Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi during the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, in Mumbai

Mumbai Congress leader Rahul Gandhi concluded his 63-day-old Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra here by paying tributes to Dr B R Ambedkar at his memorial Chaityabhoomi in central Mumbai and reading the Preamble of the Constitution.

The former Congress president was accompanied by his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

He paid tributes to Dr Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, and read its preamble.

Earlier, addressing a public meeting in the Dharavi area, he reiterated the Congress’ promise of caste census and asserted that poor women would get Rs 1 lakh every year in their bank accounts if his party returned to power.

“Dharavi is yours and should remain yours. Your skills should be honoured and this place should become a manufacturing hub of the country,” he said, referring to the redevelopment project concerning the slum sprawl awarded to the Adani Group.

The yatra, which commenced from strife-torn Manipur on January 14, entered Mumbai from neighbouring Thane on the 63rd day on Saturday.

Gandhi will undertake a ‘Nyay Sankalp Padyatra’ from Mani Bhavan to August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai on Sunday morning.

On Sunday, the opposition INDIA bloc will hold a rally in a show of strength. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and SP chief Akhilesh are scheduled to take part in the event

Former SP politician Swami Prasad Maurya

Lucknow: A MP-MLA court here on Saturday ordered the Wazirganj Police Station to file an FIR against former SP politician Swami Prasad Maurya for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments with a statement against goddess Lakshmi.

Special Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ambrish Kumar Srivastava ordered the probe against former Samajwadi Party general secretary Maurya over a statement he made on X, as well as to the media.

The complainant, Ragini Rastogi, alleged that a statement of his published on November 15 last year in newspapers hurt the sentiments of crores of Hindus.

According to her complaint, Maurya in a post also on X said that while people across religions were born with two hands and two legs, how can Lakshmi be born with four hands.

The complainant alleged that Maurya has on several occasions hurt the sentiments of Hindus by making similar statements.

Rewari: Around 40 workers were rushed to hospitals with burn injuries following a blast in the boiler of a spare parts manufacturing facility in the industrial area of Dharuhera here on Saturday, said police.

No casualty was reported yet, a senior officer said.

Many of the wounded were rushed to the Civil Hospital in Rewari and some were referred to other hospitals in Gurugram, Dharuhera, and Rewari, said police.

One serious patient was referred to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak.

The incident took place around 5.50 pm when a boiler burst in the dust collector of the factory, said police.

Several fire tenders were rushed to the unit to put out the fire.

Rewari Civil Surgeon Surender Yadav said around 40 workers were injured in the incident.

“We have 23 patients admitted here and all are stable,” he said, adding, ambulances were rushed to the spot after the information about the blast reached them.

All hospitals in Rewari have been put on alert for swift medical care to the injured if any of them gets admitted, said Yadav.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has issued fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning on March 21 in the excise policy linked money laundering case, official sources said Sunday.

The 55-year-old national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been asked to depose at the central agency’s office in central Delhi.

The ninth summons have been issued so that Kejriwal’s statement can be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

The CM has repeatedly refused to appear in response to these summons, calling them illegal.

A Delhi court on Saturday had granted bail to Kejriwal on two complaints filed by the agency against him for skipping six of the previous eight summons in this case.

The agency arrested BRS leader K Kavitha in this case two days back.

H C Mahadevappa | K H Muniyappa(ANI) | Satish Jarkiholi | Eshwar Khandre

Bengaluru : Reluctance of some ministers and lawmakers in Karnataka to contest the Lok Sabha polls seems to have put the Congress scouting for “winnable” candidates in a spot of bother in finalising contestants for bulk of the seats.

It has been ten days since the Congress announced its candidates for seven segments while the process to pick nominees for the remaining 21 seats is on.

The Congress’ first list released on March eight did not have names of any of the ministers and legislators.

According to party sources, the Congress leadership has been making efforts to convince some ministers and lawmakers to contest, as they have faced problems in identifying winnable candidates in several segments.

Senior Congress leader and Home Minister G Parameshwara had recently said there are discussions in the party to field seven to eight ministers.

Some ministers instead of themselves contesting, are said to be pushing for the candidature of their family members and, according to sources, the party leadership seem to be worried about the message it may send out if their kin are fielded.

