Latest news with #LOP
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Congress protests FIR against Jitu Patwari
Bhopal: State Congress in a show of strength on Tuesday held a Nyay Satyagraha in Ashokenagar to protest the FIR registered against PCC chief Jitu Patwari in Mungaoli on June 28. The entire crowd of Congress leaders and party workers courted arrest. Senior party leaders including AICC in-charge of state affairs Harish Chaudhary, former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, LOP Umang Singhar, former LOP Govind Singh, party MLAs Dinesh Gurjar, Fundelal Singh Marko and former ministers Jaivardhan Singh, Lakhan Singh Ganghoria were present in the rally. The state Congress on Tuesday claimed that the Nyay Satyagraha was to protest the false and malicious FIR lodged against the state Congress president Patwari and to protect democratic rights. Jitu Patwari argued, "Even if you file 100 FIRs, no Congress worker will retract his steps." TNN
Indian Express
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘Distasteful and derogatory': BJP slams Mallikarjun Kharge for remark on President Droupadi Murmu, seeks apology
Accusing party president Mallikarjun Kharge of disrespecting President Droupadi Murmu and her tribal identity through his comments at a public rally, the BJP on Tuesday attacked the Congress, demanding a public apology for 'stoking public ire'. Speaking at an event in Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Monday, Kharge had raised the issue of large-scale cutting of trees in the state's forests and said, 'They just talk big; we made Murma ji President of India, we made (Ram Nath) Kovind President. Yes, you did, but for what? To snatch our property? To snatch our jungles? To stop our water? They have done this to snatch our land…'. On Tuesday, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia alleged at a press conference that Kharge was 'a remote-controlled president' and his statement was at the behest of the Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi. 'The objectionable words that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge ji has used for President of India Droupadi Murmu ji goes to show that an anti-adivasi mentality runs in the DNA of the Congress. They have (also) disrespected former President Ram Nath Kovind — (this is) anti-Dalit mentality,' Bhatia alleged. 'The same Rahul Gandhi who roams around with a copy of the Constitution in his hand, it is on his instruction that the remote-controlled president (of the Congress) Mallikarjun Kharge ji makes such objectionable statements,' he added. Kharge's comments had triggered criticism across the adivasi and Dalit communities, as well as among women, for deliberately disrespecting President Murmu and her predecessor. Accusing the LOP of 'injecting poison' in national politics by allegedly giving his go-ahead for 'anti-adivasi, anti-Dalit, anti-women and anti-constitutional' allegations such as the President 'snatching' away land and resources to imply that she was part of a land mafia, Bhatia questioned whether respect for the Constitution was not negatively impacted through such 'baseless accusations' devoid of proof. 'Is this how you will strengthen India? Is this how you will discharge your duty as Leader of Opposition?…the whole country knows that if there is any land mafia, it is the fake Gandhi family, which also includes Robert Vadra,' he alleged. Citing other statements from Congress leaders which were allegedly questionable in this regard, Bhatia gave an example of senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury tendering a written apology for a similar remark against President Murmu. He also accused the Congress of leaving no constitutional office or body in the country that it had not exhibited disrespect or attacked the reputation of, citing personal attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and bodies such as the Election Commission of India, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation, among others. 'This is not a slip of tongue, this is very much intentional, and the remote-controlled president governed by the fake Gandhi-surnamed family is following the diktats of Rahul Gandhi…if Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in writing apologised, we ask…would Mallikarjun Kharge also render a written apology for his distasteful and derogatory remark made against the President of India as well as the former President of India who represent the Scheduled Tribe community and the Scheduled Caste community who are epitome of hard work…have inspired hard work to rise to the highest constitutional office,' he demanded.
New Indian Express
05-07-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Rahul throws barbs at Modi in wake of India-US trade pact
LOP Rahul Gandhi said PM Modi will 'bow down' to Trump, reacting to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's statement on India-US trade talks, with the fast-approaching deadline on US tariffs on July 9.
