Tag: Anusuiya Uikey

‘Prime Minister Must Visit Manipur’: Rahul Gandhi Visits Relief Camps in Restive State

The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha visited relief camps in Churachandpur, Moirang and Jiribam. He also met Manipur governor Anusuiya Uikey. Hours before Gandhi’s visit, firing was reported in Jiribam district in the early hours of Monday. 

New Delhi: Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi visited Manipur on Monday (July 8), his first visit to the violence-torn northeastern state since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and said that while he had hoped that the situation would have improved, it “is still nowhere near what it should be” and requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the violence-torn state.

The 14-month-long conflict in the state, which began on May 3 last year, has resulted in over 200 deaths and over 60,000 people being displaced and forced to live in relief camps. The divide between the Kukis and Meiteis has only widened over the past year.

Gandhi visited relief camps in Churachandpur, Moirang as well as in Jiribam. Later, Gandhi also met Manipur governor Anusuiya Uikey.

“It’s the third time I have come here since the problem started and it has been a tremendous tragedy. I was expecting some improvement in the situation but I was disappointed to see that the situation is still nowhere near what it should be,” he said while addressing reporters in Imphal.

Gandhi had earlier visited the state last year when violence first broke out, and then during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in January this year.

“I visited the camps and heard the people there, heard their pain. I came here to listen to them, to build confidence in them and as somebody who is in the opposition, to try and apply pressure on the government so that it acts. Here, the need of the hour is peace. Violence is hurting everybody,” he said.

“Thousands of families have been harmed, properties have been destroyed, family members have been killed and I have never seen anywhere in India what is going on here. The state is completely split in two and it is a tragedy for everybody involved.”

The physical divide in the state hinges on ethnicity and has resulted in the state being virtually divided into two – between the Meiteis populated valley area and the Kuki-Zo populated hilly areas. Meiteis cannot go to the hilly areas, while the Kuki-Zo who live in the hills cannot go to the valley areas including the capital Imphal, which has better facilities, including government hospitals and the state’s only airport.

Gandhi said that Modi, who has not visited the state since the violence broke out, must visit to understand the ground reality.

“I feel that it is important that the prime minister come here, listen to the people of Manipur, try and understand what is going on. After all, Manipur is a proud state of the Indian union. Even if there was no tragedy, the Prime Minister should have come here. And in this huge tragedy, I request the Prime Minister to take one-two days to come here and try and listen to the people of Manipur. It will comfort the people of Manipur,” he said.

Hours before Gandhi’s visit, firing was reported in the Jiribam district in the early hours of Monday.

“Gunmen fired several rounds around 3:30 am towards the Meitei area of Gularthal, prompting security forces to retaliate. The exchange of fire continued till 7 am,” an official was quoted as saying to news agency Press Trust of India.

Manipur Congress president Keisham Meghachandra told the reporters that during his visit to Jiribam, Gandhi spoke to people in the relief camp.

“Rahul Gandhi visited the Jiribam district early in the morning today. And the people of this Jiribam district are very happy. Rahul Gandhi spoke with them and they shared their pain and also expressed many things like the sorrows of students and women,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi at a relief camp in Manipur on July 8, 2024. Photo: X (Twitter)/@INCIndia.

Meghachandra said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should visit Manipur in order to find a solution to the ongoing conflict, and while he had addressed the ongoing violence in the state in parliament last week, his statement that normalcy is returning to the violence-torn state is not true.

“Prime minister said in parliament that Manipur is returning to normalcy. But you see prior to Rahul Gandhi’s visit, today itself, close firing happened about 10km away from Jiribam headquarters. It is not that normalcy is returning that has been stated by the Prime Minister. So violence is still continuing. This visit is a peace mission. It shows that Rahul Gandhi loves the people of Manipur. In the last parliament session newly elected MPs of Manipur gave heated arguments. We demand that the Prime Minister should visit Manipur so that some solution can be found. His silence will not bring any solution to Manipur,” he said.

Also read: Rahul Gandhi and Manipur: the Politics Not of Transaction but of Love

Modi’s statement in the Rajya Sabha addressing the violence in Manipur came a day after he faced consistent sloganeering from the opposition in the Lok Sabha that chanted “Manipur, Manipur”. The day before in his maiden speech close to midnight in an almost empty Lok Sabha, Manipur MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam tore into the ruling BJP and Modi for ignoring the “hurt, anger and sufferings”.

