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Jignesh Mevani to contest Gujarat polls as independent candidate from Vadgam

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Jignesh-Mevani

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Popular youth leader of Dalits to be supported by the Congress party; move to help the Congress earn support of Dalit community in poll-bound Gujarat

Taking a plunge into the grisly world of electoral politics, popular Dalit leader and convener of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch (RDAM), Jignesh Mevani, announced on Monday that he will contest the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls from the Vadgam constituency in the state’s Banaskantha district as an independent candidate.

In an early gain for his political debut, the Dalit leader who has been leading his community’s charge against the ruling BJP and campaigning to “overthrow the anti-poor” saffron party at the hustings, has received an endorsement for his election bid from the Congress party as well as Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party.

The Congress has officially declared support for Mevani’s electoral bid and decided not to field its sitting legislator from the seat – Manibhai Vaghela – for re-election from Vadgam. The AAP also responded favourably to Mevani’s appeal to non-BJP political parties for not fielding any candidate from the constituency to ensure a “direct fight” between him and the state’s ruling party.

Mevani, who had until now kept his cards close to his chest while making it clear that he wouldn’t officially join any political party, announced his decision to contest the polls as an independent candidate through his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The Dalit leader along with Patidar Andolan leader Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakore, a popular face of the state’s OBC community, were a trio that the Congress was aggressively trying to woo in the run-up to the Gujarat assembly polls which are due in two phases next month – on December 9 and 14.

While Alpesh Thakore had officially joined the Congress and is now the party’s candidate from the Radhanpur constituency, Hardik too had declared his support for the party after his demand to ensure that the state’s nearly 15 per cent Patel/Patidar community would be given benefits of a to-be-carved reservation in government jobs and education institutes was accepted by the party. With Alpesh Thakore and Hardik Patel both on the Congress’ side, the Grand Old Party was hoping that Jignesh Mevani too would agree to endorse its campaign in the state where the BJP has been in power for the past 22 years.

Sources said that during interactions between Mevani and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who is leading his party’s charge against the BJP in Gujarat, it had been decided that the Grand Old Party would back the Dalit leader from whichever constituency he wished to enter the election fray in return for him endorsing the party’s poll pitch.

On Monday morning, Mevani finally announced his decision.

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Sitting Congress MLA from Vadgam, Manibhai Vaghela, confirmed that he had been informed of an agreement between Jignesh Mevani and his party.

News agency PTI quoted Manibhai Vaghela as saying: “The (Congress) party has asked me not to contest from the Vadgam seat this time. Though Mevani will contest the polls as an Independent, he will have Congress’ support. Thus, there won’t be any Congress candidate on this seat.”

The Vadgam constituency – reserved for a scheduled caste candidate – falls in the electoral pocketborough of former Gujarat chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela, who had recently quit the Congress and decided to field candidates as part of a third front.

Soon after he announced his decision to contest as an independent, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal tweeted his best wishes for Mevani while his party issued a statement saying that it won’t field any candidate from the Vadgam seat.

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Lok Sabha elections: INDIA bloc in Bihar seals seat-sharing deal, Congress get 9 seats, RJD 26

Purnea and Katihar, currently held by the Janata Dal (United), had emerged as the sticking point in seat-sharing talks between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress for the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.

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The Opposition INDIA bloc sealed the seat-sharing deal in Bihar for 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Mahagathbandhan’s largest constituent, RJD will field its candidates from 26 seats, including Purnea and Hajipur, while the Congress will contest on nine seats, including Kishanganj and Patna Sahib. Meanwhile, the Left will fight on five seats.

Purnea and Katihar, currently held by the Janata Dal (United), had emerged as the sticking point in seat-sharing talks between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress for the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.

Reportedly, the Congress has been made to give up the Purnea Lok Sabha seat, which recent entrant Pappu Yadav, husband of Rajya Sabha MP Ranjeet Ranjan, was hoping to contest, mentioning that he had received assurance of Congress ticket from Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.

The seat will be contested by RJD, which recently gave the party ticket to JD(U) turncoat Bima Bharti, but stopped short of announcing it formally. The INDIA bloc seat-sharing announcement comes a day after the filing of nomination papers for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls was over. The RJD has fielded its candidates in all four seats going to elections in the first phase.

