QBullet: Amit Shah Faces Patel Chaos, Why Sidhu Ditched AAP And More
The Quint’s compilation of the stories making headlines in dailies across the country.
1. BJP’s ‘Show of Strength’ in Surat Ends in Chaos
It was billed as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ‘show of strength’ in the Patidar bastion of Surat, where prominent businessmen of the community organised a function to felicitate BJP president Amit Shah, State Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and other Patidar leaders – but the proceedings ended abruptly amidst chaos over a ruckus by supporters of activist Patidar leader Hardik Patel. They chanted ‘Jay Sardar Jay Patidar’ while going on rampage, breaking and throwing chairs and pelting stones at the venue.
Party president Amit Shah ended his speech in just four minutes and immediately left the venue.
“What happened in Surat reflects the anger of the Patidar community against the BJP in Gujarat,” said Mr Hardik Patel, who is exiled in Udaipur, while reacting to the events in Surat.
Read more on The Quint.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. ‘If Violence Stops, We Can Talk’
If violence in the Kashmir Valley ceases, the Modi government is open to the idea of a dialogue with separatist Hurriyat leaders, a top government source said on Thursday.
While describing the current unrest in Kashmir as 100 percent sponsored by Pakistan, the source admitted that the movement was entirely leaderless. “Even the separatist leaders are at a crossroads.”
Critical of the role played by electronic and social media, the source said that by stressing “excessively humanistic grounds” the state was being “weakened.”
The source denied that India had been naive in believing the sincerity of Mr Sharif, given that the real power to take decisions on India policy lay with Army Chief Raheel Sharif.
Also, India would engage only with the head of government and not the Pakistan Army Chief.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. ‘Kejriwal Told Me Don’t Fight Polls, I said Goodbye’: Sindhu on Why He Didn’t Join AAP
Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal wants only “yes men” and asked Navjot Singh Sidhu to not fight the upcoming Punjab polls in return for a ministerial position for his wife, the cricketer-turned-politician said, on Thursday.
At the launch of his new political forum Awaaz-e-Punjab, Sidhu said his dramatic resignation from the Rajya Sabha in July had nothing to do with Kejriwal, quashing months of speculation about him joining the AAP after quitting BJP.
Kejriwal told me don’t fight elections, ask your wife to contest, will make her a minister. I said Sat shri akal (goodbye).Navjot Singh Sidhu
Read more on The Quint.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Uncle, if You Can’t Fight, Go to New York: Kanhaiya’s Call to Comrade
JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar said on Thursday that the veteran comrade who had concluded that the Narendra Modi government was not fascist but “authoritarian” should retire and go to New York if he does not have the stomach for a fight.
There is a veteran comrade, who had studied in JNU. He says the BJP is authoritarian, not fascist. Comrade, if you don’t want to fight, retire and go to New York. We will fight our own battles.Kanhaiya Kumar at CPI-backed All India Students’ Federation Convention, Calcutta
Earlier this week, CPM general secretary, Prakash Karat, had written an opinion piece in which he had split hairs on the nature of the Modi government.
The crux of Karat’s contention was that “the political struggle against the BJP cannot be conducted in alliance with the other major party (the Congress) of the ruling classes”– which was seen as an indirect attack on the line associated with those supporting the current CPM general secretary, Sitaram Yechury.
(Source: The Telegraph)
5. First Open Dissent in PDP, Muzaffar Hussain Baig Says Govt Has Failed to Deliver
As it grapples with the unrest in the Valley, the Mehbooba Mufti government drew fire from within the ruling PDP Thursday when Muzaffar Hussain Baig, senior party leader and Lok Sabha MP from Baramulla, said the PDP-BJP government has so far “failed to deliver” on its “agenda of governance” and should resign if it is unable to keep promises made to the people.
According to Baig, the reason why the alliance has “failed to deliver” is because Mehbooba is still “trying to grapple with the process of governance as she has no experienced hand in the government – almost everyone except one senior leader is new in the government – while the BJP has been busy with elections in other parts of the country”.
Read more on The Quint.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Will 21 AAP MLAs Be Disqualified? EC to Take a Call
The Election Commission (EC) is examining if the Delhi high court order setting aside the appointment of 21 AAP MLAs as parliamentary secretaries will have any bearing on the maintainability of the disqualification petition being heard against them by the commission.
A senior EC functionary said the commission would study the judgment when it got a copy, but another officer indicated that any “ab-initio“ (from the beginning) scrapping of the appointments would necessitate a review of the ongoing disqualification proceedings.
There is, however, also a view that the case in the HC pertained to appointment of the MLAs as parliamentary secretaries, while the EC will have to consider whether they held an office of profit and should be disqualified. The law forbids legislators accepting an office of profit under the executive unless specifically exempted.
(Source: Times of India)
7. Study Flushes Swachh Boast
A government survey has punctured the Centre’s claim about several districts in the country having become free of open defecation.
Swachh Survekshan, a survey commissioned by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and carried out by the Quality Council of India in June-July this year, covered 75 districts marked top performers by the Ministry itself.
Its report, released today, says that none of the districts can claim that all its households have access to safe toilets and are using them.
Sanitation Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had in August told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that 17 districts had declared themselves free of open defecation.
(Source: The Telegraph)
8. ISRO Launches Weather Satellite, INSAT 3DR
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)’s two-decade long wait to launch an indigenous cryogenic engine powered rocket came to a fruition on Thursday as the GSLV (Geo-Synchro Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket placed the advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR into orbit.
This was the tenth and first operational launch of the GSLV that has seen five failures in nine attempts and thus has been given the moniker ‘Naughty Boy’. The weather satellite launched into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit, 36,000km above Earth abd weighed 2,211kg while the GSLV-F05 rocket was 49 metres tall.
ISRO launched the satellite from its second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
(Source: DNA)
9. Biryani Samples Collected by Haryana Govt From Mewat Test Positive for Beef
All seven samples of biryani collected by the Mewat police have tested positive for beef.
The samples were collected over the last two days and were sent to Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (LLRU).
An LLRU spokesperson said:
We have received seven samples from the Mewat administration and after tests we found the samples positive. Reports of the samples have been sent to the concerned department and to the government.
Selling, slaughtering and consumption of beef in any form is banned in Haryana under the Gau Raksha and Gau Samvardhan scheme started by the state government, and is a punishable offence.
However, superintendent of police (SP) Mewat, Kuldeep Singh, refused to comment about the matter, saying he had not received any test reports so far.
(Source: Hindustan Times)