There seems to be no end to the ongoing political drama in the state of Karnataka as Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy today declared that he intends to seek a trust vote in the assembly in the current session.
Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy in Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru: After all these developments, I am seeking your permission & time to prove the majority in this session. #Karnatakapic.twitter.com/olx8BZ90Xx
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s decision to seek a trust vote in the assembly comes just an hour after Supreme Court’s order to the Karnataka speaker to maintain status quo in dealing with resignation and disqualification of the rebel Congress-JDS MLAs.
“In the light of various developments, I have to decide on seeking a trust vote,” said the Chief Minister Kumaraswamy. Reportedly, he has sought time from the Speaker to do the same.
Further, CM Kumaraswamy has expressed confidence in the majority of his government and said that the situation has forced him to take this action.
“I am forced to say this in this situation. A few MLAs’ decision has led to this crisis. I am not here to stay here permanently. I am ready for anything,” Kumaraswamy said.
The monsoon session of the Karnataka legislature began on July 12, even as the State is gripped by a political crisis. The Supreme Court is hearing the petition regarding the political crisis and has postponed the case to July 16.
It may be noted that the Karnataka assembly is yet to pass the finance bill, which is scheduled to be taken up during the monsoon session. CM Kumaraswamy, who is also the finance minister, had presented the budget in February this year, but the same is yet to be passed by the assembly. If the current situation continues, it is certain that assembly will not pass the budget, as BJP is going to vote against it. And if a budget or finance bill is rejected by a house, the government is assumed to have lost the confidence of the house and it has to resign. Probably that is why HD Kumaraswamy has decided to seek trust vote instead of having to resign after he fails to get the budget passed.
A total of 16 MLAs including 13 from the Congress and 3 from the JDS have resigned from the Congress-JDS government. In addition to these MLAs, two independents MLAs, who were made Ministers also decided to withdraw support from the 13-month old Congress-JD(S) coalition government.
According to reports, Pakistan is not going to open its airspace to commercial airlines until India initiates de-escalation. Pakistan’s Aviation Secretary Shahrukh Nusrat has informed a parliamentary committee that Pakistan’s airspace will open after India removes its fighter jets deployed at the forward IAF airbases.
Following the airstrikes on Jaish-e-Muhammad training camp in Balakot conducted by the IAF on February 26 in retaliation to the ghastly Pulwama attack, Pakistan had fully closed its airspace indefinitely. The closure of Pakistani airspace has affected almost 400 flights a day. This has cost about Rs 700 crore loss to Pakistan until June end, which is reeling under an unprecedented economic crisis.
The Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Aviation Secretary Nusrat on Thursday informed the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation that his department has intimated Indian officials that Pakistani airspace would remain unavailable for use by India until the country withdraws its fighter jets from forward positions.
Nusrat said, “We were approached by the Indian government officials requesting us to open our airspace. However, we raised our concerns that first India must withdraw its fighter planes placed forward.”
An illegal cow slaughterhouse which was being used to manufacture illegal arms was busted by Azamgarh police on July 10. Apart from carcasses, ammunition, including carbines were recovered in heavy quantity.
The Azamgarh police arrested the main accused, Mehboob Alam Sheikh along with 13 others, including a woman in this connection. Shaikh is a resident of Karkarhata village of Azamgarh district, Uttar Pradesh. These illegal operations were reportedly being conducted at his house.
According to SP Azamgarh, Triveni Singh, the others arrested are identified as, Abdul Baddu, Tipu Sultan, Md Sohail, Shafiq, Arif, Jameel Ahmed, Faiz Ahmad, Md Tariq, Md Jaish, Rizwan Ahmed, Jawwad Ahmed, Md Osama and Rukhsana Bano. They had reportedly been working for Mehboob Alam Sheikh for a long time. The accused were manufacturing illegal weapons under the guise of running a slaughterhouse, confirmed the SP.
SP Triveni Singh confirmed that “acting on a tip-off regarding largescale cow slaughtering in a house near a prominent graveyard in the area, a joint team of crime branch and Kotwali police raided the place”.
As the police team barged into the house all the accused attacked the police teams. A police officer was attacked with a sharp tool. Coincidently, the officer was wearing a bulletproof jacket because of which he was saved. The police, however, nabbed 14 accused while several managed to flee.
The police recovered Rs 52,000, six calves, meat and knives besides partially manufactured firearms, including carbine, pistols, etc., from the spot. Following the recovery, veterinary doctors were called for an autopsy of the slaughtered animals after which the carcasses were buried.
“Apart from an attempt to murder and other sections of IPC, the accused were booked under appropriate sections of Prevention Cow Slaughter Act and Arms and Explosives Act,” said the SP. He also announced a cash reward of Rs 25,000 for the police team for their achievement.
Earlier we had reported how a madarsa in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh was used as a front to smuggle illegal weapons. The weapons were reportedly ferried in a vehicle with ‘Shiv Sena’ sticker to avoid suspicion.
As a raucous democracy of loud and argumentative Indians, we tend to argue over everything. However, I suspect one of the things we can all agree on is that reading is a very good habit to cultivate. In fact, it is good for democracy when leading political figures demonstrate their erudition in public in times of crisis. Such as Karnataka speaker K R Ramesh Kumar, who is going through “dozens of constitutional books” in trying to make a decision on the resignation of rebel Congress and JDS MLAs.
Fascinating. I suggest to the Karnataka speaker that he should start a Facebook page and post cliff notes about all the stuff he is learning from dozens of constitutional books. The political crisis in Karnataka thus has the potential to become a great learning opportunity for the general public.
Now, I know that the Karnataka government has been through so many crises in the last thirteen months that I doubt anyone is still paying attention. The rebel MLAs have now been waiting almost a week for their resignations to be accepted. Karnataka Speaker and wannabe constitutional scholar K R Ramesh Kumar has been trying to decide during this time if the resignations are “voluntary and genuine.”
His scholarly approach to the situation has already been attracting some fanfare from local media. The Deccan Herald has a piece out by a learned “Bengaluru based political commentator” who praises how the Speaker is going by the rule book, complete with a Raghuram Rajan like photograph of scholar and speaker K R Ramesh.
It has been found that eight of the resignations of the MLAs were not in the correct format! This is what happens when public representatives don’t read enough of constitutional books.
The only thing missing now is source based reports that Karnataka Speaker is likely to become a judge on the International Court of Justice, alongside other source based reports that Raghuram Rajan is winning the Nobel Prize, becoming Chair of the US Federal Reserve, the UK’s Central Bank, the World Bank and the IMF.
Meanwhile, the Hon. Supreme Court has been acting swiftly and decisively to safeguard democracy in Karnataka.
And what did the Supreme Court have to say on this matter?
Wonderful! The Supreme Court has ordered the rebel MLAs to appear in person before the Karnataka speaker and give their resignations if they want to. During this process, the rebel MLAs will receive “adequate protection” from the Karnataka police, which can only help the speaker arrive at a fair and just conclusion.
At this point, the resignations have been pending for almost a week. This is roughly the same amount of time as the 24 hours that B S Yeddyurappa received from the Supreme Court to prove his majority last year.
Meanwhile, our much respected civil society, which is always at the forefront of protecting our constitution, is also silent.
The people of Karnataka are waiting.
I must clarify something here and very categorically so. Am I saying or implying that the supreme lords of our country, the moral lords and the secular lords are treating the Congress differently from how they treated the BJP?
I am definitely NOT saying that. Nor implying it in any way.
I am just enjoying the thrill of learning about constitutional conscience and how it is applied to different parties. To steal a line from The Simpsons:
“It’s the differences, of which there are none, that make the sameness exceptional.”
Amid the ongoing turmoil in Karnataka, the Supreme Court on Friday heard the matter of rebel Karnataka MLAs and ordered the speaker to maintain the status quo with regard to resignation and disqualification of 10 rebel MLAs. The apex court has now postponed the hearing to July 16.
In a relief to the rebel Congress-JDS MLAs, the Supreme Court said speaker should not decide on disqualification or resignation of MLAs till that date as constitutional issues needed to be addressed first.
Earlier in the day, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for the rebel MLAs had stated that they have no objection if the Supreme Court gives the speaker more time to decide on resignation of MLAs, but there should be no disqualification of the rebel MLAs. He also urged the court to issue contempt notice if the speaker doesn’t want to decide at all.
