All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has won five seats in Bihar elections. Party president Asaduddin Owaisi has said while talking to Aaj Tak that his party will contests elections in West Bengal in the upcoming Assembly Elections in 2021. Using the phrase ‘Fas gai raziya gundon mein’, Owaisi tried to describe his situation. After winning five seats, he feels like he has stuck among goons as BJP calls him anti-national, and Mahagathbandhan is blaming his party for ‘cutting votes’.
‘Mahagathbandhan leaders ignored my offer to form an alliance,’ says Owaisi
Owaisi said AIMIM’s state President Akhtarul Iman met every party leader of the Mahagathbandhan alliance and requested them to join hands. He further added that he tried to join Mahagathbandhan and met the coalition leaders three times in the central hall of the Parliament, but they did not give heed to his request. He denied the allegations of cutting votes and said it is not his fault that his request was ignored.
The fight for Seemanchal will continue
He said his party’s fight for the rights of the people of Seemanchal will continue. The region comprises four districts Araria, Katihar, Kishanganj, and Purnia. It accounts for 24 assembly seats. The region is considered to be one of the most backward regions in Bihar and has a sizable Muslim population.
Though RJD-Congress has a stronghold on the region, AIMIM managed to hurt the alliance by cutting their Muslim votes that benefitted NDA. AIMIM’s Akhtarul Iman in Amour, Muhammed Izhar Asfi in Kochadhamam, Shahnawaz Alam in Jokihat, Azhar Nayeemi in Bahadurgunj, and Syed Ruknuddin in Baisi have won the seats.
Political Analyst Ashutosh mocked by Owaisi
Political Analyst Ashutosh asked Owaisi if he is willing to join hands with NDA in Bihar. Owaisi said AIMIM had opposed CAA, UAPA amendment, and abrogation of Article 370 from Kashmir. His party has opposed several decisions made by NDA in the centre. How can someone who calls himself a political analyst think that he will join hands with NDA or support NDA in any capacity, he asked Ashutosh.
AIMIM will contest elections in West Bengal
AIMIM chief said his party would contest elections in West Bengal. He said, “AIMIM’s victory in Bihar is an answer to those who think AIMIM should not contest elections in other states. “This election result is a message for everyone who thinks that AIMIM should not contest in elections. Are we NGOs that we will only hold seminars and present papers? We are a political party and we will contest in all elections,” Owaisi added.
AIMIM had challenged Mamata earlier
It is notable here that last year too, AIMIM had hinted that they are going to contest in West Bengal elections. “It is true that we are fewer in number, but do not dare touch us. We are atom bombs. Didi, we welcome your friendship and enmity as well. You have to decide whether you consider us friends or foes,” AIMIM national spokesperson and Bengal observer, Asim Waqar has stated last year.
The AIMIM had also organized a meeting at Dharmatala in Kolkata where the former MLA from Maharashtra Waris Pathan was also present. Consequently, in November, Mamata Banerjee had warned the citizenry about the radicalism of the Owaisis. She did not name them but it was quite obvious who her comments were directed at. “I am watching that there are some extremists among minorities,” she told her party workers in Coochbehar, “They have their base in Hyderabad. Don’t listen to them.”
Hours after the Mahagathbandhan lost the high octane elections in Bihar state assembly, Rahul Gandhi, like clockwork, has again was supposed to go on a holiday leaving others to face embarrassment on their own. However, this time, instead of taking off to some exotic foreign location, he had decided to go to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan instead.
As per reports, Rahul Gandhi with his friends was to reach Jaisalmer on Wednesday where he was to stay for two days. The administration had been instructed to make arrangements for VIP movement for 10 people. Rahul Gandhi was expected to stay in Suryagarh fort for one night and in a tent in the desert for another night. Apparently, local Congress leaders were asked not to gather around to welcome him.
Rahul Gandhi was to land at the Jaisalmer airport at 6 AM on Wednesday through a private chartered flight. From there, he was to go to the luxury hotel via road. He was expected to return to Delhi on Friday. Suryagarh hotel is the same luxury hotel where Rajasthan Congress MLAs supporting Ashok Gehlot during his rift with Sachin Pilot were shifted earlier this year.
As per reports, Rahul Gandhi was also expected to take a camel ride and enjoy folk music performances. However, as per latest reports, the has cancelled the vacation citing ‘personal reasons’.
The results for the Bihar assembly elections were declared on Tuesday, 10th November where Congress won 19 out of the 70 seats it contested on. The Mahagathbandhan settled on a seat tally of 110, way behind the majority mark. The NDA led by BJP was safely above the majority mark at 125 seats.
Rahul Gandhi and post-election vacations
Rahul Gandhi is particularly fond of going on long unwinding vacations either in middle of elections or right after losing them. In October 2019, in middle of crucial state assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, Rahul Gandhi had taken off to Thailand as per reports. Soon after losing Haryana, he had reportedly gone on to Indonesia on another vacation. In 2018, too, when he was the party president, in midst of Karnataka elections, he left the party in the lurch and went abroad with his mother for her ‘annual health check up’. Similarly during last leg of Jharkhand elections, Rahul Gandhi packed off to South Korea.
At the first sight of slight discomfort, Rahul Gandhi usually just packs off and goes off to undisclosed foreign locations. Except, this time, he has decided to go to the exotic Jaisalmer, perhaps due to Chinese coronavirus-related restrictions.
