Tablighi Jamaat spreading covid in Bengaluru slums, claims Shobha Kharandlaje

Bengaluru, Mar 15: All 21 Madhya Pradesh MLAs from Jyotiraditya Scindia's camp, who were lodged here at Prestige Golfshire Club, have been shifted to Ramada hotel in Yelahanka ahead of Monday's floor test in the state assembly.

In view of their arrival, the concerned authorities have strengthened security outside the hotel.

Following the exit of Scindia from Congress, these MLAs claimed to have resigned from the state Legislative Assembly.

On March 11, Congress sent two of its leaders -- Sajjan Singh Verma and Govind Singh -- to Bengaluru in order to pacify some of these rebel MLAs.

Most of the rebel MLAs are perceived close to Scindia and were apparently unhappy at Scindia being "ignored" in the party.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs, who arrived in Bhopal from Jaipur today morning ahead of the floor test in the Assembly on Monday, have been shifted to Courtyard by Marriott Hotel.

These MLAs were accompanied by senior Congress leader Harish Rawat, who exuded confidence of Kamal-Nath led government winning floor test in the Assembly.

Both Congress and BJP have issued whips to all its MLAs for the legislative assembly session in Madhya Pradesh, which is scheduled to be held from March 16 to April 13.

On Saturday, Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon had directed that a floor test will be held in the assembly on Monday.

Tumakuru, Jan 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed the Congress and its allies opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying they are against giving relief to those who have been brutalised and victimised in Pakistan.

"Pakistan was founded on religious grounds due to which atrocities on minorities such as Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Christians have increased. But Congress and its allies don't speak against Pakistan," he said at a function here.

He also said the Congress and its allies take out rallies and stage demonstrations against the efforts to prevent atrocities on religious lines and save women from sexual assaults.

Modi wondered why those opposed to the CAA were not speaking out against Pakistan's atrocities and asked what stopped them from doing so.

Strongly defending the CAA, he said it was adopted by Parliament in a historic move, but that the Congress and its allies and the ecosystem created by his party's rival were now against the very institution.

He said India cannot leave the Hindus, Christians and Sikhs apparently fleeing Pakistan to "their fate" and added it was the country's responsibility to protect them.

Modi pointed out that the efforts are especially to protect the Dalits and tribals in Pakistan.

The Prime Minister also pointed out that the abrogation of Article 370 was a step towards ending terrorism and uncertainty in Jammu and Kashmir.

Kochi, Feb 29: The Kerala Non-Resident Indians' Commission on Friday passed a resolution to request the Centre and Election Commission (EC) to make appropriate amendments in the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, to ensure voting rights to the non-resident Indians working abroad. According to People’s Representation Act, 1951, None-Resident Indians (NRIs) can vote by proxy.

The Commission is a statutory body constituted for the welfare of Non-Resident Keralites working outside India.

The Centre had introduced a bill for this purpose which was passed by the Lok Sabha in 2018, but the same has since lapsed.

Therefore, the Kerala NRI Commission decided to request the Centre to consider introducing the bill in the next session of Parliament considering the interest of the NRI community at large.

The resolution was moved by commission member and NRI entrepreneur Shamsheer Vayalil, who is also a petitioner in the writ petition, filed regarding this in the Supreme Court.

"The central government may consider introducing the bill in the next session of the Parliament session considering the interest of the NRI community at large," read the resolution which will now be sent to the Ministry of Law and the Election Commission (EC).

Commission chairman Justice PD Rajan said the right to vote for NRIs is a genuine demand.

"This is the time that we step up pressure on the agencies concerned to implement this. Voting from the workplace would be a different experience for them. It would be a decisive step," he said.

This fresh development comes at a time when a petition filed in the Supreme Court on the same topic last week came before a bench headed by Justice Deepak Gupta, which considered the case and said it will be heard in April.

"We are expecting a favourable decision from the Supreme Court. We would also approach the NRI commission in other states and request them to raise the same demand," said Vayalil.

If implemented, millions of NRIs around the world would be able to exercise their franchise in the electoral processes of the nation. According to the estimate of the Ministry of External Affairs, there are about 3.10 crore NRIs.