National News
Challenges before Congress in Gujarat to defeat BJP and counter AAP
The Congress in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home turf is out of power since 1989 and despite all the efforts it could not dislodge the BJP which is ruling the state since then except when Shankar Singh Vaghela formed a government with the help of Congress for a brief period.
The party is out of power as in UP, but has the flickering hope that it is still a main challenger to the BJP in Gujarat while AAP is trying to make inroads into the state. In 2017 elections, the Congress showed up well but could not reach the magic figure and later its MLAs walked into the BJP fold. But in 2019 general elections, BJP swept the polls and the Congress could now win even a single seat.
To counter AAP and BJP, the Congress has been given a new team with state in-charge Raghu Sharma, Koli leader and former Lok Sabha member Jagdish Thakor as State President.
Former state president Arjun Modwadia says, “AAP is not a big challenge but the BJP is, and we have to fight on the perception front that only Congress could defeat BJP. The party will launch a series of agitations to highlight failures of the BJP.”
Top Congress leaders of Gujarat had a marathon meeting with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and held a detailed discussion regarding the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat which are likely to be held in December next year.
In order to launch a joint attack on the BJP the Congress has roped in Hardik Patel who has raked up Patidar issue raising the pending demands related to agitation in 2015. Patel has reiterated his earlier demands about various pending issues related to the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS).
Patel, who is the working president of Gujarat Congress, has justified his and the PAAS’ demands for reservation for the Patidar community established by the very fact that the state government and the Centre had made provisions to give reservation to the poor and backward classes and 10 per cent quota for the economically backward upper castes.
As many as 438 cases were registered during the Patidar reservation movement which started in Gujarat in July 2015. Fourteen Patidar youths lost their lives during that movement.
“After the PAAS agitation, the Gujarat government’s home department had promised to withdraw 391 cases, but this assurance has not been kept yet,” Hardik Patel said in a letter to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
The Congress, which posed a tough challenge to the BJP in in last assembly elections, was decimated in the 2021 municipality polls as BJP had swept the state, but surprisingly the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made inroads in Gujarat’s urban centres which is a bigger threat for the Congress. Securing 27 seats in the Gujarat Municipal elections held in February, AAP national head and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said the people of Gujarat have voted for politics of performance as they were fed up with the politics of BJP and the Congress.
Meanwhile, BJP has changed its entire team in the state to counter the anti-incumbency factor and after the recently concluded elections in October, the BJP won the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) elections. The BJP also won in two other civic bodies in Gujarat, Okha and Thara municipalities.
After the GMC win, Prime Minister Modi had said, “Results of the local body polls across Gujarat and Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation reaffirm the deep-rooted bond between the people of Gujarat and the BJP. Gratitude to the people for repeatedly blessing us. Kudos to all BJP Gujarat Karyakartas for working hard at the grassroots.”
The BJP has now a strong grip over the state which became a launch-pad for Modi’s Delhi win but the Congress wants this state very much to send a message before the big elections in the country.
Crime
Police arrest accused Prashant Bankar in Maharashtra doctor’s suicide case

New Delhi, Oct 25: Police in Maharashtra’s Satara district arrested one accused on Saturday in connection with the death of a female doctor who allegedly committed suicide after being repeatedly raped by a police officer and being pressurised by an MP to falsify medical reports of accused in cases.
According to officials, the arrested person has been identified as Prashant Bankar, the son of the doctor’s landlord whose name was mentioned in her four-page suicide note.
The deceased doctor, a native of Beed district, was posted as a medical officer at a government hospital in Phaltan, Satara. On Thursday night, she was found hanging in a hotel room under mysterious circumstances. Shockingly, she had written a suicide note on her palm, naming Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane and Prashant Bankar, accusing the police officer of rape and Prashant of mental harassment.
After Prashant’s arrest, police said he will be produced before the court and his custody will be sought for further investigation. Meanwhile, Sub-Inspector Badane has been suspended, and a detailed enquiry is underway. Both accused have been booked at the Phaltan Police Station. Satara SP Tushar Doshi confirmed that the rape allegations and Prashant’s role are being thoroughly investigated.
The female doctor who allegedly committed suicide left behind a detailed four-page suicide note apart from the inked note on the palm of her hand, stating that a police officer raped her four times and exerted pressure on her to issue fake fitness certificates for accused persons in police cases. It has now emerged in her note that she was allegedly under pressure not only from police officials but also from a Member of Parliament (MP) and his personal assistants.
The woman doctor, who worked as a medical officer at the Phaltan sub-district hospital, wrote on her palm that she had been raped four times by Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane and subjected to mental and physical abuse for over five months.
Originally from Beed district, the doctor had been working at the hospital for 23 months.
Gopal Badane is a police officer, while Prashant Bankar is the son of the landlord in the house where the doctor lived.
She had complained 21 times to various authorities, but no action was taken against her tormentors.
Recounting a particular instance in her note, the doctor said she had refused to issue a certificate and two personal assistants of an MP had come to the hospital and made her speak to him over the phone. She stated in her note that during that conversation, the MP had threatened her indirectly.
Her cousin also made similar allegations about the doctor being made to falsify medical certificates.
Crime
Satara Doctor Suicide: Resident Doctors Hold ‘Black Ribbon’ Protest At Mumbai’s KEM Hospital, Say ‘May Close Routine OPDs If…’

