India

The Bharatiya Janata Party has won 156 out of 182 seats in the Legislative Assembly elections in the Indian state of Gujarat. Congress has suffered the most in Gujarat. The Congress has been reduced to 17 seats.

Aam Aadmi Party has opened its account in Gujarat. Its vote share has increased and it has won five seats.

In the last assembly elections in Gujarat in 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party got 99 seats, the Congress won 77 seats.

Congress has emerged as a major party in Himachal Pradesh assembly elections. It has won 40 out of 68 seats. On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party has won 25 seats and other candidates on three seats.

For the last three decades, the history of Himachal Pradesh has been that no single party gets power here for the second time in a row. However, there was not much impact on the vote share of Bharatiya Janata Party in Himachal Pradesh. The Bharatiya Janata Party's vote percentage was 43 percent, while the Congress's vote percentage was slightly higher at 43.9 percent.

Aam Aadmi Party defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was in power for 15 years, in the municipal elections held in Delhi a few days ago. The Aam Aadmi Party won 134 out of 250 wards, while the Bharatiya Janata Party won 104 and the Congress only nine.

The results for all the 68 assembly seats in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh are out.

Congress has secured majority by winning 40 out of these 68 assembly seats.

Whereas BJP has won 25 seats.

Three independent candidates have won in these elections. Aam Aadmi Party's account is not open.

If we talk about vote percentage, then Congress got 43.90 percent votes, BJP got 43 percent votes, while Aam Aadmi Party got 1.10 percent votes.

The Aam Aadmi Party has got a majority in the counting of votes held on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, in the Delhi Municipal Corporation elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party had control over the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for 15 years.

But it is being said that there is not a big difference in the number of councilors of Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party, so the situation is still not clear about who will be the mayor.

Out of total 250 wards of Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party has won 134. BJP has won in 104 wards and Congress in 9. Independent candidates have won in three wards.

But Bharatiya Janata Party's National Head of Information Technology Department Amit Malviya has tweeted, "Who will be the Mayor in Delhi will depend on the voting of the councillors, how they vote." For example, Chandigarh has a BJP mayor.

In the year 2021, the Aam Aadmi Party won the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, but the mayor was made of BJP. This happened because of the rebellion of the Congress councilors and the votes of some Aam Aadmi Party councilors being declared invalid.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta has said, "They may have gone ahead of me in the neck-to-neck fight, but only time will tell who will be the mayor." In the election of mayor, the councilors cast their votes on the basis of their conscience.

A mayor and deputy mayor are elected annually, with the first year reserved for women and the third year reserved for scheduled castes.

Sources in the Aam Aadmi Party have told the English newspaper Telegraph, “We will need at least 150 councilors to neutralize even the defections. Only then can we retain our mayor. But a large number of Muslims switched to the Congress and the division of votes in some areas has benefited the BJP.

We feel that around three councilors of Congress and two independents will go with BJP. All our leaders are in touch with the corporators so that they stay with us. We are aware that some of our potential mayoral candidates may be targeted by the BJP.

If an attempt is made to buy our corporators, then we will also try to bring BJP corporators to our side.

The 2020 Delhi riots affected Muslim-majority areas of North-East Delhi. Apart from this, protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill were organized in Okhla and Shaheen Bagh.

People have voted for Congress in these areas. The Aam Aadmi Party government was seen as a bystander during the riots. Delhi assembly elections were held in 2020 itself, just after the riots. In the beginning of the year 2022, even when communal tension spread in Jahangirpuri area of Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party was accused of remaining silent.

The Telegraph wrote that the Aam Aadmi Party blamed Bangladeshis and Rohingyas for the communal violence in Jahangirpuri, but found no concrete evidence. The Aam Aadmi Party has won the Muslim ward of Old Delhi.

After the victory, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal addressed his supporters and his tone was conciliatory.

Kejriwal was not aggressive at all. Kejriwal said he would work together with the Congress and the BJP for the betterment of Delhi. He said that the central government has an important role in improving Delhi and he expects cooperation. Kejriwal said that he wants the blessings of the central government and Prime Minister Modi so that Delhi can be taken forward together.

The vote share of the Congress in the Delhi Municipal Corporation elections this time was 11.7 percent. The vote share of the Congress in the 2017 Municipal Corporation of Delhi election was 21.1 percent. But compared to the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, the vote share of the Congress is 4.3% more in this municipal election.

