Denied party funding, Congress Puri LS candidate Sucharita Mohanty returns ticket
Bhubaneswar, May 4: Congress candidate for the Puri Lok Sabha constituency Sucharita Mohanty has declined to contest the elections and returned the party ticket alleging lack of funding from the party.
Mohanty, daughter of former Congress MP Brajamohan Mohanty in a mail to AICC general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal on Friday claimed that her campaign in the Puri Lok Sabha constituency has been hit hard because the party has denied funding.
She alleged that AICC Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar "categorically" asked her to fight from her own resources.
Elections to the Puri Lok Sabha constituency will be held on May 25.
"I was a salaried professional journalist who entered electoral politics 10 years ago. I have given all I have into my campaign in Puri. I tried a public donation drive to support my campaign for progressive politics without much success so far. I also tried to cut down the projected campaign spending to the minimum," she said.
As she was not able to raise funds on her own, the Congress leader had approached all senior leaders including the party's central leadership for funds for an impactful campaign in the Puri Lok Sabha constituency.
"It is clear that only fund crunch is holding us back from a winning campaign in Puri. I regret that without party funding, it won't be possible to carry out the campaign in Puri. I, therefore, return the party ticket for the Puri Lok Sabha constituency herewith," she said in her mail to the AICC.
However, Mohanty said she will remain a loyal Congress worker and her leader is Rahul Gandhi.
Speaking to media persons, Mohanty said "I was denied funds from the party. In Assembly segments under the Puri LS constituency, weak candidates were given tickets. BJP and BJD are sitting on mountains of money. Vulgar displays of wealth are everywhere. It was difficult for me to fight the election."
The Congress leader said she wanted a people-oriented campaign but that was also not possible with the lack of funds. The party is also not responsible for that as the BJP government has crippled the party. There are a lot of curbs on expenditure and many bank accounts have been frozen, she added.
AICC in-charge of Odisha, Ajoy Kumar said "Mohanty is saying that no fund provided and weak MLA candidates have been fielded. The party has nominated its best candidate for the MLA seats and funds will be provided to a candidate when the candidate launches the campaign and seriously fights at the ground."
Before coming to the ground, she (Mohanty) has alleged that no funds were given. But, at the time when she was requesting a party ticket, Mohanty had said that she would seriously fight the election, Kumar said.
The party has already decided to change the Puri LS candidate and a proposal was submitted to the Congress high command. The name of the new candidate will be announced very soon, he said.
Sucharita has been fielded by the Congress from the Puri Lok Sabha seat against BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra and BJD candidate Arup Patnaik, a former Mumbai Police Commissioner.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
