The Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Finance Bill, 2023, giving approval to taxation proposals in the Union Budget, 2023-24, after adopting several official amendments moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The Finance Minister introduced the Bill just after 12 noon when the Lok Sabha reassembled after an almost hour-long adjournment. Rajendra Agrawal, who was presiding, declared the Bill, as amended, passed by a voice-vote, and adjourned the House till Monday.

A message regarding the passage of the Money Bill in the Lok Sabha was later conveyed to the Rajya Sabha, and it was read out in the Upper House by Secretary-General P C Mody.

With the passage of the Finance Bill, the Lok Sabha has completed all essential agenda pertaining to the passage of the Union Budget, 2023-24. Speaker Om Birla yesterday applied guillotine when demands for grants of Central Ministries were approved by the House at once, without debate.

Introducing the Finance Bill, Ms Sitharaman said the Government proposed to set up a Committee under the chairmanship of the Finance Secretary to look into the National Pension System issues and evolve an approach which addresses the needs of Government employees, while maintaining fiscal prudence to protect common citizens. The approach will be designed for adoption by Central and State Governments.

She said the Government had received representations seeking improvements in the National Pension System. The Minister said the Finance Bill brought in 10 main provisions which are helpful for the middle class and for the community as a whole, and for ease of business. Stakeholder consultations had helped bring in improvements in the Finance Bill, she said. An Amendment was also being made for the GST Council which is establishing a Tribunal.

The Finance Minister said it was represented that payments for foreign tours through credit cards were not being captured under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and such payments escape tax collection at source. The Reserve Bank is being requested to look into this with a view to bring credit card payments for foreign tours within the ambit of LRS and tax collection at source thereon, Ms Sitharaman said.

Even as the Finance Bill was being passed, the Opposition members kept shouting for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into alleged financial irregularities by the Adani Group of Companies.

The Rajya Sabha too went through disturbances on Friday, although it took up private members’ business in the afternoon. Before adjourning for Monday, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said dialogue, debate and discussion were not taking place.

He said “howsoever severe may be the differences, howsoever divisive may be the approach, howsoever conflicting points of view may be there, this House is called upon to rationalize them.”

Dhankhar said “if we do not use parliamentary theatres to voice public interest issues, the vacuum may be filled otherwise and that does not augur well for democracy. I am sure; there will be thinking people in the country who will generate a climate and ecosystem, to persuade our Members of Parliament that they must take their job seriously in national public interest and participate in the proceedings.”

Spain’s Manuel Elvira returned  a 70 on day two to continue in the lead at 11-under 133, Indian hopes were kept alive by Aman Raj (67-68) placed tied third and rookie Aryan Roopa Anand (68-68) placed tied seventh at the halfway stage of the US$300,000 Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge  at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) here on Friday.

Elvira kept his overnight one shot lead with Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg (68-66), a two-time winner in India, lying second at 10-under 134 at the event co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour and PGTI.

Aman Raj was the best-placed Indian as he continued in tied third place at nine-under 135 following a hard-fought 68 on Friday. Aman shared the third place with Italy’s Stefano Mazzoli, Oliver Farr of Wales and England’s Ashley Chesters.

Aryan Roopa Anand, playing at his home course, also shot a 68 to rise five spots to tied seventh at eight-under 136.

The cut fell at three-under 141. Fifty-five professionals and two amateurs made the cut. Fourteen Indians out of a total of 52 made it to the money rounds.

The 26-year-old Manuel Elvira remained patient throughout the afternoon but was disappointed not to extend his lead further after missing several birdie opportunities. He drained four birdies and dropped two bogeys.

Aman Raj began well with birdies from two long conversions on the second and fourth holes. The 27-year-old from Patna then found trouble with bogeys on the sixth and seventh as his putter went cold. He made a three-putt on the sixth and missed a six-feet par putt on the seventh.

Aman claimed a good par with a tough up and down on the eighth before resurrecting his round with four birdies between the ninth and the 13^th where he came up with a couple of excellent wedge shots.

