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MP Congress all set to use Yatra as launchpad for 2023 campaign

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About a year will be left for the state Assembly elections after the Bharat Jodo Yatra passes through Madhya Pradesh in the last week of November. The state Congress leadership therefore is all set to use the opportunity to launch its poll campaign.

Though the Bharat Jodo Yatra would cover just seven districts (around 66 assembly seats), the state unit of the party has planned to make the presence of this Yatra felt in all the 230 Assembly seats.

The party has decided to launch as many as 17 supportive or sub-yatras from different parts of the state, that will merge with the Bharat Jodo Yatra at one point – Burhanpur.

These 17 supportive yatras will cover a total of 6,440 km in 35 days. Yatras from each district and block will proceed keeping in mind that all 17 yatras reach Burhanpur at the same time to merge with the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The yatras will proceed from one to another district, and the leading yatra will carry the �Constitution of India’, which will be handed over to the person leading the yatra in another district. They will also carry soil from each village on the route and also water from each small and big river on the way.

According to senior Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh, the strategy of these sub-yatras has been made in a way that it can make a huge impact in the upcoming assembly elections in November-December 2023.

A senior Congress leader said that Rahul Gandhi had addressed two campaign rallies ahead of the 2018 assembly elections, while the Bharat Jodo Yatra will cover more than 60 assembly seats, during which he will interact with the people.

Congress leaders said the main objective of the Bharat Jodo Yatra is to mobilise the people of all segments, castes, religions to fight to protect the decades old democratic values, for which people have sacrificed their lives.

“The way people are supporting the Bharat Jodo Yatra, indicates that people are fed up with the BJP rule. In Madhya Pradesh, people had given the mandate to the Congress because they are fed up with fake promises of the BJP government.

“If the BJP hatched a conspiracy against the Congress government in 2020 to gain power again, it was disrespect of public mandate. People will give a reply in the 2023 elections,” said Chandraprabhash Shekhar, a former minister and one of the key functionaries in the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee.

Another reason why the Congress unit in Madhya Pradesh claimed that the Bharat Jodo Yatra will make a huge impact in the assembly elections in the state, as Shekhar explained, was that a campaign like “Ghar Ghar Chalo” had energised the party’s cadre at the lower level, it gave positive results in the municipal elections. Also, making this yatra a mass movement has become the sole aim of each Congress worker, Shekhar added.

The Congress claimed the results of the municipal elections were a semi-final and people have given a solid reply to the BJP, especially those feeling betrayed by the party. The Congress won five mayoral seats including Gwalior and Morena, while two mayoral candidates lost the elections with a margin of less than 500 votes. The ruling BJP, which had all 18 mayoral posts, was restricted to just nine municipal corporations.

“The party was already energised under former chief minister Kamal Nath’s leadership and the results of two elections (assembly polls in 2018 and urban body elections in 2022) are a clear example. But, when it become a mass movement in the presence of the party’s top leadership, it works as an energy booster for the party’s cadre especially at the lower level,” said Jitendra Mishra, a senior Congress spokesperson in Madhya Pradesh.

However, the BJP leaders in the state countered the Congress’ claims, alleging that the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra has become a platform for those who often speak against the country and raise Pakistan slogans at public rallies. “I don’t think Bharat Jodo Yatra will have any impact in the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, because they have seen Rahul Gandhi’s leadership in the past also. They are making changes in their plan every day, which indicates that they are still confused,” said a senior functionary in the Madhya Pradesh BJP.

National News

‘Mantriji Haath Jeb Mein Se Bahar’: LS Speaker Om Birla Chides Minister For Putting Hand In Pocket Inside House

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'Mantriji Haath Jeb Mein Se Bahar': LS Speaker Om Birla Chides Minister For Putting Hand In Pocket Inside House

New Delhi, July 26: The Parliament’s Monsoon Session has seen its share of confrontations between the members of the ruling government and the Opposition. Even Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla has not been immune to getting into an argument or chiding a member for inappropriate behaviour. A similar incident was witnessed in the lower house on Thursday when speaker Birla scolded a member of the ruling government in the house and a minister for putting “hands in pocket”.

A video that has now gone viral shows Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla telling the minister, “Mantriji haath jeb se bahar (Minister, hands out of the pocket please)”. After this, Birla requested all the members not to put their hands in pocket while being inside the house.

