FRIDAY 03 MAY 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC Twitter.com/thestatesman Facebook.com/thestatesman INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ‘RAHUL WILL START ‘CONG DHOONDHO YATRA’ AFTER 4 JUNE’ KTR LASHES OUT AT ECI FOR BANNING KCR P4 SENSEX 74,611.11128.33 WEATHER PARTLY CLOUDY SKY. STRONG SURFACE WINDS (SPEED 25-35 KMPH) DURING THE DAY. TOMORROW'S MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 38 AND 20 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. Min. 17 % Min: 19.3 °C (-5) SUN SETS 18:58 hrs MOON SETS 13:52 hrs THUMBNAILS BJP president Virendraa Sachdeva and others during the nomination rally of party candidate from West Delhi Kamaljeet Sehrawat, (SEE PAGE 2) in New Delhi on Thursday. SNS SC orders bar association to reserve minimum 1/3rd posts for women: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to reserve at least 1/3rd posts for women in its executive committee. Asking SCBA to implement the quota henceforth, a bench presided over by Justice Surya Kant said that the post of treasurer will be reserved for women in the ensuing 2024-25 elections. The Bench, also comprising Justice KV Viswanathan, added that one post of the office-bearers will be reserved for (Pg 5) women on a rotation basis. P rime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that when the Congress is “dying” in the country, Pakistan is crying and Pakistani leaders are saying “dua” (prayers) for the Congress, exposing the “partnership” between the Congress and Pakistan. Addressing a BJP election meeting in Anand, Gujarat, he said Pakistan’s reaction shows “the country’s enemies do not want a strong government in India; they want a weak government which allowed 26/11 in Mumbai, a government which gives dossiers only, and “a corrupt and an unstable government,” like the one which existed before 2014. The prime minister said Congress, by its record of 60 years of rule, alienated the support of the poor and is so weak today that it is difficult to “locate” it even with a magnifying glass. It is interesting to see Pakistan crying over the situation, he said, making it obvious it wants the Congress Prince (Rahul Gandhi) as prime minister. The Congress has been a follower of Pakistan, and people have seen it. He said, “Modi’s strong VARANASI, 2 MAY Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to file his nomination from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat on 13 May for polling to be held on 1 June. The PM is also slated to hold a roadshow on the same day. Nomination for the seventh phase is starting from 7 May, and polling will be held on 1 June. BJP sources here on Thursday said that 14 May is the last day and before that, 11 and 12 May are Saturday and Sunday hence it is expected that the Prime Minister will file his nomination on Monday, 13 May.Party leaders said the people of Kashi will play the biggest role in making PM Modi's nomination programme a grand ceremony. The party is making preparations to ensure their participation in large numbers. BJP's National General Secretary Sunil Bansal in a meeting early this week at the election office located in Tulsi Udyan, Mahmoorganj, chalked out the draft for the PM's election and nomination process. Mr Bansal in the meeting, has directed the leaders to make the Prime Minister's nomination a historic and unprecedented one. There should be participation of people of Kashi in the nomination ceremony and crowds should be seen on the streets, he has directed. According to party sources, the PM's nomination will take place at an auspicious time. INDI Alliance candidate and Congress state president Ajay Rai is the Lok Sabha candidate from Varanasi and he will file his nomination in Varanasi on 10 May. government neither bends, nor stops, and that is why the whole world is saying India alone can give pace to world growth. India is considered a bright spot for the world. India is seen as a country which can help resolve international problems and disputes as a friend of the world.” As long as the Congress governments continued, there was a ghost of Pakistan, he said, and Pakistan was cited for everything that happened. “The tyre of Pakistan’s terrorism has punctured now. A country which used to export terrorists at one time is going door-todoor to import wheat flour; a country which had a bomb in its hands, today holds a bowl for alms in its hands,” Mr Modi said. Weak gov- ernments of the Congress used to give dossiers to Pakistan, giving details of terrorists who came and bombed, and killed innocent persons in the country, he said. Look at the strong government of Modi, it does not waste time in giving dossiers, terrorists are eliminated in their own homes, he said. The prime minister said during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, many people were trapped, and one could see only one “passport” was respected, and this “passport” was the Indian tricolour. Even Pakistanis showed the Indian flag and were allowed to pass. Everybody saw the strength of the Indian flag. This showed India’s standing in the world today, Mr Modi said. He said everybody is P12 SILVER 83,500500 ‘Pak crying over weak Cong shows their links’ Modi likely to file his nomination from Varanasi on 13 May STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE GOLD 72,270760 ` vs $ 83.37 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 MAY TEMPERATURE Max: 35.5 °C-4) SUN RISES 5:38 hrs MOON RISES 03:02 hrs P5 The Congress has been a follower of Pakistan, and people have seen it: PM RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 51 % P10 NIFTY 22,648.2043.35 KKR LOOK TO HIT TOP FORM AGAINST STRUGGLING MI ‘SEEK VOTES ON PERFORMANCE, STOP HATE SPEECHES’ proud of this but how is Congress reacting? “It is only crying; thinking of a new abuse for Modi every day. While Modi is going ahead with fulfilling Sardar (Patel)’s dream of uniting the country, the Congress is busy dividing people, and wants social unrest.” He said people are asking why the Congress is losing its equilibrium. The truth is it has become a “fake factory”; passing off fakes as real. It calls itself Mohabbat ki dukan (shop of love) but sells jhoot ka samaan (goods of falsehood), he said. The Congress manifesto has the imprint of the Muslim League, he said. “It is so frustrated, that just to save itself, it has surrendered itself to the Muslim