“I got the momentum going with the three birdies on the ninth, 10^th and 11^th. It was an up and down round but I’m glad I managed to salvage it after being in trouble at one stage.”He said

Aryan ’s round featured seven birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey as he produced some great bunker shots and was consistent with his putting. “My first two rounds have been equally good. I made more regulations in round one but today I putted better. I would say it was a harder four-under today. I’m quite happy with where I’m placed and I know being consistent on the last two days will keep me in contention.”

Mari Muthu (69) and Om Prakash Chouhan (67) were tied 13^th at seven-under 137 while Karan Pratap Singh (68) and M Dharma (71) were a further shot back in tied 18^th place.

Udayan Mane (69) was tied 30^th at five-under 139 and Khalin Joshi (70) was tied 57^th at three-under 141.

C Muniyappa produced a hole-in-one on the 15^th during his round of 67. However, he missed the cut, having totaled one-under 143.

Hitting out at the Centre for the arbitrary disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as a Lok Sabha member, the Congress on Friday said the former party president will emerge victorious in a higher court in the defamation case in which he was convicted.

The Congress leader was disqualified as a member of the Lower House earlier on Friday, a day after his conviction by the Surat court in a defamation case for a remark using the ‘Modi surname’ at a rally in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, Congress national spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “We are confident that we will get a stay on his (Rahul Gandhi) conviction, which will, in turn, remove the very basis of this disqualification.”

“We have full faith in the law. We believe we will emerge victorious in the near future,” he said.

“The issue before us is political, more than it is legal. It is a political issue because it signifies the systematic, repetitive emasculation of democratic institutions by the ruling party. It signifies the strangulation of democracy itself,” he said.

“We know that defamation is an exception to free speech, but over the last several years, we have had repeated examples of unthinkable assaults on freedom of speech, more importantly, freedom after speech. We all know that Rahul Gandhi has been speaking fearlessly inside and outside Parliament. He is paying a price for it,” Singhvi said.

The Supreme Court on Friday said that all prisoners, released on emergency parole by the state high-powered committees constituted on its order during the Covid pandemic, will have to surrender within 15 days.

A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and C.T. Ravikumar said: “All those under-trials/ convicts who have been released on emergency parole/interim bail pursuant to the recommendation of the High-Powered Committee, in compliance of the orders, dated March 23, 2020, May 7, 2021 and July 16, 2021, passed by this court in suo moto writ petitiona have to surrender before the concerned prison authorities within 15 days.”

The bench added that the present order be intimated to the accused/inmates concerned by the jail authorities that they have now to surrender within the period of 15 days.

“However, it is observed that thereafter after the concerned prisoners/inmates surrender before the concerned prison authorities, it will be open for the concerned undertrials to pray for bail before the competent court and their applications be considered in accordance with law and on its own merits.”

It further added that after the surrender by the concerned convicts who are released on emergency parole, it will be open for them, if so advised, to pray for suspension of sentence before the concerned court in their appeals which might have been pending, and which also may be considered in accordance with law and/or on merits.

The bench noted that it is not in dispute and cannot be disputed that all those undertrial prisoners/convicts were released on interim bail/emergency parole taking into consideration the overcrowding in the prisons and to prevent the spread of Covid-19 virus among prisoners in overcrowded prisons.

“All those undertrial prisoners/convicts therefore were not released on merit but were released on the aforesaid ground alone. Therefore, now when the Covid-19 situation has now been normalised, all those prisoners/inmates/undertrial prisoners/convicts who are/were released on emergency parole/interim bail have to surrender before the concerned prison authorities,” it said.

In March 2020, the apex court took suo motu cognisance of the medical assistance needed for prisoners in overcrowded jails to save them from coronavirus, and issued notices to the Chief Secretaries, the Home Secretaries, the DGs (Prisons) and Social Welfare Secretaries of all states and Union Territories.

During the first and second wave of the pandemic, the top court had passed several orders for grant of emergency parole to prisoners to avoid the overcrowding of prisons to contain the spread of the viral infection among them.

In a setback to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan,the Kerala High Court on Friday quashed the order of Governor in his capacity as  Chancellor of the Kerala University , withdrawing the nomination of 15 members from the  Kerala University  Senate.

