. He had earlier served in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) as an Inspector General in Srinagar, Additional Director General (Training), Additional Director General (Headquarters) and Special Director General of the Jammu and Kashmir Zone. The CRPF is the primary security force battling the Maoists in India’s “red corridor”. Pathak was also entrusted to raise CRPF’s Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA). Pathak has also held the charge of four districts as Senior Superintendent of Police in Assam and
Meghalaya.
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EC notice to Beni for Modi remark
New Delhi, April 10 The commission has given him time till Saturday evening to present his views on the notice. "The commission is, prima facie, of the opinion that by making the statement you have violated the provisions of the model code of conduct," the notice said. An FIR has already been registered against Verma in Balrampur for calling BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi the "biggest
goonda" of the RSS and party's president Rajnath Singh his
"slave". Verma had on April 1 stoked a controversy by dubbing Modi the "biggest
goonda" (goon) of the RSS as the language being used by him in elections is not normally used in
democracy. "Modi could not have become prime ministerial candidate without the nod of Rajnath Singh. This proves that Rajnath Singh is not the president of the party but Modi's slave
(ghulam)," Verma had said. — PTI
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42 Punjabi youths lodged in US jail on fast for 3 days Chandigarh, April 10 In all, 64 Punjabi youths hailing from the Doaba region (Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar districts) in Punjab are lodged in that jail. They were detained for allegedly making a bid to illegally sneak into Texas via the Mexican border. Earlier, they were forced to remain huddled in a dingy room in Mexico for about two months on the instructions of their agents. Their relatives and friends have spent thousands of dollars so far to get them released, but to no avail. These youths had reportedly paid around Rs 25 lakh each to agents operating in Punjab for getting them migrated to the USA. Three days ago, the US jail authorities reportedly withdrew the telephone facility to these Punjabi youths, thus forcing most of them to observe fast in the correctional facility. Executive director of the North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) Satnam Singh Chahal said the organisation would take up the case of these youths at different fora. Talking on the phone, NAPA chairman Dalwinder Singh Dhoot said he had already discussed the issue with Congressman John Geramandy. "I and our chairman Dalwinder Singh Dhoot are planning to meet these youths in the prison. We have already moved an application under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act for getting permission to meet the detained youths," Chahal said. The youths had left for the USA from India in July last year. With the help of their agents, they landed in Mexico after passing through Havana, Ecuador, Salvador and Guatemala. Before the denial of telephonic access, some of them had narrated their tale of woes to their relatives in the USA and back home in India. On December 16 last year, Chahal said, the organisation had brought to the notice of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal the plight of a large number of Punjabi youths who had landed in the USA, Canada, Europe and number of other countries without valid visas.
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BJP expels Jaswant's son from national executive New Delhi, April 10 Manvendra, an MLA in Rajasthan, has been campaigning for his father and former Union Minister, contesting as an Independent, and refraining from attending party meetings in favour of its official candidate. The party had expelled Jaswant Singh for entering the electoral fray in Barmer as an Independent candidate against the party's official nominee after he was refused the party ticket. BJP fielded Choudhary, a Congress defector, for Barmer LS seat. The party's Rajasthan unit had resented Manvendra's actions of supporting a dissident leader and BJP state unit president Ashok Parnami had written to the party's central unit seeking action against him. As per the party's constitution, the state unit of the party cannot initiate disciplinary action against a leader who is a member of the national executive. Taking into consideration the recommendation of BJP's Rajasthan party chief, BJP President Rajnath Singh decided to remove Manvendra Singh from the national executive, paving the way for further action against him. — PTI
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Amritsar, April 10
