The Evening Wrap: Maken, Kharge brief Sonia; call out Congress MLAs in Rajasthan for indiscipline

Rajasthan State in-charge Ajay Maken said on Monday he had briefed Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the developments in the State and that she has sought a written report on the matter. Maken earlier in the day indicted the rebelling legislators who failed to show up for a Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting on September 25 evening to pick Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s successor. Mr. Gehlot is slated to contest the Congress presidential polls. Maken, after the meeting with the Congress chief, said the meeting of the MLAs was called with Gehlot’s consent. “To organise a parallel meeting, when the party has called for a formal meeting, clearly amounts to indiscipline,” he said. Speaking to reporters before heading back to Delhi, Maken said that on September 25 evening, after the MLAs refused to attend the CLP meeting, he and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who were sent as observer by the central leadership, reached out to them. The agitating MLAs sent three persons as their emissary — Shanti Kumar Dhariwal, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Mahesh Joshi. “They insisted on a one-line resolution empowering the Congress president to take the final call on Rajasthan Chief Minister’s post. But in the resolution, they insisted that it should be clearly mentioned that it will be applicable only after October 19,” Maken said. This, he said, was rejected because it was felt that this would lead to conflict of interest, since Gehlot, who is a front runner for the president’s post, cannot empower himself by sending in such a resolution. “Secondly, they insisted that Gehlot’s successor should be picked from the 102 MLAs and not from the other group. To which we said that we will speak to each MLA on one-to-one basis. But they insisted that the MLAs would meet us [only] in groups,” Maken said. The meeting failed to break the deadlock. Past midnight, the 92 MLAs who were camping at Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi’s residence, left. It is not clear whether they submitted their resignation letters or not. For now, Maken and Kharge are returning to Delhi. “We will be submitting our report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi,” he said. Maken refused to speak out on Gehlot’s role in the entire event. However, Maken did not shy away from indicting the agitating MLAs, especially Cabinet Minister Dhariwal, in whose house all the legislators were holed up in. Italy voters shift sharply, reward Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party Italian voters rewarded Giorgia Meloni’s euroskeptic party with neo-fascist roots, propelling the country toward what likely would be its first far-right-led government since World War II, based on partial results Monday from the election for Parliament. In a victory speech, far-right Italian leader Giorgia Meloni struck a moderate tone after projections based on votes counted from some two-thirds of polling stations showed her Brothers of Italy party ahead of other contenders in Sunday’s balloting. “If we are called to govern this nation, we will do it for everyone, we will do it for all Italians and we will do it with the aim of uniting the people (of this country),” Meloni said at her party’s Rome headquarters. “Italy chose us,” Meloni said. “We will not betray (the country) as we never have.” The formation of a ruling coalition, with the help of Meloni’s right-wing and center-right allies, could take weeks. If Meloni, 45, succeeds, she would be the first woman to hold the country’s premiership. The mandate to try to form a government is given by Italy’s president after consultations with party leaders. Meanwhile, former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, whose government collapsed two months ago, stays on in a caretaker role. Differences among Meloni’s potential coalition partners could loom. She has solidly backed the supplying of Ukraine with arms to defend itself against Russia’s invasion. In contrast, right-wing League leader Matteo Salvini, who before the war was a staunch admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has voiced concern that Western sanctions could end up hurting Italy’s economic interests more than punishing Russia’s. Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, another long-time Putin admirer, has said that his inclusion in a center-right bloc’s coalition would guarantee that Italy stays firmly anchored in the European Union and remains one of its most reliable members. With Italy’s households and businesses struggling with staggeringly high energy bills as winter approaches, Meloni has demurred from Salvini’s push to swell already-debt-laden Italy by tens of billions of euros for energy relief. Drug mafia in society making inroads among youngsters pose ‘grave situation’, acknowledges SC The Supreme Court on September 26, 2022, acknowledged that the inroads made by drug mafia in society, especially among youngsters, pose a “grave situation’. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit roped in the Centre to be part of a suo motu hearing to address the evil. It appointed advocate Shoeb Alam as amicus curiae in the suo motu case titled ‘In re menace of drug mafia network operating in the country’. The Bench also directed the Registry to hand over the case records to Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to assist the court from the side of the government. Issuing notice, the Bench ordered the suo motu case to be listed on October 14. The suo motu case was taken up on the basis of a letter from a citizen to the Supreme Court highlighting the alarming increase in drug abuse, especially among school children and youths. Several High Court across the country have in the past taken cognisance of the shadow cast by the drug mafia on society. In 2020, the Madras High Court had observed that drug abuse was one of the major triggers behind the commission of heinous offences. The High Court highlighted the pervasive influence wielded by drug peddlers in schools, colleges and other public places. The Kerala High Court had directed the State government to establish campus police units in educational institutions. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has been for a time hearing a case on the rampant drug problem in Punjab. Uttarakhand authorities looking into resort’s demolition in Ankita Bhandari murder case A day after the father of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, who was allegedly murdered by the son of a BJP leader in Uttarakhand, questioned the demolition undertaken at the resort where the victim worked, Pauri Garhwal District Magistrate Vijay Kumar Jogdande told The Hindu that the demolition order had not been sent from his office. “There are several agencies who can take this action. We are examining who did it,” Jogdande said. “The orders may have come from the police, Revenue Department, Sub-Divisional Magistrate or from the civic and development authority. After this matter came into my knowledge from the media, I am inquiring about it,” he added. Shekhar Suyal, Superintendent of Police Kotdwar, said that the police had not ordered the demolition. Virendra Bhandari, the victim’s father, had earlier on Sunday refused to cremate his daughter, and alleged while speaking to media persons that the “bulldozer action” had destroyed evidence. Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat also raised the issue. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, on the other hand, lauded the demolition at the resort, which took place at about 2 a.m. Locals shared a video of the demolition by a bulldozer, after which unidentified persons set the resort premises on fire. “How can you bulldoze a crime scene? It’s supposed to be preserved. How can we not say that it was a conspiracy to save the VIPs who used to get ‘special services’ in the resort that Ankita was being forced to give,” Garima Dasauni, Congress spokesperson for Uttarakhand alleged. Dasauni said the CM should make it clear whether the bulldozer was deployed to “help the victim or the accused”. The BJP has expelled the father and elder brother of the main accused from the party. Dhami also removed the accused’s older brother from the post of nominated Vice-Chairman of the State’s Other Backward Classes Commission. The action came after Uttarakhand Police arrested Pulkit Arya, son of Vinod Arya, who was Minister of State under the previous BJP government headed by Trivendra Singh Rawat, for allegedly murdering Ankita. Two of his aides have also been arrested. “We have preserved all evidences and investigation is being done by SIT (Special Investigation Team),” Ashok Kumar, Director General of Police, said. Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response on plea to restrain States from advertising outside their territorial jurisdictions The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to respond to a petition to restrain State governments from publishing advertisements outside their respective territorial jurisdictions. A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli issued notices to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and all the States. The top court was hearing a plea filed by NGO Common Cause seeking directions to restrain State governments from publishing advertisements outside their territory. “How can we prohibit a State government from publishing an advertisement outside the territory? A State government may want to attract business to its territory by showcasing the work to the public of other States. They want to attract investment and say we are creating this infrastructure of roads, power, tourism, etc.,” a Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, said public funds are being used by State governments not for attracting investments or tourists but for “partisan political advertising”. He said a political party in power cannot use the money of the government to publicise its achievements. It has to use party funds. “That is democracy. Public representatives are entitled to tell the country that we are so good. How do we stop them? That is the heart and soul of the nation. Politics is a competitive space.” the Bench responded. Bhushan said the second aspect of the issue was that advertorials were disguised as news. In Brief: Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Tokyo on Monday evening to attend the state funeral of Japan’s former PM Shinzo Abe, who reshaped Japan’s foreign policy including setting out a bold vision for a quantum leap in its ties with India. Abe was assassinated in July this year and is being given a state funeral at Tokyo’s massive Nippon Budokan indoor arena on Tuesday. India had announced a one-day national mourning on July 9 as a mark of respect for Abe. Modi will also call on Abe’s widow Akie Abe before returning to India. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 26 SEPTEMBER 2022 [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]( Ajay Maken, Mallikarjun Kharge brief Sonia Gandhi; call out Congress MLAs in Rajasthan for indiscipline Rajasthan State in-charge Ajay Maken said on Monday he had briefed Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the developments in the State and that she has sought a written report on the matter. [Congress leader Ajay Maken addressing the media after holding a meeting with Sonia Gandhi in connection with the crisis in Rajasthan, in New Delhi, on September 26, 2022.] Maken earlier in the day indicted the rebelling legislators who failed to show up for a Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting on September 25 evening to pick Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s successor. Mr. Gehlot is [slated to contest the Congress presidential polls](. Maken, after the meeting with the Congress chief, said the meeting of the MLAs was called with Gehlot’s consent. “To organise a parallel meeting, when the party has called for a formal meeting, clearly amounts to indiscipline,” he said. Speaking to reporters before heading back to Delhi, Maken said that on September 25 evening, after the MLAs refused to attend the CLP meeting, he and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who were sent as observer by the central leadership, reached out to them. The agitating MLAs sent three persons as their emissary — Shanti Kumar Dhariwal, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Mahesh Joshi. “They insisted on a one-line resolution empowering the Congress president to take the final call on Rajasthan Chief Minister’s post. But in the resolution, they insisted that it should be clearly mentioned that it will be applicable only after October 19,” Maken said. This, he said, was rejected because it was felt that this would lead to conflict of interest, since Gehlot, who is a front runner for the president’s post, cannot empower himself by sending in such a resolution. “Secondly, they insisted that Gehlot’s successor should be picked from the 102 MLAs and not from the other group. To which we said that we will speak to each MLA on one-to-one basis. But they insisted that the MLAs would meet us [only] in groups,” Maken said. The meeting failed to break the deadlock. Past midnight, the 92 MLAs who were camping at Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi’s residence, left. It is not clear whether they submitted their resignation letters or not. For now, Maken and Kharge are returning to Delhi. “We will be submitting our report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi,” he said. Maken refused to speak out on Gehlot’s role in the entire event. However, Maken did not shy away from indicting the agitating MLAs, especially Cabinet Minister Dhariwal, in whose house all the legislators were holed up in. Italy voters shift sharply, reward Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party Italian voters rewarded Giorgia Meloni’s euroskeptic party with neo-fascist roots, propelling the country toward what likely would be its first far-right-led government since World War II, based on partial results Monday from the election for Parliament. [Leader of Brothers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni holds a sign at the party’s election night headquarters, in Rome, Italy, on September 26, 2022.] In a victory speech, far-right Italian leader Giorgia Meloni struck a moderate tone after [projections based on votes counted]( from some two-thirds of polling stations showed her Brothers of Italy party ahead of other contenders in Sunday’s balloting. “If we are called to govern this nation, we will do it for everyone, we will do it for all Italians and we will do it with the aim of uniting the people (of this country),” Meloni said at her party’s Rome headquarters. “Italy chose us,” Meloni said. “We will not betray (the country) as we never have.” The formation of a ruling coalition, with the help of Meloni’s right-wing and center-right allies, could take weeks. If Meloni, 45, succeeds, she would be the first woman to hold the country’s premiership. The mandate to try to form a government is given by Italy’s president after consultations with party leaders. Meanwhile, former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, whose government collapsed two months ago, stays on in a caretaker role. Differences among Meloni’s potential coalition partners could loom. She has solidly backed the supplying of Ukraine with arms to defend itself against Russia’s invasion. In contrast, right-wing League leader Matteo Salvini, who before the war was a staunch admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has voiced concern that Western sanctions could end up hurting Italy’s economic interests more than punishing Russia’s. Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, another long-time Putin admirer, has said that his inclusion in a center-right bloc’s coalition would guarantee that Italy stays firmly anchored in the European Union and remains one of its most reliable members. With Italy’s households and businesses struggling with staggeringly high energy bills as winter approaches, Meloni has demurred from Salvini’s push to swell already-debt-laden Italy by tens of billions of euros for energy relief. Drug mafia in society making inroads among youngsters pose ‘grave situation’, acknowledges SC The Supreme Court on September 26, 2022, acknowledged that the inroads made by drug mafia in society, especially among youngsters, pose a “grave situation’. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit roped in the Centre to be part of a suo motu hearing to address the evil. It appointed advocate Shoeb Alam as amicus curiae in the suo motu case titled ‘In re menace of drug mafia network operating in the country’. The Bench also directed the Registry to hand over the case records to Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to assist the court from the side of the government. Issuing notice, the Bench ordered the suo motu case to be listed on October 14. The suo motu case was taken up on the basis of a letter from a citizen to the Supreme Court highlighting the alarming increase in drug abuse, especially among school children and youths. Several High Court across the country have in the past taken cognisance of the shadow cast by the drug mafia on society. In 2020, the Madras High Court had observed that drug abuse was one of the major triggers behind the commission of heinous offences. The High Court highlighted the pervasive influence wielded by drug peddlers in schools, colleges and other public places. The Kerala High Court had directed the State government to establish campus police units in educational institutions. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has been for a time hearing a case on the rampant drug problem in Punjab. Uttarakhand authorities looking into resort’s demolition in Ankita Bhandari murder case A day after the father of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, who was [allegedly murdered by the son of a BJP leader]( in Uttarakhand, questioned the demolition undertaken at the resort where the victim worked, Pauri Garhwal District Magistrate Vijay Kumar Jogdande told The Hindu that the demolition order had not been sent from his office. “There are several agencies who can take this action. We are examining who did it,” Jogdande said. “The orders may have come from the police, Revenue Department, Sub-Divisional Magistrate or from the civic and development authority. After this matter came into my knowledge from the media, I am inquiring about it,” he added. Shekhar Suyal, Superintendent of Police Kotdwar, said that the police had not ordered the demolition. Virendra Bhandari, the victim’s father, had earlier on Sunday refused to cremate his daughter, and alleged while speaking to media persons that the “bulldozer action” had destroyed evidence. Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat also raised the issue. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, on the other hand, lauded the demolition at the resort, which took place at about 2 a.m. Locals shared a video of the demolition by a bulldozer, after which unidentified persons set the resort premises on fire. “How can you bulldoze a crime scene? It’s supposed to be preserved. How can we not say that it was a conspiracy to save the VIPs who used to get ‘special services’ in the resort that Ankita was being forced to give,” Garima Dasauni, Congress spokesperson for Uttarakhand alleged. Dasauni said the CM should make it clear whether the bulldozer was deployed to “help the victim or the accused”. The BJP [has expelled the father and elder brother]( of the main accused from the party. Dhami also removed the accused’s older brother from the post of nominated Vice-Chairman of the State’s Other Backward Classes Commission. The action came after Uttarakhand Police arrested Pulkit Arya, son of Vinod Arya, who was Minister of State under the previous BJP government headed by Trivendra Singh Rawat, for allegedly murdering Ankita. Two of his aides have also been arrested. “We have preserved all evidences and investigation is being done by SIT (Special Investigation Team),” Ashok Kumar, Director General of Police, said. Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response on plea to restrain States from advertising outside their territorial jurisdictions The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to respond to a petition to restrain State governments from publishing advertisements outside their respective territorial jurisdictions. A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli issued notices to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and all the States. The top court was hearing a plea filed by NGO Common Cause seeking directions to restrain State governments from publishing advertisements outside their territory. “How can we prohibit a State government from publishing an advertisement outside the territory? A State government may want to attract business to its territory by showcasing the work to the public of other States. They want to attract investment and say we are creating this infrastructure of roads, power, tourism, etc.,” a Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, said public funds are being used by State governments not for attracting investments or tourists but for “partisan political advertising”. He said a political party in power cannot use the money of the government to publicise its achievements. It has to use party funds. “That is democracy. Public representatives are entitled to tell the country that we are so good. How do we stop them? That is the heart and soul of the nation. Politics is a competitive space.” the Bench responded. Bhushan said the second aspect of the issue was that advertorials were disguised as news. In Brief: Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Tokyo on Monday evening to attend the state funeral of Japan’s former PM Shinzo Abe, who reshaped Japan’s foreign policy including setting out a bold vision for a quantum leap in its ties with India. [Abe was assassinated in July]( this year and is being given a state funeral at Tokyo’s massive Nippon Budokan indoor arena on Tuesday. India had announced a one-day national mourning on July 9 as a mark of respect for Abe. Modi will also call on Abe’s widow Akie Abe before returning to India. 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