New Delhi : A massive fire broke out at a car showroom in the Saidulajab area of south Delhi’s Saket on Friday, officials said.

According to officials, several vehicles worth crores of rupees were gutted in the fire.

Multiple teams of Delhi Police and the Fire Department are present at the spot.

Cooling operation is currently underway and more details are awaited.

Earlier on Friday, a massive fire broke out at a mobile accessories shop in Delhi’s Gaffar Market, spreading to all floors of a four-storey commercial building.

BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal, who visited the spot, said the blaze may have affected around 20-25 shops.

No casualties or injuries have been reported so far, while property damage has been reported.

In another statement, BJP MP Khandelwal said the fire reportedly broke out around midnight in one of the shops and spread rapidly to other parts of the complex.

“…A fire broke out in one of the shops here, and that fire spread rapidly. There have been no casualties. There hasn’t been any such damage. Some of the traders have even managed to retrieve their goods,” Khandelwal said.

BJP MP Yogendra Chandolia also described the incident as extremely unfortunate and expressed relief that no lives were lost.

According to the Delhi Police, a PCR call regarding a fire in a building in Chain Wali Gali was received at 1.28 a.m. at the Karol Bagh Police Station.

The night staff of the police station, along with the Station House Officer (SHO), immediately reached the spot and found a fire at Shop No. 13/21, Puri Plaza, Gaffar Market.

The building is a four-storey commercial establishment dealing in mobile accessories.

As per the preliminary information, the fire originated in a ground-floor shop where mobile batteries were stored and subsequently spread to all floors of the building.

Around 20-25 fire tenders, three CAT ambulances and two PCR vehicles were deployed at the spot as emergency teams launched firefighting and relief operations.

Police said that no loss of life or injuries had been reported so far, and the damage was limited to property.

Prima facie, overheating or overcharging of batteries appears to be a possible cause of the fire, though the exact reason is yet to be established.

Chandigarh : Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his debate challenge, inviting him to the state to face questions from the party’s Yuva Morcha President. Offering to arrange the venue himself, the Chief Minister said Gandhi could not expect to make what he described as false allegations without facing questions in return. It cannot be a one-sided affair where someone makes false claims and then walks away, he said. The Chief Minister said that if the Congress had any grievances regarding the electoral process, it should present its case before the Chief Election Commissioner. “The Election Commission is an independent institution, and the doors of the courts are also open.”

He questioned why the Congress is unwilling to approach these forums, saying that merely making allegations from home for public consumption would serve no purpose. CM Saini was interacting with the media here after transferring funds under government welfare schemes. He responded to questions on government initiatives, crop procurement, allegations levelled by the Congress and several other issues. Launching a sharp attack on the Congress, the Chief Minister said the party had no substantive issue to take to the people and is therefore attempting to mislead the country in the name of “vote theft” while casting doubts on the credibility of democracy and the Election Commission.

He said if the Congress had complaints about voters’ names being deleted or incorrectly recorded, the Election Commission had already prescribed a procedure for raising objections. Electoral rolls had been made available in the public domain, and a month had been provided for filing objections through the prescribed forms. Despite these provisions, he said, the Congress continued to mislead the public. He said people were watching these developments closely and would no longer be swayed by such claims. “There has been no vote theft. What the Congress is facing today is the consequence of its own actions. People are now even saying that the Congress should shut down the party,” the Chief Minister added.

Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday signalled that the state’s recruitment drive for government jobs would continue even after the government meets its target of one lakh additional appointments.

He said the administration had already completed around 9.5 lakh government recruitments and was close to fulfilling its promise of another one lakh jobs. However, the recruitment process would not end there, and some appointment letters would be kept pending and distributed when the government returns to power for a third term.

Addressing a function at the Reserve Police Lines in Lucknow, where appointment letters were handed over to 4,543 newly selected police sub-inspectors, CM Yogi interacted directly with the recruits and highlighted the transparency of the selection process. He asked whether any candidate had required political recommendations, faced demands for money, been offered bribes, or witnessed any attempts to secure jobs through influence. He asserted that such practices were no longer possible in present-day Uttar Pradesh.

The Chief Minister said the state’s recruitment system had undergone a complete transformation since 2017, with jobs now being awarded on merit rather than through recommendation, discrimination or corruption.

Taking aim at previous governments, he alleged that large-scale irregularities had occurred in recruitments between 2003 and 2017, including cases where applications were submitted by one individual while appointment letters were issued to another. He noted that several such matters were still pending before the courts.

CM Yogi expressed concern over the future of those appointed through disputed recruitment processes, saying a court order cancelling such appointments could adversely affect many young people. At the same time, he remarked that he would welcome action to confiscate the properties of those responsible for compromising the futures of job seekers through dishonest means.

He further alleged that government recruitment before 2017 was dominated by what he described as the “Saifai syndicate”, which deprived candidates from many regions of the state of fair opportunities. According to him, the situation has since changed, and young people from all parts of Uttar Pradesh now have equal access to government jobs.

Recalling the early days of his administration, CM Yogi said that when his government took office in 2017, even salary payments to employees were a challenge, and the condition of the police department was poor. He said police barracks were in a dilapidated state, and personnel faced significant hardships.

According to the Chief Minister, his government has overhauled the system and given it a new identity, though further improvements will require continued dedication and hard work.

He reiterated that the campaign to provide government employment would continue without interruption. “More than one lakh appointment letters have already been distributed,” he said, adding that recruitment of 25,000 teachers would also be taken forward in the coming period.

Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna congratulated the newly appointed sub-inspectors, saying they had earned an opportunity that many aspiring candidates dream of but are unable to secure.

He stressed that their selection was based on merit and hard work rather than recommendation or favouritism, and said the recruitment process sends a clear message that perseverance and dedication can help young people achieve their goals.