Archives for September 2025

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

Wayanad (PTI): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday accused the Election Commission of colluding to destroy” the electoral process.

She urged people to watch Rahul Gandhi’s press conference in New Delhi, stressing that the people must stand together to defend democracy and the Constitution.

“I urge everybody to see his press conference. Everybody should watch his press conference, because you should understand what is happening in our country and how the ECI is colluding to destroy the electoral process to challenge democracy in our country.

“We all need to fight for democracy. We need to fight for the Constitution, we need to fight for our country,” she told reporters outside the Wayanad Muslim Orphanage at Muttil here.

Her remarks came as Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, accused the Chief Election Commissioner of protecting “vote chors” and people who have destroyed democracy, and cited data from a Karnataka Assembly constituency to claim that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted ahead of elections.

The Election Commission has dubbed as incorrect and baseless the allegations made by Gandhi that CEC Gyanesh Kumar is protecting “vote chors”

Chief Justice of India B R Gavai

New Delhi : Chief Justice of India B R Gavai on Thursday affirmed his respect for “all religions” in the wake of the online criticism his comments garnered in a matter over the reconstruction of a Lord Vishnu idol.

Someone told me the other day that the comments I made have been portrayed in social media…I respect all religions,” he said.

A bench comprising the CJI and Justice K Vinod Chandran, on May 16, dismissed the plea seeking directions to reconstruct and reinstall a seven-foot idol of Lord Vishnu at the Javari Temple, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Khajuraho temple complex in Madhya Pradesh.

Terming the plea as a “publicity interest litigation the CJI said This is purely publicity interest litigation… Go and ask the deity himself to do something. If you are saying that you are a strong devotee of Lord Vishnu, then you pray and do some meditation.”

The CJI had added, “In the meantime, if you are not averse to Shaivism, you can go and worship there… there is a very big linga of Shiva, one of the biggest in Khajuraho.”

The bench had refused to entertain the plea filed by one Rakesh Dalal, who sought the replacement and consecration of the damaged idol at the Javari Temple in Chhatarpur district.

The CJI’s remarks led to various critical social media posts.

I have known the CJI for the last 10 years,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “this is serious also, we used to know Newton’s law that every action has an equal reaction… now every action has a disproportionate social media reaction.”

The law officer said the CJI has visited all religious places. “We suffer everyday, it’s an unruly horse no way to tame it,” senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was present in the courtroom, said.

The CJI also referred to recent violent protests in Nepal.

C P Radhakrishnan

New Delhi: NDA candidate C P Radhakrishnan won the vice presidential election on Tuesday by bagging 452 votes, while opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy polled 300 votes, Returning Officer P C Mody said.

The vote tally suggested some cross-voting in favour of Radhakrishnan. BJP leaders claimed that at least 15 opposition members voted for the NDA nominee. Earlier, the Congress had claimed that the opposition stood united with all of its 315 MPs turning up to vote in the vice presidential polls.

A total of 767 MPs cast their ballot in a turnout of 98.2 per cent, of which 752 were valid and 15 votes were deemed invalid, Mody said. One postal ballot was cancelled as the MP declined to cast the vote.

Mody said Radhakrishnan secured 452 first preference votes as against 300 for Reddy.

“I declare C P Radhakrishnan elected to the post of Vice President of India and the results will be communicated to the Election Commission Mody said.

Radhakrishnan would be India’s 15th vice president when he is sworn in to the post.

The poll was necessitated by the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21.

The electoral college for the vice presidential election comprises a total of 788 members – 245 from the Rajya Sabha and 543 from the Lok Sabha. The 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha are also eligible to vote in the election.

The present strength of the electoral college is 781 as six seats are vacant in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha.

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) and University College of Medical Science (UCMS) on Tuesday morning received bomb threats, which were later declared hoax, officials said.

The police said the threats mentioned that RDX, having a one-km blast radius, were planted in the three sites.

Immediate and coordinated action was taken under standard operating procedures (SOPs), with bomb detection and disposal teams (BDDT) pressed into service at the three sites. After thorough checking the bomb threats were declared hoax, they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said, “Around 11 am, information was received from UCMS at GTB Hospital that they have received an email regarding the presence of a bomb in the collage premises.”

Immediately, in accordance with the SOP, college was vacated without creating any panic, he said.

The DCP added that the Bomb Dog Squad (BDS) was called and every corner of the building was checked. At 1.30 pm building was declared as cleared from danger and the threat was found to be hoax.

According to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), a separate call regarding the threat was also received, following which multiple fire tenders were rushed to the spot as a precautionary measure.

DCP (Central) Nidhin Valsan, in a statement, said entire area of MAMC and CM Secretariat was screened. “The email turned out to be hoax. Legal action will be taken.”

“Senior officers, including additional DCP (central), ACP Kamla Market and SHO IP Estate, were present at the Secretariat overseeing anti-sabotage checks. At MAMC, the exercise was being supervised by the additional traffic officer (ATO) of IP Estate police station,” he said.

Appropriate measures were taken to ensure the safety and security of people present at both locations. There is no cause for panic, the DCP (Central) said.

The officer further said a team of the cyber police station is examining the origin of the email. The initial assessment has revealed similarities with previous hoax threat emails.

“Preliminary findings indicate the message may have actually been intended for a location in another state. However, we are treating it with utmost seriousness and all SOPs are being followed,” he added.

UCMS College officials said they received a threat email this morning and informed the police. Authorities thoroughly checked every corner of the college building, but didn’t find anything suspicious and vacated the premises around 3 pm.

Earlier, the collage issued a notice stating: “This is to share that the college has received an email regarding bomb threat in college this afternoon. The college is taking all precautionary measures for the safety in this regard. We are therefore, suspending, all the classes for students in the college building; and the students and staff are requested to vacate the college building to ensure safety of all.

According to the police, the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and Special Cell assisted in the quick response. Entry and exit points were secured and access was restricted during the verification exercise.

All security drills were carried out with due diligence. Such threat emails, even if they are hoaxes, cannot be taken lightly, an officer said.

This incident follows a spate of hoax threat emails received in several schools and educational institutes in recent months, prompting heightened vigilance among security agencies.