A crucial resolution is coming up in the Rajya Sabha, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah moving a resolution that the “House approves the continuance in force of the Proclamation dated the 13th February, 2025 in respect of Manipur, issued under article 356 of the Constitution by the President, for a further period of six months with effect from 13th August, 2025.”
Article 356 refers to the imposition of President’s Rule and effectively transfers all the functions of the state government to the Centre and the function of the state legislature to Parliament during the period when it is in force. The only exception to this is the functioning of High Courts, which remains unchanged.
The process begins if the President, on receiving a report from the Governor, is “satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the Government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution”.
In this situation, the President will issue a ‘Proclamation’, which can remain in force for up to two months. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha must approve it through a resolution before this period expires for it to remain operative further. If approved, the proclamation of President’s Rule can be extended to six months and Parliament can approve further six-month extensions for up to three years.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a statutory resolution approving extension of President’s Rule in Manipur by another six months beyond August 13 even as Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said violence was on a decline in the state. The Opposition criticised the move, with Congress MP from Inner Manipur, Bimol Akoijam, demanding the state Assembly be dissolved. “Let’s have a fresh mandate and the rule of the people,” he said. SP’s Lalji Verma called the extension “a matter of concern” and TMC’s Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar emphasised that President’s rule was “not the final solution of the problem”.
Rai had moved the statutory resolution — it is moved in pursuance of a provision in the Constitution or an Act of Parliament — to extend President’s Rule in Manipur for discussion in Lok Sabha.
When the Opposition questioned the move, Rai said, “Peace is being restored there and not a single casualty has happened in the past four months… BJP believes in democracy, so President’s Rule is necessary to restore law and order.”
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Rai said there was only “one casualty” in the state in the past eight months. “Law and order is under control and full efforts are being made to resolve the dispute between both the communities through dialogue and establish a permanent peace,” he said, adding that more than 2,500 weapons, more than 1,900 explosives and over 30,000 ammunition had been recovered during President’s Rule.
Rai said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on the Northeast resulted in stability in the region. He said the PM had in the past 10 years visited the Northeast “more than 78 times” which, he added, had led to its all-round development.
Targeting the Opposition, Rai said: “I assure, peace is getting restored there. You don’t try to spread confusion.”
In the Lok Sabha, Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will move a Bill in to “provide for the development and promotion of sports, welfare measures for sportspersons, ethical practices based on basic universal principles”. He will also move an amendment to amend the anti-doping Act.
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Congress electoral fraud pitch
Congress Lok Sabha MP and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi will on August 4 protest in Bengaluru against alleged irregularities that he said took place during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Wednesday.
“He (Gandhi) will meet Election Commission officials and submit a representation on August 4. The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) will organise events before he submits the memorandum,” the Karnataka minister told reporters.
Last Thursday, Gandhi claimed he had “100 per cent proof” that the Election Commission “allowed cheating” in a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka and that the elections were being “stolen”. “I am absolutely convinced that in constituency after constituency, this is the drama that is taking place. Thousands and thousands of new voters (were added),” he alleged.
Gandhi made the remarks when the Opposition parties were protesting against the Election Commission’s special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
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A family feud
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Hyderabad Bench’s order on Tuesday allowed YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to cancel the transfer of his and his wife Y S Bharathi’s shareholdings in Saraswati Power and Industries to his sister Y S Sharmila and their mother Y S Vijaya Lakshmi.
The NCLT Bench, comprising judicial member Rajiv Bharadwaj and technical member Sanjay Puri, observed that the intended transfer of shareholdings had never happened. “While the gift deeds appear to have been formally executed, the intended transfers were never consummated in law due to the non-delivery of the original share certificates by the donors — an essential prerequisite for effecting a valid transfer of shares. In the absence of such delivery, the Company was precluded from lawfully registering the shares in the names of the alleged transferees,” the order stated.
On September 3 last year, Jagan had filed a plea seeking the cancellation of the transfer of shares, claiming that it was “illegal”.
The plea came months after Andhra Pradesh saw simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, where one of the parties the YSRCP took on was the Congress, which is led by Sharmila in the state.
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While Jagan was measured in his attacks on his sister during the campaign, Sharmila launched an all-out political and personal attack on the YSRCP chief throughout the campaign.
Following the YSRCP’s drubbing in the polls, Jagan wrote to his sister in August 2024 claiming she had undertaken “a series of actions without a shred of gratitude and accorded least regard to his well-being despite his disposition of love and affection towards her”.
According to the petition, Jagan, Bharathi, and Jagan and Sharmila’s mother Vijaya Lakshmi hold 74.26 lakh (29.88%), 41 lakh (16.3%) and 1.22 crore (48.99%) shares, respectively, in Saraswati Power and Industries, with the rest held by Classic Realty Pvt Ltd.
— With PTI inputs