New Delhi, Sep 30: BJP National Media In-charge Ashish Usha Agarwal on Wednesday questioned Rahul Gandhi’s leadership of the INDIA bloc as the opposition alliance meets in the national capital, suggesting that differences within the grouping could become more visible during the discussions.

In a post on X, Agarwal said that even before the meeting, questions were already being raised about Gandhi’s leadership.

“The meeting hasn’t even started, yet questions are already being raised about Rahul Gandhi’s leadership,” Agarwal said earlier.

He further claimed that the meeting would reveal which leaders or parties within the opposition alliance would distance themselves from Gandhi.

“Who all will distance themselves from Rahul Gandhi will become clear today in the INDIA bloc meeting,” he said.

Agarwal also suggested that any change in the positioning of the INDIA bloc leaders could raise questions about their relationship with Gandhi, using a Hindi couplet to make his point.

“And if faces appear changed, then for Rahul Gandhi, it’s just this much…‘There must have been some compulsions, no one becomes unfaithful just like that…’”

He concluded by framing the issue as one extending beyond the immediate meeting and into questions surrounding Gandhi’s leadership of the opposition alliance.

“Now the question is no longer just about the meeting, but about trust in Rahul’s leadership,” Agarwal said.

The BJP leader’s remarks come amid the INDIA bloc’s meeting, where opposition parties are discussing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and their concerns over the functioning of the Election Commission.

The meeting is being held at the Constitution Club in New Delhi. The agenda was finalised following discussions among opposition parties and is expected to include the SIR exercise and the Election Commission.

The Congress Working Committee has also passed a resolution demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The INDIA bloc is expected to discuss a coordinated political response to these issues.

The meeting assumes significance amid differences among alliance constituents over strategy and participation, with opposition parties seeking to work out a common approach on electoral-roll revisions and related concerns.

New Delhi, Sep 29: Following the Supreme Court’s decision to quash the preventive detention of Mulla Afroz under the National Security Act (NSA) in connection with the November 2024 Sambhal violence, Congress MP Imran Masood and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) president Chandrashekhar Azad on Tuesday criticised the Uttar Pradesh government.

The Supreme Court held that the power of preventive detention had been illegally exercised and imposed costs of Rs 10 lakh on the Uttar Pradesh government. The court also set aside the Allahabad High Court order that had upheld the detention.

Speaking to media, Masood said, “It has not only been quashed. Please read the complete news. Along with quashing the NSA, a fine of Rs 10 lakh has also been imposed on the state government.”

“Officials should understand that the agenda they are pursuing with their eyes closed will eventually lead to files reaching the Supreme Court and could send them behind bars. The Saharanpur mosque case will also come up in the same manner,” he said.

Masood further said, “There are documents that are speaking for themselves. You cannot hide those documents. Demolishing mosques and persecuting people based on religion goes against the Indian Constitution. The same Constitution that gives you the authority to hold office also guarantees the protection of our rights.”

Aazad Samaj Party president and Nagina MP, Chandrashekhar Azad, said the Rs 10 lakh cost imposed by the Supreme Court was inadequate.

“A Rs 10 lakh fine is too little. The government and police send innocent people to jail on the government’s orders, and when the judiciary imposes a fine on them, it is only Rs 10 lakh. In my view, the fine should have been Rs 10 crore,” he said.

Azad alleged that the NSA was being used to suppress opposition voices and silence cases, adding that he had himself been detained under the law.

“I am sitting before you today after the government detained me under the NSA despite me being innocent. I was kept in jail for 16 months,” he said.

“The government wants to suppress voices of opposition and silence cases through the NSA. The people will not be suppressed either. When the people and the state stand up, they will remove this government from power,” he added.

The Supreme Court’s ruling came on a petition filed by Mulla Afroz, who was arrested in connection with the Sambhal violence.

Ratlam, Sep 29: At least four people were killed and eight others injured in two separate road accidents on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam district on Tuesday, police said.

The accidents occurred within a span of about two hours on the eight-lane expressway under the jurisdiction of Jaora Industrial police station, with both cars plunging into a 30-40 feet deep gorge after hitting the central median.

The first accident took place around 4:30 a.m. when a car carrying a family from Punjab, travelling from Ambala in Haryana to Mumbai, hit the median railing.

The vehicle broke through a portion of the railing and fell into the gorge, police said. Narendra Kaur (67) and her daughter-in-law Manpreet Kaur (32), both from Punjab, died in the accident. Three other occupants, including an elderly man and two children, were injured.

“Prima facie, it appears that the driver may have become drowsy while driving at high speed and lost control of the vehicle, causing it to hit the railing,” Jaora Industrial police station in-charge Prakash Gadariya said.

Police reached the spot after receiving information from other motorists and shifted the injured to a hospital in Jaora.

They were later referred to Ratlam Medical College for further treatment. While police personnel were examining the site of the first accident, another car carrying a family from Dahod in Gujarat met with an accident around 6:30 a.m., police said.

The second vehicle, bearing registration number GJ20 CB 4610, reportedly went airborne after hitting the central median and fell into the gorge.

The railing at the spot had been damaged in the first accident. Ravi Hatila (35), who was driving the second car, and Ramesh Makwana (50), both from Dahod, were killed. Four to five other occupants of the vehicle were injured.

“The railing had been damaged in the first accident, and while our personnel were conducting an inspection at the spot, the second car hit the median and fell into the gorge,” Gadariya said.

The Gujarat family was returning to Dahod after travelling to Uttar Pradesh for medical treatment of a family member.

Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding both accidents, including the condition of the road infrastructure and the factors that led to the vehicles losing control.