{"id":213564,"date":"2023-03-25T01:03:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T19:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=213564"},"modified":"2023-03-25T01:03:10","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T19:33:10","slug":"opposition-jodo-yatra-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2023\/03\/25\/opposition-jodo-yatra-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Opposition jodo yatra’ begins?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gujarat Verdict On Rahul<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By Insaf<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A Surat court, in Gujarat has thrown the Congress into a tizzy. Opposition leader and its former President Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified as an Lok Sabha MP on Friday, following the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma, 24 hours earlier convicted him in a 2019 criminal defamation case for his remark, \u201cHow come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?\u201dat an election rally in Karnataka. Found guilty under IPC sections 499 and 500, the court, however, granted him bail and suspended the sentence of two years jail for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court. If a higher court does not stay his conviction and sentence, Rahul would not be able to contest elections for eight years! Gandhi, the court had said could have limited his speech to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi, and Anil Ambani, but he \u201cintentionally\u201d made a statement that hurt individuals carrying the Modi surname, and thereby committed criminal defamation. It was hearing a complaint filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi. Following the verdict, BJP functionaries from \u2018Teli\u2019 (oil-pressing) caste and leaders of the community who largely have the surname of \u2018Modi\u2019 demanded an apology from Rahul and warned of an agitation.<\/p>\n

However, Rahul has refused to apologise. He tweeted: \u201cMy religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, non-violence the means to get it \u2014 Mahatma Gandhi.\u201d The Congress will be filing an appeal as well as fighting back politically, as such cases it claimed \u201cwere an outcome of the BJP\u2019s malafide intent and malice to crush any political dissent in India.\u201dThe silver siling is that Opposition leaders of DMK, TMC, AAP, NCP, JMM, RJD,among others are on the same page. Statements of support are pouring in: \u201cThe action against Gandhi is an occasion for fight, not fright and all parties opposed to BJP must come together without delay\u201d; \u201cIn PM Modi\u2019s New India, opposition leaders have become prime target. While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the Cabinet, Opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches\u201d; \u201cToday, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy\u201d; \u201cit\u2019s murder of democracy and this is the beginning of the end of dictatorship\u201d; \u201cIt has become a crime to call a thief a thief, while those looting the country are out\u201d; \u201cThe sentence against Rahulwas announced yesterday and within a day he is now disqualified from Lok Sabha! Nothing short of a surgical strike on democracy! Time for the entire opposition to rally against this unbridled emergency!\u201d The saffron party said that it was a legal issue and not that of the BJP! Anyone getting fooled? The big question is what course this defamation and disqualification case take. For starters, should one read signs of the Rahul Gandhi case boomeranging into a long drawn \u201cOpposition jodo yatra\u201d?<\/p>\n

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BJP New State Chiefs<\/p>\n

Four States have new BJP Presidents ahead of General elections 2024. The change in guard on Thursday last is well-thought out though caught many by surprise. In Rajasthan, the party has sought to halt infighting, by replacing Satish Punia with two-term Lok Sabha member CP Joshi, also a Brahmin face. Punia didn\u2019t have the best of relations with former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who incidentally continues to be the party\u2019s most formidable leader, though Delhi had reservations. Indications are equations are improving. Having broken ties with JD(U) in Bihar, the BJP has replaced Sanjay Jaiswal with MLC Samrat Chaudhary, a Kurmi leader, to maximise its outreach among OBC communities. In Odisha, former minister and MP, Manmohan Samal, takes over. He\u2019s better-known faces, more aggressive with his politics bearing a distinct Hindutva mark. In Delhi, working State President Virender Sachdeva takes full-time charge even though he\u2019s low-key, his organisational skills have \u2018infused a sense of cohesion in the unit, pulled in different directions by local heavyweights.\u2019 Will the new team boost BJP\u2019s organisational machinery and consolidate support base, time will tell.<\/p>\n

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Punjab\u2019s Hot Chase<\/p>\n

Punjab police\u2019 hot chase to nab pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh shows cracks in AAP governance. Clearly,it\u2019s a blunder with authorities turning a blind eye to warning signals\u2014since February 23, when Singh stormed a police station in Ajnala. Invoking NSA against him, after his escape on March 18, when a belated go-ahead was given to arrest him, is waking up too late. In the backdrop that the stringent act is merrily invoked by governments against journalists and human rights\u2019 activists at the drop of a hat. While the Punjab & Haryana High Court has rapped the State police over \u201cintelligence failure\u201d after a petition was filed for his \u2018release\u2019 from alleged police custody, there\u2019s also an unfortunate disconnect in New Delhi. Union Home Ministry perhaps should have prodded the State more, as the Ajnala incident showed undercurrents of Punjab during 80s and 1990s? Instead of working in tandem, the AAP and BJP leadership then traded charges. Now an alert has been sent to all States as chief of \u2018Waris Panjab De\u2019gives the slip from a high-end Mercedes to switching cars to a mobike and changing his appearance. Will the hunt be successful?<\/p>\n

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Delhi\u2019s Poster War<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the big deal in putting up posters? A lot would say AAP in Delhi. The police arrested six persons including two owners of a printing press and registered 49 FIRs on Wednesday last for putting up posters reading \u2018Modi\u00a0Hatao, Desh Bachao\u2019 (Remove Modi, Save the Nation) across the capital\u2019s walls and electricity poles on Sunday. The FIRs were under Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act and Press and Registration of Books Act. So far \u201820,000 of 50,000 posters\u2019 ordered were seized. A livid Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reacted: \u201cThey registered an FIR over a poster! Why is Modi\u00a0ji\u00a0so scared! This is a normal poster, and anybody can put it up in a democracy. Such a scared and insecure PM. I think he wakes up every morning thinking who he can put in jail.\u201d Plus, he wondered: \u2018Is the PM\u2019s health ok?…he\u2019s suffering from a sleeping disorder, and should consult a good doctor\u2026Tell PM to sleep because if he is sleeping for 3 hours it\u2019s a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

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No Online Gambling<\/p>\n

No online gambling! On Thursday last, The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Ordinance, 2022 was unanimously passed by the Assembly, despite objections from Governor Ravi. The bill was first passed on 19 October 2022, but was returned by Ravi on March 6 questioning the Assembly\u2019s competence to frame such a law. A determined Chief Minister Stalin appealed to the House saying: \u201cThis is a bill passed not just with the mind, but also our hearts.\u201d He referred to 41 people having committed suicide after losing huge money in gambling. Seen as a rebuff to Governor, Stalin said: \u201cgovernment received 10,785 emails from public of which only 27 were against the ban; it formulated suggestions on a report by a team of retired Justice K Chandru; State has every right to \u201cstreamline, regulate and protect people\u201d living within its jurisdiction; cited Union Minister Anurag Thakur\u2019s written response in Parliament underlining state\u2019s powers to legislate on betting\/gambling; and summed up with \u201cthis government can\u2019t function without a conscience.\u201d Best bet alright, but Stalin must ensure the ban is implemented. \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n

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Gujarat Verdict On Rahul By Insaf A Surat court, in Gujarat has thrown the Congress into a tizzy. Opposition leader and its former President Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified as an Lok Sabha MP on Friday, following the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma, 24 hours earlier convicted him in a 2019 criminal defamation […]<\/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-213564","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\/213564","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=213564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}