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LIVE! Rahul to launch ‘Save the Constitution’ drive today

10:03  Naidu rejects impeachment motion against CJI Dipak Misra:  

Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu, who is also the Rajya Sabha chairman, has rejected the opposition’s notice for impeachment of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra

Leaders of the opposition parties had on Friday met Naidu and handed over the notice of impeachment against the chief justice of India bearing signatures of 64 MPs and seven former members, who recently retired.

The opposition parties, led by the Congress, initiated the unprecedented step to impeach the CJI by moving the notice levelling charges against him. 

The parties had briefed the media after handing over the notice to the Upper House chairman.

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09:37  Rahul to launch ‘Save the Constitution’ drive today:  

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will today launch his party’s nationwide ‘Save the Constitution’ campaign, aiming to highlight alleged attacks on the Constitution and Dalits under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led regime.

Seen as the party’s effort to reach out to the community ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the campaign launch is expected to be attended by former prime minister Manmohan Singh, party general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, its senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Sushil Kumar Shinde among others.

The campaign will continue till next year’s April 14, the birth anniversary of Dalit icon Bhim Rao Ambedkar.

Congress’s present and former Dalit lawmakers, those holding offices in zilla parishad, civic bodies and panchayat samitis, the party’s office-bearers attached to its regional units will also attend the event, aimed at sensitising the attendees on the current state of affairs with regard to the community.

The attendees are expected to take the message forward, holding similar campaigns in states to reach out to the community members, sources said.

“Ever since the RSS-supported BJP came to power at the centre, the Indian Constitution has been under severe attack, in one form or the other, thereby, denying the marginalised sections of society their constitutional rights,” chairman of Congress’s Scheduled Castes department Nitin Raut said in a statement.

He added: “The BJP-RSS combine is set to dismantle the social security available for SCs, STs and other weaker sections. The RSS ideology attacks the basic structure of the Indian Constitution. This would be countered by Congress Party.”

Raut also hit out at the Centre over the Supreme Court’s March 20 verdict allegedly diluting stringent provisions mandating immediate arrest under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities (POA) Act. Raut charged the government with “intentional failure” to place before the apex court background and relevant facts relating to the act “holistically”.

The action of the government is in itself an atrocity on the SCs and STs, he added.

Another party leader, wishing not to be named, said, “The community is being denied opportunities in spheres of education and jobs. The programme aims to highlight these issues nationwide.”

Dalits form roughly 17 per cent of the country’s electorate. 

There are 84 parliamentary seats reserved for candidates belonging to the scheduled castes. 

The BJP had bagged nearly half of the seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, reflecting on its success in politically key states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The leader noted that only three-four of those seats were won by the Congress then. — PTI 

09:19  Informal Modi-Xi summit will enhance chemistry between them: Chinese envoy:  

China’s Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui has hoped that an informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping later this week in the Chinese city of Wuhan will enhance “good chemistry” between the two leaders and strengthen bilateral ties.

After a meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced in Beijing that Modi and Xi will hold an informal summit in Wuhan city from April 27 to 28. 

“The summit will highlight the personal friendship and enhance the good chemistry between the two leaders. I believe with the guidance of our two leaders and through joint efforts of the Chinese and Indian people including you and me, China-India relations will turn a new page,”? Luo said in a video message while making a debut on Twitter.

Luo said Wuhan is his home town and that it will be an honour for him to witness the “historic” event in the city.

In a separate tweet, he said, “Smt. @SushmaSwaraj’s visit to China is part of the warm-up efforts for the informal summit between Chinese and Indian leaders.” — PTI

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09:08  BJP should win all polls for 50 yrs: Amit Shah to party workers:  

To make India a global leader, the Bharatiya Janata Party needs to serve the nation for a longer time and party workers should work hard to win all elections from panchayat to Lok Sabha for the next 50 years, its chief Amit Shah said on Sunday.

Shah urged the party cadre to not rest till it emerges victorious in states like Kerala, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

The BJP chief also elaborated on the measures taken by the government to empower women. In the Indian culture and society, women have a high stature equivalent to goddesses, he said. 

His comments come at a time when there has been wide-spread outrage over Kathua and Unnao rape cases which have again brought the issue of safety of women to the centre stage.           

Addressing the concluding session of the party’s ‘Mahila Morcha’ national executive meeting here, Shah said the top priority of the BJP government was to ensure security on borders and handling terrorism strictly by adopting a zero tolerance policy. 

“We have not entered politics for electoral success; we have joined it to make India great again and to ensure food, education and health facilities to the poor in the country,” Shah said according to a party statement.

He said the BJP wants to make India, developed, secure and a country that influences the world.

“And to make India a global leader the party needs to serve the country for a longer time. Therefore, party workers should unitedly work hard to win all the elections from panchayat to Lok Sabha for next fifty years,” he said.

He told party workers that they should not sit idle till the BJP does not win in Kerala, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

Speaking on issues related to women, Shah cited various steps and measures taken by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to empower them.

“We hail from a culture where women have been give the place of a goddess. They were given priority and have very high stature,” he said. 

08:49  Shiv Sena leader Sachin Sawant shot dead in Mumbai:  

Shiv Sena leader Sachin Sawant was shot dead on Sunday nigth allegedly by two motorbike-borne assailants in suburban Kandivali in Mumbai, police said.

Udaykumar Rajeshirke, senior police inspector at the Kurar police station, said the incident happened around 8 pm when the 40-year-old leader was travelling in his car.

The two unidentified assailants stopped his vehicle and fired four rounds at Sawant, an up-shakha pramukh (deputy branch head of Shiv Sena), in Gokul Nagar area, a police official said.

Sawant was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead, he said

Rajeshirke said the police were in the process of filing a case and investigations are underway. Senior police officers refused to divulge details. 

The Kurar Police are investigating the matter. — PTI  

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08:42  AIADMK to join hands with BJP? Signs are visible, says TN ruling party :  

In politically significant remarks, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has said that signs of its working together with Bharatiya Janata Party like a “double-barrelled gun” in the political arena were visible and “no one can sever ties” between the two parties.

Coming out strongly against the principal opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led persistent protests over the Cauvery imbroglio, the AIADMK said “whatever be the number of protests and  demonstrations, no one can sever the ties between the AIADMK and the BJP.”

No one can weaken the bond between “the Central and the State governments” either, the AIADMK said in its Tamil mouthpiece “Namadhu Puratchi Thalaivi Amma.”

The state’s ruling party said the protests by the DMK, its allies and friendly parties on the Cauvery issue were only aimed at spoiling the warmth between it and the BJP.

“The signs are (increasingly) becoming visible for the AIADMK and the BJP to work like a double-barrelled gun in Indian politics. The pathway is clear,” the daily said, while emphasising upon the need for the leadership of the two parties to chart out a roadmap for the purpose.

“A roadmap for it should be thrashed out by the high commands of both the parties. That is the need of the hour,” the AIADMK mouthpiece added.

“The state and the Central regimes led by the AIADMK and the BJP respectively are working responsibly and are headed towards a final resolution of the issue,” the daily said, referring to the Cauvery issue.

Under such circumstances, the AIADMK said, the main opposition DMK was holding “unnecessary protests” as it was “apprehensive” that the State and the Central governments, working in cohesion, would succeed in resolving the Cauvery issue. — PTI

Source: Rediff