Kejriwal's Bail

Congress Is Finished In Gujarat: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday claimed that the Congress party is “finished” in Gujarat, where assembly polls will be held later this year.

Kejriwal’s claim came in response to a reporter’s question regarding a Congress leader’s allegation during his visit to the poll-bound state, where AAP is presenting itself as a strong contender and alternative to the ruling BJP.
Congress had alleged that the AAP government in Punjab is spending crores on ads for the Gujarat polls whereas Punjab is “on the brink of bankruptcy”.

Responding to the allegation, Kejriwal said, “Congress is finished. You should stop taking their questions. People no more care about their questions.”

Notably, the AAP supremo has urged the people on multiple occasions not to “waste their votes” on Congress.

Kejriwal has pitched AAP as the “only alternative” to the BJP in the state.

After its landslide victory in the recently held Punjab Assembly elections, AAP is seeking to expand its footprints in other states.

AAP had made its debut in Gujarat in the 2017 Assembly polls, but could not open its account.

AAP’s hopes in Gujarat have been fuelled by its performance in the February 2021 Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) polls in which BJP won 93 seats, while Aam Aadmi Party bagged 27 seats and the Congress drew a blank.

Meanwhile, in the 2017 Assembly elections, Congress had given a scare to the ruling BJP by restricting its MLAs to 99 and winning 77 seats on its own. There are 182 assembly seats in Gujarat. (ANI)

L-G Appointment Of Aldermen In MCD

CBI Probe Into Irregularities In Buying 1,000 Low-Floor Buses By AAP Govt

The Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi VK Saxena has approved the proposal to forward a complaint to the CBI about the alleged irregularities in the procurement of 1,000 low-floor buses by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).

The complaint was registered by the Chief Secretary of Delhi Transport Corporation.
The complaint was filed on June 9, which stated the appointment of the Minister of Transport as the Chairman of the Committee for tendering and procurement of buses by DTC was done in a “pre-mediated manner”.

Irregularities in the bid of July 2019 for procurement of 1000 low floor BS-IV and BS-VI buses and a bid of March 2020 for purchase and annual maintenance contract of low floor BS-VI buses, read the complaint.

The said complaint was forwarded to the Chief Secretary on July 11 for eliciting comments from the concerned departments of the Government of N.C.T of Delhi (GNCTD) and recommend the way forward.

The report, thus, substantiated the claims made in the complaint. The same discrepancies were clearly brought out in a report by the Deputy Commissioner, DTC.

There were various irregularities found after a detailed examination of the documents by DTC.

The discrepancy in the document read, ” The DTC had floated the tender with RFP No CGM/SBU/924/2019/AC for procurement of 1000 buses and it was a single tender for supply of 1000 BS-IV or latest buses. In the pre-bid, the quantity of 1000 buses was bifurcated into 400 BS-IV buses and 600 BS-VI buses but the tender still remained one only and the bidders could have made the bid for the entire quantity of these buses of both types”.

Another irregularity that was found was that M/s TATA Motors Ltd made a bid for 600 buses only. At the same time, JBM made a bid for 1000 buses (400 BS-IV and 600 BS-VI) at a rate higher than Tata Motors. In effect, JBM became the single bidder and therefore, the tender should have been rejected and a fresh tender should have been called by the Tender Committee.

However, the bidding consultant (DIMTS) and the Tender Committee of DTC did not correctly evaluate the financial bids. The Committee declared M/S TATA Motors Ltd eligible for the bid of 600 BS-VI buses.

It was further found that DTC invited M/s JBM for negotiation for BS-IV buses on the basis of rates of TATA which never made any bid for this category. This action of DTC was without any justification and the price negotiation with M/s JBM is violative of GFR and CVC guidelines.

Interestingly, there was a specific requirement of front-facing seats in the RFP but both the Consultant and DTC Tender Committee did not reject JBM’s bid for want of this condition.

The report by the Chief Secretary also brings out clearly that the Committee headed by OP Aggrawal, IAS (Retd.) to look into the charges of irregularities and corruption in the procurement of buses in June 2021, in its report submitted in August 2021, clearly indicted the AAP government for “procedural deviations in the entire tendering and procurement procedure”. Criminal misconduct by public servants in this tender exercise will be ascertained by the investigating agency, i.e. the CBI.

On the basis of this, Chief Secretary recommended referring the matter to CBI, which was approved by the LG.

The Aam Admi Party (AAP) in response to the CBI investigation said, “LG is facing many serious allegations of corruption. To divert attention, he is making such inquiries. All inquiries so far have yielded no results. After making frivolous complaints against three ministers (CM, Dy CM and Health Min), he has now made a complaint against the fourth minister. He should first respond to the allegations of corruption against him”.

“These Buses were never purchased, and tenders were cancelled. Delhi needs a more educated LG. This man has no clue what he is signing on”, said the AAP party. (ANI)

Amit At IB Meeting

Bharat Jodo Yatra Wearing Foreign T-Shirt: Shah Takes Jibe At Rahul

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday, took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, saying that the Congress leader is leading a campaign to unite the nation- the Bharat Jodo Yatra “wearing a foreign t-shirt”.

