BHUBANESWAR l wednesday l june 26, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l JEYPORE EDITION Assange out of London prison after plea bargain with the U.S. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was on Monday freed from a London prison where he spent five years fighting extradition to the US U.S. court to take up the plea deal today Sentence to match term already served Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to one criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, according to filings in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, where the hearing will be held on Wednesday. Under the plea, he won’t face further prison time and can return home to Australia | P9 ■ The court in Northern Mariana Islands — a US commonwealth in the Pacific midway between Australia and Japan — was chosen because of Assange’s unwillingness to go to mainland US and also because of the territory’s proximity to his native country Australia, a court filing said on Tuesday ■ Assange is due to be sentenced to 62 months of time already served in prison April 2019 When Assange was lodged in the high security Belmarsh prison in London 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 First election of Speaker in over 5 decades today Trinamool yet to take call on supporting INDIA candidate K Suresh P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi With Parliament set to see an unprecedented election for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker on Wednesday, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), an ally of the INDIA bloc, is keeping the Opposition on the edge as the party is yet to reach a final decision on the matter. While the BJP-led NDA nominated third time MP Om Birla for the Speaker’s post for the second consecutive term, the Opposition forced an election by nominating the eight-time MP from Kerala, Kodikunnil Suresh, as its candidate after the talks between both sides failed to reach a consensus. At a late evening INDIA bloc meeting, TMC leaders said they will co-operate with the Opposition on the Speaker’s election. However, the final call will be taken on Wednesday . The meeting was attended by several top leaders of the INDIA bloc, including Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, TMC’s Derek O’Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, RSP’s N K Premachandran Candiadates for Speaker’s post Om Birla (BJP) and Kodikunnil Suresh (INDIA) Oppn demanded Dy Speaker post The last election for Speaker was in 1976. The INDIA bloc’s made a last minute decision to go for the contest after senior BJP leaders refused to accept its precondition that the Opposition must be offered the post of Deputy Speaker in lieu of supporting Birla and CPM’s K Radhakrishnan. A senior Opposition leader who attended the meeting told this paper, “Though other parties, including the Congress, have issued a whip to their MPs for the election, the TMC said that they will convey their decision tomorrow after more consultations. But they have assured that they will cooperate with the Opposition in the Speaker election,” he said. Earlier, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee complained that the Congress unilaterally decided to put up K Suresh as the INDIA bloc’s candidate for the post without consultation. A brief interaction involving Cong ress leader K C Venugopal and DMK’s T R Baalu and Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and J P Nadda, at Singh’s office in Parliament to evolve a consensus ended in acrimony as both sides stuck to their positions. Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “Union minister Rajnath last evening said that he will call back our president Mallikarjun Kharge on our demand on the Deputy Speaker post. However, Rajnath ji has not returned the call. PM Modi says that there should be constructive cooperation and then our leader is being insulted. So their intention is clear,” he said. Later, Venugopal accused the government of not following the “convention” of an opposition candidate for the Deputy Speaker’s position. Demolition ripples at Das’ official quarters B i j ay C h a k i @ Bhubaneswar Demolition of two structures on the premises of the official quarters of BJD organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das on Tuesday created ripples in political circles here with the BJP demanding strong action against him for the illegal constructions. A three-member team from the General Administration department led by deputy director Sangram Ray Sardar inspected the quarters in the afternoon and said action will be initiated by the government if any illegality was found. Surprisingly, the demolition e x p r e ss r e a d CBI’s turn to go after Kejri to keep him in jail New Delhi: The CBI on Tuesday questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the now-scrapped liquor policy and recorded his statement from Tihar jail, a day before his bail plea was to come up in the SC. According to reports, the CBI will produce Kejriwal in trial court on Tuesday and seek custodial interrogation. This means, the AAP leader may not be freed even if the SC gives him relief in the money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise scam being investigated by the ED | P5 The half-demolished structure on Pranab Prakash Das’ residence | debadatta mallick was being undertaken apparently by a contractor engaged by Das himself, and not by any government agency which raised the hackles. The GA department team directed that there should be no further demolition of the existing structures. While the main building of the government quarters is intact, two other structures including a 2,000 square feet steel structure were constructed on the premises. One of the structures with a basement has been demolished while the other one is still intact. Ray told mediapersons that the government will inquire if permission was taken for construction of the extension in the quarters. Official records will be verified to ascertain whether due permission had been obtained from the government for additional construction on the premises. Appropriate action will be initiated in case the construction was done without obtaining required permission from the gover nment, he added. After his defeat in the elections from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat, Das was asked by the GA department to vacate the government quarters by July 4. Much of the demolition started in a hush hush manner after he was served the notice to vacate. The BJD heavyweight has, however, applied for extension up to July 15 to vacate the quarters. The VIII MR I quarters in possession of Das is situated in Unit VI area of the city Continued on P5 . Rahul named Leader of Opposition in LS P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi On the eve of the election to the post of Lok Sabha Speaker, the Congress on Tuesday named Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha. The announcement came after a late evening meeting of floor leaders of the Opposition parties. Congress general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal told the media, “CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab, informing the decision of appointment of Rahul Gan- dhi as the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha”. Other office bearers will be decided later, he added. Rahul was sworn in as a member of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. He has been an MP for five terms and now represents Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli in the Lower House. Early this month, the Congress Working Committee had unanimously passed a resolution requesting Rahul to take up the post of the LoP in the 18th Lok Sabha. The party did not have the requisite seats to claim the post in 2014 and 2019. To claim the post, a party needs at least 10% of the membership of the Lok Sabha. While the Congress had 52 seats in 2019, in 2014, it had 44. However, the party registered a spectacular show by increasing its tally to 100 in the 2024 elections. The LoP post requires the MP to regularly interact with the prime minister. He/she will be a member of crucial committees, including JPCs.
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