Mumbai, October 25: The resident doctors at Mumbai’s KEM Hospital on October 25 are holding black ribbon protest over the allege rape and suicide of a 28-year-old woman doctor in Maharashtra’s Satara district. The doctor, hailing from Beed district and posted at a government hospital, was found hanging in a hotel room in Phaltan of Satara district on Thursday night
In the suicide note written on the victims’ palm, she had alleged that sub-inspector Gopal Badane raped her on multiple occasions, while Prashant Bankar, a software engineer, mentally harassed her.
Calling the incident a heinous act, a resident doctor told media that currently any kind of OPD or emergency services have not been stopped, but if our demands are not met, then we may escalate our protest. “The accused have fled; they should be arrested as soon as possible. We are holding a black ribbon protest here to protest against it,” Dr Sameer said.
Resident doctors under the banner of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), staged protests at KEM Hospital.
A first-year resident Dr. Samya said that although the POSH Act was implemented in 2013, its enforcement remains weak, and the lack of proper implementation has led to the current situation. Adding further, she told the agency, “We want action to be taken in this matter as quickly as possible so that justice is delivered quickly… Currently, we are protesting to spread awareness; all our OPD and emergency services are working. However, if our demands are not met, then we will escalate our protest”
Another resident doctor holding the black ribbon protest said, “We have made some demands in response to the incident, and we hope they will be met as soon as possible.”
More than 8,000 resident doctors across the state participated in the protest, demanding justice and a thorough investigation into the case by either the CID or a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The police have detained Prashant Bankar, one of the two men the doctor had named in the suicide note written on her palm. According to the police, sub-inspector Badane was suspended from service after his name came up during the probe.
In her letter, she wrote that Badne and other police officials had repeatedly pressured her to issue fake fitness certificates for accused persons in criminal cases, many of whom were never medically examined.
Not just this, in one particularly disturbing instance, she said that two personal assistants of a Member of Parliament barged into her hospital, forced her to speak to the MP over the phone, and was also threatened when she refused to comply.
“They used to make me sign certificates without seeing the accused. When I refused, they threatened my job and safety,” the letter alleged.
The doctor, who was nearing the end of her mandatory rural bond service and planned to pursue post-graduation, had also complained to senior police officials, including the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of Police. However, her family claimed that no action was taken despite multiple complaints.
National News
BJP’s Anand Mishra confident of NDA’s victory; vows to build ‘Viksit Bihar and Viksit Buxar’

Buxar, Oct 25: Former IPS officer and BJP candidate from the Buxar Sadar seat, Anand Mishra, on Saturday expressed confidence in winning the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, asserting that the people of the state now recognise the NDA’s commitment to welfare and development.
His remarks came a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a sharp attack on RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Mahagathbandhan during a massive rally in Siwan, accusing them of trying to revive the “jungle raj” era in Bihar.
Speaking to reporters, Mishra said, “You must have understood by now that our BJP and the NDA genuinely want the welfare and progress of Bihar. They wish to promote the right candidates — those who can unite society, uphold the principle of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,’ and work towards building a Viksit Bharat with a Viksit Bihar and Viksit Buxar.”
Describing the public’s response to Amit Shah’s rally in Buxar, Mishra said, “Home Minister Amit Shah received a warm welcome in Buxar, and the crowd’s continuous response to his every word reflected their faith in the Indian government. Everyone who came there resolved that for the future of a better Buxar and a better Bihar, we will move ahead with a determined spirit to build a golden Bihar.”
Taking aim at the dynastic politics, he said, “If you look at the past, many times politics was used only to serve personal or family interests. But today, Bihar is awakened — it has given direction to the country’s politics. This time, Bihar is determined not to give any opportunity to those who would harm its progress for their selfish motives.”
BJP National Secretary Rituraj Sinha also backed Mishra’s confidence and said that the people of the state will give a “massive victory” to the NDA.
Speaking to media, Sinha said, “Whatever was lacking in the 2020 Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on the soil of Shahabad has now been fulfilled. The people have made up their minds to give the NDA a massive victory. The huge crowd and enthusiasm at Amit Shah’s rally in Buxar clearly showed that Shahabad will take the lead in ensuring the NDA’s return to power.”
“We have received tremendous support from the people of Buxar. Tomorrow, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will also visit the district. This time, the NDA will win all 22 seats of Shahabad,” he added.
The Bihar Legislative Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11 to elect 243 members. The counting of votes and the declaration of results will take place on November 14.
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