NEW DELHI 05 MAY 2024 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 26 facebook/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard TRUTH BE RETOLD https://epaper.morningstandard.in SWEET SPOTS THE 10,000 STEPS MYTH PLUS: 12 PAGES MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Pushpesh Pant S Vaidhyasubramaniam Ravi Shankar Preeti Shenoy Dinesh Singh Prabhu Chawla Shankkar Aiyar Nanditha Krishna WHAT LIES BENEATH Fight Over Flight AMMA SPEAKS ‘This is Not a Sports Film’ Lighting the Lamp of Hope No bail, Revanna in SIT custody U.P. DIARIES THE CITY THAT IS NO LONGER ALLAHABAD Arrested after a court rejects JDS leader’s anticipatory bail petition in an abduction case P R A V E E N K U M A R @ Bengaluru BELEAGUERED JD(S) lawmaker H D Revanna was on Friday arrested by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in a kidnap case after a court rejected his anticipatory bail petition. The SIT picked up Revanna from his father and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s house here. He was whisked away in a SUV and brought to the SIT’s office in Palace Road. The arrest happened after Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat refused to grant him interim anticipatory bail after hearing arguments by senior counsel Murthy D Naik representing Revanna and Special Public Prosecutor has appeal in a constituency that has 4.5 lakh savarna SANTWANA voters — majority Brahmin BHATTACHARYA at that. That’s why the contest beEDITOR tween two dynasts for the Allahabad seat — Neeraj Tripathi (BJP), son of late PRAYAGRAJ: The city that Keshari Nath Tripathi, has been renamed Prayagraj former Governor of West lives in nostalgia and denial. Bengal, and Ujjwal Raman Denial about its lost signifi- Singh (Congress), son of cance on the political map of Kunwar Reoti Raman Singh Uttar Pradesh and, by that — could well be settled by stretch, of India. As if it’s go- the Modi factor. ing through a slow unravelNo irony there. No one ling — a crisis of identity A raises the issue of dynastic . century ago, it was a melting politics in a city whose claim pot of nationalistic ferment, to fame is its association the nursery of future prime with the Nehru-Gandhi famministers. Indeed, the first ily Their old homes, Swaraj . social-political-cultural Bhawan and Anand Bhahub of modern UP The . wan, are now given slide from that was over to a trust. That long but irreversible. legacy has no politiBut it’s evident in cal pull left, though. the changed crowd “They’ve no connect at the coffee house, with Allahabad or its in the inarticulate people any more. SECOND OF A anger of the youth. FOUR-PART SERIES Even when Rahul or The nature of disPriyanka Gandhi course too reflects grey con- come here, they drive , temporary realities. straight to Anand Bhawan Witness that mutation in and simply disappear,” says the political vocabulary, M P Dubey former professor , from overarching tropes to of Political Science, Allaa more caste-based analysis habad University . of elections, even as metaA contrasting anecdote is phor. Not surprising that recounted about Lal Bahadur someone in this city — re- Shastri and how he used to duced to basics amidst reach out to people and even brash, hypermodern shop- opponents at streetcorners. ping arcades — explains The Nehru family’s concomplexities thus: “Naren- nect with the city broke with dra Modi may be from an Indira Gandhi’s passing. OBC community, but comes Their political hold was over across as a savarna, where- when Rajiv Gandhi’s apolitias Mamata, a Banerjee cal friend famously entered Brahmin, does her politics and exited politics through like a subaltern.” This is by this city . CONTINUED ON P9 way of explaining why Modi Janata Dal (S) MLA H D Revanna (left) in SIT custody in an abduction case in Bengaluru on Saturday | PTI B N Jagadeesha. Two FIRs have been registered against Revanna. The first is based on a complaint of sexual harassment filed by one of the victims in Hassan dis- trict on April 28. The second FIR was filed following a kidnap complaint lodged on May 2 by another victim’s 20-year-old son in Mysuru district. Revanna has been arrested in the Mysuru case. Revanna’s confidant Satish Babanna is already under custody . SIT officers were trailing Revanna for four days. They had kept a hawk’s eye on him to ensure he did not escape anywhere considering that his son and party MP Prajwal scooted to Germany using a diplomatic passport this week. Officials had to wait for 45 minutes outside Deva Gowda’s residence before arresting Revanna as the doors were shut. Finally Revanna emerged , from the house and was taken into custody . The entire drama outside Deve Gowda’s house was videographed by the SIT. The operation was supervised by Superintendent of Police Suman D Pennekar, one of the two women IPS officers who are part of the SIT formed to probe the rape, kidnap, sexual harassment cases against Revanna and Prajwal. Revanna was charged under Section 364(a) (kidnapping for ransom), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 34 (the acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. India waiting for Canada info on Days before Delhi arrests in Nijjar case: Jaishankar goes to polls, Lovely, four others join BJP B I J O Y P R A D H A N @ Bhubaneswar A day after Canada police claimed to have arrested three Indian nationals over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year, Exter nal Af fairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said India is waiting for details from Canadian government or the police on the development. In an interaction with the media during his two-day visit to state, Jaishankar said the three arrested persons were apparently Indians having some kind of gang background. But he was yet to get any details. “We have never been given any proof by the Canada government. In fact, we have re- From left: Karan Brar, Karanpreet Singh and Kamalpreet Singh arrested in Canada in the Nijjar murder case | PTI peatedly told them if they have something, share with us. I am waiting for the Canada police to tell us more (about the persons they have arrested),” he said and added that they must produce proof if they do not have any political agenda. Jaishankar said, “One of our major concerns is that they (Canada) have allowed organ- IAF convoy ambushed in Poonch: Five personnel hurt ised crime from their soil. They have given political legitimacy to Khalistani elements and underground gangsters for vote bank politics.” “We have been telling them if you give political legitimacy to such elements it will be a problem for you and us. But Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is doing vote bank politics to save his government,” the minister said. Jaishankar said India has taken up issues on Khalistanis in Canada in great detail. The Canada government has a lot of knowledge about the Khalistanis living there but has chosen not to do anything. “Even out extradition requests are pending with them for a long time,” he said. EXPRESS READ Top Afghan diplomat quits after row Zakia Wardak, senior-most Afghan diplomat in India, resigned from her position after reports emerged that she was caught at Mumbai airport last month for allegedly trying to smuggle 25 kg of gold worth. Wardak took charge as the acting ambassador last year after working as the Afghan Consul General. P9 F AYA Z W A N I @Srinagar MILITANTS on Saturday evening ambushed a convoy of Indian Air Force in border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, injuring five of them. A security official said the convoy was attacked by militants near Shahsitar area in Poonch district. “The attack took place when the convoy was on the way towards Sanai Top in Surankote area of the border district,” he said. “The injured men were airlifted to Command Hospital Udhampur. The doctors have termed the condition of two of them as life threatening,” they said. Sources said militants managed to flee in the forest area after carrying out the attack. “The vehicles, which were part of IAF convoy, have been secured inside the air base near Shahsitar,” the security official said. Army police and paramil, itary CRPF contingents rushed to the attack site and launched a combing and search operation. The Army is using drones and helicopters to track down the militants in the dense forest areas. “No contact has been established with militants. The search operation is going on,” a security official said. After the attack, security men have intensified vigil in twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri. Poonch is part of Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency which is going to , the polls in the 6th phase on May 25. It was the second attack on security forces in Poonch by militants this year. Chronicle of an Attack Retold Death for four in Nuh rape, murder case HAND-IN-HAND West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee with Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur and party candidate Mukut Mani Adhikari during a public meeting for Lok Sabha elections, at Birnagar in Nadia district on Saturday | PTI A special CBI court in Haryana’s Panchkula awarded the death sentence to 4 convicts in the 2016 Nuh gangrapes and double murder case on Saturday, officials said. On April 10, the court had found Hemat Chouhan, Ayan Chauhan, Vinay and Jai Bhagwan guilty of double murder, gangrape and dacoity. U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi BARELY 20 days before polling in Delhi, Arvinder Singh Lovely who recently stepped , down from the post of Delhi Congress president, joined the BJP on Saturday along with four other party leaders. “We are connected to people in all 70 Delhi Assembly constituencies. After resigning, I thought of sitting at home with honesty but , all of them said that I should join a strong party to fight for Delhi and the country,” Lovely said after joining the saffron ranks. He said it was not just five of them but a long queue of Congress people, “who have already decided.... to fight for the people of Delhi in coming days. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief JP Nadda. The new BJP entrant thanked the top leadership and stated that PM Modi gave them an opportunity when they were “politically lost.” The four others who joined the saffron party, in the presence of Union Minister Hardeep Puri, included former Congress MLAs — Rajkumar Chauhan, Neeraj Basoya, Naseeb Singh — and Delhi youth Congress chief Amit Malik. While Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva welcomed the Congress leaders into the party presenting , them with saffron scarves, and flower bouquets, and issuing them BJP membership slips, Minister Puri stated that the popularity of these dignitaries joining the BJP is undeniable, and their inclusion will no doubt strengthen BJP in Delhi. “AAP has done nothing for the development of Delhi during its tenure, leading to deteriorating conditions,” said Puri. In the elections, not only will BJP win, but will also take significant steps for Delhi’s development.” Lovely joined the BJP in 2017 but returned to Congress soon. He was appointed the president of the Delhi unit of the Congress in August 2023, replacing Anil Chaudhary The Congress has not been able . to win even a single Assembly election or a seat in the Lok Sabha for a decade now. SHARP ATTRITION IN CONG CAMP Lovely joined BJP in 2017 but returned to Congress soon. He became the city unit chief in 2023. Congress has not won any Assembly election or an LS seat for a decade now. Lovely said it was not just 5 of them but a long queue of others, “who have decided to fight for Delhi. He thanked PM Modi at a time when they were “politically lost.” Delhi Congress’ interim chief Devender Yadav described Lovely as an “opportunist.” “The party doesn’t care about such people. This is not the first time he has tried to sabotage the Congress,” he said. Union minister, two MLAs from same party in rare tricornered contest S W E T H A V I M A L A M @ Hyderabad IN the narrow lanes and bylanes of Secunderabad, there are striking black-and-gold engravings that read: “Foundation stone laid by T Padma Rao Goud; Guest of Honour: G Kishan Reddy”. While the latter is the sitting BJP MP from Secunderabad, the for mer is a BRS MLA from the Assembly se gment bearing the same name. In the Lok Sabha elections in Secunderabad, Goud, Reddy and BRS MLA Danam Nagender are locked in a tricornered contest. Nagender, who won on a BRS ticket from Khairatabad Assembly segment in the December 2023 Assembly polls, jumped ship — but hasn’t yet resigned as a legislator — and is now contesting on a Congress ticket. All the three candidates have years of political experience. Kishan Reddy is the state BJP president and a Union minister; Padma Rao is a four-time MLA and former state minister; and Nagender is a sixtime MLA. Internal surveys of the parties currently place Kishan slightly ahead of Nagender, with the BRS candidate a close third. In the Secunderabad and Musheerabad assembly segments, there is support for the BRS with some voters even calling it a fight between the BJP and the pink party . “Danam has been switching parties every now and then. He was in Congress, then TDP, then Congress again, then BRS, now back in Congress,” said Satyanarayana, a 70-year-old resident of Khairatabad. For his part, Nagender told this newspaper, “My career started in the Congress. People recognise my service and will give a befitting reply to the BJP.” Despite his party-hopping, Nagender, appears to enjoy the support of the minorities. For instance, a Muslim voter in Nampally said his vote would go to Nagender. “I’ll vote either for patang (kite) or Congress. The constituency is home to over 20 lakh voters, 27.4% of ILLUSTRATION: MANDAR PARDIKAR From left, T Padma Rao Goud, Danam Nagender and G Kishan Reddy whom are Muslims. Another voter, Rajesh (40), a juice vendor in Musheerabad, said “there is anti-incumbency against the BJP and Danam might benefit from it.” Former captain of the Indian cricket team Mohammed Azharuddin, who has been campaigning along with Nagender, said that he was confident the Congress will wrest Secunderabad. Azhar, who was the party candidate from the Jubilee Hills Assembly segment in the 2023 elections, told this newspaper, “Kishan Reddy has not done anything. I don’t think he spent his MP funds properly .” Speaking to this newspaper during the Hyderabad Dialogues recently, Kishan said, “The Modi gov- ernment has done a lot for the state. The Centre spent about `10 lakh crore in Telangana.” However, there are also voters who said Kishan is not accessible whereas the BRS candidate is a grassroots leader. “Padma Rao walks around our road, waves at me and asks how I’m doing; but we cannot expect that from Kishan Reddy a vot,” er in Secunderabad said. At KBR National Park in Jubilee Hills, a brisk morning walker said, “In this part of the city, we mostly know Kishan Reddy and Danam’s work. In the other part, they would probably support Padma Rao. Whoever comes to power, just make sure you take care of the traffic, roads and other civic issues,” he sighed. MORE REPORTS ON PG 6, 7 AND 10
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