21 MLAs urged PM, HM to reinstate govt in Manipur bypassing Guv: Congress

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Imphal, April 30 (IANS) The Opposition Congress on Wednesday slammed 21 MLAs of Manipur for bypassing the state Governor and writing letters to the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister, urging them to reinstate a popular government in the state.

Manipur state Congress President, Keisham Meghachandra Singh, on Wednesday said that these 21 MLAs must first go to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla with their request, but without doing so they wrote letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging them to reinstate a popular government in the state.

Singh, who is also a member of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, said that 21 MLAs belonging to the BJP and its allies — the National People’s Party (NPP), Naga People’s Front (NPF), Janata Dal (United) and two Independent legislators — in a 60-member Manipur Assembly, wrote to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister for the installation of their government in Manipur.

“These legislators, who should have gone to Raj Bhavan in Imphal to stake claim for the formation of a new government, had chosen not to write to the Manipur Governor. Instead, they chose to write to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister.

“The state has been placed under President’s Rule. Their actions show that they are not serious about meeting the Governor to stake claim for the formation of a new government in Manipur. The mandate of the people of Manipur can’t be played with for their political conveniences,” the Congress leader wrote on his X handle.

He said that the people of Manipur want a change. “The people of Manipur want a new alternative. We must honour the new alternative and the change that the people of Manipur will bring for our better future.”

Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13, four days after the resignation of N. Biren Singh from the Chief Minister’s post.

The 60-member Manipur Assembly, which, after the promulgation of President’s Rule, has been put under suspended animation, has a tenure till 2027.

The letter of the MLAs to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister, which is available with IANS, said that the people of Manipur welcomed President’s Rule with lots of hope and expectations, but no visible actions to bring peace and normalcy in the state have been seen so far.

The letter said, “There is a strong apprehension among the common people that violence may recur in the state. Many Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have come out openly against the imposition of President’s Rule. They have been demanding the installation of a popular government in the state.

“These organisations have started holding public rallies, street corner meetings, instigating the general public, blaming the ruling MLAs for not staking a claim to form a popular government and fixing responsibility for the imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur.”

The MLAs in their letter dated April 29 said that the installation of a popular government is the only means to bring peace and normalcy in Manipur.

“We assure you that we will work with full dedication and devotion to bring peace and normalcy in our state after the installation of a popular government,” the letter said.

After the imposition of President’s Rule on February 13, this is the first major appeal to the Centre to reinstate the state government.

In a bid to resolve the two-year-long ethnic hostilities, the first tripartite meeting between the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the representatives of Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities was held in New Delhi on April 5.

–IANS

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Police intensify probe into filming of students in washroom at Hyderabad engineering college

Hyderabad, Jan 3 (IANS) Cyberabad police intensified its probe into the allegations by female students of CMR Engineering College that they were secretly filmed in the hostel washrooms while the college management has declared a holiday for three days.

Police have taken the hostel warden and six mess workers into custody for questioning and seized their mobile phones.

Protest erupted on the college campus at Medchal on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Wednesday night after female students alleged that they were secretly filmed in hostel washrooms.

A case was registered on Thursday under Sections 77 (voyeurism) and 125 (endangering personal safety or life of others) of the Bharat Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Medchal Police Station of Cyberabad Police Commissionerate.

Police picked up six male workers of the hostel mess and also warden Preethi Reddy for questioning.

Assistant Commissioner of Police B. Srinivas Reddy said a case was also registered against the college management for negligence. He said the management not only employed male workers in the mess but also provided them rooms for their stay next to the ladies’ washroom. The police official said the workers had access to the ventilator of the washroom.

A girl student alleged that she saw the shadow of a person and brought the same to the warden’s notice but as there was no response from the warden, the students began the protest. The students suspect that their videos might have been recorded.

Tension gripped the college as student bodies like NSUI, SFI and ABVP joined the protest in support of the students and demanded stringent action against those involved.

In view of the tense situation and the ongoing investigation, the college management declared a holiday for three days.

The ACP said they seized 12 mobile phones of these workers. “We have so far found no evidence that they recorded videos. We have not found any obscene videos in their phones. However, we are verifying if any videos were deleted,” he said.

