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“Voter should punish those who breach democratic rights”

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“Voter should punish those who breach democratic rights”

Karnataka election outcome hotly debated as Mudda speakers analyze how it will impact coming contests and the future of the Congress and Rahul Gandhi

The Karnataka elections will be followed by four more state elections this year to be held in the Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. A win by the Congress is sure to boost the opposition parties while a defeat would bolster central policies and programmes. Also, how will these polls impact the 2019 general election?

Saturday’s edition of Mudda took up these questions and tried to answer them. Participants included senior journalists Piyush Pant and Govind Pant Raju, Congress spokesperson Hilal Naqvi, BJP spokesperson Ashok Thakur and former election commissioner SK Verma. The talk was moderated by Anant Tyagi.

“The Karnataka election is being seen as a fight between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi. This is the first election in a big state fought from the scratch by the Congress after Rahul became the party president. No doubt, he did well in Gujarat but this time he has given more than enough indicators that he is ready to take on the mantle of the PM which has helped inspire his supporters and mobilized cadres. So the results of this election will definitely have a nationwide impact,” Raju said.

Naqvi noted that Rahul has successfully broken the mould of the overprotected, immature dynasty kid and it is all to his credit that he has done so. He is a good leader, he said.

“Our party has good organisational strength and we are fighting the election on that basis. We have campaigned very methodically. Speaking of Rahul, we had asked him to speak on the Congress government’s achievements in Karnataka without reading from any piece of paper, and he failed to do so,” Thakur interjected.

Verma observed that the team conducting the elections is performing poorly compared to the one that conducted the previous elections as enough preventive measures have not been taken.

Raju raised the point that if the Janata Dal (Secular) does not do well in this election, it will perish just like Chaudhary Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal. So for them, it is a battle for survival. Pant objected, saying the JD(S) had not performed too badly the last time around winning 40 of the assembly’s 225 seats.

When Naqvi enquired what the BJP’s strategy was vis-à-vis JD(S), Thakur said the election was being fought on the plank of development. The talk shifted to BS Yeddyurappa and corruption. Thakur declared, “Siddaramaiah will lose in both his seats just as Harish rawat did in Uttarakhand. The BJP will get a clear majority and form government in the state.”

Speaking on Yogi Adityanath campaigning in Karnataka, Raju said it may not be as effective as the people there are not too overtly religious and even though the UP chief minister keeps harping on his acche din plans, the reality tells its own story.

“Yogiji is the Congress’ poster boy. His face is seen more in posters and less in offices,” Naqvi quipped.

On Yeddyurappa’s exhortation to bring people bound hand and foot to the booth and ask them to vote, Pant said it was a breach of their democratic right and mentioned another leader, Chandrasekhar, inciting communal sentiments through his speeches. “Why is the EC quiet?” he asked pertinently.

Verma has a good answer. “Should EC interfere when campaigns get communal, there is hate speech thrown about, unethical behaviour is sought of the voter and unparliamentary language used? It will then have too much on its plate. Let the voter punish the wrongdoer through their ballot,” he said.

—Compiled by Sucheta Dasgupta 

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Hardeep Singh Puri says Sunita Kejriwal is preparing to hold Delhi CM post like Rabri Devi

The Union Minister was speaking to the media during the inauguration of Delhi BJP’s election office along with leaders including Delhi BJP Chief Virendra Sachdeva and Bansuri Swaraj.

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Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday compared Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, hinting that she may be gearing up to take on her husband’s post. The Union Minister was speaking to the media during the inauguration of Delhi BJP’s election office.

The BJP leader further took a dig at Delhi Chief Minister for forming an alliance with the most corrupt party against whom they had started an anti-corruption movement with social activist Anna Hazare. The minister made the statement in response to a question regarding Sunita Kejriwal, who earlier today launched a whatsapp campaign advocating for support for her husband, who is in ED custody in connection with the Excise policy case.

In a video Sunita Kejriwal said her husband has challenged the most corrupt and dictatorial forces in the country and asked people to support her husband through their prayers and blessings. She issued 2 WhatsApp numbers 8297324624 and 9700297002 through which people can send their blessings, prayers or any other messages to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and she will communicate those to him.

She said yesterday Kejriwal had presented his side in the court, and the entire country heard it. She requested the people to listen to it if they had not listened till now. She added whatever Kejriwal had said in front of the court required a lot of courage. She said her husband is a true patriot. She requested the people to participate in the Kejriwal ko Aashirwad campaign.

BJP leader Manoj Tiwari also took a dig at Aam Aami Party asking why only Kejriwal’s wife is coming out in his support, and not the people of Delhi. He said the Honorable Justice of High Court said they cannot stop Arvind Kejriwals’ arrest that they are surprised why he hasn’t been arrested yet?

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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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