Hindustan Times
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Singapore Oppn leader Pritam Singh flayed for Malaysian podcast interview
Singapore: Indian-origin leader of opposition (LOP) in Singapore Pritam Singh is being questioned by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) for having spoken about politics in the city-state on a Malaysian podcast. Leader of opposition (LOP) in Singapore Pritam Singh. Singh, the secretary general of Workers Party (WP), shared his views on the Malaysian podcast which 'raises serious questions' as to why he chose to address the topic 'to a foreign audience', the Channel News Asia reported, citing PAP reactions. 'Strikingly, he chose not a local media outlet, but a podcast hosted by Malaysians and recorded in Malaysia to share his views on our domestic political landscape,' the party said in a statement. Singapore was part of the Federation of Malaysia till August 1965, and then became a sovereign state because of sensitive political differences with the central government in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. In a video released on YouTube on June 24, he spoke to 'Keluar Sekejap (come out for a while — if literally translated), a popular Malaysian political podcast hosted by former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan, previously information chief of United Malays National Organisation. It was Singh's most in-depth interview since the May 3 general election, in which the PAP retained power with 65.57% of the ruling party claimed 87 out of 97 seats, the 10 seats going to WP. The PAP said the issue was not 'merely a matter of platform preference. It touches on a fundamental principle - that Singapore's domestic affairs should be debated and decided by Singaporeans, within Singapore'.Quoting former opposition stalwart of WP Chiam See Tong, the PAP demanded: 'The opposition must be 'truthful ... good patriotic Singaporeans ... and not go around the world renouncing Singapore'.' During the podcast interview, which lasted more than one-and-a-half hours, Singh addressed a wide range of topics, including the WP's electoral strategy, and the intersection of race, religion and politics. Replying to a question, Singh said he did not aspire to become the prime minister of also asked if there was a 'lack of ambition' from the WP and if it should have pivoted from the goal of winning one-third of the seats in parliament, to which Singh said that Singaporean voters were not seeking a change in government. The PAP also challenged Singh's claim that his party does not 'score political points based on race or religion' in the multi-national city state.
Time of India
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
EC: Sharing video footage of booth breaches voters' privacy
Representative Image NEW DELHI: Election Commission officials on Saturday justified the recent amendment in Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, barring stakeholders other than itself from accessing poll-day webcasting feed from polling stations, unless an election petition was filed, saying that it was necessary to protect secrecy of voters and save them from possible intimidation. The poll-day CCTV footage or webcasting feed shall not be destroyed if an election petition (EP) is filed and shall be made available to the competent court when asked. However, where no EP is filed, such feed shall be disposed of in 45 days, it said. Slamming the move, LOP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said EC's decision is another evidence that the "match is fixed" - a charge he has levelled about the Maharashtra contest. Poll-day CCTV feed shall be disposed of in 45 days, in sync with the 45-day time-bar for filing election petitions, Election Commission recently ordered in its revised instructions dated May 30, 2025. EC sources warned that sharing poll-day videography/webcasting with any person, candidate, NGO or third party, without the express consent of the electors, ran the risk of identification of electors who voted or did not vote, from the footage, and their possible harassment and intimidation by anti-social elements. The officials insisted that the CCTV/webcasting feed from polling stations was only meant as an internal management tool and not mandated by the law. "What is veiled as a very logical demand to share video or CCTV footage of webcasting done at polling stations on poll day, is actually entirely contrary to the privacy and security concerns of the voters, which is a legal requirement under Representation of the People Act, 1950/1951 and in line with directions of the Supreme Court," an officer underlined. "Election Commission of India is legally bound and committed to protect the privacy of the electors and secrecy of voting, so video footage from polling station cannot be given to any person, candidate or NGO or any third party without the express consent of the elector(s)," the official said and added that the profiling of voters vs non-voters may become the basis for discrimination, denial of services, intimidation and inducement.
