Nearly a month after election, Indian Youth Congress in Karnataka yet to declare results
Cadre, party workers express dissent over complicated election process of party
New Delhi: Already in the soup for not being the potent opposition party in the Centre, India’s grand old party Indian National Congress is once again landed itself into a crisis that can well be touted as the signs of dissent from its youth party cadre.
Over three weeks after the polling for Indian Youth Congress in Karnataka were held, the party is yet to announce the results of the election, moving a directionless wind of dissent in the party’s youth quarters. Party workers and leaders have expressed their dissatisfaction over the delays in results which were to be declared on January 20, but the party has only postponed the announcement of results ever since.
The entire election process was spread over seven long months that kept the party’s youth busy in the election preps without letting them do any productive party work during the course. The grand old party has always pitched itself as the one that introduced IT to the country but is struggling internally to announce the results of its own youth wings results even after three weeks from the polling dates.
One of the major points of arguments in the party circles regarding the issue is also the use of an electronic voting system that was used for the election, while the party at large has been critical about the EVMs during national and state elections.
Some party workers who wished not to be named told Vartha Bharati, that the party cadre and especially those who have contested the election and are aspiring posts in the IYC also believe the use of ballot paper voting system could’ve been better as it provides transparency over the results as against to the rumors that have indicated post-election manipulation of results in EVMs and electronic voting systems.
The party’s election results’ authenticity received a major setback when the party withdrew block-level results, two days after announcing it. It has raised questions over the authenticity of the results. The party however has to answer as to why the results were withdrawn in the first place. Were there errors in the election results?
Users across social media platforms also questioned if the move to withdraw the already declared results was in accordance with the dissatisfaction of leaders of the party who were unhappy with the outcome of the election.
Efforts to get a comment from IYC National President Srinivas BV in this regard were unsuccessful. The story will be updated as and when we get an official statement from Srinivas.
Amidst all this, the Congress is leaving itself high and dry without any external interference, with people now questioning that if the party cannot be transparent, just, and accountable to its own youth cadre, how will it deal with the expectations, hopes, and trust of the people of the country if they win the General or State elections in the future.
The rumors flying thick and fast make it look like it’s a conspiracy to hurt the KPCC president DK Shivakumar who is leading the party in the next elections. He needs a strong youth leader by his side to face the elections. This internal groupism by some vested interests within the party will only end up damaging the party.
With the BJP simplifying its membership and election process, Congress with its outdated and questionable tactics is only widening the gap between itself and the grassroots level workers. A person can join BJP by merely giving a missed call on a number, while the Congress has an astringent and complicated process in place for anybody who wills to join them. The complicated process has so far only kept the youngsters from joining the party against a simplified process of merely having to dial a number.
The onus is now on the INC to come to its own rescue before it’s too late to come back from where it is sliding to. It will not be too far away when the party’s election process, authenticity, and the party itself at large will become a laughing stock.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
UP journalist booked over LPG queue visuals, elderly man dies same day outside gas agency
Lucknow: A television journalist in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad has been booked for allegedly circulating misleading visuals of people standing in queues outside a gas agency, even as a 70-year-old man died the same day after collapsing near an LPG outlet in the district.
An FIR was registered on March 13 at Kamalganj police station against Anubhav Mishra, a reporter with Noida-based Hindi Khabar channel, under Section 353(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with public mischief through circulation of false content or rumours via electronic means.
Newslaundry quoted police as saying that the case relates to visuals showing long queues outside a gas agency in Kamalganj. The videos were aired and posted on social media by the channel. According to officials, the footage was two days old and did not reflect the current situation.
A senior police official said the images were misleading and created panic about an alleged LPG shortage. The administration has maintained that there was no shortage of cylinders in the district and that distribution was proceeding normally.
ALSO READ: Three children among 7 of family killed in massive fire at multi-storey building in Delhi's Palam
On the same day the FIR was lodged, Mukhtiyar Ahmed, a 70-year-old zardozi worker from Lal Sarai in Farrukhabad, collapsed outside a Bharat Gas agency and was later declared dead at a private nursing home. Family members said he had stepped out early in the morning to collect a cylinder after failing to receive booking confirmation through his mobile phone a day earlier.
Relatives claimed he had been standing in a queue for nearly two hours before he fell ill. Videos circulating locally showed bystanders attempting to revive him before he was taken to hospital. He had been undergoing treatment for a heart ailment in Kanpur for the past six months, family members said.
District Supply Officer Surender Kumar said there was no cylinder shortage and disputed claims of long waiting hours. He said the deceased had reached the agency around 8.30 am and fell ill within a short span. Kumar added that due to a high volume of bookings, the server had temporarily failed to generate delivery authentication codes, but vendors were issuing paper receipts to consumers.
Earlier, based on inputs shared by Mishra, Hindi Khabar had posted a social media update referring to chaos over LPG supply in Farrukhabad and difficulties faced by consumers due to booking issues. The post was later taken down.
ALSO READ: Bengaluru family attempts to send man in 'parcel' to protest high bus fares ahead of Ugadi, Ramzan
Police sources said the FIR was filed after it was found that the visuals used were recorded on March 11 and were circulated on March 13 in a manner that could create unrest. Sub-Inspector Sandeep Kumar, the complainant in the case, stated that when police visited the spot, no such long queues were found.
Mishra worked as a reporter for five years. He said he had forwarded the visuals to his channel on the same day he received them and maintained that several agencies in the district were facing booking-related issues. He noted that if authorities found any factual inaccuracies, they could have sought clarification instead of registering an FIR.
The family of the deceased has not lodged any complaint. District Supply Officer Surender Kumar and Farrukhabad Superintendent of Police Aarti Singh along with other officers visited the family later in the day and a cylinder was delivered to their residence.
