Video: Policemen "Manhandled" Protesting Women Workers Claims Congress

The Congress has alleged its women's wing workers were "manhandled" by policemen during a protest over inflation outside the BJP headquarters in Delhi on Tuesday.

A video tweeted by Congress showed a cop in uniform pulling a woman worker by her hand amid strong resistance. Sanjeev Kumar, the station house officer at the IP Estate Police Station, was also seen pushing another woman protester.

The cop was only trying to snatch an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the protesters, said police sources, defending the action of the SHO.

दिल्ली पुलिस के इस थप्पड़बाज इंस्पेक्टर को देखिए।

बढ़ती महंगाई को लेकर महिलाएं प्रदर्शन कर रही थीं। ये इंस्पेक्टर उनके साथ मारपीट करने लगा। pic.twitter.com/ATabiaHQIF

— Congress (@INCIndia) July 4, 2023

The Congress claimed the cops "broke protocols" by sending male officials to the site where women were protesting. The established protocols suggest only women personnel must deal with women protesters or criminals.

"Look at this inspector of Delhi Police who is slapping away. The women were protesting against rising inflation. This inspector started fighting with them," the Congress said tweeting a video of the incident.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said the protesters were only exercising their democratic right to protest.

"Today they have broken all protocols by sending male officers to manhandle Mahila Congress workers protesting intolerable rise in prices of essential commodities. They were only exercising their democratic right to agitate lawfully," he tweeted.

But the protesters did not have prior permission to stage the demonstration, said the police sources. Large gatherings are banned in the area, they added.

Congress leader KC Venugopal called the cops "BJP goons in uniform" and sought to know who gave instructions to the male officials to "manhandle" the women workers. "Women bear the largest brunt of price rise and the BJP believes in quashing their protest, not in addressing their pain," he added.

Women officers were at the spot; the protesters were trying to damage some statues and stop the cops from doing their duty, news agency PTI cited a senior official as saying.

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1 Killed As Mob Tries To Loot Weapons From Security Camp In Manipur

A mob allegedly tried to loot weapons from a camp of the Indian Reserved Battalion (IRB) in Manipur's Thoubal district on Tuesday, leading to a clash with the security forces in which a 27-year-old man was killed and an Assam Riles jawan shot at, sources said.

The mob tried to invade the camp of 3rd IRB batallion in the Khangabok area to loot arms and ammunition, sources said.

Soon, a clash with the forces broke out. The forces tried to bring the situation under control and used teargas shells and rubber bullets at first. But as the armed mob opened fire, the forces shot back, sources said.

The 27-year-old man died later at the Thoubal district hospital.

The situation is under control at present, sources added.

The latest incident comes just days after three "villagers volunteers" were shot dead in pre-dawn attack in Churachandpur, located around 70 km southeast of Imphal.

After several ethnic groups boycotted the governor-led Peace Committee in Manipur, the centre is holding backchannel talks with the Kuki and Meitei communities to try and achieve a semblance of normalcy in the violence-hit state.

Violence between members of Manipur's Kuki ethnic group, who mostly live in the hills, and Meiteis, the dominant community in the lowlands, erupted on May 3 as a result of resentment over economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education reserved for hill people.

Over 100 people have died. Both communities continue to accuse each other of atrocities. The Internet has been snapped in the state since May 3.

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Half-Burnt Bodies Of 2 Women Found On Roadside In UP: Police

The half-burnt bodies of two women wrapped in plastic bags were found lying on the roadside in this Uttar Pradesh district on Tuesday, police said.

Their faces were burnt beyond recognition. It appears that both women were murdered and the bodies were thrown, they said.

On Tuesday evening, locals at Bachi Jhajhrau village saw the bodies and informed the police.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) OP Singh, the bodies were found on the Kakrala Nauli road. The age of both women is around 35 years.

It appears that to hide the women's identity, their faces were burnt, bodies wrapped in polythene and dumped on the roadside, he said.

The bodies have been sent for postmortem by a panel of doctors, he said, adding that efforts are on to identify them and further action will be taken by registering a case.

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Opinion: Opinion: Ashok Gehlot's Injured Toe Achilles Heel For Assertive Kharge

The Mallikarjun Kharge-Rahul Gandhi duo has emerged as an assertive "High Command" in the Congress party. Rahul Gandhi calls the shots, Kharge effectively implements the decision. Written instructions are issued by general secretary KC Venugopal, a Rahul Gandhi confidante, citing Kharge's approval.

Amidst the uncertainty surrounding the next Opposition conclave after the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) coup in Maharashtra, Venugopal tweeted that the Bengaluru meet had been deferred by a few days, to July 17-18. This announcement was made overruling Janata Dal (United) spokesman KC Tyagi's announcement that the meeting, originally scheduled for July 13, was being put off to late August, after the Monsoon Session of parliament. Team Kharge team thus asserted its primacy as the host of the meeting.