Mukul Rohatgi pointed out that respective parties have issued whip to the rebel MLAs to be present in house and vote on the budget. This is a ploy to cause their disqualification and acceptance of resignation is being purposefully delayed, said Rohtagi.
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared on behalf of Karnataka Speaker Ramesh Kumar said that the rebel MLAs had not followed the required format for submitting resignation. He said that their plea does not disclose a violation of fundamental rights and not a violation under Article 32.
Advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Karnataka CM, told the Supreme Court that one of the rebel MLAs was involved in Ponzi scheme for which government is being accused of. He further argued that the petition of rebel MLAs should not have been entertained by the Supreme Court. The speaker has the responsibility to satisfy himself that resignations were voluntary. “Order on resignations was passed by SC without issuing a notice to the speaker,” said Dhavan.
On Wednesday, the Speaker had moved Supreme Court asking for more time to decide on these MLAs’ resignation. Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar had said that he will examine the resignations of all rebel MLAs and see if they were voluntary and genuine.
The top court on Thursday had directed the Karnataka Speaker to take a decision on the resignations submitted by the disgruntled Congress-JD(S) MLAs. On Thursday, the rebel MLAs of the JD(S)-Congress coalition had met Karnataka Speaker Ramesh Kumar to submit their resignation again. However, the Speaker did not take any decision.
If the speaker of the Karnataka accepts the resignations given by the rebel MLAs, then the 13-month-old Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka will lose the majority, paving the way for the BJP to stake claim to form the next government.
Ever since the attack of the Durga Mandir in Hauz Qazi in Delhi, security personnel had been deployed to prevent any further violence. Now, as reported by Jagran, the paramilitary forces and police would remain in the Lal Kuan area of Hauz Qazi for 8 months.
Reportedly, there was no reported violence since the attack on the temple. However, security forces would be deployed as a precautionary measure. This is to ensure that no further attacks would be carried out on the temple or any other violence does not take place.
According to the police, there were nearly 700 security personnel in Lal Kuan until the time when the idols were re-installed in the temple. Now the number of personnel has been reduced and presently two companies of the Paramilitary and the police are deployed in the area. This means that there are nearly 200 security personnel have been deployed 24/7.
The forces would be deployed in three shifts each of 8 hours. One SP and three inspectors would be on duty throughout the day. A police control room would also be available at any time of the day.
The Durga Mata Temple in Hauz Qazi was attacked by a Muslim mob on the night of June 30th. The mob had vandalized the idols that were installed in the temple. So far 17 people have been arrested in connection with the case.
A few days ago, Hindu organizations had come together to rebuild the Durga Mandir. Chants of Jai Shree Ram echoed the bylanes of Chandni Chowk. VHP leader Surendra Jain had said that Hindus will no longer be silent victims of ‘Jihad’.
On 30th June 2019, the Hindu faith was brutally attacked. The Durga Temple desecration did not happen in some remote village of India but in the heart of Delhi. In Hauz Qazi, Chandni Chowk, a Muslim mob desecrated a temple, according to the locals even urinated in the temple, broke the idols while chanting slogans like ‘Allah Hu Akbar’, ‘Naara-E-Taqbeer’, and reportedly, ‘Modi Murdabad’.
Ever since that harrowing night, there has been a concerted effort to whitewash the Hauz Qazi violence. Recently, when VHP and Hindu activists organised the Praan Pratishtha rituals of the idols, media was more than happy to propagate the theory that Muslims of Hauz Qazi were helping in reinstalling the idols. This was contested vehemently by Hindu activists who were involved in the event. Earlier, the case of the missing Hindu boy was shamelessly ignored by the media. For 3 days, nobody even reported that there was a Hindu boy missing since the Muslim mob went on a rampage. When this correspondent reported the missing boy, the media, like vultures, gave excuses for not covering the FIR that the mother sat clutching.
A new narrative is now being peddled, shamelessly, brazenly. Congress mouthpiece National Herald published an article by one Humra Quraishi which could only be called the most dishonest piece of reporting one has seen on the Hauz Qazi incident. The article has been headlined, “Delhi’s Hauz Qazi episode: If administration and police want, they can prevent communal riots”.
The fulcrum of the article is the following premise: “It was clear that AAP govt in Delhi genuinely wanted the communal surcharge to be contained swiftly and prudently. Why can’t this happen in other sensitive areas of the country?”.
Firstly, the author gives absolutely no evidence to support her premise that the AAP government in Delhi ‘genuinely’ wanted the communal surcharge to be contained. On the contrary, there are several reports and evidence that point towards the exact opposite. There were reports that eyewitnesses alleged that AAP MLA Imran Hussain was a part of the mob that pelted stoned in Hauz Qazi. Though, Hussain denied the charges and said that he was a part of the mob only to calm tempers. Times Now accessed video footage as well that showed Hussain as being a part of the mob.
The article in National Herald, interestingly, doesn’t mention any of this. Not the eyewitness’ version and not Imran’s version as well.
Interestingly, the treachery of the National Herald article is apparent when the author starts equating the Hauz Qazi incident to that of the 2002 Gujarat riots. Cutting through the drivel, the basic premise of the author is that while the government failed to control Gujarat riots, the AAP government controlled the Hauz Qazi communal flare up and the country and the governments of the country should follow AAP’s example.
In fact, the article is dishonest enough to not even mention why there was a communal flare-up in the first place. In the entire report, there is no mention of the temple vandalisation. There is no mention that the communal flare-up was due to a Muslim mob desecrating a temple and that the Hindus, who are confined to one narrow lane of Hauz Qazi allege that stones were pelted at their homes. The entire report also does not mention that a boy went missing after the communal flare-up and according to the boy himself, he was thrashed by Muslims on that day.
But perhaps the most troubling part not only of the National Herald report but the media coverage, in general, has been the downright denial that there was a communal flare-up at all.
The report in the National Herald too tries to insinuate that the situation was contained in Hauz Qazi and that there was no communal flare up at all, thanks to the alacrity shown by the AAP government, of which, she gives no proof.
However, what is the truth?
This correspondent spent the better part of the day on the ground and any insinuation that either the AAP government controlled the tension or that no tension existed at all is a farce.
While speaking to the locals Hindu residents, they made it amply clear that nobody from the AAP government had gone to visit them. In fact, the Hindu residents had startling allegations. They asserted that if Muslims had been attacked by the Hindu residents, Arvind Kejriwal would have been sure to visit them and that the Muslim population felt emboldened because of the AAP MLAs of the area.
Further, far more than assuaging tempers, the attempt in Hauz Qazi by the media and the police alike was to hush up the tension. Firstly, for 3 days, the news of a Hindu boy missing had been hushed up by the media. The parents alleged that their minor boy had been kidnapped by the Muslim mob. In fact, the mother sat there with the FIR clutched in her hand and would have spoken to anyone who would listen.
The media, while present in Hauz Qazi chose to ignore the parent’s plight. While this correspondent was on the ground, the father of the missing boy had threatened to commit suicide if his boy was not found, and the media chose to walk away. The pertinent question here is whether the media would have behaved in the exact same manner were the tables turned and a Muslim boy was missing amidst communal tensions. The answer is, perhaps, not.
The police on the other tried their best to suppress the news of the attack on Hindus. Firstly, while the parents of the missing boy were wailing, one of the policemen had alleged that their boy is hail and hearty. When the parents asked him how he knew that and whether he knew the whereabouts of the boy, the police denied. They said they didn’t know and were trying to locate the boy. This was on the 2nd of July. Interestingly, after the OpIndia report, the boy was found on the 3rd evening and the police had claimed that he was never kidnapped, however, he had run away to his relative’s place. The boy too had a similar version. That he was first thrashed by some Muslim youth when he said he was a Hindu and then later when the mob started building up, he was thrashed again after which he took a train to Haridwar. He said that he coincidentally met his relative at some station en route. The story, however, leaves many loopholes to be explored. Did the police know? if they did, why did the officers in Hauz Qazi deny knowledge of it? For the lack of more evidence, nobody has a choice but to accept the version being presented, however, even in that version, it is clear that the boy allegedly ‘ran away’ after being thrashed twice by the Muslim mob. Was his disappearance then not related to the communal tension? And despite everything, why did the media shy away from reporting an FIR? Does the media regularly not report FIRs or was it a choice to ignore this particular one and brand it as “responsible journalism”?
