SC order on quota for women in Bar Assn The Supreme Court court said the order must be implemented from the 2024 election to the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) set to be held on May 16. Apart from six office bearers, the SCBA has six senior executive members and nine executive members. As per the apex court’s order, at least two senior executive members and three executive members should be women. | P9 tirupati l friday l may 03, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l anantapur EDITION CHENNAI MADURAI VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU KOCHI HYDERABAD VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ No word, but party prepares in Amethi Nomination deadline for Amethi, Rae Bareli seats in UP ends today BJP drops tainted Brij Bhushan, fields his son Karan in Kaiserganj P r eeth a N a i r @ New Delhi N A M I TA B A J PAI @ Lucknow With barely hours left for filing of nomination papers for the Amethi and Rae Bareli seats, the Congress is continuing to keep the suspense on whether Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka will contest from the prestigious seats. Though there was no official word, sources said that Rahul is likely to enter the fray from Amethi. That decision was taken after much deliberations within the party leadership. However, the call on Priyanka contesting from Rae Bareli is yet to be taken, said sources. On Wednesday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the decision would be announced by Thursday evening. Yet, there was no official announcement till going to the press. Sources said the local leadership is gearing up for the filing of nomination papers by Rahul from Amethi since Thursday evening. “We received a message from the high command in the evening to make prepara- Rae Bareli factor tions for Friday’s nomination. The party will also hold a rally Though it was today said a leader. ,” speculated According to sources, Conthat Rahul gress chief Mallikarjun Kharge Gandhi may has conveyed to the Gandhis contest from that not contesting from Uttar the Rae Bareli Pradesh would not augur well constituency, for the party’s prospects in the he decided Hindi heartland. Rahul repreagainst it at sented Amethi for three straight the last terms from 2004 to 2019 before moment he was defeated by Union minister Smriti Irani by over 50,000 votes in 2019. Smriti Irani, who is seeking a second term from Amethi, has challenged Rahul to contest from the seat. A section of the leaders believe that if Rahul does not take up the challenge, it will only vindicate the BJP’s charges of him running away from the seat. According to sources, Rahul was not keen on Priyanka’s electoral debut from Rae Bareli as he did not want all the three members of the family in Parliament. The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been constantly attacking the Congress over its dynasty politics. The BJP on Thursday dropped Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who faces criminal charges of sexually harassing women wrestlers during his stint as the president of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), and instead fielded his younger son Karan Bhushan Singh from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency . The saffron party also named Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Rae Bareli, a Gandhi family bastion that elected Congress leader Sonia Gandhi five consecutive times. Dinesh Pratap Singh, currently serving as a minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet, was the BJP’s candidate from the Rae Bareli parliamentary seat in 2019 as well. Even though he lost to Sonia Gandhi last time, he managed to bring her victory margin down to 1.67 lakh votes from 3.52 lakh in 2014. He was earlier with the Congress and he joined the BJP in 2018. Rajput Brij Bhushan, the sitting MP card in Kaiserganj, was forced to resign as WFI president over the By fielding Dinesh Singh sexual harassment scandal after the wrestlers launched a proand Karan Bhushan(pic), test. By denying ticket to Brij BJP hopes to Bhushan, the BJP has sought to send out a message of distancplacate ing itself from tainted leaders. Rajput With Brij Bhushan, the total community number of MPs benched by the voters, who BJP in UP in the ensuing elecwere upset with the party tion has touched 15. A six-time MP, Brij Bhushan has won not only from Kaiserganj but also neighbouring constituencies like Gonda and Balrampur. An influential regional leader, he has sway over half-a-dozen Lok Sabha seats in and around Gonda in central UP . Brij Bhushan has formidable clout in Kaiserganj and adjoining districts as he owns over 50 educational institutions in the region. He had been pitching hard for a seat for himself while the BJP reportedly gave him two options — to field his wife Ketaki Singh or elder son Prateek, an MLA from Gonda Sadar. Ketaki Singh was BJP’s Gonda MP in 1996. Express read Shah video: 5 Cong social media in-charges held Hyderabad: Hyderabad police detained five Congress members on Thursday in connection with the circulation of a doctored video by the Congress on their X handle featuring Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The BJP filed two complaints against the Telangana Congress — in Hyderabad and Delhi — alleging that the team had reportedly morphed and circulated a video of Shah’s statement on reservations. After several tweets and retweets, the video was later deleted from the Congress X handle. The Delhi police also reportedly arrived in Hyderabad on Thursday for further probe | P5 FINAL ELECTORAL ROLL OUT Vote from home Total electorate begins 4,14,01,887 Eligible voters above 85 years old 2,11,257 2,10,58,615 2,03,39,851 14,577 Transgender: 3,421 Registered voters Total polling stations Eligible voters under Persons With Benchmark Disability category 46,389 A bench of the Telangana High Court on Thursday upheld the life sentence awarded to Malisetty Bhanu