Gandhi on his visit to Manipur was accompanied by Congress general secretary (organisation) and MP K.C. Venugopal, Manipur’s state Congress leaders as well as newly elected MPs Angomcha Bimol Akoijam (Inner Manipur) and Alfred Kanngam Arthur (Outer Manipur).

A delegation of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) submitted a memorandum to Gandhi.

“There has been no improvement in the security situation following over a year of killings and displacements; citizens continue to face daily danger of death,” the memorandum stated.

Highlighting the divide between the hill areas and the valley, which has affected connectivity and supply of essential goods and commodities, the memorandum called for an immediate political solution.

“An immediate political solution is required to break the cycle of violence and atrocities in Manipur..” it said.

In another memorandum submitted to Gandhi, the Kuki Students’ Organisation in Churachandpur district has urged for exam centres in the area so that students can take all-India competitive exams, and helicopter facilities from Lamka to Aizawl, Lamka to Kangpokpi, Lamka to Moreh to ease travel, among others. The Kuki Women’s Organisation for Human Rights in its memorandum has highlighted sexual violence being used as a “method or tactic of warfare” and that the shutdown of internet services in the state has prevented these abuses from becoming known.

Last year, Modi broke his silence on the ongoing violence in the northeastern state, 70 days after the violence began, only after a harrowing video went viral on social media the day before that showed two Kuki women being paraded naked in Kangpokpi on May 4.

Manipur Governor Data Raises Serious Questions Over the Mayhem the ‘Double-Engine’ Govt Has Unleashed

It is nearly ten months since violence was sparked off in a sensitive border state of Manipur. How does the continuing state of disturbance there compare with J&K? What about what was left unsaid?

New Delhi: Manipur governor Anusuiya Uikey’s speech on February 28 put out official data on the damage and destruction in Manipur since ethnic strife broke out on May 3, 2023.

Uikey presented the figures as a sign of ‘good governance’ by the ‘double-engine sarkar’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Official data

  • The governor said that 219 persons have so far lost lives in the state due to the violence.
  • At least 187,143 persons have been rounded up so far under preventive detention. They were released after legal formalities were carried out.
  • At least 10,000 FIRs till date have been lodged in connection with the ongoing violence.
  • The N. Biren Singh government has so far handed over 29 cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Four other FIRs are in the process of being transferred to the central agency.
  • Five other FIRs have been transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
  • An ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh is being disbursed to the affected families, “after due verification and mortal remains of victims have been handed over to the next of kins and last rites performed,” wrote Imphal Free Press.
  • “To cater to clothing and other needs of the displaced persons, till date, she asserted that an amount of Rs 1,000 had been distributed twice to every displaced individual and the third time distribution has also begun,” the news report said.
  • Till date, the state government has spent Rs 200 crore on relief operations and is hoping that the Ministry of Home Affairs would reimburse the amount to the cash-starved state.
  • The governor also said that aside from the state security forces, 198 companies of the CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) and 140 columns of the Army have been deployed in Manipur to assist “in area domination, sanitisation and maintenance of law and order situation.”

Manipur versus Kashmir

To comprehend better what these figures cited by the governor say about the law and order situation in Manipur, let’s look at similar figures drawn from some other states which are considered disturbed, or, have seen disturbance of considerable gamut in the recent past. Better still, let’s look at some corresponding official figures from Kashmir which is oft-considered the benchmark of internal disturbance in the country.

First, the figures on civilian deaths in Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir. In less than a year’s time, while Manipur had seen 219 deaths (almost all, civilian deaths), Jammu and Kashmir — between January and November 15, 2023 — saw 13 civilian killings. The data on Kashmir was supplied to Parliament by the minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai in December 2023.

Just to set the record straight here, in the 2020 Delhi violence, 53 lives were lost.

As per the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), prior to the reading down of Article 370 in Kashmir, 126 civilian deaths were counted in three years cumulatively. After August 5, 2019, that number dropped to 116.

The official figure of arrests since May 3, 2023 stands at 1,87,143 persons. That the violence seen during the Delhi riots led to 2,174 arrests gives us a clue, not just about the scale of the violence in Manipur but also the duration of the time it lasted.

As per the governor’s speech, a whopping 10,000 FIRs related to the ethnic violence were lodged in Manipur in the last nine months. The Delhi riots with a total of 785 FIRs clearly pale in comparison.

Also, FIRs are only about filing of FIRs by the police, not delivery of justice to the victims.