League. The reason for this is that its support base has shrunk over time,” he said. For 60 years, people whom Congress neglected, today do not care for this party, he said. People who used to say “We will eat half a roti and bring Indira back” have left the Congress. This happened because Modi brought programmes for the welfare of the poor; took 25 crore people out of poverty, and gave them houses, and employment opportunities, he said. BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 81.060.65 Desist from seeking voters’ details under guise of surveys, ECI tells political parties STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 MAY The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday asked political parties to desist from any activities that involve registering individuals for post-election beneficiary-oriented schemes through any advertisements, surveys and apps. The poll panel said it has taken a serious view of activities by political parties and candidates seeking details of voters under the guise of various surveys for their proposed beneficiary schemes, as a "corrupt" practice of bribery under Section 123(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. It has noted that “some political parties and candidates have been engaging in activities that blur the lines between legitimate surveys and partisan efforts to register individuals for post-election beneficiaryoriented schemes”. The ECI, while noticing various instances in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, on Thursday issued an advisory to all national and state political parties in this regard. “The act of inviting/calling upon individual elec- Some political parties and candidates have been engaging in activities that blur the lines between legitimate surveys and partisan efforts to register individuals for post-election beneficiary-oriTHE ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA ented schemes tors to register for post-election benefits may create an impression of the requirement of the one-to-one transactional relationship between the elector and the proposed benefit and has the potential to generate a quid-pro-quo arrangement for voting in a particular way thereby leading to inducement,” the poll panel said in its advisory. Sometimes, such pamphlets don't bear the name of the publisher which is a direct violation of Section 127A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, it said. The ECI has directed all political parties and candidates or their agents or any other person(s) to immediately cease and desist from any activities BJP drops Brij Bhushan, fields Centre opposes Bengal’s suit in SC, says CBI is an his son from UP’s Kaiserganj independent agency STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 MAY The BJP, on Thursday, released its 17th list of two more candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's son Karan Bhushan Singh as its candidate from Kaiserganj constituency in Uttar Pradesh. The Central Election Committee of the BJP finalised the list which also Dinesh Pratap Singh as the party’s candidate from Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Both Kaiserganj and Rae Bareli will vote on 20 May in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections. In Kaiserganj, the BJP has dropped sitting MP and former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and gave the ticket to Karan Bhushan Singh, who is the youngest son of Brij Bhushan. Born in 1990, Karan PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 2 MAY Bhushan Singh is a national-level double-trap shooter. He holds a law degree besides doing a business management course in Australia. He will be making his debut in electoral politics A six-time MP, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh suffered a massive political setback due to the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him that saw some of the country's top women wrestlers hitting the streets. For the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has fielded Dinesh Pratap Singh, with- out waiting for the Congress to name its nominee. Mr Singh began his political career with the Congress and was once considered close to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi before he switched sides to the BJP. He was elected member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council thrice between 2010 and 2022, besides unsuccessfully contesting the Lok Sabha elections against Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli in 2019. The Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat has been a Gandhi family's stronghold. The central government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is an independent agency and does not function under the control of the Union of India as it opposed West Bengal’s suit against the Centre over the CBI probes in the state. Appearing for the central government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said this to a bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta, while raising preliminary objections to the maintainability of the West Bengal government’s original suit against the central government over the central agency probing the post-poll violence cases and registering FIRs without mandatory consent of the state government. The central government has sought dismissal of the West Bengal government’s suit at the threshold itself. In year 2021, the West Bengal government filed an original suit in the top court against the Centre under Article 131 of the Constitution, alleging that the central agency – CBI - has been registering FIRs and going ahead with its investigation, despite the state having withdrawn the general consent to the central agency to investigate cases within its territorial jurisdiction. Under Article 131 of the Constitution of India, the SC has original jurisdiction to adjudicate any dispute between the central government and one or more states. Thus, in the event of any dispute between a state and the central government, the state government can approach the Supreme Court invoking its original jurisdiction under Article 131 of the Constitution. Dropping Rinku from T20 WC squad a very tough decision: Agarkar ‘Prajwal travelled on TRIDIB BAPARNASH NEW DELHI, 2 MAY The notable exclusion of Rinku Singh, arguably India’s best finisher in T20Is, from the 15-member T20 World