Note: This article has been updated with latest information.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has won the Bihar 243-seat legislative assembly elections with an absolute majority with 125 seats. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has emerged as the single largest party but will sit in opposition with Congress and other members of Mahagathbandhan as the alliance managed to win only 110 seats. The counting of the votes took 19 hours to complete. These elections tested Election Commission’s capacity to conduct smooth elections amid a pandemic.
Prime Minister Modi thanked the people of Bihar
PM Modi tweeted from his official account and thanked the people of Bihar. “The poor in villages, farmers, labourers, merchants, shopkeepers and every section of Bihar have relied on the NDA’s mantra of sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas. I again assure every citizen of Bihar that for the balanced development of every person, every region, we will continue to work with full dedication,” he tweeted in Hindi.
बिहार के गांव-गरीब, किसान-श्रमिक, व्यापारी-दुकानदार, हर वर्ग ने NDA के ‘सबका साथ, सबका विकास, सबका विश्वास’ के मूल मंत्र पर भरोसा जताया है। मैं बिहार के हर नागरिक को फिर आश्वस्त करता हूं कि हर व्यक्ति, हर क्षेत्र के संतुलित विकास के लिए हम पूरे समर्पण से निरंतर काम करते रहेंगे।
Additional polling booths to ensure precautions amid Covid-19
The vote counting commenced at 8 AM on Tuesday at 55 centres in 38 districts. There were 1,06,515 polling stations compared to 72,723 in the 2015 elections due to preventive measures against Covid-19. Due to additional 30,000+ polling stations, the number of EVM machines used was also higher, resulting in slower counting.
The seat tally
Apart from BJP winning 74 seats, JDU won 43, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) won four each, totalling 125. Congress contested 70 seats but only managed to win 19 among them, and their loss on remaining seats severely affected the Mahagathbandhan tally. CPI and CPI-M as Mahagathbandhan allies won two and 12 seats, respectively.
Among others, AIMIM won five while Bahujan Samaj Party managed to grab one seat. One independent candidate also won the elections. Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) separated from NDA and fielded candidates on over 130 seats but managed to win only one seat.
Opposition cries foul
A delegation of RJD and Congress met the Election Commission officer in Patna and alleged that there was tempering in vote-counting in some constituencies. RJD leader Manoj Jha after meeting the EC officer, said EC has assured it will “try to address their grievances”. He said, “There are over dozens of seats where tampering has been done. They are trying to change the people’s mandate. Even after all such ill-intended attempts, we will form the government. EC has assured us that they will try to address all our grievances. We trust the EC but not the district administration.”
While some Congress leaders blamed EVM for their loss, Congress’s Karti Chidambaram tweeted blaming EVM should stop. Umesh Sinha, Secretary-General, ECI, said the commission has never worked under anyone’s pressure. “All officials and machinery are working sincerely for declaration of Bihar election results,” he said.
NDA gets majority as Nitish Kumar is set to return as chief minister of Bihar. BJP won 74 seats out of 110 it contested, JDU won 43 out of 115 it contested. Vikassheel Insan Party and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), both NDA allies won 4 seats each.
Mahagathbandhan won 110 seats.
The counting continued late into the night.
9:07 PM
The NDA appears to have regained its slender leader over the Mahagathbandhan. As per ECI, the NDA has won 49 seats while the MGB has won 40 seats.
BJP
RJD
JDU
Congress
Left
NDA ally
Others
Total
NDA
43 (29 won)
26 (17 won)
5 (3 won)
123
MGB
51 (25 won)
12 (7 won)
10 (8 won)
113
Total
72
76
43
19
18
8
7 (4 won)
243
8:00 PM
While NDA is now ahead in 122 seats, the MGB is ahead in 114. NDA has officially won 26 seats, the MGB has won 24 seats according to the ECI website.
BJP
RJD
JDU
Congress
Left
NDA ally
Others
Total
NDA
56 (16 won)
36 (7 won)
4 (3 won)
122
MGB
60 (16 won)
17 (3 won)
13 (5)
114
Total
72
76
43
20
18
7
7
243
7:45 PM
The election in Bihar is far from over. While the leads taken by NDA seem close to MGB, there are 21 seats with less than 1000 vote lead with 16 out of 21 in favour of RJD. So far, it appears like the election can swing either way.
BJP
RJD
JDU
Congress
Left
NDA ally
Others
Total
NDA
59 (14 won)
35 (6 won)
6 (2 won)
122
MGB
66 (9 won)
18 (2 won)
16 (2)
113
Total
73
75
41
20
18
8
7
243
6:45 PM
NDA continues to maintain lead, however, the contest is becoming extremely close. As of 6:45 PM, NDA was ahead in 120 seats while the MGB was ahead in 115.
BJP
RJD
JDU
Congress
Left
NDA ally
Others
Total
NDA
67 (6 won)
37 (3 won)
5 (2 won)
120
MGB
71 (6 won)
18 (2 won)
17 (1)
115
Total
73
77
40
20
18
7
8
243
While the NDA had won 11 seats till 6:45 PM, the MGB had won 8 seats.
6:00 PM
NDA continues to maintain lead even as RJD closes in gap with BJP. As of 6 PM, the NDA barely managing to breach the majority mark with leading on 114 seats while having won 9 seats (total 123 seats). Mahagathbandhan is closely behind with lead on 109 seats and having won 3 seats (total 112 seats).
