Ending the speculations over his candidature for the post of Congress president, the Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on September 23, 2022 declared that he would contest the post and the date of filing the nomination will be decided after getting back to his State.
Gehlot made his plans clear while talking to media persons in Kochi. The veteran leader, who reached Kochi on Thursday to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra, held discussions with Rahul Gandhi on the day on the organisational elections. Gandhi had earlier made it clear that he will not be in the fray for the top organisational post and any one was free to contest.
On reaching Kochi on Thursday evening, Gehlot had told media that he would try to persuade Gandhi to take over the mantle of the organisation. On a question on finding the successor for the post of Chief Minister in the event of him getting elected, Gehlot said the issue will be decided by party leader Sonia Gandhi and Ajay Maken, who was in charge of the organisation in Rajasthan.
The election to the post will be held on October 17 and results announced on October 19. Gehlot said he decided to contest for the post as it was a question of democracy in the party. On reports that a few others, including Shashi Tharoor, may join the fray, Gehlot said it was not an issue and every one should work together to strengthen the party at all levels after the elections so that the party emerge as a strong Opposition.
On Rahul Gandhi’s statement that he expected every one should uphold the spirit of Udaypur resolution of ‘one-man, one-post, Gehlot said the party leaders Maken and Gandhi would decide on it.
Supreme Court stays Lokayukta probe against former Karnataka CM Yediyurappa
The Supreme Court on September 23, 2022 stayed a Lokayukta probe against former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on the basis of a private complaint leveling graft allegations against him.
A Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud issued notice to the respondent, Abraham T.J., an activist and president of the Karnataka Anti-Graft and Environmental Forum, who had filed a complaint that Yediyurappa received ₹12.5 crore as bribe from a construction company in connection with a housing project of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
The Special Court had refused to order an investigation for want of sanction even though it had found that “there are some material to refer the complaint for investigation”.
However, the Karnataka High Court had restored the corruption complaint, following which, Yediyurappa had moved the Supreme Court in a special leave petition. Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Siddharth Dave, for Yediyurappa, said the High Court could not have restored the case without obtaining prior sanction. The allegations refer to acts done in the course of official duties.
The opposite side countered that no prior sanction was required for a special court to order a probe on the basis of a private complaint. “The bar for enquiry, inquiry or investigation under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, without previous approval is only a fetter on the power of the police authorities. Wherever the court itself is in receipt of a private complaint and proceeds to order for investigation by the authorities pursuant to order under Section 156(3) of Cr.P.C., such a bar under Section 17A of the P.C. Act would not be an embargo on the court’s power,” the Karnataka High Court had said.
Bombay High Court allows Uddhav Thackeray faction to hold Dasara rally at Shivaji Park
The Bombay High Court on Friday permitted the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena to hold its annual Dasar rally at the iconic Shivaji Park ground in central Mumbai on October 5.
A division bench of Justices R.D. Dhanuka and Kamal Khata allowed the petition filed by the Thackeray-led Sena faction and its secretary Anil Desai challenging the Mumbai civic body’s order refusing them permission. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) order was a “clear abuse of process of law and bonafide,” said the court.
The bench allowed the Thackeray-led party to use the ground from October 2 to October 6 while asking it to maintain law and order.
The BMC had on September 21 said it was refusing permission as a similar application had been filed by MLA Sada Sarvankar of the rival Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and if permission was granted to one faction, it would lead to law and order problems as apprehended by local police.
The Thackeray-led Shiv Sena welcomed the High Court’s decision to allow it to hold its rally at the iconic park ground, saying its faith in the judiciary stood vindicated. Welcoming the decision, party spokesperson Manisha Kayande said this year’s rally will be grand.
There must have been some pressure on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) which had denied the permission, she claimed. “Our faith in the judiciary stands vindicated. For the last many years, Dasara rally has been taking place at ‘Shiv-tirtha’ (as the Sena refers to Shivaji Park), but this time attempt was made through the Shinde faction and BJP to create obstacles. Thankfully, the court rejected it,” said Sena secretary Vinayak Raut.
Amit Shah slams Nitish-Lalu duo; appeals people to vote BJP for absolute majority in next poll
After Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal-United snapped ties with BJP in August this year, Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah reached Purnia district in Seemanchal (bordering) area of north-east Bihar on September 23, 2022 and slammed the duo of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad.
In his address to the Jan Bhawna (people’s emotion) public meeting at Rangbhumi Maidan (ground) of Purnia town, Shah attacked both Kumar and Prasad. He also ridiculed Kumar for backstabbing BJP and other leaders from time to time for the sake of only saving his chair (of chief minister).
“You backstabbed BJP to nurse your dream of becoming Prime Minister but Nitish babu you cannot become PM through these tricky politics”, Shah said while, the crowd cheered.