The first act of Kharge's resurgence was the formation of the cabinet in Karnataka. The appointment of TS Singh Deo as Chhattisgarh's Deputy Chief Minister was the next decisive step. The focus is now on resolving the Rajasthan imbroglio - of finding a suitable slot for Sachin Pilot with the possible concurrence of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

A meeting was slotted for July 3 in Delhi to resolve the issue that has been hanging fire since Pilot's revolt in July 2020. The meeting had to be canceled as Ashok Gehlot was not in a position to travel after hurting his left toe; a few days ago, his big toe hit the leg of the Chief Minister's writing table while he was trying to get out of his chair. In a tweet, Gehlot said on the advice of doctors, he would be operating from home for a while.

Sources in the Congress say Gehlot's frequent health issues have led to as many as five postponements of crisis resolution meetings in the past, and this is the sixth.

There is a move by the High Command to rehabilitate Sachin Pilot, who has been defiant in Jaipur but is inclined to abide by the decisions taken in Delhi.

The much-delayed formation of the new Congress Working Committee, on the formula approved by the Raipur plenary in February, is held up as a decision on Pilot has not emerged. If Pilot cannot be accommodated in Jaipur - either rehabilitated as Deputy Chief Minister or as Rajasthan Congress president (a post he held till 2018) or as the anchor of the 2023 Rajasthan election campaign panel, then he may be inducted as a Congress Working Committee member. Pilot prefers to be in Jaipur.

The task of brokering peace has been assigned to former Rajasthan minister Harish Choudhary, who served as Congress observer in Punjab earlier. There is a possibility of Chaudhary being made the state president, replacing the incumbent, who is a Gehlot confidante.

Members of the Gandhi family have not met with Gehlot lately. Kharge is wary of being rash with Gehlot, who was projected as Congress president during the party's internal polls last year. In September, when Kharge led a peace-making mission to Jaipur, the revolt by MLAs deemed to be loyal to Gehlot had thrown a spanner in the works and he had returned empty-handed.

Untangling the Rajasthan imbroglio remains a challenge to the Congress leadership. As it hosts the next opposition conclave in Bengaluru, the leadership's attention span on Rajasthan may be diminished by the time Gehlot's toe recovers over the next week. After that, it will be all about strategy for the Monsoon Session of parliament, beginning July 20.

The Congress leadership asserted its authority during government formation in Karnataka. On May 19, KC Venugopal wrote to Chief Minister-designate Siddaramaiah giving a list of eight names approved by Kharge as ministers. "You are hereby requested to see that this decision is executed...," the letter concluded. On May 20, Siddaramaiah took oath along with Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and the eight ministers listed in the diktat.

The next round came when TS Singh Deo was appointed Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh last week. His appointment was also announced by the Congress in Delhi and implemented by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in Raipur. Earlier, High Command diktats were verbal. Written instructions reach Chief Ministers now.

In 2018, when Congress won in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, leadership contests emerged in all three states. It was Ashok Gehlot versus Sachin Pilot in Jaipur; Kamal Nath versus Jyotiraditya Scindia in Bhopal; and Bhupesh Baghel versus TS Singh Deo in Raipur. The original name preferred by Rahul Gandhi for Raipur was that of OBC leader Tamradhwaj Sahu. But later, the Baghel-Singh Deo rivalry emerged.

Rahul Gandhi was the Congress president then. His preference was for Pilot, Scindia and Sahu initially. But in those days, the writ of Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel, who enjoyed her confidence, ran. Thus, Gehlot and Nath from the team of "elders" prevailed. Rahul Gandhi assured the rivals in Jaipur and Bhopal that the tide would turn in their favour, ultimately. Scindia lost his patience and quit, taking down the Kamal Nath government and restoring the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP rule in Bhopal in March 2020. Pilot revolted in July 2020.

In Raipur, as per Rahul Gandhi's arrangement, Baghel was to rule for 30 months and then hand over the baton to Singh Deo. Baghel went back on his assurance. Singh Deo became a rebel but unlike Pilot, did not resign from the government. His perseverance has paid off now.

Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have been acting in tandem. Their body language was clear during the opposition meet in Patna - Rahul was seen assisting Kharge when the octogenarian was climbing a few steps to reach the venue. Rahul yielded space to the Congress president when he was beckoned by host Nitish Kumar to be the first speaker (he spoke at the very end).

The Gujarat and Mumbai unit chiefs have been changed. The list of Congress Working Committee members is said to be ready. A new role may be assigned to Priyanka Gandhi, tasking her with the campaign in Telangana. Shashi Tharoor, who acquitted himself well in the contest against Kharge for party presidentship, is likely to be in the 35-member body. New AICC (All India Congress Committee) office bearers are also being slotted.

A solution to the Rajasthan crisis is Work In Progress for the Congress leadership. Will Gehlot's injured toe prove to be the Achilles Heel for Kharge's assertiveness or will the party leadership have its way?

(Shubhabrata Bhattacharya is a retired Editor and a public affairs commentator.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.

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Maharashtra Bus Got Pollution Certificate 9 Hours After Horrific Crash

The private bus which caught fire on the Nagpur-Mumbai 'Samruddhi Expressway' leading to the death of 25 passengers was issued a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate nine hours after the horrific incident, an RTO official said on Tuesday.

The authority has now sought a report from the local Regional Transport Office in this regard.

The sleeper coach bus with registration number MH29- BE1819 ran into the road divider around 1.30 am on July 1 in Maharashtra's Buldhana district, and caught fire. As many as 25 passengers died in the accident.

The PUC certificate was issued against the same registration number at 10.37 am on the same day when the burnt shell of the bus must have been lying near the accident spot.

The certificate can also be seen on the 'Vahan database' of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Transport commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar told PTI that a First Information Report (FIR) would be registered against the centre which issued the PUC certificate if it was found to be at fault.

He has sought a report from the Yavatmal Deputy Regional Transport Office, he said.

Sources in the RTO said the earlier PUC certificate of the bus had expired on March 10, 2023.

A Yavatmal-based PUC centre with the code number MH0290041 issued a new PUC certificate with validity till June 30, 2024 on the morning after the accident, indicating that the centre never bothered to inspect the vehicle.

Yavatmal's deputy RTO office has already issued a show-cause notice to the PUC center and the owner of the bus, said an official.

It is mandatory for every vehicle owner to have a valid PUC certificate showing that it complies with the emission norms. A vehicle without a PUC is liable to be prosecuted under the Motor Vehicles Act.

In August 2017, the Supreme Court in M C Mehta vs Union of India and Others had directed insurers not to insure a vehicle unless it has a valid PUC certificate.

An RTO officer said it was possible that the bus owner tried to obtain a new PUC certificate after the accident fearing that his insurance claim would be rejected, but in any case a PUC centre must never issue a certificate without physically inspecting a vehicle.

It is mandatory for a PUC centre to capture a live photograph of a vehicle's number plate when pollution levels are measured.

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AAP Challenge To Power Panel Head's Appointment In Supreme Court Tomorrow

The Supreme Court will hear tomorrow the Delhi government's challenge to the appointment of the chairman of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) by the Lieutenant Governor. 

The AAP government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also filed a request in the Supreme Court challenging a central order that seeks to take control over bureaucracy in the national capital.

Introduced by the BJP-led central government on May 19, the ordinance establishes a National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA) for the transfer and disciplinary proceedings against Group-A officers in Delhi.

The Chief Minister's Office slammed the NCCSA yesterday, claiming that bureaucrats are "overturning" decisions taken by the Delhi Chief Minister.

"However, this simple majority has enabled the bureaucrats to override the Chief Minister's decisions, effectively granting them unchecked power over the authority's operations. Consequently, the Chief Minister's voice, representing the will of the elected government and the people of Delhi, finds itself in the minority within the NCCSA," the Chief Minister's Office said.

But the Lieutenant Governor's Secretariat dismissed the claims and said their statement did not give the "true picture" of developments from the NCCSA meeting.

"A narrative is being projected that officers are not listening and need absolute control. NCCSA shall release the draft minutes to the press to verify the truth in public domain," said the Lt Governor's Secretariat.

The ordinance came into force a week after the Supreme Court ruled that the AAP government had control over bureaucrats in the Delhi administration, excluding police, public order, and land.

Prior to the May 11 judgment, the Lieutenant Governor - appointed by the centre - had executive control over the transfers and postings of all officers.

The Delhi government in its petition called the ordinance a circumvention of the Supreme Court verdict and called for striking it down.

The AAP has also announced a series of protests against the ordinance.

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Andhra Medical Student 23 Dies By Suicide In College Hostel Room

A woman medical student was found dead in the hostel of a medical college in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. It is suspected that she committed suicide by hanging, according to the Police.

"The deceased was identified as Chaitanya, 23, a resident of Palasa of Srikakulam district. Chaitanya, who was married two months back, was working as a house surgeon at Narayana Medical College in Nellore. A case has been registered for unnatural death and an investigation has been started," said the police.

Chaitanya was found hanging in the college hostel room on Sunday morning by hostel mates who immediately informed the incident to the authorities.

Police sources said that in their preliminary investigation, it is found that there were quarrels between Chaitanya and her husband.

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