Cricketers Hardik Pandya, Munaf Patel, BCCI’s Rajeev Shukla accused of rape by gangster's wife

Bengaluru: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday slammed Rahul Gandhi’s "wealth redistribution promise", stating that only someone with no practical knowledge can speak like that.

 “He is dreaming of a revolution. By talking about wealth redistribution, Rahul Gandhi has insulted and humiliated two Congress Prime Ministers who brought market reforms and increased the wealth of the nation,” he added, recalling the contribution of P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh in economic liberalisation.

Accusing Gandhi of indirectly trying to say that what the two Congress Prime Ministers did was wrong, Gowda said, "He (Rahul Gandhi) has torn up their economic reforms like he had torn up an ordinance (which sought to overturn the rule that disqualifies convicted MPs and MLAs) issued by (the then) Manmohan Singh (government)."

The 90-year-old JD(S) supremo ridiculed the Congress manifesto claiming that only a party that is sure of never coming to power can make as many promises.

“The Congress has promised so many things in its manifesto. The only party that is very sure of never coming to power will promise so much,” Gowda said at a press conference here.

He said the Congress wants to turn this country 'upside down' and the promises made by it indicated that it wants to come to power 'at any cost'.

“Rahul Gandhi wants to do a wealth survey and distribute the wealth. Does he think he is a mass leader,” Deve Gowda said.

Picking up points from the Congress manifesto ‘Nyay Patra’, Gowda said Rahul Gandhi wants to 'give 30 lakh new central government jobs and run this country'.

“There are only 40 lakh sanctioned jobs. How can he create 30 lakh more jobs overnight? How much will he pay these people? Where will he employ them,” he asked.

“Only someone with no practical knowledge can speak like this. (P) Chidambaram was the manifesto committee chairman. Does he agree with Rahul Gandhi’s immature economic ideas,” Gowda said.

Bengaluru, Apr 29: HD Revanna, the father of Karnataka MP Prajwal Revanna, has accused rivals of creating a conspiracy out of "old videos", a comment that is likely to raise a bigger row over his son's alleged link to the obscene videos.

A woman yesterday filed a police case against Prajwal Revanna and his father over alleged sexual assault. Prajwal Revanna, the Janata Dal (Secular) MP and grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, has denied the latest allegations and also filed a police complaint over circulation of obscene videos, which he said were morphed.

Prajwal Revanna left for Germany on Saturday morning after voting in the Lok Sabha elections a day earlier.

"I know what kind of conspiracy is going on. I am not someone who'll get scared and run away. They have released something that was 4-5 years old. Expelling him from the party is left to the party high command," HD Revanna said.

When it was pointed out that an FIR has been registered against him too, he said, "There is politics, I don't want to comment. They (Congress) are in government and they will do whatever they want."

"All these things are not just today, the Deve Gowda family in the last 40 years (has been targeted by) Congress. CoD (now CID), Lokayukta probe, we have been facing for the last 40 years... I don't want to react to anything...let them take action in accordance with law," he said, adding that he hasn't spoken to Deve Gowda on the issue.

"Since the special investigation team is looking into the case, I will not react any further," HD Revanna said.

Yesterday, a first information report was filed against the father-son duo on charges of sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the dignity of a woman.

The survivor alleged both sexually assaulted her, and when Revanna's wife was not home, he touched her inappropriately and used to sexually assault her. The complainant alleged Prajwal Revanna also misbehaved with her daughter over a video call. "My daughter blocked his number after repeated calls," the complainant said.

The latest FIR comes when Prajwal Revanna is already in the middle of a controversy after some objectionable videos went viral on social media allegedly involving him.

Prajwal Revanna is seeking a fresh term in the Lok Sabha from as a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate from Hassan.

The Supreme Court of India on Friday, April 26, rejected pleas seeking 100% cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and said “blindly distrusting” any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered two concurring verdicts. It dismissed all the pleas in the matter, including those seeking to go back to ballot papers in elections.

An EVM comprises three units – the ballot unit, the control unit and the VVPAT. All three are embedded with microcontrollers with a burnt memory from the manufacturer. Currently, VVPATs are used in five booths per assembly constituency.

EVM VVPAT case: Supreme Court issues two directives

1.    Justice Khanna directed the Election Commission of India to seal and store units used to load symbols for 45 days after the symbols have been loaded to electronic voting machines in strong rooms.

2.    The Supreme Court also allowed engineers of the EVM manufacturers to verify the microcontroller of the machines after the declaration of the results at the request of candidates who stood second and third. The top court said the request for the verification of the microcontroller can be made within seven days of the declaration of the results after payment of fees.

Option for candidates to seek verification of EVM programmes

•    Candidates who secure second and third position in the results can request for the verification of burnt memory semicontroller in 5% of the EVMs per assembly segment in a Parliamentary constituency. The written request to be made within seven days of the declaration of the results.

•    *On receiving such a written request, the EVMs shall be checked and verified by a team of engineers from the manufacturer of the EVMs.

•    Candidates should identify the EVMs to be checked by a serial number of the polling booth.

•    Candidates and their representatives can be present at the time of the verification.

•    After verification, the district electoral officer should notify the authenticity of the burnt memory.

•    Expenses for the verification process, as notified by the ECI, should be borne by the candidate making the request.
What did the Supreme Court say?

•    "If EVM is found tampered during verification, fees paid by the candidates will be refunded," the bench said.

•    "While maintaining a balanced perspective is crucial in evaluating systems or institutions, blindly distrusting any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism...," Justice Datta said.

Who filed the petitions?

NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, one of the petitioners, had sought to reverse the poll panel's 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass through which a voter can see the slip only when the light is on for seven seconds.

The petitioners have also sought the court's direction to revert to the old system of ballot papers.