Voting for five assembly elections will begin on March 27, with West Bengal conducting the maximum eight phases continuing till April 29, and votes for the polls in the four states and one Union territory will be counted on May 2, the Election Commission said on Friday. IMAGE: Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, centre, with Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra, left, and Rajiv Kumar addresses a press conference in New Delhi, February 26, 2021. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo. As many as 18.68 crore voters will be eligible to cast their votes at 2.7 lakh polling stations for 824 assembly seats across Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The elections for the five assemblies are expected to witness a determined attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party to put up a strong show, including in Assam where it is already in power, as well as in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry where the saffron party has been pushing hard in recent years. ... » Learn More about One phase poll in TN, Kerala, Puducherry; 3 in Assam; 8 in Bengal; Counting on May 2
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‘Democracy in India is being killed very fast’
'Investigating agencies are not acting as independent authorities; they have stopped being neutral.' IMAGE: Protesters at Bhima Koregaon near Pune in Maharashtra. Photograph: PTI Photo Senior counsel and advocate of the Bombay high court and Supreme Court of India, Mihir Desai is advising lawyers representing the 13 accused in a case that has charged them with hatching a conspiracy to kill Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi The charge of hatching this conspiracy -- known infamously as the Bhima Koregaon case -- has been pressed by the National Investigation Agency, and the Pune police before the NIA in 2018, against Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut, Sudha Bharadwaj, Professor Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling, Rona Jacob Wilson, Professor Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sagar Tatyaram Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Raghoba Jagtap, Anand Teltumbde and Professor Hanybabu Tarayil is based on a piece of electronic evidence, a typed letter, ... » Learn More about ‘Democracy in India is being killed very fast’
The BJP’s Dalit MP who wants Modi to walk the talk
'Today, Dalits can become IAS officers, doctors, IPS, MLAs, MPs and even the President due to the Constitution.' IMAGE: Bhim Army Sena members stop a train during the Bharat Bandh call given by Dalit organisations against the alleged dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act in Patna, April 2, 2018. Photograph: PTI Photo On Monday, April 2, north India witnessed violence during the Bharat Bandh protests which were called by Dalit organisations to protest against the dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Already under pressure, the Narendra D Modi government faced internal rebellion when one of its own, Savitri Bai Phule -- the Bharatiya Janata Party MP who represents Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich Lok Sabha constituency -- accused the BJP of not doing enough to defend the rights of Dalits in the country. "I am not opposing the Government of India. I am only saying give respect to Dalits," an anguished Phule tells Rediff.com 's Syed ... » Learn More about The BJP’s Dalit MP who wants Modi to walk the talk
Why Prakash Ambedkar has called a Maharashtra
'Why did they attack us? What was our fault?' bandobast .' IMAGE: It wasn't only Mumbai that witnessed violent clashes on Tuesday, January 2, 2018. Aurangabad too saw violent protests in which public property was set on fire. Photograph: PTI Photo Parts of Mumbai came to a near standstill on Tuesday, January 2 after Dalits blocked roads in several areas, forced shops to shut down and attacked a journalist from a television news channel. The violence came after a woman died at an event on Monday, January 1, to mark the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon in Pune district. Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar has called a Maharashtra bandh on Wednesday, January 3, to protest the state government's failure to stop Monday's violence. Ambedkar, Dr B R Ambedkar's grandson, tells Rediff.com 's Syed Firdaus Ashraf that stones were pelted on the Dalits over a 45 kilometre stretch in Pune district as the police stood mute ... » Learn More about Why Prakash Ambedkar has called a Maharashtra
‘You are sitting on a volcano of Dalit anger’
IMAGE: Dalits enforce the closure of markets during a protest in Ahmedabad July 20 against the assault by cow protectors in Rajkot. Photograph: PTI 'Only the smoke is coming out now. Let us prevent the lava from coming out by taking proper measures.' T hough P S Krishnan , 84, retired after three decades of service as an IAS officer in 1990, as the secretary to the Government of India, he continues his work for the socially deprived classes in India. Krishnan, below, left , has been on numerous government committees after retirement, and is currently the advisor to the government of Telangana on backward classes, and the government of Andhra Pradesh on identification of and reservation for socially and educationally backward classes among Muslims. He is also a member of the National Monitoring Committee for Education of SCs, STs and Persons with Disabilities, and a member of the Central Monitoring Committee of the National Mission for Empowering Women. One of the ... » Learn More about ‘You are sitting on a volcano of Dalit anger’
