Bollywood
Keeping Cong strong in Rae Bareli, Amethi bigger challenge for Priyanka
Even as Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra works overtime to put the Congress on the political centre stage for the upcoming Assembly elections, early next year, the bigger challenge she faces is to save party bastion Rae Bareli, her mother Sonia Gandhi’s Parliamentary constituency.
The BJP, after wresting the Amethi seat in 2019, is now eyeing the Rae Bareli seat.
The party has been quietly working on dislodging the Gandhi family from Uttar Pradesh.
Union Minister Smriti Irani, who had defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in 2019, has been working in Rae Bareli to widen the party base.
Of the total ten Assembly seats in two Lok Sabha constituencies – Amethi and Rae Bareli, six are already with the BJP.
Two Congress legislators from Rae Bareli — Aditi Singh and Rakesh Singh – have switched over to the BJP, and so has Congress MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh from Rae Bareli.
The BJP has also won the control of Zila Panchayats in the two districts.
In Rae Bareli, Irani replaced Sonia Gandhi as chairperson of Rae Bareli District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee in July.
Sonia Gandhi’s prolonged absence from her constituency-mainly due to her health issues-has dampened the morale of Congress workers.
The desertion of some senior leaders, including two sitting MLAs, has damaged the party in the region that was once a Congress stronghold.
Priyanka Gandhi, who oversees Rae Bareli and Amethi, has also not been able to devote much time to the two constituencies due to her preoccupation with state level issues.
The BJP, on the other hand, has deployed a well-oiled machinery to widen its reach.
The Congress does not have a single MLA in Rae Bareli and Amethi.
Indresh Vikram Singh, a senior Congress leader from Rae Bareli, explains the prevailing state of affairs for the Congress in the two constituencies.
“It is high time the party leadership recognised and gave weightage to the loyalists. Those who once worked with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi are still in the Congress. But our leaders now induct leaders from other parties and bring new faces from outside. Such leaders dump the party for their own interest.
“Moreover, the party has to firm up its stand on all issues and leaders have to make themselves accessible. After the much hyped ’27 saal UP behal” campaign before 2017 Assembly elections, the party leadership decided to align with the SP. Party leaders should be seen fighting for issues concerning the people consistently,” said Singh.
Bollywood
Saif Ali Khan stabbing case: Actor met rickshaw driver in hospital ahead of getting discharged
Mumbai, Jan 22: A day after Saif Ali Khan was discharged, pictures of the auto-rickshaw driver Bhajan Singh Rana posing with the Bollywood star in the hospital before he left for home started to do the rounds on social media.
Rickshaw driver Bhajan Singh Rana was the one who took Saif to Lilavati hospital on January 16 after the Bollywood star was stabbed multiple times during a robbery attempt in his house in wee hours.
Before leaving the hospital for home, Saif personally called the rickshaw driver to meet him at the hospital.
In one image, the auto-rickshaw driver is sitting next to Saif on the hospital bed as they smile at the camera. Saif’s bruised hand is on Bhajan Singh Rana’s shoulder. In another photograph, the duo are standing and smiling at the lens.
The 54-year-old star, who is married to Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan, thanked the rickshaw driver and told him to feel free to ask for help whenever he needed.
Saif along with his veteran-actress mother Sharmila Tagore, expressed their gratitude towards Bhajan Singh Rana.
As per sources, Saif praised the rickshaw driver for his work and said: “Keep helping others like this. And as for the fare that day, don’t worry, it will be taken care of.”
He jokingly added: “If you ever need help in life, remember me.”
When Bhajan Singh Rana was asked how he reached the hospital, as all the media personnel were present, he told Media: “I entered the hospital wearing a mask.”
The auto rickshaw driver said that he had first got a call from Saif’s personal assistant.
He said that he “ just prayed” that the actor gets well.
“I took a few selfies with him. I took a few photos with him.”
The driver recalled the night, when Saif was stabbed and said that the actor asked him to drive slowly as it was a “little painful.”
