Archives for April 2024
Congress expels Sanjay Nirupam for 6 yrs for indiscipline, making anti-party statements
New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday expelled Maharashtra leader Sanjay Nirupam from the party for six years for indiscipline and making anti-party statements.
The action against him came after the Maharashtra unit of the Congress initiated disciplinary action for his recent remarks targeting party ally and Maha Vikas Aghadi member Shiv Sena (UBT) in the state.
“Taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, Congress president (Mallikarjun Kharge) has approved the expulsion of Sanjay Nirupam from the party for six years with immediate effect,” an official communication from the party said.
The Congress has dropped the name of Nirupam, a former MP, as a star campaigner.
The demand for action against Nirupam grew after he castigated the state leadership for “ceding” constituencies in Mumbai to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena during seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha elections.
“The Congress has dropped Nirupam’s name from the list of star campaigners and disciplinary action has been initiated against him for his utterances against the party and the state unit leadership,” state party president Nana Patole told reporters after attending a meeting of the party’s campaign committee in Mumbai.
Making light of the party’s action, Nirupam raised the “serious financial crisis” in the Congress, apparently alluding to the Income Tax Department’s action for tax demand.
“It (Congress) should utilise its energy to save itself, as the party is experiencing a serious financial crisis. The time-frame I had given to the party ends today. I will spell out my next course of action tomorrow,” he said in a post on X.
The former MP from Mumbai North, Nirupam, had hit out at the state leadership of the Congress after the Shiv Sena (UBT) declared its candidates for four out of six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, including the Mumbai North West seat, which Nirupam was believed to be eyeing.
He had also said the Congress leadership shouldn’t allow itself to be arm-twisted by the Shiv Sena (UBT).
Accepting the Shiv Sena (UBT’s) decision to unilaterally field candidates in Mumbai amounted to allowing the destruction of the Congress, the former Mumbai Congress president had claimed.
Nirupam had quit the Shiv Sena in 2005.
Expulsion action taken after Cong received my resignation letter, claims Nirupam
Mumbai: Former MP Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday took a swipe at the Congress leadership over his expulsion, claiming it was done after he sent his resignation letter to the party.
Taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge late Wednesday evening approved Nirupam’s expulsion from the party for six years with immediate effect.
On Thursday morning, former Mumbai Congress chief Nirupam in a post on X said, “Looks like, immediately after the party received my resignation letter last night, they decided to issue my expulsion. Good to see such promptness.”
In the letter to Kharge, Nirupam said, “I have finally decided to fulfil your much awaited desire and hereby announce that I chose to resign from the primary membership of the All India Congress Committee.”
Nirupam, who was eyeing the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, was miffed with the party for allowing the Shiv Sena (UBT) to take the seat for the upcoming parliamentary polls.
The demand for action against Nirupam grew after he castigated the Maharashtra Congress leadership for “ceding” constituencies in Mumbai to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party during seat-sharing talks of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance for Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Congress dropped Nirupam’s name as a star campaigner, indicating the crisis was escalating.
Nirupam then launched a sharp attack, saying as the party was experiencing a “serious financial crisis”, it should utilise the stationery and energy to save itself, apparently alluding to the Income Tax Department’s action for tax demand.
The former MP from Mumbai North had also said the Congress leadership should not allow itself to be arm-twisted by the Shiv Sena (UBT).
Accepting the Shiv Sena (UBT’s) decision to unilaterally field candidates in Mumbai amounted to allowing the destruction of Congress, he had claimed.
A former Shiv Sainik, Nirupam quit Shiv Sena in 2005.
He took up the cause of north Indian hawkers and subsequently made his way into the Congress. In 2009, he successfully contested from Mumbai North seat.
Nirupam lost the 2014 elections from the same constituency against BJP’s Gopal Shetty.
Gourav Vallabh resigns from Cong, says can’t raise anti-Sanatan slogans
New Delhi: Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh resigned from all posts and membership of the party on Thursday, saying that neither can he raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse ‘wealth creators’ day in and day out.
Vallabh shared his resignation letter written to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on social media platform X.
He said he was not feeling comfortable with the directionless way in which the party was moving forward.
Vallabh said, “I can neither raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse wealth creators day in and day out. Therefore, I resign from all posts and primary membership of the party.” He had not been attending television programs on behalf of the party for several months and had not held any press conference for a long time.
In his resignation letter, Vallabh said, “When I joined Congress, I believed that Congress is the oldest party in the country which respects youth and intellectual people and their ideas. But for some time, I felt that the party was not able to adjust with the youth having new ideas.”
Vallabh claimed the Congress is completely cut off from the ground and is unable to understand the aspirations of a new India, due to which the party is neither coming to power nor is able to play the role of a strong opposition.
He also said that he was upset with the stance taken by the party of staying away from the Ram Mandir ‘Pran Pratishtha’ programme in Ayodhya.
Pant fined Rs 24 lakh for second over rate offence
Visakhapatnam: Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant has been fined Rs 24 lakh for a second over rate offence in the 2024 Indian Premier League.
