NEW DELHI/JAIPUR: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday decided to depute senior party leader Kamal Nath to persuade Ashok Gehlot to resign from the post of Rajasthan Chief Minister before filing his nomination papers for the post of the party’s national president.

Sources said Kamal Nath has been asked to convey to Gehlot that if he does not resign, he would not be supported by the party high command for presidentship. They said if Gehlot does not heed to Kamal Nath’s message he may be asked not to file his nomination papers in the party election. 

Kamal Nath, who flew in here from Bhopal on Monday, met Sonia at her residence. There was no clear word on whether he will fly to Jaipur to convey her message. Top Congress leaders told this paper that Gehlot’s rebellion may not only cost him Congress presidentship but may also lead to his removal from the post of chief minister as he has refused to accept his former deputy Sachin Pilot as his successor.

He has conveyed to the party leadership that he would not accept either Pilot or anyone from his camp. He said Pilot and the MLAs who had walked out with him to form a government with the help of the BJP are not acceptable to a large number of Congress MLAs.

Kamal Nath’s meeting with Gehlot is the party leadership’s last-ditch attempt to seek Gehlot’s compliance with its decision to hand over chief ministership to Pilot. Congress MLAs loyal to Gehlot had on Sunday refused to meet the party’s central observers Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge. The central observers were sent to get the MLAs to pass a resolution authorising the Congress president to choose the next chief minister. MLAs in the Gehlot camp refused to sign the resolution. The party leadership in Delhi feels the MLAs avoided the central observers on the direction of Gehlot.

This is being seen as an open rebellion by Gehlot against the Gandhi family and the party’s central leadership. Congress leaders in Delhi said the party has started looking for an alternative candidate for the post of Congress president. There are four days left for the nominations to close for the party’s presidential election. Nominations for the presidential elections close on September 30.

The Congress Legislature Party meeting, which was called on Sunday, had to be cancelled as more than 90 MLAs loyal to Gehlot threatened to resign. Gehlot loyalists Shanti Dhariwal and Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi are being seen by the high command as the key players in the drama.

Gehlot met Kharge in the hotel he was staying on Monday afternoon. Before leaving for Delhi, Kharge said, “Everyone will have to be on the same page with Congress president’s decision. There has to be unity and discipline in the party unit.” Dhariwal later alleged that Maken was part of a plot to unseat Gehlot as CM. 

NEW DELHI: Based on the inputs from intelligence agencies, the ministry of information and broadcasting has directed YouTube to block 45 videos uploaded on 10 channels on the digital platform. They were accused of spreading fake news to create animosity among religious communities

The ministry’s orders to block the content were issued on Friday under the provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.“They were trying to divide the country, spreading scare and misleading environment.

The ill-intentioned content aimed to create misunderstanding with friendly nations. The Government will continue to take action against such channels and websites airing malicious content,” said Anurag Thakur, ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B).

According to the ministry, the blocked videos had garnered 1.30 crore views cumulatively.
“The content included fake news and morphed videos spread with the intent to spread hatred among religious communities. Examples include false claims such as the Government having taken away the religious rights of certain communities, violent threats against religious communities, declaration of civil war in India, etc. Such videos were found to have the potential to cause communal disharmony and disrupt public order in the country,” said the ministry.

Some of the videos blocked by the ministry were being used to spread disinformation on issues related to Agnipath scheme, Indian Armed Forces, India’s national security apparatus, and Kashmir.
“Certain videos depicted the erroneous external boundary of India with parts of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh outside the Indian territories. Such cartographic misrepresentation was found to be detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India,” said the ministry.

The content blocked by the ministry was found to be detrimental to sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, India’s friendly relations with foreign States, and public order in the country, the ministry further said.

Earlier, the ministry ordered the blocking of over 100 YouTube channels and other digital platforms since December. Majority of them were being operated from Pakistan

Intel reports prompt move
Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur, following the inputs and recommendations from the intelligence and security agencies, blocked the errant handles and digital platforms

A spate of recent meetings between Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat and Muslim personalities and clerics have sparked heated debates in many quarters. Among the prominent Muslim representatives who met Bhagwat were former Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, former Aligarh Muslim University Vice-Chancellor Lieutenant-General Zameer Uddin Shah (retd.), Rashtriya Lok Dal national vice-president Shahid Siddiqui and businessman Saeed Shervani. While the RSS maintains it was an outreach effort by the outfit to strengthen religious inclusivity, Asaduddin Owaisi, Chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen says the RSS chief spoke about cutting down madrasas and the need of Muslims showing more ‘Bharatiyata’ in the meeting

Excerpts from an interview with Preetha Nair:

You were critical of RSS chief’s meeting with Muslim intellectuals and clerics…
These intellectuals claimed that they represent the Muslim community. But they don’t. They should have said that they met the RSS chief in their individual capacity. 

