- 6 minutes ago
A political standoff unfolded in Delhi following allegations that PWD Minister Parvesh Verma slapped an Aam Aadmi Party worker during a road inspection. Delhi Police registered a non-cognisable report against Verma and filed two FIRs against AAP MLA Jarnail Singh for obstructing public duty, leading to the detention of AAP leaders Saurabh Bharadwaj and Singh during a protest march. Concurrently, the Congress Working Committee demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar alongside high-level government resignations over alleged electoral roll irregularities and voter disenfranchisement, while Rahul Gandhi highlighted voter deletions at Delhi's Yamuna Bank. In Maharashtra, the Chief Electoral Officer requested software modifications regarding Electoral Registration Officer authority, and the Food and Drug Administration suspended the licence of the historic Kyani and Co. cafe due to hygiene violations. In business news, Noel Tata-led Tata Trusts submitted a restructuring proposal to merge Tata Electronics and Tata Consulting Engineers into Tata Sons to satisfy Reserve Bank of India regulatory norms.
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NewsTranscript
00:00A road inspection in Delhi has turned into a full-blown political slugfest.
00:04After PWD Minister Parvesh Farma was seen slapping Amathi Party worker Sahib Singh
00:09during a heated exchange over the condition of a newly laid road,
00:13Amathi Party leader in workers gathered at Delhi police headquarters to hold a protest
00:17demanding registration of an FIR against Parvesh Farma.
00:21But several of them, including Amathi Party MLA Jarlayal Singh
00:25and the Delhi Amathi Party chief Saurabh Bharatwaj were detained soon after.
00:31The workers, Saib Singh and Janelle Singh,
00:34have also been booked for assaulting a Delhi's police official,
00:38in fact a Delhi police head constable, and obstructing official duty.
00:41According to the Delhi police, the head constable was recording a video
00:46during Arvind Keshival's visit to Tilak Nagar
00:48when a crowd of Amathi Party supporters allegedly surrounded and assaulted him.
00:52Now, what's interesting is this is exactly the sequence of events
00:56just turned against, instead of the video,
00:58this time being shot instead of the Delhi police constable
01:02by the Amathi Party supporter.
01:04And that was what happened yesterday.
01:07On the other hand, another FIR was launched against Jarlayal Singh
01:10based on complaint of the PWD engineers.
01:12The FIR was filed over charges of obstructing official work
01:15as well as intimidating and threats.
01:17That's, in all, two FIRs against Jarlayal Singh.
01:22However, against the Minister Parvesh Farma,
01:24who is seen on camera slapping,
01:27Delhi police has registered a non-cognizable report.
01:31Singh action has been taken based on legal provisions
01:33applicable to the complaint.
01:36Now, Saib Singh, who was slapped,
01:38has said that he tried hard to get an FIR registered
01:42but couldn't, pointing out that an FIR was filed,
01:46you know, when a girl spoke against the Prime Minister.
01:50But no FIR has been registered against a minister slapping a man.
01:58Saurabh Hardwaj and other leaders of the Amathi Party
02:01are carrying out a protest outside the police headquarters.
02:03And as soon as they have reached over here,
02:05they are being detained by the Delhi police.
02:07You can see in these visuals that this is the road.
02:09This is the Ashoka road that leads straight towards the police headquarters
02:12where the police commissioner's office is.
02:15Basically, Saurabh Hardwaj, Jarlayal Singh
02:17and other leaders of the Amathi Party
02:20gave a call of a protest over here.
02:22They demanded that there should be an FIR
02:25that should be registered against Parvesh Verma
02:29for the manner in which he has gone ahead and slapped Saib Singh.
02:32They say that they are still not happy
02:34with the manner in which the Delhi police has just registered
02:38an NCR and not an FIR drama
02:42that is unfolding on the streets of Ashoka road over here.
02:45One after the other, one after the other,
02:47people are being picked up
02:48and are being taken away this entire area
02:51in which approximately 50 to 60 workers
02:53of the Amathi Party had gathered.
02:55They are now being detained
02:57and are now being taken away.
