NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in his home state Gujarat for a three-day visit from today. Modi tweeted that would attend the Adijati Maha Sammelan in Dahod and inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of development projects worth around Rs 22,000 crore.

He is also scheduled to lay the foundation stone of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar as well as inaugurate the Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit at Gandhinagar.
The visit comes at a time when Gujarat is gearing up for elections. While the BJP has been in power in the state since 1995, it is taking no chances. 

“Upon reaching Gujarat, I will visit the Vidya Samiksha Kendra. This modern centre leverages data and technology in order to improve learning outcomes. I will also interact with those who are working in the education sector,” Modi tweeted. 

BHOPAL: The first killing of the April 10 Ram Navami festival communal violence was reported on Monday early morning eight days after the violence.

The body was identified as that of Ibarish, more than seven days after he was brutally murdered by 7-8 unidentified men in the Kapas Mandi area near Anand Nagar mosque, where he had gone for prayers at around 7.30 pm on April 10.

His body was recovered from the Kapas Mandi-Anand Nagar area on April 10-11 intervening night, a few hours after he was brutally murdered by unidentified men. Four days later, on the family’s complaint, a missing persons complaint was lodged on April 14 morning, around 12 hours before lodging the case of murder of Ibarish (who till then remained unidentified).

It’s however surprising, as to why the police which had recovered the body on April 10-11 intervening night, didn’t get it identified by his kin, when Ibarish’s missing person complaint was lodged by them on April 14 morning.

Also, it’s still not clear why the police took more than three days to lodge the murder case after recovering the body, even after the eye witnesses had told the police about 7-8 men assaulting the unidentified man on April 10-11 intervening night.

A senior state police official, presently camping in Khargone, told The New Indian Express that the murder case was lodged on April 14, immediately after getting the final autopsy report, which established multiple injuries on head and neck inflicted by a sharp edged weapon.

The senior police official also added that the body was sent to Indore’s MY Hospital later, as Khargone Hospital didn’t have deep freezer facility.

He, however, couldn’t explain why it took the police more than a week to call the murdered man’s kin to identify the body at the hospital in Indore, particularly when the missing person report and murder case were lodged by Khargone police within a span  of 12 hours on April 14 only.

Importantly, Ibarsih’s mother Mumtaz, who had been searching for missing son since 5-6 days, had said on Sunday evening that the police should tell them if he is in jail or handover his body, if he is dead.

While the local police claimed it was a case of murder by rioters, Ibarish’s brother Iqhlak, who brought the body to Khargone from Indore on Monday early morning, alleged that he was killed by police and local residents.

“My brother left home at 7.30 pm on April 10 to offer prayers at Anand Nagar mosque but didn’t return. He was killed by local residents and police brutally. He was last seen alive for sometime in police custody at the Khargone police station on April 10 evening only,” Iqhlak alleged.

A resident of Islampura locality of the communal violence hit Khargone town, Ibarish was  reportedly a safai staff with local municipality. He had 10 siblings, including 5 brothers and five sisters.

He is survived by widow and toddler son. His burial will happen in Khargone on Monday morning. Meanwhile, sensing possibility of disturbances in the wake of Ibarish’s death and burial, the Khargone district administration has cancelled the  8 am to 12 noon four hours relaxation of curfew for Monday.

Curfew was imposed in Khargone town after widespread communal violence in the town, following attack on a Ram Navami procession near Talab Chowk area on April 10 evening.

Over 30 persons, including around 10 cops, among them then SP-Khargone Siddharth Chaudhary were injured in the violence.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

New Delhi: Leaders of 13 Opposition parties Saturday expressed deep concern over the recent incidents of hate speech and communal violence in the country, and urged people to maintain peace and harmony.

In a joint statement, the leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and her Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand counterparts M K Stalin and Hemant Soren, also raised concern over the manner in which issues relating to food, dress, faith, festivals and language “are being deliberately used by the ruling establishment to polarise society”.

They also demanded stringent punishment for the perpetrators of communal violence in the country.

“We are shocked at the silence of the Prime Minister, who has failed to speak against the words and actions of those who propagate bigotry and those who, by their words and actions, incite and provoke our society,” they said in the joint statement.

“This silence is an eloquent testimony to the fact that such private armed mobs enjoy the luxury of official patronage.”