Earlier, Tejashwi Yadav attended an INDIA bloc meeting regarding Bihar’s seat-sharing formula at Congress leader Mukul Wasnik’s residence and said that the RJD, the Congress and the Left will fight the Lok Sabha elections together in Bihar. He added that the INDIA bloc partners have agreed verbally on the seat-sharing arrangement and all the constituents are getting a respectable deal. Tejashwi Yadav’s remarks came amid reports of disquiet in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance in Bihar over seat sharing.

In the previous Lok Sabha elections, the National Democratic Alliance, including the BJP, JD(U) and LJP won 39 seats. The first phase of the Lok Sabha elections is scheduled for April 19.

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Tax terrorism has to stop, says Congress after Income Tax Department issues fresh Rs 1,700 crore notice

The Congress has accused the BJP of squeezing it financially and of using tax authorities against it ahead of Lok Sabha elections beginning April 19.

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Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, the Congress’ financial woes worsened once again with the Income Tax Department issuing a fresh Rs 1,700 crore notice. The tax department issued the notice due to discrepancies in tax returns. 

The fresh notice is for assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and includes penalty and interest. This comes a day after the Delhi High Court dismissed the party’s petition challenging the tax notices. 

The opposition party is already facing a funds crunch after Income Tax authorities imposed a penalty of Rs 200 crore and froze its funds. Furthermore, the party has not received any relief from the High Court in the case and is likely to approach the Supreme Court. The Congress has accused the BJP of squeezing it financially and of using tax authorities against it ahead of Lok Sabha elections beginning April 19.

Addressing a press conference, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that the notices are being sent to cripple the party financially. Calling the action as tax terrorism, Jairam Ramesh said that this attack on Congress has to stop.

Earlier in February, the Income Tax department had found fault in the party’s tax returns and demanded Rs 200 crore. Subsequently, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) had asked the party to pay the dues and froze their accounts. The Congress stated the tax tribunal’s order freezing its funds was an attack on democracy as the order came just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal stated that this is a deliberate attempt by the Narendra Modi-led to bankrupt the Congress ahead of elections. He mentioned that the timing of the penalty notice, following the Delhi High Court’s dismissal of Congress petitions challenging tax reassessment proceedings, reeks of political vendetta.

He underlined that while political parties are typically exempt from taxes, this penalty is allegedly due to delayed filing of returns. He asserted that it is a blatant move by the Modi government to cripple the Congress financially, especially during the elections. He further asserted that in response to the notice, the Congress plans to stage a nationwide protest, condemning BJP’s exploitation of central agencies to target opposition parties. 

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Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, Tejashwi Yadav mourns demise of Mukhtar Ansari, demand probe

Akhilesh Yadav mentioned that such doubtful cases should be investigated under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge.

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Mukhtar Ansari, gangster turned politician, who has been in jail since 2005, died due to cardiac arrest on Thursday. After Ansari’s death, his family alleged that the politician had been poisoned in the jail.  

Expressing sorrow, several opposition leaders demanded a probe into the death of Mukhtar Ansari. Notably, the gangster turned politician submitted an application in Barabanki court, alleging he was given some poisonous substance along with his food. He claimed that on March 19, his nerves and limbs started paining after he consumed the food.

Former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav wrote on X that a few days ago Mukhtar Ansari complained that he had been poisoned in jail, yet it was not taken seriously. He added that prima facie the move does not seem justifiable and humane. He stated that constitutional institutions should take suo motu cognizance of such strange cases and incidents.

Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Samajwadi Party Chief, Akhilesh Yadav said that the state is going through the worst phase of government anarchy. He added that it is the responsibility and duty of the government to protect someone’s life in every situation and at every place. 

The former Chief Minister added that the death of a hostage or prisoner while being confined in the police station, in a fight inside the jail, on falling ill inside the prison, while being taken to court, while being taken to hospital or during treatment in hospital will erode public confidence in the judicial process. He mentioned that such doubtful cases should be investigated under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge. He claimed that the way the government bypasses the judicial process and adopts other methods is completely illegal. 

Taking to social media platform X, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati said that the persistent apprehensions and serious allegations made by Mukhtar Ansari’s family regarding his death in jail require a high-level investigation so that the facts in his death can be revealed. 

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said that the people of Ghazipur lost their favourite son and brother. He added that Mukhtar Ansari had made serious allegations against the administration that he was poisoned, but the government did not pay any attention to his treatment.

Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput stated that custodial deaths and firing in jail has become very common in Uttar Pradesh. He added that high level investigation should be conducted.

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