BJP National President Nitin Nabin arrived in Patna on Saturday for a two-day visit, during which he will participate in party organisational meetings and Durga Puja celebrations. His visit comes amid preparations for the upcoming Bihar Legislative Council elections.

Party leaders and workers welcomed him at the Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport, Patna.

Discussions during his stay are expected to focus on electoral preparations, organisational coordination and the BJP’s upcoming programmes.

During his visit, Nabin is expected to meet senior BJP leaders and office-bearers to discuss the party’s organisational activities and MLC election strategy.

He may also meet Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and Bihar BJP president Sanjay Saraogi.

However, a detailed official schedule for the proposed meetings has not been released.

Alongside his political engagements, Nitin Nabin is scheduled to visit Durga Puja pandals across Patna and offer prayers to Goddess Durga.

According to the programme schedule, he will visit the Durga Puja pandal at Dak Bungalow Chauraha on Saturday.

His visit has generated interest among local puja organisers and BJP workers.

With Durga Puja celebrations underway across the capital, several committees are organising religious and cultural programmes, making pandal visits a key part of the itinerary.

Nabin’s two-day stay is expected to include discussions on strengthening the party organisation and coordinating preparations for the Legislative Council elections.

The outcomes of the meetings, however, will become clearer once the party shares details of any decisions or announcements.

His visit combines organisational engagements with participation in the ongoing Durga Puja festivities in Patna.

Preparations for the upcoming Legislative Council (MLC) elections are among the key priorities of his visit.

The BJP is contesting four of the eight MLC seats. Polling for the elections will be held on October 23, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., while the counting of votes and announcement of results are scheduled for October 27.

A Delhi court has issued a bailable warrant against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in an eight-year-old criminal defamation case filed by Vikas Pandey, after being informed that a fresh summons issued could not be served as the premises of his residence was found locked.

The Saket Courts passed the order on Saturday after being apprised that the service of summons on Rathee remained incomplete.

The court has now listed the matter for further hearing on October 31. In an order passed earlier this month, the court had permitted fresh summons to be served on Rathee through dasti service, allowing the complainant to accompany the process server to facilitate service.

Despite the steps taken, the court was informed that the notice could not be served as the premises of Rathee’s house was locked, leading to the issuance of the bailable warrant.

The case pertains to a video titled ‘BJP IT Cell Part 2’, which allegedly defamed Pandey.

The video was also retweeted by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal in 2018, who later acknowledged before the Supreme Court that he had made a mistake by retweeting it.

Pandey, the founder of the social media page ‘I Support Narendra Modi’, had claimed that the retweet had tarnished his reputation.

The proceedings against Rathee had remained pending amid repeated difficulties in serving summons on him since 2019, with the complainant claiming that his continued absence from India had delayed the case.

Rathee ordinarily resides in Austria.

The matter had also reached the Supreme Court in connection with Kejriwal’s challenge to the criminal defamation proceedings arising from the retweet.

In February 2024, Kejriwal told the apex court that he had made a mistake by sharing the video. A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, who later became Chief Justice of India (CJI) and has since retired, and Dipankar Datta had stayed the trial court proceedings against Kejriwal while hearing his plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s refusal to quash the summons issued against him.

The Delhi High Court had earlier upheld the summoning order, observing that retweeting allegedly defamatory content could attract prosecution under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Left-Wing women’s organisations on Saturday staged a protest outside the Delhi Police Headquarters against the alleged detention of women journalists and protestors during recent demonstrations in the national Capital, accusing the Delhi Police of targeting women and demanding an immediate end to their alleged “harassment”.

A large number of women activists and representatives of various organisations gathered outside the Delhi Police headquarters, raising slogans against the police action and questioning the detention of women participating in the ongoing protests.

The demonstrators also reiterated their demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the controversy surrounding the revision of electoral rolls and people allegedly being left out of the list.

Holding banners and raising slogans against the alleged police excesses, the protesters demanded accountability from the Delhi Police and called for women journalists and activists to be allowed to exercise their democratic rights without facing what they described as intimidation or harassment.

The demonstration was attended by members and representatives of several organisations, including the Student Federation of India (SFI), All India Mahila Samskritik Sanghatan (AIMSS) and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), among others.

According to the protesters, several women journalists and female demonstrators have been detained by the Delhi Police during the ongoing protests in the national Capital.

They alleged that such action had raised serious concerns about the treatment of women participating in public demonstrations and questioned the manner in which the police were handling the protests.

“We have never seen such incidents in this country where women protestors are facing sexual harassment at the hands of police. During recent protests, we have seen incidents of police touching the women protestors’ body parts inappropriately; this is something that never happened before,” an activist told media.

“The brutality shown by the Delhi Police should stop. No one can stop us from protesting against the ECI; this is our democratic right. We cannot tolerate the shamelessness shown by the police towards the women protesters,” another said.

Another activist, speaking to media, said, “The women of this country will not tolerate this kind of harassment for simply demanding their rights. This is not fair, and we will continue to raise our voice against the harassment by the Delhi Police.”

The activists also expressed anger over the detention of All India Students’ Association (AISA) President Neha Bora, claiming that she was kept at a police station for several hours late on Saturday.

During the demonstration, the protesters called on the Delhi Police to ensure that women participating in protests were treated in accordance with the law and that their rights were respected.