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Bhaukla Gaye Hain: Modi Fires Salvos At ‘Opposition Unity’ Front

By LokMarg 27th June 2023

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took a jibe at the opposition meeting held on June 23 saying that they have become flustered because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is going to win the 2024 elections.

“Wo baukhala gaye hain (They have become flustered). So, they have started to hold meetings… A few days ago a photo session was organised by them (Opposition) and if you see the photographs, you will realise that every person in the photo has their own history of scams, Every photo is a guarantee of corruption and scams. Everyone together is a guarantee of at least Rs 20 lakh crore corruption. at least Rs 20 lakh crore corruption. Congress alone has carried out scams worth lakhs of crores. The RJD, TMC, NCP all of them have a long list of scams,” PM Modi said while addressing party booth workers here.
PM’s remarks come in the wake of a mega Opposition meeting held on June 23 in Patna where leaders from over 15 Opposition parties participated to forge opposition unity to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

“There was bitter opposition of the BJP… be it 2014 or in 2019, in both the elections, there was not as much restlessness as is being seen today. Today, they prostrate in front of each other and there was a time that they used to abuse each other all the time. Their restlessness shows that the people of the country have made up their minds to bring back the BJP in the 2024 elections. Once again in 2024, the massive victory of the BJP is certain, that is why all the opposition parties are in a panic,” he added.

He further said that the opposition has only one guarantee, that of scams and that he will ensure action is taken against every scamster.

“These parties have experience only with scams, and they only have one guarantee, which is of scams. The country has to decide if it wants to accept this guarantee. And here is Modi’s guarantee and that is –to take action on every scammer,” PM Modi said.

Without naming Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, the PM said leaders of the opposition parties had headed to Patna to take lessons of being in jail from “experienced” people.

“You have heard, when a criminal returns to his village from jail, people come to him eagerly to know his experience of jail. Leaders of the opposition party also need that type of experience as they know that they are under scanner and for this, what better than Patna,” PM Modi further said.

The BJP has also come down heavily on the opposition meeting chaired by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in Patna terming it a “photo session”.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on June 23 had said, “Today a photo session is underway in Patna. They (the opposition) want to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NDA. I want to tell them that PM Modi will form his government in the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls with more than 300 seats,” Shah, who arrived in Jammu on a two-day visit today said. (ANI)

Pegasus Or No Pegasus Phone Tapping Is Happening: RJD’s Jha

By LokMarg 3rd March 2023

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha on Friday said that phone tapping is happening and no one can deny this fact.

While speaking to ANI, RJD leader Manoj Jha said “Pegasus or no Pegasus phone tapping is happening”.
RJD leader further stated that BJP leaders fear talking to him over the phone.

” Many of my friends in BJP say to me let’s talk on signal not on a phone call as calls are getting tapped so this reality has to be accepted” he said.

” BJP leaders are blaming a Deputy Chief Minister of some state that their phone calls are getting tapped, so again this reality has to be accepted” he added.

Earlier Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while speaking at an event at Cambridge University in London stated that intelligence officers had told him that pegasus software is installed in his phone and he should remain cautious.

Countering Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of phone-tapping, Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Rahul Gandhi is struck on word Pegasus but he needs to learn about pegasus.”

When asked about Vaishnaw’ remark on Rahul Gandhi’s statement, Manoj Jha attacked the BJP-led Centre and said, “Learning is a lifelong process and the government of which you are a minister has all features of an authoritarian state and people know about this.”

When asked about the opposition not achieving much success in the Supreme court on the Pegasus matter Manoj Jha said ” One thing I will tell you there are various instances where the decisions of today and the things which happen later there is always a difference”.

Lashing out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his claim of being snooped on through Israeli spyware Pegasus, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday said it is his habit to raise unfounded allegations and ‘defame’ India on foreign shores.

The Union minister’s statement comes in the wake of Rahul Gandhi claiming, in a lecture at Cambridge University, that his phone was being spied on through Pegasus, and that he was warned by Intelligence officers to be “careful” about what he says on the calls.(ANI)

RJD Elder Manoj Jha Too Calls For Change In Collegium System

By LokMarg 16th December 2022

Disagreeing with the current collegium system, RJD member of parliament from Rajya Sabha Manoj Jha said that with the new changes, the government needs to bring the Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) bill.

Manoj Jha said that the Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) bill needs to be made in line with the Constitution so that the participation of all sections of society is ensured in judicial appointments.

Jha also questioned the NJAC bill brought by the central government in 2014, rejecting the existing collegium system and said that there was no provision for reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes in NJAC.

There is a tussle between the central government and the judiciary since 2014 regarding the collegium system.

On December 8, Minister of Law Kiren Rijiju said that there is no such proposal to reintroduce the NJAC with suitable modifications.

While responding to the several questions raised by politicians Mallikarjun Kharge and Dr John Bittas in Parliament, Law and Justice Minister said, the appointment of the Judges of the Constitutional Courts is a continuous, integrated and collaborative process between the Executive and the Judiciary.