03:00Delhi police had made it absolutely clear
03:02that there is no permission of any sort of a protest
03:05and hence they should ensure,
03:08they should accept the orders
03:11that have come in from the Delhi police.
03:13Over here, Jarlayal Singh.
03:14Jarlayal Singh is now trying to stop people
03:16from being detained.
03:17He is now also being taken away with the MLA
03:19from Thilak Nagar, the man
03:21in the centre of this entire storm.
03:23No protests can happen in any way or any manner
03:25for any protests to happen.
03:28Jantar Mantar is the site
03:29and even to protest at Jantar Mantar,
03:31it is absolutely necessary to take permission.
03:34So no permission granted.
03:36However, these people,
03:37these leaders from the Amathi Party
03:38had reached over here
03:39and now they have been detained
03:41by the Delhi police.
03:43With videojohnsha Pradeep Gupta,
03:44this is Anshul Singh for India Today.
03:47All right, Anshul Singh joins us
03:49for more details on this story.
03:50Anshul, just make sense
03:52of the entire timeline for me.
03:54There is one slap versus the other slap.
03:57Then there is one FIR versus one complaint.
04:01And if I compare the slap that was,
04:05I know how ridiculous this sounds,
04:07but let me just like go over this one more time.
04:09So initially, Parvesh Verma is seen on camera
04:13slapping an Amathi Party volunteer.
04:16Somebody who said to be working
04:17Jantar Mantar Singh's social media.
04:20Then a day after that,
04:22Delhi police releases a video
04:23that in a protest that Amathi Party
04:25was carrying out,
04:26Amathi Party volunteers have slapped a Delhi cop.
04:29Am I getting this right?
04:31And in both cases,
04:32if there is an FIR against one,
04:34why isn't there an FIR against the other?
04:37Well, the clarification
04:38of what the Delhi police is claiming
04:40at this point in time
04:41that the FIR that has been done
04:43or the action that has been taken
04:44in form of an NCR against Parvesh Verma
04:47is based on the content of the complaint.
04:49Now, the content of the complaint
04:50that was against Parvesh Verma,
04:52it was that he had gone ahead
04:54and slapped a certain person
04:56and the MLC of that person was done.
04:58There were no grievances
04:59or any injuries for that matter
05:00that were found on that person.
05:02And hence, the Delhi police says
05:03that there was absolutely no reason
05:05to register a FIR.
05:07There are no sections
05:07that actually mandate an FIR
05:09in such instances.
05:10In many cases of violence
05:13that we saw, like,
05:14happened between Parvesh Verma
05:16and Saheb Singh,
05:17generally there are no NCRs
05:20that are also lost
05:20because generally there is
05:22an out-of police station settlement
05:24that happens between the accused
05:26and the victim.
05:27But in this case,
05:28there was a lot of pressure
05:29and hence they decided
05:31to do away with the NCR.
05:34On the other hand,
05:35the complaint that was given
05:36from the side of the PWD engineer
05:38and then eventually
05:39from the side of the head constable
05:41of the Delhi Police,
05:42the PWD engineer
05:44had gone ahead and said
05:45that Jandil Singh,
05:46along with his supporters,
05:48came and stopped him
05:50from doing his work,
05:52which is a cognizable offense.
05:53And hence,
05:54an FIR was mandated
05:55in that case,
05:56though these sections
05:58that have been put up
05:59are all available sections
06:00and there is no need
06:02of an immediate arrest
06:02and that is the reason
06:03why we are seeing
06:04that no immediate arrest
06:05has happened
06:06in this entire case.
06:07However,
06:08it is very, very likely
06:09that the Delhi Police
06:10could call Jandil Singh
06:12and Saheb Singh
06:13to the police station
06:14to record their statements
06:15and then subsequently
06:16take a decision
06:17if at all an arrest
06:18in this entire matter
06:19is necessary.
06:19But that is highly unlikely
06:21at this point in time.
06:22Apart from that,
06:22the second complaint
06:23that has been given
06:24from this identity.
06:25Anshul, just hold on,
06:25hold on,
06:26because I want to get
06:27something straight here.
