The Aam Aadmi Party today dissolved its Maharashtra unit, triggering a sharp reaction from its National Executive member Mayank Gandhi, who said the party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is ‘hell-bent on destroying’ the organisation by playing ‘gutter politics.

The decision, posted on AAP website, said the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) has dissolved “all bodies in Maharashtra.” Reacting to the development, Gandhi, the most prominent face of AAP in Maharashtra, alleged that Kejriwal is determined to finish the party’s root in the state. “AAP people had entered politics by forming a party to clean the gutter, but unfortunately on the contrary, members got overpowered by the gutter politics,” Gandhi told PTI. He took to twitter to express his resentment and said “Beautifully functioning Maharashtra teams dissolved. Sad that politics has won!.” “Let the high command expel me from the party, but the truth is that the high command himself is hellbent to finish the party’s root in Maharashtra,” he said. Gandhi had strongly spoken against removal of founder members of AAP like Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav from the PAC in March and said he will continue to raise his voice. In a veiled reference to Kejriwal, Gandhi said, “It is now true that AAP has only one voice in the party. Whosoever, puts different voice, not matching with high command, he is kicked out.” “Two type of politics, one that works with the people on the ground and other that do chaplusi in Delhi. The second type has won. Jai ho.,” (sic) he tweeted. According to the party, the decision to disband its state body is part of its process to restructure and strengthen the unit. “In ongoing process of strengthening the organisation in various states, the PAC has decided to dissolve all bodies in Maharashtra,” it said on its website. National Secretary Pankaj Gupta will be in-charge of the state and under him a team will work on organisation building in the state. The new structure will take shape in a very short time. All party members are requested to cooperate with this team in organisation building,” it added. AAP’s Maharashtra unit president Subhash Ware was not immediately available for his comment on the development. However, party sources said the state unit has been in the grip of intense factionalism for quite some time with a section of functionaries resenting the way leaders like Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav had been forced out of the organisation by the central leadership. A state executive member, who does not want to be identified, said Kejriwal is interested only in building the party in his home turf Delhi and has no interest in helping it grow in other parts of the country. –

Like Agatha Christie’s famous whodunit, the Bihar election started with an impressive list of issues: development, susashan, jungle raj, people’s DNA, special status and economic package. But one of by one all of them dropped off, leaving just one behind: caste equations.

Every dialogue emerging from Bihar’s theatre of elections suggests that all parties have now cast jaatiwad in the lead role. On Wednesday, BJP president Amit Shah set the tone of his week-long campaign by reaffirming his party’s faith in reservation system based on castes: “Since the Constitution was drafted, the BJP has been supporting reservation. Lalu ji is saying that if the BJP comes to power here then they will remove reservation. Lalu ji is telling safed jhoot,” Shah said at Begusarai.
Just a day ago, caste was the theme of another BJP leader’s Bihar dream. “If the BJP wins the election, the CM will not be from a forward caste,” party MP and CM-aspirant Giriraj Singh said.
It is not without reason that the BJP B-listers have brought caste back in the spotlight even when Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to talk about development. The equations in the closely-contested election are now stacked up in such a manner that minor swings on caste lines can change the outcome dramatically.
The upper caste voters are solidly behind the BJP. But they are being neutralised by the support the Mahagathbandhan is getting from Muslims, Kurmis and a sizeable portion of Yadavs. The NDA is banking also on the support of Paswans and Kushwahas, whose leaders Ram Vilas Paswan and Upendra Kushwahas are part of the alliance.
The BJP had entered the Bihar fray with its clever strategy of keeping its own vote bank intact and carving out huge chunks from that of the JD (U)-RJD-Congress alliance. With this objective in mind, it lured leaders from other communities like Pappu Yadav, Jitan Ram Manjhi and Ramkripal Yadav into its fold. The NDA appeared to be gaining initially also because of the rift within the secular front: factors like the exit of Mulayam Singh’s from the Mahagathbandhan and entry of the Left and MIM in the poll fray.
Modi’s rallies in September built the momentum further for the BJP, especially when discussions veered around development and the Rs 1.25 lakh crore package announced by the PM.
And then, caste made a comeback.
Some of the credit for making caste a major issue again in Bihar must go to the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. His interview to the Organiser in which the RSS chief suggested a review of the existing reservation system gave the Mahagathbandhan an opening to redraw the battle lines.
“This is a fight between backwards and forwards,” Lalu Yadav announced dramatically, daring Bhagwat to tweak the reservation system if he had any dum in his moonch.
Lalu’s plan is simple. He knows his party has no chance to make a dent in the BJP vote bank of Brahmins, Vaishyas, Baniyas, Rajputs, Bhumihars and Kayasthas, or among supporters of Ram Vilas Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha. The Mahagathbandhan can win only if the backwards, especially the politically significant Extremely Backward castes unite against the BJP and the Mahadalits remain with Nitish Kumar.
The EBCs — or the pachpaniyas, as they are known locally — are a loose coalition of castes scattered across Bihar. They are believed to be between 20 and 25 per cent of the electorate. In a deadlocked election, their support could be decisive. So, both the alliances are now vying for their votes.
At the start of the campaign, it seemed that the EBCs were tilting towards the BJP, mainly because of fear of the return of Yadavs in power, who they see as their rivals among backwards. But the OBC vs EBC narrative may have now given way to the Forward vs Backward debate.
The current direction of the political discourse, where the Mahagathbandhan is setting the caste-based agenda and the BJP is playing catch-up, suggests the equations may be changing again on the ground.
Who will win? Well, even Agatha Christie would have found it difficult to predict the outcome of this thriller.

