India

Manipur Governor Najma Hepetullah is likely to invite the BJP leaders on Monday in Manipur to form the government.

The BJP legislators and their supporters numbering 32 in the 60 member house called on the governor on Sunday to formally stake claim.

Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei said: "Being the single largest party the Congress should be given the first chance to form the government."

But the BJP General Secretaries, Ram Madhav, Prahlad Singh Patel and the Assam Finance Minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma claimed that the party enjoys support of 32 MLAs.

BJP secured 21 seats, Naga People's Front, the National People's Front have 4 MLAs each and AITC, LJP and a Independent having one seat each extended support to the BJP.

Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh was pinning his hope on the support of the 4 MLAs of the NPP. However the NPP members were present at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday and said that they were supporting the BJP.

Goa Governor Mridula Sinha on Sunday appointed Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar as the new Chief Minister of Goa.

Parrikar has been asked to prove majority on the floor of the Goa Legislative Assembly "15 days after administration of oath of office and secrecy", a letter issued by Secretary to the Governor Rupesh Kumar Thakur said.

The letter said that Parrikar had submitted evidence of support of 21 MLAs before the Governor.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has 13 MLAs, is supported by three legislators each of the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and two Independent legislators.

According to Union Minister for Roads, Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari, Parrikar will resign as Defence Minister before he takes oath of office as Goa Chief Minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi guided the BJP to a massive two-third majority in Uttar Pradesh and a solid victory in Uttarakhand while Congress managed to bag Punjab and finished on top in Goa and Manipur in the country’s biggest mandate since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP called the results a historic mandate and said it would take the country to new direction. “The historic mandate given to the BJP will give a new direction to Indian politics. It will end the politics of caste, dynasty (parivarvaad) and appeasement,” BJP President Amit Shah said.

From being the third largest group in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly, the BJP, powered by an aggressive campaign spearheaded by Modi, catapulted to winning a whopping 324 seats -- a never-before showing by any party in the country’s most populous state. The Samajwadi Party-Congress allaince managed to win just 55 seats, while Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party was reduced to just 19 seats in the mega state. While Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav gracefully accepted the defeat and handed over the resgnation to Governor, Mayawati attributed the rout to the tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) by the BJP, a charge which was rejcted by the Election Commission

Proving to be a liability for the SP in UP, the Congress suffered an equally humiliating defeat in neighbouring Uttarakhand too. The BJP ousted it from power, winning 57 of the 70 seats, some of the winners being disgruntled Congress veterans who had joined the saffron outfit. The Congress was left with just 11 MLAs, with outgoing Chief Minister Harish Rawat losing both the seats he contested. “It is a monumental setback. We are disappointed with Uttar Pradesh,” Congress spokesman Sanjay Jha said. Added Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit: “Our party is looking confused.”

In Goa, however, the BJP performed badly as they were reduced to 13 seats with Congress finishing with 18 seats out of 40 seats. Both the parties have claimed to form the government in the coastal state. Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who failed to retain his assembly seat, resigned after failing to steer his party BJP to victory. He submitted his resignation to Governor Mridula Sinha as results indicated that BJP would fall well short of halfway mark. The regional parties Goa Forward and the MGp now hold the key for the next government. New entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was also routed.

In Manipur again, both Congress and the BJP fell short of majorty. With 26 winners, the Congress led the BJP (22 winners) in the troubled northeastern state of Manipur that it rules. But with both groups falling short of a majority in the 60-member house, smaller parties will play a key role in government formation.

The Congress, however, had plenty to celebrate in Punjab where it returned to power comfortably after a decade in the opposition, crushing both the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine as well as the AAP that was confident of winning in the border state. Led by former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who turned 75 on Saturday, the Congress won as many as 77 of the 117 seats, leaving the AAP with just 22 seats but as the main opposition in the assembly. The Akals and BJP had just 18 seats, with as many as 10 ministers worsted in the battle.