Glass half full or half empty?

Add to this colossal figure of FIRs in Manipur the governor’s data that 33 cases in all (after adding the four FIRs in process) are to be probed by the CBI, and five others by the NIA. It makes a total of 38 cases – all linked to arms-related violence – transferred by the state government in less than a year’s time, a record of sorts.

Had the governor acted only as the constitutional authority as the governors are supposed to, analysts ask if the Raj Bhawan at Imphal would have likely recommended Manipur as ‘a fit case’ for implementing Article 356 to the President of India, or dismissing the state government.

These sets of data can be seen through two prisms.

One, that lodging such a large number of FIRs on the ongoing strife, and transfer of such a record-breaking number of cases to the central agencies, only indicate that the state machinery is ticking.

Two, that the state machinery was first of all not functioning sufficiently enough for such a spike in cases, and civilian deaths. Mind you, Manipur is a state where the MHA had partially lifted the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA to hammer on the point that peace has come to the state under the Modi regime. The latest official data certainly counters the illusion of having restored ‘normalcy’ in the beleaguered state.

On February 28, the Manipur governor chose to see the official data only from the first prism.

Unfortunately though, with hundreds of innocents dead, and thousands having lost their property and livelihood, with violence and public unrest continuing, it is no more a situation where one has the choice to look at the glass half full or half empty, particularly if one is a constitutional authority. Only time will judge her action, and that of the Centre in the still unfolding Manipur story.

About the transfer of cases to the central agencies, it is also worth noting here what the Supreme Court had said in January 2024. A bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, while hearing a plea on January 3 to transfer the investigation into Hindenburg Research’s allegations against the Adani group from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to the CBI, had stated that such a power should be exercised sparingly and in extraordinary situations.

It is then an extraordinary situation in Manipur as such a fat bundle of cases have been transferred to the CBI in such a short time.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court, in August, had also allowed the CBI to transfer a bulk of the cases related to the ethnic strife from Manipur to Assam so that the poor law and order situation doesn’t come in its way to carry out the pre-trial investigations. That permission was due to a prayer to the apex court by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Manipur government, saying that there were “certain concerns” about judges in the state belonging to specific communities. It indicates a situation where public trust even in the judiciary is at a sub-zero level.

“Mehta also highlighted security risks in bringing the witnesses and accused to the courts in Manipur,” reported India Today.

Here is another data set to help fathom the precarious situation in Manipur. While in J&K, only three cases were registered by the NIA during 2023, in just last nine months, five cases have been transferred to the agency by the Manipur government.

Also read: Arambai’s Political Sway Is Not Only in Imphal but Far Beyond It. Yet the State Turns a Blind Eye

When we observe that the Union government, despite claiming an improved situation in J&K through data, has refrained from announcing elections there, the Manipur story which has poorer data than Kashmir on some counts, becomes more conspicuous. It begs the question, why no President’s Rule in Manipur then? But we are not going there anyway.

What the governor didn’t say

On February 28, while governor Uikey was delivering her speech at the House, additional superintendent of police for the Imphal West district, Moirangthem Amit Singh, was barely recovering from an attack launched on him and his family by a pack of 200 armed men. The state police had to launch a special operation to free Singh from the clutches of those non-state actors under the banner of a radical outfit, Arambai Tenggol. Singh’s house was also set on fire. The attack was because Singh dared to arrest some of the Arambai Tenggol men.

What went unmentioned by the governor in her speech was also that a number of attacks and kidnappings of student leaders, journalists and others had been carried out by armed non-state actors from the capital city itself in the run-up to the assembly session. Offices of several Meitei civil society groups were also burned down. No one has been identified for those acts of arson and kidnappings. The kidnapping of a senior police officer from the capital city itself sends out a message to the public that not police but an armed radical group with a strength of 50,000 men is more powerful in Imphal valley.

Add to it the burning down last week of the Churachandpur deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police’s offices (also the DC’s residence) by an angry mob from the Kuki community for action taken against a Kuki police personnel by the state administration. This happened after a video clip of him hobnobbing with armed non-state actors went viral. These incidents give a clearer picture of the dreary Manipur story.

What is perhaps not noted even in Kashmir recently is also a day like this: barely hours after the governor’s speech, Manipur Police commando personnel across five districts laid down their arms as part of a strike against ASP Singh’s kidnapping by Aramabi Tenggol.

