The incident has come to light after it was reportedly captured by the media office of the state’s Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction. The party’s leaders visited the poll booth and questioned the election officials, as per the video below. 

Breaking

Beed Constituency Maharashtra election officers were themselves allowing bogus voting. This was caught on camera by NCP Sharad Pawar Group’s leader and when he questioned these officers they were speechless.

How is this a free and fair election when the entire… pic.twitter.com/HMhrnD7cwr

— Priyamwada (@PriaINC) May 17, 2024

On May 13, 96 constituencies went to vote across the country in the fourth phase of the country’s Lok Sabha elections. Eleven constituencies went to vote from Maharashtra.

Sabrang India had earlier covered how about four states, including Maharashtra, had reportedly seen reported election related violations by the BJP in this voting phase alone. Incidents were earlier reported from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Jharkhand. 

Maharashtra’s Beed had recorded about 58% of voting in the phase. This was a dip from the 66% witnessed in the previous Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

The BJP held the seat and is now contesting with its candidate Pankaja Munde against NCP (SP)’s Bajrang Sonawane for the seat at Beed. 

Sonawane has also claimed that booth capturing took place in several parts of the constituency, he alleged that voting has taken place under the domination of ‘one community’. He has written to the chief election commissioner and demanded that polling should take place again on camera, according to the Times of India. 

Beed on ground grapples with several dominating factions, including the Maratha community which has been demanding for OBC reservations. Pankaja Munde, contesting from the BJP which is in alliance with the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, belongs to the Munde clan which has traditionally held power in the constituency. The family belongs to the OBC community, which the BJP wishes to consolidate as a vote in Maharashtra and across the country. Prior to her, her late father had been senior BJP leader.

According to a report in the Indian Express, Pune had also seen allegations of bogus voting earlier this week. Th allegation was also raised by Congress party’s city chief from Pune, Arvine Shinde, that Pune had also witnessed bogus voting. Shinde reached the poll booth to find out that somebody had already voted in his name. Pune has also seen a significant dip in voting, as compared to earlier polls, and tallied at a total 51 % on May 13, ranking lowest among all of the state’s constituencies that went to poll in the fourth phase. Earlier this week, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule had also raised allegations of tampering with election at the Baramati constituency and had written to the election commission. She had claimed that a security camera was switched on and off for over 45 minutes. 

बारामती लोकसभा मतदारसंघाचे मतदान पार पडल्यानंतर त्या इव्हिएम ज्या गोडावूनमध्ये ठेवल्या आहेत, तेथील सीसीटिव्ही आज सकाळी ४५ मिनिटे बंद पडले होते. इव्हिएमसारखी अतिशय महत्वाची गोष्ट जेथे ठेवलेली आहे, तेथील सीसीटिव्ही बंद पडणे ही बाब संशयास्पद आहे. तसेच हा खुप मोठा हलगर्जीपणा देखील… pic.twitter.com/8HmqR2icHn

— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) May 13, 2024

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The post Reports of bogus voting from Maharashtra’s Beed and Pune appeared first on SabrangIndia.

According to these activists, many social workers and intellectuals have already been labelled as ‘urban Naxalites’ and tortured. In most cases, the charges against them have been proved in court to be false and fabricated. Civil society dissidents have thereby released a statement in support of Gohain. The statement highlights that this move can be seen as the government’s ‘counter-movement’ against the struggle of the common people, nature lovers, patriots, and democratic people against the tribal evictions is called the ‘Urban Naxal’ crackdown. The term ‘urban Naxal’ has been used to suppress and imprison critics of the government.

The statement further reads that the Chief Minister of Assam has repeatedly targeted Dr. Gohain without responding to his criticism. “There is anger among the people against this and it is impossible to deal with it with the temptation of schemes. Therefore, there are fears that the Chief Minister is using the word ‘Urban Naxal’ to suppress people’s movement. Therefore, prominent intellectuals and citizens have called on all those who love Assam to stand for democracy and rights to protest against the conspiracy statement made by the Chief Minister against Dr. Hiren Gohain.”

The signatories to the statement are Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, Harekrishna Deka, Dr. Paramanand Mohanta, Dr. Chandramohan Sharma, Loknath Goswami, Dr. Jyoti Prasad Chaliha, Dr. Apurba Kumar Barua, Professor Purneswar Nath, Dr. Manorama Sharma, Professor Abdul Mannan, Baikunth Das.