After the results, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BJP’s victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and thanked the people of Punjab for giving the Congress a mandate for the state’s “bright future”. He said the party stands resolute and committed to its values of a united India and will continue its fight to win people’s hearts. “I congratulate Shri Narendra Modi and the BJP on their victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” he said in a tweet. The Prime Minister responded to him and thanked him for his wishes. “Thank you. Long live democracy!” Modi tweeted back.

A special NIA court on Wednesday acquitted key accused Swami Aseemanand in the 2007 Ajmer blast case. It also gave a clean chit to two others. The court, however, found three – Sunil Joshi (dead), Devendra Gupta, Bhavesh Patel – guilty and they have been convicted the case. Patel and Gupta fined Rs 1 lakh each, the quantum of punishment will be pronounced by the court on March 16.

Magistrate Dinesh Gupta, had in February this year, adjourned the hearing as the court needed more time to study all documents submitted by the prosecution and the defence. The case was handed over to ATS Rajasthan and was later transferred to NIA which re-registered the case with the NIA police station in New Delhi on April 6, 2011.

On October 11, 2007, during the month of Ramzan, a blast rocked the dargah of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, killing three and injuring 17 people. There were as many as 149 witnesses in the case and 451 documents were examined and the NIA filed three supplementary chargesheets in the case.

A report in The Caravan magazine in February 2014 quoted Aseemanand as saying that Bhagwat, then RSS general secretary, told him that the blasts should not be linked to the Sangh. “Aseemanand told The Caravan that Bhagwat said of the violence, ‘It is very important that it be done. But you should not link it to the Sangh’,” said a press release issued by the magazine on Wednesday.

The RSS, however, denied the charge and questioned the veracity of the interview with Aseemanand, who is currently in Ambala Central Jail. “It is a rubbish and concocted interview,” said the RSS’s all-India publicity chief Manmohan Vaidya.

Briefing the media , ATS ADG, Law and Order Daljeet Choudhary on Wednesday said that the authorities have no evidence that link the suspected terrorists– Imran, Danish, Saifullah and Faizan – to any active module of the ISIS.

We have no information that links the four to any active ISIS module. From our initial investigations we suspect the four were self radicalised through material they found on social media.

He also revealed that the four wanted to identify themselves as the ISIS Khoran Moudle.

Sartaj, the father of the suspected terrorist who was killed in an anti-terror operation near Lucknow, said on Wednesday that he did not want anything to do with Saifullah’s mortal remains.

Saifullah was killed in a house on the outskirts of Lucknow after a 12-hour long operation by the Uttar Pradesh’s unit of the Anti Terrorism Squad. An Islamic State flag, eight pistols, 650 rounds of ammo, gold, SIM cards, cash, passports, a train timetable and explosive materials were seized from the house where Saifullah was holed up.

Expressing disappointment at his son’s actions, Sartaj said that he could not accept “a traitors body.”

Police suspect that Saifullah was involved in the 7 March blast in a Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train.

Speaking to the media, UP’s Additional Director General of Police said that Saifullah was a “hardened criminal,” who fired around 60 rounds of ammo on the commandos.

The anti-terror operation was being monitored by senior officials. After opening the doors of the house (where the terrorist was holed up), the force went inside and found the suspect dead along with his weapons.

Raids were conducted in different cities of UP, including Etawah and Kanpur, after the police force received inputs from Telangana regarding the terror suspects involved in the Bhopal-Ujjain train blast on Tuesday.

Two suspected terrorists were arrested and taken to Lucknow by a team of the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad for further questioning.

Searches for the other terror suspects are also underway.

Superintendent of Police (Kanpur City) Somen Verma said a team of UP ATS left for Lucknow with the two terror suspects at around 3am on 8 March, for further questioning.

Speaking to reporters after the anti-terror operation, IG ATS Aseem Arun said: "Efforts were made to catch the suspected terrorist (identified as Saifullah) alive, but unfortunately this did not materialise. We fired tear gas shells and chilly bombs but he did not come out."

