LIVE! Opportunist elements came together to remove Modi: BJP on Oppn rally

20:00  Opportunist elements came together to remove Modi: BJP on Oppn rally:  

Describing the united opposition rally organised by TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee as a gathering of “opportunist elements”, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said those who could not see eye-to-eye have come together with the sole agenda of removing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and without any roadmap for the future of the country.

Asserting India of 2019 is not the India of 1990s, when the longevity of prime ministers ranged from several days to a few months, senior party leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the country needs “a mazboot sarkar and not a mazboor sarkar (strong government not helpless government)”.

Taking a dig at the leaders’ gathering in Kolkata, Prasad said all of them have the ambition to become prime minister, and therefore their most difficult task is to announce their leader.

Leaders of almost all opposition parties, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, BSP leader Satish Chander Mishra, DMK leader M K Stalin and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, attended the ‘United India’ rally organised by Banerjee, the West Bengal Chief Minister, in Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground on Saturday.

The chief ministers of Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were also present at the rally.

BJP spokesperson Rajiv Partap Rudy termed the gathering an “anti-Modi exercise” and said, “It’s a summit of contradictions and conflict.” He exuded confidence that BJP would win the next general election and form the government again.

Prasad said these opposition parties have no plans for development of the country and their sole agenda is to defeat Modi.

“Those who could not see eye-to-eye have come together. From their speeches, it was evident that their only agenda was to remove Narendra Modi. They have no roadmap for the development of India. Someone in funny manner said their leader will be elected by the people of India, you have to name your leader to be elected by the people of India,” Prasad said.

19:26  BJP spoke of fighting corruption and resorted to horse-trading:  

Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy Saturday hit out at BJP for speaking about fighting corruption and resorting to horse-trading on the same day in the southern state.

Kumaraswamy was referring to a recent political situation in Karnataka when two independent MLAs announced on January 15 they were withdrawing support to his government, leading to the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition and the BJP trading charges against each other of poaching their MLAs.

The move had reduced the ruling coalition’s strength to 118, but still it was in the safe zone in the 224-member assembly.

“Democracy is being reduced to a number game … Legislators are being treated as commodity,” Kumaraswamy said the united opposition rally of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee here.

“The BJP talked about its fight against corruption in its (January 11-12) national executive (national convention in Delhi) and on the same day it resorted to horse-trading in Karnataka, revealing its double standards,” he said.

Stating that India is one of the strongest democracies in the world, the Karnataka chief minister said, “but today we are witnessing a day where the democratic government (at the Centre) is led by some undemocratic persons.”

“India is at a crossroads. Unity in diversity is our strength which is protected by our Constitution. But the present government at the Centre is trying to destroy it,” he said.

Kumaraswamy said that demonetisation has taken a toll on the poor and those in rural areas have been affected the most.

“It is unfortunate that the Union government has turned deaf and mute to the needs of people … It is turning a blind eye to the plight of people,” Kumaraswamy said.

The present government at the Centre gives incentives, tax rebates and subsidies to industries, but farmers are treated differently, he added. — PTI

19:14  Owaisi asks Pak to stop meddling in Kashmir affairs:  

Asking Pakistan to stop meddling in Kashmir  affairs, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said the valley was and will always be an integral part of India, even as he stressed the need to have a consistent policy for the region.

The Hyderabad MP said whether it was the Congress or the BJP at the Centre, they have “no policy, no vision” to bring back normalcy in the Kashmir Valley.

“I feel that there has to be a consistent policy on Kashmir which unfortunately is lacking,” he said.

The AIMIM leader was replying to a question during a panel discussion organised at the Telangana Jagruthi International Youth Leadership Conference which began here Saturday.

Quoting a report, Owaisi accused the BJP-led central government of not doing anything for Kashmiri Pandits.

He said he has not seen so many lives being destroyed with pellet guns in the last eight years. 

Owaisi said instead of having a policy for the region, the government was now aiming to have less lethal weapons which show where its priority lies.

“The Kashmir problem cannot be treated in a James Bond or a Rambo style… Someone will have to show a statesman-like approach. There is alienation and things have to be done in a proper way,” he said.

Owaisi said Pakistan should stop meddling in Kashmir affairs. — PTI

18:56  BSP-SP alliance a mismatch, its leaders unreliable: Shivpal Yadav:  

Terming the BSP-SP alliance as a “mismatch”, former Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav on Saturday alleged that the leaders of the two parties were unreliable as they both had betrayed Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Shivpal Yadav, who has floated Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party after parting ways with the SP, hit out at his nephew and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, alleging that he had deceived not only his father Mulayam Singh Yadav but also the Congress party. 

“The BSP-SP alliance is a mismatch… their leaders Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav are unreliable as they have betrayed the SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav,” Shivpal Singh Yadav, who was here to attend a function in Sahatwar, told reporters.

“After forming the government with the Samajwadi Party in 1993, the BSP had betrayed Mulayam Singh in merely 17 months ,” Shivpal Yadav said recalling her association with the BJP in the past.

On Akhilesh Yadav, he said that the SP president not only betrayed his father but also the Congress with which he fought the last Assembly polls in UP  by going ahead and entering into an alliance with the BSP, leaving the Congress out.

He claimed “backbiters and sycophants have brought the party to a situation where senior leaders are parting ways with it”.

He accused SP Rajya Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav of damaging the party and blamed him for the SP’s defeat in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. — PTI 

18:45  PM inaugurates National Museum of Indian Cinema:  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said films and society are reflection of each other and like cinema, India too is changing with times. 

The prime minister was speaking at the inauguration of the National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai.

“The country is changing and finding its own solutions. If there are a million problems, there are also a billion solutions,” the PM said. 

“Films have an important role in India’s soft power,” Modi said, while narrating how he was struck by popularity of Indian films overseas when he met and interacted with the leaders of foreign countries.

He assured the film industry that effective steps are being taken to curb piracy and “camcording”.

“A single-window system for obtaining permissions for film shoots and related matters are on the anvil,” he said.

Like the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, there could be a global film summit in India, the prime minister suggested.

“Films also play a big role in the growth of the tourism sector, which gives employment to even the poorest people, even ‘chaiwala’ makes money when tourism grows,” he said.  — PTI 

18:06  Will take cognisance of Shatrughan’s presence at Oppn rally: BJP:  

The BJP Saturday said the party will take “cognisance” of its MP Shatrughan Sinha’s presence at the united opposition rally against the Narendra Modi government and termed the actor-turned-politician an “opportunist.”

Sinha, a former Union minister and a disgruntled BJP MP from Patna, attended the rally in Kolkata organised by TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee where he reportedly spoke against Modi and the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Addressing a press conference at the party office in New Delhi, BJP’s national spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy described Sinha as an “opportunist” and said he was in the party to enjoy the perks of being an MP, but at the same time seen making different voices at various platforms.

“Sinha has been speaking against the party at various platforms. And it is always important for the BJP to act against such people and the party will take cognisance of it,” Rudy said.

Taking a dig at Sinha, Rudy said some people are “intelligent in different ways”. They abide by the party’s whip so that they don’t lose their membership. 

“At the same time, they are so opportunistic… and can be present at any conclave. The BJP will take cognisance of it,” Rudy said.

Sinha has been regularly speaking against the BJP’s top leadership which provoked Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi earlier this week, who suggested that Sinha should quit the party. — PTI  

16:48  Modi meets his mother during Gujarat tour:  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met his nonagenarian mother Hiraba in Raisan village near Gandhinagar after he made a brief stopover on his way to Ahmedabad Airport.

Hiraba lives with the PM’s younger brother Pankaj Modi in the village.

The prime minister spent around 30 minutes with his mother and other family members in the morning and then left for Ahmedabad airport, sibling Pankaj said.

PM Modi was on a three-day visit to Gujarat since January 17. — PTI

16:30  BJP’s ‘achhe din’ won’t come back: Mamata at grand Oppn rally :  

Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee , who took the stage in the end at the opposition’s mega rally, said this wasn’t the time to speculate on the united opposition’s prime ministerial candidate. 

“We will figure that out later. The need of the hour is to defeat Narendra Modi and the BJP,” she asserted. 

Banerjee said that the BJP was finally on the backfoot after “looting” the country for years, and their achhe din will not be back no matter what promises they make.

“A new government will be formed at the Centre. It is inevitable. Their expiry date has come. This is people’s verdict,” Mamata said.

She further said, “The Modi government is past its expiry date and in the coming days, a new dawn will descend. We will work together and it’s a promise.”

A Delhi court on Saturday extended till February 6 the interim protection from arrest granted to Manoj Arora, a close aide of United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra, in a money laundering case.

The Enforcement Directorate told Special Judge Arvind Kumar that Arora was cooperating in the probe.

“He joined the probe yesterday. So far he is cooperating,” Special Public Prosecutor D P Singh, appearing for the ED, said.

ED’s Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana sought two more weeks for arguments on the application which was allowed by the court.

Rana said it remained to be seen if Arora would cooperate further.

The case relates to allegations of money laundering in the purchase of a London-based property — located at 12, Bryanston Square — worth 1.9 million pounds, which is allegedly owned by Vadra, the brother-in-law of Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

In the last hearing, Arora had alleged before the court that the case was foisted on him by the NDA government out of “political vendetta”. — PTI

15:43  Need to defeat dangerous BJP govt at any cost: Kejriwal:  

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday called upon people to defeat the “dangerous” BJP government at the Centre at any cost.

Stating that the country was at the crossroads of a serious crisis, he said there is need for immediate change of the Modi government to save the country and democracy.

“If the (Narendra) Modi-(Amit) Shah combine continues to rule the country by winning the 2019 elections, it will change the Constitution and further elections will never take place. A fascist regime will set in as was done by Hitler in Germany,” Kejriwal said at TMC’s mega opposition rally here.

He accused the BJP of creating enmity among people in the name of religion.

“It was Pakistan’s dream to split this country into pieces. This BJP government is going ahead in that direction by creating enmity among people and dividing the nation on the lines of religion, language…” Kejriwal said at the Brigade Parade Grounds.

Slamming the central government, he said in the last five years, it has failed to create employment opportunities and farmers were facing acute crises.

“Demonetisation has taken away all the scope of employment and Modi’s friendly insurance companies were making money at the cost of farmers,” the Delhi CM alleged.

He added that the objective of the general elections was not to find the next prime minister, but to oust Modi and his party.

15:21  I am a Muslim and I love India, my country: Farooq Abdullah:  

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah Saturday called the EVM the “chor machine” and demanded that the ballot paper system be brought back for the sake of transparency.

Speaking at the united opposition rally organised by TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, he said, “It is not the question of ousting any single person (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) but of saving the country and honouring the sacrifices of those who fought for its freedom.”

“The EVM is chor machine. Honestly speaking, it is so. Its use must be put to an end. Nowhere in the world is the machine used. The opposition parties should approach the Election Commission and the President of India to stop the use of the EVM and bring back the old ballot papers for the sake of transparency,” he said.

He blamed the BJP for the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and said people are being divided on religious lines. “People are being branded as Pakistanis. But all people — right from Ladakh to elsewhere — want to continue in India.

“I am a Muslim and I love India, my country,” he said.

Continuing his tirade against the BJP, he said it stood for the Triple Talaq Bill in Parliament but did not pass the Women’s Reservation Bill.

15:07  My actions against corruption have infuriated some: PM’s dig at Oppn:  

Taking a dig at Opposition’s mega rally in Kolkata, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his actions against corruption have infuriated some people and that’s why they are forging alliance called mahagathbandhan (grand alliance).

“My actions against corruption have infuriated some people. It is but natural for them to get angry as I have prevented them from looting public money. Consequently, they have now formed an alliance called mahagathbandhan,” Modi said in Silvassa. 

He further said,” This ganthbandhan is not against Modi but against the people of India. Currently, they are not even properly together and already that have started bargaining for their share.”

More than 20 national leaders have gathered at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s mega rally in Kolkata against the BJP.

14:50  And here comes the mandatory united opposition’s photo. 

14:49  Zakir Naik case: ED attaches assets worth Rs 16.40 cr under PMLA:  

The Enforcement Directorate has attached fresh assets worth Rs 16.40 crore in connection with its money-laundering probe against controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, it said on Saturday.

The ED, in a statement, said it had issued a provisional order for attachment of Naik’s assets, located in Mumbai and Pune, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The estimated value of the immovable assets was Rs 16.40 crore, the central probe agency said.

This is the third such attachment in the case by the ED. The agency is probing the case after taking cognisance of an FIR filed by the National Investigation Agency against Naik, who is said to be based in Malaysia at present.