In January, the Meitei nationalist outfit had commanded all the 37 Meitei MLAs and two MPs to reach the Kangla Fort in Imphal to take an oath to maintain Manipur’s territorial integrity. Their leaders also physically assaulted two of the MLAs. The Fort was the seat of the Manipur kings till 1891.

Significantly, the chief of the outfit came to the Fort that day in a police vehicle. How did he access a police vehicle? Does it indicate that the outfit enjoys the backing of the chief minister who is also the state home minister?

An MP who took part in that act of a ‘parallel state’ set up by Arambai Tenggol from within the Kangla Fort (a news report showed that it also guards the fort) was Raj Kumar Ranjan Singh, minister of state for external affairs in the Modi government.

The other MP, L. Sanajouba, who is the titular head of Manipur and resides within the Kangla Fort premises, was sent to the Rajya Sabha in 2020 with BJP’s support. Sanajouba is the founding leader of Arambai Tenggol. In January, a Ministry of Home Affairs team had two meetings with the radical outfit at Sanajaouba’s residence, underlining the close links the MP has with the armed outfit engaged in kidnapping and assault of a senior police official.

In effect, missing parts from the governor’s speech at the assembly Wednesday say as much a story as the data she gave out.

Manipur: Opposition Parties Submit Memorandum to Guv, Say No Meaningful Peace Talks in Sight

The ten opposition parties also said in their memorandum that the Manipur state government must arrange for the bodies of the two dead Meitei students to reach their families.

New Delhi: Workers of ten opposition parties clashed with police in Imphal while on their way to submit a memorandum to Manipur governor Anusuiya Uikey on Friday (October 13), the Ukhrul Times reported.

Its report added that there was no “major untoward incident” and that party workers were able to deliver their memorandum.

Signed by local representatives of parties including the Congress, All India Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Aam Aadmi Party, the memorandum says the state government has failed to adequately address some aspects of the ethnic crisis.

It says that the Manipur government must lift prohibitory measures in place in the state, expedite peace talks, increase relief packages and arrange for the handing over of the bodies of two Meitei students whose death was recently confirmed.

“Of late, we have come across various prohibitory measures by the state government to prevent the citizens from exercise of their fundamental rights like freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, constructive criticism of the government, etc,” the memorandum reads.

“A vibrant democracy, of which the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India proudly pronounce that India is the mother of democracy, requires free speech by individual and the press, criticism of the wrongdoing by the government to act as checks and balances on them, and freedom to peacefully assemble and move [sic],” it continues to say.

Mobile internet continues to be banned in Manipur. It was restored in September after a 143-day-long blackout but was shut down by the state government soon after.

The memorandum then says that there have been no meaningful peace talks in the state since ethnic violence erupted in early May.

“You will agree that both the Central and state governments have chosen the path of non-intervention to the crisis of clash between the ethnic groups. Rather, they are trying to sideline the main reasons behind the crisis by taking shelter to theory of conspiracy by outside militant organisation with intent to assault India,” it adds.

Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh has previously claimed that the state’s violence was not due to a “fight between communities” but instead because of resistance to the government’s policy of forest conservation and poppy clearing.

He has also tried to blame Kuki militants for the ethnic violence.

The Union government tried to start peace dialogues in June but its attempt failed when members from both the Meitei and Kuki communities refused to participate over disagreements regarding the composition of a peace talk committee.

The opposition parties also brought up the two dead Meitei students and asked that the state government arrange for their remains to reach their family members at the earliest.

Seventeen-year-old Luwangbi Linthoingambi Hijam and 20-year-old Phijam Hemanjit went missing in July and were confirmed dead by Manipur police earlier this month.

Photos of their bodies went viral in September and led to protests in the Meitei-majority Imphal valley.

The state government suspended mobile internet access soon after their photos went viral.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested four people in connection with Hijam and Hemajit’s deaths on October 1. It arrested a fifth person, 22-year-old Paolun Mang, from Pune on October 11.

The Indian Express reported that Mang was a “key suspect” in the deaths of the two students and that the CBI was granted his custody till Monday (October 16).

Over 200 people died and nearly 60,000 were displaced as a result of ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur since May 3.

Ethnic divisions have become extremely stark as a result, with the two communities having become almost completely segregated from each other.

‘Constitutional Crisis?’: No Nod From Governor, No Special Session for Manipur Assembly

With the Biren Singh cabinet’s recommendation having failed to secure governor Anusuiya Uikey’s approval, the question arises as to whether the governor can choose to not comply with such a recommendation from a cabinet headed by a CM.

