New Delhi, May 20: After Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent social media posts seeking information on Operation Sindoor went viral in Pakistan, the BJP leaders have launched a scathing attack on him.

Assam cabinet minister Ashok Singhal on Tuesday accused Rahul Gandhi of following an agenda synonymous with that of Pakistan.

In a striking social media post, the Assam Minister of Health, Family Welfare and Irrigation Department said that Rahul Gandhi and Pakistan Army chief General Syed Asim Munir are divided by the border, but are united by an agenda.

Singhal shared a juxtaposed picture of Munir and Gandhi on his X handle — clean-shaven Munir in military uniform and a bearded Gandhi in a white T-shirt. The caption reads “One Agenda”.

This comes after Rahul Gandhi’s social media posts seeking information on Operation Sindoor and raising questions gained a lot of traction in Pakistan.

For the past few days, Rahul Gandhi has been targeting External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar, claiming that the Centre “informed Pakistan at the start” of Operation Sindoor. Gandhi has said that this was not a “lapse”, but a “crime”.

On Saturday, Gandhi shared a video of EAM Jaishankar interacting with the media on his X handle and raised questions — “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result?”

Gandhi reposted the video on Monday, saying the External Affairs Minister’s “silence isn’t just telling – it’s damning”. “So I’ll ask again: How many Indian aircraft did we lose because Pakistan knew? This wasn’t a lapse. It was a crime. And the nation deserves the truth.”

Soon after the Congress leader wrote on his X handle, the post went viral in Pakistan, and their leaders started quoting him while attacking India’s claims on Operation Sindoor. Since Rahul Gandhi’s posts, he has been widely discussed on Pakistani TV channels.

Although the Ministry of External Affairs clarified the EAM’s remarks, Rahul Gandhi has stuck to his statement.

The MEA issued a statement. “The External Affairs Minister had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement. This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out.”

On Monday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri briefed a parliamentary committee on the India-Pakistan military conflict in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack. Misri reportedly reiterated the government’s position that the decision to halt military actions was made at a bilateral level, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s claims about his role in de-escalating the conflict.

The BJP has called Rahul Gandhi’s remarks “an utter misrepresentation of facts”. The BJP has said the Leader of Opposition’s misrepresentation of the minister’s remarks “reeks of mala fide intent” and also has questioned the timing of this charge.

Kolkata, May 20: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday refused to vacate the stay imposed earlier by its single-judge bench on recruitments for supernumerary posts in the upper-primary sections in state-run schools of West Bengal.

The stay on such recruitment was originally imposed by the single-judge bench of Justice Biswajit Basu. Thereafter, the state government appealed the decision and a division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das heard its plea to vacate the stay.

However, after days of hearing in the matter, the division bench of Justice Sen and Justice Das refused to vacate the stay imposed by the bench of Justice Basu.

The division bench observed that since the case related to recruitment for supernumerary posts was still pending at the single-judge bench, vacating the stay was not desirable.

The next hearing on the matter at the single-judge bench of Justice Basu is scheduled on June 18. The next hearing is crucial in the sense that more legal arguments both for and against the justification for supernumerary recruitment might surface then.

Recently, a group of candidates for the posts of upper-primary teachers staged protests in front of the chamber of Calcutta High Court’s senior advocate and the CPI-M Rajya Sabha member Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya.

The main grudge of the protesters against Bhattacharya was that his legal arguments often led to the cancellation of school jobs in the state. During those protests, the protesters also used derogatory comments on Justice Basu because of some negative observations by the latter in the cases on the alleged school jobs scam.

Already, a suo motu contempt-of-court case has been filed in the matter against the protestors and those masterminding that. The case is being heard by a special three-judge bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee, Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj, which was constituted especially to hear this particular case.

Raipur, May 20: The investigators in Chhattisgarh have ramped up efforts to uncover the details of a massive liquor scam, estimated to be worth Rs 2,000 crore.

The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) have launched a series of coordinated raids across multiple districts, including Durg-Bhilai and Mahasamund.

Reports suggest that enforcement teams are actively conducting operations at 22 locations in Durg-Bhilai, after arriving in Bhilai on Tuesday morning in four vehicles.

Additional searches are underway in Sankara and Basna within the Mahasamund district, focusing on individuals closely associated with former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma, sources said.

The authorities have expanded their scrutiny to business establishments, with EOW teams inspecting the residences of individuals suspected of involvement in the scam.

The investigation has widened to the Mahasamund district, where the enforcement teams had raided the premises of a businessman and an LIC agent believed to be linked to the illicit liquor trade.

The ACB and EOW teams have executed searches at more than 20 locations across the state, targeting key figures involved in the operation.

The investigation has caused a significant stir, with officials continuing to uncover crucial evidence.

The Enforcement Directorate arrested former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma on January 15 after multiple rounds of interrogation.

The ACB and EOW registered an FIR in January 2024 based on a letter from the Enforcement Directorate.

Recent findings indicate that the scam, which allegedly took place between 2019 and 2022, resulted in substantial financial losses to the state exchequer while generating illegal profits exceeding Rs 2,100 crore.

The syndicate behind the scam reportedly includes senior bureaucrats, politicians, and excise department officials.

The authorities have confiscated cash, electronic devices, bank records, and land investment documents from suspects’ residences earlier. The investigation remains active as officials work to expose the full extent of the fraudulent activities.