Morning Brief: MP Cliffhanger Ends With Congress Short Of Own Majority; Rahul Gandhi’s EVM Barbs Refuse To Die Down Despite Win; And More

Good morning, dear reader! Here’s your morning news brief for today.

Congress Stops Short Of Own Majority In MP

The Rahul Gandhi-led Congress has emerged as the single largest party in Madhya Pradesh (MP). According to the Election Commission’s website, the party has managed to win 114 seats, one short of halfway mark in the 230 seat state assembly. The Bharatiya Janata Party has won 109 seats. Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) have got two and one seats, respectively. Four seats are listed under ‘others’ category.

The Congress has already staked claim to form the government and is likely to get support from BSP and SP. Kamal Nath has sought an appointment from Governor Anandiben Patel. He is likely to be the state’s next chief minister. In 2013 elections, the BJP had won 165 seats, followed by the Congress at 58.

Rahul Gandhi’s EVM Barbs Refuse To Die Down Despite Win

Despite victory in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, the Congress continued to complain about Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Party’s president Rahul Gandhi, addressing a press conference yesterday, said doubts over non-tamperability of EVMs remain. “You have a countrywide electronic system and a chip installed in that system can be manipulated to disturb or affect the result of the entire poll,” said Gandhi, likely to be the ‘united’ opposition’s prime ministerial candidate.

Unwilling to accept defeat in Telangana, where it managed to get only 19 seats, the party has claimed that EVMs were manipulated and has written to the Chief Electoral Officer. Its leaders said EVMs were showing ‘distorted’ trends. In Madhya Pradesh, the party has filed a complaint with the Election Commission accusing Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan of delaying results in five seats.

US Adds Pakistan To Blacklist For Religious Freedom Violations

The Trump administration has added Pakistan to its list of countries that violate religious freedom. Last year, amid concerns about the treatment of minorities in Pakistan, including Shiites, Ahmadis and Christians.the US had placed the country on a special watch list. The move comes just weeks after Pakistan released Asia Bibi, a Christian woman on death row for blasphemy.

Pakistan’s “all weather friend” China is also on the list for its curbs on Muslims and Christians. Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are also on the list. Russia has been put on watch list.

SC Dismisses PIL Against Jaitley

The SC on Tuesday refused to recall its order by which it had imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on a lawyer for filing a PIL against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, raising allegations relating to capital reserve of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it would hear the petitioner only after he deposited Rs 50,000 as cost with the apex court registry.

The lawyer, who had filed the PIL in his personal capacity, on Tuesday sought urgent hearing of his plea alleging that the RBI was in mess as its Governor Urjit Patel had resigned. The apex court, however, did not entertain his plea. PIL accuses the finance minister of “plundering” RBI’s capital reserves.

Three Policemen Shot Dead by Terrorists in Kashmir's Shopian

Three jawans of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, who were guarding a minority pocket in Shopian, were killed by terrorists early on Tuesday. The policemen were shot when terrorists entered into a guard room.The deceased have been identified as Abdul Majid, Manzoor Ahmed and Mohammed Amin.

The fourth policeman, who was injured in the attack, was rushed to the hospital and is now stated to be critical. According to multiple reports, the terrorists walked away with the weapons of the four jawans.

From Swarajya

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Daughter Of The Matriarch: What lies ahead for Vasundhara Raje.

Finally, A ‘Congress-Mukt’ North East: The Congress, which has been in power for a long time in Mizoram, has been punished by the electorate.

How KCR Beat The Mahakutami: K Chandrashekar Rao has secured a comfortable victory for his party. Here’s how he did it.

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