14072024-TTC-01.qxd 14-07-2024 00:10 Page 1 123 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 8 NO. 194 | 20 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 OLI TO BE SWORN IN AS NEPAL PM TOMORROW WORLD /thetribunechd MEHBOOBA, OTHER LEADERS PUT UNDER ‘HOUSE ARREST’ J&K GAME FOR PARIS: EXPECTATIONS MUTED, SPIRITS HIGH SPECTRUM BEWARE OF FALSE NARRATIVES ON JOBS: PM IN MAHA BACK PAGE sunday | 14 july 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com 10/13: INDIA bloc sweeps bypoll in 7 states, turncoats lose big on BJP ticket Oppn hails outcome as sign of changing political climate | Will review results: Saffron party Aditi Tandon Jalandhar West goes with AAP Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 13 The opposition INDIA bloc on Saturday swept the Assembly byelections held across seven states, winning 10 of the 13 seats and taking the first round of the poll cycle held after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance returned to power for the third straight time in the 2024 General Election. The byelections were held for four seats in West Bengal, three in Himachal Pradesh, two in Uttarakhand, and one each in Bihar, MP Tamil Nadu , and Punjab. These were necessitated due to defections in 10 seats and the demise of sitting lawmakers in three. The BJP managed to win only two of the 11 seats it contested. The opposition contrastingly registered gains, with the Congress winning four of the six seats it contested and making strong comebacks in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand where it was routed by the BJP in the recent General Election. In Punjab, AAP stormed back winning Jalandhar West after recently losing the continued on page 6 Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, July 13 The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday retained the Jalandhar West Assembly seat with its candidate Mohinder Bhagat defeating BJP’s Sheetal Angural by 37,325 votes in the bypoll. The bypoll was being seen as a litmus test for CM Bhagwant Mann following AAP's drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections in which it could win just three of the state's 13 seats. While Bhagat bagged 55,246 votes, Angural, whose resignation as an AAP legislator had necessitated the bypoll, got just 17,921 votes. A relatively low-profile candidate of the Congress, Surinder Kaur, who was in the third position, polled 16,757 votes. SAD candidate Surjit Kaur, who was disowned by her party, was in the fourth spot with 1,242 votes and BSP nominee Binder Kumar Lakha was in the fifth position with 734 votes. A total of 15 candidates continued on page 6 AAP’s Mohinder Bhagat with father Bhagat Chunni Lal. MALKIAT SINGH ANGURAL’S POLITICAL GAMBIT FALLS FLAT ■ AAP’s Mohinder Bhagat, who unsuccessfully contested this seat twice on BJP ticket, tastes victory with 37K margin ■ BJP’s Sheetal Angural, whose resignation as AAP MLA necessitated bypoll, fails to make cut ■ Congress’ Surinder Kaur, who got backing of top party leaders, polls just over 16K votes WILL BE IN JALANDHAR EVERY MONDAY As promised, I will be in Jalandhar every Monday, and govt will function from there that day. People of Doaba and Majha will not have to visit UT for grievances. Bhagwant Mann, CM ❝ TRINAMOOL, CONG GET 4 EACH, BJP 2 West Bengal (4): TMC wins all, wrests Raiganj; Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda from BJP and retains Maniktala Himachal (3):Cong wins Dehra and Nalagarh, BJP Hamirpur Uttarakhand (2): Cong wins both: wrests Manglaur from BSP; retains Badrinath where its sitting MLA defected to BJP Punjab (1): AAP retains Jalandhar West; sitting MLA Sheetal Angural defected to BJP and fought on saffron party ticket Bihar (1): Ind wins Rupauli after JD(U)’s Bima Bharti joined RJD MP (1) BJP wrests Amarwara from Cong after fielding sitting MLA; seat in ex-CM Kamal Nath’s bastion Chhindwara TN (1) DMK retains Vikravandi after death of sitting MLA BJP’S WEB BROKEN ❝ The web of fear and confusion woven by the BJP has been broken. Every class… wants to completely destroy the dictatorship & establish the rule of justice. Rahul Gandhi, CONGRESS MP 2-1 boost for Himachal CM, wife takes Dehra by 9K votes Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, July 13 Resigning and switching to the BJP proved costly for two Independent MLAs who lost to Congress candidates from their seats on Saturday in the bypolls. While the Congress won the Dehra and Nalagarh seats, the BJP emerged victorious in Hamirpur. The victory of CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife Kamlesh Thakur from Dehra by 9,399 votes has come as a big boost to the Congress, which won the seat for the first time since 2012. The stakes were high for Congress candidate Kamlesh Thakur after her victory in Dehra on Saturday. PHOTO: KAMAL JEET Sukhu as he wanted to send a strong signal not only to the BJP but also to his detractors , within his own party. Despite the ruling party losing the Hamirpur seat, Sukhu’s alle- gations of the BJP trying to destabilise a democratically elected government seem to CIC can frame rules, form benches, says SC Tribune News Service ‘AUTONOMY MUST’ Autonomy and independence of administrative bodies are fundamental to their ability to perform their designated functions effectively, said the top court New Delhi, July 13 Noting that autonomy of the Central Information Commission (CIC) — the apex body administering the Right to Information Act — is of paramount importance for its effective functioning, the Supreme Court has ruled that it has powers to constitute benches and frame regulations. “The Chief Information Commissioner’s powers to frame regulations pertaining to the constitution of bench- es of the commission are upheld as such powers are within the ambit of Section 12(4) of the RTI Act,” a Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said, emphasising that autonomy and independence of administrative bodies were fundamental to their ability to perform their designated functions effectively. The institutions like the CIC were established to carry out specialised tasks that require a level of impartiality and expertise that could only be achieved if they were free from undue interference, it said. “While the RTI Act does not explicitly grant the CIC the authority to frame regulations, the overarching powers granted under Section continued on page 6 have made an impact. Congress’ Hardeep Singh Bawa defeated BJP’s KL Thakur in Nalagarh by 8,990 votes, while