First set of 14 TO get Indian citizenship Citizenship certificates were handed over to 14 people by Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla at a special function in Delhi. Digitally signed certificates are also being sent to a few hundred other applicants through email. It comes nearly two months after the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were notified | P9 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l thursday l may 16, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI u.p. Diaries A tryst with destiny that wasn’t to be has shifted to adjoining Rae Bareli, he looms large even in his absence. Mostly beSantwana Bhattacharya cause his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is quite visiEditor bly there. Even though the Congress has appointed Rampur MLA Aradhana Amethi: Amethi is wait- Mishra ‘Mona’ as the party ing for Godot. Or for a Gan- poll in-charge for Amethi, dhi. Not just for a 53-year- Priyanka is managing the old with that name, but electioneering here along something inclusive of that with Rae Bareli, like a safe— and more than that. A keeper of the legacy vote. Nehru-Gandhi did not get All around the constituinto a direct contest here, ency the pockmarked narra, but had long-time aide K L tive of Indian democracy reSharma stand in. Those veals itself. Amethi moves within and outside through its village dirtwho had betted big on tracks and peri-urban a re-run of 2019 are roadways at a groandisappointed. The ing pace, as if caught gladiatorial fight in a time zone of that was to be is now struggle all its own. substantially downBut also representathird of A scaled. But a fight is Four-part series tive, at once, of the on, albeit by proxy, cracks in the India and reduced to a scrimmage story. Despite its seeming of competitive accusations. mundaneness, the Amethi Even while abandoning Ra- electorate stands witness to hul in 2019, it’s as if Amethi history Its creation, in 1967, . kept up its love for high-pro- was coeval with the unfoldfile contests, as if to keep ing of the crucial post-Nehru itself in the reckoning by phase in modern Indian polidefault, its own little tryst tics. Since then, it has in a with destiny . way reflected the mood of They are getting one, even the nation at all the cusp moif in an abridged version. ments. Electing a Congress Smriti Irani, Union minis- candidate, Vidya Dhar Bater and the BJP’s prime jpai, as its first MP, going commentator-critic on all with the Janata Party candithings Nehru-Gandhi, has date in 1977 and a BJP candistayed put to defend her date in 1998 and 2019. Continued on: P9 turf. Though Rahul Gandhi NewsClick editor gets bail at last Purkayastha out of Tihar after SC declares his arrest and remand under UAPA null and void S u c hi t r a M o h a n t y @ New Delhi NewsClick founder and chief editor Prabir Purkayastha was released from Tihar Jail on Wednesday after the Supreme Court invalidated his arrest and subsequent remand in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case. Purkayastha was arrested in October last year under antiterror UAPA for allegedly receiving money to spread proChina propaganda in India. Observing that the right to life and personal liberty was the most sacrosanct fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution, the court said any BACK ON TRACK Driving schools — which have been protesting the revised format of tests — withdrew their strike following a meeting with Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar on Wednesday. Relaxation in driving test norms announced by the minister Road test only after H-track test Use of 4-wheelers with additional clutch and brake to continue Mandatory use of 2-wheelers with foot-operated gear levers for tests only after three months Design of new testing track to be revised KSRTC to open driving schools — 10 in first phase P4 Delhi court issues Gag order A Delhi court while issuing bail to NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha directed him not to comment on the merits of the case or tamper with the evidence. He must not contact any witnesses or approver in the case person arrested under UAPA or other offences has a fundamental and a statutory right to be informed about the grounds of arrest in writing. “There is no hesitation in the mind of the court to reach a conclusion that the copy of the remand application in the purported exercise of communica- tion of the grounds of arrest in writing was not provided to the accused appellant (Purkayastha) or his counsel before passing of the order of remand dated October 4, 2023 which vitiates the arrest and subsequent remand of the appellant,” a two-judge bench comprising justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said. “Any other interpretation would tantamount to diluting the sanctity of the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India,” it said. The bench said the right to be informed about the grounds of arrest flows from Article 22(1) of the Constitution. Soon after the verdict, a Delhi court issued the release order for Purkayastha. According to the FIR against him, the news portal he runs allegedly received huge amounts of money from China to “disrupt the sovereignty of India” and cause disaffection against the country . Adoor Prakash stakes claim for state Congress president’s post K S S R EE J I T H @ T’Puram Adding to the woes of incumbent K Sudhakaran, who has been braving threats from certain quarters, new claimants have surfaced for the coveted office of the state Congress chief. At a time when a section within the party is pushing for Christian representation in the top brass, senior leader Adoor Prakash, MP, on Wednesday made an open claim to the presidentship of the KPCC. “Am I not eligible for the post (of KPCC president)? I have been working for the Congress since 1972. I have never deserted the party and have reached where I am by working my way up from the booth level,” Prakash told TNIE. Noticeably it was just , the other day that Sudhakaran faced a setback from the party high command, which instructed him to go slow on his pet project — the organisational revamp. Prakash’s claim for the top post came amid severe criticism for the dismal representation in the party of Ezhavas, the largest Hindu denomination in the state. There is growing resentment within the community over alleged disregard of its members, when it comes to appointments to both organisational and parliamentary ● More on P4 posts. Am I not eligible for the post (of KPCC president)? I have never deserted the party and have reached where I am by working my way up from the booth level — Adoor Prakash, MP Will provide outside support to INDIA bloc, says Mamata S u l a g n a S e n g u p ta @ Kolkata West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday claimed she will provide outside support to the Opposition’s INDIA bloc if it comes to power at the Centre, but redefined the contours of the alliance to exclude the CPM and the Bengal chapter of the Congress from it. Addressing a rally at Hooghly, Mamata said, “We will provide leadership to the INDIA alliance, and help them in every way from outside. We will form a government so that in Bengal our mothers and sisters never face a problem and those who work in the 100-days-job scheme do not face problems.”Her antipathy for the CPM and the state Congress led by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is well known. Political analyst Snigdhendu Bhattacharya said Mamata seems to be trying to keep the triangular contest between the TMC, BJP and the Left-Congress alliance alive so that the anti-TMC votes do not polarise in favour of the BJP. She doesn’t want the BJP’s charge that the TMC, Congress and the Left are together, to find any credence. 18 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express
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