BJP sidelined Hindutva, claims Pramod Muthalik who wants to contest Karnataka election
Mangaluru (PTI): Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik is planning to enter the electoral arena in Karnataka to 'correct' the BJP which, he says, has sidelined its Hindutva agenda.
Addressing reporters in Udupi on Saturday, Muthalik said he wants to represent the voice of Hindus in the state assembly and will announce his candidature and the constituency by this month-end.
Muthalik said he has conducted surveys in around eight assembly constituencies and will finalise the segment in which he would be contesting soon. Karkala in Udupi district, represented by state Energy Minister V Sunil Kumar, is one among the prospective constituencies.
The right-wing outfit chief alleged that Sunil Kumar is behind the foisting of false cases against him and other Sene activists. The BJP appears to be on the same line of Congress which always tried to demean Hindu workers, he claimed.
Apart from Karkala, the constituencies of Sringeri, Belagavi South, Dharwad and Terdal, Jamkhandi (Bagalkote) are also being considered for contesting the poll, he said.
Muthalik charged that hundreds of Hindu activists have been put in jail after branding them as 'rowdy-sheeters' by the police. If the BJP government is not ready to change their stand against Hindu workers, they will lose the support of the Hindu majority, he claimed.
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ED in SC opposes interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, says electioneering not fundamental right
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday opposed in the Supreme Court the grant of interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, saying the right to campaign in elections is neither fundamental nor constitutional.
In a fresh affidavit filed in the top court, the ED said no political leader has ever been granted interim bail for campaigning even if he is not contesting polls.
"It is relevant to note that the right to campaign for an election is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right and not even a legal right," the agency said. It added that to its knowledge, "no political leader has been granted interim bail for campaigning even though he is not the contesting candidate. Even a contesting candidate is not granted interim bail if he is in custody for his own campaigning".
On Wednesday, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who headed the bench that heard Kejriwal's petition against his arrest in the case, said, "We will pronounce the interim order (on bail) on Friday. The main matter related to the challenge to arrest will also be taken up on the same day."
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was arrested on March 21 and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody.
On May 7, the bench, also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, had reserved its verdict on Kejriwal's interim bail plea.
On Tuesday, a Delhi court extended Kejriwal's judicial custody in the case till May 20.
The Delhi High Court had, on April 9, upheld the AAP leader's arrest, saying there was no illegality and the ED was left with "little option" after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.
The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.