BJP’s Ashish Sharma managed to win the Hamirpur seat by polling 1,571 votes more than Congress’ Pushpinder Verma. The bypolls were held following the resignation by Independent legislators Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), KL Thakur (Nalagarh) and Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) on March 22. All three joined the BJP the very next day. The rebel factor cost the BJP dear as former minister continued on page 6 Wanted in 3 states, gangster arrested GURUGRAM: The Special Task Force (STF) of the Haryana Police arrested notorious gangster Rakesh, alias Kala Khairampuria, who was wanted by the police of three states — Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. The STF brought the gangster from Thailand to India and he was arrested at the Delhi airport. Kala was involved in 15 cases, including murder. INSIDE 33 Indian farm workers freed from ‘slavery’ in Italy, 2 charged PUNJABI LABOURER’S DEATH SPARKED PROTESTS ■ In June, Punjabi worker Satnam Singh’s arm was chopped off by a machine on a farm & his employers dumped him. He died in a hospital in Rome ■ Satnam was one of thousands of Indians working illegally on farms in Italy ■ His death triggered protests in Italy with thousands of Indian farm labourers seeking an end to ‘slavery’ FILE Rome, July 13 The Italian authorities on Saturday said they had freed 33 Indian farm labourers from slave-like working conditions in the northern Verona province and seized almost half a million euros ($5,45,300) from their two alleged abusers. Labour exploitation is in the spotlight in Italy following an accident in June in which Punjabi fruit picker Satnam Singh died after his arm was severed by machinery. Satnam was abandoned by his employer after a strawberry wrapping machine severed his arm in Lazio, near Rome. He died in a hospital in Rome two days later after being airlifted. In the latest case, the police said the alleged ‘gang-masters’, also from India, brought fellow nationals to Italy on seasonal work permits, asking them to pay 17,000 euros each and promising them a better future. The migrants were given farm jobs, working seven days a week and 10-12 hours a day for just four euros per hour, which was entirely docked from them until they settled all their debts, the police said, describing the migrants’ treatment as “slavery”. Some were asked to continue working for free to pay an Today’s issue is of 20 pages, including six-page Spectrum. additional 13,000 euros for a permanent work permit “which, in reality, would have never been given to them,” the police statement said. The alleged abusers were charged with crimes connected to slavery and labour exploitation, while the victims would be offered work opportunities and legal residency papers, the police said. Like other European nations, Italy has growing labour shortages often filled via immigration and has a migrant work visa system that has faced cases of fraud. — Reuters J&K L-G gets control of police, can now sanction prosecution Amid poll buzz, MHA amends rules, issues notification Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 13 Even as preparations are underway for holding Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Home Ministry has enhanced the ambit of the UT’s Lieutenant Governor through a notification by amending the Transaction of Business Rules, giving him greater say in issues related to police, public order and allIndia service officers. After the amendment, any proposal related to the appointment of AdvocateGeneral or law officers, and regarding grant or refusal of prosecution sanction or filing of appeal shall be placed before the L-G first. The political parties in J&K voiced strong opposition to the Centre’s move to vest more powers to the L-G for taking decisions on matters related to police and all-India service officers. While the National Conference and the PDP said the decision would “disempower” the people of J&K, other parties, including the Congress, termed the “Delhi-type statehood as the murder of democracy”. Former Chief Minister Manoj Sinha, J&K L-G WON’T TAKE DELHI-TYPE STATEHOOD, SAY PARTIES J&K parties opposed the Centre’s move to vest more powers in the L-G, calling it a bid to “disempower” the people. Terming it “the murder of democracy”, they said they won’t accept the “Delhi-type statehood”. and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said the UT deserved better than a “powerless Chief Minister”. The move by the Centre to amend the rules indicates Assembly elections in the erstwhile state were round the corner, he said. “Another indication that elections are round the corner in J&K. This is why a firm commitment laying out the timeline of restoration of full, undiluted statehood for J&K is a prerequisite for these elections. The people deserve better than a powerless, rubber stamp CM who will have to beg the L-G for getting his or her peon appointed,” Omar posted on X. President Droupadi Murmu had given her approval to the amendments, exercising the powers conferred by Section 55 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, a notification issued by the Home Ministry on July 12 said. “These rules may be called the Transaction of Business of the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (Second Amendment) Rules, 2024,” the notification said. The amendments came into force on July 12. In the Transaction of Business Rules, 2019, some rules have been inserted. According to the newly inserted sub-rule (2A), “No proposal which requires previous concurrence of the Finance Department with regard to ‘police’, ‘public order’, ‘allIndia service’ and ‘AntiCorruption Bureau’ to exercise the discretion of the Lieutenant Governor under the Act shall be concurred or rejected unless it has been placed before the Lieutenant Governor through the Chief Secretary.” Cong gen secy gets spyware alert, blames govt Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 13 Congress MP and party general secretary in-charge of organisation KC Venugopal on Saturday slammed the Modi government after he was reportedly alerted Mufti’s daughter made similar charge recently about a “malicious spyware” on his iPhone. “Thank you PM Modi ji, for sending your favourite malicious spyware on my phone also,” Venugopal said in a post on X. “Apple has been kind enough to intimate me about this special present of yours,” he said. Earlier this week, Iltija Mufti, daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti, continued on page 6