Asserting their collective resolve to work together to strengthen the bonds of social harmony that “defined and enriched India for centuries”, the Opposition leaders said, “We reiterate our commitment to combat and confront the poisonous ideologies which are attempting to entrench divisiveness in our society.”

“We appeal to all sections of the people to maintain peace and foil the sinister objective of those who wish to sharpen communal polarisation. We call upon all our party units across the country to independently and jointly work for maintaining peace and harmony, they said in the joint appeal.

Incidents of communal violence were reported from some parts of the country on the occassion of Ram Navami on April 10.

There have also been sharp divisions over the Hijab row in Karnataka and some other parts of the country and violence on the JNU campus over serving of non-veg food in the hostel mess on Ram Navami.

“We are extremely anguished at the manner in which issues related to food, dress, faith, festivals and language are being deliberately used by sections of the ruling establishment to polarize our society,” the statement said.

“We are extremely concerned with the growing incidents of hate speech in the country by people, who appear to have official patronage and against whom no meaningful and strong action is being taken,” they said in their joint statement.

On the recent incidents of communal violence, they said, “We are deeply concerned, as reports indicate that there is a sinister pattern in the areas where these incidents have occurred. Incendiary hate speeches preceded the aggressive armed religious processions unleashing communal violence.”

They also expressed pain at the manner in which social media and the audio-visual platforms “are being misused with official patronage to spread hatred and prejudice”.

The Opposition leaders said they reiterate their firm conviction that the country will prosper only if it respects, accommodates and celebrates its many diversities in full measure.

Signatories to the joint statement also include: Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja, All India Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas, Revolutionary Socialist Party general secretary Manoj Bhattacharya, IUML general secretary P K Kunhalikutty, and Communist Party of India(ML)-Liberation general secretary Dipanker Bhattacharya.

CHIKKAMAGALURU: Opposition leader Siddaramaiah verbally tore into the Karnataka government’s lapses, calling it shameless, illegitimate, a factory of lies and 40per cent government and sought immediate arrest of former minister KS Eshwarappa under prevention of Corruption Act.

Siddaramaiah said that the Contractors’ Association president Kempanna wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7th June, 2021, drawing his attention to rampant corruption and demand for 40 % commission for government works. Till now, no action had been taken on it, he added. “The delay has taken the life of a young contractor Santhosh. Modi boasts of 56 inches chest but what is important is heart of a mother,” Siddaramaiah lambasted. 

He said that the BJP came to power in State in both 2008 and 2018 due to Operation Lotus. ‘‘In 2018, Congress and JD(S) MLAs were poached by offering Rs 25 crore each. This showed BJP had no belief in constitution and democracy.’’

Siddaramaiah demanded that the Rs 4 crore pending bill of Santhosh should be settled, `1 crore compensation be given to the family of deceased and a job should be given to wife of Santhosh, Jayashree, a BA graduate, on compassionate grounds.

KOLKATA: Three years after his parliamentary poll defeat in home state Bihar, actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha emerged triumphant on Saturday in neighbouring West Bengal’s Asansol Lok Sabha bypoll, quashing the “outsider” tag accorded to him by the opposition BJP.

Sinha (76) also helped the state’s ruling party break jinx in the Lok Sabha seat, where it did not taste success so far, having registered victory by a margin of 3,03,209 votes.

The former Union minister garnered a massive 6,56,358 votes against BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul’s 3,53,149, according to the Election Commission website.

The victory will not just pave way for Sinha to come out of the political wilderness that he had entered into following his defeat at Patna Sahib in 2019 Lok Sabha polls but also give the TMC an opportunity to distance itself from the ‘Bengali sub-nationalism’ plank, which is apparently proving to be a hindrance to its pan-India expansion plans.

Popularly called ‘Shotgun’ by fans for his straightforward dialogue deliveries in films, Sinha, who joined the TMC after his four-decade-long stint in BJP and a brief innings in Congress, had vowed to work for the development of people in the industrial town during his campaigns.

“I am no less a Bengali than any other Bengali. I am not an outsider. I have always adored the Bengali language and Bengali culture. Today’s results are a testimony to it. I will work for the development of people,” Sinha, known for his signature dialogue ‘khamosh’, told reporters.

Born in Patna in 1946, the popular Bollywood actor had joined the BJP in the late 80s when it was a party of two MPs and served as its star campaigner during the Vajpayee-Advani era.