Pant was guilty of maintaining a slow-over in the game against Kolkata Knight Riders here on Wednesday.
The rest of his teammates were fined 25 percent of their match fees.
“Rishabh Pant, the Delhi Capitals captain, has been fined after his team maintained a slow over rate during their TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Kolkata Knight Riders…” said the IPL in a statement.
“As it was his team’s second offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over rate offences, Pant was fined INR 24 lakhs.
“The rest of the members of the Playing XI, including the Impact Player, were each individually fined either INR 6 lakhs or 25 percent of their respective match fees, whichever is lesser,” it added.
Delhi Capitals lost the game to KKR by 106 runs after the latter smashed 272 for seven, the second highest total in IPL history. It was Delhi Capitals’ third loss in four games.
HC refuses to entertain plea seeking removal of Kejriwal as CM
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on Thursday refuses to entertain a PIL seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal as chief minister following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.
The high court said at times, personal interest has to be subordinate to national interest.
“At times, personal interest has to be subordinate to national interest but that is his personal call. We are a court of law and have to go by the law. Your remedy does not lie here, it lies elsewhere. You go before the competent forum,” a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora said.
The bench said it has recently dismissed a similar PIL seeking removal of Kejriwal from the post of chief minister and thus, it cannot take a different view.
As the court refused to interfere in the issue, petitioner Vishnu Gupta’s lawyer said he has instructions to withdraw the petition and that he will approach the Lieutenant Governor with his plea.
The court disposed of the plea while allowing the petitioner to withdraw the petition.
Thieves steal Rs 1.35 Lakh worth of valuable nuts from Belthangady warehouse
Belthangady, Karnataka: In an incident of theft reported from Belthangady, thieves targeted a nut warehouse in Tannirupantha, leaving the owner, Abdul Hakeem, at a loss of Rs 1.35 lakh. The incident, which occurred under the Punjalkatte police station limits, saw the miscreants breaking into the warehouse by force.
Abdul Hakeem, a resident of Tannirupantha, reported the theft after discovering that 25 bags of unshelled nuts, valued at Rs 1,35,000, were missing. He had secured the 75 sacks in the warehouse the previous evening and was shocked to find the door broken the next morning.
Local police have registered a case at Punjalkatte police station and are investigating the matter further.
Kolkata Knight Riders beat Delhi Capitals by 106 runs
Visakhapatnam: Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed Delhi Capitals by 106 runs to continue their winning run in the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday.
Set an improbable target of 273, Delhi Capitals were all out for 166 in 17.2 overs.
Batting first, the seasoned Sunil Narine and young Angkrish Raghuvanshi struck scintillating half-centuries to power Kolkata Knight Riders to an imposing 272 for seven.
Narine blasted 85 in a mere 39 balls while the 18-year-old Raghuvanshi smashed his way to 54 off 27 deliveries, as the DC bowlers ran for cover.
Andre Russell blazed away to 41 in just 19 balls while Rinku Singh made 26 in eight balls, continuing KKR’s dominance through the innings.
For DC, skipper Rishabh Pant hammered 55 in 25 balls while Tristan Stubbs sizzled with 54 in 32 deliveries.
Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders: 272/7 in 20 overs (Sunil Narine 85, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 54, Andre Russell 41; Anrich Nortje 3/59).
Delhi Capitals: 166 all out in 17.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 55, Tristan Stubbs 54; Vaibhav Arora 4/27, Varun Chakaravarthy 4/33).
Rajasthan Royals beat Mumbai Indians by six wickets
Mumbai: Rajasthan Royals defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets to register their third consecutive win in this edition of the IPL here on Monday.
Opting to bowl first, Rajasthan Royals stopped Mumbai Indians at 125 for nine and then chased down the target with 27 balls to spare. The in-form Riyan Parag again played very well to remain not out on 54 off 39 balls.
MI were off to a disastrous start as they found themselves tottering at 20 for four in the innings’ fourth over in their season’s first home game.
Again subjected to booing by fans, MI skipper Hardik Pandya responded with a 21-ball 34, while Tilak Varma chipped in with 32 in 29 deliveries.
Veteran pacer Trent Boult bowled extremely well to finish with 3/22, while leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal ended with excellent figures of 3/11, including picking the big wicket of Pandya when he was looking good for more runs.
This was MI’s third straight defeat.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians: 125/9 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 34, Tilak Varma 32; Trent Boult 3/22; Yzvendra Chahal 3/11).
Rajasthan Royals: 127/4 in 15.3 overs (Riyan Parag 54 not out; Akash Madhwal 3/20).
Rameshwaram Café Blast: NIA investigating Police Inspector’s role in helping accused
NIA officers are reported to have conducted an investigation against a Circle Inspector for aiding the mother of Rameshwaram Café blast accused Muzammil Shareef to get a rented house in Chikkamagaluru. The accused had revealed the help of the police officer to NIA after his arrest.
Muzammil Shareef, a resident of Kalasa, had brought his mother to Chikkamagaluru and rented a house. It is reported that a Circle Inspector had helped him to obtain the residence. NIA is said to be gathering information on the nature of the officer’s contact with the blast accused.