Nagpur, May 16: Tiranga Yatra has been organized in Kamathi, Nagpur under the leadership of Maharashtra Revenue Minister and Guardian Minister of Nagpur Chandrashekhar Bawankule. A large number of people have joined the rally with the tricolor in their hands. During the yatra, BJP leader Ashish Deshmukh talked about the success of Operation Sindoor. He also answered questions related to Sanjay Raut’s book, the future of the Indy alliance and Rahul Gandhi’s Bihar tour.

Ashish Deshmukh, while talking to Media, said, “Today there is a wave of happiness in the whole country. Operation Sindoor has increased the glory of India. When public sentiments were increasing against Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi started Operation Sindoor through the armed forces and it was successful. Today, every Indian has the feeling of patriotism and love for the country. As a symbol of this, we are taking out the Tiranga Yatra. We believe that every party should join this Yatra. The tricolor is the pride of 140 crore Indians. Therefore, whoever loves the tricolor must definitely join this Yatra. In this, any party should join the Yatra by erasing its ideological differences.”

Responding to a question related to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut’s book ‘Narakatala Swarga’, Ashish Deshmukh further said, “I do not have much information about what Sanjay Raut said. But he says something every day, so that his and his party’s name keeps coming in the media.”

On the question that senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram has expressed concern about the future of the ‘Indy’ alliance, Deshmukh said, “Whatever he said seems right to us because he is an experienced leader and he has said this accordingly. It is true that the Indy alliance will completely disintegrate in the coming times. An example of this is coming in front of us right now when Sharad Pawar’s party will merge with Ajit Pawar’s party. This process has started in Maharashtra. This will be seen in the country as well.”

Ashish Deshmukh also expressed his views on the question related to Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Darbhanga in Bihar and his statement in front of the students there. Rahul Gandhi had talked about caste census in front of the students coming from backward classes, in which he had said that Congress forced PM Modi to conduct this census. On this, Ashish Deshmukh said, “Workers like us have taken out OBC Yatra in Maharashtra. Our state president has also given a statement on OBC census. PM Modi has done the work of conducting caste based census. PM Modi is continuously working for the upliftment of backward classes. What Rahul Gandhi did in Bihar was not right considering the stature of the Leader of Opposition. Rahul Gandhi has tried to take credit for the government’s decision to conduct caste census.”

Kolkata, May 16: A day after being baton-charged by police, the protesting teachers have assembled again, surrounding Bikash Bhavan, the West Bengal Education Department’s headquarters, on Friday morning.

Some of the protesting teachers with severe head and body injuries were also seen joining the protests.

Some of the protesters attempted to get inside the Bikash Bhavan premises by removing the barricades raised by police around the building at Salt Lake in Kolkata.

A police contingent from Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate has already reached the spot and is trying to control the situation.

The protesting teachers claimed that even if they face police assault again, they would continue with their protests till their last breath until their demands in the matter are fulfilled.

Their main demand is that the state government and West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) should immediately publish lists segregating the “untainted” or “genuine” candidates from the “tainted” ones, who had paid money for getting school jobs.

They also alleged that the state government and WBSSC are “deliberately refraining from publishing the segregated lists to protect the untainted candidates”.

The protesting “genuine” teachers started a gherao agitation on Thursday morning, cordoning off Bikash Bhavan from all sides. At around 10 p.m. on Thursday, a huge police contingent reached the spot and resorted to a massive baton charge to disperse the protesters, in which several protesting teachers were severely injured.

Although the “gherao” demonstration was dispersed, the protesting teachers assembled at a distance from Bikash Bhavan, continuing with their sit-in demonstration.

On April 3, the Supreme Court’s division bench of erstwhile Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar had upheld a previous order by the Calcutta High Court’s division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi cancelling 25,753 school jobs in West Bengal.

The Apex Court also accepted the observation of the Calcutta High Court that the entire panel of 25,753 candidates had to be cancelled because of the failure of the state government and the commission to segregate the “untainted candidates from the “tainted” ones.

The state government and West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) had already filed review petitions at the Apex Court on this issue.

New Delhi, May 16: The Supreme Court is set to hear the plea of Madhya Pradesh Tribal Affairs Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah on Friday, challenging a Madhya Pradesh High Court order that initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against him.

The High Court had taken cognisance of Shah’s remarks directed at Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, the Indian Army officer who briefed the media regarding Operation Sindoor.

The matter was mentioned for urgent listing before the Bench of the Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, and Justice George Augustine Masih.

The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the sense of responsibility of Madhya Pradesh Minister Shah, who reportedly made derogatory remarks about Colonel Qureshi.

“What sort of statements are you making… A responsible Minister of the government, that too when the country Is undergoing such a situation… A person holding a Constitutional office is expected to exercise a degree of restraint. Every sentence uttered by a Minister must be with a sense of responsibility,” Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai reproached Shah’s remarks about the woman officer.

Shah, represented by senior advocate Vibha Dutta Makhija, has moved the Supreme Court for a stay of a First Information Report (FIR) registered against him on the orders of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The apex court agreed to hear his case on May 16, 2025.

The apex court advised the Minister’s lawyers to inform the High Court, which had listed the case on May 15, about the May 16 hearing.

The High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the comments made by the Minister.

Makhija, in an oral mentioning for early hearing, submitted that the comments were “unfortunately over-hyped” by the media.

The Minister was not given an opportunity to be heard by the High Court before it passed the order to the police to register an FIR.

She argued that the High Court might have exceeded its jurisdiction.

At that point, Chief Justice Gavai asked why the Minister should approach the Supreme Court directly, and not fight his case in the High Court itself.

“Somebody is a Minister, so it should be entertained here?” Chief Justice Gavai asked Makhija.

The senior lawyer said Shah has publicly expressed remorse, and she had a recording of it.

On Wednesday, the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered the Director General of Police (DGP) to register a criminal case against Shah within four hours and warned the DGP of contempt action in case of any delay in compliance.

A bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Anuradha Shukla of the Madhya Pradesh High Court said that prima facie, an offence of promoting enmity between different castes, religion and language was made out.

The Justice Sreedharan-led Bench opined that referring to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi as a “sister of terrorists” is an offence of hurting the sentiments and faith of the Muslim community.

Talking about Operation Sindoor, Vijay Shah, on Monday, had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sent a “sister from the same community” as those in Pakistan to avenge the April 22 terror strike in Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

“PM Modi is striving for the society. Those who widowed our daughters (in Pahalgam), we sent a sister of their own to teach them a lesson,” Shah had said.

The distasteful remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, the Indian Army officer who briefed the media throughout Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, sparked nationwide outrage.

Following the incident, the Minister apologised from the “bottom of his heart” and said he respects the Armed Forces and mentioned Colonel Sofiya as “sister”.

“I, Vijay Shah, am not only ashamed and saddened by my recent statement, which has hurt the sentiments of every community, but I also apologise from the bottom of my heart. Our country’s sister Sofia Qureshi ji has worked rising above caste and society while fulfilling her national duty,” he said in a video message posted on the social media platform X.

In his petition filed before the Top Court, Shah sought quashing of the FIR as well as the suo motu proceedings initiated by the Madhya Pradesh High Court.