He also went on to instruct that if a member is speaking, the member sitting in front should not get up and in fact try to sit somewhere back so that the member speaking is not obstructed.

The video also caught the voice of a person trying to clarify after Birla’s remarks. However, the video did not show which minister was scolded by the Lok Sabha Speaker.

This is the second time in two days when the usually unflappable Lok Sabha speaker was seen trying to correct an MP inside the house. On June 24, the exchange between Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee had gone viral.

The video shows Om Birla asking TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee to not talk about past events while speaking on the budget and focus only on the current budget in his speech. Abhishek Banerjee retorted saying, “Then why do you have no problem when someone speaks on Nehru ji and talks about 60 years old things.” Banerjee then went on to say that if he speaks on demonetisation (which took place in 2016), then the speaker has problem.

The Union Budget and the first one of Modi 3.0 was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23. The Opposition criticised the budget calling it an exercise by the government to ensure that it keeps its alliance partners happy and alleged that the budget favoured several states and deliberately left out the other regions.

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National News

Farah Khan’s Mother Menka Irani Passes Away At 79, Days After Undergoing Multiple Surgeries

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Menka Irani, the mother of filmmakers Farah Khan and Sajid Khan, passed away on July 26, Friday. The news was shared by Kamaal R Khan on his social media handle.

Farah’s mother was 79 when she breathed her last.

The heartbreaking news comes days after Farah had revealed in an Instagram post that her mother had undergone multiple surgeries. On her birthday on July 12, Farah had penned a heartfelt note for her mother and had lauded her strength.

“We all take our mothers for granted. especially me! This last month has been a revelation on how much I love my mom Menka.. she’s been the strongest, bravest person iv ever seen.. sense of humour intact even after multiple surgeries,” she wrote.

“Happy birthday mom! Today’s a good day to come back home. Can’t wait for you to get strong enough to start fighting with me again.. I love you,” she wrote.

Friends of Farah and Sajid were seen reaching their residence to extend their support and condolences.

Menka was the sister of former child actors Honey Irani, who later married Javed Akhtar, and Daisy Irani. She is survived by her two children — Farah and Sajid.

Not many know but Menka also acted in the film Bachpan in 1963, which starred Salman Khan’s father Salim Khan.

In an earlier interview, Farah had revealed how their mother brought Sajid and her up after their father lost all money and died due to alcohol addiction. “We’d lost all our money, dad’s film had flopped. We had a riches to rags story,” she had said.

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‘Pakistan Has Not Learned Any Lessons From History’: PM Modi Warns Neighbouring Country On Kargil Vijay Diwas

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'Pakistan Has Not Learned Any Lessons From History': PM Modi Warns Neighbouring Country On Kargil Vijay Diwas

As the country commemorates the 25th anniversary of the victory in the Kargil War, PM Modi on Friday paid tribute to the brave soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the country in the 1999 conflict.

On this occasion, PM Modi also warned the neighboring country, stating that Pakistan has not learned any lessons from history.

Speaking at the Kargil Vijay Diwas Shradhanjali Samaroh in Kargil, PM Modi said, “India was trying to establish peace at that time, in return, Pakistan once again showed its untrustworthy face. However, lies and terror were defeated by the truth. Every time Pakistan attempted something nefarious, it has received a befitting reply in the past. However, Pakistan has not taken any lessons from its own history. It is trying to keep itself relevant taking help of terrorism and proxy war.”

“Today, I am speaking from the very place where the masters of terrorism can hear me clearly! I want to tell these patrons of terrorism that their sinister plans will never succeed,” added PM Modi.

“However, Pakistan has not taken any lessons from its own history. It is trying to keep itself relevant taking help of terrorism and proxy war,”

Paying tribute to the Indian soldiers who died in the war, PM Modi added, “Today, the majestic land of Ladakh marks a significant milestone – 25 years since the triumphant victory of Kargil. Kargil Vijay Diwas reminds us that the sacrifices made for our nation are eternal and forever remembered. As time passes, days turn into months, months into years, and years into centuries – the names of those who laid down their lives for the sake of national security remain etched in our collective memory, forever immortalised!”

Earlier today, PM laid a wreath at the Kargil War Memoria in Drass, Ladakh, on the occasion of the 25th Kargil Vijay Diwas.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan and all ranks of the armed forces also joined in remembering the supreme sacrifice made by the soldiers during the Kargil war.

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