VS Sampath Takes Over as New CEC

Election Commissioner V S Sampath was yesterday appointed the new Chief Election Commissioner who will preside over the next Lok Sabha General Elections in 2014. 62-year-old Sampath will take over as CEC after incumbent S Y Quraishi demits office on June 10.

 

Brushing aside BJP Leader L K Advani's suggestion for a collegium to decide on appointment of CEC and CAG, the government went ahead and named the 1973-batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

President Pratibha Patil cleared his appointment this evening, official sources said.

A low-profile bureaucrat who has had stints in varied positions in Andhra Pradesh and Delhi, Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath was Power Secretary at the Centre before he was appointed Election Commissioner in April, 2009.

Born on January 16, 1950, Sampath will be at the helm of Election Commission until January, 2015 when he attains 65 years. Under the Constitution, an EC or the CEC can remain in office either for a six year term or till 65 years, whichever is earlier. Consequent to Sampath's appointment, Government will soon be naming his replacement as Election Commissioner. After Sampath, the other Commissioner H S Brahma becomes the next in seniority in the three-member Commission. 

Modi Is Not Our PM: Owaisi

MIM is a recognized state political party based in the Indian state of Telangana, with its head office in the old city of Hyderabad, which has its roots in the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen founded in 1927. Unlike most of the regional and national level parties, MIM party leaders ‘fight’ only for the well-being of Muslims, whereas no other party has such communal feelings. In their each and every speech, MIM leaders speak only about Muslims. If these leaders are here to fight for Muslims, then why there are no development works are happening in old city area for decades. Akbaruddin Owaisi faced criticism for making hate remarks on Narendra Modi and Hindus. Recently, his elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi made some notorious annotations. In a one-on-one debate between BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and Asaduddin Owaisi on the topic of demonetization in a popular Hindi channel, the former left no stone unturned in exposing the latter’s communal designs. Owaisi claimed how most of the Muslim community still remains unbanked and that demonetization has caused severe inconvenience to Muslims. He even went on to say that ATM’s in Muslim-dominated areas weren’t fed enough money. He indirectly alleged that the Modi government hadn’t done anything for Muslims. Even after being pressurized Owaisi didn’t call Narendra Modi as his Prime Minister. He went on said, “Your Prime Minister…” On the other hand, Sambit spoke wisely and called Owaisi a leader of small stature because he talked only of Muslims. He said that no area was Muslim or Hindu and that all areas belonged to India. Owaisi was constantly quoting an RBI report, to which Sambit challenged him to show where the RBI had used the word ‘Muslim’. Sambit even said that if a Muslim leader speaks of Muslims it’s not an issue, but the moment a VHP leader speaks of Hindus people go crazy accusing them of imposing the Hindutva ideology. The most amazing of his counters was to Owaisi’s claims of Muslims not having been brought into the banking system. Sambit said that when banks or ATMs are to be opened in Muslim areas leaders like Owaisi shout that banking is un-Islamic and that Muslims should refrain from it! This video of debate between Sambit Patra and Asaduddin Owaisi is going viral in social media.