US Vice President Kamala Harris becomes Democratic presidential nominee
Washington, Aug 2: US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Indian and African heritage, was declared the 2024 presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party on Friday after she won enough votes from Democratic delegates in a virtual roll call.
Harris, 59, would face Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump, 78, in the general elections scheduled to be held on November 5.
"I am honoured to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. I will officially accept the nomination next week. This campaign is about people coming together, fuelled by love of country, to fight for the best of who we are,” Harris, who was abruptly thrust into the role of presidential candidate late last month after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race for the White House, said.
A step away from breaking the last glass ceiling of the United States, Harris became the first ever woman of colour to be on the top of a presidential ticket of a major American political party. She is also the first ever Indian American to be nominated as presidential candidate of either the Republican or the Democratic party.
“I am so proud to confirm that Vice President Harris has earned more than a majority of votes from all convention delegates and will be the nominee of the Democratic Party following the close of voting,” Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison said after the end of a virtual roll call of votes from the elected delegates across the country.
Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was Indian and her father, Donald Jasper Harris, is Jamaican; both immigrated to the US.
Harris will be officially accepting the nomination once the virtual voting period is closed next week. She will ceremonially accept it at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 22. Over the next few days, she is likely to announce her running mate.
“We love our country. We believe in the promise of America, and that's what this campaign is about. Of course, I will officially accept your nomination next week, once the virtual voting period is closed. But already I'm happy to know that we have enough delegates to secure the nomination," she said.
"Later this month, we will gather in Chicago, united as one party, where we're going to have an opportunity to celebrate this historic moment together,” Harris said in a phone call with the delegates soon after she secured enough delegates to win the nomination.
Harris said this campaign is “about all of us coming together, people coming together from every walk of life, every lived experience, and being renewed by our love of country, knowing that we are prepared to fight for the best of who we are”.
“The beauty of our democracy is we, each, every one of us, has the power to answer that question, and that is why I say and know the power is with the people," she said.
Harris said, "We are going to win this election, and it is going to take all of us, whether it is making calls, connecting with our communities, engaging online, or even talking with people where we go every day, whether it be to the grocery store, our church, we are going to talk together.”
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Pressure groups trying to use social media to affect outcome of cases: Ex CJI Chandrachud
New Delhi, Nov 24: Former Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Sunday said social media is being used by special interest groups to influence outcome of cases and judges need to be wary of them.
He also noted that people nowadays want to form an opinion on the basis of 20 seconds they see on YouTube or any other social media platform, saying it poses a great danger.
"Today there are special interest groups, pressure groups who are trying to use social media to affect the minds of the courts and the outcomes of cases. Every citizen is entitled to understand what is the basis of a decision and to express their opinions on the decisions of the court. But when this goes beyond the decisions of the court and targets individual judges, then it sort of raises fundamental questions about - Is this truly freedom of speech and expression?" he said.
"Everybody, therefore wants to form an opinion in 20 seconds of what they see on YouTube or any social media platform. This poses a grave danger because the process of decision-making in the courts is far more serious. It is really nuanced that nobody has the patience or the tolerance today on social media to understand, and that is a very serious issue that is confronting the Indian judiciary," he said while speaking at NDTV India's Samvidhan@75 Conclave.
"Judges have to be very careful about the fact that they are constantly being subject to this barrage of special interest groups trying to alter the decisions of what happens in the courts," he said while replying to a question on whether trolling on social media impacts judges.
Chandrachud also said that in a democracy the power to decide the validity of laws is entrusted to the constitutional courts.
"Separation of powers postulates that law-making will be carried out by the legislature, execution of law will be carried out by the executive and the judiciary will interpret the law and decide the disputes. There are times when this comes under strain. Policy making is entrusted to the government in a democracy.
"When fundamental rights are involved, courts are duty bound under the Constitution to step in. Policy making is the job of the legislature, but deciding on its validity is the job and responsibility of the courts," Chandrachud said.
Defending the collegium system, the 50th CJI said there is a lot of misunderstanding about the process and it very nuanced and multi-layered.
"It's not as if the judiciary has exclusive role to play in appointment of judges," he said adding that first thing to be considered in seniority of judges.
When asked, if judges should enter politics, the former CJI said there is no bar in Constitution or in law to do so.
"Society continues to look at you as a judge even after retirement, therefore, things which are alright for other citizens to do would not be alright for judges to do even when they demit office.
"Primarily it is for every judge to take a call on whether a decision which he takes after retirement will have a bearing on people who assess the work which he did as a judge," he said.
Chandrachud retired on November 10 after a stint of two years as CJI.
