UP govt set to get anti-romeo squad back after rise in crimes against women

UP offensive against offenders

With crime against women witnessing a sudden spurt in Uttar Pradesh, the Adityanath government has reenergised its anti-Romeo squad, which was instituted soon after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to power in March 2017. The police wing, which was criticised by some for allegedly targeting couples hanging out in public places, gradually lost its sting. With the issue of women's safety coming to focus in recent weeks, the UP Police is procuring about 25,000 body-worn cameras for the anti-Romeo squad members and the traffic police. The district police teams have been sensitised for proactively deal with incidents related to women's safety. The action taken by cops against offenders are being uploaded on Twitter handles by the ruling BJP functionaries to blunt the opposition onslaught.

 
Change of guard

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) might see a change of guard  in Kerala before the assembly polls scheduled in 2021. Former chief minister Oommen Chandy who took a back seat after the party's defeat in 2016 elections, is likely to be the party's face in the upcoming polls. Allies in the Congress-led coalition are dissatisfied with Ramesh Chennithala, the current leader of the opposition in Kerala assembly and likely frontrunner for the CM's post. They are miffed at Chennithala's inability to keep the ruling LDF on its toes despite having more than enough issues to rattle the ruling dispensation. Chandy continues to be the most popular Congress politician from the state despite being in the wilderness in recent years. Sources say that Chandy might resign as the Congress general secretary during the party plenum next year.

 
Promise & win

With just two weeks left for the local body election in Tamil Nadu, a handful of seats are being “auctioned”. Under the “auction” terms, aspiring candidates must promise to spend a certain amount of money on repairing village temples and other such institutions. If and when they are satisfied, villagers resolve that the candidate would be elected unopposed. Villagers under two panchayats in Cuddalore district have agreed not to contest against two aspirants who had promised to repair the temple and carry out other developmental work. After three years' delay in holding elections for the local bodies in Tamil Nadu, the state Election Commission announced the polls would be held in two phases, on December 27 and 30.