With the latest order, the total value of assets attached in the case by the ED stands at Rs 50.49 crore. — PTI 

13:54  Become Arjun, pitch united Oppn candidates to win LS poll: Shourie:  

Former Union minister Arun Shourie on Saturday asked the opposition to work together to throw out the BJP government at the Centre in the coming Lok Sabha polls.

The opposition parties should unitedly pitch single candidates against the BJP contestants in the country to win the Lok Sabha poll.

Shourie, who was among the galaxy of speakers to address the united opposition rally of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, said there are no two opinions on the need to oust the BJP.

“We (opposition parties and leaders) have to have a single aim — that is ousting the BJP in the next Lok Sabha election. Become Arjun (of Mahabaharata),” he urged the opposition leaders.

“It will not be an easy work – pitching a single opposition candidate in each seat against the BJP. But we must sacrifice for the country, with a sense of love for it,” Shourie, who was minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee

government said.

He said the Modi-Shah duo of BJP has lost the trust of the people. “This government has lied on all counts … Modiji knows that his hold over the country has loosened”.

Congratulating Banerjee for holding the opposition rally, Shourie said other opposition parties should also hold such rallies and each of them should attend those and not merely send representatives.

“The Bengal tigress has given the call to oust BJP. I am sure it will be successfull,” he added. — PTI

Zoram Nationalist Party leader Lalduhawma on Saturday said the entire north east was “burning” because of the Citizenship Amendment Bill.

“If the bill was enacted … , India will no longer be the place that it used to be … so we want a secular government at the Centre, so that this bill was withdrawn or exemption must be given to the north east,” he said at the

opposition rally at the Brigade Parade ground in Kolkata.

Lalduhawma, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Mizoram Assembly alleged that the BJP, RSS are trying to rewrite the history on their own way.

He said “We are looking forward to see a new secular government at the Centre so that people of the north east are protected.”

After Lalduhawma ended his speech, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee said her party was against the Citizenship Amendment Bill. 

13:31  PM Modi rides K-9 Vajra tank:  

Prime minister Narendra Modi today took a ride in a K-9 Vajra self propelled Howitzer after inaugurating the howitzer gun-manufacturing unit of Larsen & Toubro at Hazira in Surat.

L&T had won the Rs 4,500-crore contract to supply 100 units of the K9 Vajra-T 155 mm/52 calibre Tracked Self-Propelled gun systems to the Indian Army in 2017.

The company has set up the Armoured Systems Complex at its Hazira facility, around 30 km from Surat, to manufacture the guns.

The Armoured Systems Complex is the first such facility in the country’s private sector, an official said.

13:17  Mehbooba seeks separatist leader’s release on humanitarian grounds:  

People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday sought the release of separatist leader Shahid-ul-Islam, who is in the National Investigation Agency’s custody, on humanitarian grounds as his wife was not feeling well.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister spoke to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh over phone after reports of Islam’s wife having suffered a brain hemorrhage emerged. 

“I share your concern for Shahid Ul Islam. Have spoken with HM requesting his early release on humanitarian grounds as the wife has suffered a brain haemorrhage,” Mehbooba said in a tweet, in response to a plea for the separatist leader’s release by a Twitter user.

Waheed Parra, the youth wing chief of the PDP said that Mehbooba also raised the concerns about the alleged “harsh treatment” of political prisoners from the state and the charges against Kashmiri students in the Jawaharlal Nehru University case with the Union home minister. — PTI  

A battery of opposition leaders are attending the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s mega rally in Kolkata.

More than 20 national leaders, including former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, his son and Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah, Sharad Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Hemant Soren and former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang, are present at the rally. 

Here’s who said what at the mega rally.

This is not about removing one man from power. We have come together to defeat an ideology. 

Yashwant Sinha, former Union minister

12:23  Chargesheet against Kanhaiya Kumar not accepted by court:  

A Delhi court today rapped the Delhi Police for filing a chargesheet against former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaiya Kumar without getting approval from the Delhi government.

“You don’t have approval from legal department, why did you file chargesheet without approval,” the court asked police while hearing the matter. 

The Delhi Police replied that it will get approval from the government in 10 days.

The 1,200-page chargesheet in which former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were also arrayed as accused was filed on January 14 for shouting anti-India slogans during an event on the university’s campus on February 9, 2016, to commemorate the hanging of Parliament-attack mastermind Afzal Guru.

