Pune (PTI): NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the entrepreneurship scheme for women played a role in the victory of the NDA in the Bihar elections, even as he wondered how the Election Commission allowed distribution of funds during the poll process.

A day after the BJP-JD(U) combine won a landslide victory in the polls, Pawar said the BJP and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar will jointly decide the chief minister's name.

"The outcome of the Bihar polls was not different from what was predicted by (Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar. Women took the election into their hands. I had earlier felt that a scheme under which Rs 10,000 is deposited in bank accounts of women had generated a favourable effect (for NDA)", Pawar told reporters in Baramati.

He was referring to the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, which distributes money to a woman member of each family for setting up a business.

He wondered how the poll body allowed the distribution of money under the scheme during elections.

"The Election Commission should think if the money distribution (by the Bihar government under the scheme) was correct", the veteran politician said and raised concerns over the possible implementation of the Bihar template in future elections.

"During the Maharashtra polls too, the amount (under Ladki Bahin Scheme) was officially credited to the accounts of women. If ruling parties use a similar method in elections, it will hamper the trust of the people as well as the election process", he added.

Pawar evaded a direct answer to queries on possible alliances between the NCP (SP) and the NCP led by his estranged nephew and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for the upcoming elections to local bodies.

"I don't know about talks (on alliance between the two factions of NCP) taking place in any districts. As per discussions held in the NCP (SP), local leaders will take a call (on forging alliance) during the Nagar Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti polls," he added.

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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.