On the directives of Imran Khan, PTI Senator Faisal Javed had contacted Sidhu and extended the invitation.

ISLAMABAD: Former Indian cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has accepted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s invitation to attend the opening ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor on November 9.

According to a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) press release, Sidhu thanked the Pak Prime Minister for inviting him to the inauguration.

“I’m grateful to the prime minister for inviting me to the historic inauguration of Kartarpur Corridor,” he was quoted as saying.

On the directives of Imran Khan, PTI Senator Faisal Javed had contacted Sidhu and extended the invitation

Sidhu said the Sikh community all over the world look forward to visit the holy shrine associated with their spiritual leader Baba Guru Nanak.

“The Kartarpur Corridor agreement sends a positive message to millions of Sikhs around the world,” he is quoted as having said by the Pakistani media.

The Sena, which won 56 seats in the October 21 Assembly polls, claimed its tally now stood at 61 with the support of five more MLAs.

MUMBAI: Shankarrao Gadakh, an NCP-backed Independent MLA in Maharashtra, on Monday offered support to the Shiv Sena, which is pushing for an equal share in power with ally BJP in the next government.

The MLA from Nevasa in Ahmednagar district made the announcement after meeting Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at his residence here. Gadakh’s father Yashwantrao was a former NCP leader.

“I represent a rural area where problems are more complicated. If I have to solve people’s issues, it is better to stay with the party which is going to form the government. Hence, I visited Mumbai today and extended support to the Sena,” he said.

The Sena, which won 56 seats in the October 21 Assembly polls, claimed its tally now stood at 61 with the support of five more MLAs.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena, with 105 and 56 seats respectively in the 288-member House, are busy wooing the 13 Independent MLAs in the state to give themselves an upper hand during discussions for formation of the next government.

In a related development, two Independent MLAs – Ravi Rana (Badnera in Amravati district) and Kishor Jorgewar (Chandrapur) – have declared support to the BJP.

The Sena has demanded a written assurance from the BJP for implementing “equal formula for sharing of power”, which could possibly include equal division of the chief ministerial tenure.

Speaking to a news channel on Monday, Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, “We will see how they do not share the post of Chief Minister. Both the parties agreed on 50:50 power-sharing formula. There is no need to explain it in detail.

Mishra, a former AAP MLA who was disqualified as member of the Delhi’s Legislative Assembly, hit back saying he had only posted pictures of children but ‘they are seeing them as Muslims’.

NEW DELHI: Former AAP MLA Kapil Mishra, who recently joined the BJP, on Monday drew flak on social media over a controversial tweet which the RJD alleged was stoking communal hatred, but he maintained that he was trying to raise awareness on the need for population control.

The tweet was later taken down by Twitter for violating its guidelines.

“If you want pollution to come down, then you should reduce these firecrackers and not the ones burst on Diwali,” Mishra tweeted tagging a photograph of an elderly man with a skull cap and several children along with women in burqa, waiting in a queue.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) hit out at Mishra, accusing him of comparing “Muslim children to pollution” for his “petty politics” and stoking acrimony in society.

Mishra, a former AAP MLA who was disqualified as member of the Delhi’s Legislative Assembly, hit back saying he had only posted pictures of children but “they are seeing them as Muslims”.

“If the picture would have been of a Hindu family, would they have reacted in the same manner,” he tweeted.

One of the social media users, who lashed out at Mishra, said: “one should not stoop down to such a level just for a ticket that it is event difficult to get up”.

There was also a hashtag in support of Mishra which was trending for some time.

Mishra, however, said he is only advocating population control but is being abused and threatened on phone and social media for his tweet.

“There is so much fear after one tweet. What will these people do when the population control law comes in place, ” he tweeted referring to criticism on social media.

Incidentally, the shed above the erected old borewell where Sujith was stuck is completely covered without even a peephole.

In heartbreaking news coming in wee hours of Tuesday morning, 2-year-old Sujith, who was trapped inside a borewell, has been declared dead after 80 hours of non-stop rescue efforts. Tamil Nadu Revenue Principal Secretary J Radhakrishnan confirmed the news at 2.15 am.

At around 1 am on Tuesday morning, a heavy police force was deployed at the rescue spot. While the drilling work was still going on, ministers and the higher officials held a serious discussion near the borewell site

Speaking to the press, Radhakrishnan said, “We observed a stench emanating from the borewell at around 9.30 pm. It was confirmed that Sujith is no more. We found his body to be highly decomposed and dismembered.”

Incidentally, the shed above the erected old borewell where Sujith was stuck is completely covered without even a peephole. Doctors were brought into the shed at around 2 am. In the meantime, digging work was stopped all of a sudden.

Radhakrishnan said that the complete report on the exact situation will be released soon.

The toddler had fallen into a 600-feet borewell in front of his house on Friday night while playing with cousins. While Sujith was initially spotted at a depth of 27-feet, he later sunk as low as 100-feet.

Gehlot said that an environment of fear, distrust and violence has developed in the country due to which mob lynching incidents are on the rise.

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said the entire country is worried about the rise in cases of mob lynching on the suspicion of cattle theft and asserted that such incidents should not happen.

Responding to a question on mob lynching at an event at Hingonia cow shelter here, Gehlot said, “Cow is like mother. Every Hindu considers it as mother. It is our duty to respect the feelings but a religion will neither accept nor teach taking someone’s life on the basis of suspicion.”

He said, “An environment of fear, distrust and violence has developed in the country due to which mob lynching incidents are on the rise. The entire country is worried about it.” Gehlot said that such incidents should stop and that the state government would make all efforts to curb them.

He said that BJP leaders have a duty to give such a message just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi had once said that people engaging in such activities are anti-social elements. “I believe mob lynching incidents will stop if the message is clear from the leaders of BJP, RSS and VHP,” he said.

