DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ADDRESS TO JOINT SITTING OF PARLIAMENT 28/06/2024 90 118 145 76 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Mandate for strong & decisive govt, historic steps this Budget: President ‘Emergency darkest chapter of direct attack on Constitution’ SHUBHANGI KHAPRE MUMBAI, JUNE 27 VIKAS PATHAK NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken DIVYA A NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 RELEASING THE 2023 Report on International ReligiousFreedom on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken flagged a “concerning increase” in anticonversion laws, hate speech, and demolitions of homes and places of worship belonging to minority communities in India. “Today,governmentsaround the world continue to target individuals, shutter places of worship, forcibly displace communities and imprison people because of their religious beliefs,” Blinken said. He said that even in the US, reports of hate crimes and incidents targeting Muslims and Jews have increased dramatically. “In India, we see a concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions of homes and places of worship CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju at Parliament House complex on Thursday. PTI INPARLIAMENT,PAGE7 1998, 2019, 2024 How 3 NDA speeches framed Constitution, coalition and mandate VIKAS PATHAK NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 E PRESIDENT DROUPADI Murmu's address ● to Parliament Thursday was a strong assertion of continuity that the next five years would build on the previous ten. Without referring to allies, the speech flagged the “clear majority”tothegovernmentforathird term on the back of a “decisive mandate” and invoked the “unstable” (read coalition) governments of the past. Compared to President Ram Nath Kovind’s inaugural speech in 2019 and President K R Narayanan’s in 1998, when Atal BihariVajpayeecameatthehead of a coalition government, Thursday’s speech had telling messages. EXPLAINED Blinken: Rise in hate speech, laws against conversion in India a concern UNDERLINING THAT the Lok Sabha election mandate was for a “strong and decisive government” to ensure that the “work of making India a developed nation continues uninterrupted”, President Droupadi Murmu said Thursday that the Union Budget next month will see “many historic steps” along with “major economic and social decisions”. Reflecting the views of the new government in her address to the joint sitting of Parliament, the President said, “The pace of reforms will be further accelerated in tune with the aspirations of people of India for rapid development.” Her speech addressed the imperatives of politics and governance asthe NDA coalitionbegan its third consecutive term in office with the BJP no longer in majorityonitsowninLokSabha. It also echoed the government’s counter to the Congressled Opposition’s election campaign of a threat to the Constitutionif theBJPweretoreturn to power. Recalling the Emergencyimposed in June 1975 when the Congress government of Indira Gandhi was in power, the President called it the “biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution”. “TheConstitutionof Indiahas stood up to every challenge and every test in the past decades. EvenwhentheConstitutionwas in the making, there were forces in the world who wished India to fail. Even after the Constitution came into force, it wasattacked many times. Today is 27th June. The imposition of Emergency on 25th June, 1975 was the biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution. The entire country felt outraged. But the country emerged victorious over such unconstitutional forces as the traditions of the Republic lie at In President Murmu’s address, the coalition phase has been referred to as a phase of “unstable governments” that lasted “several decades,” when “many governments, even if willing, were neither able to bring reforms nor take critical decisions.” Mandate 2024, she said, was a “decisive” one and one of trust in “policy, intention, dedication and decisions.” Cut to 2019. The first address of Kovind to MPs also used the expression “clear mandate” and made no mention of the NDA or coalition.TheBJPhasfallenshort of a majority by 32 seats this time, whileit was 31 seats above the majority mark in 2019. When Vajpayee had come to power in 1998 with a large NDA and a BJP with just above 180 seats,thetoneof thePresidential address delivered by Narayanan was conciliatory. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LS will have Dy Speaker, talks soon to decide if post with NDA or Opp LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 THE 18TH Lok Sabha will have a Deputy Speaker, a source in the government said Thursday. “There will be a Deputy Speaker in this House. But it has not yet been decided if the post should be offered to the OppositionorNDAalliesorif the BJP should keep it. There will be discussionsonit,”thesourcesaid. The Congress has been demandingthattheDeputySpeaker post go to the Opposition. In the 17th Lok Sabha, the post remained vacant while in 2014,AIADMK’sMThambiDurai was Deputy Speaker. During the Congress-led UPA’s two terms, the post was offered to the BJP and its MPs Charanjit Singh Atwal and Kariya Munda became Deputy Speaker in 2004 and 2009, respectively. This time, BJP partners TDP and JD(U) have maintained that they will not demand the post. OnWednesday,TDPnational spokesperson Pattabi Ram Kommareddy told The Indian Express:“Wearenotaspiringfor the post. We have made it very clear.” The BJP too, he said, has not approached the TDP to fill the post. Another top TDP leader said, “From the beginning, the TDP has not expressed its interest in either the Speaker orthe Deputy Speaker post. We have left it open to the other (NDA) allies, that is if they are interested.” Sources in the Opposition said the government has not communicated anything to them so far. AsectionintheCongressisof the view that a party MP should be nominated if the post is offered to the Opposition, but another section thinks that the Congressshouldofferthepostto its allies and create a positive perceptionabouttheunityof the INDIA bloc. In shift, Chouhan to hold meetings with state farm ministers NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 IN A departure from the BJP's last two governments, Union AgricultureMinisterShivrajSingh Chouhanissettoholdone-on-one meetings with state agriculture ministers, beginning with ChhattisgarhandAssamonJuly1. The Agriculture Ministry is learnttohavewrittentothestate ministers, inviting them for the consultations on issues related tothefarmsector.Thestateministershavebeenaskedtoprepare POST THE Lok Sabha election setback, the BJP is set to give Pankaja Munde what she has long desired – a stake in state politics. Having failed to win a single seat in the Marathwada region, the party is planning to bring the OBC leader to the House via the Legislative Council, followed by a ministerial post, sources said. Theeldestof threedaughters of the late Gopinath Munde, the BJP’s most prominent OBC face in Maharashtra once, Pankaja has never hidden her displeasureather“sidelining”inthestate unit since the rise of Devendra Fadnavis.Having given hera role in the party national organisation, the BJP this time gave PankajaaticketfortheLokSabha polls only after realisation sunk in of the ground beneath it slipping, both on account of the Maratha quota protests and the counter-OBC mobilisation. The ticket from Beed to Pankajawasatthecostof hersister Pritam, a two-term MP from the constituency. While Pankaja lost,byanarrow6,000votes,the party is now set to ensure an MLC win for her, said sources. Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan PowerPoint presentations and share their views and suggestions on the situation of farmers and agriculture in their states, said sources. InthefirstroundonJuly1,the agriculture ministers of Chhattisgarh and Assam will CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Hindi names to FIR leeway: Karnataka lists incongruous provisions in report THE CITY KIRAN PARASHAR & ARUN JANARDHANAN BENGALURU, CHENNAI, JUNE 27 MUMBAI BRACES FOR CLOGGED DRAINS, WATERLOGGING WOES BANGANGA TANK: BMC SLAPS SHOWCAUSE ON CONTRACTOR P 3, 4 FROM NAMING the three new laws in Hindi; not making rape gender neutral; introducing community service as a punishment without defining it; allowing a police officer 14 days to make a preliminary investigation before registering an FIR – the Karnataka government flagged key issues on the new criminal code to the Centre. “Whileappreciatingtheneed for de-colonisation, the content in the revised Billmerely reflects tokenismandad-hocism,”anex- NEW CRIMINAL CODE THE COUNTDOWN pert committee headed by KarnatakaLawMinisterHKPatil recommended to the Centre. The 88-page report lists various provisions which it deems incongruous. The report was submitted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on October 17, 2023 after which it was for- warded to the Home Ministry. While criminal law, including all matters included in the Indian Penal Code is part of the Concurrent List under the Constitution, since law and order is a state subject, states will play a key role in the implementation of the new Sanhitas. Separately, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have written to Union HomeMinisterAmitShah,seeking deferral of the implementationof thethreenewlaws.Asper a notification in the official gazette, the three laws are set to come to force on July 1. “The replacement of the… CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Pankaja Munde A highly placed source in the BJPsaid,“Thestatecorecommittee leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis, have recommended the candidature of Pankaja Munde for MLC and Cabinet berth in the Eknath Shinde-led coalition government.Thecentralleadershiphas also given its consent.” Reduced to nine Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, from 23 that it won in 2019, the BJP realises the need to rethink its strategy ahead of the Assembly elections which are just months away. Crucial to its fortunes remains projecting a strong face that can consolidate its traditionalvotebaseamongtheOBCs. Not only does Pankaja fill that gap,theMundesadditionallyare Vanjari (OBC) faces from Marathwada, the hotbed of the