New Delhi: A special session of the Manipur assembly recommended by the cabinet for August 21 to discuss the ongoing turmoil in the northeastern state could not take place today due to the state government’s failure to get a nod from the governor Anusuiya Uikey.

Reacting to it, the opposition Congress which has also been demanding that the governor call a session of the assembly along with several other national parties to discuss the Manipur ethnic conflict, said the failure of the governor to summon the session “can lead to a constitutional crisis” in the border state.

A day ago, on August 20, former chief minister and Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh, speaking at the party office in Imphal, had said, “It looks like the demand (for the session) has fallen on deaf ears and chances of the much-awaited assembly sitting seem slim at this point.” 

Ibobi Singh called it the ‘Monsoon Session’ of the assembly, and therefore implied that this was a scheduled session which should have taken place after the March session. “The governor is supposed to call the summon 15 days before the actual sitting since the state assembly prorogue had already been conducted but no such actions have been meted out from the governor till now,” an Imphal Free Press report said quoting Singh. According to the news report, the Congress leader said, “At this crucial juncture of the state and the people, it is better to avoid such potential constitutional breakdown.”

With the cabinet’s recommendation having failed to secure the governor’s approval, the question arises under what circumstances the governor may not comply with such a recommendation from the cabinet headed by the chief minister.

In 2016, in the judgment of the Nabam Rebia case, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court had stated that when the chief minister has a majority in the House, the governor is to summon the House with the aid and advice of the chief minister and his cabinet.

Significantly, in the 60-member house, while 10 MLAs from the Kuki community had refused to attend the session citing their safety in Imphal, 10 others from the Naga community were also asked by the apex body of the Nagas in Manipur, the United Naga Council (UNC), to stay away from it.

Also read: Manipur’s 8 Naga MLAs Back CM Biren Singh’s Move Against Kukis’ Separate Administration Demand

Among the 40 other legislators from the valley, a sizeable lot are from the BJP’s rebel camp which has been demanding a leadership change prior to the May 3 violence. Those rebel MLAs were not signatory to a recent memorandum submitted to prime minister Narendra Modi by 40 MLAs from the state urging him to maintain the territorial integrity of Manipur. Among the 40 MLAs were eight Naga MLAs from BJP’s allies in the state – the Naga People’s Front and Nationalist People’s Party.  

On July 27, the N. Biren Singh government had announced that the cabinet had recommended an assembly session and the request had been forwarded to the governor’s office. State information and public relations minister Sapam Ranjan said in a statement issued to local press that the cabinet had asked for the session to be held on the third week of August. On August 4, the state government formally asked the governor to convene the session on August 21.

While former BJP ally, the Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA), refused to take part in the session (it has two MLAs) accusing the state government of organising it at the behest of the powerful civil society body from the Meitei community, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), the UNC too cited the same reason for asking MLAS from the Naga community to avoid it. 

Since late July, COCOMI had been seeking a special session of the assembly and had adopted August 5 as the deadline for it to the state government at a public rally in Imphal on July 29. COCOMI had been seeking a resolution in the assembly to maintain the territorial integrity of the state in the wake of Kuki MLAs demanding a separate state or a Union Territory for the community. On August 7, a delegation of COCOMI submitted a memorandum at the Prime Minister’s Office, seeking a special session. COCOMI spokesperson Kh. Athouba had told The Wire then that the demand for the session had been raised by them because they had not “seen any initiative from the legislators or the state government to discuss the Manipur issue on the floor of the House.”

“The assembly is not dissolved, so it must assemble to deliberate on what is going on in the state, including discussing the demand for a separate administration from a set of MLAs. For instance, the 10 MLAs belonging to the Kuki community have stated their individual positions on the matter which should be stated also on the floor of the House. There are outside forces acting in the state; people are asking, where is the assembly?” he said.   

The Wire failed to reach the COCOMI spokesperson on the August 21 session not taking off as planned by the state cabinet. Thus far, COCOMI has maintained silence on the matter.

Watch | Manipur Governor ‘Deeply Concerned’ by Violence But Ignored by Biren Govt: Brinda Karat

In an interview with Karan Thapar, Brinda Karat recounts her meeting with two survivors of terrible sexual assaults as well as with the parents of two girls who were gang-raped and killed.