It is now left for the Congress leadership including president Mallikarjun Kharge and party senior leader and MP Rahul Gandhi to take a call on the issue of fielding ministers or their family members, party sources said.

State Congress President and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday said the process of selecting candidates has come to a final stage.

“Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra has ended today (Saturday), tomorrow there is an INDIA bloc leaders public meeting, and on March 19 there is our meeting (to finalise candidates). On March 19 night or 20th morning, all our candidates will be announced,” he said.

According to sources, the Congress is keen on fielding Cabinet Ministers H C Mahadevappa from Chamarajanagar, K H Muniyappa from Kolar, B Nagendra from Bellary, Satish Jarkiholi from Belgaum, Eshwar Khandre from Bidar, and Krishna Byre Gowda from Bangalore North.

Almost all these ministers are reluctant to fight the polls and some are said to have suggested the names of their family members, with assurances that they will ensure their victory.

Gowda is said to have told the party leadership that he doesn’t want to contest. He lost from Bangalore North in 2019 and in 2009, from Bangalore South.

Mahadevappa is said to be insisting on Chamarajanagar ticket for his son Sunil Bose.

Parameshwara, who was earlier the party state unit president, had recently said, “He (Mahadevappa) is saying that he doesn’t want to contest and the ticket be given to his son. Party will ultimately decide whether it will be Mahadevappa or his son or someone else. He cannot be pressured if he doesn’t want to (contest).”

Another senior Minister Muniyappa, a seven-time MP and a former central minister, who returned to state politics after losing 2019 Lok Sabha polls, is said to have pitched his son-in-law Shashidhar J E for the Kolar seat.

Similarly, names of Satish Jarkiholi’s daughter Priyanka Jarkiholi for Chikkodi, Laxmi Hebbalkar’s son Mrinal Hebbalkar for Belgaum, Nagendra’s brother Venkatesh Prasad for Bellary, and Eshwar Khandre’s son Sagar Khandre for Bidar, are doing rounds.

The Congress had initially tasked ministers with identifying potential candidates but Shivakumar had said that reports received were not satisfactory.

He had also said that the party has decided to commission one more survey to identify winnable candidates.

A Congress leader said having faced a rout in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls which saw the defeat of several top leaders – including M Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, and Muniyappa – despite the party being in power in the state in alliance with JD(S), many senior leaders don’t want to enter the fray, as the outfit’s prospects at the national level still don’t look promising.

The Congress’ performance in this election is another key test of sorts for Shivakumar, who has made no secret of his ambition to become chief minister, amid speculations of change in guard mid-way of the Assembly term.

The BJP has already announced its candidates for 20 seats. It is yet to make an announcement for eight seats out of which three – Mandya, Hassan and Kolar – are likely to go into the kitty of its alliance partner JD(S).

Karnataka has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. The BJP won 25 seats in the 2019 general elections, while an independent backed by the party had also emerged victorious.

The Congress and JD(S), which were running a coalition government back then and fought the elections together, secured one seat each.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided that it will require the Palace Grounds land for road widening purposes, ahead of a contempt case regarding the matter coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court.

The cabinet also decided to give Transferable Development Rights (TDR) against the acquisition of land, Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda told reporters.

According to the minister, the apex court has sought the personal presence of Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary in the Urban Development Department and the Commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the urban local body governing Bengaluru city.

He said that in 2006, the Karnataka government had decided to acquire 15.5 acres of Palace Grounds near Mekhri Circle for road widening.

Accordingly a compound wall was built inside the Palace Grounds, but the previous BJP government decided that it did not require it.

The Mysuru Royal family approached the Supreme Court against the government decision saying that in 2006-07 the compound wall was built inside the palace grounds for acquisition of land, but now they do not need it for road widening.

“The SC converted the case into a contempt of court case. Since the land has been acquired, compensation has to be paid. The Court directed the government to come to a conclusion if the land was required or not,” Gowda said.

The minister said that in 1996, Karnataka government through a law declared the Palace Grounds as a park and open space. The law was upheld by the High Court.

However, the Mysuru Royal family filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging the Act, which ordered a status quo, he explained.
Gowda said the CM on Thursday sought to know why the matter was continuing as a status quo.

“The Chief Minister said the government did not fight the case strongly. He even asked them to hire good lawyers to present our original suit. Once the original suit is resolved, all the other cases will be disposed of,” the minister said.