Quashing the orders of the governor as chancellor of the university, a single bench of Justice Sathish Ninan held that the order invoking the doctrine of pleasure was unsustainable in law and arbitrary.

“The withdrawal of the nominated members is not for any alleged illegal act. While this court is not to sit in judgment or appeal over the reasons for the withdrawal of nomination, it is evident that the order is not based on any reason, but was rather founded on prejudice,” the court ruled.

Calling it an unreasoned act, without regard to the facts and circumstances, the court observed, “From all the above points to arbitrariness, it appears that the chancellor was under a misconception regarding the role of nominee, which also contributed to the arbitrary action. Therefore, on the facts as noticed above, this court finds that the order withdrawing the nominated members suffers from the vice of arbitrariness.”

The court said the governor’s order withdrawing the nominees by invoking the pleasure doctrine under the 4th proviso to Section 18(3) of the University Act cannot be sustained and is liable to be interfered with. When the University statute provides for a specific term of office and does not provide for withdrawal there from at pleasure, the doctrine of pleasure does not operate.

The order came in the wake of a petition filed by the Senate members of the university, who have been removed from the Senate .They have challenged the order of the governor as chancellor of the university, removing them from the Senate by withdrawing his pleasure to continue as senate members.

As Opposition BJP members tried to raise the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Friday, the ruling party strongly opposed it leading to huge uproar.

The proceedings of the house were adjourned for 10 minutes.

Later in the afternoon, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur again tried to raise the issue after discussion on the private member resolution in the House.

As soon as he tried to raise this matter again, there was ruckus in the house and all the members of the ruling party including the Chief Minister Sukvinder Singh Sukhu stood on their seats and protested against the issue being raised.

Amidst the ruckus, Jai Ram Thakur tried to speak, however his voice was drowned in the noise as both Congress and BJP MLAs raised slogans against each other’s leaders.

Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, said that the opposition cannot raise this issue in the House. Despite, the Speaker tried to calm both the sides, slogans continued.

The speaker adjourned the proceedings of the House for 10 minutes.

The Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri along with the other Congress MLAs held a protest outside the House against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha.

“This is a conspiracy against Rahul Gandhi and is in front of all to see. They (BJP) cannot muzzle the voice of Rahul Gandhi who is single handedly raising the voice against the anti-people policies of the BJP government at the centre,” he charged, while talking to media persons.

The Indian Railways has decided to operate “Shri Ramayana Yatra” by Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist train post-Ram Navami on Friday, 7 April 2023 from Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station.

IRCTC is launching this special tourist train package in line with the Government of India’s initiatives of “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat” and “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism in the country.

The Shri Ramayana Yatra tour package is one of the prominent spiritual tour packages operated by Indian Railways on the Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train. The religious sojourn of 17 Nights and 18 Days covering a total of 7500 km will take tourists to once in a lifetime journey on the Ramayana Circuit which covers the important places connected to the life of Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram.

The first half of this train will be to Ayodhya where tourists will visit Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple, Hanuman temple, and Saryu aarti. Bharat Mandir at Nandigram follows next. The subsequent destination will be Sitamarhi in Bihar wherefrom tourists shall be visiting Sita Ji’s birthplace and Ram Janki Temple in Janakpur (Nepal) which will be covered by road. Post Sitamarhi, the train proceeds for Buxar where the sightseeing would include Ramrekha ghat,

Rameshwarnath temple followed by a dip into the holy Ganga. The next destination is Varanasi where the tourists will visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple and corridor, the Tulsi Mandir & Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir temples. On completion, the passengers would be taken to Prayag, Shringverpur, and Chitrakoot by road. Night stay will be provided at Varanasi, Prayag, and Chitrakoot.

Further, the next halt of the train will be Nasik wherein a visit to Trimbakeshwar temple and Panchvati will be covered. Next destination after Nasik will be Hampi, the ancient Krishkindha city. Here the temple of Shri Hanuman’s birthplace and other heritage and religious sites will be covered.