“After betraying BJP, Nitish babu went on to sit in the lap of Lalu Prasad but I wish to tell you Lalu ji that Nitish Kumar will betray you again and go with Congress Party to fulfill his dream of becoming PM. He (Nitish Kumar) can go anywhere for power. His only policy is that his chair should be protected anyhow”, said Shah and asked the gathered crowd “could Nitish Kumar become PM?”
“It was PM Modi’s large heart that BJP offered you to become Chief Minister of the State despite lesser number of seats your party had got in last assembly poll but in the upcoming 2024 Parliamentary poll the pair of Nitish-Lalu will be finished and in 2025 BJP will form the government on its own in Bihar”, said the Union Home Minister.
Shah also listed names of those leaders whom Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had betrayed earlier and said “betrayal has become Nitish Kumar’s habit and who will believe him now”.
Shah also reminded people about the multi crore fodder scam in which Prasad is convicted; jungle raj of Lalu era, caste wars and asked the gathered crowd: “do you want this government again?”. “Laluji what was happening during your regime everyone knows it”, he added.
“Now, with Nitish Kumar sitting in the lap of Lalu ji, both will take out lathi (stick) rally in the State”, Shah mocked. He also warned Prasad to be cautious with Kumar as he could betray him again for his lust of power.
Taking name of JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, Shah further said he has become a new leader. “You were one of the petitioners in multi crore fodder scam case but those were involved in the scam now have become ministers in the government. Now what will you do?” Shah asked Singh.
Singh, recently, was seen on forefront on snapping ties with BJP and joining hands with RJD to form mahagathbandhan government in the state. “Now they (the mahagathbandhan leaders) want to ban CBI from coming to the state”, wondered Shah.
This was first visit of any top BJP leader to the state since chief minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) snapped its ties with the BJP to form mahagathbandhan government in alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, Left and other parties in Bihar.
Shah will be meeting all top State BJP leaders and its core committee members in neighbouring Kishanganj district after Purnia’s Jan Bhawna (people’s emotion) rally. Shah will leave for Delhi from Kishanganj on Saturday.
All top state BJP leaders, legislators and parliamentarians have been camping in Purnia district for last several days in view of making Shah’s rally a mega show. The four districts of Seemanchal (bordering) area of north-east Bihar, Purnia, Kishanganj, Araria and Katihar have about 47% Muslim population while, Kishanganj alone has 67%.
The four districts represent 24 assembly seats while, four Parliamentary seats are from there.
Award-winning British author Hilary Mantel dies at 70
Hilary Mantel, the Booker Prize-winning author of the acclaimed “Wolf Hall” saga of historical novels, has died. She was 70. Mantel died “suddenly yet peacefully” surrounded by close family and friends, publisher HarperCollins said Friday.
Mantel is credited with reenergising historical fiction with “Wolf Hall” and two sequels about the 16th-century English powerbroker Thomas Cromwell, right-hand man to King Henry VIII.
The publisher said Mantel was “one of the greatest English novelists of this century.”
“Her beloved works are considered modern classics. She will be greatly missed,” it said in a statement.
Mantel won the Booker Prize twice, for “Wolf Hall” in 2009 and its sequel “Bring Up the Bodies” in 2012. Both were adapted for the stage and television.
Hilary Mantel, winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, poses with a copy of her book ‘Bring up the Bodies’, shortly after the award ceremony in central London on October 16, 2012. | Photo Credit: AP
The final instalment, “The Mirror and the Light,” was published in 2020. The success of “Wolf Hall” propelled Mantel from a critically acclaimed but modestly selling novelist into a literary superstar.
Nicholas Pearson, Mantel’s longtime editor, said her death was “devastating.”
“Only last month I sat with her on a sunny afternoon in Devon, while she talked excitedly about the new novel she had embarked on,” he said. “That we won’t have the pleasure of any more of her words is unbearable. What we do have is a body of work that will be read for generations.”
Mantel turned Cromwell, a shadowy political fixer, into a compelling, complex literary hero. Cromwell was an architect of the Reformation who helped the king realise his desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. The Vatican’s refusal to annul Henry’s first marriage led the monarch to reject the authority of the pope and install himself as head of the Church of England.
It’s a period of history that has inspired many books, films and television series, from “A Man for All Seasons” to “The Tudors.” But Mantel managed to make the well-known story new and exciting.
“I’m very keen on the idea that a historical novel should be written pointing forward,” she told The Associated Press in 2009. “Remember that the people you are following didn’t know the end of their own story. So they were going forward day by day, pushed and jostled by circumstances, doing the best they could, but walking in the dark, essentially.”
In Brief:
At least 73 migrants drowned when a boat they boarded in Lebanon sank off Syria, Syria’s Health Minister said Friday, the deadliest such shipwreck from Lebanon in recent years. Lebanon, which since 2019 has been mired in a financial crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern times, has become a launchpad for illegal migration, with its own citizens joining Syrian and Palestinian refugees clamouring to leave the country. Around 150 people, mostly Lebanese and Syrians, were on board the small boat that sank Thursday in the Mediterranean Sea off the Syrian city of Tartus.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