The BJP on Friday attacked the Congress on social media, claiming that Rahul Gandhi, who has been raising the issue of inflation during the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, was himself wearing a T-shirt worth Rs 41,257 and that too of a foreign brand when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been leading the mission of ‘make-in India’.
Reminding Gandhi of his speech in the Parliament where he said that “India is not a nation”, Shah said that lakhs of people have sacrificed their lives for this country, and asked the Congress leader to “study India’s history”.

“Rahul Gandhi has set out with Bharat Jodo Yatra wearing foreign t-shirt. I am reminding a speech by Rahul Gandhi and Congressmen in his Parliament. Rahul Baba had said that India is not a nation. Rahul Gandhi, in which book have you read this? This is the nation for which lakhs and lakhs of people have sacrificed their lives. Rahul Gandhi needs to study India’s history,” Shah said while addressing the Booth President Sankalp Mahasammelan in Jodhpur.

The Home Minister further hit out at Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over the “highest prices” of fuel in the state and said that his government did not reduce the taxes on petrol and diesel despite the Centre slashing the tax rates on them.

“The prime Minister reduced the tax on petrol recently, all the BJP-ruled states reduced it too, but Ashok Gehlot did not do it. The most expensive petrol and diesel in the country is sold in Rajasthan today. The most expensive electricity is available in Rajasthan. Who is responsible?” he said.

Shah urged the people to “uproot the Gehlot government” and said that the BJP government will reduce the taxes as well as the price of electricity.

“Congress government cannot do development work. Cannot build roads, cannot provide electricity, cannot provide employment. The Gehlot government can only do the vote-bank and appeasement politics,” he added.

Shah also targeted the law and order situation in the state and recalled the brutal murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal who was hacked to death in Udaipur earlier this year.

“Tailor Kanhaiya Lal was brutally killed, would you bear it? Would you tolerate the Karauli violence? Would you tolerate the demolishing of the 300-year-old temple in Alwar?” he said.

“The Congress had done the pre-planned riots of, Jodhpur, Chittoor, Nohar, Malpura and Jaipur. I want to tell Ashok Gehlot that if you can’t handle, then step down, people of Rajasthan are ready to bring the BJP. The cases against women have increased by 56 per cent. A woman teacher was set ablaze alive in Jaipur. Gau Mata is also not safe here. PM Modi approved 23 medical colleges in Rajasthan,” the Home Minister added launching a scathing attack on Gehlot.

Shah urged the people to vote the BJP to power in the 2023 Assembly elections which would pave the way to the party’s victory on all the seats in the state in the 2024 general elections in the state.

“We have to win all the seats in Rajasthan in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. 2023 elections come before the 2024 polls. If the government is not formed in 2023, then winning all the seats won’t happen. If you have to make us win all the seats in 2024, then you have to form the BJP government in 2023 with two-thirds majority,” said Shah.

Earlier today, Amit Shah laid the foundation stone for border tourism development work at Tanot temple complex adjacent to India-Pakistan international border, which lies around 120 km from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

The Home Minister laid the foundation stone of the project as part of his two-day visit to Rajasthan. He reached Jaisalmer on Friday evening. (ANI)

Tejashwi Yadav

Will Be Successful If All Oppstn Parties Unite: Tejashwi

After Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s meeting with Opposition leaders, his deputy and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday said that if all the Opposition parties unite then they will be successful in defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 general elections.

“It is a good thing. It has been clearly said that if all of us are united, we will be successful (in defeating BJP)” Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav told media persons here when asked about CM Nitish Kumar’s recent meetings with Opposition leaders in Delhi.
Pertinent to mention, Nitish Kumar recently was on a visit to Delhi. During his Delhi visit, the Bihar CM met leaders of several parties in the country.

Nitish Kumar met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday and then met Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

He also met Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala. He also met with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Sharad Yadav in Delhi, who said, “It is necessary that the opposition parties come together. There is no better face (of Opposition) than Nitish Kumar.”

This came days after Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with the BJP in August and formed the government with RJD in Bihar.

Earlier Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had also visited Bihar and met Nitish Kumar, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as part of efforts towards forging opposition unity.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) meeting on Thursday announced that Nitish Kumar, Hemant Soren, and herself with other leaders will come together for the 2024 general election.

“Politics is not an easy thing to do, I remember working hard and fighting for winning the elections. People who were not present there will not understand how difficult it was”, said Banerjee. (ANI)

#MyVote2019 – ‘I Want Modi As PM, But…’


All economic/ national interest reasoning aside, the fuel cost still pinches on a personal level. I have to cut corners from the money that I earn by giving tuitions as well as the pocket money given by my family, so that I can manage petrol for my bike. I admit that on many counts I am happy with the current government. Modi ji is making a genuine effort to clean up the politics from the top. But he is often ill-advised when it comes to implementing certain avoidable decisions.