A Sahitya Akademi awardee, Gohain is a retired English professor from the Gauhati University. He has been known for his civil society presence, his strong critique of the BJP, and communal forces in the state. Gohain had written in February for Sabrang India, offering nuanced and on-ground perspectives about the citizenship crisis of Assam, and had also criticised the BJP for creating a perceived threat of Muslims and trying to consolidate votes, across Assamese and Bengali speakers in the state. This, according to Gohain, was resultant of the shaky ground BJP is in Assam due to resentment from the people against the party for its handling of the CAA crisis.

Gohain, along with Akhil Gogoi, had faced charges of sedition for protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act in 2019. Thus, this is not the first time Gohain has seen a hostile response from the BJP. In January 2024, Akhil Ranjan Dutta, a political science professor at Gauhati University, had condemned CM Sarma’s earlier statements against Gohain. However, the chief minister responded to Dr Dutta’s actions by writing to the vice-chancellor of the university he taught at to take disciplinary action against him. The CM stated that frequently criticising the chief minister was ‘unacceptable’, “As a faculty member, he frequently criticises the chief minister, which is unacceptable.”

Is this a result of the BJP losing Assam?

Interestingly, the chief minister has claimed from the beginning that BJP will win 13 out of 14 seats. However, after the first and second phases of the Lok Sabha elections, which took place on 19th and 26th April, many people think that it seems that the people have registered a change. On May 7 the third phase of the elections will happen in the state, with four constituencies in such as Guwahati, Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Dhubri set to see polling.

In Guwahati, both the BJP and Congress have women candidates. There will be direct competition between Congress candidate Mira Barthakur and BJP candidate Bijuli Kalita.

It is notable that Mira Barthakur earlier was BJP’s strong women leader. However, she was expelled in 2018 and joined the Congress party in 2021. Hiren Gohain was also recently campaigning for Congress candidate Mira Borthakur Goswami in Guwahati.

Meanwhile, In the remaining three constituencies such as Dhubri, Kokrajhar, and Barpeta, according to on-ground sources, the Muslim voters are very much a factor in winning. In Dhubri, though the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) has fielded a Muslim candidate, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)’s Zabed Islam, and is trying to win against incumbent Badurddin Ajmal. However, observers state that despite such moves the main contest in Dhubri is between the Congress and the AIUDF. Similarly, observers suggest that in Barpeta and Kokrajhar the mood of the people also seems to be against BJP and their alliance partners.

Related:

Assam: Are claims of chief minister, Himana Biswa Sarma that BJP set for a 13/14 score a farfetched?

Assam: Arson in Dibrugarh on the eve of polls, first round of polls today

Assam: ‘No Aadhaar, No Citizenship, So No Vote to BJP’, said a Citizens Convention

Ground report: Protests erupt in Assam after portrayal of Muslims as criminals in rally by Bodoland University

The post Assam’s intellectuals rally for democracy: Condemn chief minister’s conspiracy allegations against Dr. Hiren Gohain appeared first on SabrangIndia.

While for the chief minister of Uttarakhand, Puskar Singh Dhami, who has been responsible for the most provocative comments on several issues, be it “conversion”, Muslims’ right to faith and prayer and the Uniform Civil Code[1], the issue of intense communalisation in a polity that was never so deeply polarised as it has been for the past 18 months is the key to win the poll, the people of “Devbhoomi” –a nomenclature for Holy Land given by the CM– may vote differently.

Some indications came last week when a high profile minister from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet visited the state. On that day (March 26) when Anil Baluni, filed his nomination papers from the Pauri Garhwal seat in the presence of Union minister Smriti Irani, the aggressively vocal Union minister for Women and Child Development faced embarrassing moments when cameras caught her strutting away avoiding independent media questions on the failure of her party’s government in the Ankita Bhandari case. “Smriti Irani Runs Away from Questions on Ankita Bhandari: BJP Faces Voters Ire in North India” were the leads in many videos and social media comments that surfaced thereafter.

In Uttarakhand when the secular Media asked @smritiirani
about Ankita Bhandari she didn’t know what to say but was seen running away from the media and questions that involved the BJP RAPISTS family members .pic.twitter.com/BfmXJx5zcU

— Ravinder Kapur. (@RavinderKapur2) March 30, 2024

“In Uttarakhand when the secular media asked Smriti Irani about the utter absence of justice in the Ankita Bhandari murder case she didn’t know what to say but has been running away from the media and questions that involved the …..family members.” This rather embarrassing moment that displays unaccountability from a minister –when the brute murder and sexual assault of a young woman is involved has not so far, affected the bluster of the BJP candidates or Irani who proceeded to make a “blistering attack on the Congress”.

