The Evening Wrap: PM Modi’s Rajasthan ‘hate speech’ in Congress’s 16 complaints to ECI

A Congress delegation comprising Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gurdeep Sappal and Supriya Shrinate met with the Election Commission of India at 4 p.m. on April 22 and put forward 16 complaints against the BJP and other actors for violations of The Representation of the People Act, 1951, various judgments of the Supreme Court, and the ECI’s Model Code of Conduct. “We hope that immediate action will be taken on these very legitimate complaints,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X. One of the 16 complaints is against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly using religion to ask voters to refrain from voting for the INC while also making false, defamatory statements against the INC and its leaders. The Congress has also filed a complaint against Doordarshan News’ new saffron logo -- “a colour that is universally associated with the BJP in Indian politics” -- and sought an inquiry in light of its decision being made during the election period. The Election Commission on Monday declined to comment on remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his poll speech in Rajasthan. “We decline comment,” a poll panel spokesperson said on queries related to the prime minister’s speech on Sunday in Banswara. Modi on Sunday suggested that if the Congress came to power, it would redistribute the wealth of people to Muslims and cited former PM Manmohan Singh’s remark that the minority community had the first claim on the country’s resources. Following the speech, the Congress dared Modi to show one paragraph in its manifesto where it talked about redistributing wealth to the Muslim community. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post on X, said the Prime Minister had delivered the “hate speech” after realising that the INDIA block had won the first round. Kharge alleged that lying for power and making baseless allegations about opponents were the values of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party combine that Modi has imbibed. BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha seat BJP’s Mukesh Dalal has been elected unopposed from the Surat Lok Sabha seat on April 22, after all other candidates withdrew their nomination papers. On the last day of withdrawal of the nomination forms today, as many as eight candidates, mostly Independents and Pyarelal Bharti of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), withdrew their papers. Dalal also received his certificate from the District Election Officer (DEO) or Returning Officer Saurabh Pardhi. There would now be no voting in Surat parliamentary seat on May 7th. This development comes a day after nomination papers of the Congress party’s candidate Nilesh Kumbhani were rejected after his three proposers claimed in an affidavit to the district election officer that they had not signed his nomination form. BJP leaders were quick to take to social media to congratulate Dalal as State BJP president C.R. Paatil wrote on X (formerly, Twitter), “Surat [has] offered first lotus to Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modi.” Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also in a post on X congratulated Dalal. Meanwhile Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the BJP is trying to “match-fix” the Surat Lok Sabha polls, which he said they have won consistently since 1984 Lok Sabha elections. On April 21, the District Election Officer (DEO) Sourabh Pardhi rejected the nomination of the Congress candidate on the ground that his three proposers failed to turn up before the DEO to support his nomination form. Congress and AAP are contesting the elections in Gujarat in alliance. Congress has fielded candidates on 24 out of 26 seats, while AAP is contesting Bhavnagar and Bharuch. Court directs AIIMS to constitute medical board to examine Arvind Kejriwal A Delhi court on April 22 directed the AIIMS to constitute a medical board to examine Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to determine whether he needs insulin to control his sugar levels and consider his other medical issues. Special Judge for CBI and ED cases Kaveri Baweja passed the order while declining Kejriwal’s plea for video consultation with his doctor. Earlier, levelling strong accusations against the BJP-led Centre, Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said that every morsel being consumed by her husband is being monitored and attempts are being made to “kill” him in jail by denying him insulin. The former bureaucrat further said that Kejriwal has “no desire” for power and he just wants to serve the nation and bring it to the first position in the world. Sunita Kejriwal further alleged that the Delhi Chief Minister is not being allowed insulin in jail, while claiming that he has been taking it for the last 12 years. She further alleged that there is a conspiracy to kill CM Kejriwal. Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the Delhi Government’s now-scrapped excise policy. He has been lodged in Tihar jail since April 1. According to the medical records from RML Hospital, Kejriwal was “neither advised any insulin nor any requirement of any insulin was indicated”, the prison report said and added that the Chief Minister’s health was reviewed by a medicine specialist on April 10 and April 15. The medicine specialist, after examining Kejriwal, noted, “Considering all parameters and vitals of undertrial prisoner (Kejriwal) since his lodgment in judicial custody, his blood sugar levels are not alarming, and administration of insulin is not required as of now.” The Tihar administration, in a letter to AIIMS seeking a diet plan for the AAP chief, said Kejriwal had been consuming high-sugar food such as “sweets, laddoos, bananas, mangoes, fruit chaat, fried food, namkeen, bhujia, sweetened tea, poori-aloo, pickles and other high cholesterol food on a regular basis”, the report said. The diet plan provided by AIIMS has “strictly prohibited” fried foods like Poori, Paratha, Samosa, and Namkeen, fruits like mangoes and bananas, sweets, cake, chocolates, pickles, and vegetables like potatoes among others, it said. Kejriwal is only allowed to consume 20 ml of oil per day in his food. On the demand by Kejriwal for videoconferencing with his doctor, the Tihar administration has said that, according to a government circular, no referral can be made to any private hospital. The Aam Aadmi Party said that Arvind Kejriwal is a “severe diabetes patient” and was administered 28 units of Novorapid (before three meals) and 22 units of Lantus (at night). A total of 50 units of insulin was being administered to him every day. Normalisation of scores for CUET-UG, NET to be done away with: UGC chief Normalisation of scores for the Common University Entrance Test-UG (CUET-UG) and the National Eligibility Test (NET) is being done away with from this year, according to UGC Chief Jagadesh Kumar. “No normalisation of scores will be required this year since both exams will be conducted in a single shift for a subject,” Kumar told PTI. Normalisation is a process for revising the score of a student in a way that it becomes comparable with the score of another. This becomes necessary when an examination in the same subject is held in multiple sessions, each with a different paper. Students have been raising concerns about the normalisation of scores “unfairly” impacting their performance in the exam. “Earlier, we had to conduct the test for the same paper for two or three days in our endeavour to provide the first-choice centre to the students as much as possible. But this year, by adopting the OMR mode, a large number of centres will be available at schools and colleges, enabling us to conduct the test across the country on the same day. “If the test is conducted on multiple days for the same paper, normalisation is required and it is a scientific method,” the UGC chairman said. The CUET-UG will be conducted from May 15 to 24 this time. In a shift from the earlier pattern of conducting the crucial exam for admission to undergraduate courses in a Computer Based Test (CBT) mode, CUET-UG for 15 subjects will be conducted in pen and paper mode while for 48 subjects in online mode. Similarly, the UGC-NET, which was earlier conducted in CBT mode, will be held in pen and paper mode on June 16. UGC-NET is an exam to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for the “award of Junior Research Fellowship and appointment as assistant professor”, “appointment as assistant professor and admission to PhD” and “admission to PhD only” in Indian universities and colleges. Poll roundup: In a setback to Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Mushtaq Antulay, son-in-law of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Abdul Rahman Antulay and Congress leader has switched sides on April 22 to join Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The Congress loyalist’s move holds significance as NCP leader and sitting Member of Parliament Sunil Tatkare is defending his Raigad Lok Sabha constituency against former Union Minister Anant Geete, a heavy weight, who represents Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). NCP’s Lok Sabha nominee, Tatkare during an interaction announced his induction into the party by stating that he has been a mass leader and in politics for the last four decades. Former CM Antulay’s family member is a minority face in the Raigad area and the vote of the minority community is what Tatkare needs as well to get re-elected. Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was arrested for refusing to leave the INDIA bloc, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge alleged at a joint Opposition rally in Ranchi on Sunday, warning Prime Minister Narendra Modi that if he tried to “terrorise” tribals, he himself would be destroyed. In a show of Opposition unity and strength, the leaders of the 28 parties who constitute the INDIA bloc shared the stage at the Ulgulan Nyay Maharally in Ranchi, taking it in turns to lash out at Modi and the ruling BJP for allegedly putting two CMs in jail — Soren and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. The wives of both men were present with messages from their jailed spouses, even as INDIA leaders vowed to protect the Constitution and democracy by uprooting the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the ongoing Lok Sabha election. In Brief:Papua New Guinea leader takes offense after Biden implies an uncle was eaten by cannibals Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape accused Joe Biden of disparaging the South Pacific island nation by implying that an uncle of the U.S. President had been eaten by “cannibals” there during World War II. Biden’s comments offended a key strategic ally as China moves to increase its influence in the region. The President spoke at a Pennsylvania war memorial last week about his Army Air Corps aviator uncle Ambrose Finnegan, who was shot down over Papua New Guinea, which was a theater of heavy fighting. “They never found the body because there used to be — there were a lot of cannibals for real in that part of New Guinea,” Biden said, referring to the country’s main island. Marape said in a statement on Sunday that Biden “appeared to imply his uncle was eaten by cannibals.” Rishi Sunak says first migrant flight from U.K. to Rwanda will leave in 10-12 weeks U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on April 22 said he would push through a parliamentary vote on his government’s highly controversial Rwanda deportation legislation, as he promised that flights would begin taking asylum seekers to Rwanda in 10-12 weeks. A record number — just under 5,000 — people had arrived in the U.K. on boats via the English Channel in the first quarter of this year according to U.K. Government data. Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh were the top five countries of origin for migrants arriving in boats in 2023. Over 25,700 West Bengal teachers fired; HC orders CBI probe in SLST 2016 recruitment process The Calcutta High Court on April 22 declared as null and void the recruitment process of State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools, ordering cancellation of all appointments made through it. A division bench comprising justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi also directed the CBI to undertake further investigation in respect of the appointment process, and submit a report in three months. The bench directed the West Bengal School Service Commission to initiate a fresh appointment process. Over 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the SLST-2016 for 24,640 vacant posts. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 22 April 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( PM Modi’s Rajasthan ‘hate speech’ in Congress’s 16 complaints to Election Commission A [Congress delegation comprising Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gurdeep Sappal and Supriya Shrinate met with the Election Commission of India at 4 p.m. on April 22 and put forward 16 complaints against the BJP]( and other actors for violations of The Representation of the People Act, 1951, various judgments of the Supreme Court, and the ECI’s Model Code of Conduct. “We hope that immediate action will be taken on these very legitimate complaints,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X. One of the 16 complaints is against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly using religion to ask voters to refrain from voting for the INC while also making false, defamatory statements against the INC and its leaders. The Congress has also filed a complaint against Doordarshan News’ new saffron logo -- “a colour that is universally associated with the BJP in Indian politics” -- and sought an inquiry in light of its decision being made during the election period. The Election Commission on Monday declined to comment on remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his poll speech in Rajasthan. “We decline comment,” a poll panel spokesperson said on queries related to the prime minister’s speech on Sunday in Banswara. Modi on Sunday suggested that if the Congress came to power, it would redistribute the wealth of people to Muslims and cited former PM Manmohan Singh’s remark that the minority community had the first claim on the country’s resources. Following the speech, the Congress dared Modi to show one paragraph in its manifesto where it talked about redistributing wealth to the Muslim community. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post on X, said the Prime Minister had delivered the “hate speech” after realising that the INDIA block had won the first round. Kharge alleged that lying for power and making baseless allegations about opponents were the values of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party combine that Modi has imbibed. BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha seat [BJP’s Mukesh Dalal has been elected unopposed from the Surat Lok Sabha seat on April 22]( after all other candidates withdrew their nomination papers. On the last day of withdrawal of the nomination forms today, as many as eight candidates, mostly Independents and Pyarelal Bharti of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), withdrew their papers. Dalal also received his certificate from the District Election Officer (DEO) or Returning Officer Saurabh Pardhi. There would now be no voting in Surat parliamentary seat on May 7th. This development comes a day after nomination papers of the Congress party’s candidate Nilesh Kumbhani were rejected after his three proposers claimed in an affidavit to the district election officer that they had not signed his nomination form. BJP leaders were quick to take to social media to congratulate Dalal as State BJP president C.R. Paatil wrote on X (formerly, Twitter), “Surat [has] offered first lotus to Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modi.” Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also in a post on X congratulated Dalal. Meanwhile Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the BJP is trying to “match-fix” the Surat Lok Sabha polls, which he said they have won consistently since 1984 Lok Sabha elections. On April 21, the District Election Officer (DEO) Sourabh Pardhi rejected the nomination of the Congress candidate on the ground that his three proposers failed to turn up before the DEO to support his nomination form. Congress and AAP are contesting the elections in Gujarat in alliance. Congress has fielded candidates on 24 out of 26 seats, while AAP is contesting Bhavnagar and Bharuch. Court directs AIIMS to constitute medical board to examine Arvind Kejriwal A [Delhi court on April 22 directed the AIIMS to constitute a medical board to examine Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal]( to determine whether he needs insulin to control his sugar levels and consider his other medical issues. Special Judge for CBI and ED cases Kaveri Baweja passed the order while declining Kejriwal’s plea for video consultation with his doctor. Earlier, levelling strong accusations against the BJP-led Centre, Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said that every morsel being consumed by her husband is being monitored and attempts are being made to “kill” him in jail by denying him insulin. The former bureaucrat further said that Kejriwal has “no desire” for power and he just wants to serve the nation and bring it to the first position in the world. Sunita Kejriwal further alleged that the Delhi Chief Minister is not being allowed insulin in jail, while claiming that he has been taking it for the last 12 years. She further alleged that there is a conspiracy to kill CM Kejriwal. Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the Delhi Government’s now-scrapped excise policy. He has been lodged in Tihar jail since April 1. According to the medical records from RML Hospital, Kejriwal was “neither advised any insulin nor any requirement of any insulin was indicated”, the prison report said and added that the Chief Minister’s health was reviewed by a medicine specialist on April 10 and April 15. The medicine specialist, after examining Kejriwal, noted, “Considering all parameters and vitals of undertrial prisoner (Kejriwal) since his lodgment in judicial custody, his blood sugar levels are not alarming, and administration of insulin is not required as of now.” The Tihar administration, in a letter to AIIMS seeking a diet plan for the AAP chief, said Kejriwal had been consuming high-sugar food such as “sweets, laddoos, bananas, mangoes, fruit chaat, fried food, namkeen, bhujia, sweetened tea, poori-aloo, pickles and other high cholesterol food on a regular basis”, the report said. The diet plan provided by AIIMS has “strictly prohibited” fried foods like Poori, Paratha, Samosa, and Namkeen, fruits like mangoes and bananas, sweets, cake, chocolates, pickles, and vegetables like potatoes among others, it said. Kejriwal is only allowed to consume 20 ml of oil per day in his food. On the demand by Kejriwal for videoconferencing with his doctor, the Tihar administration has said that, according to a government circular, no referral can be made to any private hospital. The Aam Aadmi Party said that Arvind Kejriwal is a “severe diabetes patient” and was administered 28 units of Novorapid (before three meals) and 22 units of Lantus (at night). A total of 50 units of insulin was being administered to him every day. Normalisation of scores for CUET-UG, NET to be done away with: UGC chief [Normalisation of scores for the Common University Entrance Test-UG (CUET-UG) and the National Eligibility Test (NET) is being done away with from this year, according to UGC Chief Jagadesh Kumar.]