The Aam Aadmi Party has promised to remove three mountains of garbage in Delhi. On the other hand, Congress and BJP were seen besieging the Delhi government in the matter of corruption.

The BJP has traditionally been strong in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. This remained so even when the BJP kept losing the Delhi assembly elections. Recently, the Modi government had passed an amendment in the Parliament which increased the control of the Center over the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Earlier, the Delhi government had the authority over the financial matters of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

This is the first election after the merger of the three municipal corporations of Delhi. In 2012, the BJP had won all the three corporations. In 2012 itself, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was divided into three parts. The elections in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi were to be held in April 2022 only.

But the Central Government had reduced the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to one instead of three, along with it delimitation was also done and instead of 272 wards, 250 wards were made.

The Supreme Court has reprimanded the Bihar government for not taking action against fake drug stores and doctors in the Indian state of Bihar.

The Supreme Court said it cannot allow the Bihar government to play with people's lives, reported news agency PTI.

Pharmacist Mukesh Kumar had filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the Patna High Court order demanding action against fake pharmacists in Bihar.

A bench of Supreme Court Justice MR Shah and Justice MM Sundresh has reserved its decision on the petition.

The Patna High Court had on December 9, 2019 asked Mukesh Kumar to give the names of fake doctors so that necessary action could be taken against them.

The Supreme Court said, “This is a serious issue. It is the duty of the Bihar government that fake pharmacists should not be able to run a single hospital or medical shop in the state. We cannot allow the state government to play with people's lives.''

The bench said, “If an untrained person gives wrong medicine or gives wrong dosage, it will prove to be dangerous for the people. Who will be held responsible for this? In states like Bihar, the problem is not limited to fake pharmacists only, but also to fake doctors.

The Supreme Court of India has termed the accident in Morbi, Gujarat as a huge tragedy.

On Monday, November 21, 2022, a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud of the Supreme Court said in its order, “It is a huge tragedy and it requires a weekly monitoring so that the party who got the contract and the guilty Fixing their responsibility, the matter proceeded further. Gujarat High Court itself has taken suo moto otherwise we would have issued this notice.''

The Supreme Court has said that the High Court will have to keep a regular watch on this matter. On Monday, November 21, 2022, the Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by the relatives of those killed in the Morbi accident.

Advocate Vishal Tiwari, who advocated this petition, demanded that the investigation of the case should be done by a judicial committee whose monitoring work should be in the hands of a retired judge.

Apart from this, the Supreme Court has said that the family members of the deceased should also take care of this aspect of getting compensation.

On 30 October 2022, 132 people died after a suspension bridge collapsed in Morbi, Gujarat. In this case, the contract for repair of the bridge was given to Oreva Group.

After the accident, it came to light that this pool was reopened to the common people without the permission of the administration.

The Supreme Court of India on Friday, 30 September 2022 said preventive detention is an attack on individual liberty.

The Supreme Court said that whatever protection the laws do to prevent such action, the highest importance should be given to them. Such laws should be strictly followed.

On November 12, 2021, the Tripura government had passed an order of preventive detention. Setting aside this order, a bench of Chief Justice UU Lalit, Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice JB Pardiwala made these remarks.

Along with this, the court has also directed the immediate release of the accused who has been detained under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988.

The court said that the detaining officers as well as the officers executing them need to be vigilant at the time of preventive detention.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Deputy Chief Minister of the Indian state of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav said on Sunday, 25 September 2022 that Janata Dal United, Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiv Sena left the BJP-led NDA to save the Constitution and democracy.

In the INLD (Indian National Lok Dal) rally called to celebrate the birth anniversary of former Deputy Prime Minister of India, Tejashwi Yadav accused the BJP of making false claims.

He said that the meaning of BJP is 'Badka Jhoota Party'. He said that Home Minister Amit Shah, in his recent rally in Bihar's Purnia, said about the city's airport even though there is no airport there.

Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, Shiromani Akali Dal's Sukhbir Singh Badal and Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant were also present at the rally held in Fatehabad city of Haryana.

In his address, Tejashwi pointed out that all these people were part of NDA. But he left the ruling coalition to protect the constitution and democracy. Tejashwi Yadav said, "Where is the NDA now?"

The Chief Minister of the Indian state of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, at a rally of the Indian National Lok Dal in Fatehabad, Haryana on Sunday, September 25, 2022, appealed to all opposition parties, including the Congress and the Left, to unite to take on the BJP.