Rameshwaram will be the next destination of this train tour. Ramanathaswamy temple and Dhanuskodi are a part of the visit. The next halt is at Bhadrachalam where Sita Ram temple will be a part of the tour. The last stop is Nagpur before the train starts back on its return journey. Ramtek Fort & Temple, where Lord Rama is believed to have stopped over for resting while in exile, is the sightseeing site at Nagpur. The train will finally return back to Delhi on the 18th day of its journey.

 The Railways welcomes devotees of Shri Ram to avail of Shri Ramayana Yatra on its exclusive and state of art fully air-conditioned Deluxe Tourist Train. The beautiful LHB train has a host of amazing features including two fine dining restaurants, a modern kitchen, shower cubicles in coaches, sensor-based washroom functions, foot massager. The fully air-conditioned train provides two types of accommodation viz. 1st AC and 2nd AC. The train has enhanced security features of CCTV cameras and Security Guards for each coach.

IRCTC has attractively priced the all-inclusive packages, at Rs. 1,14,065/- per person for 2AC and Rs. 1,46,545/- for 1AC class cabin, and Rs. 1,68,950/- for 1AC coupe.

The tour package is all inclusive of a comfortable train journey in AC classes, Accommodation in AC Hotels, All on-board and off-board meals (VEG ONLY), all transfers and sight-seeing in AC Vehicles, Travel Insurance and services of IRCTC Tour Managers, etc.

IRCTC is also taking all necessary health precautions measures by providing safe and healthy travel to the tourists during the tour.

For more details, one can visit the IRCTC website: https://www.irctourism.com/bharatgaurav booking is available online, on a first come first serve basis on the web portal. For more information, one can contact on Mobile no. 8287930739, 8287930297, 8287930484

A huge uproar was witnessed in the Himachal Pradesh State Legislative Assembly on Friday on the outsourced employees recruited in the Jal Shakti Department during the previous BJP government.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, in response to a question about outsourced employees in the Jal Shakti Department, said that the previous BJP government during its tenure did politics in the Jal Shakti Department.

Agnihotri said most of the recruitment in Jal Shakti Department was done from Seraj and Dharampur Assembly Constituency (AC) alone and an estimated 950 recruitments were done from Dharampur, 450 people were recruited from Seraj.

 “The executive engineer of the department floated a tender from Sarkaghat, for recruitments at the state level, whereas this tender should have been from the state headquarters level,” he said, adding that this was done so that the favorites could be recruited.

Agnihotri said that the incumbent government has not fired any of the outsourced employees in the department, only those employees whose contract has expired have left the department.

He said that the government is going to fill 5000 vacancies in Jal Shakti Department and full transparency will be ensured in these recruitments.

Earlier, in reply to the original question of MLAs Prakash Rana, Randhir Sharma and Vipin Singh Parmar, Mukesh Agnihotri said that it is a policy matter of the government to make policy for the outsource employees hired in Jal Shakti department.

He said that a total of 247 employees, including 130 pump operators, 32 para fitters and 85 watchmen, are employed in the Jal Shakti Department in the state on outsourcing.

In response to a question asked by BJP member, Hans Raj about the Bhanodi to Pangi-Killar ropeway, Mukesh Agnihotri said that a DPR of  Rs 1,618 crore for the ropeway project has been sent to the central government.

A sum of Rs 3.40 crore had been spent on preparing the DPR of the project, he added.

The government will also try to get funding from NABARD for Chintpurni and Baba Balaknath ropeway, he said, adding that big projects like ropeways in the state can be completed with the help of the central government and foreign funding.

President Draupadi Murmu will inaugurate the two-day ‘Gaj Utsav’ on April 7 at Kaziranga National Park in Assam to mark the successful completion of 30 years of ‘Project Elephant’. Union Minister Ashwini Choubey gave this information on Friday.

In the festival, Union Forest, Environment and Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Forest Ministers of all elephant-dominated states, forest officials, representatives of local communities, NGO representatives, and school children, etc. will participate.

The elephant is protected as a national heritage animal under Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act, of 1972.

