‘Why do you keep lying?' Kiren Rijiju rips into Rahul Gandhi after IAF chief's ‘full freedom' remark
Rahul Gandhi had said in the Parliament that the hands of the Indian Air Force were 'tied' by the government.
Refuting this claim, the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Amar Preet Singh said on Saturday that the government had given the air force 'full freedom' during Operation Sindoor.
More details will be added.
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The Hindu
7 minutes ago
- The Hindu
What are the challenges confronting the EC?
The story so far: At a press conference on August 7, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused the Election Commission (EC) of massive electoral roll manipulations in Mahadevapura Assembly constituency in Karnataka. Mr. Gandhi's presser capped a series of allegations of deliberate voter roll discrepancies by the EC beginning with the Maharashtra Assembly polls. This, coupled with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, which is under judicial scrutiny, has put the poll body in the eye of a storm. What is the mandate of the EC? The Election Commission of India is a permanent constitutional body. The Constitution has vested in the EC the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process for conduct of elections to Parliament and the legislature of every State, and to the offices of President and Vice-President of India. Originally, the commission only had a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). It was expanded to include two Election Commissioners (ECs). Why has there been a controversy about the appointment process? Parliament passed a new law governing appointments to the EC, namely the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. In accordance with the new law, the ECs are selected by a three-member selection committee, comprising the Prime Minister, a Union Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The Opposition had objected to this, saying the committee gave little room for dissent as the Prime Minister and the Union Minister are part of the government and could rule 2:1 in favour of their candidate. Why is the EC's role in the spotlight? Last year, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance had alleged that lakhs of new voters had been added to Maharashtra's electoral rolls in the time period between the Lok Sabha polls in May and the Assembly elections in October. The Congress had made the same allegations about Haryana, and later the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that voter rolls were tweaked in Delhi before Assembly polls. Even as the EC was grappling with these claims, CEC Gyanesh Kumar announced the SIR in Bihar which aims at cleaning up electoral rolls. The EC said the SIR exercise will be carried out across the country. At his press conference, Mr. Gandhi alleged large-scale discrepancies in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment under the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka which he claimed helped the BJP win the seat. Mr. Gandhi said his party had carried out an investigation which spanned over six months before reaching this conclusion. He claimed that the voter list had manipulated entries, including duplicate voters, invalid addresses, and bulk registrations of votes at single locations. Following this, Mr. Gandhi reiterated his demand for machine readable voter rolls to be provided to all political parties for proper verification. The EC stated it has not been providing machine readable or 'text-searchable' voter lists for concerns over cyber-security. The Supreme Court (SC) had upheld it in a petition filed by former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath in 2018. When was a revision announced in Bihar? On June 24, the EC ordered a SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, barely five months before the Assembly elections. As per the SIR orders, every voter in Bihar who had not been listed in the 2003 voter rolls would have to submit documents proving their date and place of birth to determine whether they were Indian citizens. Those born after 1987 would also have to submit proof of their parents' date and place of birth. However, after the completion of the first phase of the SIR exercise, the EC released a draft electoral roll on August 1, which saw a drop in the number of voters in Bihar by 65 lakh. There were 7.89 crore voters registered in the 2025 electoral list before the SIR exercise; after the recount, it slid to 7.24 crore electors. The EC said that most of these 65 lakh 'missing' voters have died; are registered in two locations; have migrated out of Bihar; or are untraceable. Civil society organisations, Opposition parties as well as NGOs approached the Supreme Court challenging the SIR process. What has the SC directed EC to do? In an interim order on August 14, the Supreme Court directed the EC to publish an enumerated, booth-wise list of the 65 lakh electors not included in the draft roll. A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi instructed the EC to provide reasons for the deletion — death, migration, untraceability, duplicate registrations — against each name. The court also asked EC to accept Aadhaar as proof of identity for an elector to include his or her name in the rolls. 'That it has taken the Supreme Court to nudge the EC towards following basic norms of natural justice and fairness in the Bihar SIR exercise reflects poorly on an organisation which takes pride in collecting and counting every last vote. While errors can creep into voter lists over time, the answer to that is not mass disenfranchisement as the EC is attempting,' said Alok Kumar Prasanna, Advocate and Co-Founder of Vidhi Centre for Public Policy. What about migrant voters? Migrant voters still have to return to the place where they are on the rolls to vote. This is a huge cost and depresses turnout, notes Mr. Prasanna. 'There is no simple solution to this currently. The solution will have to be cheap, secure and transparent to work. Solutions which work in richer societies and for richer migrants will not work for poor migrants from States like Bihar,' he added. What has been the political fallout? After Mr. Gandhi's press conference, the Opposition upped the ante and tried to hold a march from Parliament to the Election Commission headquarters. They courted arrest when stopped. The ongoing monsoon session of Parliament has also been virtually paralysed over demands for a discussion on the Bihar SIR. The government has, however, not conceded to the Opposition's demand. The issue has brought Opposition parties together and protests are likely to continue when Parliament reconvenes on August 18. 'To protect the voters of this country and democracy whatever has to be done we will do,' Rashtriya Janata Dal Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha told The Hindu.