Rijiju also said that the appointments of judges require consultation and approval from various constitutional authorities both at the state and central levels. Government appoints only those persons as Judges of High Courts who are recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium.

Giving the details, Rijiju said, “As on December 5, 2022, there is one proposal for the appointment of a Supreme Court Judge and eight proposals for the appointment of the High Court’s Judges recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium are pending with the Government.”

“Further, there are eleven proposals for the transfer of High Court Judges, one proposal for the transfer of a Chief Justice and one proposal for the appointment of the Chief Justice of a High Court recommended by the Supreme Court under consideration of the Government,” he said.

Rijiju also said that a total of 256 proposals have been remitted by the Government to the High Courts.

“During the last five years, a total of 256 proposals have been remitted by the Government to the High Courts. The proposals are remitted to the concerned High Courts on the advice of the Supreme Court Collegium,” he added.

On the question of the number of vacancies as of the date in the Supreme Court and High Court, the Law minister stated that as on December 5 against the sanctioned strength of 34 Judges, 27 Judges are working in the Supreme Court leaving seven vacancies.

“In the High Courts, against the sanctioned strength of 1108, 778 Judges are working leaving 330 vacancies,” he added.

In 2014, the National Democratic Alliance government brought the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act in an attempt to change the system of appointment of judges.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar recently passed a certain remark on the 99th Constitutional Amendment Bill paving way for the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) which was undone by the Supreme Court in 2015. (ANI)

Voting Begins For Assembly By-Elections In Seven Constituencies Across 6 States

By LokMarg 3rd November 2022

The voting for Assembly by-elections in seven vacant seats spread across the states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh began on Thursday morning.

Polling is being held from 7 am to 6 pm amid tight security and the counting of votes will be conducted on November 6.
Bharatiya Janata Party is in a fierce contest with regional parties such as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the Assembly by-polls in seven constituencies spread across six states.

The seven Assembly constituencies where the elections are taking place are 166-Andheri East from Maharashtra, 47-Adampur from Haryana, 93-Munugode from Telangana, 139-Gola Gokranath from Uttar Pradesh, and 46-Dhamnagar from Odisha.

The two constituencies of Bihar where the bye-elections are being conducted are 178-Mokama and 101-Gopalganj.

Mokama Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Anant Kumar Singh was disqualified in July after his conviction in a case, while BJP’s Subhash Singh, who held the Gopalganj seat, passed away in August.

The Andheri East, Gola Gokrannath, and Dhamnagar constituencies, too, fell vacant due to the demise of their respective legislators.

The Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Latke died in May and BJP’s Arvind Giri and Bishnu Sethi both passed away in September.

In Haryana, the resignation of Kuldeep Bishnoi, and K Rajagopal Reddy in Telangana, led to vacancies in the Adampur and Munugode segments respectively.

The contest in Telangana’s Munugode Assembly constituency is crucial for all major parties in the State- the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress.

While 47 candidates are in the fray, the eye is on BJP’s Raj Gopal Reddy, former TRS MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy, and Congress’ Palvai Sravanthi.

In Andheri East, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction has fielded Rutuja Latke, the wife of incumbent Sena MLA Ramesh Latke whose death in May necessitated the poll.

The BJP fielded Murji Patel, but he later withdrew his candidature after the party decided not to contest.

This will the first election after the revolt in the Shiv Sena by Eknath Shinde and 39 other legislators which led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

For the Mokama by-polls, the BJP has fielded Sonam Devi p against RJD’s Neelam Devi, whose husband Anant Singh’s disqualification has necessitated the by-election.

Mokama is said to be the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2005. He won the seat twice on JD(U) tickets.

BJP has given the ticket to Kusum Devi, the wife of incumbent BJP MLA Subhash Singh while RJD has fielded Mohan Prasad Gupta for the Goapalgunj by-election.

Haryana’s Adampur seat is witnessing the contest between BJP, Congress, Indian National Lok Dal, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Kuldeep Bishnoi’s son Bhavya is contesting the by-poll as the BJP candidate.

The Congress has fielded former Union minister Jai Prakash while the INLD picked Congress rebel Kurda Ram Nambardar as its candidate. Satender Singh is AAP’s candidate.

Kuldeep Bishnoi, son of the former Chief Minister of Haryana, Chaudhary Bhajan Lal, recently resigned from Congress and joined the BJP. Adampur’s seat fell vacant after Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned. Adampur seat is considered a stronghold of Bishnoi.

Meanwhile, eyeing the by-poll in Adampur, Panchayat, and Zila Parishad elections, AAP is trying to get a foothold in Haryana.

Bypolls to the Gola Gokarannath assembly constituency: The BJP has fielded his son Aman Giri while the Samajwadi Party (SP) has given a ticket to former MLA Vinay Tiwari.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has fielded Abanti Das for Odisha’s Dhamnagar by-polls while the BJP has fielded Suryabanshi Suraj Sthitaprajana the son of Bishnu Sethi, BJP MLA after whose death, the assembly seat fell vacant, as its candidate for the by-election.

The AAP is also in the fray and has given a ticket to Anwar Sheikh. (ANI)