According to news agency PTI, Nitish Kumar said in the rally that 'this main front of the opposition' will have to decide together that the BJP is defeated in 2024.

He said that if all the parties of the opposition fight unitedly, then we will get rid of those who ruined the country.

Nitish Kumar also said that there is no quarrel between Hindus and Muslims in the country and BJP is trying to create disturbances in the country.

According to him, my only wish is that we all need to unite at the national level. We need to add more parties with us.

Apart from Nitish Kumar, many leaders like NCP President Sharad Pawar, Shiromani Akali Dal's Sukhbir Singh Badal, Tejashwi Yadav also participated in this rally organized on the occasion of birthday of former Deputy Prime Minister of India Chaudhary Devi Lal.

In order to unite the opposition, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD President Lalu Prasad Yadav met Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Sunday, 25 September 2022.

According to news agency PTI, the meeting took place at 10, Janpath, residence of Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.

After the meeting, Lalu Yadav said that the three leaders would meet again.

Nitish Kumar said, "We want to take everyone along. We have to work together for the progress of the country.''

Nitish Kumar said that he has an election for the post of president (in Congress). Only then will she say something.

Lalu Yadav said, "BJP has to be removed, the country has to be saved. We told Sonia ji that your party is the biggest. Invite all of you."

The meeting, which is intended to unite the opposition parties against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and reduce the existing differences between other opposition parties with the Congress, is seen as crucial.

This is Nitish Kumar's first meeting with Sonia Gandhi after breaking his alliance with BJP in Bihar in August 2022 and forming government with RJD and Congress.

Earlier in the day, Nitish Kumar along with several leaders of the opposition participated in a rally of the Indian National Lok Dal in Fatehabad, Haryana.

In this rally, he accused the BJP of inciting communal tension.

The Supreme Court of India has raised questions on the attitude of the government in the hate speech case. The Supreme Court has said that why the government has remained a mute spectator in this matter? Apart from this, the Supreme Court has also described the role of TV channel anchors as important.

The Supreme Court has expressed displeasure over the debate on news channels in India. On Wednesday, 21 September 2022, during a hearing in the case of hate speech, the court has said that hate speech is often given place in such debates. The Supreme Court has asked the central government that why is it being a mute spectator to such hate speech?

During the hearing of the case, the Supreme Court has asked many questions to Additional Solicitor General (ASG) KM Natraj, appearing for the Central Government. The Supreme Court bench has asked, "What is the problem in this after all? Why is the Indian government not taking any stand in this matter? Why has the government remained a mute spectator to such matters?''

The Supreme Court has advised the Central Government that the Center should not stand against the Court in this matter, but should help.

Question on debate of news channels

The Supreme Court has also commented on news channels in India that often include hate speech in TV debates. The Supreme Court has found that political people benefit the most from hate speech and TV news channels provide an opportunity for this.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice KM Joseph has observed that the role of a news channel anchor is very important in this context. The court believes that it is the responsibility of the anchor to decide whether the people involved in the TV debate should stay away from hate speech. The second judge on this bench is Justice Hrishikesh Rai.

The Supreme Court made this remark during the simultaneous hearing of several petitions regarding hate speech.

Freedom of Speech: To what extent

The Supreme Court has stressed that freedom of speech is very important but hate speech on TV channels cannot be exempted. The court has pointed out that a TV channel in the UK has been fined heavily for hate speech.

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for a petition on hate speech, also agreed with the court's observation. He said, "Channels and politicians get fodder from such speeches. Channels get money and they make 10 people sit together in the debate."

Don't impose your point of view anchor

The Supreme Court bench said, "The anchor should take forward what the people are saying, not what they themselves want to say. The pillars of democracy should be independent, they should not follow anyone's orders."

It is not acceptable to vent hatred

The bench said, "An anchor can have his own point of view but things get worse when you have people with different views in front of you and you don't allow them to speak. That's how you create hate and that gives you TRPs."

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde told the bench that on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, US President Joe Biden had said that we cannot give hate oxygen. To this Justice Hegde said, "Not at all. We cannot spread hate air.

Additional Solicitor General Natraj, appearing for the Central Government, told the court that 14 states have sent their suggestions on this.

The Supreme Court has asked the Center to file the replies of all the states together. The next hearing of this case will be on November 23, 2022.