Shivakumar, who landed in Bengaluru on Saturday, received a warm welcome from his supporters.

BENGALURU: Congress leader DK Shivakumar on Sunday said that party president Sonia Gandhi standing by him when he was arrested is a message for the whole country that the party stands by its workers.

“Sonia Gandhi is my leader and she has given me strength. She has stood with a party worker. It is not only DK Shivakumar. This is a message to the entire country

Shivakumar said that the party will stand by all its workers in the hour of need.

“I never expected or asked for people to come out in support for me. However, people across the country supported me and showed their faith and love. I pray to God to give me strength so I can show them my gratitude and live up to their expectations,” he added.

The Congress leader had, on Saturday, said that he will fight for justice.

Shivakumar, who landed in Bengaluru on Saturday, received a warm welcome from his supporters. He was released from Tihar Jail on October 23 after Delhi High Court granted him bail in a money laundering case.

Shivakumar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on September 3 and was sent to judicial custody till October 25.

The alleged money laundering case was registered against him by the ED in September last year, based on a complaint filed by the Income Tax department in which it had alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions amounting to crores.

The saffron party formed the government in alliance with the newly formed Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) led by Dushyant Chautala, who took oath as Khattar’s deputy.

CHANDIGARH: Manohar Lal Khattar took oath as Haryana chief minister for the second time on Sunday and will lead the BJP-JJP coalition government in the state.

JJP leader Dushyant Chautala took oath as the deputy chief minister.

Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya administered oath at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan here on Diwali day.

BJP working president J P Nadda, Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore, former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, Union ministers Krishan Pal Gurjar, R L Kataria, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal were present on the occasion.

The BJP had on Friday sealed a deal with the JJP to form the next government in Haryana after the saffron party fell short of six seats from the majority mark.

In the 90-member assembly, a minimum strength of 46 MLAs is required to form the government.

On Saturday, Khattar along with Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Haryana BJP President Subhash Barala and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Chautala met Haryana Governor Narain Arya and staked claim to form the government and gave both partys’ letters to him.

After staking claim, Khattar said, “We met the governor. I handed my resignation which he accepted and he told me to continue as interim chief minister. He invited us to form the new government and on Sunday CM and Deputy CM will be sworn-in in the afternoon. I will be the Chief Minister and Dushyant will be the deputy CM. We have the support of 57 MLAs (40 BJP, 10 JJP and 7 independents).”

Earlier His name was proposed by five-time MLA from Ambala cantonment and state health minister Anil Vij and MLA Kanwar Pal and was seconded by the rest of the MLAs. 

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and BJP general secretary Arun Singh were present in the meeting.

“We will form a stable and honest government with the support of JJP and independent candidates,” said Prasad.

The saffron party will not take the support of controversial Haryana Lokhit Party legislator Gopal Kanda. “We are not be taking any support from him (Kanda),’’ said Prasad.

Meanwhile, sources said that in the new Haryana cabinet, there will be six ministers of the saffron party, one Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant and two ministers (one cabinet rank and one minister of state) from JJP and Ranjit Singh Chautala, an Independent who left the Congress after he was denied a ticket and won. He is the son of the former chief minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala.

Following Kamlesh Tiwari’s death, Kiran was unanimously appointed the National President of the Hindu Samaj Party floated by her late husband.

LUCKNOW: Kiran Tiwari, the wife of slain Hindu Samaj Party chief Kamlesh Tiwari, has said that she was not satisfied with the investigations into her husband’s murder and demanded an NIA inquiry.

“I am not satisfied with the investigations and I demand an inquiry by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). I will keep Rs 15 lakh ex-gratia given by the government till a BJP leader is killed in similar fashion and will then pool in an equal amount and give Rs 30 lakh to the bereaved family,” she told IANS on Sunday.

“I am highly dissatisfied with the probe. Why is the case not handed over to the NIA? The Uttar Pradesh Police and ATS will not be able to work it out. My husband had spoken to Naka Hindola SHO about the threat to his life a day before he was murdered but he paid no heed.”

Following Kamlesh Tiwari’s death, Kiran was unanimously appointed the National President of the Hindu Samaj Party floated by her late husband.

Comparing the compensation given to her with that given to the victim of the Dadri lynching case, Kiran said: “The Dadri victim as given Rs 50 lakhs and we were given Rs 15 lakhs. Is this a difference in the cost of lives?”

She accused the Uttar Pradesh government of trying to “silence” her with money. “But I will not keep quiet and continue to raise my voice. I will fulfil the dreams of my husband,” Kiran said, adding that the Hindu Samaj Party would now work towards making a Hindu Rashtra and also contest elections.

She said that the state government had also ignored the family’s demand for naming Khurshid Bagh and Kamlesh Bagh and installing a statue of her slain husband.

Kiran said that she would not rest until the “real killers” of her husband were hanged.

“Give me my husband’s killers and I will hang them if the government cannot ensure a death sentence for them,” she said.

She also demanded a Z-plus security cover for the family and raised concerns about the security of lone eyewitness Saurashtrajeet Singh.

“His security is of utmost importance because he is the one who can recognize the killers,” she said.

Kamlesh Tiwari was shot dead inside his office on October 18 and the alleged accused, identified as Ashfaq Hussain, 34, and Moinuddin Khurshid Pathan, 27, were arrested by Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on October 22.

Five more persons have been arrested so far in connection with the case for either conspiracy in the murder or helping the accused.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of the Hindu Samaj Party, Rajesh Mani Tripathi, has also questioned the investigations.

“Things are not clear yet. The two main suspects actually surrendered and were not arrested as is being claimed,” he alleged.