Hindustan Times
7 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Limbo over envoy hits Indo-US progress
Washington has not yet narrowed down on a pick for the vacant post of US Ambassador to India, people familiar with the matter said, adding that naming an Ambassador to India remains a low priority at this time for the Trump administration. US Embassy in New Delhi(HT FILE PHOTO/Raj K Raj) Former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap (who also had a stint as Chargé d'affaires of the US mission in India) and Indian-American venture capitalist Asha Jadeja Motwani were two people initially thought to be in the running for the post of US Ambassador to New Delhi. However, the Trump Administration has not yet made any moves on the matter, the people added, asking not to be named. Even Trump's political allies in the House of Representatives and the Senate remain unaware of the Administration's pick. India and Australia are key US partners that are yet to see the appointment of a new Ambassador. During Trump's first term between 2017 and 2021, scores of key diplomatic positions were left unfilled. By mid-2018, well over a year into the Trump administration's term, 38 key Ambassadorial positions around the world were vacant. Kenneth Juster -- who served as US Ambassador to India for most of Trump's first term -- took office in November 2017, almost a year after Trump was sworn in as President. A similar situation faces the current Trump administration. S Paul Kapur, an academic who has been nominated to be the State Department's top official for South and Central Asia, has not yet been confirmed by the United States Senate. The National Security Council, which is based out of the White House and works closely with the President to shape US foreign policy , has also seen a major reduction in force under Trump. However, Trump's top adviser on India , Ricky Gill, remains in the NSC as Director for South and Central Asia. 'There seems to be a lack of India expertise in the Trump administration at present, which may be contributing to the tensions we're seeing between New Delhi and Washington,' said one former US official, on the condition of anonymity. The lack of an Ambassador in New Delhi who can act as a key interlocutor between the two nations has been keenly felt, the official added. Tensions between the two countries increased in May after US President Donald Trump claimed credit for brokering a ceasefire between New Delhi and Islamabad after a four-day military clash. India has forcefully denied Trump's version of events. Since then, the Trump administration's growing closeness to Pakistan has concerned India. Matters escalated over the last month as Trump placed a steep 50% tariff on India, including a 25% penalty for purchasing Russian energy. Trump also lambasted India as a 'dead economy' even as India has pointed out that even the United States maintains a robust trade relationship with Russia. ''On top of the Kashmir mediation and tariff issues, leaving the Ambassadorship in New Delhi empty for seven months sends exactly the wrong signal to one of America's most important partners. Since the Bush Administration and across party lines, India has been an increasingly central pillar for U.S. strategy in Asia, from countering China's influence to securing supply chains and deepening defense cooperation,' said Nicholas Shafer, a scholar studying US-India relations. 'While Ambassador (Eric) Garcetti took a while to get through confirmation, the rest of Biden's national security team maintained consistent and direct engagements with New Delhi that deepened trust and brought the closest it's ever been to Washington. Now, with uncertainty at the top of US foreign policymaking and without a confirmed ambassador even for nomination, Washington is handicapping itself in ways that just deepens the already profound skepticism in Delhi about American commitments and alignment with Indian interests,' Shafer added.
Time of India
21 minutes ago
- Time of India
"No agreements that would go against the farmers": Shivraj Singh Chouhan on US's demand amid tariff talks
Live Events New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday firmly stated that India will not enter into any agreements that could harm the interests of its farmers, emphasising the paramount importance of safeguarding their rights amidst ongoing trade talks with the US, especially regarding the tariff issues in the country's agricultural and dairy a gathering of farmers in the national capital, the Union Minister noted that there were global voices that had shown concern about India's rapid progress, especially in the context of trade agreements and acknowledged that while India seeks to maintain friendly relations and create fair trade agreements with countries across the world, the spirit of these agreements must be grounded in fairness and equality."In our country, the right of the farmer is paramount, and the right of the citizen is paramount. You know, there are many people in the world who are jealous of our progress. 'What if India makes great progress? Make an agreement with them.' We do make agreements because we see the world as one family. But the spirit of agreement is based on fairness, on equality," he highlighted the agreement made with the UK, where Indian agricultural products would be allowed to enter the UK without tariffs, benefiting Indian farmers . However, he was cautious about any potential trade deals that could jeopardise Indian agriculture."We made an agreement with the UK on equal terms so that the produce of our farmers can go to England without any tax. Many agricultural products will now reach England without tax. But if someone suggests an agreement that allows another country's goods to flood our markets, we cannot compete with them," he Union Minister pointed out the disparity in the scale of farming between India and many foreign countries, stating, "Their farms are massive--10,000, 15,000, or even 20,000 hectares--while our farmers often have just one or two acres, or maybe up to five acres, which is rare. There is no comparison."He also warned that an agreement that allows foreign agricultural products to flood Indian markets could severely harm domestic farmers, driving down prices and depriving them of fair returns."If such an agreement happens, it would kill Indian farmers. Cheap foreign produce will flood the market. If we sell our produce at lower prices, farmers will not get a fair return," he a strong reaffirmation of India's stance, Chouhan echoed the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi , asserting that no agreement would be signed at the expense of Indian farmers."But PM Modi said there will be no agreements that would go against the farmers. Their rights will be paramount," he Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the nation on the 79th Independence Day, reaffirmed his support to protect farmers, saying that he is "standing tall like a wall against policies which are against farmer interest.""If any policy is against India's farmers, fishermen, cattle rearers, Modi is standing like a wall," PM Modi about standing his ground in the era of 'economic selfishness,' he added, "I say this with great experience. Kisi doosre ki lakeer chhoti karne ke liye, apni oorja hamein nahi khaphai. Hamein poori oorja ke saath hamari lakeer ko lamba karna hai. If we do that, the world will admit our strength."These remarks come during a time when India is actively involved in the discussions on the Bilateral Trade Agreement with the US, which the two sides could not conclude due to the American demand to get comprehensive access to the Indian agriculture and dairy US is pressuring India to open its agricultural market and subsequently imposing a 25 per cent additional tariff, with Washington calling it a 'penalty' for buying Russian oil. (ANI)