BJP
RJD
JDU
Congress
Left
NDA ally
Others
Total
NDA
72 (5 won)
43 (2 won)
8 (2 won)
MGB
74 (2 won)
20 (1 won)
18
Total
72
74
43
20
18
8
8
243
In other state bypolls, BJP won 3 and leading in 1 in Manipur while independent candidate has won the 5th seat. Congress leading in 1 seat in Chhattisgarh and won the 1 seat in Haryana. In Gujarat, BJP won 3 and leading in remaining 5. In Jharkhand, Congress leading in 1 and JMM leading in other. In Karnataka, BJP won one and leading on other. In Nagaland, independent candidate leading in one while Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party won other. In Odisha, BJD leading in both seats. In Telangana BJP leading in one. In Madhya Pradesh, BJP wins 5 while leading in 14. Thereby ensuring Shivraj Singh Chouhan may retain the power in state. Congress leading in 7 and has won 1 seat. BSP is leading in remaining one seat. In Uttar Pradesh, BJP leading in 5 and SP leading in 2 seats.
5:00 PM
BJP’s Sanjay Saraogi won Darbhanga with a margin of 10,639 votes and Ram Chandra Prasad won Hayaghat with a margin of 10,252 votes. JDU’s Shashibhushan Hajari won Kusheshwar Asthan with margin of 7,222 votes and Ashok Kumar Chodhary won Sakra with margin of 1,537 votes. BJP leading on 74 seats and JDU on 39. NDA still maintaining lead in majority seats with lead in 125 seats. RJD leading on 68 seats while winning 2 seats. Congress has also won a seat and is leading on 19 seats. Left parties have again upped their lead to 18 seats.
Meanwhile, the usual suspects are out with conspiracy theories that EVMs are hacked.
First time contestant Pushpam Priya Choudhary was one of the first to float the theory after she was losing from both the seats she contested.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, too cast aspersions on EVMs being hacked after BJP clean swept Madhya Pradesh.
EVMs are not tamper-proof, and selective tampering is done. There are seats that we would have not lost in any circumstance but we did by thousands of votes. We'll hold a meeting tomorrow & analyse the results: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh #MadhyaPradeshbyelectionpic.twitter.com/m0xvCcHdzG
Another tall Congress leader Dr Udit Raj, who has an honorary doctorate humanities from Bible College and Seminary, Kota, Rajasthan, too wondered that if one can operate devices going towards Mars and Moon from Earth, why can’t EVMs be hacked.
It is not yet clear whether he was alleging that EVMs are being hacked or he is suggesting that EVMs be hacked so Congress, which is leading in 20 out of 243 seats, might increase its tally.
4:00 PM
As per official EC data, BJP is set to sweep by bypolls as it registered victory in 3 seats and is leading in remaining 5 seats in Gujarat.
BJP
INC
BSP
SP
BJD
Others
Total
Chhattisgarh
1
1
Gujarat
8 (3 won)
0
8
Haryana
1
1
Jharkhand
1
1 (JMM)
2
Karnataka
2 (1 won)
2
Madhya Pradesh
20 (1 won)
6
1
28
Manipur
4(3 won)
0
1 (Ind)
5
Nagaland
2
2
Odisha
2
2
Telangana
1
1
Uttar Pradesh
6
1
7
Gujarat has also shown massive vote share of 54.5% to the BJP. Karnataka and MP, too have shown vote share of 51.8% and 51.1% to the BJP.
In Bihar, BJP’s lead has increased to 77 while Left parties have lost their lead on two seats and have gone from 18 to 16. RJD too has one down to leading in 62 seats while registering victory in 1.
3:30 PM
As per official EC website, RJD is the first to have the first winner in the 243 seat assembly in Bihar. Lalit Kumar Yadav has won Darbhanga Rural seat with a margin of 2,141 votes. Meanwhile, BJP continues to lead on 73 seats. RJD is currently leading on 64 seats after registering 1 win. JDU is leading on 49 seats.
The NDA is currently leading on 129 seats as of 3:30 PM. This is more than the half-way mark.
Trends at 3:30 PM
BJP (73) + HAM (2) + JDU (49) + VIP (5) = 129 seats showing lead for NDA.
Mahagathbandhan leading on 102 seats (RJD 64), Congress (20) and Left parties (18). Further, MGB has already registered victory on one seat.
1:00 PM
In UP by-elections, BJP now leading on 6 out of 7 seats. In Gujarat, BJP leading on all 8 seats with massive 54.2% vote share. Congress far behind with 34.4% vote share. In Madhya Pradesh, BJP leading on 19 out of 28 seats with over 50% vote share. In Manipur BJP registered victory in second seat and leading in two more.
In Bihar, BJP continues to lead on 72 seats while JDU is now leading on 50 seats. RJD on 65 and Congress on 20 seats.
RJD’s Tej Pratap Yadav leads on Hasanpur seat with 1333 votes margin while Tejashwi maintaining lead on Raghopur constituency with 5327 votes. Jitan Ram Manjhi of Hindustani Awam Morcha, an NDA ally, leading from Imamganj. Congress leader and film actor Shatrughan Sinha’s actor son Luv Sinha continues to trail on Bankipur.
12:30 PM
NDTV India editor Ravish Kumar’s brother Brajesh Pandey is trailing from Govindganj constituency. He was contesting from the Congress seat. He was accused of sexually exploiting a Dalit woman. He is currently trailing with a margin of 5,400 votes behind BJP’s Sunil Mani Tiwari.