The ATS commandoes then stormed inside the house (after issuing a warning to the terrorist), Arun said.

The suspected terrorist then fired at the ATS commandoes, which was then appropriately retaliated by the ATS commandoes. After this, two rooms were thoroughly searched and checked, and the person identified as Saifullah was found dead... The slain terrorist belongs to the Khurasan module of the ISIS and was an active member. But, whether he has been indoctrinated or not is a matter of investigation.

Stating that ''something is peculiar about this case'', the Supreme Court Monday observed that ''prima facie'' the order exonerating BJP leader L K Advani and others in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case was not correct and that the CBI should have filed a supplementary chargesheet against them.

A bench of Justices P C Ghose and Rohinton F Nariman questioned the CBI’s conduct in prosecuting the matter against several party leaders, including Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, and said that their discharge on a technical ground was inappropriate.

As soon as the hearing began, Justice Nariman said: “Something is peculiar about this case.” “Prima facie, we don’t think they can be discharged,” said the bench, as it sought to know from the CBI the status of the trial in two cases registered in connection with the demolition -- one each in Lucknow and Rae Bareli.

In Lucknow, the accused face charges of demolition; those in Rae Bareli are being tried for allegedly instigating the crowd through speeches. The conspiracy charges against Advani and some others were dropped in Lucknow on the grounds that the FIR related only to “kar sevaks”.

The CBI, which is prosecuting both cases, had filed an appeal in the top court against the order dropping the conspiracy charges. But this appeal was moved nine months after the High Court order confirmed the trial court verdict, and hence the agency has been asked by the bench to first explain the delay.

On Monday, the bench observed that the CBI should have filed a supplementary chargesheet to substantiate the allegations of criminal conspiracy against the leaders, who were let off on a technical ground that the trial was sought to be conducted at a trial court in Lucknow without the concurrence of the High Court. They are currently being tried at a Rae Bareli court on charges of making provocative speeches as “kar sevaks” proceeded to demolish the mosque.

“Why didn’t you file a supplementary chargesheet against 13 accused in this case, the way you filed it for eight other accused in another case? Why haven’t you filed the supplementary chargesheet in Rae Bareli?” the bench questioned Additional Solicitor General Neeraj K Kaul, appearing for the CBI.

The bench added that when the accused were discharged on a technical ground, the CBI was expected to file a supplementary chargesheet to fill the lacuna. “But you didn’t do that and you also filed your appeal very late,” it said.

At this, ASG Kaul said that the CBI was in appeal before the apex court for all these reasons. “We also think that the order of discharge should go,” said the counsel for the CBI.

The bench then said that it might order for a joint trial of both the criminal cases in one court, preferably at Lucknow. “Why don’t you conduct the joint trial of both the cases? It cannot go on like this forever. It has to be decided in one way or another. We are concerned about the delay in conducting the trial,” added the court.

To this, senior lawyer K K Venugopal, who appeared for Advani, said he would want to be heard before the apex court makes any order on conducting the joint trial of the two cases. “We will hear you but we are likely to pass order on a joint trial on the next day,” said the bench, as it fixed the matter for hearing next on March 22.

The court’s view was supported by senior counsel Kapil Sibal and advocate M R Shamshad, who are representing Haji Mehboob. Mehboob is one of the original petitioners in the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi title suit who has pleaded that the CBI might not press for restoration of the conspiracy case against top leaders of the party with a BJP-led government in power.

Mehboob, 77, has claimed that his fears stem from the fact that Rajnath Singh, an accused in the case, was now Union Home Minister and that his ministry had administrative control over CBI. He had added that another accused, Kalyan Singh, was now Governor of Rajasthan.

