Somnath Bharti moves Delhi HC challenging election of BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj
New Delhi, Jul 20: AAP leader Somnath Bharti on Saturday approached the Delhi High Court challenging BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj's election in the Lok Sabha polls 2024 on the grounds of alleged corrupt practices.
Justice Manmeet PS Arora is scheduled to hear the election petition on July 22.
The plea said while Bharti secured 3,74,815 votes, Swaraj got 4,53,185 votes as per the returning officer. They both contested from the New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency and Swaraj was declared as winner.
"The present election petition is being filed by the petitioner (Bharti) under Section 80 and 81 of the Representation of the People Act challenging the election of the respondent no.1 (Swaraj) as a Member of House of the people from the New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency on the grounds of 'corrupt practices' indulged into by the respondent no.1 , her election agent and other persons with the consent of the respondent during the course of the Lok Sabha election 2024 held on May 25, 2024," the plea said.
The plea alleged that former AAP minister Raaj Kumar Anand, who was though a candidate set up by the Bahujan Samaj Party but in reality he was set up by Swaraj's party to help her against the petitioner.
It said Anand was a minister in the Aam Aadmi Party's government in Delhi and was active in campaigning for Bharti till April 9 and suddenly he resigned from the party on April 10.
Anand contested the election on the ticket of Bahujan Samaj Party to help Swaraj by cutting into the vote share and later on July 10, he joined the BJP, the plea alleged.
"On the election day, that is, May 5, 2024, the petitioner, during his visits to different booths across New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency, was shocked to see that booth agents of the respondent no. 1 had her pamphlets displaying her ballot number, photo, election symbol and photo of PM Sri Narendra Modi and was showing the same to the voters who had lined up in the booth to vote and asking them to vote for Ballot no.1 and such an act certainly qualifies to be a corrupt practice. This was also reported to the respondent no. 3 (returning officer) but all in vain," the plea claimed.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
