Punjab and Haryana High court in its recent decision in the case of Dr. Komal Gupta, specially-abled asked National Medical Commission to constitute a committee to check her eligibility for Post Graduate Medical Courses. This is after the plea filed by Dr. Komal Gupta, a visually impaired MBBS Doctor, through her lawyer Gaurav Kumar Bansal, Advocate, Division Bench of Hon’ble Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High court has directed “National Medical Commission” to constitute a “committee” to look into the “eligibility” of Dr Komal Gupta.

Gaurav Kumar Bansal, advocate while arguing for her client namely Dr. Komal Gupta informed the Hon’ble High Court that despite the fact that the Board of Governors (BOG) in its 13 meeting decided that they will constitute a committee to look into the eligibility for specified PG courses which students with varying types & degrees of disability could pursue, NMC has not constituted such committee and because of this nonaction by “National Medical Commission” students with disabilities like petitioner are not only facing discrimination but also denied to pursue Post Graduation Medical Education Courses.

Dr Komal in her petition has stated that she has pursued the MBBS course with the same percentage of Visual Disability and now the denial to pursue PG course solely on the basis of disability is nothing but discrimination by NMC.

After hearing Gaurav Kumar Bansal, advocate appearing for petitioner (Dr Komal Gupta), Hon’ble division bench headed by Hon’ble Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court directed the NMC to constitute a committee as decided by BOGMCI in its 13 meeting and to decide the eligibility of Dr Komal Gupta.

Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal stated that no institute should be allowed to show disparity to specially-abled or disabled people. Making someone deprived of studies; is yet another shock for them being disabled. Court had asked the NMC to walk the talk and constitute the committee.

In a glowing tribute to the unparalleled history of Sikhs, the Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday announced that the state of the art ‘Dastaan-e-Shahadat’ (Theme Park) depicting glorious history of Sikhs from ‘Pehli Patshahi to Dasvin Patshahi’ and Heritage Street would be inaugurated by Mid November.

Chairing a high level meeting in this regard, the Chief Minister said that the theme park would contain 11 galleries equipped with the ultra modern gadgets such as revolving theatre, Dome, Static Set, Live action studio, mixture of set and live shoot, 270 degree screem projection screen with double screens, set with murals, 360 degree screen with revolving table, Hologram with projection, mapping 270 degree and 3D animations.

The Chief Minister further said that the inauguration would be marked with full religious fervour (Khalsai Jaho Jalal) and prominent personalities from all walks of life besides representatives from other religions would also be invited for the mega event.

The Chief Minister further directed the formation of the departmental committees for smooth and successful conduct of the event. “The DC Roopnagar has been made the overall coordinator and the SSP has also been ordered to ensure ample parking spaces besides unhindered movement of the traffic so as to avoid congestion on the roads”, added Channi.

Among others present on the occasion included Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Chief Secretary Anirudh Tewari, Additional Chief Secretary (Tourism and Cultural Affairs) Sanjay Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Hussan Lal, Principal Secretary (PWD) Vikas Partap, Principal Secretary (Finance) K.A.P. Sinha, Director Tourism and Cultural Affairs Kamaldeep Kaur Brar, Director Local Government Puneet Goyal, DC Rupnagar Sonali Giri and SSP Rupnagar Vivek Sheel Soni.

Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday appealed that ‘Lakhimpur Kisan Memorial Day’ should be observed on the third day of every month to remind people of the brutality of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“This is an appeal to all the residents of UP, well-wishers of farmers, SP and other allied parties to observe ‘Lakhimpur Kisan Memorial Day’ on the 3rd of every month from now on and remind people of the brutality of BJP,” Yadav said in a tweet (roughly translated from Hindi). A total of eight people including four farmers died in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri violence that took place on October 3.

Local farmers blame Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra ‘Teni’ and his son for the violence. They were allegedly mowed down by a vehicle that was part of the convoy of the Minister in Lakhimpur Kheri.

However, MoS Teni had refuted the allegations saying that his son was not present at the site of the incident.

Uttar Pradesh police has so far arrested three people including Ashish Mishra.

The success in the Bihar bypolls had given the ruling Janata Dal (United) a much needed relief amid speculations on the longevity of the Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. In both the seats of Bihar Legislative Assembly— Kusheshwarsthan and Tarapur, whose results were declared on Tuesday, the JD (U) has been able to retain its hold despite much louder campaigns by Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). In the Kusheshwarsthan assembly segment which falls under Samastipur Lok Sabha seat, the JD(U) candidate, Aman Bhushan Hajari defeated his nearest rival the RJD’s Ganesh Bharti by a margin of more than 12,000 votes while in the Tarapur assembly seat, JD(U)’s candidate Rajeev Kumar Singh won by a margin of 3,800 votes. In Kusheshwarsthan, Hajari got 59,887 while the RJD’s Ganesh Bharti polled 47,192 votes.

The by-polls were necessitated by the deaths of Mewalal Choudhary (Tarapur) and Shashi Bhushan Hazari (Kusheshwarsthan), who died during the second wave of Covid pandemic. Both were from the Nitish Kumar led JD (U). These byelections in Bihar became a high stake battle with the entry of both Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in the election campaign. Lalu was campaigning in the elections after six long years. In normal bypolls Nitish Kumar avoids campaigning. A day before counting the leader of opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav went to Darbhanga which is near the Kusheshwarsthan assembly segment to monitor the counting process. JD(U) had also deputed its top leaders in both the seats for the last three weeks. Many believed that if the results came out in the favour of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) then there would be a question mark on the longevity of the state government and the NDA alliance itself.

The RJD was hoping to win at least the Tarapur seat as it had given a ticket to a Baniya candidate who are considered the core voters of the BJP, hoping to split the core vote of the NDA, while retaining its own M-Y combination.