06:28So, because the nature
06:31of injuries
06:33with the slap
06:34that the Delhi Minister
06:36Parvesh Verma
06:38had made towards
06:40Saheb Singh,
06:41the Ahmadi Party volunteer,
06:43because the nature
06:43of injuries
06:44were not grave enough,
06:45that's the reason given
06:46for not registering
06:47in FIR?
06:50Oh, well, yes.
06:51Yes, if the injuries
06:53that could have been
06:54sustained by Saheb Singh,
06:57if at all they were
06:58even slightly fatal
06:59in nature,
07:00then sections of
07:01attempt to murder
07:02could have been added
07:03depending upon the
07:04nature of injuries.
07:06Now, can you juxtapose that
07:07with the nature of injuries
07:08on the constable
07:09where an FIR
07:10has been filed?
07:12What is the nature
07:13of injuries there?
07:15that even in that FIR,
07:16these sections that have
07:17been imposed are not
07:18regarding the nature
07:19of injuries,
07:20but it is regarding
07:21stopping a government
07:22servant from carrying
07:24out his duty
07:25while he is on
07:25official work.
07:27And this is a
07:29cognizable offence
07:29and that is the reason
07:30why these sections
07:31have been imposed
07:31and hence,
07:32it is a bailable
07:34section and that is
07:36the reason why
07:36there has been
07:37no arrest per se
07:38that has been made.
07:39The nature of injuries
07:40even to the head
07:41constable remain
07:42absolutely non-grievous.
07:44There are no
07:45grievous injuries
07:45that have been sustained
07:46and hence,
07:47there are no
07:48criminal sections per se
07:49or sections that are
07:52very stringent in nature
07:54that warrant an
07:54immediate arrest.
07:56These sections
07:56are not being imposed
07:57but stopping a government
07:58of...
07:59Last question before
08:00I let you go.
08:00What happened today
08:01when the protest
08:03of the Amadi party
08:04was going on?
08:04I made to believe
08:05that even before
08:06they could start
08:07the protest,
08:07they were all collected
08:08and detained.
08:09Is that exactly
08:10what transpired?
08:13Well, definitely
08:14in a matter of minutes,
08:15in approximately
08:1610 minutes,
08:17approximately 30 to 40
08:18workers of the Amadi party
08:19had gathered at Ashoka Road.
08:20They were stopped
08:21right at the roundabout
08:22of the Ashoka Road
08:23and as soon as
08:24they gathered over there,
08:25suddenly buses
08:25of Delhi police came
08:26and within a matter
08:27of 10 minutes,
08:28all of these people
08:28were taken into custody
08:29and what we have been told
08:30that they have been detained
08:31and have now been taken
08:32to Outer Delhi
08:32somewhere in Badarpur
08:33where they would be
08:34allowed to let go
08:35of detention.
08:36So, this is something
08:37that the Delhi police
08:38was absolutely prepared
08:39for because
08:40Saurabh Bhadwaj himself
08:41had yesterday claimed
08:42that he would be
08:42coming over there.
08:43An official message
08:44was also given
08:44to the media this morning
08:45and hence the Delhi police
08:46was prepared
08:47that as soon as
08:48he'll arrive over here,
08:49he will be taken away.
08:51But yes,
08:51a meeting with
08:52the Commissioner of Police
08:54is something
08:54that the Amadi party
08:56would have wanted
08:56and that is something
08:58that has not been
08:58allowed to them
09:00at this point.
09:01However,
09:01in other cases,
09:02we have very clearly seen
09:03that it is not a big deal
09:04to go ahead
09:05and meet with the Commissioner
09:06of Police
09:06with a complaint
09:07in their hand
09:07or to go ahead
09:09and say that
09:09this is the kind of action
09:10that they want
09:12and this is a very,
09:13very legal process.
09:14But in this case,
09:15the Amadi party leaders
09:17probably did not ask for it
09:18or the Delhi police
09:20had made up their mind already
09:22that they would not let them
09:23get anywhere close
09:24to the police headquarters.
09:25All right,
09:26we leave it there
09:26for the moment.
09:27It's one slap
09:28versus the other slap.
09:30One non-complaint
09:31versus the other complaint.
09:33We leave it for the viewers
09:34to really make up their mind
09:35about what's really going on
09:36in this matter.
09:36Thanks, Anshul,
09:37for joining us
09:38with the very latest.
09:39Moving on now,
09:40the Election Commission,
09:41Rao,
09:42is now testing
09:43opposition unity.
09:44After its CWC meeting,
09:46the Congress has put forward
09:48five demands,
09:49including the resignation
09:50of the Prime Minister
09:51and also the CEC,
09:53Gyanesh Kumar.
09:54The BGP has hit back,
09:56but the bigger challenge
09:57for Congress comes tomorrow.
09:59The India bloc
10:00beats in Delhi
10:01to discuss a joint strategy
10:03on EC and SIR Rao,
10:06but not everyone
10:07is just about ready for it.
10:10Meanwhile,
10:11Rahul Kanthi visited
10:12Delhi's Yamuna Bank
10:13on Monday
10:14and claimed that
10:14over 700 people
10:16living in the area
10:17were on electoral rolls
10:18before.
10:19But after the special
10:21investigative revision
10:23that took place,
10:24only one name
10:25remains on the entire roll.
10:28Here's the full report.
10:39political slugfest
10:41over the special
10:42intensive revision
10:43of the electoral rolls
10:45or SIR
10:45is intensifying.
10:47The Congress
10:48on Tuesday
10:48held a crucial meeting
10:50ahead
10:50of the opposition
10:52India bloc meeting
10:53listing five
10:54crucial demands
10:55against what it called
10:57are irregularities
10:59in the poll rolls,
11:00seeking transparency
11:02in poll data
11:03and decisions,
11:05a probe into lapses
11:06and making poll roll
11:08changes public.
11:11The Congress
11:12also continued
11:13its attack
11:13on the BJP
11:14and the Election Commission,
11:16accusing the Narendra Modi
11:17government
11:18of hollowing out
11:20democracy
11:20and calling
11:21the Chief Election
11:22Commissioner
11:23Gyanesh Kumar
11:24the government's puppet.
11:27The Chief Election
11:28Commissioner
11:29is completely compromised.
11:32The election system
11:33of this country
11:34is rigged.
11:36Whether it is
11:37EVM machine
11:39or it is
11:40waterless,
11:42both of them
11:43are compromised.
11:45The India bloc
11:46will hold
11:47a key meeting
11:47on Wednesday
11:48which will be
11:49attended by
11:50several top leaders
11:51of the opposition bloc.
11:53However,
11:55Samajwadi Party
11:55Chief Akhilesh Yadav
11:57is staying away
11:58amid reports
11:59of a rift
12:00over siege sharing
12:02in Uttar Pradesh.
12:03While
12:04Shif Sena
12:05UBT
12:06Chief
12:06Uddav Thakre
12:07will attend
12:08the meet
12:09virtually,
12:10the BJP
12:11on the other hand
12:11hit back
12:12at the opposition
12:13bloc meeting.
12:42Congress
12:43Party
12:44Rahul Gandhi visited Delhi's Yamuna Bank on Monday and claimed more than 700 people living in the
12:51area were on the electoral rolls before. But after the special intensive revision,
12:58only one name remains on the roll. He has alleged this amounts to vote chori.
13:20The election commission has pushed back against Rahul Gandhi's allegations saying that the area was
13:26earlier used for agricultural activity, which ended in 2021, while the dwelling units there
13:33were demolished in 2022-23. The election commission said BLOs could not find people
13:41residing at those registered addresses during the SIR verification process. India today
13:48visited the Yamuna Bank area in Delhi to cross-check Rahul Gandhi's claims.
14:17Very recently, their names have been struck off from the electoral list and obviously they are now scared
14:25that whether they'll actually be able to take benefits of government schemes or not, or whether
14:31they'll actually be able to now participate in voting exercise or not.
14:37The opposition wants nothing short of CEC Gyanesh Kumar's sacking. Will the government continue
14:46to back him and push back? With Mosmee Singh and Rahul Gautam, Bureau Report, India Today.