Furthermore, a vital piece of information was left out by the media, perhaps deliberately, because this correspondent can vouch for the fact that had any reporter spoken to the Hindus of the area for more than 15 minutes, this detail could not have been missed.
The Hindu residents alleged that the Delhi police tried to cover up the incident of the temple desecration altogether. The Hindu residents pointed towards idols that had allegedly been brought in by the Delhi police overnight to quietly replace the ones broken by the Muslim mob. The residents claimed that the police even changed the glass panels shattered by the Muslim mob overnight. The Hindus, however, did not let the police replace the idols and locked them up in a tinier area near the temple.
Idols that the police allegedly got to replace broken ones
If this was not proof enough that Hauz Qazi was a tinderbox, when a group of people were arrested in connection with the communal tensions, they admitted to the police that they had broken the shutter of the temple and even entered the homes of Hindus to ‘terrorise them’.
Let that sink in.
The mob not only desecrated the temple but entered the homes of Hindus to terrorise them. This was reported by the Times of India. A publication that the ‘secular-liberal’ gang loves. The residents had told this correspondent that the mob had even urinated in the temple.
After all of this, Congress mouthpiece wants its readers to believe that the AAP government tried to assuage feelings. Tried to create normalcy. In fact, National Herald implies that the communal tensions were successfully controlled unlike that of Godhra. The comparison, as asinine it was, was made by a publication that could not even get itself to write that a temple was desecrated and Hindus were terrorised.
Perhaps the Hauz Qazi incident unnerved the Delhi Lutyens crowd because they could not claim tyranny of distance. Right under their nose, a Muslim mob took out the funeral of Ganga-Jamuna Tehzeen and it just had to be covered up. Should the police be held responsible for the attempted alleged cover-up? Yes. Should the collective ‘secular’ ecosystem be held responsible for whitewashing the plight of Hindus confined to a tiny bylane? Absolutely. Did the Congress mouthpiece simply peddle the same narrative and abandoned the Hindus by publishing this report? Without a doubt.
Amartya Sen’s recent remarks on ‘Jai Shri Ram’, where he opined that the chant has no place in Bengal, has been put up on banners across Kolkata.
West Bengal: Banners displaying an image of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and his earlier statement on chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, seen in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/gTikc1uWEf
The banners say, “Never heard the Jai Shri Ram slogan. It has been used to beat up people. I don’t think this slogan has any relation with the culture of Bangla. I asked my four-year-old granddaughter who is her favourite God, she replied ‘Maa Durga’. Ramnavami can never be compared with Maa Durga.”
The banners themselves say that these have been put up ordinary citizens of the city but the identity of these citizens hasn’t been revealed. The banners are painted in Mamata Banerjee’s favourite colours as well, Blue and White, and have a photograph of Amartya Sen. No party or organisation have taken ownership of the banners till now. The flex printed banners are framed, which means someone has spent a considerable amount of money in making and putting them up.
Controversial Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim asserted that the posters were put up by ordinary citizens in the city. He further claimed that the BJP had insulted Amartya Sen by having a difference of opinion. He told TOI, “The poster of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has been put up by ordinary people of the city. We support Amartya Sen, the great son and pride of Bengal. By disagreeing with him BJP has insulted him.”
BJP MLA Tigga, as expected, was furious with Sen. He said, “Amartya Sen has spent more over time in America than in Bengal so the value of Jai Shri Ram is not known to him. If we don’t chant Jai Shri Ram in Bengal and in India then should we chant it in Pakistan, Bangladesh and America?”
President of the West Bengal unit of the BJP, Dilip Ghosh, echoed similar sentiments. “Amartya Sen probably doesn’t know Bengal. Does he know about Bengali or Indian culture? Jai Shri Ram is chanted in every village. Now entire Bengal says it,” he said.
Amartya Sen had recently claimed that ‘Jai Shri Ram’ wasn’t a part of Bengali culture and the slogan is used merely to beat people up. He had also claimed that Ram Navami has gained in popularity in recent times, something which wasn’t present earlier.