Choubey said, “The state of Assam houses the second largest wild elephant population in India and has a large number of elephants that are under human care. Thus, it is fitting to celebrate Gaja Utsav 2023 at Kaziranga in Assam. Under the canopy of elephants India’s remarkable efforts towards the conservation of biological resources will also be showcased during the festival.”

“As people’s participation has given more impetus to the conservation efforts, the objective of the festival is to raise awareness about the environment, forests, and climate change,” he added.

Choubey further said that as part of the Gaja Utsav celebrations and to spread the message of the protection and conservation of elephants, various programs and events such as walkathons, wildlife awareness rallies, and nature camps for students and children, schools in nearby protected areas, Guided visits of children to areas/zoological parks, painting and debating competitions, etc. will be organized in all the elephant reserves of the country.

“The ministry is taking wildlife conservation to new heights. We are adopting science and technology to improve wildlife management. India will always be a safe haven for elephants to cherish our rich nature-culture relationship.” Choubey said.

Congress and BJP workers fought a pitched battle with each other in capital Raipur over the disqualification of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi from his Lok Sabha membership on Friday. During the clash both sides pelted stones at each other freely.

It all began with the Congress workers attacking the Ekatm Parisar, district BJP office situated in the heart of the city this afternoon. The Congressmen blackened the posters of BJP leaders, pelted stones and clashed with a handful of saffron workers present then. However, police managed to disperse the advancing Congressmen from the principal Opposition party headquarters after a long persuasion.

In the melee, hundreds of saffron cadres, who had poured in to defend the party office, marched towards the Rajiv Bhavan, the state Congress office to retaliate. Police contingent guarding the ruling party’s office failed to push the saffron crowd away and they also blackened posters and walls in Congress headquarters.

The clashes broke out once again with the Congress activists pelting stones and eggs and in turn the invading crowd did the same.

BJP Yuva Morcha District President Govinda Gupta sustained head injury during these scuffles. He has been sent to the hospital for treatment, the police said.

“Congress ‘goons’ wanted to enter the BJP office and attack. We stopped them with great difficulty. The condition of law and order is so bad. The hooliganism of Congressmen cannot be ignored,” BJP leader Anurag Agrawal alleged.

The Supreme Court on Friday overruled its 2011 judgements which had held that mere membership of a banned organisation will not incriminate a person unless he indulged in violence or incited it, saying that such unlawful association is against the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice M.R. Shah and comprising Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Sanjay Karol, said: “It is observed that the object and purpose of the enactment of UAPA is to provide for more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities. To punish such a person who is continued as a member of such unlawful association which is declared unlawful due to unlawful activities can be said to be in furtherance of providing for effective prevention of the unlawful activities.”

On the aspect of its 2011 judgments, the bench said these judgments taking the view that under Section 3(5) of Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 and Section 10(a)(i) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967 mere membership of a banned organisation will not incriminate a person unless he resorts to violence or incites people to violence are held to be not a good law.

The bench noted that the Centre was not even heard before reading down the provisions under the UAPA.

The bench said: “A person who is the member of such unlawful association cannot be permitted to say that still he may continue to be associated with and/or continue to be a member of such unlawful association despite such an association is declared unlawful on the ground of its unlawful activities which is found to be against the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India.”

It observed that the object and purpose of the enactment of the UAPA is to provide for more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities.

“To punish such a person who is continued as a member of such unlawful association which is declared unlawful due to unlawful activities can be said to be in furtherance of providing for effective prevention of the unlawful activities,” said the bench, in its 144-page judgment.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta termed the judgment as historic which would protect the sovereignty of the country.

The apex court restored the criminality by association by upholding the validity of Section 10(a)(i) of the UAPA which made membership of an unlawful association an offence. “A person who is and continues to be a member of such association shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years and shall also be liable to fine, can be said to be absolutely in consonance with Article 19(1)(2) & (4) of the Constitution of India and can be said to be in furtherance of the object and purpose for which the UAPA has been enacted,” it said, adding that the apex court should not have read down the provisions when its validity was not questioned.