However protests from the family of Ankita Bhandari and supporters bogged her visit. Significanty, Ankita’s mother has demanded the arrest of the BJP general secretary and also action against the BJP MLA Renu Bisht for destruction of evidence. She has also been publicly on record stating that the Dhami government has failed to do anything in the case and has not taken any action against BJP MLA Renu Bisht and the then SDM Pramod Kumar even as the JCB driver made a statement that he erased the room on their order.

Arrest of journalist

On March 5 the Uttarakhand police arrested independent journalist Ashutosh Negi, who is also editor of Hindi weekly Jago Uttarakhand, from his home in Pauri town under SC/ST Act. The journalist was released on bail on March 13. Following his arrest, which prompted protest from the angry public and press body, Uttarakhand Director General of Police issued the statement in which he said that Negi’s intentions are “suspected” and his agenda seems less to do with justice, and “rather aims to sow anarchy and discord in society”, Indian Express reported. Furthermore, the statement suggested that the journalist appears to be part of a broader conspiracy.

Interestingly, Negi has continuously reported on Ankita Bhandari case, in which 19-year-old receptionist Ankita was murdered in September 2022 by the owner of Vanantra Resort, Pulkit Arya, and two other employees working there along with her, Saurabh Bhaskar, and Ankit Gupta. Pulkit Arya is a son of former BJP minister Vinod Arya. Police said that she was murdered after she refused to provide “special services” to some guests at the resort. As the protests mounted after the news broke out, the investigation was handled to Special Investigation Team. Following the recovery of her body after a week from Chilla canal, the police had registered FIR against all three accused. The FIR was initially registered under section 365 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), later the charges under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information) were also added, as per the Financial Express.

There were also allegations that she was molested and abused before being murdered, but forensic evidence ruled out the possibility of rape. The chargesheet was filed in December 2022 in Kotdwar court under IPC Sections 354, 302, 201, 120(B) and Section 3(1) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. Since then, the case has dragged on without final conclusion. In December last year, Uttarakhand High Court had rejected the bail plea of the main accused Pulkit Arya, noting the serious nature of the case and the presence of the accused on the location of the crime scene. Pertinently, Special public prosecutor, Jitendra Rawat, had been removed from the case after the father of the victim accused him of weakening the case. The controversy had also erupted when the resort of the accused was demolished by the administration, as the family of the victim alleged that it had been deliberately done to destroy the evidence. With the latest arrest and subsequent bail of the journalist, the case has once again caught the attention of the public just before the polls.

Ankita’s quest for justice

Since the beginning of the case, the justice has long eluded the family of Ankita. The case has seen removal of two public prosecutors due to their biased and contradictory conduct, where in one of the public prosecutors (Amit Sajwan) had in fact appeared for the accused, thus resulting in a position where state was fighting against itself. On March 18, 2023, the Kotdwar Session Court in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand finally framed the charges against the accused in the case for murder, destruction of evidence, and immoral trafficking. While the 500 pages chargesheet filed by the police recorded statements of 100 witnesses and produced 30 documentary evidence, The Hindu had reported in December 2023 that the police were yet to ascertain the identity of the customers who used to come at the resort of the victim.

Significantly, in January this year, Ankita’s mother demanded the arrest of state BJP general secretary Ajay Kumar as he was allegedly the VIP whose name appeared in the probe, as per The Statesman. It also reported that the mother “wanted local BJP MLA Renu Bisht arrested as he had ordered the erasing of the victim’s room at Vanantra Resort where she worked as a receptionist.” She further remarked that Dhami government has failed to do anything in the case and has not taken any action against BJP MLA Renu Bisht and the then SDM Pramod Kumar even as the JCB driver made a statement that he erased the room on their order.

Earlier in March 2023, in the petition that was filed in the Supreme Court for requesting CBI investigation in the case the SC had asked the state government to file the status report in the case, as the petitioners alleged that investigation done by local police had several holes. As the final disposal of the case remains pending, the justice has so far eluded the family of the victim, as the political class remains insensitive to the grievance of the family or to the facts of the case, which are politically inconvenient.

In addition, both the District Court and High Court have regularly denied bail to the accused and the case had become a political hot potato for the ruling BJP government, both for the then CM Tirath Singh Rawat, and the now for Pushkar Singh Dhami.

The tumultuous state of Uttarakhand before the polls

The state of Uttarakhand has been constantly in the news since past some time now. It became the first state to draft the much-discussed Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which is supposedly to become the model law for other states to draft their own UCC laws. Notably, the law has been criticised for exceeding its scope to cover live-in relationships, and further criminalising such relationships for want of valid legal registration.