Talking to The Daily Guardian from Patna, JD(U) chief spokesperson and Member of Legislative Council (MLC), Neeraj Kumar said, “The voters of both the seats have given a tight electoral slap to the RJD and its leaders who were wrongly claiming that the 2020 polls were manipulated. The mandate also signals that the voters of Bihar want peace and development not the anarchy which the RJD showcased during its 15-year misrule under Lalu-Rabri Raj and now under Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. Our JD(U) organization will get stronger after the success in the byelections and now onwards we will work with more energy to fulfil the saat nischay (seven commitment) under Nitish kumar Ji’s leadership.”

After the verdict the elder son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav blamed leaders like state RJD president Jagdanand Singh, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s political advisor Sanjay Yadav and party leader Sunil Singh, who all are considered close to the former deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav for the defeat.

The results of the cliffhanging Ellenabad bypolls were declared on Tuesday and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) contestant Abhay SIngh Chautla succeeded in emerging as the winner in the segment as it was being expected by the political experts in wake of the ongoing political scenario. But tall claims of victory by huge margin proved futile as the battle emerged as a neck to neck fight between the INLD and the ruling BJP-JJP parties. Contrary to the expectation, Abhay chautala emerged winner with a margin of just 6737 contrary to the party’s claims and the experts who were expecting INLD’s victory with a difference of at least 15000 to 20000 votes . In continuation to this, the ruling BJP marked its strong presence in Ellenabad, known as the INLD’s bastion.

Out of the total 186403 votes, as many as 151524 were polled in the election. Of the whole, the INLD gained 65298 votes to be followed by the BJP and the Congress parties’ contestants namely Govind Kanda and Pawan Beniwal with 59189 and 20857 votes. While all contestants were required one sixth of the total votes polled to save their fixed deposit i.e. 25254 votes. The INLD candidate Abhay started getting momentum during counting round by round and the candidates of the opposite parties hailing from the BJP-JJP and the Congress were trailing with a slight high margin which indicated the upcoming results to some extent. But finally the margin could not meet the expectations of the INLD.

Regarding this,Anil Vij, the BJP stalwart and the Home Minister said that although the INLD managed to win the election but It should be considered as a moral defeat of the Abhay Chautala as he couldn’t fulfill the claims of huge victory in the segment. Besides, the BJP succeeded in securing second position.

Apart from the aforesaid, it is worth mentioning that the by-poll proved a nightmare for the main opposition Congress as well as the party contestant Pawan Beniwal who ended on third position and failed to save the fixed deposit with a lack of nearly 4000 votes. The by-poll proved a setback for the state party president Kumari Seleja too. She hails from the Sirsa under which Ellenabad constituency falls. Besides she was leading the whole election campaigning and, thus the results of the by poll is being considered a nightmare for her Pawan Beniwal, who had failed to survive the assembly poll against Abhay Chautala in 2019, recently switched over from the BJP to the Congress. He was in the fray as candidate of the main opposition party Congress. While regarding the defeat and victory of the INLD, Bhupender Singh Hooda took at Abhay Singh Chuatala saying that he will now resign from the post again in case the Congress moves no-confidence motion in the assembly in support of the farmers agitation.

Over his victory, Abhay Singh Chuatala said that the credit of his victory goes to the farmers as well the commoners. Besides, the results of the bypoll indicate the hidden alliance of the BJP and the Congress befooling the people of the state.

The results of the assembly elections slated in 2019 reveal that Abhay Singh Chautala, candidate of INLD, survived the election successfully defeating the opponents from the Congress and the BJP parties. He remained on the top with a margin of nearly 12000 voters then.

The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has won by-polls in all four assembly seats in West Bengal.

Trinamool Congress candidates won Dinhata, Santipur, Khardaha and Gosaba assembly with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trailing on the second position on all four seats. TMC’s Udayan Guha won by the margin of 1,64,089 votes over BJP’s Ashok Mandal in Dinhata constituency.

In Santipur seat, TMC’s Braja Kishor Goswami won by a margin of 64,675 votes over BJP’s Niranjan Biswas.

TMC’s Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay emerged victorious on the Kharadaha seat with a margin of 93,832 votes over BJP candidate Joy Saha.

TMC’s Subrata Mondal won the Gosaba assembly seat by a margin of 1,43,051 seats over BJP’s Palash Rana.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the party candidates and said it was victory of people.

Mamata tweeted, congratulating the four candidates. “It’s a people’s victory,” she wrote. “This victory shows how the people of Bengal have chosen development and unity, ignoring the politics of conspiracy and hatred.”

Mamata also promised to take Bengal to a new height of development.

On the other hand, Trinamool All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee sneered at the opposition and tweeted Diwali greetings to the BJP. He wrote, “True Diwali without bets.”

At the same time, he gave a message to the workers not to march for victory through the media. He told the workers to maintain peace in all areas and that the victory procession should not be held, or any unpleasant situation should not be created.

According to party secretary general Parth Chatterjee, the days of BJP are over. “It’s time for the BJP to go,” he said.

Parth Chatterjee thinks that people have faith in the promise that Mamata Banerjee has made to unite India. On the one hand, when the Trinamool wants to establish the existence of the party at the all-India level, he thinks that this victory will provide more impetus.

The Santipur and Dinhata seats fell vacant after BJP MPs Jagannath Sarkar and Nishith Pramanik resigned from the assembly respectively. The other two seats fell vacant as Trinamool Congress MLAs Kajal Sinha (Khardaha) and Jayanta Naskar (Gosaba) died due to COVID-19.

The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had registered a landslide victory in the assembly polls, winning 213 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly. The BJP had emerged as the second-largest party with 77 seats.

WITH INPUTS FROM ANI…