London-based Top economists quit Imran's panel over minority colleague's ouster
Islamabad, Sep 8: London-based economist Imran Rasul became the second member of Prime Minister Imran Khan's Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to resign after Atif Mian stepped down from the body following a backlash in Pakistan over his Ahmadi faith.
"With a heavy heart, I have resigned from the EAC this (Saturday) morning," Rasul, a professor of economics at University College London (UCL), tweeted.
"The circumstances in which Atif was asked to step down are ones I profoundly disagree with," Rasul said in a series of tweets.
His resignation comes a day after two prominent Pakistani economists resigned from the EAC after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government asked one of them to step down.
Atif Mian, a professor at Princeton University and Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy, had said he was resigning because the government was facing pressure regarding his appointment.
Terming the reasons for Atif's removal and subsequent resignation as "irrelevant factors", Rasul expressed his disappointment and said it would be hard to replace the Princeton economist.
Commenting on the formation of the economic body, Rasul said the body offered a great opportunity for better economic policies but "events these past 10 days have shown the best and worst of Pakistani politics at the moment".
On Thursday, protesting the government's decision to withdraw the nomination of Atif Mian on the EAC, celebrated economist Asim Ijaz Khwaja resigned from the newly-formed body, saying "being a Muslim I can't justify this".
Khwaja - who was one of the initial 18 members of the EAC that Mian was part of - announced his decision on Twitter shortly after news spread that Mian was not part of the EAC.
The first meeting of the recently reconstituted EAC was presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan. With the resignation of Rasul, all three international economists of Pakistani origin on the council are no longer part of the advisory body.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