Amartya Sen is known for his controversial and biased remarks on religion. Earlier, he had said that Christian schools are perfectly acceptable but other faith schools are a big mistake and should be scrapped.
Sen’s recent remarks, combined with the banners, appear to be an attempt to foment regionalist divide in the country. In recent times, Bengal has witnessed a concerted attempt by political factions to launch a movement along the lines of Dravidianism to thwart the rise of the BJP. Mamata Banerjee had herself participated in it by labelling protesting doctors ‘Outsiders‘ and accused them of working for the BJP.
Unable to contain the stellar rise of the BJP in the state as a consequence of Trinamool’s minority appeasement and deteriorating law and order, regional chauvinism appears to be the card political factions have decided to play to keep BJP away from power.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the Bombay High court judgement passed on June 27 upholding the validity of reservations granted to the Maratha community by the state government. The reservations have been granted under the socially and educationally backward class category (SEBC) in government jobs and educational institutions.
However, the apex court said that the quota created as per Maharashtra SEBC Act passed last November cannot be given retrospective application with effect from 2014.
Maratha Reservation: Supreme Court issues notice in appeal challenging Bombay High Court verdict, no stay on judgment.
However, retrospective application of reservation from 2014, stayed.
The bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was hearing a plea by a group of social workers, academics and representatives of the Muslim community who have appealed against a Bombay High Court decision upholding a “one-person or one-community” Maharashtra legislation providing reservation to the Maratha community in education and public employment.
The petitioners, led by Mohammad Sayeed Noori Shafi Ahmed, asserted that the Maharashtra legislation is against the very tenets of equality enshrined as a fundamental right in the Constitution.
Advocates Vipin Nair and Madhavi Ayyappan representing the group of social workers, academics and representatives of the Muslim community who have appealed against a Bombay High Court decision, contended that the high court decision was seriously erroneous and based on incomplete data.
A Division Bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharti Dangre of the Bombay High court on June 27 had upheld the validity of the SEBC Act which was enacted on the recommendations of the State Commission for Backward Classes headed by retired judge Justice MG Gaikwad. The commission was constituted under the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission Act, 2005.
The Act was passed by the State Legislative Assembly on 29th November 2018 granting 16% reservation to Marathas.
Several petitions were filed against the SEBC Act and the Gaikwad Commission report on the ground that the 16% reservation granted to Marathas violated the 50 % cap prescribed by the Supreme Court in the landmark case of Indira Sawhney v Union of India.
The Bombay High court had observed that the 50% ceiling could be exceeded under exceptional and extraordinary circumstances and the reservation was based on justifiable data submitted by Gaikwad Commission. However, the court has asked the state to cap the reservations at 12% for jobs and 13% at educational institutions.
BJP MLA Pranav Singh ‘Champion’ from Uttarakhand has been expelled from the party. The MLA was recently seen brandishing guns and dancing to a popular Bollywood song in a video clip that had gone viral. The MLA was already under suspension for 3 months since last month.
#Breaking | BJP MLA Pranav Singh Champion (@PranavChampion) who was seen brandishing guns in a video has been expelled from the party.
The video of him brandishing guns and dancing to Bollywood songs shirtless had gone viral a couple of days ago, causing major embarrassment for the party. The Uttarakhand state unit had also earlier requested the central leadership to grant him a permanent suspension.
Pranav Singh ‘Champion’ is a BJP MLA from Khanpur. He had resigned from Congress in 2016 where he was a cabinet minister in the then Congress government in Uttarakhand led by Harish Rawat. Singh had won the subsequent assembly elections from Khanpur seat in a BJP ticket.
It is not the first time that the MLA’s dancing videos are going viral on social media. His actions and theatrics have always been controversial. In 2015, another dancing video of the MLA had gone viral where Pranav Singh was seen dancing shirtless with guns in his hand. In 2016, another video had surfaced where he was seen enjoying the dance of a bar dancer inside his party office.
Last month, the MLA was suspended for three months as a punishment after he purportedly misbehaved with a journalist. It was reported that Singh was asking for the BJP MP ticket for his wife from the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat.
Yesterday, Pranav Singh Champion had also requested for security cover from Dehradun police alleging threat to him and his family even as the state unit recommended permanent suspension for him.