The state government led by Pushkar Singh Dhami has also carried out various drives to remove what is calls “land encroachment”, all in the name of the law, but effectively bypassing the rule of law. The state has seen bulldozers running amok over the homes of poor residents, especially Muslims, leaving them vulnerable and homeless. The communal nature of such exercise has not been hidden to critical eye, as the Dhami government competes for its Hindutva credentials. In January this year, the Supreme Court had stayed the Uttarakhand High Court order which asked the state government to carry out eviction from the railway land in Haldwani, noting that some practical solution needs to be found as the people had long resided on the disputed piece of the land. Importantly, Haldwani eviction would have significantly affected the lives of around 50,000 people, most of them being Muslims. Nonetheless, the zealous state government did not stop here, and in February this year it demolished Mosque and Madrasa in Haldwani, leading to counter violence and arson, resulting in loss of precious lives and properties.

Notoriously, in 2021, the state witnessed the most virulent form of hate speech(s) delivered by extremist elements, including the infamous Yati Narsinghanand, openly declaring for the massacre of Muslims and praising Nathuram Godse for his assassination of MK Gandhi.

In 2022, it joined the growing list of states in drafting anti-conversion law, which on the face of it aims to prevent fraudulent conversions, but effectively targets freedom of religion and interfaith marriages, disproportionately affecting the religious minorities.

As the aforementioned incidents suggests, Dev Bhoomi has become more of a communal bhoomi, where the question of governance has been relegated into the background, and only polemic and communal issues attract the attention.

[1]
“We will demolish illegal mazars in Uttarakhand. This is a new Uttarakhand. No one should even think about encroaching on land here, let alone doing it. We are not against anyone. But encroachments in the name of mazars or anything else will not be allowed. We will not let ‘land jihad’ prosper. We believe in the law. We will not allow anyone’s appeasement.” (April 2023)https://maktoobmedia.com/india/wont-allow-land-jihad-uttarakhand-cms-hate-speech/

“This is the land for which people come to greet the Bhumi, people come here to pilgrimage – and thus in order to maintain the moolswarup, we have initiated actions to tackle land and mazaar jihad. There were more than 5 mazaars (shrines). We have freed 3300 government land.” (October 2023); https://cjp.org.in/up-and-uttarakhand-see-an-increase-in-hate-speech/

“Today we are fighting all the challenges with full strength. We brought the law of conversion. We have done the work of removing illegal encroachments. Some people created a disturbance in Haldwani and committed arson. We want to say that strict action will be taken against whoever has taken the law into his hands. No matter how big a name someone is, no one will be spared. Whoever works to spoil the system in Uttarakhand, the law will not spare him.” (Speech on UCC, Feb 2024) https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/whoever-works-to-spoil-uttarakhands-system-pushkar-dhami-on-clashes-5038387

Related:

Ankita Bhandari Case: Protests for justice enters 7th day, victim’s parents leading the protestors, condemning the arrest of the journalist seeking action in Ankita’s case

Interfaith Violence Erupts in Rishikesh: Mazars Desecrated, Constitutional Values at Stake

UP and Uttarakhand see an increase in hate speech

The post Uttarakhand: Will the Ankita Bhandari murder case, arrest of journalist, Negi affect the April 19 poll? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan was one of the chief guests at the event attended by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The RSS members also organised a ‘Path Sanchalan’ (route march) early Tuesday morning. In 2022, the chief guest at the event was Santosh Yadav, world’s first woman to climb the Mount Everest, and Bhagwat had emphasised on women empowerment.

On Manipur

Toeing the line of the union government on each issue that he touched, he, controversially, dubbed the internal conflict in Manipur that has claimed several hundred lives and simmered, unchecked –by either the state or union governments since May ¾, 2023—as the “work of the foreign hand.” “Were extremists across the border involved in Manipur violence?” he asked. Addressing the issue of the five month long simmering ethnic conflict for which the union and state governments have been sharply criticised nationally and internally, Bhagwat, the RSS chief said: “In Manipur, when people on both sides of the conflict are seeking peace, which are these forces that are attempting to trigger hatred and violence by causing an incident as soon as any positive step is seen being taken in that direction?”

“For many years, Meitei and Kuki communities have been living together. How did the violence erupt all of a sudden? The conflict benefits external forces. Are external factors involved,” Bhagwat said, while addressing the RSS Dussehra rally in Nagpur.

“Union Home Minister Amit Shah was there for three days. Who actually fuelled the conflict? It (violence) is not happening, it is being made to happen,” Bhagwat said.