Govindganj seat trends
Early trends for all 243 seats are officially out. BJP now leading in 72 seats and RJD in 65. JDU on 47, LJP on 2 and Congress on 21 seats as of 12:30 PM. AIMIM now leading on 3 seats.
Meanwhile, in other state by-elections, BJP is leading in 19 out of 28 seats. In Gujarat, too, BJP is leading in 8 out of 8 seats. In Karnataka, too, BJP is leading on both the seats.
12:00 PM
State-wise leads on by-elections as per official EC data.
BJP
INC
BSP
SP
BJD
Others
Total
Chhattisgarh
1
1
Gujarat
8
0
8
Haryana
1
1
Jharkhand
1
1
2
Karnataka
2
2
Madhya Pradesh
17
9
2
28
Manipur
1(won)+3
0
1
5
Nagaland
2
2
Odisha
2
2
Telangana
1
1
Uttar Pradesh
5
1
1
7
BJP registers its first win in Manipur. It is also leading in 3 seats in Manipur. BJP is leading in all 8 seats in Gujarat where bypolls were held. BJP needs 8 seats to retain power in Madhya Pradesh and is leading in 17 seats.
Meanwhile, in Bihar elections, as per ECI website, Pushpam Priya Chaudhary who floated a party called ‘Plurals’ is trailing from both the seats. Pushpam Priya Chaudhary is an alumni of London School of Economics. Other Plurals candidates were highly educated like engineers and doctors and had ‘Bihari’ as religion. She is the daughter of former JDU MLC Vinod Chaudhary.
The BJP in Bihar is leading on 73 seats, while RJD now leading on 60 seats. JDU leading on 49 seats with Congress leading on 21 seats.
11:30 AM
Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha’s son Luv Sinha who is contesting from Bankipur on Congress ticket trailing. RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav leading with 1554 votes. Meanwhile, RJD’s Tej Pratap Yadav is also leading from Hasanpur with a margin of just 146 votes.
BJP continues to maintain lead on 68 seats with RJD closing in with leading on 64 seats. AIMIM has registered lead on 2 seats. JDU on 47 while Congress leading on 21 seats.
In Uttar Pradesh byelections, BJP is leading on 5 out of 7 seats while Samajwadi Party and Independent candidate aare leading on one each.
11:00 AM
Three hours into counting, the BJP-led NDA in Bihar is showing slight edge over RJD-Congress’ Mahagathbandhan with official EC trends showing BJP leading in more seats than RJD.
EC trends as of 11 AM
As per EC trends at 11 AM, BJP is leading in 62 seats against 60 seats of RJD. JDU leading on 49 and Congress on 19. LJP is leading on 5 seats.
AIMIM also showing early leads in one seat as now. Meanwhile, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav has officially registered lead as per EC website.
Voting share
As of 11 AM, BJP has 21% vote sharewhile RJD has 23.2% vote share. JDU has registered 14.96% vote share.
Meanwhile, in Madhya Pradesh bypolls, BJP leading in 17 seats out of 28. Congress showing lead on 9 and BSP on 1. Early trends for 27 seats are out in Madhya Pradesh. BJP needs 8 seats to retain power in Madhya Pradesh.
10:30 AM
Early trends for Bihar assembly elections show Lalu Yadav’s son Tej Pratap Yadav trailing in Hasanpur. He had changed his seat from Mahua to Hasanpur to avoid possible clash with estranged wife Aishwarya. Official data for Tejashwi Yadav for Raghopur constituency are not out yet.
As per trends as of 10:30 AM, BJP leading in 53 seats while RJD in 54 seats. JDU is leading in 39 and Congress in 14. LJP is leading in 3 seats.
10:00 AM
Early trends for bypolls in various states as per EC website:
BJP
INC
BSP
SP
BJD
Others
Total
Chhattisgarh
1
Gujarat
7
1
8
Haryana
1
1
Jharkhand
2
2
Karnataka
2
2
Madhya Pradesh
12
5
1
28
Manipur
1
5
Nagaland
1
2
Odisha
2
2
Telangana
1
1
Uttar Pradesh
4
1
1
1
7
Early trends for 119 seats out of 243 in Bihar are out. BJP leading in 31 seats while RJD in 34. JDU in 24 while Congress in 12. LJP is now leading in 3 seats.
9:30 AM
Official Election Commission trends show BJP leading in 8 seats.
Official ECI trends
Of the 43 seats showing early trends, BJP leading on 15 while RJD on 9. JDU leading on 8 and Congress leading on five seats.
Madhya Pradesh trends
Early trends in Madhya Pradesh show BJP leading in 6 and Congress in 2. A total of 28 seats underwent voting for bypolls.
9:00 AM
Battle of prestige for Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh as bypoll results will decide the fate of Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. Byelections were held on November 3 in Madhya Pradesh. Of the 28 seats undergoing counting, the BJP needs to win at least 8 to retain power.
The Congress-led Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh fell earlier this year after former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party along with rebel Congress MLAs. He later joined the BJP.
Meanwhile, latest figures for Bihar show MGB (Mahagathbandhan) leading on as many as 114 seats with NDA on 90 in Bihar. MGB only 8 seat short of the breaching the half-way mark.
#BiharResultOnABP | 243 seats l Grand alliance mere 8 seats away from magic figure of 122, NDA ahead in 90 seats
Counting of votes begins for the 243 seats in Bihar Assembly as well as bypolls to as many as 58 seats across 11 states. As per media reports, early trends show Mahagathbandhan leading on 44 seats while NDA on 28.