15:01All right, more details coming in from that key meeting of the Congress Party, the CWC meeting
15:07that went on today. Well, we are now told that it was about two and a half hours. That's how
15:11long
15:11the CWC meeting lasted, with several leaders heaping praise on Rahul Gandhi for his early warnings
15:17and for flagging alleged malpractices in the SIR exercise and the electoral process. When a leader
15:24said that the credit for this went to Rahul Gandhi, he responded by saying the credit goes to the
15:28Congress. I have no identity without the Congress. Those are internal things that have come out from
15:34that meeting. A CWC member even remarked that CEC Gyanesh Kumar was very obstinate and would never
15:43resign. Priyanka ji immediately responded by saying that why will he not resign? Didn't Dharmint
15:48Pradhan resign? He had to. We will keep agitating on the streets and build momentum till he is forced
15:56to resign, the leader said. Those are internal details of that Congress Working Committee meeting
16:03that have come out. Mosmee Singh joins us for more. She's got all these details from her sources there
16:07inside the meeting. Mosmee, so am I reading it right that how there was a protest, a nationwide protest
16:15that came out from the youth, came from Cockroachanta party for the removal of, you know,
16:21Dharmint Pradhan. A similar template will be tried out by the Congress party for the removal of the CEC?
16:31Perhaps, you know, it's very interesting because that remark was made by Priyanka Gandhi
16:36as our sources told us, in the light of the fact that there was an entire agitation by the CJP
16:44over Dharmint Pradhan and they had taken to the streets, to which Priyanka Gandhi said,
16:49we are not dependent on anybody. The Congress is, has been raising this entire EC row for quite some
16:57time now. We've been battling on the ground and we can, you know, the Congress can in time, in fact,
17:05amplify that momentum to make sure that we force Dhanesh Kumar to resign. So it was said in that light,
17:13saying that the Congress is enough. It is not dependent on anybody and we don't need the help of any
17:18other
17:18forces, in fact, to get to the streets and get the people to rally behind this entire issue,
17:27is what Priyanka Gandhi said. Very interesting political discussions there that happened where Rahul Gandhi
17:33also pointed out to the fact that the CWC members should, in fact, you know, believe in the fact that
17:40the
17:40HM and the PM, that China is up and they're about to go and the Congress is raising the right
17:47issues.
17:48So they should believe in what the party is raising, is what Rahul Gandhi appeals to the members.
17:54Yeah, but interesting times, no, Moshmi, Congress seems to want to be the only party talking about it,
18:02while they're also trying to rally the other opposition members. We understand tomorrow there is an
18:08India alliance meeting as well. Akhile Shadhav has said that he's not attending. He's sending some
18:13senior leaders, but he's not coming. Of course, the backdrop is that, you know, UP elections are on
18:17and there's a hard negotiation going on on seats between the SP and the Congress over there as well.
18:21But keeping all of this in mind, what exactly is the strategy in the mind of Rahul Gandhi that the
18:27Congress will go ahead with? They say more protest, but does that mean only protest of the youth
18:32Congress like we saw today? Only protest of metas of the Congress or united protest
18:38of all opposition parties? What are we looking at?
18:43So really, you know, this is, I think the Congress wants to make it very clear. And that's how we've
18:48seen Congress protesting solo in the beginning to make sure they underline the fact that Rahul Gandhi
18:55has been raising this issue when there were many members of the allies who had said that this is not
19:02possible. And if your job is done well, then how can you raise suspicion over the EVM or the electoral
19:09role? So, you know, there was a real drive that many allied members and Rahul Gandhi said that we have
19:16been raising this issue even that nobody believed it. And to which many said, credit goes to you.
19:22So Rahul Gandhi said, no, not to me, but to the Congress because I'm nothing.
19:27I have no identity without the Congress. So the Congress underlining that there, Sonal, that,
19:33you know, it was the Congress and now the several units will take to the streets of the Congress and
19:39we are doing that. And then they will take it to the India block and perhaps increase that ambit to
19:45the BJD, the BRS or who knows, maybe the app, but I doubt that. But yes, they would want to
19:52increase
19:52the ambit to, in fact, target this against the BJP, use this as a target against the BJP.