The meeting took place in August and it came to light only last week. What stopped them from saying it in public? Also, they are not speaking the complete truth. The truth is that the RSS chief told them to reduce the number of madrasas and that Indian Muslims need to show their ‘Bharatiyata’. 

RSS and BJP have been propounding ‘Bharati-yata’ for long. 
Bhagwat said Indian Muslims need to show their ‘Bharatiyata’. I would like to know whether RSS abdicated the Hindutva ideology which was propounded by Savarkar? According to Savarkar, a Hindu was ‘one who considers India to be his motherland and his holy land. According to him,  Muslims do not accept India as a holy land. 

Both the sides were concerned about communal disharmony…
If both sides are so concerned, why can’t the RSS chief apprise the Prime Minister? The RSS could have suggested that it would ask PM Modi to hold a National Integration Council meeting. 

BJP has also been making outreach efforts after the Hyderabad National Executive meeting…
Why are madrasas being demolished in Assam? Why is the madrasa survey being done in UP? By that logic, why can’t a survey be done of missionary schools, private schools, government schools or RSS-run schools?

Bhagwat also met Dr Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, the chief cleric of All India Imam Organization
That cleric is a known RSS- BJP follower, and has been associated with them for a long time.

NEW DELHI: The Assam Police on Tuesday launched another operation against the Popular Front of India (PFI) in various districts of the state.

Police has arrested 25 PFI activists in fresh crackdown in Assam. Hiren Nath, ADGP (Special Branch) of Assam Police told ANI that several people have been detained by police in various districts. Hitesh Ch. Roy, Superintendent of Police of Kamrup district said that the Kamrup District Police on Tuesday detained four persons linked with PFI from the Nagarbera area.

“Our operation against PFI is on in many parts of the district,” Hitesh Ch. Roy said. Earlier, Assam Police arrested 11 leaders of workers of PFI from various parts of the state and one from Delhi.

Continuing the crackdown on the organisation, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police arrested a man on Monday in connection with the nationwide crackdown on PFI. The arrested accused has been identified as Mohd Abed Ali.

The UP Police Special Task Form (STF) also arrested one person yesterday. The STF arrested a person identified as Abdul Majeed from the Vibhutikhand bus stand from Lucknow under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) when he was trying to leave the city, police said.

Earlier, the Karnataka unit of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), a political wing of the Popular Front of India, on Monday condemned the raids conducted by the National Investigation Agency against its members, and asked why the central agency had not yet conducted raids on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliated organizations for “acts of communal hatred”.

The NIA had arrested over 106 members of the PFI during its largest-ever raids spread across 15 states on September 22.

Addressing a press conference here, State Principal Secretary of SDPI, Bhaskar said, “We condemn the unconstitutional raids by NIA. Why hasn’t the RSS been raided yet? We say that RSS is a non-registered organisation as well as a terrorist organisation. PFI is a registered organisation”.

Terming the NIA raids as a “ploy” to suppress a “strong voice”, the SDPI leader claimed that the government could not prove a single case against the political outfit.

“This is a ploy to suppress a strong voice. They have tried this for years, but they couldn’t prove a single case against SDPI. However, the communal fascist government is constantly carrying out such attacks to create hatred among the people against SDPI and PFI organizations,” the SDPI leader said.

“The biggest dangerous organization in this country is RSS and its organizations like Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Sri Ram Sena, etc. They are involved in acts of communal hatred. But they are never attacked by NIA,” the SDPI leader alleged.

The PFI was launched in Kerala in 2006 after merging three Muslim organizations floated after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 – the National Development Front of Kerala, Karnataka Forum for Dignity and Manitha Neethi Pasari of Tamil Nadu. After the demolition of the Babri mosque, many fringe outfits had surfaced in south India and PFI was formed after merging some of them.

Five PFI activists have been arrested from the Kottayam and Kollam districts of Kerala for allegedly engaging in violent activities during the state-wide hartal called by the organisation on September 23 pursuant to nation-wide raids on their offices and arrests of their leaders.

Four activists of the Popular Front of India (PFI) were arrested from Kottayam on Monday for breaking the glass of a bakery and damaging a KSRTC bus, police said. From Kollam, a PFI activist was arrested on Monday for allegedly ramming into a police motorbike with his two-wheeler in his bid to escape the clutches of the police personnel.