RJD has been projecting confidence of Tejashwi being elected as the Chief Minister of Bihar. Tejashwi is son of fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad Yadav, who himself has been Bihar chief minister as well as Union Minister under the UPA government. His wife, Rabri Devi, too, has been chief minister of Bihar. Under Lalu’s rule, Bihar was often referred to as ‘jungle raj‘ for the unbridled crime and corruption.
Along with Bihar, counting for 28 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh is also currently underway. This will decide the fate of Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in state.
The President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Dushyant Dave, has written a letter to the Secretary-General of the Supreme Court, strongly protesting the hearing granted to Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief of Republic TV for the special leave application that has been filed by him. Calling it ‘extraordinary urgent listing’, Dushyant Dave has condemned the listing of the case, even as Arnab Goswami spends his 7th night in jail today for a case that was re-opened unilaterally by the Mumbai Police without the consent of the court, simply to settle scores with the journalist.
Dave has written against “selective listing” of matters by the SC Registry, especially during the pandemic where an influential man’s petition listed within a day.
Dave wrote, “I have nothing personal against Mr Goswami and I am not writing this letter to anyway interfere in with his rights to move the Supreme Court. Like all Citizens, he also has the right to seek justice from the highest court. The serious issue here is a selective listing of matters that the Registry under your leadership is indulging in for the last eight months during Covid pandemic. While thousands of Citizens remain in jails, languishing for long periods while their matters Tled before the Hon’ble Supreme Court are not getting listed for weeks and months, it is, to say the least, deeply disturbing as to how and why every time Mr Goswami approaches the Supreme Court, his matter gets listed instantly.”
Further, he wrote, “Likes of Shri Goswami get special treatment while ordinary Indians are made to suffer, including Imprisonment, which are many times illegal and unauthorised. Even someone like Mr P Chidambaram, a respected Senior Advocate, could not get similar speed listing and had to spend long months in jail till finally, the Hon’ble Supreme Court declares that he deserved to be Bailed out.”
Calling it a ‘gross abuse of administrative power’, Dave further wrote, “It is quite well known that such extraordinarily urgent listings of matters cannot and does not take place without specific orders from Hon’ble the Chief Justice. Or is it that as the Administrative Head you or the Registrar listing is giving special preference to Shri Goswami?”.
Why Dushyant Dave is being hypocritical
While the Lutyen’s cabal has remained conspicuously silent after weeks of hounding of Arnab Goswami and Republic TV by a vindictive state government, Dave’s letter only seems to be a desperate attempt to ensure that the unilateral state persecution of Arnab Goswami continues while making extremely hypocritical statements.
Dushyant Dave seems to have taken exception to the fact that Arnab Goswami’s hearing has been listen within a day of him filing the petition and claims that the urgent listing is an abuse of power. He seems to be targeting not only Arnab Goswami but also his lawyer Harish Salve when he says that influential people represented by big lawyers get their hearings listed. He further insinuates some sort of influence that either Goswami or Salve could have had on the Chief Justice of India when he says that it is common knowledge that such cases do not get listed without the express instruction of the CJI.
However, in his unhinged letter, Dave seems to forget some crucial points.
It is not the first time that an urgent hearing has been listen by the Supreme Court. Dave seems to be taking an exception to it simple because the petition is that of Arnab Goswami who has been languishing in jail for a week for a frivolous case that was closed in 2019.
Perhaps it would be pertinent to ask Mr Dave why he did not write a similar letter when a Supreme Court bench assembled on a Sunday to hear the petition moved by Vinod Due for anticipatory relief – this, when Dua was not even in jail.
The Supreme Court had opened its doors on Sunday in June 2020 to hear a petition filed by controversial journalist Vinod Dua seeking quashing of a sedition case filed against him in Himachal Pradesh Police over a YouTube show. In a special hearing, a Supreme Court bench of justices UU Lalit, MM Shantanagoudar and Vineet Saran held special proceedings at 11 AM on Sunday. During the #MeToo movement, Vinod Dua was accused of stalking and sexually harassing a filmmaker.
Vinod Dua had approached the apex court just a day before on Saturday asking for protection from coercive action, including arrest and sought the top court to take up his matter on an urgent basis as the case was related to the personal liberty of a person.
In addition to the quashing of FIR, Dua had also asked the apex court to issue a direction that FIRs against media persons with at least 10 years’ of experience should not be filed unless cleared by a committee constituted by every state government comprising the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court or a judge designated by him, the leader of the opposition and the home minister of the state.
“State governments who do not find a particular telecast to be in sync with their political ideologies register FIRs against persons of the media to harass and intimidate them so that they succumb to the line of the state or else face the music,” the petition stated.
If Dua’s case can be taken up urgently on a Sunday because it was a matter of his personal liberty, when he was not even in jail, why can’t Arnab Goswami’s, who has been in jail for the past 7 days clearly due to the vindictiveness of the Maharashtra state government that seems to be using its state machinery to quell personal scores? The question that must be asked here is why Dushyant Dave had not written such a scathing letter when Dua’s personal liberty was made an issue? Why is he suddenly so concerned about the functioning of the SC, which has certainly been a usual course of business for several cases?
It almost appears as though Mr Dushyant Dave with his letter, wants the hearing delayed so Arnab Goswami continues to languish in the jail, as the state government continues to snatch his personal liberty.
It would certainly appear as though the personal liberty of individual matters far more when his political ideology is one that sits well with certain people than those whose views are contrarian to their own.
