On 50th birthday, Raj Thackeray cuts EVM cake, Mumbaikars get 'cheap' petrol
Mumbai, June 14: On his 50th birthday on Thursday, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray cut a special cake designed like an EVM while 36 petrol pumps in Mumbai and many more in the state offered disounts from Rs 4 to Rs 9 per litre, a party spokesperson said.
At the selected 36 fuel stations in Mumbai (one in each assembly constituency), plus 48 in the state (one each for every Lok Sabha constituency), there were serpentine queues of two-wheelers since dawn to take advantage of the scheme offering discounted petrol, with the MNS to recompense these pumps the difference from the official price on Thursday.
MNS spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande compared the MNS's unique initiative to the 1930 historic 'Salt Satyagraha' of Mahatma Gandhi.
"This is like the Salt Satyagraha. People are not here to avail the discounts in petrol prices, but express their anguish against the government for the very high fuel prices," he told media persons.
Thackeray, on his part, made another statement - by cutting a large special cake designed like an electronic voting machine (EVM), which the MNS and almost all other opposition political parties are opposing.
As part of the celebrations, MNS activists helped provide some free comic relief to the people burdened under spiraling fuel prices and inflation - sporting printed T-shirts of some recent political cartoons created by Thackeray.
Hundreds of activists were seen thronging Thackeray's residence in Dadar west wearing these special T-shirts exhibiting his cartoons, many targeting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and other leaders, and his artistic views on many contemporary political developments in the country.
Meanwhile, Thursday's petrol price in Mumbai stood at Rs 84.3 per litre, down from the highest of Rs 85.6 in May, and the MNS 'discount' marked a significant relief for two-wheeler owners.
MNS will pay the owners the difference in the prices at the close of the day.
Though exact figures are not immediately available, it is estimated that several thousands of people took advantage of the MNS initiative at each of the selected outlets for the discounted fuel.
Elsewhere in the state, special prayers, aartis and poojas were held by local district leaders at prominent temples in Solapur, Pune and other places, praying for Thackeray's long life and prosperity.
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SC refuses to entertain plea against deletion of names from WB voter list, terms it ‘premature’
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea by a group of 13 people seeking its intervention in the deletion of their names from the voter list during the Special Institutional Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, where polling for the first phase of the assembly election will be held on April 23.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi termed the petition "premature", directing the aggrieved parties to approach the established appellate tribunals instead.
"Since the petitioners (Quaraisha Yeasmin and others) have already approached the appellate tribunals… in our considered view, the apprehensions expressed in the petition are premature. If the plea is allowed, then necessary consequences will follow,” the bench said in its order, adding that it has not expressed any views on the merits of the plea.
The plea alleged that the Election Commission was summarily deleting names without following due process, and that appeals against these deletions were not being heard in a timely manner.
The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court has set up as many as 19 tribunals headed by former HC chief justices and judges to decide appeals against deletions of names of persons from the voters’ lists.
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the poll panel, informed the court that there are approximately 30 to 34 lakh appeals currently pending. "Every tribunal now has over one lakh appeals to handle," the bench said.
The petitioners’ counsel argued that the EC had failed to place necessary orders before the relevant judicial authorities and that the "freezing date" for the electoral rolls should be extended.
"If I am not allowed to argue, then what is the use? Will these appeals be decided within a timeframe or just kept extending?" the counsel asked.
Justice Bagchi, during the hearing, referred to the sanctity of the electoral process and said the right to vote is not merely a constitutional formality but a "sentimental" pillar of democracy.
"The right to vote in a country you were born in is not just constitutional, but sentimental. It is about being part of a democracy and helping elect a government," he said.
He, however, said that the tribunals, manned by former judges, cannot be overburdened by fixing the timelines for adjudications.
"It is not the end justifying the means, but the means justifying the end," Justice Bagchi said.
"We need to protect due process rights. The voter should not be sandwiched between two constitutional authorities," he said, adding that it would not interdict the election process at this stage.
Justice Bagchi noted that the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice had already formulated the manner and mode for appeals, which began on Monday.
"Unless and until an enormous number of voters are excluded or it materially affects the election... the election cannot be cancelled," the bench said, adding that judicial intervention is intended to "promote elections, not interdict them."
The CJI emphasised that the petitioners must exhaust their remedies before the appellate tribunals.
Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.
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