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Tuesday,21-October-2025
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Delhi Assembly poll turnout touches 46.55 per cent

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New Delhi, Feb 5: Turnout in the Delhi Assembly election touched 46.55 per cent till 3 p.m. as voting on the 70 seats remained largely peaceful on Wednesday, an official said.

There was a brief commotion at a polling booth in Seelampur where a bogus voter was caught casting a vote on someone else’s identity. The incident occurred at Aryan Public School, Booth Level Officer, Seelampur, Gayatri, said.

BJP nominee from the seat, Anil Gaur, accused the rival Congress and the AAP of bringing 300-400 fake voters from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

Special Commissioner of Police D.C. Srivastava confirmed getting complaints of attempted bogus voting. “Two persons have been detained on the allegation of bogus voting. The facts are being verified.”

Till 3 p.m., Mustafabad seat recorded the highest turnout of 56.12 per cent followed by Seelampur with 54.29 per cent.

The New Delhi seat of AAP convenor and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recorded a turnout of 44.83 per cent by 3 p.m. The Delhi Cantonment seat recorded 45.90 per cent voting.

Chief Minister Atishi’s constituency recorded a turnout of 41.17 per cent till 3 p.m. Manish Sisodia’s Jungpura seat recorded 44.07 per cent voting till 3 p.m.

Other turnout trends till 3 p.m. were: Sangam Vihar 48.95 per cent, Badarpur 44.79 per cent, Tughlakabad 44.20 per cent, Okhla 42.70 per cent, Kasturba Nagar 41 per cent, Malviya Nager 41.77 per cent, Chhatarpur 50.08 per cent, Ambedkar Nagar 45.50 per cent, Deoli 44.98 per cent and Mehrauli 40.34 per cent.

AAP Jangpura nominee and former deputy Delhi chief minister Manish Sisodia alleged that rival parties were giving money to voters, a charge which was dismissed by police as ‘unsubstantiated’.

His party colleague and AAP MP Raghav Chadha alleged that at many polling booths in the New Delhi constituency, the party’s polling agents and their relievers faced problems in entry.

Earlier, former Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and his wife gave up their car and walked down to their polling booth. Both of them escorted their parents, both in wheelchairs, to the booth at a school close to their Ferozeshah Road residence.

Kejriwal’s BJP rival Parvesh Verma performed religious rituals on the Yamuna bank before proceeding to cast his vote with his wife and daughter at the Nirman Bhawan booth.

Congress candidate from New Delhi Sandeep Dikshit cast his vote at a polling booth on Rahim Khan Road and later accompanied voters from the party and members of the Gandhi family – Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – to their respective booths.

The turnout in the 2020 Delhi Assembly election stood at 62.82 per cent, 4.65 per cent lower than 67.47 per cent in 2015. In 2013, the turnout was 66.02 per cent, 8.42 per cent higher than 2008’s 57.6 per cent.

In 2020, the AAP won 62 out of 70 seats with a vote share of 53.57 per cent. The BJP won eight seats with a 38.51 per cent vote share. The Congress got 4.26 per cent of votes and others polled 3.66 per cent votes.

Crime

Mumbai GRP Arrests 47-Year-old Habitual Local Train Thief; Stolen Goods Worth ₹1.28 Lakh Recovered

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Mumbai: The Crime Branch of the Mumbai Government Railway Police (GRP) has arrested a habitual offender involved in a series of thefts on Mumbai’s local trains. The accused was targeting passengers who kept their bags and valuables on the overhead luggage racks and got distracted by mobile phones or fell asleep during their commute.

The accused, identified as Roy Cowgool Vargis (47), with no permanent residence, was apprehended by the Dadar Crime Branch team while loitering near CSMT railway station on October 17.

Vargis was detained and later confessed to his involvement in multiple thefts, including a case registered at the Kalyan Government Railway Police Station (Case No. 1248/2025) under Section 305(C) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

According to the police, Vargis boarded local trains from CSMT or Dadar (down direction) and observed passengers who had placed their belongings on the luggage racks and became distracted. He would then steal the unattended bags and disembark at the next station. He reportedly employed a similar modus operandi on trains heading in the upward direction from Kalyan and Dombivli.

Following his arrest on October 17, 2025, Vargis led the police to recover stolen goods worth a total of Rs 1,28,499. The recovered items included an HP laptop valued at Rs 70,000, a Dell laptop bag worth Rs 10,000, and a mobile phone valued at Rs 20,000.

Additionally, the police recovered a Titan watch priced at Rs 12,000, a Bluetooth speaker and headphones together worth Rs 4,000, and two other items valued at Rs 13,499 and Rs 9,000 respectively. Several other miscellaneous items were also seized as part of the recovery.

The operation was conducted under the leadership of M. Rakesh Kalasagar, Commissioner of Police (Railways), Mumbai, and Javed Khedkar, Senior Police Inspector, Crime Branch, GRP Mumbai.

