Rahul Gandhi’s Kanpur roadshow lands in controversy

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi landed himself in a controversy over his roadshow in Kanpur after district officials raised objections over flouting of rules.

Kanpur District Magistrate (DM), Hari Om said, “Only 20 kilometers permission was given to Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow and was supposed to be started from circuit house in Kanpur. However, Rahul Gandhi started off his roadshow from the airport itself.”

“It is clear violation of model code of conduct. We will take action according to the law,” the DM said.

“Section 144 is implied in the city, which has also been violated.”

Taking view of the heavy traffic on the proposed route, an alternative route was suggested, the DM said.

“The route was changed as Rahul Gandhi’s security is a major concern and the route which Congress party workers had asked for is expected to witness huge traffic today. Due to Mahashivaratri festival huge number of people would visit the temples located along the route and the paramilitary forces meant for the polls will also be taking the same route. So keeping in view all this aspects we had suggested them the alternative route,” the DM said.

Laying rest to all speculations that Congress party workers had first got the permission for the 35 kms route and later the district administration backing out, Hari Om said, “we have given the orders in writing.”

UP assembly polls: 20 percent turnout in four hours

Balloting proceeded briskly and steadily on today with more than 20 percent of the 1.77 crore voters exercising their franchise in the first four hours of the third round of the Uttar Pradesh elections in 56 assembly constituencies.

Till 11 am, 20.51 percent of the electorate had turned up to vote, officials said. Polling started at 7 am.

Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha said he was confident that polling would go far higher than the 42.6 percent turnout in the last assembly elections in 2007.

Among the districts going to the polls on Wednesday are the high profile Amethi (re-christened as Chattrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar), the parliamentary seat of Congress star campaigner Rahul Gandhi. Elections are also being held in the other Gandhi family bastion Sultanpur as well the traditional Nehru-Gandhi home Allahabad.

Among the other districts going to the polls are Varanasi, Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Bhadohi (renamed Sant Ravidas Nagar), Kaushambhi, Sonbhadra and Chandauli - most of which are situated along the banks of the Ganga river.

The fate of 1,018 candidates for the 56 seats is being determined by 1.77 crore voters at 18,374 polling stations, where 31,400 electronic voting machines are in place.

Long queues were reported from most of the places, including Amethi, where people were seen making a beeline for polling booths well before 7 am.

The voter turnout was, however, stated to be relatively low in some areas as Mirzapur, Chandauli and Sonbhadra, bordering Madhya Pradesh, where Maoists have a considerable presence.

Besides Maoists, the presence of a number of candidates with criminal backgrounds has prompted the Election Commission to deploy additional police force in the sensitive areas.

Nearly 31 percent of candidates fielded by political parties for the third phase have criminal cases pending against them.

According to a report of the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms, no political party has refrained from fielding those with criminal antecedents.

Samajwadi Party (SP) tops the list with 24 of its 48 nominees having several criminal cases pending against them. The Congress party has 14 of 48, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 13 of 47, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 12 of 49, Janata Dal-United six of 24, Bundelkhand Congress four of 13, Peace Party two of 12 and Apna Dal has one out of six who have criminal background.

The seven-phase elections began Feb 8 and end March 3. The votes will be counted March 6.

Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha today

Two days after getting the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill passed in Lok Sabha, the UPA government will introduce the same for a debate and approval in Rajya Sabha on Today.

The decision to introduce the Lokpal Bill in the Upper House was taken shortly after President Pratibha Patil gave her approval for the same yesterday.

The President's approval was required for the measure since the Lok Sabha made some amendments to The Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 before its passage.

After the Lokpal Bill is tabled in the Upper House, a debate on the same would be held which will conclude with a vote.

The controversial Bill is being tabled in the Upper House amid concerns that the UPA government lacks adequate majority required to get the same passed in the Rajya Sabha.

Uncertainty prevails over the smooth passage of anti-graft legislation in the Upper House since Trinamool Congress – a major UPA ally- has decided to make a key amendment to the legislation adopted by Lok Sabha further complicating the numbers game in the House.

Trinamool Congress, which has 6 members in the 243-member Upper House where the Congress and its allies do not have majority, wants removal of the provisions relating to the setting up of Lokayuktas in the state which is contained in the Bill passed by Lok Sabha yesterday. If the Government accepts the amendments, the Bill will have to be referred to the Lok Sabha again or a joint session of Parliament has to be convened for its clearance.

UPA troubleshooter and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee yesterday held talks with leaders of Trinamool Congress, which has strong reservations over provisions in the bill that it considers encroachment on the states’ rights on appointment of the Lokayukta.

Trinamool Congress leaders Mukul Roy and Sudeep Bandopadhayay met Mukherjee after which Roy said the question of creating trouble for the government does not arise. With Mukherjee reportedly ruling out any further amendments, Trinamool Congress has tabled amendments for removal of provisions relating to Lokayuktas that it feels are encroaching on the powers of states.

In a House with an effective strength of 243, the Congress and other allies in the UPA account for 94 and can count on the support of eight nominated members and independents and members of small parties accounting for around 10 MPs.

The Constitution Amendment Bill, an idea of Rahul Gandhi to give Constitutional status to Lokpal and Lokayukta, was also favoured by the Standing Committee which considered the bill.

A Constitution Amendment Bill to be passed should have more than 50 per cent of the members of the House present and of them, two-third support is mandatory.

Concerned about this, MoS in PMO, V Narayanasamy said this morning, “The Congress party had issued a whip asking its MPs to be present and vote in favour of the bill in Rajya Sabha. The party is concerned about the fate of the Lokpal Bill and is determined to get the same passed in the Upper House.”

The minister expressed concerns about the possible absence of its own MPs and those from major allies including NCP, DMK, BSP, SP and RJD during the voting in Rajya Sabha - the absence of some MPs resulted in the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha.

The Congress party has decided to take action against its own members, who staged a walkout or remained absent during the voting on the Constitution Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha earlier.

The government has reasons to worry in case the members of its alliance partners including the DMK. SP, RJD and BSP walk out of the House during voting as they did in Lok Sabha.

In the 245-member House, the Congress and its allies NCP, DMK, Trinamool Congress, LJP and RLD together have 93 members. Parties supporting the UPA from outside - BSP (18), SP (5) and RJD (4) -- account for 27 crucial votes.

These three parties had walked out of Lok Sabha before voting on the Lokpal Bill last night but their absence did not matter much because the bill required only a simple majority and it was passed by a voice vote.

However, the absence of 42 MPs from these three parties in the Lok Sabha spelt disaster for the government in the Constitutional Amendment Bill, which required a special majority for passage.

Probably, this has triggered concerns in the Congress government, which is making every attempt to ensure that the Lokpal Bill sails through choppy seas in Rajya Sabha.

On Tuesday, Lok Sabha voted on the two bills after a 10-hour long debate that had 38 speakers and saw heated exchanges, but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention at 4.40 pm indicated the government's resolve to press ahead despite stiff opposition, primarily on the question of constitution of Lokayuktas in the states.

The opposition proposed nearly 90 amendments in all and the voting process for the three bills went on for nearly two hours, ending close to midnight.

Most opposition members wanted the CBI to be freed of government control, but opinion was divided on whether the agency should be brought under the Lokpal.

Members wanted deletion of Section 24, which requires the Lokpal to send reports on charge-sheeted MPs to the presiding officers of the two houses of Parliament, asking them to take action against the member.