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Hindustan Times
8 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Railways hits back at Congress amid row over Dahod locomotive plant
The ministry of railways on Friday rejected allegations raised by the Congress about the locomotive manufacturing plant in Dahod,Gujarat, that is jointly operated by Siemens and Indian Railways. Railways hits back at Congress amid row over Dahod locomotive plant In a press conference, Congress leader Brijendra Singh questioned the bidding process that awarded the contract to Siemens and whether the project would make Dahod an advanced manufacturing hub as planned. The Dahod plant manufactures 9000 hp electric locomotives for the Railways. Singh alleged there is a prima facie case for a conflict of interest as Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was a former Siemens executive. In a statement, the ministry said the entire tender process was executed by teams of officers who are technically and financially competent to handle such matters as per rules. 'There is no question of conflict of interest because the process was followed as per rules and procedures that Indian Railways has always followed. There is no involvement of the Minister of Railways in the tender evaluation process', the ministry said. The ministry pointed out that the two global manufacturers who have the capability to design and manufacture 9000 hp electric locomotives, Alstom and Siemens, participated in the tender. 'Moreover, both Siemens and Alstom have been working with Indian Railways for many decades, ' the ministry said. Questioning the government's Make in India initiative, Singh also alleged that in Dahod, parts are only assembled, tested, and commissioned, while the entire actual manufacturing of critical parts takes place in Siemens' own plants in Maharashtra. The ministry said about 89% of the components used in Dahod locomotives are made in India, adding that such components are manufactured at multiple locations in India and supplied to various locomotive manufacturers.
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Uchana assembly poll: Cong leader Brijendra for reverification of rejected postal ballots
Chandigarh: While challenging the election of BJP's Devender Atri as MLA from Uchana assembly seat, former Hisar MP and senior Congress leader Brijendra Singh is now focusing on reverification of rejected postal ballots. Brijendra, a bureaucrat-turned-politician, lost the tightly contested Oct 2024 assembly poll by just 32 votes, when 215 postal ballots were declared invalid by the returning officer (RO) in the constituency. The election petition challenging Atri's election came up for hearing before the HC on Thursday after which Justice Anoop Chitkara allowed Singh to amend his petition before June 7 and give an advanced copy to his opponent. The bench has also asked Atri's counsel to file a reply on Brijendra Singh's plea before July 1. The election petition has now been fixed for further hearing on July 2. In his plea regarding postal ballot, Singh has mentioned that where the margin of victory is less than the number of postal ballot papers rejected as invalid at the time of counting, all the rejected postal ballot papers shall be mandatorily re-verified by the RO before declaration of result and whenever such re-verification is done, the entire proceedings should be videographed. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Walmart Photos Which Are Not For Everyone Old Money Style Undo In this regard, he has referred to regulation 14.20.20 of the 'Handbook For Candidate, 2023. Brijendra has mentioned in his plea that the difference between the votes polled by the winning candidate and the petitioner is a mere 32 votes. "A statistical analysis of the postal votes would show that the postal votes which are valid tended to be heavily in favor of the election petitioner. Since the words used in the above-mentioned regulations is 'shall' it means that it was mandatory to comply with the same and non-compliance would ipso facto result in the result of the election being materially affected," he pointed out. In the election, of the total 1,377 postal votes received, 1,158 were held to be valid and counted, and out of these, 636 votes were polled in favor of Brijendra Singh. It has also been stated in Singh's plea that the legislative/ executive intent of the said Regulation 15.25 of the 'Handbook For Returning Officer, 2023' and Regulation 14.20.20 of the Handbook For Candidate, 2023, is to immediately and mandatorily reverify the postal votes rejected when the margin of victory is less than the number of postal votes which were rejected. He has submitted that said reverification was never undertaken by the RO despite Kanwal Singh, Pankaj Sheokand, Pradeep and Jai Bhagwan, who were the counting agents of Brijendra Singh, beseeching him to follow the mandatory provisions laid down.