The police were trying to catch him as he was allegedly intimidating and abusing those present along the Kottiyam-Pallimukku stretch of national highway 66 on September 23, they said.

In Udupi district, the police have taken four people in custody in connection with various cases. The raids were conducted at Hoode, Gangolli and Byndoor in the district. The detained persons are from Byndoor.

PAURI: In a major development in the the family of the 19-year-old woman receptionist who was killed in Uttarakhand allegedly by her employer refused on Sunday to conduct her last rites until they get the final postmortem details, even as a preliminary report said she died due to drowning.

The draft report released by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, also said antemortem injuries (injuries before death) have been found on Ankita Bhandari’s body, suggestive of a blunt force trauma. However, she died of drowning, said the preliminary report.

Bhandari’s body was recovered from the Cheela canal close to Rishikesh early on Saturday, six days after her parents found her missing from her room.

The postmortem was conducted by a four-member team of doctors at AIIMS on Saturday.

The details of injuries and other findings will be given in the final report, said the draft.

Ankita’s father and brother on Sunday refused to perform her last rites until they get the final postmortem report.

“I am not satisfied with the provisional postmortem report. Her last rites will not be performed until we get the final detailed report,” her father Virendra Singh Bhandari told PTI.

“We won’t conduct her last rites until her post-mortem report is given. We saw in her provisional report that she was beaten up and was thrown in a river. But we’re awaiting the final report,” said Ajay Singh Bhandari, brother of Ankita Bhandari. He also said that the provisional report is lacking in detail.

They also spoke against the demolition exercise carried out at the resort where she was working as a receptioninst. “It may be an attempt to destroy evidence,” Ajay said.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) in-charge of the Ankita Bhandari murder case, DIG PR Devi, told ANI that Ankita’s WhatsApp chats that have surfaced are also being probed.

As per reports, a WhatsApp chat has come to the fore in the investigation. According to police sources, in this chat, Ankita is telling her friend that the owner of the resort is pressuring her to provide ‘extra service’ to the guests.

As per a viral chat, it is alleged that it was being said that the guest would get ‘extra service’ for Rs 10,000.

An employee at the resort also alleged that Ankita Bhandari had called him crying on September 17 and asked him to take her bags out of the resort. He also confirmed that he saw Ankita at around 3 PM with three other people while only the rest of them returned except Ankita.

He also claimed that the owner Pulkit Arya’s brother Ankit Arya came at 8 AM on September 18 and talked about preparing dinner for four people and said that he would have dinner in Ankita’s room. The employee then had said that the service boy can make the dinner.

The resort’s helper meanwhile alleged that Ankit was trying to mislead the staff as Ankita had not returned.

DIG PR Devi said that every employee of the Vantra resort would be called to the police station. The statements of these employees would be recorded, the officials said. “We have called every employee in the resort to the police station. We will take everyone’s statements. We’re running a full background analysis on the resort,” said DIG PR Devi.

Earlier on Saturday, the Vanantara resort in Rishikesh owned by expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit Arya, who is an accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, was set on fire by angry locals.

Anger over the horrific crime poured onto streets in other parts of Uttarakhand as well.

Protestors also gheraoed bus office and the District Magistrate’s office in Pauri.

The body of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari who was reported missing a few days ago was also recovered on Saturday from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh.

Three persons, including Pulkit Arya, were arrested on Friday after they ‘confessed’ to having pushed Ankita into the canal after an altercation.

NEW DELHI:  Prominent Opposition leaders on Sunday gave a fresh unity call ahead of the 2024 general election at a massive rally organised by the INLD in Haryana’s Fatehabad to commemorate the birth anniversary of the party’s founder Devi Lal.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar urged the Opposition to build a ‘main front’ of all parties, including the Congress, to defeat the ruling BJP while ruling out a third front.

He also stayed in denial on entering the prime ministerial race. “I am not a PM candidate. There is also no question of a third front. There should be one front, including the Congress and the Left,” he said, adding that they had even requested the Congress to participate in the rally. 

Not just the Congress, major parties like Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Trinamool Congress gave the rally a miss. However, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI (M)’s Sitaram Yechury and SAD boss Sukhbir Singh Badal participated. Pawar, Yechury and Badal echoed Nitish saying the need of the hour is for everyone to come together to dislodge the BJP.