Kiran, also known as Bhanu, for the murder of Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Maddilacheruvu Suri. Suri was a key figure in the 2005 assassination of TDP MLA Paritala Ravi. Earlier in 2018, an additional sessions judge had sentenced Bhanu Kiran to life imprisonment. Bhanu had shot 5,17,227 Registered voters 14,014 SUSPENDED Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna, who is in the eye of a storm over his alleged sexual harassment of women, travelled to Germany on a diplomatic passport without political clearance, the Ministry of External Af f airs (MEA) said on Thursday . “No political clearance was either sought from or issued by MEA in respect to his travel to Germany… Obviously, no visa note was issued either,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday . Diplomatic passport holders can travel to over 100 countries, including Germany, without visa. “The ministry has not issued visa note for Revanna for travel to any other country,” the MEA spokesperson said, adding that parliamentarians are entitled to have diplomatic passports. Prajwal is the sitting MP from Hassan, from where he is seeking 12,438 L105.15 cr Value of seized precious metals L28.83 crore Value of seized liquor `47.75 cr Seized cash Sajjala demands BJP’s stand on Land Titling Act E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The YSRC on Thursday demanded the State BJP unit to spell out its stand on scrapping the Land Titling Act, an election promise of in the manifesto of its allies - TDP and JSP . Stating that the Land Titling Act was based on the recommendations of the NDA government at the Centre, YSRC general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said, “TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu is alleging that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy would usurp the lands of the people through the Land Titling Act. Does Naidu imply that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to take away the lands of the people in the entire country Sajjala asked and demand,” ed the BJP State unit to question its poll partner on this count. Sajjala produced the documents and office memorandum of the NITI Aayog, which in a meeting on October 16, 2019 constituted a committee to draft the Model Act and Rules on Conclusive Land Titling with the former special chief secretary of Telangana, VK Agarwal, as its chairman. Sajjala also produced the communication of the then NITI tdpto continue 4% chief promises quota for Muslims Assuring the Muslims of continuing the 4% reservation, Chandrababu Naidu asserted that the TDP is committed to the welfare of minorities | P6 dead Suri at Yousufguda in Hyderabad when they were travelling together in a car in January 2011. Challenging the local court’s verdict, Bhanu Kiran had appealed in the High Court. The decision came after a thorough consideration of the criminal appeal filed by Bhanu Kiran challenging the trial court’s verdict. Despite Bhanu’s contention of insufficient direct evidence and alleged contradictions in witness state- ments, a bench comprising Justice K Lakshman and Justice P Sree Sudha affirmed the conviction. Public Prosecutor Palle Nageswara Rao argued that Bhanu meticulously planned and executed the murder. According to Rao, Bhanu was travelling with Suri on the day of the incident, positioned strategically behind him in the car. Bhanu fired fatal shots at Suri from behind, causing injuries consistent with his position in the vehicle. P3 Prajwal flew to Germany on diplomatic passport: MEA Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi Critical polling stations MCC ENFORCEMENT L203.80 cr Value of seizures from March 16 to May 2 Telangana High Court upholds life imprisonment for Suri’s killer Bhanu T G N a i d u @ Hyderabad Male Female re-election. Diplomatic passports are issued to diplomats, government officials and individuals who are authorised to undertake official travel on behalf of the government. Under international law, diplomatic passport holders enjoy certain privileges and immunities, including immunity from arrest in the host country . On Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s demand for revocation of Revanna’s diplomatic passport, the MEA spokesperson said it can be taken only on the directions of a court. “As regards the possible revocation of the passport of any individual, I would refer you to the relevant provisions of the Passport Act 1967. A direction should come from a court for revocation of passport. We are not in receipt of any directions from any court in this regard,” he said. Prajwal, 33, is the grandson of former PM and JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda. He was suspended from the party after the row. Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant to Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba where he mentioned the need of an Act for documenting ownership of land. In the communication, Kant had noted that land continues to be one that has enormous economic, social, and symbolic relevance for the majority of poor, especially the marginal farmers, tribals and other backward categories. He clearly mentioned that based on the directions of the Un- ion Government, the NITI Aayog has drafted the Model Act on Conclusive Land Titling and Rules. He had hoped that they would be able to assist the State governments in amending their respective revenue codes and set up an alternative mechanism for land titling and transition towards provision of conclusive titles to their people. He also demanded the TDP to spell out its stand on 4% reservations to the Muslims, which the BJP has opposed. It is clear that Naidu is opposing the draft Act formulated by the Centre. Naidu should question the BJP and the Prime Minister on the issue. The BJP, an ally on the TDP & JSP, should spell out its stand on the issue — Sajjala Ramakrishna, YSRC leader
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