Why SCBA wanted Dushyant Dave removed from the post of President and how it proves that his letter protesting hearing granted to Arnab Goswami is a product of his ideology
In February 2020, the SCBA had passed a resolution that had condemned Justice Mishra for making a statement in support of PM Modi. The statement had said, “The SCBA believes that the Independence of the Judiciary is the basic structure under the Constitution of India and that such independence be preserved in letter and spirit. The SCBA believes that any such statement reflects poorly on the Independence of the judiciary and so calls upon the Hon’ble Judges not to make statements in future nor show any proximity or closeness to the Executive including Higher Functionaries.”
Members of the SCBA had condemned the resolution even then. 11 members had written a letter to the SCBA Secretary in the first week of March demanding the resignation of Dushyant Dave. “We the undersigned members of this esteemed SCBA were taken aback by the mischievous act of passing the above-said resolution dated February 26 at the behest of President of SCBA showing as if the resolution has the accent and consent of the entire SCBA, when the fact remains that no Executive Committee meeting was convened despite the request of the Secretary and other members of Executive Committee to discuss this issue in the Executive Committee meeting,” the letter stated.
Thereafter, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Secretary Ashok Arora had called for the removal of senior advocate Dushyant Dave from the post of president of the organisation and also from the primary membership of it, LiveLaw had reported. An “extraordinary meeting” was also called by the SCBA secretary regarding the same. The removal of Dushyant Dave was sought in connection with the resolution passed by the association in February condemning Justice Mishra for his remarks praising Prime Minister Modi.
Justice Mishra had called Narendra Modi a “versatile genius who thinks globally and act locally” in his speech delivering the vote of thanks during the inaugural ceremony of the International Judges Conference on February 22, 2020. Dushyant Dave has called the move demanding his ouster “illegal and improper”.
It is rather evident that Dushyant Dave does have an ideology that and the letter today condemning the hearing granted to Arnab Goswami is also a product of that very ideology.
BJP has received a resounding victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly by-elections which were held on seven seats of Naugawan Sadat, Bulandshahr, Tundla, Bangermau, Ghatampur, Deoria and Malhani on November 3. Out of these seven seats, BJP won six seats except Malkhani which the Samajwadi Party managed to win.
Source: Election Commission of India
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath gave the credit of the stellar performance of the party in not just Uttar Pradesh by-polls but also in elections in other states to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that the party performance in these elections was a result of the work done by PM Modi towards the upliftment of the poor, improving country’s reputation internationally and public welfare.
प्रदेश के साथ-साथ देश के भीतर हुए चुनावों के यह सुखद परिणाम आदरणीय PM श्री @narendramodi जी के लोक कल्याण, गरीब कल्याण, राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा, वैश्विक मंच पर भारत को प्रदान की जा रही प्रतिष्ठा व प्रधानमंत्री जी द्वारा जनहित में किए गए कार्यक्रमों के प्रति जनविश्वास का प्रतीक है।
Hailing PM Modi’s leadership CM Yogi said that the BJP candidates lead their opponents by 17,000 to 32,000 votes in the state assembly by-polls which proved that the state government was working well under the leadership of the Prime Minister. He congratulated BJP national president JP Nadda for the party’s performance in the state Assembly by-polls. CM Yogi lauded party’s booth-level workers for their performance and also the Ministers and Assembly members who contributed to the election campaign.
Expressing hope for the 2022 state elections, CM Yogi said that the party’s performance in the Assembly by-pollspointed to the possibility for the party to win 2022 state elections. “In the by-polls, Bharatiya Janata Party repeated its performance of the 2017 state assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This points that BJP will perform well in the upcoming elections also”, said CM Yogi at a press conference.
BJP sweeps Gujarat by-polls
BJP made a clean sweep in Gujarat Assembly by-elections by winning all the 8 seats on which elections were held. Congress had won on these seats in 2017.
Source: Election Commission of India
Bags all the seats in Karnataka by-polls
BJP bagged both the assembly seats of RR Nagar and Sirsa in Karnataka on which elections were held. BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel credited PM Modi’s leadership and party’s development agenda for the victory.
Source: Election Commission of India
Wins Telangana by-polls
BJP’s M Raghunandan Rao won Telangana’s Dubbak Assembly constituency by defeating Telangana Rashtra Samithi’s Solipeta Sujatha by a close margin of 1,079 votes.
Source: Election Commission of India
By-elections were held for State Assembly seats in 11 states of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha and Telangana.
While the Editor-in-chief of India’s biggest media network, Arnab Goswami, continues to spend his 7th night in jail after being assaulted and arrested by Mumbai police on unfounded allegations in a closed 2018 abetment to suicide case, Shabana Saeed, the wife of Bollywood producer Firoz Nadiadwala, who was arrested on November 8 (Sunday) by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for possessing drugs, has been granted bail by a Mumbai court on Tuesday.
According to reports, the bail was granted on a personal bond of Rs 15,000.
A Mumbai Court grants bail to film producer Firoz Nadiadwala’s wife, Shabana Saeed on a personal bond of Rs 15,000. She was arrested by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Mumbai, on November 8th in connection with a drug-related case.
As per reports, the Bollywood filmmaker’s residence in the upscale western suburbs of Mumbai was searched by the narcotics team in connection to the case. It is said that Firoz Nadiadwala was not present at the house when it was raided by the NCB. The investigative team had reportedly recovered ‘some amount of drugs’. The officials had summoned the producer’s wife to their office on Sunday for questioning following which she was arrested by the NCB.
