Watch: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav jumps barricades to defy police amid INDIA bloc's protest against EC
Live Events
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
Opposition MPs of the INDIA bloc on Monday protested against the Election Commission and took out a march from Makar Dwar in Parliament to the Election Commission office at Nirvachan Sadan on Monday to protest against Bihar SIR.However, the march was blocked by the Delhi police by using barricades at Transport Bhawan. Meanwhile, visuals of leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav , surfaced where they were seen jumping multiple barricades.The leaders were wearing white caps with a red cross on the words 'SIR' and "vote chori". The MPs raised slogans against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar while carrying placards and banners.They sang the national anthem before commencing the protest at Parliament's Makar Dwar.Police had made elaborate arrangements and placed barricades next to the Transport Bhawan on Parliament street to stop the protesting MPs from moving forward.The police asked the MPs not to proceed further and made announcements, as they were prevented from moving forward to the Election Commission headquarters, a short distance from Parliament House.Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Sanjay Raut, Mahua Moitra, Akhilesh Yadav and Sagarika Ghose were detained by the police amid the protest."The reality is that they cannot talk. The truth is in front of the country. This fight is not political. This fight is to save the Constitution. This fight is for One Man, One Vote. We want a clean, pure voters list," Rahul Gandhi said.Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "Dare hue hai. Sarkaar kaayar hai." (They are scared, the government is coward)".Meanwhile, both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned till 2 pm amid the opposition protest.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
25 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Terrorists have won if act of terror allowed to dictate constitutional debate': Valley leaders react to SC observation on J-K statehood
The Supreme Court's observation during the hearing of a petition for the return of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir that ground realities, like what happened in Pahalgam, could not be ignored has drawn a sharp political reactions from the Valley. 'SC's reference to (the) recent Pahalgam terror attack in the context of granting statehood to Jammu and Kashmir underscores a deeper issue about GoI's continued lack of confidence in the region's stability. Even after revoking J&K's special status & reducing it to a Union Territory, the Centre appears unwilling to ease its tight control. This reflects a deeper political and psychological deadlock,' former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said. 'PDP maintains that the Jammu and Kashmir issue goes far beyond questions of statehood or constitutional status. Unless New Delhi engages with the political aspirations of the people and addresses the core issue head-on it will remain on uncertain footing regardless of the force it deploys. It is time GoI corrects past missteps & initiates a sincere process of dialogue and reconciliation to bring lasting peace and dignity to the region,' she said. PDP leader and Pulwama legislator Waheed Para said there is no legal or empirical basis to claim that keeping J&K a Union Territory would defeat terrorism. 'If a terror act is allowed to dictate India's highest constitutional debate, the terrorists have already won. Why should the people of J&K—law-abiding citizens who have upheld the Constitution—be denied equality with every other Indian because of a neighbouring state's actions? Constitutional rights cannot be contingent on Pakistan's conduct,' he said, adding, 'Denying statehood on that basis outsources Indian sovereignty to those who seek to undermine it. There is no legal or empirical basis to claim that keeping J&K a Union Territory will defeat terrorism; what it will erode is the federal structure, the principle of equal treatment, and the very core of representative democracy.' The Supreme Court on Thursday told applicants seeking statehood for Jammu and Kashmir that the ground realities, including what happened in Pahalgam, cannot be ignored. 'You also have to take into consideration ground realities…You can't ignore what has happened in Pahalgam,' Chief Justice B R Gavai said, referring to the April 22 terror attack in which 25 tourists and a local pony rider were killed. Justice K Vinod Chandran of the bench observed that they 'do not have the expertise' and the decision of statehood is 'for the executive and Parliament to decide.' National Conference chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq termed the apex court observation 'very disappointing'. 'This observation is very unfortunate,' Sadiq told The Indian Express. 'The fact is that the (Pahalgam) incident happened even though we didn't have a statehood and the law and order was with the Centre. Why should the people of Jammu and Kashmir suffer for this. The people responsible should be taken to task, and not the people of Jammu and Kashmir.' Sadiq said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will 'answer a lot many questions that he has not in the last seven months'.
