Indian envoy meets Imran Khan; discusses bilateral ties, terrorism
Islamabad, Aug 10 : Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria on Friday met Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan and the two pushed for the resumption of bilateral talks and the envoy briefed New Delhi's concerns about terrorism, an official said.
The envoy was accompanied by his deputy J.P. Singh.
The meeting with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief took place in the presence of senior party leaders, including former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
The Indian diplomat congratulated Khan for his party's victory in the last month's general elections.
During the meeting, Khan "expressed his grave concerns on the human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir", a PTI spokersperson said.
Khan also hoped that the Saarc leaders' conference will take place in Islamabad soon, he said.
Bisaria, too, hoped that a new chapter in the Pakistan-India relations would begin soon.
During the 30-minute meeting, the High Commissioner briefed the PTI leadership on India's concerns about terrorism and cross-border infiltration.
Bisaria also presented to Khan a cricket bat signed by the members of the Indian national cricket team.
In July, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had telephoned Imran Khan, saying his country was ready to enter a new era of relations with Pakistan.
Imran Khan will take oath as Prime Minister on August 18, Senator Faisal Javed said on Friday.
Javed also confirmed that three former Indian cricketers -- Kapil Dev, Novjot Singh Sidhu and Sunil Gavaskar -- had been invited to the oath-taking ceremony.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
