Hope Fadnavis won't repeat mistakes he made as CM: Shiv Sena
Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Monday expressed hope that Devendra Fadnavis, as leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, would not repeat the mistakes which he committed while being the state's chief minister.
Attacking Fadnavis again over the hush-hush ceremony in which he was sworn in as chief minister on November 23 but had to quit 80 hours later, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the BJP has lost a face having mass appeal.
It claimed that people have drifted away from the BJP. "The current support that the BJP has (of its own MLAs and Independents) is unlikely to remain with the party.
Whatever is happening to the party is the outcome of its previous deeds," the Sena said. Maharashtra BJP legislature party leader Fadnavis was on Sunday named leader of opposition (LoP) in the Assembly.
"Fadnavis should remember he has gone down in history as a person who was illegally sworn in by keeping everybody in the dark and without having majority," the Sena said.
He was on that (chief minister's) post for only "80 hours". If he wants to get rid of that image, he should go by rules to work as leader of the opposition and take tuitions from senior BJP leader and former LoP Eknath Khadse, the Sena said in sarcastic remarks.
"Fadnavis should maintain the dignity of the leader of opposition's post and not repeat the mistakes which he made earlier as chief minister of Maharashtra," it opined.
The Marathi daily noted that the central BJP leadership decided to continue with Fadnavis as the party head in the Maharashtra Assembly, but did not follow the same in other states.
"In neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan was the chief minister for many years, but when the party lost to the Congress, he was not made leader of the opposition in the MP Assembly," it pointed out.
Similarly, Vasundhara Raje was also not made LoP in Rajasthan after the BJP lost elections in that state, it said.
"But, what could be the secret behind Delhi backing Fadnavis despite the results (where BJP got 105 seats in 288- member Maharashtra Assembly)?" the Sena wondered.
It is now a fact that the Assembly polls' mandate was not for the BJP. Despite that, Delhi supported Fadnavis to take oath as chief minister (with the support of NCP's Ajit Pawar), but the government collapsed in three days, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.
"And now the BJP made him leader of the opposition when people of the state voted for a change," it added.
The Sena also took a dim view of the objections raised by Fadnavis during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government's floor test on Saturday.
When the House assembled on Saturday, Fadnavis alleged the Assembly session was not being held as per constitutional norms. He also objected to the appointment of NCP leader Dilip Walse Patil as the pro-tem Speaker of the Assembly.
The swearing-in of ministers of the Uddhav Thackeray- led government was also not done as per the constitutional norms, he alleged. However, Walse Patil rejected his claim, saying the session was being held as per Governor's nod.
The BJPP MLAs walked out before head count began in the 288-member House.
"The kind of drama Fadnavis did during the new government's floor test was not good. He made a ridiculous statement that he works as per rules. He should then explain under what rule he objected to the floor test on Saturday," the Marathi daily said.
The Sena also said that the appointment of Congress leader Nana Patole as Speaker of the Assembly was a "tight slap on the face of the BJP".
Patole had earlier quit the Congress and won the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket. However, he returned to the Congress in December 2017 citing differences with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Fadnavis.
"Patole was the first BJP Lok Sabha member who revolted against Prime Minister Modi, saying the latter does not allow party MPs to speak," the Sena claimed.
He came back to the Congress and became Speaker of the Assembly. Now, Patole will decide whether Fadnavis should speak or not in the House, the Sena said in taunting remarks.
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Kannur dental student death: Case registered against loan app operators, parents allege murder
Kannur (PTI): A case has been registered against unidentified loan app operators in connection with the death of a Kannur Dental College student in Anjarakandy, officials said on Monday.
However, the victim’s parents alleged that their son was murdered and held the college faculty responsible for his death.
The Kannur Cyber Police registered the case on Sunday night based on a complaint by an assistant professor of the college.
According to police, Nithin Raj R L, a first-year BDS student, had taken a loan through an online loan app.
After he defaulted on repayment, the app operators allegedly began contacting the assistant professor.
The FIR stated that the accused contacted the woman faculty member via MMS and WhatsApp, threatening her over repayment and attempting to siphon off money illegally.
Sources said that in cases of default, such loan app operators often send messages to all available contacts of the borrower.
Raj (22), a native of Uzhamalackal, Puthukulangara in Thiruvananthapuram district, was found critically injured near the medical college block after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
The family alleged that Raj was subjected to emotional harassment on caste and complexion grounds by two faculty members, following which a case was registered against Dental Anatomy Department Head M K Ram and Associate Professor K T Sangeetha Nambiar for abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Even though notices were issued to both accused to appear for interrogation, they are yet to respond to the police, officials said.
Police officials said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case is also examining whether Raj’s death was linked to threats from the loan app operators.
The cyber case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 308(3) (extortion), along with Section 66D of the Information Technology Act (cheating by personation using computer resources).
Police said Raj’s mobile phone will be examined to gather details about the loan app, and a detailed statement will be recorded from the assistant professor who received the threatening messages and calls.
Meanwhile, the SIT has recovered chat details from Raj’s phone, which indicate that he had sought more time to repay the loan.
According to police, Raj had taken a loan of Rs 14,000, and the app operators had demanded immediate repayment of Rs 8,000.
As his family was facing financial difficulties, he had requested a few weeks’ time to settle the dues.
The SIT, led by the Station House Officer of Chakkarakkallu police station, visited Raj’s house on Monday and recorded statements of his parents and sister.
The four-member team also collected digital evidence from them.
The family also met the State Police Chief Ravada Chandrasekhar and filed a petition seeking a detailed probe into the incident.
Raj’s father Rajan said his son had taken the loan for his mother’s treatment.
“We were repaying it. But recently, the repayment defaulted. If the teacher was aggrieved by the loan app’s calls and my son had done anything wrong, they should have informed us. You can check my phone, there is no call from the college,” he said.
Rajan said he had little hope of getting justice.
“They all killed my son. What justice can I expect? I worked hard for his education. We lost everything,” he said.
He also alleged that even three days after Raj’s death, there had been no communication from the college authorities.
“He was a student of that college. Not even a word from the authorities. Students there, fearing for their future, are not speaking out. At least one student should speak out for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, protests erupted at Kannur Dental College on Monday, with final-year BDS students also joining the agitation.
The college has granted leave to students of other batches following the incident.
Students alleged that the accused faculty member, M K Ram, misbehaved with students by body-shaming and physical assault.
“We were living under severe pressure. Ram was involved in body-shaming. Verbal abuse was frequent. Apart from it, he used to hit students on the head. There were also complaints against him and disciplinary action taken earlier,” a student told reporters.
Political organisations, including KSU of the Congress, SFI and DYFI of the CPI(M), MSF of the IUML and ABVP of the BJP, carried out protest marches.
KSU and SFI activists who entered the college compound were later detained and removed by police.
Kerala SC/ST Commission Chairperson Shekaran Miniyodan visited Raj’s house and interacted with his family.
He said the Commission has registered a case and sought a report from the police.
“We will collect information along with the SIT about the incident. Apart from the preliminary investigation report, we will also examine the postmortem report,” he said.
Similarly, the Kerala Youth Commission has also registered a case and recorded statements of students of the college.
Commission Chairman M Shajar said students have raised serious allegations against M K Ram and that a detailed probe would be conducted with police support.
Earlier, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission had also registered a case and sought a report from the police.
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