19:59And that's why we see that tomorrow's meeting is going to be very crucial as far as what,
20:05that all the other India block members agree to it. And little small detail I would like to give you
20:10is that the Samaj Wadi party apparently has told, and Akhleesh Yadav has told the top brass of the
20:16Congress that the Raj Sabha elections are underway. They are prepping up for the Raj Sabha elections.
20:22And that's the reason that he would not be able to make it in person and send a representative.
20:28It's also important to highlight this is not the first time that Akhleesh Yadav has sent
20:33representative to the India block meeting and he's been unable to attend.
20:38Right. Moshami, in the beginning, you mentioned the five demands the CWC has put forward now
20:44when it comes to the CEC. Could you take us through what exactly are these five demands?
20:53So if you look at the demand, one is the second, in fact, the resignation of Janesh Kumar
20:59that he should immediately resign. You know, the striking off of these 13 crore voters
21:06that have been disenfranchised, revoking that decision, scrapping of the entire SIR exercise
21:15and our entire rethink and reboot. These are the three primary demands that she mentioned in the resolution.
21:24The two additional demands is what Mr. Kharge mentioned in his speech also. It was about giving the voters
21:33enough time to, in fact, register their protests, give in their papers and not chasing a deadline.
21:41And also reposing faith, listening to the opposition, giving opposition a hearing similar to that of the
21:48ruling party members is what Kharge has demanded. So, you know, very interesting that it also talks
21:56about the resignation of the prime minister and the home minister. The resolution goes on to add that
22:03the prime minister and the home minister should resign because their situation is untenable. The
22:08members have been elected, the parliament have been elected illegally. The 2024 electoral process was
22:15illegal. And therefore, you know, the laws being passed in the parliament are illegal. So this is
22:20a very huge, aggressive attack.
22:23Got it.
22:23Aggressive attack indeed. And while there was praise for Rahul Gandhi, there were some snide remarks
22:27at Shashi Tharoor as well. So stay back with us, Moshrami, as we take our viewers through that next
22:33set of details coming in. In another set of details that emerged from that meeting, Congress
22:38President Mr. Kharge once again took a dig at Shashi Tharoor. Shashi Tharoor had suggested that Congress
22:43should organize something around Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary. Now, Kharge turned to Tharoor and
22:51asked whether he would actually be present if the party organized such an event or whether
22:54they would see him only on social media platforms like X. Now, remember, just for context, this is not
23:01the first time Mr. Kharge has taken a dig at Shashi Tharoor at a previous Congress working committee meeting.
23:06The Congress President had taken a wild jibe at Mr. Tharoor, saying that good looking netas who are
23:11popular on television and write articles in newspapers should have taken up the Shuddhi Karan issue
23:17with the same spirit as well. So all is not well over there between Mr. Kharge or perhaps the top
23:24brass of the Congress party and Mr. Shashi Tharoor. But let me go back to Moshmi to get some more
23:29details on
23:30this. Moshmi, not really the first time, but help me understand this. Does this really happen in the
23:35presence of all leaders that this very open banter is going on or is it a banter really? Is it
23:41a snide
23:42remark? Is Mr. Tharoor taking it in good spirits as they say or are we to conclude that this is
23:51all is
23:51not well and perhaps the elephant in the room is not the elephant in the room anymore. Everybody is very
23:57vocally, visibly aware of the differences, the increasing differences that Shashi Tharoor has with his own party.