Saeed was booked under sections 8c (produce, manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, warehouse, use, consume, import or export of any narcotic or psychotropic substance), 20B ( punishment for producing, manufacturing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting or using cannabis), 27A (punishment for consumption of drugs).
Arnab Goswami continues to pay the price for his honest journalism
It is concerning how a Bollywood celebrity easily gets bail in a serious crime like the possession of drugs, whereas a senior journalist like Arnab Goswami is forced to remains behind bars for the last 7 days, that too for a case which was closed in April 2019, apparently due to lack of evidence.
Without any prior notice or documents, a team of 40 armed policemen barge into Arnab Goswami’s house at 6.30 am on November 4, only to assault him and his family members, drag him and arrest him on unfounded allegations in a closed 2018 abetment to suicide case. Since then, Arnab Goswami’s team of lawyers have been running pillar to post, knocking the doors of the Sessions Court to the Supreme Court, but have remained unsuccessful in getting the senior journalist out of jail.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the interim bail plea of Republic TV’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami tomorrow. Arnab had moved Supreme Court after the Bombay High Court dismissed his petition for interim bail in 2018 abetment to suicide case on Monday. The petition has been filed by Arnab’s lawyer today at 10.30 am. Moreover, the Alibaug Sessions court which had yesterday shifted Arnab Goswami’s regular bail plea hearing for today has once again shifted the hearing for the day after tomorrow (Thursday).
Randhir Singh, father of OTV MD Jagi Mangat Panda, has issued a video appeal to the Union Home Minister of India, Amit Shah, seeking protection from the excesses of the police officials against his family and employees at the channel’s studio in Sarua, Khordha, under the pretext of carrying an investigation into a land issue.
“The family members and employees are living under house-arrest like conditions for the last 10 days due to unprecedented police aggression. I have never seen police officials behaving like goondas. They had entered premises at 3 am and arrested our site head. We and the villagers are working to provide hundreds of jobs but the government has made this place hell. Police say they have orders from the top. I urge Amit Shah ji to deploy forces and protect us,” Singh said.
We are being held here as hostages for last 10 days. There are women, children, workers & our food supplies won’t last long. I have never seen police behave like goondas: #OTV MD Jagi Mangat Panda’s father Randhir Singh appeals Union Home Minister @AmitShah for protection pic.twitter.com/bUygFisriO
In the video, Singh had lamented that the police officials have forced his family members and the employees to live in house-arrest like conditions for the last 10 days and urged the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to take cognisance of the matter and deploy central troops for their protection.
Singh also added that his family, along with villagers have been working tirelessly to build and create thousands of jobs in the area but the police have been relentlessly targeting them. “The government has made this place a hell. Every time we approach them, cops say they have orders from the top,” he said.
OTV Sarua site in-charge arrested by the police in the dead of the night
It is pertinent to note here that at the site in-charge at Sarua, Anirudhha Panda, was arrested by a group of policemen at 3 AM on Tuesday. The posse of about 15-20 police officials climbed the boundary walls of the studio and hustled away Panda in the dead of the night without offering any reason.
According to OTV, the team of policemen broke into the room in which Panda was sleeping and treated him like a hardened criminal before hauling him away. He was arrested by the police as he did not respond to the summons sent regarding the written complaint filed against him. Before Panda, 3 other employees working with the OTV were arrested in 20 cases, leaving little doubt amongst many of the state-sponsored harassment against the company employees.
A host of allegations have been levelled against OTV and its affiliate organisations. Odisha Infratech Private Ltd (OIPL), a sister concern of OTV Network is accused of usurping land belonging to some members of SC community in Sarua village in Khurda district.
OTV MD Jagi Mangat Panda alleges political vendetta
Earlier, OTV MD Jagi Mangat Panda, the wife of BJP politician Baijayant Panda, issued an appeal to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to bring an end to the months-long harassment of the media house and its workers on some sudden allegations.
In a press statement released by Panda, she had asked the Odisha government to investigate all the allegations levelled against them but asked him to stop harassing the employees, forcing many to tender their resignations. She has alleged that her organisation’s fearless coverage of allegations of government corruption has invited the wrath of the Patnaik government against the OTV Network.
“All of Odisha is aware that this is only because OTV fearlessly covers allegations of government corruption. But we cover ALL news, which sometimes is in favour of the government and sometimes is against it, and our viewers can vouch for this neutrality,” she added.
A Christian woman named Yasmin and her son Usman Masih were brutally killed by a Muslim mob led by Muhammad Hassan and others in Kathor Kalan village in Gujranwala, Pakistan.
WARNING:GRAPHIC CONTENT: Even answering a question or exchange of harsh words on Islam is considered blasphemy punishable by death. A Christian Mother Yasmin & His Son Usman Masih are Murdered by Muhammad Hassan & others. Village Kathor kalan,wazirabad, Gujranwala,Punjab-Pakistan pic.twitter.com/LCDpKFt1PA
The gruesome lynching of the Christian mother-son duo reportedly took place in the name of blasphemy. According to activist Rahat Austin, Yasmin was shot dead by Mohammad Hassan. His son, severely injured, died minutes later as he desperately clung to his wife’s hands while his two daughters saw their father dying.
Usman Masih, a Pakistani Christian, minutes before dying with his mother already shot dead by Mohammad Hassan. People watched for nearly 20 minutes,but no one took him to hospital.He’s desperately holding his wife’s hand with two daughters, younger only one, looking at his father pic.twitter.com/VN4PFJ8TRW
The activist further mentions that the crowd gathered at the spot watched the specter of violence unleashed against the Christian family, with none of them coming forward to help them.
