Nitish Kumar, Chandrababu Naidu may dump NDA, help INDIA bloc form govt: RJD
Patna, Jun 4: The RJD on Tuesday afternoon claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party president Chandrababu Naidu "shared a dislike for vendetta politics" which could lead them away from the BJP-led NDA.
RJD national spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha also recalled the forecast of Kumar, who heads the JD(U), that "those who came to power will be ousted in 2024", and the efforts he made in laying the foundation of the INDIA bloc.
"We have been, formerly, in alliance with both Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu. We know they share a dislike for vendetta politics which the BJP stands for. Narendra Modi seems to be on his way out. We are hopeful that the two leaders will play a crucial role in the change of guard at the Centre," Jha told reporters here.
Asked whether leaders of his party, including national president Lalu Prasad and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, were in touch with Kumar, Jha cryptically replied "those who need to contact him are talking to him. Our leader Tejashwi Yadav has been saying for some time that Nitish Kumar will take a big decision around June 4".
He also made it clear, "I am making no appeal to Nitish Kumar or Chandrababu Naidu. I am only expressing my hope, given the understanding I have of their temperament".
Notably, the JD(U) has put up a better than expected performance in Lok Sabha polls, establishing a lead in 14 out of the 16 seats it had contested, surpassing the BJP which had fought 17 but was trailing in five of these.
In Bihar, the INDIA bloc was leading in only eight out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats but Jha was confident that the numbers would look up for the coalition in the state, even as he complained about the tardy pace of counting.
"We have written to the Election Commission drawing attention towards the extremely slow pace of counting. Only 3-4 lakh votes have been counted till afternoon in most seats in Bihar where, on an average, about 10 lakh people have exercised their franchise in each constituency," said Jha.
"We are confident that as the counting progresses, in many seats where we are trailing by slender margins, the picture will change. But we urge the Election Commission to carry out the exercise as per the rule book and not act on any telephone calls they may be getting from Delhi," said the Rajya Sabha MP, who has been alleging that the poll panel has often acted under pressure from the ruling BJP at the Centre.
"To all our cadres in the INDIA coalition, I would appeal not to let their guard down. Counting may continue till late in the evening. We must remain vigilant," said Jha.
Among the INDIA constituents in Bihar, RJD had contested 23 seats, out of which it was trailing in all but four, while Congress, which got nine seats, was leading in two. The CPI(ML) Liberation, which had contested three seats, was leading in two.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