According to a report published in a leading daily, a whooping 92 crore Indians have Aadhar card now.

Significantly, India being world’s largest democracy have 60 crore citizens with voter ID card. Compared to Aadhar card, number of people having passports and PAN card is abysmally low.

Government is trying to increase transparency by linking several social welfare schemes to Aadhar based bank accounts.Programmes like MGNREGA are now linked to Aadhar. In a landmark judgment, SC said government can’t make Aadhar mandatory, however it can be used for different government schemes.

Update: We’ve been informed that Ojha’s band was Gorkha. Listen to them here, as they’re pretty cool. Thanks to Emilio for the heads up.
We all know scientists love metal. After a long day of peering at beakers as the fluid in them changes color, anyone would need to go apeshit to some Hate Eternal, just to cool off. But though finding the heaviest of metals and naming hideous pests after Dave Mustaine is cool, rarely do metalhead scientists discover something as monumental as, say, flowing water on Mars.
But Nepalese-American grad student Lujendra “Luju” Ojha did just that. According to CNet, Ojha is one of the discoverers of recurring slope lineae, the lines of flowing salt water that were observed on Mars this week. But it’s this photo from Ojha’s website, featuring the scientist bellowing in a death metal band, that seemed to most interest the reporter interviewing him:

When asked about the photo, Ojha responded with some modesty:
“Yeah, that was an old life,” Ojha confesses with a laugh. “I was kind of in poverty with music. I wasn’t making enough money so I said screw music, let’s go to science, maybe there’s more money in it. But there isn’t money in science either.”
Aw! It’s a shame Ojha feels the need to play down his former metal glory. Then again, when you’ve made one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time, you’re probably not as concerned with people knowing how true you are.
Sadly, we can’t find any listing of a Lujendra Ojha on Encyclopedia Metallum, but if anyone knows anything about his band, let us know!
Thanks to David for the heads-up!

