Today in Politics: Rahul Gandhi in Bihar with his Constitution pitch; RG Kar case verdict

IN CONTEXT: Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have been talking the language of social justice for some time now – from goals like equitable representation for castes to a nationwide caste census.

AICC secretary Chandan Yadav sees the party’s caste pitch as a “necessary to-do” in the politics of the country. “If caste impacts people’s lives from birth to death in our country, including who they can marry, their occupation and even influences which part of the village they can live in, it is necessary for our democracy that both caste diversity and caste discrimination are politically addressed,” he told The Indian Express.

Gandhi, over the past year, has been consistently trying to bring caste disparity in the country to the fore, talking about “90% of society being underrepresented while 10% walking away with all the benefits”. In September last year, he said in Parliament that of the 90 secretaries serving in the Central government, only three were OBCs. In August, he said that SCs, STs and OBCs did not figure among top media anchors and corporates, or even beauty contest winners.

The RG Kar case verdict

The verdict in the R G Kar rape and murder case is expected to be delivered by a Sealdah court on Saturday.

The father of the victim — who was a junior doctor — said on Friday that the family was ready to wait for “five years for justice… We will not beg but we will fight, and if required, snatch justice.”

He told The Indian Express, “Sanjoy (Roy, prime accused) is a criminal. He will be punished, and whatever the court feels, that punishment will be given to him. We have gone to the High Court and Supreme Court for justice.”

“For five months, there has been no proper investigation. The investigation was only for the first three days and then nothing happened. We had never asked for a CBI investigation, but the court had ordered a CBI probe,” the father said.

IN CONTEXT: The RG Kar incident had led to nationwide outrage and prolonged protests.

Sanjay Roy, who was a civic volunteer with the city police, was charged with committing the crime at the state-run hospital in north Kolkata on August 9 last year.

The Kolkata Police which was investigating the case initially arrested Roy on August 10, a day after the medic’s body was recovered from the seminar room of the hospital.

The Calcutta High Court later transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the agency has sought the death penalty for the accused.

The in-camera trial in the rape and murder of the doctor commenced on November 12 and 50 witnesses were examined.

Hearing in the trial of Roy was concluded on January 9.

Maintaining that other persons were also involved in the crime, the parents of the victim have said that they expect that they will also be arrested and tried before the court.

They have also filed an application before the court seeking further investigation into the case.

Opposition political parties, including the BJP and the CPI(M), protested the gruesome crime.

The Supreme Court, which suo motu took up the matter concerning the rape and murder at R G Kar hospital, had formed a National Task Force (NTF) for suggesting a protocol for the safety of doctors and other medical professionals across the country.

The NTF filed a report before the apex court in November last year.

The TMC was initially in the dock for alleged links of party cadre to the accused. But the party says Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has handled the matter well.

A TMC MP told The Indian Express: “Initially, it was very difficult for the party as well as the government… But our Chief Minister handled the situation with a humane approach and we rode the wave. Now we are vindicated.”

TMC vice-president and spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumder said: “Days have passed since a court-monitored CBI investigation was ordered. The stand of Mamata Banerjee and the Kolkata Police has been proved right. One should remember that, within 36 hours of the crime, the state police had arrested the chief and the only accused.”

New BJP president in Goa

Former Goa MLA Damodar Naik will be the next president of the state unit of the BJP.

Sunil Bansal, the party’s central election observer, said the core committee met on Friday and unanimously decided to nominate 54-year-old Naik for the post.

Naik, who is currently the state BJP’s general secretary, filed his nomination in the presence of Bansal, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, outgoing state unit chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade and others.

Bansal said Naik’s name will be formally announced on Saturday.

Singapore President in Odisha

Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam arrived in Bhubaneshwar Friday on a two-day visit to the state, during which several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) will be signed between the country and the coastal state.

— With PTI inputs