In the context of its previous judgments, the bench said the US Supreme Court judgments on freedom of speech could not have been used for the purpose, where the freedom of speech is absolute and here it is subject to reasonable restrictions. It further declared all the decisions of high courts taking a contrary view are overruled.

The top court allowed the review petition filed by the Centre and Assam government against the judgments delivered in Arup Bhuyan vs Union of India case (2011) and Indra Das vs State of Assam (2011) as well as State of Kerala vs Raneef case (2011).

It declined to entertain a contention that the provision suffered from any vagueness on the ground of being unreasonable and disproportionate.

On the aspect that the provision would have a chilling effect on free speech made by senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, the top court said: “it is required to be noted that a person knowing full well that an association of which he is the member is declared as unlawful association due to its unlawful activities and acting against the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India and still he continues to be a member of such unlawful association thereafter such person cannot be permitted to submit on chilling effect.”

The Finance Ministry on Friday evening clarified that the securities transaction tax (STT) on options trading has been hiked by 25 per cent from 0.05 per cent to 0.0625 per cent, and not from 0.017 per cent to 0.021 per cent, saying that it was a typographical error and the rectification will be done in accordance with the extent procedure of the government.

The STT for futures trading remains the same, as was announced in the amendments to the Finance Bill 2023, i.e., it has been raised to 0.0125 per cent from 0.01 per cent. The hikes in STT for both futures and options trading would be effective from April 1, 2023.

In short, the STT has been hiked by up to 25 per cent on futures and options (F&O) trading as per the amendments to the Finance Bill 2023, which was passed in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day through voice vote, without any discussion.

By effecting a hike in STT on F&O trading, the government aims to tax such transactions more as turnover is higher in them.

As per the amendments, option traders will have to pay Rs 6,250 for every Rs 1 crore worth of turnover as against Rs 5,000 that is being paid currently, which translates into a hike of around 25 per cent. Also, traders will now have to pay STT of Rs 1,250 on Rs 1 crore of turnover while selling futures.

Setting aside his political differences, Telangana Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) President K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday condemned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Parliament, calling it the height of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “arrogance and dictatorship”.

“Today is black day in the history of Indian democracy.A Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Parliament is the height of Narendra Modi’s arrogance and dictatorship,” KCR, as the leader is popularly known, said in a statement.

“It is highly reproachable that the Modi government is not only abusing constitutional institutions but also using the highest democratic platform – the Parliament for its nefarious activities,” he said.

KCR observed that it is the adverse time for democracy and the Constitutional values. “The Modi’s regime overshadowed the Emergency. Harassment of opposition leaders has become a routine. Modi on his own is collapsing by disqualifying opposition leaders to protect criminals and cheaters,” he said.

Stating that this is not the time for conflicts between parties, KCR said all democrats should openly condemn the misdeeds of the BJP government to safeguard the democracy and constitutional values in the country and must resist the BJP’s evil policies.

BRS Working President and state minister K.T. Rama Rao said disqualification of Rahul Gandhi is a blatant misinterpretation of the Constitution. “The hastiness showed in this issue is highly undemocratic I condemn this,” he tweeted.

BRS MLA K. Kavitha stated that revoking the membership of Rahul Gandhi, despite knowing that he has a chance to appeal in the upper courts, is a blot on democracy. “This is a larger part of Modi Ji’s mission of diverting people’s attention from his failures, corrupt friends & suppressing the opposition,” she said.

The YSRCP has suspended all four MLAs suspected of cross voting in yesterday’s MLC election which led to the victory of TDP candidate Panchumarthi Anuradha. Senior YSRCP leader Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy also alleged that the TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu bought the errant YSRCP MLAs for Rs 10-15 crore and also offered them tickets in the next elections.

The electoral loss has badly embarrassed the ruling YSRCP although six of the seven candidates fielded by it won as MLC. The setback has also posed questions on the leadership of YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and whether he has lost control over his party MLAs.

“We did some internal investigations and the party is convinced that all four MLAs crossed the line and did this. After discussing with senior leaders our party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy garu decided to suspend four MLAs – Anam Ramanarayan Reddy, Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy and Undavalli Sreedevi,” said Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy.

