Will not try to dislodge government, says Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday said his party would not try and dislodge the ruling BJP government like the saffron party had done to his coalition government and opined that he did not think that mid-term polls would be held.
"The JD(S) will not try to dislodge the government like the saffron party did to unseat the coalition government.
Leaders of other parties may hanker after power, but not us. We fill function as an effective opposition party and hope the ruling BJP gives succor to the flood affected people,"he told reporters at Belagavi.
The JD(S) leader said he did not think there would be mid-term polls in Karnataka, as constantly being stated by leader of the opposition and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
This seemed to be more true after the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, he said.
His comments drew a sharp reaction from Siddaramaiah,who said the JD(S) leader's remarks that his party would not dislodge the government gave an impression that he would support the saffron party.
Siddaramaiah recalled that JD(S) had formed the government with BJP in 2005-06.
"What else can you expect from him? His statement gives that impression (that he supports BJP)," he told reporters in Bengaluru.
Siddaramaiah, who had on Saturday said his party was prepared to face the bypolls to 15 assembly constituencies in Karnataka if elections were held as per schedule on December 5, sought to know how BJP would remain in a majority if Congress won all 15 seats.
To this, Kumaraswamy said if the bypoll results led to the collapse of the BJP government, the general elections would be at least six months away.
His brand of politics, the JD(S) leader said, was not vengeance based, but to address the sufferings of people.
"How many farmers will die if Governors rule is imposed in the state? To avoid this, I only said that I am comtemplating whether the government should continue or not.
It is immaterial for me who should be the Chief Minister and whose government should continue," Kumaraswamy said.
Bypolls to 15 of 17 seats represented by disqualified Congress JD(S) MLAs, whose resignation and absence from trust vote led to the fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government and made way for the BJP to come to power, will be held on December 5.
The then Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar had disqualified them as MLAs, ruling that those disqualified cease to be MLAs with immediate effect till the expiry of the 15th assembly (in 2023), which they have challenged in the Supreme Court.
BJP needs six seats to win a simple majority in the assembly and continue the government.
The B S Yediyurappa led BJP ministry assumed office on July 26, three days after the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) government with the defeat of the confidence motion moved by (then chief minister) Kumaraswamy in the assembly.
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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.
