It'll be Modi vs India in 2019, say opposition leaders
New Delhi, Sep 7 : Indian elections are based on ideologies and not personalities, said key opposition leaders on Friday and stressed that 2019 general elections will be a "Modi vs India" affair.
Speaking at the launch of Congress parliamentarian Kapil Sibal's new book "Shades of Truth - A Journey Derailed", they said that "a very broad-based strategic coalition" would be formed in "at least 25 states" to take on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2019 polls.
After a brief address by former Vice President Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
Charting the "all-round failure" of the government, Singh charged that the country is facing "an agrarian crisis, economic turmoil and deteriorating ties with neighbouring countries".
He accused the Modi government of ignoring the plight of farmers, which has resulted in numerous protests in state capitals as well as the national capital.
Singh, Ansari and Sibal together unveiled the book to a packed house at the Nehru Memorial Museum Library here.
The book launch was followed by a panel discussion participated by Sibal, P. Chidambaram, Sitaram Yechury, Chandan Mitra and Sharad Yadav. They discussed the prospects of a joint opposition front for the 2019 general elections.
The panelists agreed that the opposition unity would be vital in the coming elections, with Sibal asserting that in "at least 25 states" a "very broad-based strategic coalition" would be worked upon to counter the BJP.
Chidambaram recounted that even in 2014 general elections, despite the wind in its favour, the BJP failed to attract the masses in several states like Punjab, West Bengal, Kerala and Odisha.
Sibal also noted that the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, both currently ruled by the NDA, would have a decisive role to play in the next elections.
On the question of who will be the prime ministerial candidate of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) against Modi, all panelists, except Chandan Mitra of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), maintained that a prime ministerial face is not important.
Yadav recounted a series of elections where a joint coalition had formed the government without declaring their prime ministerial candidate in advance.
"But, much water has flown through the Yamuna since the time you are talking about," interjected Mitra, who recently quit the BJP to join its adversary in West Bengal. He said the voters are much more aware today and therefore a prime ministerial candidate is important.
Mitra maintained that the prime ministerial candidate of the UPA must be from a regional party, whose credentials are well established.
Responding to an audience question, Sibal said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that he is ready to take on Modi, so there is no question of "whether or not he is up for it".
"He is up for it and he has said that publicly," Sibal quipped, adding that a prime ministerial face is not important before the elections.
He recalled that there was a debate before 2014 general elections that the country needs a strong leadership and a prominent face. "The great leader (Modi) has given us demonetisation," he said.
"It will be Modi vs India," said Yadav, as the panelists nodded in affirmation and loud claps by opposition leaders resonated in the packed hall.
On their projections for the 2019 general elections, the panelists reiterated that the coming together of the opposition parties at state level would result in their victory.
The attendees included opposition leaders across political parties, including Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, Sitaram Yechury of the CPI-M, former JD-U members Sharad Yadav and Pavan Varma, TMC member Chanadan Mitra and a host of senior Congress leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge, Saman Khurshid and Shashi Tharoor, among others.
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BharatPe fraud case: Delhi HC quashes lookout circular against Ashneer Grover, wife
New Delhi, Nov 12: The Delhi High Court has ordered cancellation of a lookout circular (LOC) issued against Ashneer Grover, the former MD of payment app BharatPe, and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, noting that the FIR lodged against them over allegations of cheating and forgery has already been quashed.
Justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order on Monday after the court was informed that another bench of the high court quashed the FIR on the same day.
The FIR was quashed by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh after considering a plea moved by the Grovers stating that they have arrived at a settlement with the fintech company.
In his order, Justice Narula said, "Although the copy of the order (quashing the FIR) is not available as of now, the aforenoted fact is not disputed by the counsel for the parties.
"In light of the fact that the underlying FIR has been quashed, the LOC issued by respondent No. 3 (Bureau of Immigration), in the opinion of the court, will not survive."
The LOC was issued by the Bureau of Immigration at the instance of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in view of the investigation against the Grovers in the cheating and forgery FIR.
The court was hearing a plea moved by Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover seeking quashing of the LOC issued against them in connection with the investigation into the cheating and forgery case.
"Accordingly, the present petitions are disposed of with a direction to the respondents to cancel the LOC against the petitioners in their records," the court noted.
Earlier, the Grovers claimed that they were informed about the LOC for the first time when they were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on November 16, 2023, while they were scheduled to travel to the US.
After being detained, they were informed that the LOC was operational from November 6, 2023.
In May last year, the EOW filed an FIR against Grover, his wife Madhuri, and others under eight sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467 and 468 (forgery), and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) for an alleged Rs 81 crore fraud after a complaint was lodged by BhartPe, the fintech unicorn.
In its complaint, BharatPe alleged that Grover and his family caused damages to the tune of Rs 81.3 crore through illegitimate payments to bogus human resource consultants, inflated and undue payments through pass-through vendors connected to the accused, sham transactions in input tax credit and payment of penalty to GST authorities, illegal payment to travel agencies, forged invoices by Madhuri, and destruction of evidence.
Madhuri was the head of controls at BharatPe before she was fired in 2022 after a forensic audit revealed several irregularities.
Subsequently, Grover resigned as the chief executive officer of the fintech firm in March 2022.