Brinda Karat has revealed that the governor of Manipur, Anusuiya Uikey, told her and the All India Democratic Women’s Association that she is “deeply concerned” about the violence in Manipur but her words of advice are being ignored by the N. Biren Singh government.

In an interview with Karan Thapar, Karat – a member of the CPI(M) politburo – says the governor told the AIDWA delegation that she’s very happy that the Supreme Court has taken suo moto cognizance of the sexual assault of three Kuki women by a mob that was captured on video. This is the first suggestion of differences between the governor of Manipur and the state government over the response to the crisis in the state.

Karat recounts her meeting with two survivors of terrible sexual assaults as well as with the parents of two girls who were gang-raped and killed. The first survivor is one of the women who was paraded naked in the horrifying video that was circulated on social media last month. The second is a 15-year-old girl who was raped by four militant men in uniform and thrown off a cliff but mercifully survived.

Karat also met the parents of two girls who worked in a car wash in Imphal and were gang raped and killed.

She says that even after 100 days, the chief minister has made no effort to meet the victims. It seems neither has his administration reached out to them. She speaks of “the culpability of the Biren Singh government”.

Brinda Karat’s account of what she saw and heard whilst she was in Manipur last week is extremely powerful. Please watch the video for complete details.

Apart from Droupadi Murmu, Who Were the BJP’s Other Top Contenders for the Post of President?

A source within the BJP reveals the party’s other top candidates to be become the President of India and how Murmu’s name came out on top of the list.

New Delhi: Shortly after the opposition parties declared Yashwant Sinha as their joint presidential candidate, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided to pit former Jharkhand governor Droupadi Murmu against Sinha for the position.

Within a night, Droupadi Murmu has become famous for being the first Schedule Tribe (SC) woman to be nominated for the position of the President of India. Sinha, meanwhile, is a relatively known name in political circles since he served as the finance minister during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure, and is now an avid critic of the ruling BJP.

On Tuesday (June 21) night, BJP president J.P. Nadda announced Murmu’s candidature, stating that she was chosen out of a total 20 names after much deliberation amongst the party’s Parliamentary Committee. But the question arises: who were the other 19 contenders and why did Murmu emerge as the most the popular choice amongst those considered?

According to sources, other than Murmu, the party had considered senior leaders such as current Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu; governor of Chhattisgarh, Anusuiya Uikey; governor of Haryana, Bandaru Dattatreya; and governor of Telangana and lieutenant governor of Puducherry, Tamilisai Soundararajan as its presidential candidate.

The party source stated that since India has had a Tamil Muslim President in A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; a woman President in Pratibha Patil; and current president Ram Nath Kovind belongs to the Schedule Caste (SC) category, electing a female ST candidate would be the ideal move for the BJP.

“When India can have a scientist, a woman, and a member of the SC community as the President, then an ST  candidate would be the next best choice,” the source said.

Also read: For BJP, the Optics of Nominating the First Tribal Woman President Couldn’t Be Better

“We lost the Jharkhand elections in 2019. Electing a face that represents both Jharkhand and Orissa (from where Murmu hails) will once again popularise the BJP’s name amongst tribal population,” the source added. “This is why Murmu was the ideal choice. Her ST status will also appeal to the tribal regions of Telangana.”

As such, move can be seen as a strategy employed by the party to establish its popularity in the tribal regions of the three states. While Vice-President Naidu’s name was at the forefront for the post, the decision to go with Murmu was taken at the very last minute.

“Till 9:00 pm on Tuesday, Naidu’s name was leading for the candidature. There were only a handful of names in the final list. I guess 20 names were considered in the initial discussions, but in the final list, only five people were there,” the source said. “The discussion over BJP’s presidential candidate was deliberated upon for quite some time but the urgency picked-up once the opposition declared its nominee.”

Also read: Could Venkaiah Naidu Have Served the BJP Well as Presidential Candidate?

Since Chhattisgarh governor Uikey is a lesser popular name, it is not clear how her name made it to the final list.

Murmu once served as an assistant researcher and an assistant professor and joined the BJP in 1997. That she superseded Naidu for the post of President took many by surprise.

“I think all candidates were eagerly waiting to hear their name as the party’s official nominee. Even Murmu was surprised and happy when she came to know that the party had chosen her. None of us had anticipated it. But I think the decision has a lot to do with BJP’s intention of appointing India’s first woman ST President,” the party source said.