12:20  Oppn leaders at Mamata’s rally :  Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav,  Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah at the Mamata Banerjee’s mega rally at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade ground. 

11:55  IRCTC scam: Lalu Prasad’s interim bail extended till Jan 28:  

A Delhi court on Saturday extended till January 28 the interim bail granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad in two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation scam cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation adn the Enforcement Directorate.

SpecialJ judge Arun Bhardwaj also extended the interim bail granted to Prasad’s wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi Yadav in the CBI case till January 28.

On the said date, the court will pronounce order on the regular bail application of Lalu Prasad and others.

The cases relate to alleged irregularities in granting the operational contract of two IRCTC hotels to a private firm. — PTI

10:51  India, Pak should engage in ‘meaningful dialogue’: UN chief:  

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday hoped that India and Pakistan will engage in a ‘meaningful dialogue’ to resolve their issues.

The UN chief, speaking to reporters at the UN headquarters in New York, also said he has been offering his ‘good offices in relation to the dialogue between the two countries that, until now, had no conditions of success’.

India has made it clear to Pakistan that cross-border terrorism and talks cannot go hand-in-hand.

“I hope that the importance of both India and Pakistan is such in international affairs, I hope that the two countries will be able to engage in a meaningful dialogue,” he said, responding to a question on the dialogue between the two countries.

“In relation to the human rights situation, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has produced recently a very detailed report. So, the UN has clearly done its job in that regard,” Guterres said to a question by a Pakistan journalist on the situation in Kashmir.

The Indo-Pak ties strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based terrorists in 2016 and India’s surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The ties further nose-dived in 2017 with no bilateral talks talking place between them.  — PTI

10:26  Mamata meets opposition leaders ahead of mega meet:  

Key opposition leaders including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M K Stalin, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, and Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ahead of the Trinamool Congress-led mega rally on Saturday.

Taking to Twitter, the TMC Chief welcomed the leaders’ participation in the ‘United India Rally’.

‘Only few hours to go for the historic ‘United India Rally’ at Brigade Parade Grounds. I welcome all national leaders, supporters and lakhs of people to participate in today’s rally to pledge to build a stronger, progressive and united India (sic).” she tweeted.

Among those who are expected to be a part of the rally include National Conference supremo Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejaswi Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Satish Misra, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh and leader Jayant Chaudhary, former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, Opposition leader in Mizoram Lalduwahawma, former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang, former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, and Gujarat independent MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani.

Though Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi will be skipping the rally, the party would be represented by senior Congress leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge and Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

On Friday, Rahul wrote to the TMC chief extending support to the mega rally.

‘We commend the great people of Bengal who have historically been at the forefront of defending our ideals. I extend my support to Mamata Di on this show of unity and hope that we send a powerful message of a united India together,’ the letter read.

Anticipating heavy rush of commuters in the wake of the TMC-led rally at the Brigade Parade Ground, the Kolkata Metro, which operates under the Ministry of Railways, has beefed up its security arrangements by deploying additional forces apart from the regular contingent.

Additional RPF Personnel including officers and staff have been roped in for strategic deployment at all stations to tackle any untoward incident.

Commandos will be deployed at Dum Dum, Esplanade and Maidan Stations

Women RPF personnel will also be deployed in adequate numbers at various stations.

Mamata has been touring the country since the last one year in an effort to shore up a strong and united opposition front to fight the Lok Sabha elections against the BJP. — ANI

09:37  Trump to make ‘major’ announcement on shutdown today:  

United States President Donald Trump has said he will make a ‘major’ announcement on Saturday on the ongoing federal government shutdown and the humanitarian crisis on the country’s southern border.

No further detail about the announcement was immediately available from the White House.

The shutdown, the longest-ever in US history, is a result of the bitter political divide over border security issue between the Trump-led Republican party and the opposition Democratic party led by the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Democrats, who now enjoy majority in the House, have refused to approve a legislation approving $5.7 billion in federal funding to construct a wall across the US-Mexico border, a poll promise by the Republican president.

‘I will be making a major announcement concerning the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border, and the Shutdown, tomorrow afternoon at 3 P.M. (1:30 am Sunday IST), live from the @WhiteHouse,’ President Trump tweeted on Friday.