Demonetisation, in my opinion, was a total failure.  Where’s the black money which Modi ji promised to bring back? Will he answer these questions when he comes here to ask for votes in 2019? I want to advise Modi ji to think twice before taking any big decision or making big promises in election rallies. I would like to see him become the PM again, but this time with certain checks and balances in place. I know right now there is nobody in our politics who deserves to be prime minister more than Modi ji.

But he better choose a good cabinet and then use his time to take important decisions after getting an in-depth understanding of their impact on people’s lives. The Opposition needs to pull up their socks. They can beat many BJP leaders but they still have a long way to go to challenge Modi ji’s stature. They need to build a personality of their own and not one that is built in contrast to Modi ji’s personality.

FOCUS: NATURE OF BELIEF THAN ACT OF CONVERSION


Aggressive conversions are somewhat alien to traditional Indian concept of belief.  Competitive conversions are the defining characteristic of Abrahamic religions and modern secularism. Western and Middle Eastern history is a long litany of bloody wars between different creeds of religion and different creeds of secular political movements.
Christianity has fought Islam and vice-versa. Both have subsects that have fought each other. Northern Ireland and current Middle East is a testament to that. Secular nationalism has fought two world wars. Communism and capitalism, secular liberalism and secular ultra nationalism have all been fighting proxy wars for decades. This pathology was introduced by Congress party into India.
The pathology also informs western norms on freedom of religion and thought. It is based on the premise of ‘false god’ theory. That the ‘god’ or system of the other is false and the other needs to be saved from his/her error. It is the foundation of western liberalism as much as Abrahamic religions.
Indian belief systems, on the other hand, are passive systems. They express themselves, but do not compete in a market to save souls or lifestyles. They can be critical of each other and may even show their distinctiveness by commenting on the difference with the other. But they do not have a theory of ‘false god’ to condemn the other as a ‘false way’.
Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhi have all coexisted without going to war against each other to destroy the ‘God’ or gods of the other. They are benign belief systems. People convert to them by genuine freedom of personal choice rather than by financial, physical or psychological coercion.
Nothing puts this in context than the langar at Sri Harmandir Sahib and the aid work of Christian missionary institutions. Thousands of non Sikhs eat langar at Sri Harmandir Sahib every day. They are never handed a leaflet about Sikhi. No one attempts to ‘convert’ them or save their souls by the inducement of free meal. On the other hand, a Christian missionary charity will inevitably slip in a book or leaflet on ‘the only way’ (Jesus) once a person has taken their charity a couple of times.
There are many individual Muslims and Christians who will serve and help humanity without seeking to convert. But the principle of ‘Nishkam’ is not part of either Islamic or Christian missionary institutions.
If there isn’t a material gain in the mind of the institutional donor then there is an intention of saving the ‘soul’ of the recipient. This different approach to belief lies at the heart of tensions between Hindu organisations such as RSS on one hand and Christian and Islamic institutions on the other. A ‘stronger’ law prohibiting conversions or increasing bureaucratic hurdles in the process of conversions will not address the concern among Hindus.
The success of Christian missionaries is not their better organisation or better literature. It is in fact based on the monopoly they and Islamic preachers enjoy against the passivity of indigenous Indian belief systems. No indigenous Indian belief system has the conceptual framework of competitive proselytising. It simply is not an Indian thing to do.
Of course India needs a law and policy on conversions. But it has to be based on Indian value systems rather than bureaucratic institutionalisation of fear of conversions. It has to target the very nature of belief rather than the freedom of choice to convert.
A law and policy in India needs to insist that all belief systems in India have to abide by the principles of passivity and coexistence rather than competitive marketing. Some fundamental ideas of Abrahamic belief systems in India need to change and make them acceptable within Indian civilisation. The institutions of beliefs need to show that they are not engaged in financial inducement, offensive language about other beliefs or marketing techniques.
This is neither exceptionalism nor against human rights norms. Indians who live in the west are expected to live by the norms of western world. There is no reason the same principle cannot apply to people and systems that wish to co-exist in India.
After all Judaism and pre colonial Christians coexisted in India by understanding the culture of civility to others for hundreds of years. Surely like Sri Harmandir Sahib, Christian Charities can also provide without an insidious eye on ‘conversion’ or saving souls.
A law and policy restraining competitive proselytising will not be against international norms. UN conventions on freedom of religion state the right of an individual to freedom of religion and right to decide his or her own religion. It does not grant a right to be offensive directly or indirectly by condemning others as ‘false’.
In fact Article 18.2 of International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states, ‘No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.’ It is a matter of interpretation what coercion means. In the Indian context, even financial and charitable inducements can constitute ‘coercion’.
Further, the ICCPR in Article 18.3 also states, ‘Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.’ In the Indian context, it is the fundamental right and freedom of others not to be exposed to competitive proselytising. If the French can do it in their Laicite law, so can India.
Jasdev Rai
A medical doctor with a MA in politics and some time to spare. Has long interest in governance, human and political rights issues. Written and published academic papers on ethics, gender foeticide, anti terrorism, freedom of conscience, conflict resolution and Sikh philosophy. Developed and written a critique on Universalism for UNESCO in the ethics agenda for UNESCO. Has a long record of activism at the United Nations and has been to several Human Rights Council sessions.