Lalu to EC: debar MNS from polls

RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his MPs petitioned the Election Commission on Friday to debar members of Raj Thackeray’s MNS...

RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his MPs petitioned the Election Commission (EC) on Friday to debar members of Raj Thackeray’s MNS from contesting elections, underlining that the party was violating the EC’s guidelines and provisions of the Representation of People’s Act through its campaign against north Indians.

“RJD strongly urges the Commission to take immediate action for cancellation of registration of MNS for its unconstitutional activities and debar it from contesting elections so that unity and integrity of our country can be protected”, a petition signed by Lalu and other RJD MPs said.

The petition stated that Raj Thackeray and his MNS was indulging in “destructive politics” by campaigning against north Indians and were out to divide the country on regional and linguistic lines, thus threatening the unity and integrity of the country.

Story continues below this ad

“As for the EC’s guidelines and provisions of Representation of People’s Act, 1951, any party which indulges in anti-national activities, promoting communalism and hatred against people to further its political interests is liable for penal action under the law,” the petition said.

Referring to the recent attack by MNS cadres on north Indians appearing for the Railway exam in Mumbai, the petition said that in the past, too, a number of cases have been lodged against Raj Thackeray for his “unconstitutional” and “criminal” activities.

Lalu and another UPA leader from Bihar, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, have been strongly demanding for a ban on the MNS after the attack on north Indian students.

PM Modi releases special coin, stamp to mark 100 years of RSS

India2 hr ago

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh [RSS] had suffered at the hands of British and Nizams for its belief of ‘nation first’. He also said RSS members, including founder KB Hedgewar, had been jailed during the freedom struggle. Modi released a special commemorative postage stamp and a coin to mark the centenary of the RSS.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS