New Delhi, Sep 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will distribute more than 51,000 appointment letters to newly recruited youth in various government organisations at the 20th Rozgar Mela and address them via video conferencing on Saturday.

The Prime Minister will also address the new appointees who are expected to simultaneously attend the Rozgar Mela at 45 locations across the country, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The newly recruited candidates will be joining various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India, including the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Defence, among others, said the statement.

With the 20th Rozgar Mela, a total of about 12.75 lakh youth will have received appointment letters in various departments and government organisations, said the statement.

The Rozgar Mela reflects the government’s continued focus on creating employment opportunities for the youth and ensuring their greater participation in the country’s development journey, said the statement.

At the previous Rozgar Mela held in May, PM Modi distributed more than 51,000 appointment letters to newly appointed youth in various government departments and organisations.

In his message to the new appointees, the Prime Minister said the world is excited about India’s youth and technological progress.

“The world wants to become a part of India’s ‘Vikas Yatra’. India is forming partnerships with different countries, and the sole motive behind this is that India’s youth get opportunity, employment and confidence, as well as global exposure,” he added.

Since October 2023, Prime Minister Modi has distributed around 12 lakh recruitment letters through the ongoing Rozgar Mela initiative, with individual events often handing out tens of thousands of appointment letters at once, according to reports.

This marks one of the largest direct government recruitment drives since he took office in 2014, according to a statement.

“Vikas Yatra” describes India’s multi-year, government-led development journey, highlighting policy reforms, infrastructure projects, social-welfare schemes, and cultural renewal as integrated elements of national progress.

Kolkata, Sep 19: A war of words broke out on social media between Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and the leader of the rebel faction of the Trinamool Congress, Ritabrata Banerjee over the arrest of Milan Pradhan, the Congress candidate for the Nandigram Assembly bypoll in East Midnapore district of West Bengal.

Milan Pradhan was arrested on Friday evening, just hours after Sanchita Dey Pradhan, the erstwhile candidate from the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee for the Nandigram bypoll, withdrew her nomination and the former West Bengal Chief Minister announced her support for the Congress candidate.

LoP Gandhi made a social media post on Friday night claiming that the arrest of Pradhan was a political revenge and the murder of democracy.

“The BJP has no faith in fair elections—that’s why it wants to cling to power sometimes through vote theft, sometimes through stealing governments, and sometimes through stealing parties. They don’t want to contest elections; they want to end the electoral fight altogether. The Congress will neither fear nor bow down. We will fight—and we will win,” said LoP Gandhi in his social media statement.

Just an hour after that, Ritabrata reacted to the social media statement from LoP Gandhi and said that the arrest of Milan Pradhan followed a complaint registered by the Trinamool Congress faction led by him.

“We, the Democratic Trinamool Congress, have lodged a complaint against Milan Pradhan, who has three murder cases pending against him. During elections it’s mandatory to execute the warrant. The State Cong Leadership probably has not intimated the actual details to Sri @RahulGandhi,” alleged Ritabrata in his statement.

Friday was an eventful day for West Bengal politics. The Election Commission of India (ECI), which had on Thursday announced the freezing of the name ‘All India Trinamool Congress’ and the symbol ‘Flowers & Grass’, on Friday, allotted new names and symbols to the two factions of the Trinamool Congress.

While Mamata Banerjee’s party was allotted the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the symbol ‘Football Player’, the Ritabrata-led rebel faction was allotted the name of ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and the new symbol of ‘Envelope’ by the poll panel.

Soon after that decision from the ECI, Sanchita Dey Pradhan, the erstwhile candidate from the Mamata Banerjee-led faction for the Nandigram bypoll, met Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and withdrew her nomination.

Thereafter, Mamata Banerjee announced her support for the Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, who was arrested just hours after that announcement in an old case of murder registered against him.

New Delhi, Sep 19: The counting of votes for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election began amid tight security on Saturday. The results will be announced later in the day.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has fielded Yash Dabas for the post of President and Ishu Maurya for Vice-President, while the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) has fielded Vijay Shankar Meena and Veer Chatrath for the two key posts, respectively.

A voter turnout of 40.46 per cent was recorded during polling held on Friday, according to data received from the 52 polling centres across Delhi University.

The turnout was the highest recorded in the past three years.

In comparison, the voter turnout last year stood at 39.5 per cent.

The polling process was conducted in two stages to accommodate students attending classes at different times.

The first phase was held from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., while the second phase, meant for evening students, took place from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Ahead of the announcement of the final results, the ABVP has already secured key positions at several colleges in the DUSU election.

The organisation has won all key posts at Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Sri Aurobindo College (Morning), Dr B.R. Ambedkar College, Bharati College and Shivaji College.

At Ramjas College, ABVP candidates emerged victorious in the posts of President, Secretary, Central Councillor and Internal Complaints Committee, further adding to the organisation’s tally of victories at individual colleges before the university-level results are declared.

Delhi University has 91 colleges spread across its North and South campuses. However, only 52 colleges and faculties directly participate in the Delhi University Students’ Union electoral process.

Several prominent institutions, including St Stephen’s College, Lady Shri Ram College and Jesus and Mary College, do not participate in the DUSU election process.

The counting is being conducted under heightened security arrangements. Authorities have taken measures to ensure that the process remains peaceful and orderly until the final results are announced.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has also barred victory processions following the DUSU election results and directed the Delhi Police to ensure that no such procession is held on roads, in hostels or inside college premises after the results are declared.