'In Assam, civil society groups have long accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government of allowing illegal coal mining to thrive in the state. Now, these allegations could singe Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal himself. In the last week of September, members of the Congress distributed what they claimed were incriminating photographs to journalists. The photographs showed Sonowal with a man named Sunil Kumar Gurung alleged to be involved in illegal mining operations.
'Naveen Dayal, one of the two accused in the near fatal attack on former JNU scholar, Umar Khalid last year, has been given a Shiv Sena ticket for the upcoming state polls from Bahadurganj in Haryana. Currently, out on bail for the assault, Dayal is a self-proclaimed gau rakshak, Dalal said he joined the Sena six months ago because their ideologies on “nationalism and cow protection” matched. When he shot at Umar Khalid, his gun had jammed, saving Umar’s life.
'The induction of murder accused JMM leader Shashi Bhushan Mehta into the BJP launched high-voltage drama at the BJP headquarters in Ranchi on October 4. Mehta is facing trial in connection with the murder of Suchitra Mehta who was a warden at the school where the now former JMM leader was the director. He is currently out on bail...'
'As the world and India celebrate International Women’s Day, the state of representation of women in the country’s decision-making process continues to be dismal, with only 9% women MLAs and MPs across the country in 2019, according to a report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch. Not just that, hundreds of men who declared cases of crimes against women against them in their affidavits, were given tickets by key political parties, with BJP giving the highest number of tickets at 54...'
"The BJP's battle for Bihar just got murkier with the party's own lawmaker and former Home Secretary RK Singh alleging that money has changed hands for tickets. "They are giving tickets to criminals. How will they give a clean government? This is injustice to the people of Bihar. Some people have sold tickets to criminals. Many BJP workers are angry over seat distribution," Mr Singh said in Patna today. "When the tickets were distributed, I called Sushil Kumar Modi, but he did not receive my call," he added.
"After sending more MPs with serious criminal cases against them to Parliament over the last time, Maharashtra has now elected a higher number of tainted politicians as MLAs. In the 2014 Assembly, 165 (57%) of the 288 MLAs have declared criminal records. Of them, 115 (40%) face serious charges. In 2009, the corresponding figures were 148 (52%) and 94 (23%).
"A study of the affidavits of 2,336 of the 4,119 candidates for the Maharashtra Assembly elections has revealed that as many as 798 of them are facing criminal cases with Shiv Sena topping the list of such nominees, followed by erstwhile ally BJP. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which studied the affidavits, found that 169 (61 per cent) of the 278 Sena candidates analysed have criminal cases registered against them whereas BJP has 138 (53 pc) such contenders out of its 258 nominees who were examined, said the NGO's head Major General (retd) Anil Verma..."
"A 47-year-old woman, a member of the Etah district panchayat, was shot dead on Monday at point blank range outside the ashram of former BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj in Uttar Pradesh. Sakshi Maharaj is absconding and a manhunt has been launched for him, the police alleged. The woman, Sujata Verma, was reportedly a close side of the former BJP MP. She was shot from behind, the bullet piercing through her chest and killing her on the spot... An OBC leader, Sachchidanand Hari Sakshi Maharaj has been a Lok Sabha MP thrice from Farrukhabad in Uttar Padesh.
'The political responses to Rajan Vichare, a Shiv Sena MP, stuffing a chapati into a fasting Muslim’s mouth at the Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi last week tell us something about the texture of Indian politics after the general election... When the story broke, the Shiv Sena’s reaction was to flatly deny that such an incident had occurred.