According to party sources, the BJP is aiming to reduce its dependency on the popularity of Naidu and decided to go with the former Jharkhand governor, a relatively lesser popular name, hoping she would gain the same popularity and traction as current Indian President, Ram Nath Kovind.

Kovind is the second Dalit President of the country, after K.R. Narayanan, who served as the 10th President of India from 1997-2002.

“I’m unsure of it, but at one point, maybe in the preliminary round of discussions, I heard that (National Security Advisor) Ajit Doval’s name was also being considered for the post. But I guess his name did not make it to the list,” the source has said.

As stated by the party source, the five names for Presidential candidature were chosen based upon their popularity and seniority and it wasn’t possible to consider anyone else within the BJP.

Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan to Follow Punjab in Opposing Central Farm Laws

The development comes after the Congress government in Punjab on Tuesday passed new state-level laws to counter the effects of the three Central laws.

New Delhi: Congress governments in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are looking at passing news Bills at the state-level to counter the “anti-farmer” Central laws which were passed by parliament amid protests from farmers and opposition parties.

Another Congress-ruled state, Punjab, had already passed Bills to counter the farm laws on Tuesday. The three Central laws have led to large-scale protests by farmers’ groups from across the country. The protests have been particularly intense in Haryana and Punjab.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel proposed on Tuesday that a special assembly session would be convened on October 27 and 28 to pass new laws, according to the Hindustan Times.

Baghel’s government has already requested governor Anusuiya Uikey to allow a special session of the state legislative assembly to be held. However, the governor has sent back the proposal of the state government, pointing out that just 58 days had passed since the conclusion of the assembly’s monsoon session. She has also sought reasons for holding another assembly session.

Also read: Punjab: Over 13,000 Village Panchayats to Veto Centre’s Farm Acts

While governors appointed by the BJP have had run-ins with opposition-ruled state governments, especially in Maharashtra and West Bengal, the Chhattisgarh government is confident that Uikey is not in a position to decline the state government’s decision to hold an assembly session.

Bhupesh Baghel

Bhupesh Baghel at an event in 2019. Photo: Twitter/bhupeshbaghel

Baghel has clarified that the governor cannot prevent a government that has a full majority from holding an assembly session.

Chhattisgarh legislative affairs and agriculture minister Ravindra Choubey told the Indian Express that the government wanted to hold a special session because the laws passed by the Central government, on agriculture, contract farming, labour and the Essential Commodities Act, “go against the people of Chhattisgarh”. “But the governor has sent back the file with a query, seeking details of the Bills. I have sent all the details. We hope the governor will give the approval,” he said.

Choubey added that the Supreme Court has made it clear that the governor cannot make any change in dates sought by an elected government which enjoys the majority for convening the assembly

Rajasthan to follow suit

On the other hand, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has categorically stated that an assembly session would be held soon to oppose the “anti-farmer” laws passed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

Taking to Twitter, Gehlot said the Congress stands “resolutely” with the farmers and will continue to oppose the farm laws. He said the Rajasthan government will follow the Punjab governments lead and pass Bills to counter the Central laws.

The Rajasthan chief minister has already chaired a cabinet meeting to discuss the impact of the Central agriculture laws and the course of action that the state government has to take to prevent them from being enforced.

Also read: Nationwide Protests Against Bills a Marker of Success, Farm Leaders Say

“We are examining how to do it… We have sought the opinion of the Advocate General. We have also sought the views of the Agriculture (department)…agricultural marketing. We will take a decision taking into consideration all their views,” he told the Indian Express.

Can states override Central laws?

Under Article 254 (2) of the Constitution, a state government is empowered to make changes to Central legislation that is enlisted under the concurrent list of the Seventh Schedule.

Agriculture and associated enterprises such as education and research, livestock, fisheries and irrigation are in the state list. ‘Markets and fairs’ are also a state subject, along with trade and commerce within a state. However, the latter is subject to Entry 33 of the concurrent list.

While Bills passed by the state governments to change Central legislation require the assent of the President of India to enact them as laws, the Congress governments still want to put their best foot forward and try to raise a banner of revolt against the Central farm laws. Though the Bills passed by the Congress governments may not get President Ram Nath Kovind’s nod, the party wants to send a “strong political statement” by opposing the agriculture laws.

This comes in the wake of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s order to her party-ruled states last month to “negate” the provisions of the Central laws. In fact, the party high command had even circulated a draft Bill to the states.