An encounter is currently underway between the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terror Squad and a suspected terrorist in Lucknow’s Thakurganj. The suspect reportedly opened fire at security personnel who were combing the area after receiving a tip-off about the presence of a few suspected terrorists. He has been identified as Saifullah, according to reports. He is currently holed up inside a building in the area. Civilians residing nearby have been evacuated from the spot.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is conducting an operation against a terror suspect in Thakurganj, old city area of the State capital Lucknow, on Tuesday. The Uttar Pradesh police has holed up suspect Mohammad Saifullah, who is believed to be an ISIS module, in a building here.

According to ADG (law and order), Daljeet Chaudhary, the terror suspect could have had a role Bhopal-Ujjain Passenger train blast which took place in Madhya Pradesh leaving nine persons injured on Tuesday morning.

The ADG said that UP police got a tip-off from an outside source about the presence of some terror suspects in Kanpur and Lucknow. After investigating, one suspect was arrested in Kanpur and the second - Saifullah -- was holed up in a house in Thakurganj of the state capital, he said.

The ATS sleuths had laid a siege in and around the entire Thakurganj area and the operation was being led by IG ATS himself. “We are suspecting the presence of only one ultra inside the building,” said Chaudhary but the people of the vicinity confirmed that Saifullah was inside the building with two or three of his associates.

The suspect, possibly a native of Lucknow, has confined himself in a room of the building and the ATS men were already inside the building. The ADG said that the suspected militant, who was retaliating to the firing by cops, was believed to have a huge weaponry.

“We are operating tactically ensuring minimum loss to either side and hope to arrest the suspect soon. We will interrogate him, thereafter, to find out his linkages and details of modules,” Chaudhary said.  Meanwhile, sources said that Uttar Pradesh DGP Javeed Ahmad had briefed the MHA officials about the presence of the terrorist and the ongoing anti-terror operation in the state capital.

A DISTRICT court in Gadchiroli Tuesday sentenced wheelchair-bound Delhi University professor G N Saibaba and four others to life imprisonment under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the IPC for aiding and abetting Naxal activities. A sixth convict was handed 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Delivering the judgment in a packed court, Principal District and Sessions Judge S S Shinde said, “Merely because Saibaba is 90 per cent disabled is no ground to show him leniency… he is physically handicapped but he is mentally fit, a thinktank and a high-profile leader of banned organisations.”

The others who were handed life terms are Hem Mishra, Prashant Rahi, Mahesh Tirki and Pandu Narote. The sixth accused to be convicted, Vijay Tirki, was handed rigorous imprisonment because it was his first-time offence, said the judge. The six were convicted under Sections 13, 18, 20, 38 and 39 of the UAPA along with Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

Following the ruling, defence lawyer Surendra Gadling said they would “move against it in the High Court”. Saibaba’s wife Vasantha said she was “shocked” at the verdict that “should have led to an acquittal”. Alleging “direct state involvement” in the case, she said there was “fire emanating from her eyes instead of tears” after hearing the verdict.

Hailing the verdict, Special Public Prosecutor Prashant Sathianathan said, “This would probably be the first case of its kind where the prosecution has been able to conclusively establish its case almost entirely with electronic data evidence.”

While delivering the judgment, the judge said it had been “established by prosecution that all six accused belong to banned organisations CPI (Maoist) and Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), which is a Maoist front”.

“Several people had been killed and public property has been destroyed in the Maoist violence in Gadchiroli. Because of Naxal movement and violent activities… the position of Gadchiroli district is same as it was in the year 1982 and for that all accused, who are members of the banned organisations, are responsible,” said the judge.

“Hence, in my opinion, the imprisonment of life is also not a sufficient punishment to the five accused but the hands of the court are closed with the mandate of sections 18 and 20 of UAPA and in my opinion it is a fit case to award sentence of imprisonment of life to the accused,” said the judge.

The judge also handed down various jail terms to the accused under other sections of the UAPA, ranging from four years to 10 years, to run concurrently with the life sentence.

Maharashtra police had arrested Saibaba at his Delhi residence in May 2014 following the arrests of Mishra, Mahesh and Pandu from Aheri in Gadchiroli in August 2013.