The incident which has its roots in blasphemy occurred days after Pakistani Prime Minister issued a clarion call to the Islamic world to unite against ‘growing Islamophobia’ in the aftermath of the merciless beheading of a French teacher, Samuel Paty. He was killed and decapitated for showing the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad published by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in his classroom.
Paty’s decapitation had triggered sharp disapproval from French President Emmanuel Macron, who raised concern over the ominous spread of Islamism and emphasised the need to foster an “Islam of enlightenment”. Macron’s sharp rebuke was also accompanied by sweeping measures ordered by the French government to suppress extremism.
Macron’s statement and action instituted by France in the aftermath of the Samuel Paty killing served as fodder for the leaders of the Islamic world, who made a beeline to rationalise the blasphemous murder of the French teacher and lay the blame on the Western world for hurting the religious sensitivities of the Muslims.
Turkish President Recep Erdogan, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and several others issued incendiary statements, with a view to gin up anti-western sentiments and justify violence in the name of blasphemy. Many believe such rationalising remarks from Islamic leaders have served to embolden the fundamentalists in their respective countries to take a more hardened approach to deal with the criticism of Islam.
Plight of minorities in Pakistan and rising cases of violence over blasphemy
As such Pakistan has a poor record of safeguarding its minorities population and blasphemy is used as an instrument to target the minorities. Christian and Hindu minorities in Pakistan live under a constant threat of being persecuted by the Muslim extremists in the country. Girls belonging to the minority communities are routinely abducted, forcibly married and converted into Islam by the Muslim fundamentalists. Non-compliance or resistance have often led to their murder.
Just a few days back, another killing over blasphemy had come to the fore in Pakistan. A bank manager was shot dead by the security guard over a purported blasphemy allegation. Videos of the crowd cheering the security guard for killing the Bank Manager had gone viral on the internet.
In one such viral video shared by Pakistani activist Rahat Austin, Ahmad Nawaz, the security guard who shot a manager of the National Bank of Pakistan branch in Quaidabad tehsil of Khushab, accusing him of blasphemy, is seen leading a fanatic crowd of supporters which greets him and raises slogans in his favour as they walk together on the street. Amidst loud cheers and slogans, one person appears from the crowd and kisses the guard.
Even the Pakistani legal system appears to side with the fundamentalists as far as blasphemy is concerned. In September 2020, a Pakistani court in Lahore convicted a Christian man to death under the controversial ‘blasphemy’ law. The Lahore Session Court sentenced 37-year-old Asif Pervaiz Masih for insulting Islam and sending ‘blasphemous’ texts to a former supervisor at work. Masih was arrested in 2013 for alleged blasphemy.
Recently, in a brutal incident, an elderly man belonging to the minority Islamic sect of Ahmadiyyas, who was facing a trial for ‘blasphemy’, was shot dead in front of the judge in a local court situated in a high-security zone in Pakistan’s Peshawar city.
Tahir Ahmad Naseem, who was arrested on the charges of blasphemy two years ago, died on the spot in the court of Additional Session Judge Shaukatullah Khan after being shot at. The man on trial was facing charges for ‘insulting’ the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
After the incident, shockingly, the Islamists in Pakistan had turned Khalid Khan—the man who shot dead Tahir Ahmed Naseem into a ‘hero’ as people took to social media to hail him as the ‘Lion of Islam’ for killing the ‘blasphemer’.
In a similar case, Aasia Bibi, a 48-year-old mother of four was convicted in 2010 for insulting Islam. She maintained her innocence but spent eight years in solitary confinement. Later she was acquitted by the Pakistan Supreme Court and had to escape to Canada. Salman Taseer, who was the former Punjab governor was also killed by his own guard in 2011 after he sought mercy for Asia Bibi.
While the NDA is locked in a heated battle in Bihar against the Mahagathbandhan, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), a “vote cutter”. Chowdhury said that the AIMIM was a “tact” of the BJP in Bihar elections. He asked all “secular” parties to beware of Owaisi.
As of now, Owaisi’s party has won one seat and is leading on four seat in Bihar. AIMIN had fielded Akgtarul Iman from Amour assembly constituency, Muhammad Izhar Asfi from Kochadhamam assembly constituency, Shahnawaz Alam from Jokihat assembly constituency, Syed Rknuddin from Baisi assembly constituency and Azhar Nayeemi from Bahadurgunj assembly constituency.
Chowdhury said that Owaisi has been used by the BJP to target the Congress. “We were assured of a victory in Bihar but then some smaller parties cost us. Owaisi’s party has played a role in cutting our votes, Owaisi has been used by the BJP to target us”, said Chowdhury. He added that BJP also used Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) to cut down the votes of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United).
AIMIM has fielded its candidates on 20 assembly seats in Bihar. Congress had termed Owaisi party as BJP’s B-team before the final phase of voting in Bihar. Congress had questioned as to why AIMIM had fielded its candidates on 20 seats in Bihar while it had contested on 9 seats only in Telangana. It is not just Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury who is wary of Owaisi, Mamata Banerjee also appears to be particularly concerned about the AIMIM.
As the NDA was racing ahead of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar earlier in the day, the opposition leaders have started coming up with creative justifications from declaring AIMIM BJP’s B-team to the usual EVM tampering.