Meanwhile, in Haryana, a BJP-ruled state, pressuring is mounting on the state government to follow suit. However, Haryana agriculture minister J.P. Dalal said that the Congress government in Punjab should stop ‘misleading’ innocent farmers. “Congress should stop playing politics over MSPs [minimum support prices],” he has said, according to Hindustan Times.

Chhattisgarh: Journalist Kamal Shukla Attacked by Local Congress Leaders, FIR Registered 

With the local police treating the incident as one of ‘personal rivalry’ rather than press freedom, one of the politicians has filed filed a counter complaint against the journalist

New Delhi : The leading Chhattisgarh journalist Kamal Shukla, who is editor of Bhumkal Samachar magazine and head of the Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti was beaten on Saturday afternoon in Kanker (North Bastar) district of Chhattisgarh. According to local journalists, the incident took place in the afternoon when Shukla went to the local police station after hearing that a journalist, Satish Yadav, had been assaulted by local municipal corporators belonging to the ruling Congress party.

“This has been done in a very planned manner as we have been raising a voice and reporting about the wrongdoings of local politicians belonging to the ruling Congress,” Shukla told The Wire from Kanker. “As soon as I stepped out of the police station, I was attacked by these people,” he added. Shukla claimed that his attackers were irked by his reportage and social media writings “as it has been causing loss to them”. Apart from Shukla and Sathish Yadav, another reporter –  Jivand Haldhar – was also been attacked.

Shukla alleged that inside the police station, Ghaffar Memom, a representative of the local Congress MLA, Shishupal Shori, waved a pistol at him, saying Kamal Shukla should be killed as he is the real culprit. “I was targeted because I have written about Shori’s involvement in sand smuggling and in this work Ghaffar and others are helping Shori,” Shukla alleged. Protesting the incident, local journalists are staging a protest at Ambedkar chowk of Kanker town.

Confirming the assault incident, the superintendent of police, M.R. Ahire, told The Wire that an FIR has been registered in the matter under sections 294 (public acts of obscenity), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). As per the local police, Jitendra Singh Thakur, Ghaffar Memom, Ganesh Tiwari, Maqbool Khan and others have been named in the FIR. However, the police have described the assault as a clash between two groups due to some ‘aapsi ranjish’ (personal rivalry).

A counter complaint has also been registered by one of the accused, Ghaffar Memon. “We have also received a counter complaint against Shukla but it is yet to be converted in an FIR,” the Kanker SP told The Wire. In his complaint, Memon has alleged that it was Shukla who abused him and threatened to kill him. According to Memon, the incident started when Shukla abused him for not paying for an advertisement  published in his magazine. “Given that Shukla is a ‘criminal minded’ person and has a sedition case pending against him, I am afraid that he might do something untoward against me,” says Memon’s complaint to the police demanding strong action against the journalist.

An outspoken journalist, Shukla has been at the forefront of the campaign demanding legislation for the protection of journalists in the state. In April 2018, the state Police had charged  Shukla with sedition for sharing a cartoon on Facebook that allegedly made derogatory references to the judiciary and the government. He, however, insists he was falsely charged.

Meanwhile, calling it a murderous attack on journalists by Congress leaders, local reporters have written a letter to the governor of the state, Anusuiya Uikey, requesting her intervention. The global press freedom organisation Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the attack and demanded investigation against the perpetrators.

Condemning the incident, the Chhattisgarh unit of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) has demanded that the Kanker administration provide protection to journalists. In addition, the human rights body demanded an independent enquiry into the matter and strict action against the attackers. Moreover, the PUCL asked for an enquiry to examine the role of the local police, apart from passing an effective legislation to protect journalists in the state.

In 2016, the state chapter of the PUCL along with the Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti,  in consultation with several journalists and lawyers, had proposed a draft act for the protection of journalists and human rights defenders in the state. This was done in the backdrop of a promise made by the then chief minister, Raman Singh, that there would be a law for the protection of journalists in the state.

Immediately after taking oath as chief minister in 2018, the Congress’s Bhupesh Baghel had issued a directive to prepare a draft as it was part of his poll promise. In October last year, a committee headed by former Supreme Court Justice Aftab Alam had drafted a Bill for the protection of media persons in Chhattisgarh.  However, the bill has yet to be passed by the cabinet or tabled for discussion in the assembly, let alone becoming law.

The Wire tried to contact the local Congress MLA, Shori, for his comment, but he could not be reached. This story will be updated when he responds.