Mahesh and Pandu were accused of being Naxal couriers planning to escort Mishra to meet Naxal commander Narmadakka. According to police, Mishra was found in possession of a microchip containing documents from Saibaba to be delivered to Narmadakka.

In September 2013, police arrested Rahi at Deori in Gondia district along with Vijay Tirki, who was also accused of being a Naxal courier.

According to police, many documents, a hard disk and pen drives were seize from Saibaba’s residence. The professor, who was placed under suspension by the university, was jailed till he was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on health grounds in May 2015. He was jailed again before being granted bail by the Supreme Court in September 2016.

The trial in Gadchiroli began in November 2016 following which the prosecution produced 23 witnesses and the defence none. The prosecution relied heavily on what it claimed to be “strong electronic evidence” seized from Saibaba’s residence. It argued that the evidence “clearly established that the authorship of documents written in different names of ‘Prakash’ and ‘Saibaba’ was the same, that is, Saibaba’s”.

According to the prosecution, the documents listed under Saibaba’s name included a letter to his daughter’s school headmaster, one to his college and another to a Hyderabad institute. It said that those written under the name ‘Prakash’ included letters to Maoist bosses in which he spoke about his handicap, his frustration in Delhi and his wish to work underground instead of managerial work.

In the judgment, the judge cited one of these documents containing an interview in which Saibaba traced the history of the Maoist movement and RDF, and how the second outfit was taking “revolutionary work” forward.

“The finding of all these documents in the same personal computer belonging to Saibaba and the subsequent electronic tracking of the original authorship has proved beyond doubt that Saibaba was working on behalf of CPI (Maoists),” said Sathianathan.

While the defence argued that the evidence could have been tampered with by police, the prosecution said the material was sealed at the time of seizure and handed over to the forensic science laboratory.

The defence had also argued that the seizure was flawed and that the witness at the site had been “managed” and “tutored” by police. The prosecution countered by arguing that the witness was provided with police protection as he was staying in Gadchiroli, which was a Naxalite-affected area.

The defence had also argued that Saibaba’s prosecution by the Madhya Pradesh government was wrong. It said that the probe should have been conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) since the charges against Saibaba came under the scheduled offences category. The prosecution had replied saying that section 10 of the same Act provided for the state to undertake such a probe.

Children at government schools look forward to mid day meals served at these institutions. Today however, the meal which came to these children free of cost, will now come with conditions apply. The Ministry of Human Resource Development declared yesterday that children at government schools would be denied free mid-day meals if they did not have an Aadhaar card.

The card carries a 12-digit identity number, which electronically holds one’s biometric data. The necessity to have the Aadhaar identity has been imposed on the cook-cum-helpers at school as well. By June 30, these children (and cooks) must be enrolled in the Aadhaar scheme, if they still want to eat free hot meals at school.

To deny food to underprivileged school children on the basis of whether they are in possession of an Aadhaar Card or not, seems insensitive.

More importantly, the government’s decision comes in conflict with the Supreme Court. The latter had ruled in 2014 that in the overall scheme of things, the Aadhaar card would not be mandatory and that, “no person shall be deprived of any service for want of Aadhaar number in case he/she is otherwise eligible/entitled”.

As a consequence, it requested all the national institutes and authorities across the board to ensure that the Aadhaar number was mentioned in their forms as a document which wasn’t compulsory. In 2015, it reiterated, “the Aadhaar card Scheme is purely voluntary and it cannot be made mandatory till the matter is finally decided by this Court one way or the other”.

In an attempt to defend its mid-day meal decision, the government reasoned the that Aadhaar cards were necessary since it made the process of delivery of services easier, smoother and transparent. “The use of Aadhaar as identity document for delivery of services, benefits or subsidies simplifies the government delivery process and enables beneficiaries to get their entitlements directly and in a seamless manner,” a senior ministry official told NDTV.