Functioning of several key wings of the US government, including Security and State departments, has been paralysed for nearly four weeks now because of the ongoing partial government shutdown.                

President Trump insists that building a wall is the only solution to protect the nation from a large flow of illegal immigrants and drug smuggling.

The Democrats are opposed to any such funding. After Trump walked out of a meeting at the White House last week, Democrats have refused to come to the negotiation table.  — PTI

09:07  Woman among 3 arrested for abetting Bhaiyyu Maharaj’s suicide:  

A woman and two aides of self- styled godman Bhaiyyu Maharaj were arrested on Friday for allegedly abetting his suicide last year, police said.

Palak, 25, Vinayak and Sharad Deshmukh were arrested and charged with abetment of suicide, Deputy Inspector General of Police H C Mishra said.

Palak was allegedly blackmailing the 50-year-old spiritual guru and putting pressure on him to marry her, he said.

Vinayak and Deshmukh, aides of Bhaiyyu Maharaj, had helped the woman in her acts, the police officer added.

Mishra said Bhaiyyu Maharaj’s wife Ayushi and relatives had recently recorded statements with the police against the accused.

The model-turned-godman had shot himself dead on June 12 at his residence in Indore.  — PTI

09:04  India does not belong to any particular religion, caste or language: Gadkari:  

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said this country does not belong to any particular religion, caste, or language.

Addressing a gathering during the distribution of ownership pattas to slum dwellers he said the party had never done politics based on caste or religion and theirs was a politics of service and development.

He said India was of every person who loved it, be it a Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jain, Christians or others.

“We have never done politics based on caste or religion… We never did politics on caste, religion and language. But, we did politics of service and development of poor,” he said.

“Because a poor man is poor, be it a Muslim, Jain, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Dalit or a tribal,” he said.

He further said that there cannot be partiality in the work of development.

“We know that those who cannot compete with us on the development front, try to scare people with poison of casteism and communalism,” he said.

He said it was said that if Gadkari gets elected then ‘you will be sent to Pakistan’ and questioned, “What did I do, whom did I scare and whom was I unjust to?”

He said the party will work for people whether or not they vote for it.

“This country does not belong to any particular religion, caste, or language. This country is of every person who loves it, be it a Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jain, Christian and others,” said Gadkari.  — PTI

08:14  Yeddyurappa calls back all party MLAs staying in Gurugram:  

Bharatiya Janata Party Karnataka president B S Yeddyurappa has called back all party MLAs who were staying in Gurugram allegedly to avoid ‘poaching’ attempts by the ruling Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance.

The development comes as the Congress shifted all but four of its MLAs to a resort near Bengaluru after four MLAs gave the party’s CLP meet a skip on Friday.

A state senior Congress leader said since it was suspected that eight party MLAs had ‘committed’ to the BJP and might jump ship, the legislators were being shifted to a resort.

00:25  Meghalaya mine tragedy: Body yet to be identified:  

Family members of at least five of the 15 people trapped inside a coal mine in Meghalaya failed to identify the decomposed body of a victim on Friday from the videos recorded underwater, officials said.

Navy divers detected the body using an unmanned remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) at a depth of around 160 feet inside the main shaft on Wednesday.

Though the ROV had pulled the body to half way, doctors at the site advised not to pull it further fearing disintegration of the body parts before it could be identified, they said.

Operation spokesperson R Susngi told PTI that the family members of five of those trapped could not identify the victim.

They were shown videos captured by the ROV inside the man-sized horizontal holes — often referred to as rat-holes — used by the miners to take out coal from inside the mine.

Of the five families, three were from the Lumthari village near the mine in East Jaintia Hills district, while the two others are from Assam’s Chirang district.

The family members of other trapped miners hailing from West Garo Hills district are yet to arrive at the site and the district authorities are waiting for them in case they could identify the body, he said.

Pumping from the nearby abandoned mines continued on Friday as the operation to rescue the trapped miners entered the 37th day.

The multi-agency operations, which include dewatering of the main shaft where the miners are trapped and in the nearby mines, have failed to yield any result so far, as the water level did not reduce even after pumping out over 3 crore litres of water, Susngi said.

On December 13, water from nearby Lytein river flooded a network of tunnels in the mine, trapping the 15 men.  —  PTI