{"id":205614,"date":"2022-11-26T02:24:46","date_gmt":"2022-11-25T20:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=205614"},"modified":"2022-11-26T02:24:46","modified_gmt":"2022-11-25T20:54:46","slug":"centre-caught-on-wrong-foot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2022\/11\/26\/centre-caught-on-wrong-foot\/","title":{"rendered":"Centre caught on wrong foot?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Recent EC Appointment<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>By Insaf<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Amid elections to State Assemblies, petitions in the Supreme Court have stirred a hornet\u2019s nest with the recent appointment process of former bureaucrat Arun Goel as Election Commissioner coming into question. On Thursday last, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice Joseph questioned the \u201chaste\u201d and \u201ctearing hurry\u201d with which Union government appointed him, observing his file travelled at \u201clightning speed\u201d within departments in 24 hours! Unheard of indeed. This apart, it questioned how the law minister shortlisted a panel of four names when none would have completed the stipulated 6-year tenure in office. (Goel would be in office for 5 years after CEC Rajiv Kumar demits office in February 2025.) The enbarrasment for New Delhi started a day earlier, when the top court observed: \u201cThere have been numerous CECs and T N Seshan happens once in a while. We don\u2019t want anyone to bulldoze him. Enormous power has been vested on the fragile shoulder of three men. We have to find the best man for the post of CEC. The question is how do we find that best man and how to appoint that best man.\u201d It was hearing of a bunch of pleas seeking reform in the system of appointing the ECs and a collegium-like system for their selection.<br \/>\nMuch to the chagrin of the government, the court asked for the files on the appointment of Goel. At the outset it clarified it wasn\u2019t questioning the merits of new EC\u2019s credentials but the process. The dates raise eyebrows: The matter was heard on November 18; on same day, the file was moved and the PM recommended Goel\u2019s name to President. The vacancy in NirvachanSadan happened on May 15. The court asked: \u201cCan you show us from the records that from May 15 to November 18 what was done? What prevailed upon the government that the appointment was made so fast in one day? \u2026. Same day the file was processed, same day clearance, same day application and same day appointment. File has not even travelled for 24 hours. Why was the file cleared with lightning fast speed?\u201d Certainly, the question whether all is \u201chunky-dory\u201d remains. Importantly, the court flagged Article 324 of the Constitution, on appointment of ECs and said it doesn\u2019t provide the procedure for such appointments. Moreover, \u201cthe Article had envisaged the enactment of a law by Parliament in this regard, which has not been done in the last 72 years, leading to exploitation by the Centre.\u201d More need not be said, but Union government must clear the air. For lingering doubts about free and fair elections are unhealthy for any democracy.<\/p>\n<p>Rajasthan Cong Tamasha<br \/>\nCongress should consider embarking on a \u2018Party jodo yatra\u2019 given the ongoing political tamasha in Rajasthan. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-Sachin Pilot bickering\u2019s are getting uglier, causing a major embarrassment to the grand old party. Gehlot has ruffled feathers when he called Pilot a \u201cgaddar (traitor) who colluded with BJP\u201d and that he can never become the Chief Minister of the state. This on the day Pilot joined the \u2018Bharat jodo yatra\u2019 led by Rahul Gandhi in the State. Pilot has hit back saying it \u2018wasn\u2019t part of his upbringing to use such language\u2019 as the CM did. Instead, priority must be to fight unitedly to defeat BJP and strengthen Rahul\u2019s hand and \u201cSomeone who is so experienced, senior and whom party has given so much, it\u2019s unbecoming to use this language, make such completely false and baseless allegations.\u201d The young leader found support from a minister RS Gudha who threw a challenge to Gehlot saying \u201cWe will leave our stake for the chief ministership if you do not find 80% MLAs with Pilot&#8230;No better politician than him.\u201d Party headquarters has condemned Gehlot\u2019s remark and said the differences should be resolved in a manner that strengthens the Congress. Easier said than done!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Maha, Karnataka Border Row<br \/>\nThe BJP has trouble on its hands with Maharashtra and Karnataka with the inter-State border row escalating. The trigger was pressed by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday last, when he said \u201cNo village in Maharashtra will go to Karnataka! The state government will fight strongly in the Supreme Court to get Marathi speaking villages in Karnataka including Belgaum-Karwar-Nipani!\u201d Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai hit back terming his statement as \u201cprovocative\u201d and elaborating \u201cHis (Fadnavis\u2019) dream will never come true. Our government is committed to protecting our state\u2019s land, water and borders.\u201d Plus raising the demand that \u201cKannada speaking areas of Maharashtra like Solapur and Akkalkot should join Karnataka.\u201d Remember, the dispute goes back to the 60s after reorganisation of States on linguistic lines and the matter is in Supreme Court. Both sides are gearing up their legal battle in the case filed by Maharashtra in 2004, which is to come up soon. Bommai is confident that Mumbai has not succeeded and will not in future either. Politics apart, will there be a resolution? Keeping the iron hot is one thing, but bickering within the family doesn\u2019t bode well for the BJP.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Gujarat Muscle, Money Power<br \/>\nMoney and muscle power continue to rule the roost. A profile of candidates in the 1st phase of December Gujarat Assembly polls confirms trend. Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report on Thursday last stated ruling BJP contesting all 89 seats, has 79 candidates (89%) of its nominees with assets above Rs 1 crore, followed by Congress with 65 candidates (73%) and Aam Aadmi Party with 33 candidates (38%) fighting 88 seats! While average assets per candidate is Rs 2.88 crore, BJP candidate from Rajkot South constituency is the \u2018richest\u2019 with Rs 175 crore. On other side, an independent candidate from Rajkot West seat has \u2018zero\u2019 assets. Party-wise average assets are BJP, Rs 13.40 crore, Congress Rs 8.38 crore and AAP Rs1.99 crore. Additionally, 167 candidates (21%) of total 788 contesting are \u2018facing criminal cases\u2019 (100 and 12% serious charges like murder or rape) with AAP topping the list, 32 nominees (36%), followed by Congress 31 candidates (35%) and BJP, 14 candidates (16%); the Bhartiya Tribal Party, has 4 such candidates (29%). In comparison to Assembly election in 2017, percentages on both fronts have increased. The parties obviously have paid no heed to the Supreme Court\u2019s direction on selection of candidates (with no criminal background, rather looks like saying a big boo. So much for political parties\u2019 pledging a clean and corruption-free government!! \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recent EC Appointment By Insaf Amid elections to State Assemblies, petitions in the Supreme Court have stirred a hornet\u2019s nest with the recent appointment process of former bureaucrat Arun Goel as Election Commissioner coming into question. On Thursday last, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice Joseph questioned the \u201chaste\u201d and \u201ctearing hurry\u201d with which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-205614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}