However back in November 2016, the same government had underscored that Aadhaar cards weren’t that necessary – that, in the absence of an Aadhaar card, a citizen could still be eligible to the government services provided he/she gave alternative proof of identification. At that time, the Minister of State for IT and Electronics, PP Chaudhary had stated, “Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, Act provides that if an Aadhaar number is not assigned to an individual, the individual shall be offered alternate and viable means of identification for delivery of the subsidy, benefit or service.”

In defiance with the Supreme Court, the government has been stealthily pushing to make the Aadhaar identification mandatory, slyly violating the Court’s ruling, targeting particularly the vulnerable groups of society – children/students, senior citizens, the economically underprivileged, and women. This is not the first time the government has announced the compulsion of having an Aadhaar Card – but its modus operandi is by strong-arming people to get it.

For instance, the Aadhaar Card has been made compulsory for school and college students who wished to be eligible for the Central Government Scholarship and National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship schemes. In addition, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry announced that the students who were granted the scholarships already, but did not have the Aadhaar number, they would have to apply for the card by June 30. This compulsion echoes the step taken by the government which made the Aadhaar card necessary for those candidates who were applying for the NEET 2017 exam.

In December 2016, the government panned its lens at the senior citizens and announced that in order to be eligible for railway concessions (which ideally should be their right) on both counter and e-tickets, it was mandatory for senior citizens to have an Aadhaar card. This would be applicable from April 1, 2017.

The government intends on making the Aadhaar card compulsory for all railway ticket bookings in the coming future. Speaking on the senior citizens’ concession subject, the IRCTC Chairman A K Manocha had told PTI, “This is a most ambitious push to Aadhaar-based ecosystem in Indian Railways network that would end fraudulent bookings and curb cases of impersonation. In future, all ticket bookings will require an Aadhaar card.” And that seems highly likely since there is a possibility of the Aadhaar card becoming mandatory for online ticket bookings.

Muslims turned out in large numbers as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow passed through their localities in Varanasi but the goodwill gesture may not translate into votes for BJP candidates in his parliamentary seat. “Hamare prime minister hain. Banaras taraqqi karega to hum bhi karengein. But BJP wale humein pasand nahi karte. (He is our prime minister. If Vanarasi progresses, then so will we, but the BJP does not like us), says Rafiq Ahmed, a septuagenarian trader in Madanpura.

Muslims, comprising 20 per cent of total voters, appear to be solidly behind the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance, virtually ruling out any serious split in their ranks on March 8, when the city goes to the polls.

A division in Muslims votes in 2012 played a role in the BJP’s win in all three assembly seats falling in the city. Asked if they would vote for Modi, some youths shot back, “How many Muslims have been fielded by the BJP in UP? Zero. We are 20 per cent in the state but not seen good enough even for one of the 403 seats. Why should we vote for him?”

If some Muslims give credit to the prime minister for launching developmental schemes aimed at Varanasi and increased cleanliness, there is also lot of resentment in the community over demonetisation, which has especially hit hard the weaving community, comprising mostly Muslims.

Abdul Rauf, a noted handloom dealer, is disappointed over Modi’s handling of weavers’ concerns but says he continues to have hope in him.

With their Banarasi sarees having lost sheen post note ban, many weavers express their unhappiness with the BJP’s policies. Besides there are old fault lines, including the party’s Hindutva pitch, that deeply divide the community and the saffron outfit.

Zubair Ahmed (26) says in a lighter vein that even if some of them vote for the party, nobody will believe them.

He says he knew friends who had voted for the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when Modi contested from Varanasi. “Our non-Muslim friends laughed when we told them”.

Rafiq Ahmed says it is after a long time that Muslims are united in supporting one candidate (SP-Congress nominees) in Varanasi as they used to be divided between these two parties, who always contested separately.

The combined votes of the SP and the Congress were more than the winning BJP candidates’ in two of the three seats and it could be a reason that the saffron party deployed its top leaders, including several Union ministers, in holding small and big public events targeting different sections of people.