Sharad Pawar denies split in NCP; says Ajit Pawar continues to be leader of party
Pune (PTI): Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday asserted that there was no split in the party and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar continues to be its leader.
He also said that some leaders have left the NCP by taking a "different political stand", but it cannot be termed as a split.
Pawar was talking to reporters at his hometown Baramati in Pune district in the morning before leaving for Kolhapur, where he is scheduled to address a rally later in the day.
A day earlier, his daughter and party's working president Supriya Sule called Ajit Pawar a senior leader and MLA of the party. "Now, he (Ajit Pawar) has taken a stand that is against the party, and we have given a complaint to the assembly speaker and are awaiting his response," Sule, who is NCP's Baramati MP, told reporters.
When asked about Sule's statement that there is no split in the NCP and Ajit Pawar is a leader of the party, Pawar senior said, "Yes, there is no question about it."
"How can anybody say that there is a split in NCP? There's no question that Ajit Pawar is our party leader," he said.
"What does a split in a political party mean? Split occurs when a large group in a party is separated at the national level. But no such thing has happened here. Some people left the party, some took a different stand...In democracy it is their right to take a decision," he added.
Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs had joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state on July 2.
Replying to a query, Sharad Pawar also said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the NCP, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, will perform better than the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Maharashtra in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
When asked about a survey that projected the opposition INDIA alliance getting a good response against the NDA in the Lok Sabha polls, Pawar said, "I haven't seen the survey yet. But yes, we are talking with some survey organisations where we can clearly see that MVA will win maximum seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections."
The INDIA alliance is scheduled to hold its third meeting on August 31 and September 1 in Mumbai.
Talking about the onion exports duty issue, the veteran leader said, "The government should reduce the 40 per cent duty imposed on onion exports. There is no benefit to onion growers. Everybody knows that onion is considered an arable crop. Hence, the government should look into this sensitive matter."
"I tried to contact some ministers in the Centre, but could not have a word with them. Talks about limitations on the export of sugar are also underway by the central government," he added.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
