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  • The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to investigate alleged irregularities in bulk Form 7 applications during Uttar Pradesh's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, take corrective steps and submit a compliance report. The Commission's counsel told the court that its officers had found the bulk applications false and had not acted on them
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  • Amit Shah announced that the BJP would implement a Uniform Civil Code in Uttar Pradesh if it returned to power in next year's Assembly election. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav questioned why the BJP had waited through two terms in government before making the promise
  • The political dispute over the proposed sale of a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank to Fairfax intensified as Rahul Gandhi questioned the government's decision and raised concerns about employee protections and reservation policies. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the transaction, saying the bank had been revived through recapitalisation and that due process had been followed
  • Congress has asked Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer, State Election Commission and Kolkata Municipal Corporation to provide an online voter-roll search facility and email-based filing of claims and objections for the civic polls. The CPM has separately sought the relocation of three municipal returning officers' offices to north Kolkata to make access easier for voters
  • The Madras High Court directed Tamil Nadu's Cyber Crime Division to monitor online platforms for content amounting to criminal intimidation of sitting judges and ordered police to act against threats and personal abuse. It declined to impose a blanket ban on peaceful discussion or criticism of judicial decisions, distinguishing criticism of judgments from intimidation of judges
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  • The Reserve Bank of India intensified cybersecurity scrutiny of banks after a rise in attacks, asking lenders to demonstrate compliance with existing rules, examine vulnerabilities in application programming interfaces and explain preparations for AI-related risks. The review follows a leak of data belonging to 3,900 SBI customers and more than 700 unauthorised transfers worth about $2 million from two non-bank lenders
  • India's foreign-exchange reserves fell by $1.27 billion to $719.75 billion in the week ended October 23, marking a seventh consecutive weekly decline and the lowest level in more than two months. RBI data also showed bank credit grew 17.94% year-on-year to ₹232.54 lakh crore by October 15, ahead of 16.6% growth in deposits
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  • India defeated Japan 4-1 in the men's Asian Champions Trophy in Jalandhar to register a third consecutive victory. Abhishek Nain scored twice, while captain Harmanpreet Singh and Vishnukant Singh added one goal each
  • New Zealand beat India by 87 runs in the fourth T20 International at Auckland, with Glenn Phillips scoring 107 off 49 balls as the hosts posted 259-7. India were restricted to 172-9 but retain a 3-1 lead in the five-match series
  • Supreme Court wonders how scammers know who keeps huge funds in their accounts, says bank staff is involved in digital arrest scams and asks RBI to mandate indemnification by banks of money lost by customers in digital arrest scams
Congress conducts 'public impeachment' of CEC Gyanesh Kumar in mock Parliament at party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's house /////// Rahul Gandhi says Kumar is not going to survive as CEC
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Will Rajasthan Go The Madhya Pradesh Way?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-07-12 22:06:41

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

For the last few days, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot was crying hoarse that the BJP was offering money and other enticements to Congress MLAs to defect and cause his government to collapse. But it now transpires that the fissure was from within. It is being reported that deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot was talking to the BJP for the last 3 months. Jyotiraditya Scindia’s defection must have given him the courage to go against the party.

That Gehlot was not on the same page with Pilot was common knowledge since the day the government was formed. While Gehlot was miffed that Pilot was being given undue importance for a team victory and for causing the defeat of his son, Pilot was angry that despite putting his all, he was not made the chief minister.

The Congress high command, as is its habit, wanted the two local satraps to fight so neither gained prominence. No one tried to settle their dispute and let the acrimony between them fester. The trigger for the revolt now is said to be a letter that Pilot received from the Special Operations Group of Rajasthan Police asking him to appear before it to record his statement in the case of tapping o phones of BJP leaders in the state. Since the home portfolio is with Gehlot, Pilot sees this as an attempt by him to tarnish his image and sideline him.

As of now, Sachin Pilot is claiming the support of 30 Congress MLAs in Rajasthan. The Congress general secretary in charge of the state, Avinash Pande, on the other hand has said that all MLAs are in touch with him and have pledged full support to the party. Pilot has decided not to attend the legislature party meeting called by the chief minister at his residence tomorrow morning.

Although the Congress is firm that it will not allow a Madhya Pradesh like situation in Rajasthan, there are firm pointers that Gehlot will not survive this revolt. If Pilot has the support of 30 MLAs, then no one can save Gehlot. But if Pilot has only 16 MLAs, as was initially reported, then the wily Gehlot can still crush the rebellion. For, the Congress has 107 MLAs and the BJP 72. Losing 16 will take Congress to 91. There are 12 independents. Even if the BJP manages to snare all of them, it will still have just 84 MLAs. Gehlot can still manage to run the government in a house whose strength will be reduced to 184 (assuming that the defectors lose their voting rights) as it has the support of the CPM, the RLD and the BTP. Hence, it all depends on how the dice rolls in the legislature party meeting tomorrow. 

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