BJP is making Hindustan into 'Lynchistan': Congress
New Delhi, July 21 : The Congress on Saturday accused the BJP of transforming the country into a land of lynchings and is also trying to "lynch" the Supreme Court's judgment that highlighted the need for a strict law.
"Today's shocking incident in Alwar has once again proved that the BJP is working overtime and aggressively to transform Hindustan into Lynchistan. The nation is also witnessing how BJP rather than enforcing Supreme Court's judgment for a need of a strict law on lynching is actually now lynching the judgment and the Constitution," Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill told reporters.
The BJP, rather than preventing lynching and punishing the lynching mob, is promoting and patronizing the lynch mob force, he alleged.
"The nation was hoping that the government will wake up after the tight legal slap by the Supreme Court and warning issued that the Government of India must act in a concrete manner to prevent India from becoming a republic of lynchistan," Shergill said.
But Alwar's horrific incident has exposed the BJP's "notorious and dubious intentions to weaken and render the judgment meaningless", he said, accusing the Rajasthan government and its ministers are behaving like lawyers of lynch mob force.
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Ensure paid holiday for postal staff on polling day in Kerala: John Brittas writes to Scindia
New Delhi (PTI): CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas on Sunday wrote to Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia, seeking his urgent intervention to ensure that postal employees in Kerala are granted a statutory paid holiday on April 9 for the Assembly elections in the southern state.
In his letter, Brittas expressed serious concern over the Kerala Postal Circle’s instructions to treat all postal employees as “absentee voters in essential services (AVES)”, directing them to opt for a postal ballot within an “extremely limited” timeframe.
The Department of Posts operates under the Ministry of Communications. Along with the Department of Telecommunications, it is one of the two main sections within the ministry headed by Scindia.
In his letter, Brittas pointed out that the circular dated March 19 required the collection of Form 12D by March 20 (Eid al-Fitr), and submission of the compiled details at the respective collectorates by March 22 (Sunday), both holidays in Kerala, making meaningful compliance difficult and raising apprehensions about the “arbitrary” nature of the directions.
The CPI(M) leader also pointed out that the Election Commission, in a communication dated March 16, reiterated the requirement under Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that every person employed in any establishment and entitled to vote shall be granted a paid holiday on the polling day, without any deduction or abatement of wages.
He said even where certain services are treated as essential, the long-standing administrative practice has been to maintain only minimal required operations on polling day, without denying employees the opportunity to vote in person.
Brittas argued that in some other states going to polls this month, including Assam, most postal employees have been granted a holiday on polling day, in accordance with the statutory provisions.
During the 2021 Kerala polls, postal establishments had observed a holiday on polling day, subject only to limited essential arrangements, he claimed.
The present deviation, Brittas said, raises concerns about inconsistency in the application of law and the avoidable curtailment of the democratic rights of employees.
Stating that the right to vote lies at the core of India's democratic framework, Brittas urged Scindia to examine the matter urgently.
“Given the proximity of the polling date, I earnestly seek your kind indulgence to have the matter examined on priority, and to issue urgent directions to the postal authorities in Kerala to ensure that the statutory entitlement of postal employees in Kerala to a paid holiday on the day of polling is duly ensured,” Brittas said in the letter.
The 140 seats in the Kerala Assembly will go to polls on April 9, and the results will be out on May 4.