Cupbound squad has already sparked a debate, with fans and cricket experts criticising the Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI’s selection committee’s decision. On Thursday, Mr Agarkar conceded that dropping Rinku was one of the toughest decisions but reasoned that the southpaw missed out due to the overall composition of the squad that the Indian management was going for. Rinku has so far played 15 T20Is for India and has an average of 89 and a strike-rate of over 176. He, however, will be part of the four travelling reserves for the T20 WC, along side Shubman Gill, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan. “It's just unfortunate. I don't think it has anything to do with Rinku Singh. It's not his fault that he has missed out. It's more the 15 that we felt gives with two keepers who are already terrific batters. So we just thought having another bowling option would be handy. He is still one of the traveling subs. That's how close he was. It's a little bit tough on him. At the end of the day, you only pick 15," said Mr Agarkar. “Like Rohit (Sharma) said, we don’t know much about the conditions yet. Tough on Rinku, but we can only pick 15 in the squad. But he is in the reserves, so that’s how close he was,” Agarkar said while adding that KL Rahul also missed out as he’s primarily a top-order batter and didn’t meet the team’s requirement of a middleorder hitter. Meanwhile, Shivam Dube's six-hitting ability and utility with both bat and ball tilted the scales in his favour, putting India's emphasis on firepower in the middle order. The 30-year-old Dube, however, hasn’t bowled in the IPL so far, although he took two wickets after bowling seven overs across the three games against Afghanistan in January. Skipper Rohit Sharma, who was also part of the presser, indicated that Dube’s bowling could be used if the requirement arises during the cricket spectacle, starting in the US and the West Indies on 1 June. “Expect them to do what they are in IPL. Shivam hasn’t bowled in IPL but he’s a seasoned cricketer who’s bowled a lot in red-ball. When he plays in t20, its about skills coming into the picture. Such players have chances of success. If we need Shivam to bowl few overs he will be. Same with Hardik as well; he has been bowled regularly in IPL. Like Ajit said, he’s played all games. Fitness wise no issues. We’ll be looking forward to contributions from these 4 guys and all of us as well,” said the India captain. Defending the selectors’ decision to appoint Hardik Pandya as vice-captain, amidst scrutiny over his recent performances, Mr Agarkar said that the star allrounder is a tough one to replace. “There has been no talks about the vice captaincy - what Hardik brings as a cricketer, it's tough to replace - he gives lots of options to the captain as well and he is just coming back after a long break,” he said. diplomatic passport’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 MAY Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna, who is in the eye of a storm in a sexual abuse case, travelled to Germany on a diplomatic passport, the government confirmed on Thursday, adding political clearance was neither sought nor issued by the Ministry of External Affairs with respect to the visit. At a media briefing here, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “No political clearance was either sought from or issued by MEA in respect of the travel of the said MP to Germany. Obviously, no visa note was issued either.” He explained that no visa is required for diplomatic passport holders to travel to Germany. “The Ministry has also not issued any visa note for any other country for the said MP... Yes, he travelled on a diplomatic passport,” he added. Meanwhile, news agencies reported that the Special Investigation Team probing the sex video scandal involving. Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister, HD Deve Gowda rejected his request to appear before it after 7 days and the Karnataka authorities have issued a lookout notice against him. (See Pg 4) that involve registering individuals for beneficiaryoriented schemes through any advertisements (in print or in digital space), pamphlets, websites, web or mobile applications, text or social media platform (WhatsApp. etc.) messages, missed calls, distribution of forms, or by collecting personal data under the pretext of off line survey forms or digital surveys. The poll panel has directed all district election officers (DEOs) to take appropriate actions against any such advertisements within the statutory provisions namely Section 127A of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951, 123 (1) of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951, and Section 171 (B) IPC. India objects to Chinese activities near Siachen Glacier We consider Shaksgam Valley to be our territory. We have never accepted the so-called China-Pakistan boundary agreement of 1963 through which Pakistan unlawfully attempted to cede the area to China. I have consistently conveyed our rejection of the same RANDHIR JAISWAL MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS SPOKESPERSON STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 MAY India on Thursday took strong exception to the Chinese activities at the Shaksgam Valley close to Siachen Glacier, saying it has registered its protest with the Chinese side against “illegal attempts to alter the facts on the ground.” At a media briefing here, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We consider Shaksgam Valley to be our territory. We have never accepted the so-called China-Pakistan boundary agreement of 1963 through which Pakistan unlawfully attempted to cede the area to China. I have consistently conveyed our rejection of the same.” He said India reserves the right to take necessary measures to safeguard its interests. The spokesperson's comments came in the wake of reports that a road is being constructed by China in a part of illegally occupied Kashmir close to the Siachen Glacier, considered the world's highest battlefield, which could have security implications for India. The road in Shaksgam Valley, a section of PoK ceded to China in 1963, is being built branching out from an extension of Highway G219 in China's Xinjiang and disappearing into mountains at a location about 50 km north of India's northernmost point, Indira Col in Siachen Glacier.