Trinamool, TRS, DMK no-show 
“Since West Bengal and Tamil Nadu CMs Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin skipped it, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao felt it wasn’t important enough to participate,” a party source said

MYSURU:  Karnataka’s cultural centre, Mysuru, is all decked up to herald the 10-day extravaganza of Dasara, which is slated to be inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu on Chamundi Hills on Monday.
With the President inaugurating the Nada Habba for the first time since Independence, security has been beefed up around the hill temple and entry for the public is restricted till 11.30 am.

Murmu will also be offering puja to the idol of the presiding deity, Goddess Chamundeshwari, which will be placed in a silver chariot. Though in the past, the then Vice-President Shankar Dayal Sharma and President R Venkataraman had participated in the Jamboo Savari in 1988 and 1990, respectively, for the first time now, the festivities will be inaugurated by the President, in Vraschika Lagna between 9.45 am and 10.05 am, after she has darshan at the temple.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, and cabinet ministers will receive the President in Mysuru. The tribal community in the region is elated at the maiden visit of the President, and invitations have been extended to select people on the occasion. The President’s Office has allowed 13 persons, including the Governor and Chief Minister and ministers, to share the dais.

The Dasara high-power committee has decided to celebrate the festival without compromising on tradition and culture, and has chalked out music and cultural programmes at the Mysuru Palace and other venues. 
Renowned singers and actors are also invited to perform at Yuva Dasara. Meanwhile, events such as wrestling, food mela, Raitha Dasara, and Mahila Dasara, are also being planned. Meanwhile, hectic preparations are on at the Mysuru Palace for the private durbar under the supervision of Pramodha Devi Wadiyar, wife of late Srikantadutta Narashimaraja Wadiyar. 

AHMEDABAD:  Monday is the start of Navratri, which is celebrated in Gujarat with a lot of fanfare. Because of COVID-19 and the nationwide lockdown, this year’s Navratri is particularly significant for Gujarat because it has been two years since the previous celebrations. As the Gujarat election draws near, sources claim that PM Narendra Modi and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi may attend the Garba festival this year.

During Navratri, Gujaratis begin each day by worshipping Goddess Shakti. One of the primary attractions of Gujarat’s Navratri celebrations is the traditional dance known as “Garba,” “Ras-Garba,” or “Dandiya”.  People do dance while dressed in traditional Garba costumes and using dandiyas (sticks).

Additionally, they perform a number of mythical tales through dance. Mega-celebrations for Navratri have recently been planned where a sizable crowd of people attend. People gather and feast on their favourite meals after the Garba. This year, the Gujarat government was given permission to use loudspeakers even after midnight. Gujarat will also have open dining establishments and grocery stores till midnight.

Minister of State, Youth, Sports & Culture Harsh Shanghvi said, “In the festival of Durga, Navratri, which is an important part of the culture of Gujarat and the soul of every Gujarati, permission has been given to play loudspeaker for nine days till 12:00 midnight, giving priority to the joy, faith, and emotions of the people.”

This time Navratri is a few months before the Gujarat assembly elections, so political parties do not want to miss any opportunity to spread their election campaign through Garba, sources say. PM Narendra Modi will perform ‘aarti’ of Goddess Amba at Ambaji Temple in Banskantha district and will also witness people playing ‘Garba’ at Ahmedabad on the occasion of Navratri, during his visit to the state on September 29 and 30.

While Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s name has also been added to this list. According to the information, Priyanka will visit Gujarat during Navratri. She will do a road show by visiting Shakti Pith of “Mahakali goddess” in Pavagadh and will also attend a Garba in Ahmedabad.

After two years, Garba classes saw huge crowds as everyone wants to enjoy the festival to the fullest and show their dance moves during the Navratri. Anil Jariwala, who has been running Ras Garba classes in Surat for 32 years, said, “I have been running Garba classes for the past 32 years. The number of people who play Garba is increasing every year, but due to Corona, the people who played Garba had not left their homes for the last two years but this year a large number of people have come to the Garba classes.”

Aman, a 22 -year-old Garba enthusiast said, “This year, we will be enjoying Navratri after two years and hence I along with my society friends decided to make the most of it and we have learned various new steps.”

As Gujarat readies for famous Festival Navratri, Garba a part of Gujarat’s Navratri Celebration itself is inching closer to getting the coveted United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s tag for Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The latest nomination will be considered for the next year’s cycle.

PM Narendra Modi to perform ‘aarti’
PM Narendra Modi will perform ‘aarti’ of Goddess Amba at Ambaji Temple in Banskantha district and will also witness people playing ‘Garba’ at Ahmedabad on the occasion of Navratri, during his visit to the state on September 29 and 30.