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Rajya Sabha election: Congress’ Ahmad Patel’s fate remained undecided till late

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Ahmed Patel

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It was a cliffhanger of an election to Rajya Sabha in Gujarat, the results of which, expected by evening, were still awaited till late night.. The one seat on which the entire drama was centred was that of Congress strategist, party chief Sonia Gandhi’s right hand man, Ahmed Patel. Other contenders and other states took a backseat. Suspense hung heavy till the last moment, even going well past the expected deadline.

In the hotly contested election, the dispute at the end was over a couple of votes. The Congress has asked the Election Commission to invalidate the vote of two of its legislators who, after showing their ballot papers to the Congress election agent, also showed the BJP’s agent how they had voted, which the party said violates polling norms. The attempt is to bring down the total number of votes needed by each candidate today. Senior BJP leaders too have approached the Election Commission to counter the Congress’s objections. Counting of votes has been delayed because of this.

Never has one Rajya Sabha seat been so fiercely contested. For Ahmed Patel and the Congress, there was more at stake than just one seat, for it would directly reflect on the party high command, its ‘first family’.

As voting began in the morning, the Congress and Patel exuded confidence. “We have the numbers,” they said.

He needs 45 Gujarat legislators to have voted for him to win his Rajya Sabha seat back.

Ahmed Patel, political Secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, was counting on 44 of the Congress’ 51 MLAs to support him – the others seen as loyalists of rebel leader Shankarsinh Vaghela.

Two of the Congress MLAs are believed to have cross voted and shown their votes to BJP president Amit Shah. On the other hand, the Congress is supposed to have got the votes of one legislator each of NCP and JD(U). Of the two NCP MLAs, one had said he had voted BJP.

Vaghela had exited the Congress two weeks ago and soon after six Congress MLAs resigned, three of them joining the BJP. One of them, Balwantsinh Rajput, is the BJP’s third candidate today against Patel.

The six who resigned can’t vote and that brought the strength of the 182-seat Gujarat Assembly down to 176. Each of the four candidates contesting needed to win 45 first preference votes.

Of the BJP’s 121 MLAs, Amit Shah and Smriti Irani have 45 each, and the remaining 31 were with Balwantsinh Rajput. The BJP also counted on cross voting. If neither Ahmed Patel nor the BJP’s Balwantsinh Rajput gets 45 votes to win directly, second preference votes of each MLA come into consideration.

Already on an edge, the Congress moved the Election Commission to disqualify its two MLAs who had cross voted. The BJP leadership also rushed in. Delegations of the two parties went to the EC to argue their case, the drama going on till late in the night.

The BJP alleged that the Congress raised objections about its two MLAs showing their votes to Amit Shah belatedly, after it became clear that Ahmed Patel was losing. Patel, however, said the party had brought it to the notice of returning officer immediately. The Congress said the video footage also showed this.

The Congress demanded the votes of these two MLAs be invalidated. Congres leader Anand Sharma said cited the case of Haryana to say, “One of our MLAs had mistakenly showed his vote in Haryana & his vote was rejected, same was done in Gujarat so should be rejected.”

Ahmad Patel said that his party had complained about ballot papers being shown to Amit Shah in the morning itself. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Maharashtra Assembly election: Uddhav Thackeray expels 5 Sena members for not withdrawing nominations

Following the withdrawal of nominations, around 4,140 candidates were left in the fray for 288 Maharashtra assembly seats

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Maharashtra Assembly election: Uddhav Thackeray expels 5 Sena members for not withdrawing nominations

Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief on Tuesday expelled five rebel leaders for anti-party activities after they failed to withdraw nominations filed for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections.

The expelled leaders include Bhiwandi East MLA Rupesh Mhatre, Vishwas Nandekar, Chandrakant Ghugul, Sanjay Awari and Prasad Thackeray. Reportedly, 14 leaders from the Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP had filed nominations, defying party command. 

Among those who withdrew their nominations by the Monday deadline was Congress’ Mukhtar Shaikh, who withdrew from the Kasba Peth assembly constituency in Pune and announced his support to the party’s official candidate Ravindra Dhangekar.

In addition, royal scion Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati’s withdrawal as Congress candidate from Kolhapur North minutes before the deadline left the party without representation in one of its western Maharashtra strongholds. Madhurima Raje was nominated in place of ex-corporator Rajesh Latkar after a party office was vandalised by those opposed to the latter.

Hemalata Patil from Nashik Central, Madhu Chavan from Byculla and Vishwanath Walvi from Nandurbar are among the seven Congress rebels who withdrew their nominations. Only two NCP(SP) rebels are in fray.

Furthermore, among those to withdraw from the electoral race was Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, who has held on-and-off hunger strikes and protests to demand reservation for the community in education and jobs over the past year. The activist said that the Maratha community will decide on its own whom to defeat and whom to elect. He also announced he would support two candidates from Parvati and Daund in the state assembly polls, though he said their names will be disclosed later.

