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Congress to take a call on Presidental poll after Udaipur ‘Chintan Shivir’

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The Congress will take a call on the Presidential polls after the Chintan Shivir scheduled in Udaipur next week.

While the grand old party has no strength of its own to defeat the yet to be named NDA nominee, all eyes are on the joint opposition candidate, as and when it is announced. However, the ruling coalition is short of votes to get simple majority and the 1,17,000 approx. votes of non-NDA and non-UPA parties can play the game in the elections.

A Congress leader said on condition of anonymity, “We are more focused on the Chintan Shivir now, and there is no serious discussion on Presidential elections yet, though it may come up.”

Congress sources said that the party may go for a joint opposition candidate, which can test the opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

However, a Congress leader said that “the issue may come up in early June and Sonia Gandhi may call all the UPA partners to take a collective decision, but UPA will field a candidate for sure.”

Another Congress source said that the party can support a joint opposition candidate, but not a BJP nominee though it had supported A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2002 despite the fact that he was a BJP contender. But that was the era of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was best at reaching out to the opposition.

Kalam won the 2002 Presidential polls, defeating Left party candidate Lakshmi Sahgal. He was backed by the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Many feel that it’s not possible to come up with a joint opposition candidate given that many regional parties are likely to go with the BJP, including the BJD and YSRCP, which have good number of MPs in the Parliament.

The BJD has 12 Lok Sabha and nine Rajya Sabha members, which have 8,496 and 6,372 vote strength, respectively, while the YSRCP has 22 MPs with a vote strength of 15,576 in the Lok Sabha and 4,248 votes in the Rajya Sabha, which is enough to bail out the ruling party.

The biggest vote share among the regional parties is with the DMK, Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP). And the SP had supported Kalam in 2002, who was an NDA candidate.

The electoral college, comprising 776 MPs from both the Houses and 4,120 MLAs of all the states and Union Territories, has 1,098,903 votes, and a majority is 549,452 votes. As far as the value of votes is concerned, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of votes, approximately 83,824, followed by Maharashtra and West Bengal.

The BJP has a majority in the Parliament, but in terms of big states, which are key to the Presidential elections, its strength has reduced in Uttar Pradesh, while some other crucial states are ruled by the opposition parties, whose unity can pose a challenge for the saffron camp.

In fact, Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee has warned the BJP that the Presidential elections will not be a cake walk for the BJP, as it doesn’t have even half of the legislators of the country.

Crime

Fake social media account, Chat GPT used in Ketan Agarwal murder

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Pune, Sep 20: A fake account on social media platform Instagram, along with ChatGPT and murder films, was used by Siya Goyal and her co-accused in the alleged murder of her fiance Ketan Agarwal, reveals the charge sheet filed by the police in the sensational case.

The 5,053-page charge sheet, filed on Saturday, detailed the alleged conspiracy behind the death of the 26-year-old businessman at Lohagad Fort in Pune in June, NDTV reported.

Agarwal was allegedly pushed off the fort on June 18 by his fiancee Siya Goyal, who was assisted by her purported lover Chetan Chaudhary, and another accused, identified as Ritesh Hange. All three have been arrested by the police.

According to the charge sheet, the accused had initially discussed seriously injuring Agarwal and even explored the possibility of hiring someone from outside Maharashtra to carry out the attack.

Police claimed the plan was later dropped because they feared the hired assailant could expose the conspiracy or create problems for them. Investigators have mentioned that a person contacted during this stage has since become a witness, the media report said.

As per the charge sheet, the accused subsequently decided to kill Agarwal themselves and watched murder films and used ChatGPT for the purpose. They also listened to podcasts on how to avoid detection by police as part of their preparations.

Goyal and her co-accused also researched last year’s Meghalaya honeymoon murder case where Indore resident Raja Raghuvanshi was allegedly killed by his wife, Sonam, during the couple’s honeymoon in the state’s East Khasi Hills district.

Moreover, investigators stated that a fake Instagram account named ‘Mahi’ was created using the photograph of a woman known to the accused in order to “lure” Agarwal to the fort.

Subsequently, messages from the account encouraged the victim to visit the spot on June 18 for a surprise birthday plan for Goyal.

According to the chargesheet, the fake account was part of a plan devised by Ritesh Hange to bring Agarwal to the fort. The account was deleted after the incident.

