Congress expels Digvijaya Singh's brother for 6 years over remarks on Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI): The Congress on Wednesday expelled former Madhya Pradesh MLA Laxman Singh, who is brother of ex-chief minister Digvijaya Singh, from the primary membership of the party for six years for "anti-party activities".
The action against Laxman Singh, also a five-time MP, came after he repeatedly made "derogatory" remarks against party leader Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress had earlier issued a show cause notice against him saying why action should not be taken against him for his remarks.
"Congress president has expelled Laxman Singh, former MLA, Madhya Pradesh, from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress for a period of six years with immediate effect due to his anti-party activities," Tariq Anwar, member secretary of the Congress' Disciplinary Action Committee, said in a statement.
The statement did not elaborate based on what "anti-party activities" it had acted against Laxman Singh.
The MP Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) had made a recommendation to the party leadership for initiating action against him for his alleged anti-party activities and the matter was sent to the Disciplinary Action Committee of the AICC.
Laxman Singh has been a five-time MP and three-time MLA from Madhya Pradesh. He was first elected to the state legislature in 1990. He became an MP for the first time in 1994 from Rajgarh.
He switched to the BJP in 2004 when he was elected to the Lok Sabha again. He returned to the Congress fold in 2013.
Last month, the Congress issued a show-cause notice to Laxman Singh, younger brother of party veteran Digvijaya Singh, saying his "derogatory" remarks targeting senior party leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, have "crossed all acceptable limits".
It said his remarks have caused "serious damage" to the party's "image and dignity".
On April 25, Laxman Singh had attacked the party leadership in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.
"Rahul Gandhi and Robert Vadra are naive. The country is suffering the consequences of their immaturity," he had said during a condolence meeting organised to pay tributes to the Pahalgam victims.
The notice was issued to Laxman Singh on May 9 by party's Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC) member secretary Tariq Anwar.
It said, "This is to bring to your notice that a complaint has been received from MP Congress chief Jitu Patwari and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of MP Harish Chaudhary regarding your repeated public statements that have caused serious damage to the image and dignity of the Congress."
"It has been further noted that your recent statement has crossed all acceptable limits, particularly the derogatory and disrespectful remarks directed at senior party leadership, including the Honourable Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Shri Rahul Gandhi," the notice said.
On April 25, Laxman Singh had also targeted Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, saying he could be "in cahoots with terrorists".
Targeting Vadra, he had said, "Robert Vadra's statement that the terrorists attacked because they did not allow Muslims to offer namaz on the road is not only irresponsible but also a statement that poses a threat to the security of the country. I am saying all this in front of the camera, so that no one is confused. Congress should think 10 times before speaking, otherwise the public will answer in the elections."
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