Sinha made his electoral debut with a loss in the 1992 bypoll from the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency as another movie star and Congress candidate Rajesh Khanna pocketed the seat.

Despite the loss, he continued to grow as a leader in the saffron camp due to his perceived proximity to party veterans Atal Behari Vajpayee and L K Advani.

Sinha had been a Rajya Sabha MP for 12 years and a member of the Lok Sabha for 10 years, all as part of the BJP, the party he had once called his “first and last choice”.

He was a union minister during Vajpayee’s tenure as the prime minister, holding important portfolios such as shipping and health & family welfare.

After the BJP stormed to power in 2014, however, Sinha was not given a place in the Narendra Modi cabinet.

Aggrieved, he had fired frequent salvos against the leadership for allegedly sidelining the old guards.

The two-term Lok Sabha MP from Patna Sahib walked out of the BJP in 2019 and joined the Congress.

He lost to saffron party’s Ravi Shankar Prasad in the 2019 parliamentary polls.

The ‘Bihari babu’, as he is often referred to, had also taken part in TMC boss Mamata Banerjee’s mega anti-BJP conclave at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, just before the elections.

With this victory in Asansol as a TMC candidate, Sinha is expected to give the party’s national expansion plans a boost ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

LONDON: Boris Johnson will become the first British Prime Minister to visit Gujarat when he lands in Ahmedabad this week for a two-day visit to India for “in-depth talks” with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, according to Downing Street.

Investment announcements in key industries in both the UK and India will take place, Downing Street said in a statement on Saturday.

Johnson will then proceed to New Delhi to meet Modi on April 22, where the focus will be on India-UK strategic defence, diplomatic and economic partnership.

According to officials on both sides, Johnson will also use his India visit to drive progress in the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations launched earlier this year.

“My visit to India will deliver on the things that really matter to the people of both our nations – from job creation and economic growth, to energy security and defence,” said Johnson, ahead of the visit.

“As we face threats to our peace and prosperity from autocratic states, it is vital that democracies and friends stick together. India, as a major economic power and the world’s largest democracy, is a highly valued strategic partner for the UK in these uncertain times,” he said.

While in Ahmedabad, Johnson is scheduled to meet with leading businesses and discuss the UK and India’s “thriving” commercial, trade and people links.

The choice of Gujarat, India’s fifth largest state, was linked with it being the ancestral home of around half of the British-Indian diaspora population in the UK.

“In Gujarat, the Prime Minister is expected to announce major investment in key industries in both the UK and India, boosting jobs and growth at home, as well as new collaboration on cutting-edge science, health and technology,” the Downing Street statement said.

“The Prime Minister will then travel to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Modi on Friday (22nd April).The leaders will hold in-depth talks on the UK and India’s strategic defence, diplomatic and economic partnership, aimed at bolstering our close partnership and stepping up security co-operation in the Indo-Pacific,” the statement said.

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks, which will move into their third round later this month, are expected to result in a deal predicted to boost the UK’s total trade by up to 28 billion pounds (USD 36 billion) annually by 2035 and increase incomes across the UK by up to 3 billion pounds (USD 3.9 billion).

It emerged earlier this week that at the end of the first two rounds, four out of 26 chapters have been agreed and there has been “significant progress” in the remaining 22 chapters of the FTA.

The two leaders are expected to mandate a timeline for the possible completion of the process, initially set for the end of this year.

Last year, the two prime ministers had agreed on a UK-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, announcing more than 530 million pounds (USD 692 million) in investment into the UK and committing to a deeper bilateral relationship across trade, health, climate, defence and security, and connecting people.

India was identified as a priority relationship for the UK in the 2021 Integrated Review and was invited by the UK as a guest to last year’s G7 summit in Cornwall, the UK government officials noted.

Downing Street highlighted that the UK is leveraging post-Brexit trade opportunities with India’s growing economy to drive down prices in key commodities for consumers, open opportunities for UK businesses in areas like green tech and services, and create high-wage, high-skill jobs.

According to official estimates in the UK, investment from Indian companies already supports 95,000 jobs across the UK, which is expected to be boosted by upcoming announcements and a future free trade deal.

Modi and Johnson last met in person on the sidelines of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November last year.

Johnson’s visit next week is seen as long overdue on both sides, having been cancelled twice before due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.