The investigation team included officers from the Dadar Crime Branch Unit: API Mangesh Khade, PI Rajesh Bhadale, PSI Ganesh Harishchandre, and police personnel Rakesh Bhamre, Mahendra Kadile, Prashant Saluke, Prashant Redekar, Sujeet Magade, Gopal, Akshay Desai, and Vishwajeet Nagare.

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TTP, ISKP, LeJ and others eye escalated attacks amid Pakistan army’s vulnerability

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New Delhi, Oct 21: The Pakistan army has been caught in several embarrassing situations in recent times. While Operation Sindoor exposed the fault lines within the Pakistan army, it has suffered huge casualties at the hands of terrorist groups, all of which it created.

Pakistan may have entered into a delicate truce with the Taliban, but many question how long it will last. The rate at which the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has created losses for the army has now emboldened other terror groups to take on the establishment.

Pakistan watchers and security experts say that there are many outfits which want the establishment thrown out. The TTP, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) want the rule of Islam established in Pakistan and the establishment to be overthrown.

The LeJ has focused largely on sectarian violence and has targeted the religious minority. It is not in the good books of the establishment, and in the near future, it could expand the scope of its attacks.

It has in the past carried out attacks against the Pakistan establishment, and the worry for Islamabad now is that the LeJ could go back to aligning either with the ISKP or TTP. The LeJ has, in the past, aligned with both these groups separately and hence a repeat of this cannot be ruled out. The ISKP, which was roped in Pakistan to fight against the TTP and Afghan Taliban, may not take a backseat due to the prevailing truce.

The ISKP had primarily joined hands with the Pakistan establishment to battle against the Afghan Taliban. However, if both sides have made peace, then the ISKP may back out. It is more likely that the ISKP may join hands with the LeJ rather than the TTP. The TTP is perceived to have the support of the Afghan Taliban.

Moreover, the ISKP was formed by former members of the TTP, and hence, the two coming together is difficult. Whether or not these groups come together or not, they are well aware of the weakness within the Pakistan army.

Intelligence Bureau officials say that, as per their assessment, even if these groups fight individually, they are in the days to come scale up attacks against the establishment. Pakistan is not even in a position to seek the support of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba or Jaish-e-Mohammad to battle against these groups. The Jaish-e-Mohammad has had a blow-hot, blow-cold relationship with the establishment. Further, if it is asked to fight against the TTP, the outfit may witness a split.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad is sympathetic towards both the Afghan Taliban and TTP and hence may not join the establishment. The case of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba is similar. While this outfit has never rebelled against the establishment, there was a chance of a major split when Pakistan was helping the US in the war in Afghanistan. Many cadres were unhappy with this stance and had even threatened to walk away and join the Taliban in Afghanistan.

While the threat of these groups spiralling out of control looms large, the Pakistan army has other problems, and that is in Balochistan.

The Baloch groups are driven by ethnic nationalism and secular separatism. They are seeking an independent proving. The Baloch groups in recent years have caused immense embarrassment to the Pakistan army. They have primarily targeted Chinese nationals and investments apart from the army. These groups too have realised that the army is weak and with Pakistan battling on many fronts, it would gear up for a bigger fight in Balochistan also.




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National News

‘Political deceit’, JMM blames INDIA bloc allies for no seat-sharing pact in Bihar

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Ranchi, Oct 21: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on its INDIA bloc allies, accusing them of keeping the party “bewildered” over seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections and forcing it to withdraw from the contest.

As the Bihar polls draw closer, internal tensions have surfaced within the Mahagathbandhan, with the JMM announcing its exit from the alliance just a day after declaring plans to contest six seats independently.

The decision, made public by Jharkhand Minister and senior JMM leader Sudivya Kumar in Giridih, came amid what he termed “political cunning” by the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Kumar alleged that the senior partners had undermined the JMM’s position and betrayed the principles of coalition politics.

Speaking to media, JMM spokesperson Manoj Kumar Pandey said, “Somewhere, a situation of confusion has been created that has left us bewildered. We did not want to be excluded from the alliance and made every possible effort, but unfortunately, we failed in our attempts. It is sad and unfortunate that political deceit or broken trust was exercised against us, which could have adverse effects on the INDIA bloc.”

“Will the alliance work like this only? We always supported our allies. We have always given them more. We even made their party leaders ministers. They were able to see the Assembly because of us. I am openly saying this. Even after this, if something like this happens with us, then it is wrong,” he added.

Reacting to the development, Congress leader Rakesh Sinha said the JMM deserved to get seats for the upcoming polls, but Congress should not be blamed for it.

Speaking to media, Sinha said, “I believe the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is a natural ally, and naturally, it should get seats in Bihar. However, what circumstances arose and what situations developed can only be explained by the leadership, whether from the Rashtriya Janata Dal or the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Discussions did take place, and two representatives from here also went to the talks. What happened there in Bihar, I am not aware, but JMM should have got the seats in Bihar.”

Sinha, however, clarified that the Congress should not be blamed for the fallout.

“The Congress has always made sacrifices for the sake of the alliance. We want the alliance to be formed with full strength because this is a fight to protect democracy and the Constitution. The Congress Party has consistently shown its commitment and sacrifice within the alliance,” he said.

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