THURSDAY 16 MAY, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard GAZA WAR US MULLS ARMS SALE TO ISRAEL FIRST SET OF 14 TO GET INDIAN CITIZENSHIP The Biden administration has told key lawmakers that it plans to move forward on a new $1 bn sale of arms and ammunition to Israel, congressional aides said. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 11 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 PRESSINTAKE SHAH INVOKES SATYAJIT RAY, TAKES ‘HIRAK RANI’ JIBE AT DIDI | P10 AS HIS FATHER’S SHADOW LOOMS, CHIRAG FACES A TOUGH TASK | P9 EXPRESS READ Official dies as lift in copper mine crashes A senior official died when a lift collapsed in the Khetri copper mine in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district on Tuesday night, trapping 15 people inside. After a rescue operation that lasted 15 hours and continued till early on Wednesday morning, 14 people were saved, but the Chief Vigilance Officer from Kolkata, Upendra Pandey, died. The rescued officials suffered serious injuries, including fractures, and are being treated in hospitals in Jaipur. Sisodia’s judicial custody extended The Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday extended the judicial custody of former deputy CM Manish Sisodia till May 30 after considering the CBI plea. Sisodia, jailed in the liquor policy case, was produced in the court via video conferencing. The AAP leader had last week moved Delhi High Court challenging the Rouse Avenue Court’s dismissal of his bail plea. The case is being probed by both the CBI and the ED. P3  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 14 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 H I 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 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 S U L A G N A S E N G U P TA @ Kolkata MAN WITH MIDAS TOUCH Olympic champ Neeraj Chopra at the Federation Cup on Wednesday. Neeraj, who won gold, was competing in India for the first time since March 2021 | SHAMIM QURESHY | P13 WEST Bengal CM Mamata B a n e r j e e o n We d n e s d ay claimed she would provide outside support to the Opposition’s INDIA bloc if it came 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 bloc, 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 from Munich a miss A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru Attempt to pacify AAP leaders declined to give details about Sanjay Singh’s meeting with the former DCW chief. The meeting at Maliwal’s residence is seen as an attempt to pacify the leader who has been with the party since its inception. Swati Maliwal. She had reported the incident to the police by calling on the number ‘112’. We condemn this incident. The CM has taken cognizance of the incident and has called for strict action,” Singh said. Singh acknowledged Maliwal’s contribution to the society . “She is one of the senior-most leaders of the party We stand . with her,” Singh said. ABSCONDING MP Prajwal Revanna, the prime accused in Hassan sex scandal, seems to have again hoodwinked the SIT, which was expecting him to land in KIA around 12.30 am on Thursday . It is learnt that the MP did not board the flight which he had booked. The flight ticket is said to have been booked by a travel agency in Haryana in Prajwal’s name, indicating that he might return to Bengaluru from Munich early Thursday Sleuths of SIT waited . for Prajwal at KIA to take him into their custody as soon as he landed there. Prajwal had booked flight tickets on two occasions, but cancelled them. This might be a ploy by him to hoodwink the SIT, according to sources. The MP has been on the run for nearly a fortnight ever since the formation of the SIT. Prajwal is said to have gone to Germany on April 27. Prajwal, who has a diplomatic passport, requires no visa to travel abroad. Two regular notices, a lookout notice and a Blue Corner Notice have been issued against him. The diplomatic passport issued to Prajwal is valid till June 4. New claimant enters race to become Kerala Cong chief K S S R E E 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 Kerala 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 desert- 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 . Will give outside support to INDIA bloc, says Mamata Singh meets Swati amid Prajwal hoodwinks raging row over assault cops, gives flight A day after his admission that CM Arvind Kejriwal’s PS Bibhav Kumar “misbehaved” with AAP MP Swati Maliwal at the CM’s residence, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Wednesday met Maliwal. Sources said Singh was accompanied by Delhi Commission for Women member Vandana Singh. The meeting reportedly took place at Maliwal’s residence. Singh admitted that Kumar misbehaved with Maliwal on Monday at the CM’s residence and that the AAP chief would take strict action in the matter. His statement came more than 30 hours after Maliwal approached cops the police about the incident. “On Monday morning, Maliwal went to Arvind Kejriwal’s residence to meet him. While she was waiting in the drawing room, Bibhav Kumar came there and misbehaved with 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 ed the party and have reached where I am by working my way up from the booth level,” Prakash told this newspaper. It was just the other day that Sudhakaran faced a setback from the 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 posts. “Out of the total 21 Congress MLAs, there is only one Ezhava,” political analyst Ajith Sreenivasan said. “After R Sankar, no Congress leader from the Ezahava community has become CM. While his contemporaries A K Antony and Oommen Chandy could make it to the top post, Vayalar Ravi was ignored...” he added. SENIOR LEADER JOINS FRAY MP Adoor Prakash made a claim to the presidentship of KPCC. “Am I not eligible for the post? I have been working for the Cong since 1972. I have never left party...” well known. “Do not count on the CPM and the Congress in Bengal. They are not with us; they are with BJP here. I am talking about that (INDIA bloc) in Delhi,” she said. The CM also referred to Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s defeat in the 2004 elections, despite the BJP’s ‘India Shining’ slogan. Banerjee criticised the EC for scheduling polls over two months, alleging that the decision favoured BJP while disregarding the hardships faced by the common people due to excessive heat. “The Election Commission is a puppet and operates according to BJP’s directions. Poll is being held for two-and-half months, have you (poll officials) realised the struggle of the common people,” she asked. MORE REPORTS ON PG 5, 6, 7, 9 & 10 ‘Lackadaisical approach’: SC slams U’Khand over forest fires S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed its displeasure over the steps taken by the Uttarakhand government in controlling forest fires, calling the state’s approach “lackadaisical”. A three-judge bench, led by Justice BR Gavai, directed the Uttarakhand chief secretary to be present personally before it on May 17, the next date of hearing in the case, to give explanation, including on utilisation of funds and vacancies in the forest department. “We are at pains to say that the approach of state of Uttarakhand in controlling the fires is, to say the least, lackadaisical. Though action plans have been prepared and finalised, no steps are being taken for implementation of the same,” said the bench, also comprising Justices SVN Bhatti and Sandeep Mehta. The Uttarakhand government in the last hearing had informed the SC about the steps taken by it to control forest fires. “0.1 per cent of wildlife cover was battling forest fires and some section of media reporting that 40% of Uttarakhand was burning was totally misleading. There were 398 forest fires from November 2023 till today. All of them manmade,” Uttarakhand deputy advocate general Jatinder Kumar Sethi told the apex court. Sethi said forest fires were not new to Uttarakhand and every summer the forest department deals with such fires. The SC was hearing the matter related to forest fires on an application filed by senior advocate Rajiv Dutta.