24:09See, there is of course a lot of history and chemistry to it, but I think that this was casual
24:15banter. It was
24:16where everybody was in splits over what Mr. Kharge said. Remember now Mr. Kharge is known for his
24:22WT remarks, his sense of humour, his jovial attitude and mincing no words. You know, of course, many of
24:30his remarks have heavy political overtones and the previous CWC meeting, that was a very, very heavily
24:38loaded statement by Mr. Kharge because the Sridhikaran Rao was at the centre of the discussion and he had
24:45to break it up saying that nobody supported it. But Mr. Kharge was more of a casual banter because
24:53Kharge is at pains trying to roll in motor mouth leaders. Mrs. Kharge again has appreciated and
25:01praised the foreign policy of Prime Minister Modi or taken a stand that is divergent to the party
25:07and that has caused a lot of headache to the party. And thereby, you know, I think Mr. Kharge who
25:12has
25:13shared a contest with Mr. Tharoor as far as the Congress President's force is concerned there,
25:19I think would not leave that occasion to the casual banter and the dig. But it was in a light
25:25-hearted
25:25manner that Mr. Kharge would point that out. All right, Rashmi, we leave it there for the moment.
25:31Some people in splits, others not so much when it came to that remark that happened inside the CEC,
25:37CWC meeting over there. Let's move on now.
25:43All right, moving on to the other big story, we are tracking the Election Commission. Now,
25:48the Election Commission's SIR exercise is now facing a new question. How much power does a software
25:55really have over our citizenship? And how much does the officer actually know or perhaps exercise the
26:02power? The Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer has written to the Election Commission nationally,
26:08seeking four changes to the ECI net software being used during the notice phase of the voter role revision.
26:19Now, at the heart of the issue, the role of election or the electoral registration officers or the EROs,
26:26here's what exactly this means and why this matters. Now, when the ECI net flags a voter because details like
26:34a
26:34parent's name or age do not match the older electoral role, it is called a logical discrepancy.
26:41But importantly, a mismatch does not mean the person is not a voter, right? It simply means that the data
26:47needs to be verified more. And the Maharashtra CEO is now asking for more flexibility for the EROs.
26:54If an ERO, that's the officer in charge, is satisfied with the documents submitted by the voter,
26:59the officer should be able to close the case without insisting on personal hearing. The CO has now sought
27:07more options for submitting documents in such cases. Now, why this matters? Because EROs are the
27:14officers legally responsible for preparing and maintaining our electoral roles. The concern raised
27:21by the officials is whether their decision-making powers are being fully reflected in the software
27:26they use. The issue has also been flagged earlier by the election commissioner Subhiv Singh, Sandhu and
27:32Vivek Joshi, who had questioned the extent to the centralized control over the system. So, at the center
27:40of this SIR debate is a fairly simple question. When the software flags a voter, who gets the final say?
27:47The system, the algorithm or the officer in charge with the human face?
27:58But speaking about Maharashtra, let's talk about the eateries there. Mumbai's iconic eateries,
28:03some of the city's best known and oldest spots are increasingly falling under the food safety
28:08scanner. It was first Rustam's, the iconic Olympia coffee house. And now Maharashtra FDA has suspended
28:15the license of another Mumbai landmark. This is Kiani & Co. The century-old Irani cafe established in 1904.
28:23And what inspectors found inside is raising serious questions about basic food hygiene.
28:29They found live flies on food. They found cats inside the premises. They found rat droppings, blood in the
28:37refrigerator, food stored directly on the floor and no proper segregation between raw and ready to eat
28:44food. The Kiani is not the only establishment facing action. Remember, between September 23rd and 27th,
28:51as part of its wider festive season food safety drive, the Maharashtra FDA has seized over 50 tons of food
28:58stocks worth 1.19 crore. Listen to that again. 50 tons of food stock worth 1.19 crore. 30 food
29:09licenses have
29:10been suspended, 22 FIRs registered, 26 establishments raided for banned products and at least 30 people
29:17arrested, 3 establishments sealed. The message from the crackdown is loud and clear. An iconic name or a
29:26site board does not mean a free pass on food safety.
29:33In Mumbai, an iconic Kiani restaurant was raided by FDA on 27th of September and this 122 years old
29:41restaurant's license was suspended by FDA due to a certain negligence they found during their inspection.
