UP polls: BJP Miranpur nominee booked for inflammatory speech, violating EC guidelines
Muzaffarnagar(PTI): The BJP's Miranpur candidate for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls has been booked for allegedly giving an inflammatory speech at an election meeting and violating EC guidelines on physical campaigning, police said on Monday.
Pershant Gujjar and his 40 supporters have also been booked for holding the meeting without permission on Sunday, Kakroli Station House Officer (SHO) Sunil Sharma said.
He said that the meeting took place despite the Election Commission (EC) banning all kinds of physical poll public meetings and rallies in view of the Covid situation.
Gujjar, in a video clip, is heard appealing to people in Chorawala village to support him in the elections as the BJP is of Hindus and the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) is a Muslims' party.
Sharma said Gujjar and his supporters were booked after investigation of the video, which has gone viral on social media.
The election meeting, which Gujjar is addressing, was organised without the permission of district authorities and in violation of EC guidelines, he said.
Gujjar and his 40 supporters have been charged under Section 125 (promoting enmity between classes in connection with election) of the the Representation of the People Act, Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act and Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, Sharma said.
The SHO said that they also face Indian Penal Code sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 269 and 270 which pertain to malignantly, unlawfully or negligently doing any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life.
The other IPC sections imposed are 505(2) (whoever commits an offence in any place of worship or in any assembly engaged in the performance of religious worship) and 171 (offence related to not belonging to a certain class of public servants, wears any garb or carries any token resembling any garb or token used by that class of public servants), the Sharma said.
The Miranpur assembly constituency goes to polls on February 10 in the first of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh elections.
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PM Modi holds talks with Dutch counterpart Jetten; discusses trade, investment
The Hague (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held wide-ranging talks with his Dutch counterpart Rob Jetten, focusing on trade, investment, and critical technologies.
Modi arrived in the Netherlands on Friday on the second leg of his five-nation tour. This is his second trip to the Netherlands, following his visit in 2017.
Ahead of the bilateral talks, Modi, along with Jetten, held discussions with prominent CEOs of leading Dutch companies across various sectors such as energy, ports, health, agriculture trade, and technology, among others.
Modi invited Dutch companies to explore opportunities in India, particularly in maritime, renewable energy, digital technologies, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and healthcare sectors.
"We are continuously reducing compliance and increasing the ease of doing business. We have recently carried out next-generation reforms in taxation, labour code, and governance," he told the business leaders.
The prime minister added that manufacturing in India is becoming very cost-effective, and in the services sector, it has become the engine of efficiency and innovation.
"We invite all of you to design and innovate in India. There can be no better time for this than today," he said.
"Today's India is a symbol of scale and stability. In terms of scale, we are also the fastest-growing major economy in the world and the world's largest talent pool. Infrastructure, clean energy or connectivity – no one in the world can match India's speed," Modi said.
"And on the subject of stability, I have completed 12 years of serving as the Prime Minister of the world's largest democracy. In these 12 years, with continuous reforms, we have transformed our economic DNA. Our direction has been clear – to give policy predictability to the private sector and increase opportunities for them," he added.
Modi said his government has opened up every sector for the private sector, be it space, mining or nuclear energy.
Ahead of the meeting, an agreement between ASML and Tata Electronics was signed in the presence of the two leaders.
The two prime ministers also called for early implementation of the India-EU-FTA.
Earlier, Prime Minister Modi met King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima at the Royal Palace and discussed close cooperation in digital technology, innovation, fintech and blue economy.
PM Modi's visit will build on the momentum of high-level engagements and close cooperation spanning diverse sectors, including defence, security, innovation, green hydrogen, semiconductors and a strategic partnership on water, the MEA said ahead of his visit.
The Netherlands is one of India's largest trade destinations in Europe, with bilateral trade worth USD 27.8 billion in 2024-25. The European nation is India's fourth-largest investor with cumulative foreign direct investment of USD 55.6 billion.
From the Netherlands, the prime minister will travel to Sweden for a two-day trip from May 17 to 18.
