Delhi polls: Congress announces 1st list of 54 candidates; 10 women, 4 muslims figure in list
New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday evening released its first list of 54 candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections, which included 10 women and a number of ministers of the Sheila Dikshit government.
Of the 54 nominees, 33 are making their debut in the Assembly elections. Four muslim candidates also figured in the list.
Former Union minister Krishna Tirath has been fielded from Patel Nagar Assembly constituency. She was a cabinet colleague of former chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
Apart from Tirath, four former ministers -- Ashok Kumar Walia, Narendar Nath, Arvinder Singh Lovely and Haroon Yusuf -- have been nominated for the February 8 polls.
Walia has been fielded from Krishna Nagar and Narendar Nath from Shahdara. Lovely, who had also been the party's Delhi unit president and had contested 2019 Lok Sabha polls, has been fielded from Gandhi Nagar while Yusuf has been nominated for Ballimaran seat.
The Delhi Congress' working presidents Rajesh Lilothia and Devender Yadav got tickets from Mangolpuri and Badli constituencies respectively.
Sitting MLA Adarsh Shastri who joined the Congress from the AAP hours before the announcement of the list was fielded from the Dwarka seat that he held in outgoing Assembly. He was denied ticket by the AAP.
Another former AAP MLA Alka Lamba from Chandni Chowk who recently joined the Congress got ticket from the same seat.
Laxman Rawat will face Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Patparganj seat. However, the Congress is yet to announce its candidate on New Delhi seat which is being contested by AAP National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Several prominent municipal councilors also got fielded in Assembly polls. They included Mukesh Goyal from Adarsh Nagar and Abhishek Dutt from Kasturba Nagar.
Priyanka Singh, the daughter of former Delhi Assembly speaker Yoganand Shastri who resigned from the party on Friday, got ticket from RK Puram seat. Shastri's resignation has not been confirmed by the party.
Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra said, "This is the best list that the party has announced. It has mix of experience and youth. The second list is expected later tonight or tomorrow."
He also said that the party will leave four seats for its ally the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Chopra's daughter Shivani got ticket from Kalkaji where the AAP has fielded its heavyweight Atishi. The party's election campaign committee chairman Kirti Azad's wife Poonam will contest from Sangam Vihar.
A senior Congress leader said the list included at least 40 candidates who were not fielded in the 2015 Assembly elections.
The last date for submission of nomination papers is January 21. Polling will be held on February 8 and the results declared on February 11.
Congress is seeking to revive its fortunes in Delhi this time. It won just eight seats in 2013 and drew a blank in the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls.
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Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