“We are convinced that crores of rupees have changed hands. Mr Chandrababu Naidu, TDP president is habituated to do this sort of thing, buying MLAs and MPs, playing mind games. He did this sort of thing earlier too. So we are convinced he paid each MLA Rs 10-15 crores,” he went on to add.

While TDP’s strength has dwindled to 19 after defections, it managed to secure 23 votes for Panchumarthi Anuradha due to cross voting by four YSRCP MLAs. Anam Ramanarayana Reddy and Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy and Undavalli Sreedevi were unhappy as the party president had put two other leaders as constituency in charges thereby undermining their role in their own constituencies.

The chief minister also warned several MLAs that they would not be given tickets unless they improve their performances. Undavalli Sreedevi who had met the chief minister before casting her vote has denied voting for the TDP candidate.

Meanwhile TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu today took a dig at Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He said, “Winning the Legislative Council election with 23 votes on 23 March 2023 is nothing but God’s script and the Almighty has redrafted the script,” said Naidu referring to YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s comments after winning the 2019 elections in which TDP was reduced to 23 MLAs and 3 MPs.

Reddy had said that it was God’s retribution since during TDP regime Naidu engineered the defection of 23 YSRCP MLAs.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was disqualified as an MP from Lok Sabha on Friday, joined an inglorious list of MPs and MLAs, including his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who faced similar action in the past.

The disqualification law, under the Representation of the People Act, states that an MP or MLA, sentenced to two years of imprisonment or more, would be disqualified and remain disqualified for six years after serving time. The list of other MPs and MLAs, who lost the status of a people’s representative after being similarly convicted, also includes RJD veteran Lalu Prasad Yadav; late AIADMK leader for former Tamil Nadu chief minister, J Jayalalithaa; and Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, among others.

The following is a jog-back to the events leading to the disqualification of some prominent political leaders as people’s representatives:

1. Indira Gandhi:
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi faced an adverse court verdict and was debarred from holding any elected post for six years following her conviction by the Allahabad High Court in June, 1975. The verdict is widely believed to have led to the imposition of the Emergency.

2. Lalu Prasad Yadav:
The Rashtriya Janata Dal Supremo and the former Bihar chief minister was disqualified as an MP from Bihar’s Saran after he was convicted in the fodder scam in September 2013.

3. Azam Khan:
Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in October 2022 after being sentenced to three years in jail in a hate speech case. He was elected MLA from the Rampur Sadar constituency, which the BJP wrested in the bypoll last year.

4. J Jayalalithaa:
AIADMK supremo and former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa was disqualified from the Assembly after she was sentenced to four years in jail in September 2014 in a disproportionate assets case. Jayalalithaa, or ‘Amma’ as she was affectionately known to her supporters, was the chief minister when she was disqualified. She had to step down as CM in the wake of her disqualification.

5. Vikram Singh Saini:
BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in October 2022 following his conviction in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case. Saini, who was an MLA from Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar, was sentenced to two years in jail.

6. Anil Kumar Sahni:
RJD MLA Anil Kumar Sahni was disqualified from the Bihar Assembly in October 2022 after being convicted in a forgery case. He was sentenced to three years in jail. He was an MLA from the Kurhani Assembly constituency.

7. Kuldeep Singh Sengar:
Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a former BJP MLA, was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in February 2020, following his conviction in a rape case. The party expelled him in 2019. He was elected from the Bangarmau Assembly constituency in Unnao.

8. Abdullah Azam Khan:
Samajwadi Party MLA and Azam Khan’s son, Abdullah Azam Khan, was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in February 2023. The disqualification followed his conviction in a 15-year-old case and was sentenced to two-year imprisonment.

9. Pradeep Chaudhary:
Congress MLA Pradeep Chaudhary was disqualified from the Haryana Assembly in January 2021 after being convicted in an assault case.

10. Anant Singh:
RJD MLA Anant Singh was disqualified from the Bihar Assembly in July last year. The disqualification followed his conviction in a case pertaining to the recovery of arms from his house.