Kapil Sibal filed the nomination for Rajya Sabha

HT Daily News Wrap

Kapil Sibal filed the nomination for Rajya Sabha with the support of the Samajwadi Party, Ex Congress leader Hardik Patel said that joining Gujarat's ruling BJP - just months before assembly elections - remains an option, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that there is nothing worse than demanding dowry for marrying a girl and other top news in today's bulletin.
Kapil Sibal on Wednesday filed the nomination for Rajya Sabha with the support of the Samajwadi Party in the presence of party chief Akhilesh Yadav at the party headquarters in Uttar Pradesh. The former MHRD minister said he had resigned from the Congress on May 16 and is an independent voice. Both Akhilesh Yadav and Kapil Sibal indicated that Sibal has not joined the Samajwadi Party. “I have filed nomination as an Independent candidate. I have always wanted to be an independent voice in the country,” Sibal said adding, “On May 16, I resigned from the Congress Party.” Sibal is known to have close ties with the Yadav family as a senior advocate. Sibal had argued in January 2017 (during the Yadav family feud) at the Election Commission that Akhilesh Yadav should get the ‘Bicycle’ symbol. And eventually, Akhilesh got the symbol. Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi emplaned for India after attending the QUAD summit in Tokyo, he was hosted by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a quiet “tempura” meal – a Japanese dish usually consisting of seafood and vegetables deep-fried in batter – over bilateral talks with both countries deciding to further strengthen economic cooperation. According to reports reaching from Tokyo, PM Modi was very satisfied with his QUAD and bilateral meetings in Tokyo with Japan positive towards economic opportunity in India apart from having a shared agenda under the QUAD rubric. A keen follower of Japanese culture, discipline and development since his Gujarat CM days, PM Modi met three former PMs of Japan apart from the present one and interacted with 40 CEOs of top Japanese companies during his fast and furious visit. It was quite evident from the bilateral meetings with PM Kishida that both countries are invested in each other with Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and Maritime Domain Awareness being the new dimensions for deepening engagement under QUAD. Amid political uproar over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s speech at Cambridge University, Indian civil service officer Siddhartha Verma has posted a video of how he countered Rahul Gandhi’s idea of India. Verma is an Indian Railway Traffic Service officer and a Commonwealth Scholar in Public Police at Cambridge University. “You quoted Article 1 of the Constitution saying India that is Bharat is a union of states as per the constitution. If you turn a page back and look at the preamble, it does mention that India is a nation. Bharat itself is one of the oldest surviving civilisations of the world and the term finds its origin in the vedas and we have a very old civilisation. Even when Chanakya interacted with students in Taxila, he made it clear to them that they might belong to different janapadas but ultimately they belong to the nation that is Bharat,” Verma could be heard saying in the video he shared. ‘Did he use the word nation?” Rahul Gandhi retorted to which the officer said he used the word ‘Rashtra’. “Rashtra is kingdom,” Rahul Gandhi replied. “No, Rashtra is the Sanskrit of nation,” the officer said. “The word nation is a western concept,” Rahul Gandhi said. Ex Congress leader Hardik Patel said on Tuesday that joining Gujarat’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party – just months before assembly elections – remains an option. Patel, who ripped into the Congress’ senior leadership as he quit the party less than a week ago, replied ‘why shouldn’t it be’ when a national news publication asked him if he would consider taking up with the BJP, which he predicted would win a ‘one-sided’ election and retain power for an unprecedented seventh consecutive term. “Why shouldn’t it be…” Patel said when asked if the BJP is an option, adding, “When the elections come, you will see me in an important role.” However, the Patidar leader refrained from any specifics and, when pressed on which party he would join, said, “When it is decided, you will know.” “… there is no plan (for now) … I will sit with friends and well-wishers and think about what I should do so that people will benefit. Our objective is to stay amidst people and thus pick the best option.” Patel also said that were he to join the BJP it would not be on condition that cases (filed during the 2015 Patidar agitation) against him be withdrawn. Criticizing the dowry system, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said that there is nothing worse than demanding dowry for marrying a girl else what will happen to childbirth if a “man marries to another man”. Kumar’s remarks came during the inauguration of a newly constructed girls’ hostel in Patna on Tuesday. Speaking at the occasion, the Chief Minister said,” In our times there used to be no girls in the colleges. How bad it felt. But today, girls are in every field be it medical or engineering. A lot of initiatives have been taken for women’s empowerment. We imposed prohibition. We started a campaign against the dowry system and child marriage.” “There is nothing worse than demanding dowry for marrying a girl. If you will get married then only children will be born. What will happen to childbirth if a man gets married to another man? I have already said that I would attend a marriage only if it was declared that dowry was not taken,” he added.