29:49They found that the cockroaches and mosquitoes were there in the kitchen. The food has not been kept
29:58properly in the refrigerator. They saw blood with the food. They also saw that manhole was open in the
30:08kitchen and the food was kept around that manhole due to which strict action was taken by the FDA on
30:16this
30:16122 years old restaurant. Let me tell you this is one of the most busiest restaurants in the
30:24Mumbai and in the heart of the Mumbai we can say and as you can see they have put a
30:30place a board
30:31outside the shop. That shop is closed for renovation but the license of Kiani restaurant was suspended by FDA
30:41in the raid which they have conducted on 27th of September and they found certain negligences
30:48and the rules which were set by the FDA for the safety of the food for the precautionary measure
30:55that was not followed by this restaurant and therefore this action was taken by the FDA.
31:00With camera person Sidesh, this is the pastry party for India today, Mumbai.
31:06Alright, moving on. A little over a week after being pushed into a corner by the board of Tata
31:11Suns, No Hill Tata has stuck back and stuck back hard. Tata Trust last evening submitted a proposal to
31:17the restructuring of Tata Suns with an intention to keep it unlisted. The Tata Trust which holds a 66%
31:25stake in Tata Suns has proposed a straightforward plan. Merge two Tata Group Operating Companies,
31:32Tata Electronic Systems Solution and Tata Consultancy Engineers into Tata Suns. The proposal also aims to
31:40ensure that Tata Suns no longer qualifies as a core investment company, a classification mainly linked to
31:47companies that hold investments in other group companies as well. Now, if the restructuring goes
31:53through, Tata Suns would remain an unlisted private company. But will the other shareholders really buy
32:00this strategy? Here's a report.
32:09Cornered in the boardroom but far from conceding defeat, Noel Tata has made his next move in the
32:16battle for the future of India's largest business conglomerate. And this time, the Tata Trust chairman
32:24has come armed not with another objection, but with a proposal that could fundamentally change the
32:30structure of Tata Suns and potentially keep the Tata Group's holding company away from stock markets.
32:39In a proposal released Monday evening aimed at calming an increasingly bitter corporate battle is one
32:46question. Must Tata Suns go public or can it remain a privately held company as Tata Trusts has long insisted?
32:59Tata Trusts has suggested merging two unlisted companies, Tata Electronics and Tata Consulting
33:06Engineers directly into Tata Suns. The trusts claim the new merged entity would have operating revenues of
33:13over one lakh crore rupees, well above its income from financial holdings of 40,000 crore, ensuring it is
33:22no longer classified primarily as a financial or investment company. And it will no longer put it
33:29on RBI's list of upper layer NBFC, making it mandatory for it to list.
33:36The plan is not a done deal but saw Tata stocks dropping three to four percent on Tuesday.
33:43It also carries a pointed message to the Tata Suns board.
33:48Sources have told Business Today TV that the move by Tata Trusts is effectively a way of telling the
33:54board that such a proposal should have come from the Tata Suns board.
34:00In other words, Noel Tata is not only presenting an alternative route, he's also questioning the
34:06choices made by the board before it decided to move towards a listing.
34:12The latest move comes after Noel Tata found himself isolated in the September 17th board meeting,
34:18when four directors, including Tata Trust's nominee, Venu Srinivasan,
34:23backing N. Chandrasekharan's reappointment for another five years.
34:27Tata Trusts challenged the vote, saying it was invalid without Srinivasan and Noel Tata voting for the same side.
34:35Confrontation has been building for months.
34:40From the February deadlock over Chandrasekharan's third term to his August announcement that he would
34:46step aside, followed by the RBI's rejection of Tata Suns deregistration request.
34:52The contentious September board vote and now this restructuring proposal.
35:00What began as a disagreement over leadership has become a much larger contest over ownership rights,
35:07regulatory obligations and the future structure of the Tata group.
35:14The dispute has also reached the highest levels of government with reports of both
35:19Noel Tata and Chandrasekharan separately briefing senior ministers in Delhi in August.
35:27And now, attention turns to the Tata Sun's annual general meeting, already delayed
35:33amid questions over shareholder participation with the company granted an extension until December end.
35:40The meeting could prove decisive for Chandrasekharan's continuation as director,
35:46while the unresolved governance dispute and Noel Tata's latest proposal ensure that the battle is far
35:53from settled.
35:54With Krishna Gopalan, Bureau Report, Business Today Television.