FIR against BJP leader for 'Indo-Pak fight' remark over bypoll
Jhabua/Bhopal: An FIR has been filed against senior BJP leader Gopal Bhargava on orders of the Election Commission for allegedly violating the model code of conduct with his remarks on the October 21 bypoll in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua Assembly seat, officials said on Tuesday.
Bhargava, who is Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, on Monday sought to portray the by- election as a "fight between Pakistan and India" and not just a contest between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.
He asked the electorate in Jhabua to vote for BJP candidate Bhanu Bhuria as he "represents India" and said his rival Congress nominee "represents Pakistan".
Madhya Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao told PTI on Tuesday that taking cognisance of the remarks, "we directed the district returning officer and collector to file the First Information Report (FIR) in the matter after finding the controversial statement was violation of the model code of conduct."
The collector sent his report and subsequently the FIR was filed late Monday night, he said, adding that the matter was under investigation.
Jhabua's Superintendent of Police Vineet Jain said based on the report of returning officer Abhay Kharadi, the FIR was lodged against Bhargava at the district's Kotwali police station under relevant sections of the IPC and the Representation of the People Act, for violating the model code of conduct.
Seeking support for the BJP in tribal-dominated Jhabua, Bhargava on Monday said, "I, with faith, can say the country's respect is at stake right now."
"It is not a fight between two parties. This is an election between India and Pakistan," he told a gathering.
The by-election was necessitated after BJP's G S Damor resigned as the Jhabua MLA after winning the Lok Sabha election from the Ratlam-Jhabua seat earlier this year.
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Stalin accuses Centre of trying to use women's quota as 'weapon,' slams EPS over delimitation
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticised the Centre over the women's reservation and accused it of trying to use it as a "weapon" to tackle the opposition before taking up the delimitation exercise based on population.
"The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Rather than doing that, the BJP-led Centre is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition and take up the delimitation exercise based on population," he told PTI in an interview.
"Hence, the women's reservation must be implemented immediately without showing delimitation as a reason," the DMK president added.
Expressing apprehensions on the proposed delimitation exercise, the CM said it was the DMK that raised the first voice asserting the rights of the state after realising that Tamil Nadu would be affected by the proposed exercise. He also attacked his rival and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami over the delimitation issue.
Recalling efforts made by the DMK to raise the issue of population-based delimitation, he said an all-party meeting and a meeting of CMs under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee seeking fair delimitation were convened. It sought to freeze delimitation for 25 years and stick to it based on the 1971 Census population.
"We urged the union government that states which successfully implemented population control programmes must not be punished," he added.
The party came up with "Tamil Nadu poradum, Tamil Nadu vellum" (Tamil Nadu will struggle, Tamil Nadu will win) and this is DMK's stand, he said.
"However, Palaniswami, who is seeking votes for the entry of the BJP through the backdoor, has till date been mute over delimitation, and this is a betrayal of the people of Tamil Nadu."