The RSS chief said he was proud of the Sangh workers who worked in Manipur to restore peace.

“Lord Ram (idol) will be installed at the temple on January 22” The RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat also spoke about the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya “…A temple of Lord Ram is being built in Ayodhya…Lord Ram (idol) will be installed at the temple on January 22…On that day, we can organise programmes at our own temples in the whole country…” he said. He suggested that he may not attend the grand inauguration for security reasons. “We won’t be able to attend the ceremony because of security reasons. We will go some other time.”

This comment has raised speculation since for the past three four months, possibilities of security breaches at the highly politicised Ram temple site have been raised by various persons including former governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satyapal Malik and even Shiv Sena (UBT) chief, Udhav Thackeray. On September 10, 2023 Thackeray had claimed, “Godhra-like” incident may take place during the “return journey” of the large number of people expected to converge at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh from across the nation for the inauguration of the Ram temple.”

The speech can be viewed here:

#WATCH | Nagpur, Maharashtra: While addressing RSS Vijayadashmi Utsav, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat says, “…Every year, India’s pride is increasing in the world… The G 20 summit held here (in India) was special. The hospitality of Indians was praised…People from different… pic.twitter.com/ivmFyV4gn6

— ANI (@ANI) October 24, 2023

“Delegates at G20 Summit in India experienced our country’s unity in diversity”

Mohan Bhagwat, RSS supremo, in his Dusshera speech, emphasised on India’s successful organisation of the G20 summit. “It happens every year but this time the praise for how well the guests were hosted and treated. The announcement of including the African Union on day one was also a milestone,” he said.

He also pointed out that India’s leadership gave the country a place in the world.

“Every year, India’s pride is increasing in the world. The G20 summit held here (in India) was special. The hospitality of Indians was praised. People from different countries experienced our diversity. They saw our diplomatic skills as well as our honest goodwill. Our leadership gave India a place in the world,” Mohan Bhagwat said while speaking at the event.

On the Israel-Hamas conflict: World is looking towards Bharat to lead by example based on own Sanatan (eternal) values and Sanskars

As the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict rages, Mohan Bhagwat opined that the world is looking towards India to lead by example and show a new path to peace. All and any solution to conflicts like the war in Ukraine or the Gaza Strip, which arise due to a clash of interests and extremism, remains elusive. A lifestyle out of sync with nature is producing a string of new physical and mental- health issues amid unabashed consumerism,” Bhagwat said.

“Terrorism, exploitation, and totalitarianism are getting a free run to wreak havoc. It has become abundantly clear that the world cannot counter these problems with its inadequate vision. Therefore, the world is looking towards Bharat expectantly to lead by example and show a new path to peace and prosperity, based on its own Sanatan (eternal) values and Sanskars,” he added.

Among the bug-bears (read “internal enemies” of the professed Hindu(tva) nation –Hindu Rashtra) –according to RSS texts like “Bunch of Thoughts by MS Golwalkar are “Muslims, Christians and Communists.” While sparing this time around in naming India’s religious minorities, the supremo singled out leftists/communists.

“Some anti-social people call themselves cultural Marxists or woke but they have forgotten Marx”

The RSS chief stated that “cultural Marxists and woke elements” are using their influence in media and academia to spoil the country’s education and culture. “They take control of the media and academia, and plunge education, culture, politics and social environment into confusion, chaos, and corruption,” he said.

“…There are some people in the world and in also India who do not want that India should move forward… They try to create factions and clashes in society. Because of our unawareness and lack of belief, we also sometimes get entangled in it, and unnecessary nuisances are created…If India progresses, they will not be able to play their games; therefore, they continuously oppose. They adopt particular ideologies just for the sake of opposing” he said.

“World looking up to India to overcome problems”

‘Country is moving forward. But while moving forward, we need to show the world. We should not follow anyone else’s path. This is reflecting in our government’s actions as well,’ the RSS chief said urging people to recognise that India is leaving a global mark.

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The Ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is both Hate-Ridden and Supremacist – Part 1

An open letter to the JNU VC: Your association with RSS defies humanism, anti-colonial struggle for Indian democracy!

Busted: Assam chief minister’s claim that Bajrang Dal has no links with RSS

RSS ideologues ‘wrong’; Sati wasn’t product of ‘Muslim’ rule, it existed in ancient India too

The post RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s Vijayadashami speech blows BJP’s poll bugle, extolls G-20 summit, asks if “external forces” were responsible for Manipur violence appeared first on SabrangIndia.