New Delhi, Jan 28: Seven political personalities, hailing from Bihar, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, joined the Congress on Tuesday. The most prominent among them is Bhagirath Manjhi, son of the legendary ‘Mountain man’ Dashrath Manjhi.

The leaders joined the grand old party in the presence of Pawan Khera, Chairman, Media and Publicity wing of AICC, and Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee President.

The leaders were inducted at an event at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in the national capital.

Others, who joined the Congress, included former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Nishant Anand, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nighat Abbas, former DGHS Jagdish Prasad, writer and journalist Frank Huzur and All India Prajapati Kumbhar Sangh Bihar President Manoj Prajapati.

Bhagirath Manjhi hails from Gehlour village in Mohra block of Gaya district, Bihar. His induction into the party comes days after he participated in the ‘Samvidhaan Suraksha Sammelan’ held in Patna, where he shared the stage with Rahul Gandhi.

Manjhi said that he decided to join the Congress to take forward his resolve to carry forward his father’s legacy of empowering the underprivileged.

Manoj Prajapati has been an ardent advocate for the empowerment of the Prajapati community and other extremely backward classes in Bihar and has worked tirelessly for their empowerment over the years. He also participated in the “Samvidhaan Suraksha Sammelan” and shared the stage with Rahul Gandhi, where he expressed his admiration for the Congress MP’s respect and vision for the marginalised communities.

Nishant Anand, former AAP spokesperson, who joined the Congress boasts of a distinguished academic and professional record.

Padma Shri Jagdish Prasad is a celebrated cardiac surgeon and former Director General of Health Services. At just 34, Prasad was selected as a professor by the Union Public Service Commission. He started his illustrious career as a heart surgeon at Safdarjung Hospital in 1985.

Ali Anwar Ansari is a former Rajya Sabha Member and a social activist. He is a prominent political leader, social activist, senior journalist, and writer and has also been a staunch advocate for social justice and secularism throughout his career.

New Delhi, Jan 28: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted custody parole to the 2020 Delhi riots accused Tahir Hussain to campaign ahead of the February 5 Assembly polls in the national capital.

Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has fielded Hussain as a candidate from the Mustafabad constituency.

A bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath ordered that Tahir Hussain walk out of jail for 12 hours every day under police custody from January 29 to February 3.

The Bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta, recorded the undertaking given on Tahir Hussain’s behalf that he may deposit the expenses incurred towards his security arrangements. The expenses for the first two days of police custody need to be paid by 6 p.m. Tuesday, said the apex court.

Further, it restrained Tahir Hussain from making any public comments regarding the merits of the cases pending against him.

Justice Nath-led bench clarified that its order granting custody parole will have no bearing on the merits of the bail application pending adjudication before the Delhi High Court in connection with Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma’s murder case.

Earlier in the day, the top court asked the Delhi Police to apprise it of the security measures that would be needed if Tahir Hussain is allowed to campaign under custody parole. It told Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, appearing for the Delhi Police, to give an estimate of how much security personnel would be required if Tahir Hussain is given custody parole and the expenses it would entail.

Senior advocate Siddharth Agarwal, appearing on Tahir Hussain’s behalf, stated that he was restricting his prayer to grant custody parole in view of the limited time of 3-4 days left for campaigning.

Agarwal said that Tahir Hussain is willing to stay away from his residence and will stay in a hotel room and provide details. Opposing this, ASG Raju said that granting relief to Tahir Hussain would set a “wrong precedent” as every prisoner would then file a nomination to contest elections to walk out of jail.

After the Justice Nath-led Bench sought to know the details of security arrangements and costs if Tahir Hussain is granted custody parole, the law officer sought an adjournment to seek instructions.

Last week, a 2-judge Bench of the top court delivered a split verdict on Tahir Hussain’s petition. While Justice Pankaj Mithal dismissed his plea, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah was inclined to order Tahir Hussain’s release on interim bail in view of his incarceration of over four years on the charge of being an instigator during the 2020 riots in the national capital. Resultantly, the 2-judge Bench ordered the file to be placed before the Chief Justice of India, who is the master of the roster, for referring the matter to another bench.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had turned down Tahir Hussain’s plea for interim bail but granted him parole to enable him to file nomination papers for the upcoming Assembly polls. Following the order of the Delhi High Court, Hussain, while out on custody parole, did not have any access to the phone or Internet, did not interact with any person except the officials concerned in the nomination process, and also could not address the media.

On January 14, the Justice Neena Bansal Krishna-led Bench reserved its decision after hearing the arguments raised by senior advocate Rebecca John, representing the former Councillor, and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, who appeared on behalf of Delhi Police. Opposing Hussain’s interim bail plea, ASG Sharma said the AIMIM candidate, facing “gruesome allegations”, may file his nomination papers from Tihar jail or under custody parole. Sharma added that there is no fundamental right to contest elections and if released on interim bail, Hussain may influence witnesses.

New Delhi, Jan 28: AICC treasurer and former Delhi Assembly Speaker Ajay Maken on Tuesday trained his guns at the AAP government for withholding financial assistance of 3.20 lakh beneficiary girls under the Ladli Yojana, launched by the Congress government in the national Capital in 2008.

As part of the Congress party’s ‘AAP ke Pap’ campaign, former Delhi minister Maken shared findings of a CAG report at a Press conference and questioned claims by the AAP government that it is working for the welfare of the people.

“The AAP government is saying that they will give Rs 2,100 a month to women in future but is denying girls their due monetary benefits under the ‘Ladli Yojana’ despite having the money. Who will trust that they will give the promised Rs 2,100 a month to women?” he said.

AICC treasurer Maken said the AAP government was afraid of getting exposed, so it suppressed the CAG report which made revelations about the poor implementation of the Ladli Yojana.

Till December 2022 as many as 3.2 lakh women were awaiting the Ladli Yojana’s pay-out despite the government having Rs 618 crore for the scheme, said Maken, citing findings of the CAG report whose excerpts have come into public domain.

The Ladli scheme, aimed at preventing female feticide and promoting the girl child’s education, involved several instalments of the Delhi government’s financial assistance for girls from the time of birth till turning 18 – a total payout of over Rs 1 lakh over almost two decades.

Maken said under the AAP government the Ladli scheme’s registrations had come down three times since its launch by the Sheila Dikshit government.

“Some of the beneficiaries awaiting payment have turned 26 while they should have been given the money at 18,” said Maken, and accused the AAP government of sitting over the money meant for girl children.

Maken also hit out at the AAP government for not building three old age homes in Sarita Vihar, Chhatarpur and Geeta Colony despite the Union government giving the land for the purpose in 2013.

“The Sheila Dikshit government had enacted a law in 2007 for establishing senior citizen homes in each district. The AAP government has failed to implement the scheme,” Maken said.