Twelve persons have been convicted for their involvement in the 2006 serial blasts in Mumbai that killed over 180 persons. The trial has been on now for the last nine years.
While initial reports said five had been convicted, reports later said that 12 of the 13 accused have been convicted while one person has been acquitted.
The accused convicted by the court are: Faisal Shaikh, Ali Bashir Khan, Mohammad Ali, Majid Shafi, Sajid Ansari, Kamal Ansari, Ethesham Siddiqui, Zameer Shaikh, Sohail Shaikh, Muzammil Shaikh, Tanvir Ansari and Naved Hussain.
The accused were convicted under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (Mcoca), special public prosecutor Raja Thakre said.
Abdul Shaikh was the only accused to be acquitted by the court, reported CNN-IBN.
“Arguments on sentencing of the accused will take place on Monday,” Thakre said.
Here’s everything you need to know about the case:
The blasts
Seven blasts in crowded Mumbai local trains took place on the evening of 11 July 2006 in which a total of 189 persons were killed. Over 820 people were injured in the blasts.
The blasts took place at Mahim and Matunga in central Mumbai and at Khar, Bandra, Jogeshwari, Mira Road and Borivali in the northern suburbs. All the blasts took place on the Western Railways line of the city’s suburban rail network.
The blasts were allegedly engineered using a mixture of RDX and ammonium nitrate. The explosive mixture was allegedly packed into seven bags which were then placed in trains leaving from Churchgate in south Mumbai for the suburbs. The bombs were planted in the first class coaches of the trains.
AFP imageAFP image
The accused and the alleged plot
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad had arrested 13 persons for their alleged involvement in the case. The police has said that the accused were linked with terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba and banned group Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
They are: Faisal Shaikh, Ali Bashir Khan, Mohammad Ali, Majid Shafi, Sajid Ansari, Kamal Ansari, Ethesham Siddiqui, Zameer Shaikh, Sohail Shaikh, Muzammil Shaikh, Tanvir Ansari, Naved Hussain and Abdul Shaikh. One of the accused, said to be a Pakistani, allegedly died in the blasts.
The police has said that the bombs were assembled at Mohammed Ali’s house by the accused, along with Pakistani nationals.
Former Mumbai police commissioner AN Roy, at the time of filing of the chargesheet, had said that there were allegedly 14 people involved in the planting of the bombs.
“They were divided into seven teams, each consisting of a Pakistani national and an Indian national. We have arrested five out of the seven Indian nationals. One out of the seven Pakistanis died at the blast site, while we have asked for the other six who are reportedly hiding in Pakistan to be externed,” Roy was quoted as saying in a Mumbai Mirror report.
All 13 have been charged under sections of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Explosives Act, Railway Act, Passport Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. They face a maximum punishment of the death penalty.
The 13 accused have been in prison for seven years already as the trial against them has proceeded.
The police has also named 15 others in the chargesheet in which Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Pakistan-based leader Azeem Cheema has been named as the prime conspirator.
Trial so far
The verdict is set to come a year after special judge YD Shinde concluded the trial. At the time he had declared that the judgement could be announced on 19 September, 2014.
The prosecuting agency, state Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), had examined 200 witnesses in the case against 13 accused, while the defence lawyers examined a total of 40 witnesses.
The ATS has filed a chargesheet that runs into over 10,000 pages.
Special public prosecutor Raja Thakare, who appeared for the ATS in this case, said the court must be ensuring that all the evidence and arguments of both the prosecution and defence is covered in the judgment and there are no loose ends.
“During the trial, we (prosecution and defence lawyers) submit a lot of evidence and judgments in support of our arguments. All that has to be perused and considered by the judge before passing judgment. It is a huge task,” Thakare told PTI.
The controversies
The pressure cooker factor: The first controversy in the trial came thanks to a statement made well the chargesheet was filed. When announcing the arrests in the case in 2006, former police commissioner AN Roy had said that the bombs used in the blasts were packed into pressure cookers which were then planted on the trains.
However, the pressure cooker theory was later found missing in the chargesheet in the case. The police justified its absence saying that they had mentioned “household items” in the chargesheet. But at the end of the trial, the special public prosecutor told the court that pressure cookers “could have been used”. This, despite the fact, that none of shopkeepers from where the cookers were allegedly bought were examined by the prosecution during the trial.
Torture: The accused in the case have accused the police of torture in order to extract confessions. Confessions are admissible as evidence under Mcoca. Two of the accused filed an application before the court accusing the police of torture. Media outlet Gulail had released interviews with some of the accused using hidden cameras in which the Mumbai Police was accused of torture. Here’s the video:

The police has argued that the claim of torture is part of the Al-Qaeda manual on terrorism and the accused are merely following it.
The Indian Mujahideen factor: In 2008 the Mumbai police claimed to have confessions from three members of terror group Indian Mujahideen, who said they had carried out the blasts. Sadiq Shaikh, Arif Shaikh and Mohammed Saif claimed that the explosives had been procured by Indian Mujahideen chief Riyaz Bhatkal. The bombs were allegedly assembled at a house in Sewri before they were placed on trains.
Bhatkal, who was later arrested, claimed that the blasts were carried out by the group to avenge the 2002 Gujarat riots. Bhatkal allegedly claimed that explosives were brought in from Karachi, which was smuggled into India. It was then allegedly taken to Azamgarh and transported to Mumbai by two persons where the bombs were assembled. The ATS, however, stuck to its stand on the 13 accused and has not included the alleged Indian Mujahideen as accused in the case.
The call data records: The accused have claimed call data records for many of them punch holes in the police theory about the blasts. The defence has shown call data records to indicate that four of the accused were nowhere near where the police has claimed they were.