Bollywood
Feroz Abbas calls performing ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’ at Taj Mahal ‘a tribute’
Mumbai, Jan 22: Feroz Abbas Khan is currently busy with ‘Mughal-e-Azam: The Musical’. As part of the musical, the iconic love song “Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya” from the movie “Mughal-e-Azam” was staged at the Taj Mahal on 14th Jan 2025 this year.
“Mughal-e-Azam: The Musical” will take place till 23rd February, 2025. It will mark the end of the Delhi run for this epic masterpiece. Before performing in Delhi, the musical is expected to be performed in Mumbai at NMACC till 26th January 2025.
Talking about the emotional experience, Feroz Abbas Khan revealed, “We wanted to celebrate the enduring legacy of love by performing ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’ in front of the Taj Mahal. Incidentally, Shakeel Badayuni who wrote this definitive love anthem also praised the Taj for being a monument to love in another famous song. In a way, our performance was a tribute to Shakeel saab, to Naushad ji who tuned both the songs, to the Taj and to love that transcends all barriers.”
He further added, “While distilling K Asif’s timeless epic into a stage production, we did not anticipate the momentous journey it would go on to undertake across the globe. The fact that we are now all set to stage our 300th performance in Delhi has an enormous personal significance for all of us.”
Meanwhile, producer Deepesh Salgia was quoted saying, “Shapoorji Pallonji has been associated with the magnificence of ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ for over 75 years in its cinematic as well as musical form. Be it the luxurious production canvas or the marketing campaign, we have always worked towards setting new benchmarks. In the same spirit, the performance at the Taj is our tribute to the concluding season of the musical in Delhi.”
The musical features more than 550 exquisite costumes, breathtaking sets, live singing, and stunning Kathak choreography.
Directed by Feroz Abbas Khan, ‘Mughal-E-Azam: The Musical’ has been produced by Deepesh Salgia, under the assistance of Shapoorji Pallonji.
Bollywood
Saif Ali Khan case: Mumbai Police find clues from crime scene
Mumbai, Jan 22: The Mumbai Police have recovered a piece of cloth from actor Safi Ali Khan’s apartment which belongs to accused Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad, the Bangladeshi national arrested in the attack case.
Sources said the Bandra police recovered cloth from Khan’s house, which the accused used to cover his face. The cloth fell from his face in Saif’s son Jahangir’s room during the scuffle.
The cloth can be seen in the CCTV footage when Shehzad is climbing up the stairs before committing the crime. The police have sent the cloth and hair samples for DNA testing to the forensic department.
Earlier, the officials said that Shehzad had entered the actor’s building, Satguru Sharan, in the Bandra area by scaling its compound wall and found the security guards sleeping.
Sources said that both the security guards in the building were sleeping when the attacker entered it by crossing over the boundary wall.
The sources further said that as Shehzad found both the security guards sleeping, he entered the building from the main entrance where no CCTV camera exists. The accused removed his shoes and kept them in his bag to avoid making any noise. He also switched off his phone.
The police on Tuesday recreated the crime scene with the accused at the building. Police took the accused wherever he went after fleeing from Saif Ali Khan’s house. Shehzad was taken to the garden near the Satguru Sharan building and then to the National College Bus Stop where he was said to have stopped and stayed for a while after committing the crime. During the probe, the police took Shehzad to the Bandra Railway Station from where he had fled. Police are trying to find out how he reached the station.
The police were trying to record the chain of events starting from Shehzad’s entry to the building to his fleeing before being arrested.
Saif Ali Khan was stabbed six times by Shehzad inside his apartment in the early hours of January 16. The actor underwent emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital and was discharged on Tuesday. Three days after the attack, the police arrested the accused from neighbouring Thane city.
A court in Mumbai on Sunday remanded the accused in five-day police custody.
Shehzad, a native of Jhalokathi district in Bangladesh was residing in Mumbai for over five months. He had been working odd jobs and was associated with a housekeeping agency, the police have said.
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