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Ghulam Nabi Azad met Sonia, refused to accept organisational No. 2 post

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After veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was refused the Rajya Sabha nomination, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi tried to placate him by offering him the number two position in the party. Sources said the move has failed to pacify Azad, who refused to take the offer.

According to sources after Sonia Gandhi’s phone call on Sunday to Azad both met and discussed issues regarding the party.

Sources said Azad was offered the post in the organisation which could be number two in party hierarchy, but the veteran leader refused to accept it.

Azad who was denied Rajya Sabha berth at the last moment is upset with the party affairs. And, has not shown any interest in the organisation and reportedly told Sonia Gandhi that “new people should work as it is a generational shift in the party”

Azad and his supporters are also upset with the way party os functioning in his home state of J&K and in recent statewise ‘Chintan Shivir’ neither Azad nor his supporters participated. This clearly showed that all is not well. His supporters want him to be the face of the party in the state.

Congress in its ten-candidate list for the Rajya Sabha denied Anand Sharma and Azad the berth and instead nominated Imran Pratapgarhi.

Sonia Gandhi reached out to Ghulam Nabi Azad and sources said the move was an effort to douse the fire and cull any discontent.

Azad was one of the prime movers of the G-23 and is one of the vocal voices within the party over reforms.

Tension is also simmering in the party units in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan over outsiders being nominated for the Upper House. The party leaders are questioning the move, but the Chief Ministers have not said anything against the party’s choice of candidates. Both states will go to polls next year.

The names of Congress veteran leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Veerappa Moily did not figure in the Rajya Sabha candidate’s list, and the trio were hopeful to be nominated, but it was the loyalists who got the tickets.

The loyalists include mostly the GenNext leaders, but Mukul Wasnik and P. Chidambaram did find a place. This has led to discontent within the party and even many in the young brigade too are upset.

Party spokesperson Pawan Khera, who was hopeful from Rajasthan, tweeted, “There may be shortcomings in my penance.” Reacting to his tweet, Nagma, a former actress, who has been in the party since long replied, “my 18 years of work fell short of Imran Bhai.”

Hinting her discomfort, Nagma had tweeted, “SoniaJi our Congress president had personally committed to accommodating me in RS in 2003/04 whn I joined Congressparty on her behest we weren’t in power thn.Since then it’s been 18Yrs they dint find an opportunity Mr Imran is accommodated in RS frm Maha I ask am I less deserving”.

Mumbai Press Exclusive News

Mumbai BMC elections: Abu Asim Azmi appeals to disgruntled Samajwadi Party workers

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In the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections, Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi has appealed to the claimants deprived of party tickets that if for some reason any candidate has not got a party ticket, the party leadership will provide them with an opportunity in the future, but in this election, they should show unity with the Samajwadi Party candidates for the problems and rights of the people. He said that in the BMC elections, the Samajwadi Party had decided to field candidates on 150 seats so that the socialist ideology would be promoted. The candidates on the party ticket were provided with tickets and the candidates also filed their candidatures, but unfortunately, many claimants did not get tickets because there were many difficulties in the distribution of tickets. Thank you to everyone for contesting elections on the party ticket in Mumbai and promoting the party’s ideology. Candidates were announced in several wards in a phased manner and 150 candidates have been fielded for the election phase. Abu Asim Azmi said that I appeal to all the workers and contenders to work for the party candidate instead of getting angry over the deprivation of the ticket because it is our responsibility to strengthen the party and promote the ideology of the Samajwadi Party. The candidates who have not been given a chance this time should not be unhappy. The election is not just for one candidate but for the ideology of the party. Whoever is given the ticket, he is the face and candidate of the Samajwadi Party. Therefore, the party should support the candidate and strengthen the party. It is a victory of unity. You will all work for the Samajwadi Party to raise your voice on the problems of the citizens and I am sure that the Samajwadi Party will make history this time.

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Crime

Mira-Bhayandar Crime: Kashigaon Police Arrest 3 Accused For House Burglary, Recover Cash And Gold Worth ₹2.36 Lakh

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Mira-Bhayandar, Jan 02: The Kashigaon Police Crime Detection Team has arrested three accused involved in a house burglary case and recovered stolen gold ornaments, cash and burglary tools.

According to the police, the incident took place on the morning of December 30, 2025, when the complainant, Shraddha Anil Shelar, a homemaker and resident of Hatkesh, Kashigaon, had locked her house and gone to Ramdev Park, Mira Road, along with her husband Anil Shelar to file nomination papers for the Ward No. 13 municipal councillor election.

When the couple returned home around 1.30 pm, they found the main door broken and household articles scattered. On checking the iron cupboard, it was discovered that gold ornaments weighing about 43 grams, including a gold chain, bracelet, earrings, nose ring and pendant worth approximately ₹2.16 lakh, along with ₹20,000 in cash, had been stolen.

Based on the complaint, Kashigaon Police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for theft and house-breaking.

During the course of investigation, the police tracked down the accused and arrested them from Bhayandar Railway Station while they were attempting to flee to another state.

The arrested accused have been identified as Irfan Yusuf Khan (25), Sagar Dilip Soni (23) and Ajay Vijay Torne (19), all residents of the Mira Road area. One of the accused is originally from Nepal, police said.

Police have recovered the stolen gold ornaments, cash and the tools used for committing the burglary from the accused. Further investigation revealed that accused Irfan and Sagar have prior criminal records, with theft and house-breaking cases registered against them at Nayanagar, Navghar and Mira Road police stations, and had previously served jail sentences.

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National News

‘Unacceptable’, Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi Flags Misuse Of AI Apps To Sexualise Women, Seeks Urgent Intervention From IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

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Mumbai: Shiv Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, on Friday, January 2, wrote to Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, highlighting the increasing incidents of AI apps being prompted to sexualise and undress women by unauthorised use of their images on social media, calling it gross misuse of AI.

Moreover, the Rajya Sabha MP sought urgent intervention of the IT Minister and said that there have to be guardrails put in place by features such as Grok that do not violate women’s dignity, while big tech firms need to take the onus.

In a letter dated January 2, she wrote, “There have to be guardrails put in place by features such as Grok that do not violate women’s dignity, big tech firms need to take the onus. And I wish men indulging in such behaviour were educated better at their homes & schools to not become such sick perverts in their adulthood.”

She further added, “What is worse is that Grok is enabling this behaviour by adhering to such requests.”

She stated that similar incidents are “going absolutely unchecked” on other platforms. “I write to you as an active member of the Standing Committee on IT & Communication, to urge you as a minister to take this up strongly with X to ensure safeguards are built in their AI apps to make the platform a safe space for women,” she wrote in the letter.

“Our country cannot be a bystander to women’s dignity being violated publicly and digitally with zero consequences under the garb of creativity and innovation that condone such prompts. While we welcome AI and its role in making lives easier for the world, we will not allow a proliferation of such demeaning acts towards women,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

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