Fingerprint experts collected samples from the imprints found on the glass of the ventilator. The experts were analysing if the imprints match with the fingerprints of any of the workers.

The ACP appealed to parents not to worry over rumours that 150-300 videos were recorded.

Telangana State Women’s Commission has ordered an investigation into the incident. Taking suo moto notice of the media reports, the Commission issued a notice to the Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad, urging swift action and seeking an action taken report.

–IANS

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Grand Aarti at Yamuna ghat: Delhi CM’s first public event after taking charge

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta along with her ministers visited the banks of river Yamuna to participate in the ‘aarti’ – a daily evening ritual at the ghats of Haridwar and Varanasi, hours after taking the oath of office on Thursday.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and her cabinet ministers, after taking charge of the office at the Delhi Secretariat this noon, assembled at the Vasudev Ghat of the river where they sought the blessings of Ma Yamuna before beginning the governance of the national capital.

With ‘Yamuna aarti’ being the first public event of the newly elected BJP government, it sends out a clear signal about the government’s intention to address the long-standing demand to clean up the Yamuna River, which has largely been reduced to a dirty reservoir due to ignorance of successive governments.

The gesture is also meant to send a political message about BJP’s comeback in the capital after more than two decades. Notably, the polluted Yamuna was the flashpoint between the ruling AAP and the Opposition BJP in the run-up to the Delhi elections, with both engaging in mudslinging over ‘poisoning’ the river.

Earlier, speaking to the press, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta outlined her government’s focus on realising all the poll pledges and commitments that the party made to the people of Delhi.

After the Yamuna aarti, the Chief Minister will chair the first cabinet meeting this evening. It is widely expected that the Rekha Gupta-led BJP government will approve the Mahila Samridhi Yojana, under which eligible women beneficiaries will receive Rs 2,500 monetary assistance every month and also clear the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, a scheme providing free of cost treatment to the poor and unprivileged class families.

The previous AAP dispensation had stopped the roll-out of the Centre’s health insurance scheme, claiming that certain constraints restricted the residents from benefitting under the scheme.

–IANS

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Palaniswami alleges Rs 1,000 crore liquor scam in TN, accuses DMK govt of cover-up

Chennai, April 22 (IANS) Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly and AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday levelled serious corruption charges against the DMK government, alleging a Rs 1,000 crore scam linked to TASMAC, the state-run liquor retail network.

Addressing the media after staging a walkout from the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Palaniswami claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had unearthed large-scale irregularities during its recent raids on TASMAC offices and its suppliers.

He accused the DMK government of attempting to suppress the findings and criticised Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and the Minister concerned for remaining silent on the issue.

“The government is trying to cover up the scam instead of coming clean. There has been no response from the Chief Minister or the Prohibition and Excise Minister. Why are they silent if they have nothing to hide?” Palaniswami asked.

The AIADMK leader alleged that TASMAC outlets were charging Rs 10 extra per liquor bottle, resulting in an estimated illegal collection of Rs 15 crore daily. “If this continues unchecked, the annual figure touches Rs 5,400 crore,” he said, adding that the state exchequer and the public were being cheated in broad daylight.

Palaniswami further said the DMK government was “afraid” of the ED’s investigation and was not allowing a proper debate on the issue in the Assembly. “We were not allowed to raise this issue in the House. The Speaker refused to give me the floor to speak about the scam,” he said.

Following this, AIADMK legislators, led by Palaniswami, staged a walkout in protest.

The walkout occurred during discussions on the demand for grants for the departments of electricity, prohibition, and excise. AIADMK MLA Natham R. Viswanathan spoke first, and Palaniswami sought to raise the TASMAC issue immediately after, but was denied permission by Speaker M. Appavu.

Palaniswami also criticised the government over frequent power outages across the state. “Several areas are suffering from unannounced power cuts, affecting both domestic consumers and industrial units. The DMK government is failing to ensure uninterrupted supply,” he said.

He recalled that during the AIADMK regime, the state had ensured quality power supply, especially to farmers and industries. “Now, the situation has deteriorated, and people are bearing the brunt,” he said.

–IANS

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