QBullet: Drama Over Gujarat Rajya Sabha Polls; China Ups The Ante

Read The Quint’s compilation of the top stories making the headlines in national dailies across the country.

Ahmed Patel (L) with Sonia Gandhi (R). (Photo: PTI)

1. After Midnight Drama, Congress’ Ahmed Patel Wins Rajya Sabha Seat in Gujarat

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday after an action-packed vote in Gujarat that dealt a blow to the ruling BJP.

BJP president Amit Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani won the two other seats vacant in the state.

The outcome ended a fortnight of political drama that turned the usually staid polls for Parliament’s Upper House into an acrimonious prestige battle between the Congress and BJP.

The election was projected as a battle of grit, wit and nerve between the chief strategists of the two principal national parties – Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Patel and BJP chief Shah.

“This is not just my victory. It is a defeat of the most blatant use of money power, muscle power and abuse of state machinery,” Patel tweeted at 1.53am on Wednesday.

Source: Hindustan Times

Also Read: Gujarat RS Polls Live: Congress’ Ahmed Patel Wins With 44 Votes

2. MLA Does a Nitish on Nitish

Chhotubhai Vasava, the sole Janata Dal United MLA in Gujarat, has done a Nitish Kumar on Nitish Kumar, keeping party leaders guessing on which way he has voted in the Rajya Sabha elections.

JDU chief general secretary KC Tyagi told The Telegraph that Vasava had been told by chief minister Nitish Kumar – also the party president – to vote for the BJP. But news trickled in that the Congress’ Ahmed Patel had gone to the JDU MLA's house to thank him for his vote. Tyagi, though, dismissed the reports, stressing that Vasava had also met BJP president Amit Shah.

Tyagi insisted that Vasava had voted for the BJP nominee Balwantsinh Rajput, who is pitted against Patel. However, even before the counting process began at 5pm, Vasava, serving his sixth term from Jhagadiya Assembly constituency of Bharuch, made it clear that he had defied Nitish’s diktat and voted for Patel.

Source: The Telegraph

Also Read: Meet Chhotubhai Vasava, the Guj JD(U) MLA Touted as ‘Kingmaker’

3. Varnika Like My Daughter, Action Should be Taken to Get her Justice: Subhash Barala

Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala, whose son is accused of stalking the daughter of a senior IAS officer, said on Tuesday there was no pressure on the police who are investigating the matter.

“The law should take its own course. The BJP is a party that believes in women’s rights and freedom. Neither I nor BJP is pressuring anyone in this matter,” he told the media. “Varnika is like my daughter… To get her justice, whatever action is to be taken according to the rules against Vikas and Ashish should be taken,” said Barala.

Barala’s son Vikas, a law student, and his friend Ashish are accused of stalking Varnika Kundu, a disc jockey, early Saturday when she was driving from Sector 7 in Chandigarh towards Panchkula.

Source: Hindustan Times

Also Read:
Chandigarh Stalking Case: ‘Missing’ CCTV Found and 6 Other Updates
Charges That Vikas Barala Should’ve Been Slapped With, But Isn’t

4. China’s Latest: What If We Enter Kalapani?

Rejecting India's suggestion for a simultaneous withdrawal of troops to end the standoff at Doklam, China on Tuesday upped the ante, wondering what New Delhi would do if it “enters” Kalapani region in Uttarakhand or Kashmir.

India and China have been locked in a face-off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector for 50 days, after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Army from building a road in the area.

China claimed it was constructing the road within their territory and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from the disputed Doklam plateau. Bhutan says Doklam belongs to it, but China claims the area belongs to it and says Thimphu has no dispute with Beijing over it.

Source: The Indian Express

Also Read:
Army Moves Troops of Sukna-Based 33 Corps to India-China Border
India Is as Naive as It Was in 1962: Global Times on Doklam Issue

5. Varnika Stalker’s Cousin Accused of Threatening Minor to Drop Rape Case

The stalking of Varnika Kundu, a senior IAS officer's daughter, by Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala's son last week is not the only case the Baralas are grappling with at present.

On Tuesday, the Punjab and Haryana high court asked Haryana police to file a status report into an investigation of allegations that Subhash’s nephew, Kuldeep Barala, and others had pressured a minor girl from Fatehabad into changing her statement after she was allegedly kidnapped and raped by one of Kuldeep’s relatives in May.

The report must be submitted by 31 August. The girl has charged police with not acting against the accused because of alleged pressure from Subhash Barala despite the fact that “there is sufficient oral as well as medical evidence” against them.

Source: The Times of India

Also Read: Bullied & Harassed, Woman Shares Stalking Ordeal With The Quint

6. Rahul Has Violated SPG Norms 100 Times: Rajnath

A strongly worded statement by Union home minister Rajnath Singh in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, charging Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi with 100 SPG protocol violations and asking what the leader has to hide when he shuns security cover abroad, sparked a furious Congress-BJP row.

The extraordinary intervention of more than 20 minutes caught the Congress benches off guard after the opposition party raised the issue of stones being pelted in Gujarat at the vehicle in which Rahul was travelling. Congress MPs then stormed into the well of the House before it was adjourned for the day

Source: The Times of India

Also Read: ‘Why Didn’t Rahul Gandhi Take SPG Cover on Foreign Trips’: Rajnath

7. Babri Dispute: Shia Waqf Board Says Mosque Can Come up at a Distance

A mosque can be built in a Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the “most revered place of birth of Ram” in Ayodhya, the Shia wakf board told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The affidavit submitted by the Uttar Pradesh Shia board takes a position opposite to that of the Sunni board that claims ownership of the disputed site and rejects Hindu groups’ claims to the spot, highlighting differences within the Muslim community over the contentious issue.

In the 30-page affidavit, the board said:

To bring a quietus to the issue, masjid (mosque) can be located in a Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the most revered place of birth of Ram

Source: Hindustan Times

Also Read: Build Ram Temple at Babri Masjid Site: Shia Waqf Board to SC

8. Shell-Shocked by Shell List

The head office of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in Mumbai. (Photo: Reuters)

SEBI, the market regulator, has sent a shock wave through corporate boardrooms and stock markets after identifying 331 companies as suspected “shell companies” – a term that has never been defined in the Companies Act, 2013 – and slapped severe trading restrictions on them.

The move was announced late on Monday but SEBI did not say what kind of illegal activities these companies had engaged in.

The SEBI move was apparently orchestrated by the ministry of corporate affairs but the cloak of secrecy over the entire operation raised fears of a witch-hunt by the Narendra Modi government against companies that may be closely allied to its political rivals.

Source: The Telegraph

Also Read: NSEL Scam: SEBI Cracks Down on Former Officials of MCX, FTIL

9. Assam to Dismantle 47-Year-Old “Distorted” Mahatma Gandhi Statue

Mahatma Gandhi’s statue will be dismantled in Assam. Photo used for representational purpose. (Photo: iStockphoto)

Assam is all set to wipe out one of the finest creations of Ram Kinkar Baij, undoubtedly the greatest Indian sculptor of modern times.

A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting in Guwahati on Monday, which will lead to demolition of a Mahatma Gandhi statue that Baij had designed and sculpted on the occasion of his birth centenary and installed in the heart of the Assam capital in 1970.

The decision comes one week short of Independence Day.

Source: The Indian Express

Also Read: Gandhi Memorial Dismantled by MP Govt, Medha Patkar Stages Protest

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