Following the withdrawal of nominations, around 4,140 candidates were left in the fray for 288 Maharashtra assembly seats, while 2,938 candidates withdrew their papers. The figure is a 28 per cent increase from the 3,239 candidates who fought the 2019 assembly polls.

This year, the Maharashtra Assembly election will see major regional parties NCP and Shiv Sena contesting after a split down the middle. The factions led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led NCP have joined hands with the BJP to form the Mahayuti. The Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.

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Centre issues notice to Wikipedia on complaints of bias, inaccuracies

The government also questioned why Wikipedia should not be classified as a publisher, rather than an intermediary.

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Centre issues notice to Wikipedia on complaints of bias, inaccuracies

The Centre on Tuesday has issued a notice to Wikipedia over multiple complaints about bias and inaccuracies on the platform. The government in its letter to Wikipedia highlighted that a small group of editors appears to have significant control over the contents, particularly influencing its neutrality. 

Reports said that the government also questioned why Wikipedia should not be classified as a publisher, rather than an intermediary. However, neither Wikipedia nor the government has issued an official statement on the matter so far. 

Wikipedia, popularly known as free online encyclopedia, allows volunteers to create and edit pages on a wide variety of topics, including people, issues and various fields of knowledge. This recent development follows two months after the Delhi High Court slammed Wikipedia and also warned it of a potential ban in India during a case filed by news agency ANI, which alleged that its Wikipedia page contained inaccuracies and defamatory content. 

In the last hearing, Justice Subramonium Prasad further observed that Wikipedia might not be entitled to defend the defamatory edits since it claims to be only an intermediary. The Delhi HIgh Court also questioned if Wikipedia is an intermediary, why is it bothered? It added that if somebody else has edited and that addition is without basis, then it comes down.

It further stated that Wikipedia is not here to protect the editors but is a mere wall. The court opined that it will only see whether the opinion given in the encyclopaedia does not depict the correct picture, as not true representation of the article. However, Wikipedia clarified that it was not defending the statements or edits made on Wikipedia’s page about ANI. It further sought to assist the court in the matter, particularly with regard to the architecture of the platform. 

Notably, Wikipedia has faced growing criticism for alleged bias and inaccuracies, especially amid the ongoing US presidential elections. Elon Musk, owner of X, has publicly accused Wikipedia of supporting far-left ideologies. He also urged the public to stop donating to Wikipedia, claiming it is controlled by far-left activists.

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JMM-RJD-Congress are supporters of Bangladesh infiltrators: PM Modi at Jharkhand rally

Narendra Modi further claimed that if the bad policies of JMM, Congress and RJD continue, the adivasi society in Jharkhand will shrink

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JMM-RJD-Congress are supporters of Bangladesh infiltrators: PM Modi at Jharkhand rally

Ahead of the Jharkhand Assembly election, PM Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the incumbent Hemant Soren government, accusing it to put appeasement at the top of its agenda.

While addressing a rally in Jharkhand’s Garhwa, the Prime Minister said the coalition government of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and RJD are supporters of Bangladesh infiltrators. He said that the JMM-RJD-Congress government has taken appeasement to its peak, and that these parties are destroying the state’s social harmony. He alleged that the parties are supporters of infiltrators, and to get votes of Bangladesh infiltrators, they are getting them settled across Jharkhand.

The Prime Minister stated that when schools disallow Saraswati Vandana, one can imagine how big the danger is. When there is stone-pelting during festivals, Maa Durga is stopped and curfew is imposed, one knows how dangerous it is, he continued. The Prime Minister also added that when the issue of infiltration goes to court and the administration denies, it becomes clear that the government machinery has been infiltrated. PM Modi was referring to allegations that a Muslim teacher stopped prayers to Goddess Saraswati at a school in Jharkhand’s Giridih.

Narendra Modi further claimed that if the bad policies of JMM, Congress and RJD continue, the adivasi society in Jharkhand will shrink, and advised people to use their vote to uproot this infiltrator coalition. He maintained that Jharkhand’s swift development is possible only if it has a government that expedites the implementation of central schemes.

Referring to the JMM’s decision to replace Champai Soren as Chief Minister after Hemant Soren was granted bail in a money laundering case, PM Modi said that the party has left no stones unturned in humiliating an adivasi son. He asked how the party will take care of the people of the state when nothing matters to them more than family. He added that he does not have a family, and the people are his family. He also mentioned that Champai Soren, once a trusted lieutenant of Hemant Soren, is now with the BJP.

Slamming the ruling coalition of corruption, he said that corruption hollows out the country like termites, and destroys the poor, Dalits, people from backward classes and tribals. He claimed that Jharkhand has seen for five years the corruption of the JMM-Congress-RJD government.

He also referred to the massive cash haul from the home of Congress’s former Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu last year. Mentioning that mountains of cash are recovered from the home of Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP, he questioned if this money didn’t belong to Jharkhand.

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