People do not care about fuel price hike, not a factor in polls, claims BJP's Kerala unit chief
Kochi, Dec 8: The BJP's Kerala unit president K Surendran on Tuesday claimed the public does not care about the rise in fuel prices and it will not affect the local body polls in the state.
Petrol and diesel prices rose for the sixth day in a row on Monday as rates went up by 26-30 paise per litre and rates for petrol in Delhi rose to Rs 83.71 per litre, from Rs 83.41 while diesel price went up from Rs 73.61 to Rs 73.87 per litre.
Surendran said it was the Congress party which handed over the price regulation authority to the oil companies.
"The rise in fuel prices in the country will not affect the public and it is not a factor in the election. It was the Congress which gave the price determination authority to the oil companies," Surendran told reporters here.
His comment came as the first phase of the three tier local body polls was being held today.
When asked about his protest against fuel price hike during the previous UPA rule, by pushing his scooter through the road, Surendran said "today there are other people in the Opposition to take up that role."
"I protested when I was in the Opposition.That's how things work. It's not a big deal. We will protest when we are in the Opposition.The public does not care about the fuel prices.
We are providing free rice, cooking gas, cheap medicine, kisan samman nidhi and other benefits for the public and that's why we are winning all elections across the country," Surendran said.
The BJP state chief claimed that the price of petrol in the country was Rs 87 during the UPA rule and now it is around Rs 83.
When reporters pointed out that it was around Rs 67, Surendran dismissed it and said it was part of the justification given by the Congress and CPI(M).
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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.