Economic Times
25 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Kagaz mitao, Adhikaar churao: Rahul Gandhi's new slogan against BJP over "missing" forest rights titles in Chhattisgarh
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has accused the BJP of disenfranchising Bahujans by manipulating voter lists and erasing Adivasi forest rights, particularly in Chhattisgarh. Gandhi highlighted a news report indicating the disappearance of forest rights titles in Rajnandgaon district. He asserted that the Congress enacted the Forest Rights Act to safeguard tribal rights, while the BJP is allegedly weakening it. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) of "stealing" the rights of Bahujans either through the removal of their names from the voter list or by "disappearing" forest rights titles of Adivasis (Tribals)."Kagaz mitao, Adhikaar churao - the BJP has made this a new weapon for the oppression of Bahujans. On one hand, they remove the names of Dalits and backward classes from the voter list, and on the other, they make the forest rights titles of tribals 'disappear,'" Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha, posted on to a news report published by an English daily, Gandhi flagged the issue of "missing" forest rights titles in government records in Chhattisgarh . He said that over half of the total forest rights titles have been "made" to vanish in the Rajnandgaon district."In Chhattisgarh's Bastar (2,788) and Rajnandgaon (more than half), the records of thousands of forest rights titles have been suddenly made to vanish," Gandhi said."The Congress enacted the Forest Rights Act to protect the water, forest, and land of Tribals - the BJP is weakening it and snatching their primary rights," he Tribals as "first owners" of the country, Gandhi emphasised Congress' resolve to protect their rights. "We will protect their rights at all costs," he Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, also called the Forest Rights Act (FRA), deals with the recognition of various rights for forest dwellers, including Scheduled Tribes (STs) and other traditional section 3 of the Bare Act, the Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) have been granted legal rights for ownership and use of forest land and Forest Rights Act has many names, including Tribal Act or Tribal Rights Act, apart from its official title. It was enacted to correct the historical wrongs that occurred during colonial rule, where Adivasis and other traditional forest-dwelling communities were criminalised by law for using forest resources.
Mint
27 minutes ago
- Mint
India, Pakistan Independence Day celebrations: As different as chalk and cheese
Except the colour of the flags, the Islamic motifs and a 24-hour time lag, Independence Day across the Radcliffe Line in Pakistan is not much different from India's very own celebrations. Declared a national holiday, Pakistan's Independence Day – or Yaum-i-Azadi - on August 14 takes place in capital Islamabad, where the national flag is hoisted at the Presidential and Parliament buildings. It is followed by the national anthem and live televised speeches by leaders. The usual celebratory events and festivities for the day include flag-raising ceremonies, parades, cultural events, and the playing of patriotic songs, combined with several award-giving ceremonies. As in India, Pakistanis hoist the national flag atop their homes or display it prominently on their vehicles and their attires, amid much joy and fanfare. Might as well be India's own Swantantra Divas, in the eyes of a casual observer, except for the flavour. "Things are pretty much the same, but unlike India, in Pakistan, it is a feeling of otherness. It is not so much about getting independence from colonial rule as it is about the victory of partition and the greatness of the Pakistan movement,' says Vijay Nambiar, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan. India does not celebrate Independence Day under Pakistan's shadow. For us, it is freedom from colonial rule, he told this reporter. The founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, said as much in his first broadcast to the nation: "August 15 is the birthday of the independent and sovereign state of Pakistan. It marks the fulfilment of the destiny of the Muslim nation, which made great sacrifices in the past few years to have its homeland." The date of Pakistan's Independence Day was not always sacrosanct. The first commemorative postage stamps of the country, released in July 1948, give August 15, 1947, as Pakistan's Independence Day. However, in subsequent years August 14 was adopted as Independence Day. Early in 1947, Britain's Labour government appointed Lord Louis Mountbatten as the last Viceroy of India. He was charged with the responsibility of overseeing the transfer of power from British control to Indian hands. This transfer was initially fixed for not later than June 1948. But increasing communal violence and worsening law and order compelled Mountbatten to advance the date to August 1947 with a view to hastening the British withdrawal. According to Partition Studies, Mountbatten noted Jinnah's adamant refusal to accept anything less than a separate Pakistan, even with loose or firm ties to India, making the break inevitable. Mountbatten administered the independence oath to Jinnah on August 14, before leaving for India where the oath was scheduled on the midnight of the 15th. In addition, the night of August 14–15, 1947, coincided with 27 Ramadan 1366 of the Islamic calendar, regarded as sacred by Muslims. Mountbatten - or Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma - later revealed that he selected August 15 in part simply because it happened to be the second anniversary of Japan's surrender at the end of World War II, a date which represented the conclusion of imperial conflict and not nationalist jubilation. Naturally, in the circumstances leading up to the Independence and vivisection, Pakistan could not have observed August 15 as the most important day in the country's life.