Maratha quota stir. The BJP has an OBC face in its state president Chandrashekhar CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD RUSSIA CONSIDERS DOWNGRADING OF RELATIONS WITH WEST: KREMLIN PAGE 14 ‘SEXUAL ASSAULT OF MINOR GIRL’ Karnataka CID files chargesheet against ex-CM Yediyurappa under POCSO Act APURVA VISHWANATH CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HARIKISHAN SHARMA After Maharashtra election setback, BJP re-discovers Pankaja Munde; may become minister NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 THE CRIMINAL Investigation Department (CID) of the Karnataka Police on Thursday filed a chargesheet against former chief minister and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa in connection with allegations of sexually assaulting a minor. The 81-year-old former CM has been charged under Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which prescribes punishment for sexual assault of a minor. The law provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of three years which can be extended up to five years in jail. Additionally, Yediyurappa also faces charges under the IndianPenalCodeSections354A (sexual harassment), 204 (destruction of evidence) and 214 (offering gift or restoration of property in consideration of screening offender). Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa Three of the former CM's associates, Arun Y M, Rudresh M andYMariswamy,havealsobeen accused under IPC Sections 204 and 214 for allegedly destroying evidence of a video recorded by the minor's mother of her confrontation with Yediyurappa after the alleged incident. In a police complaint filed on March14,theminor'smotheralleged that the incident occurred when she and her daughter visited Yediyurappa's residence on February2,2024,forhelpinseeking justice in an earlier case of alleged sexual assault by a relative on the girl. A police case was registered, and the case was transferred to the CID on March 15. The chargesheet, filed in a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Tracked from UK, GPS device under Haryana INLD chief’s car led to murder PAGE 1 ANCHOR SUKHBIR SIWACH CHANDIGARH, JUNE 27 ANAME uttered during aninterrogation in March this year — that of wanted gangster Kapil Sangwan — was the first clue that there was more to the murder of Haryana Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief and former MLA Nafe Singh Rathee thaninitiallyassumed.Nafewasgunned downinsidehis sportsutility vehicle (SUV) in Haryana’s Bahadurgarh on February 25. The assumption provedto be spot on, says the chargesheet submitted in a CBI court in PanchkulaonMay30.According to the chargesheet, Kapil, one of Delhi’s most wanted gangsters who is currently suspected to be hiding in the United Kingdom, allegedly tracked Nafe’s vehicle for days before his murder with thehelpof aportableGPSdevice that was attached magnetically to his Toyota Fortuner’s stepney (located under the car). The investigation so far by theCBI,whichtook overthecase on March 5, revealed that Nafe’s shooters followed his car for Haryana INLD chief Nafe Singh Rathee three days, allegedly based on GPSinformationsharedbyKapil. The probe also states that the shooters stayed in touch with Kapil over Signal, Facebook and WhatsApp for three months to plan the murder. While the chargesheet does not mention who fitted the GPS tracker on the SUV, it states that the device was purchased by an The spot where Nafe Singh Rathee was gunned down in Haryana’s Bahadurgarh on February 25. Manoj Dhaka “unknown person” from a shop named “Music Car” in Delhi’s DwarkaonFebruary7.Theprobe has also revealed that a fake Aadhaar card in the name of a Bihar resident was used to activate the device. From February 8 to March 2, the probe has revealed, Kapil logged in to view the GPS location of Nafe’s vehicle from a UK-based IP address (the unique identifying number assigned to every device connected to the Internet). Whilethechargesheetnames fourNationalCapitalRegionresidents — Aashish, Sachin, Atul and Nakul — as the politician’s shooters, Dharmender from Rohtak and Amit Gulia from Delhi stand accused of conspiring with Kapil to murder Nafe. While Ashish, Sachin and Dharmenderareincustody,Amit wasalreadyinaDelhijailinconnection with another case. Speaking to The Indian Express, Nafe’s son Jitender Rathee said, “The police told me thatamagneticGPSdevice—the size of nearly two power banks — was attached to the car’s stepney. The magnetic device was probably attached while standing behind or next to the SUV.” Shooters Sachin and Ashish, who were arrested from Goa on March 4, told the Haryana Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) that “they killed the former MLA (Nafe) on Kapil Sangwan's directions”. Their interrogation led to the police learning about Kapil’s alleged involvement in the murder and the existence of the GPS device. Nafe's vehicle was then taken to a Toyota agency in Bahadurgarh for inspection, which led to the recovery of the portabledevice.Thechargesheet does not mention the date on which the devicewas recovered. AccordingtotheCBI,theconspiracy to murder Nafe was hatched in November 2023 but CONTINUED ON PAGE 2