In a major setback for saffron party, two more BJP leaders, including a district president, stepped down from the primary membership of the party on Saturday, citing their resentment against the choice of candidates in their constituencies for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.

The saffron party is facing resentment over its ticket distribution in the Union Territory immediately after it started releasing the list of candidates for the Assembly elections on August 26, with party leaders and workers protesting in several districts of the Jammu region.

In a related development, hundreds of BJP workers took out a rally in the Khour block of the Chhamb Assembly constituency in the outskirts of Jammu against fielding former MLA Rajeev Sharma from there.

Two of its rebel leaders have already filed their nominations as independent candidates from Ramban and Padder-Nagseni Assembly constituencies, which are among 24 constituencies going to polls in the first phase of the three-phased elections on September 18.

The state party’s Samba district president Kashmir Singh said: “With a heavy heart, I am submitting my resignation from the primary membership of the party for which I have worked for 42 long years. I was compelled by the circumstances after the party gave ticket to a person who had come from the National Conference (NC) and vociferously opposed our ideology for decades.”

The BJP has fielded former minister Surjit Singh Slathia, who joined the party in October 2021 after quitting the NC, from the Samba constituency which was opened in the general category after being reserved for the Scheduled Castes for 28 years.

However, Singh said he would take back his resignation if the party leadership decides to change the candidate and give a ticket to any senior member of the party, otherwise he said, “I am going to take forward this struggle and file my nomination papers as an independent candidate against him.”

Another BJP youth leader Kanav Sharma also resigned from the party to protest against the ticket to a “corrupt leader”.

Kanav Sharma, Jammu district president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, said he is a third-generation member of his family associated with the organisation and its ideology but the decision of the party to give ticket to Yudhvir Sethi from Jammu East is not acceptable to his conscience.

The BJP faced strong resentment from party workers from Jammu North, Jammu East, Paddar, Ramban, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Chhamb and Akhnoor constituencies over ticket distribution.

Mollywood actor Mohanlal on Saturday broke his silence on the sexual abuse allegations in the Malayalam film industry saying that it was the right decision by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government to release the Hema Committee Report.

Speaking on the matter, he said the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) is not answerable to all the questions, urging everyone not to put all the focus on the Association.

He said, “Please don’t destroy the industry.”

While addressing the media and the audience at the event, Mohanlal said, “AMMA cannot answer all the questions. These questions should be asked from everyone. This is a very hardworking industry. Many people are involved in it. But everyone cannot be blamed for this. Those responsible will be punished, investigation is going on.”

He assured that all the problems would be looked into and investigated, he added, “We will cooperate in the investigation process. We are here only to set things right. I am not aware of any such power group. I am not a part of it. I have not read the Hema Committee report.”

“If you ask why we have all quit our posts in AMMA now, the answer is that the entire Malayalam film industry is accountable. The report has highlighted not just one issue, but several. What exactly they are, you know better than I do”, Mohanlal said.

Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) filmmaker B Unnikrishnan, on sexual abuse allegations in the Malayalam film industry, said FEFKA is holding the meetings of its affiliate unions and “we intend to conclude all these meetings by September 4 or 5.”

“They will come out with their definite views and feedback on the Hema Committee report which we will analyse and we will prepare a detailed analytical report on the Hema Committee report and submit it to the government”, he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday highlighted the need for swift justice in cases involving crimes against women and said that it will give them greater assurance of their safety.

Addressing the inaugural session of a National Conference of District Judiciary, PM Modi said the people of India have never shown any distrust of the Supreme Court or the judiciary.

In the presence of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, PM Modi said the judiciary is considered a guardian of the Constitution, and that the Supreme Court and the judiciary have lived up to the responsibility.

The Prime Minister also spoke about national security and said the judiciary has protected national integrity by keeping national interests paramount.

Against the backdrop of the alleged rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata and the sexual assault on two kindergarten girls in Thane, he said atrocities against women and the safety of children were matters of grave concern for society.

PM Modi said, “The faster justice is delivered in cases of atrocities against women, the greater assurance half of the population will have about their safety.”

He said there were several stringent laws to deal with crimes against women and there was a need to ensure better coordination among the criminal justice system to ensure swift justice.

At the event, CJI Chandrachud called the district judiciary the backbone of the judiciary and said it is a crucial component of the Rule of Law. He highlighted it was necessary to stop calling district judiciary subordinate.

The Chief Justice of India said the district judiciary is the first point of contact for a citizen in search of justice. The district judiciary is a crucial component of the rule of law, he added.

He said the quality of work and the conditions in which the judiciary provides justice to citizens determine whether they have confidence in the judicial system.

“To sustain the spine of the legal system, we must stop calling the district judiciary as the subordinate judiciary”, he said. Seventy-five years after Independence, he emphasized the time has come to bury one more relic of the British era: the colonial mindset of subordination.