( “No normalisation of scores will be required this year since both exams will be conducted in a single shift for a subject,” Kumar told PTI. Normalisation is a process for revising the score of a student in a way that it becomes comparable with the score of another. This becomes necessary when an examination in the same subject is held in multiple sessions, each with a different paper. Students have been raising concerns about the normalisation of scores “unfairly” impacting their performance in the exam. “Earlier, we had to conduct the test for the same paper for two or three days in our endeavour to provide the first-choice centre to the students as much as possible. But this year, by adopting the OMR mode, a large number of centres will be available at schools and colleges, enabling us to conduct the test across the country on the same day. “If the test is conducted on multiple days for the same paper, normalisation is required and it is a scientific method,” the UGC chairman said. The CUET-UG will be conducted from May 15 to 24 this time. In a shift from the earlier pattern of conducting the crucial exam for admission to undergraduate courses in a Computer Based Test (CBT) mode, CUET-UG for 15 subjects will be conducted in pen and paper mode while for 48 subjects in online mode. Similarly, the UGC-NET, which was earlier conducted in CBT mode, will be held in pen and paper mode on June 16. UGC-NET is an exam to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for the “award of Junior Research Fellowship and appointment as assistant professor”, “appointment as assistant professor and admission to PhD” and “admission to PhD only” in Indian universities and colleges. Poll roundup: - In a setback to Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), [Mushtaq Antulay, son-in-law of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Abdul Rahman Antulay and Congress leader has switched sides on April 22 to join Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party]( (NCP). The Congress loyalist’s move holds significance as NCP leader and sitting Member of Parliament Sunil Tatkare is defending his Raigad Lok Sabha constituency against former Union Minister Anant Geete, a heavy weight, who represents Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). NCP’s Lok Sabha nominee, Tatkare during an interaction announced his induction into the party by stating that he has been a mass leader and in politics for the last four decades. Former CM Antulay’s family member is a minority face in the Raigad area and the vote of the minority community is what Tatkare needs as well to get re-elected. - Former Jharkhand Chief Minister [Hemant Soren was arrested for refusing to leave the INDIA bloc, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge alleged at a joint Opposition rally in Ranchi]( on Sunday, warning Prime Minister Narendra Modi that if he tried to “terrorise” tribals, he himself would be destroyed. In a show of Opposition unity and strength, the leaders of the 28 parties who constitute the INDIA bloc shared the stage at the Ulgulan Nyay Maharally in Ranchi, taking it in turns to lash out at Modi and the ruling BJP for allegedly putting two CMs in jail — Soren and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. The wives of both men were present with messages from their jailed spouses, even as INDIA leaders vowed to protect the Constitution and democracy by uprooting the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the ongoing Lok Sabha election. In Brief: Papua New Guinea leader takes offense after Biden implies an uncle was eaten by cannibals [Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape accused Joe Biden of disparaging the South Pacific island nation by implying that an uncle of the U.S. President had been eaten by “cannibals” there during World War II](. Biden’s comments offended a key strategic ally as China moves to increase its influence in the region. The President spoke at a Pennsylvania war memorial last week about his Army Air Corps aviator uncle Ambrose Finnegan, who was shot down over Papua New Guinea, which was a theater of heavy fighting. “They never found the body because there used to be — there were a lot of cannibals for real in that part of New Guinea,” Biden said, referring to the country’s main island. Marape said in a statement on Sunday that Biden “appeared to imply his uncle was eaten by cannibals.” Rishi Sunak says first migrant flight from U.K. to Rwanda will leave in 10-12 weeks U.K. Prime Minister [Rishi Sunak on April 22 said he would push through a parliamentary vote on his government’s highly controversial Rwanda deportation legislation]( as he promised that flights would begin taking asylum seekers to Rwanda in 10-12 weeks. A record number — just under 5,000 — people had arrived in the U.K. on boats via the English Channel in the first quarter of this year according to U.K. Government data. Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh were the top five countries of origin for migrants arriving in boats in 2023. Over 25,700 West Bengal teachers fired; HC orders CBI probe in SLST 2016 recruitment process The [Calcutta High Court on April 22 declared as null and void the recruitment process of State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools, ordering cancellation of all appointments made through it](. A division bench comprising justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi also directed the CBI to undertake further investigation in respect of the appointment process, and submit a report in three months. The bench directed the West Bengal School Service Commission to initiate a fresh appointment process. Over 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the SLST-2016 for 24,640 vacant posts. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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