Further, the charge sheet also revealed that the accused conducted a recce of locations around Lonavala before selecting Lohagad Fort.

According to investigators, Goyal and Chaudhary visited Tiger Point and other locations in search of an isolated spot.

Police said that Lohagad was eventually selected because of a death at the fort in March last year. The accused thought they could make Agarwal’s death appear like an accidental fall at the spot.

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Crime

47.3 kg heroin seized in Punjab, four held

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Chandigarh, Sep 20: In a major breakthrough, Punjab Police on Sunday said it had busted a cross-border heroin smuggling network by apprehending four operatives and recovering 47.3 kg of heroin, three pistols, three magazines, 15 cartridges, and two vehicles.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused are linked to a network involved in cross-border smuggling of heroin and illegal arms into Punjab, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav wrote on X.

He said the first investigation report (FIR) was registered in Faridkot.

Further investigation is underway to uncover the wider network and establish its linkages.

A day earlier, Counter Intelligence (CI) Amritsar busted another cross-border narcotics smuggling module with the arrest of three key operatives and recovered 17 kg of heroin from their possession. Police had identified the arrested as Prince, Malkit Singh, and Rajinder Singh, all residents of Kot Mit Singh in Amritsar.

Apart from the heroin, police teams also impounded a car used for transporting the contraband.

With this seizure on Saturday, CI Amritsar has pushed the total recovery of heroin to 54 kg in four days, having previously recovered consignments of 27 kg and 10 kg.

DGP Yadav said CI Amritsar teams had received specific input that three operatives of the smuggling module had received a drone-dropped consignment and were expected to strike a major drug deal beneath the flyover on the Amritsar-Tarn Taran road. Acting promptly, police established a checkpoint and intercepted their car near the park by the flyover. During the search, 17 kg of heroin was recovered.

On September 16, four persons were held with 27 kg of heroin and a foreign-made .30 bore PX5 pistol with three cartridges. On September 18, one person was held with 10 kg of heroin.

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National News

‘Should become stand-up comedian’, BJP’s swipe at Rahul Gandhi over mimicry of Prime Minister

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New Delhi, Sep 20: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday lashed out at the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, suggesting him to double up as a “stand-up comedian” at his ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ events.

A political row erupted after a comedian allegedly mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi while sharing the stage with LoP Gandhi during the Indore event.

Speaking to reporters, Union Minister of Sate Arjun Ram Meghwal accused the Congress leader of lying and insulting Indian culture.

“He misleads students and attempts to spread anarchy,” the Law Minister alleged.

Urging Gandhi to speak with responsibility, he added: “By insulting Indian culture and criticising Narendra Modi ji, he ends up criticising India and insulting Indian civilisation and culture.”

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took a dig at the LoP, saying: “Rahul Gandhi was doing mimicry. I believe he should leave the party and become a stand-up comedian because he has rendered his party unemployed. At least he would have a job as a stand-up comedian.”

Talking to media, BJP leader Prakash Javadekar accused Congress of crossing all limits of decency.

“Rahul Gandhi spends his time in every meeting abusing PM Modi, but he doesn’t realise that the more he abuses him, the more PM Modi’s votes will increase, and people’s sympathy for him also increases…The Congress is behaving shamelessly, and there is no one to tell them this,” he said.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey told media: “There is a ‘Jhooth Ki Goonj’ across the country. One can understand the situation. No one is willing to come to listen to Rahul Gandhi. He has lost more than a hundred elections.”

BJP leader Virendra Sachdeva echoed similar views, saying: “Rahul Gandhi organises events and programmes. He does not understand political issues or the pulse of society. He functions like an event company, organises a programme and leaves.”

“While Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message is for the country, for every section of the society, and the youth are not left out of it,” he asserted.

BJP leader T.R. Sriniwas also took a jibe at the Leader of Opposition, saying Gandhi will end up shutting down comedy shows, “with the kind of act he put on yesterday”.

“The way they called a stand-up comedian onto the stage yesterday and had him do comedy with Rahul ji, he wasn’t a student at all. The way it appeared to me—and to anyone watching who has even a little bit of sense—it was just a comedy show,” he remarked while speaking to media.

However, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari backed Rahul Gandhi.

“The surging sea of students during the event and the visible enthusiasm reflected that the lamp of the BJP is dimming. All I can say is congratulations on the success of the Chhatra Ki Goonj event,” he told media.

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