Lucknow, Sep 26: The death of Ram Govind Chaudhary, former Leader of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, has sent shockwaves through political circles in the state.

A senior SP leader, former Uttar Pradesh minister and a former eight-time MLA, Ram Govind Chaudhary, passed away on Friday while undergoing treatment at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow at the age of 73.

SP President Akhilesh Yadav visited Metro City Apartments in Nishatganj, Lucknow, on Saturday and paid his last respects by placing the Samajwadi Party flag on Chaudhary’s body. Akhilesh appeared emotional during the visit.

Leaders and supporters from various political parties, including Transport Minister Dayashankar Singh, also visited Chaudhary’s residence to pay their respects.

Akhilesh Yadav described Chaudhary’s death as a major loss for the socialist movement and the party.

“Ram Govind Chaudhary was a leader of the socialist movement and belonged to the generation when socialism was establishing its identity in the early days,” he said.

The SP President said Chaudhary had dedicated his entire life to the socialist movement and spent his political career in struggle.

“He was a very effective voice. His demise has been a loss to the socialist movement. The Samajwadi Party has suffered a huge loss. All of us socialists stand with his family in this hour of grief,” Akhilesh said.

Ketki Singh, BJP MLA from Bansdih in Ballia, also expressed condolences on Chaudhary’s passing. She said his death was an irreparable loss for the entire region and Uttar Pradesh.

Despite ideological differences, Singh said Chaudhary had been like a guardian to her in politics. She added that his contributions to public service, grassroots struggles and socialist ideology would always be remembered.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh said, “Ram Govind Chaudhary belonged to Baghi Ballia, a strong political centre known across the country as a hub of socialist politics, from where Chandra Shekhar Ji emerged. As the state president of the Samajwadi Party, a minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government and an eight-time MLA from Ballia, his contributions have been exemplary.

“The passing of Ram Govind Chaudhary is a great loss to the politics of Uttar Pradesh and the socialist movement. On behalf of the Aam Aadmi Party, Arvind Kejriwal Ji and my colleagues, I pay my tribute to him. I pray to God to grant his soul a place at His feet and give strength to his family, loved ones and all those who have been deeply affected by his demise to bear this loss.”

UP Transport Minister, Dayashankar Singh, also visited Chaudhary’s residence and paid his respects. A stream of political leaders, supporters and acquaintances continued to arrive at the residence, where an atmosphere of mourning prevailed.

Chaudhary’s political journey began in student politics. Hailing from Ballia district, he entered the Uttar Pradesh Assembly for the first time after winning the Chilkhar Assembly seat in the 1977 elections.

Between 1990 and 1991, he served as Minister of Horticulture and Food Processing in the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government.

After winning the 2012 Assembly elections from Bansdih, he was given charge of the Basic Education and Social Welfare departments in the Akhilesh Yadav-led government.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, Chaudhary again won from Bansdih and was subsequently appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, a position he held from 2017 to 2022.

He also served as National Secretary of the SP and played a key role in the party organisation.

During his long political career, Chaudhary remained one of the prominent SP leaders in Purvanchal politics.

Mumbai, Sep 25: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Mumbai Zonal Unit, has seized 9.40 kg of foreign-origin gold valued at about Rs 14.81 crore and arrested three Indian passengers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

The interception took place in the early hours of Wednesday (September 23) based on specific intelligence, with operational assistance from the Air Intelligence Unit of Mumbai Airport Customs. The three passengers, who had arrived from Dubai, were found carrying a sophisticated concealment of gold.

A detailed examination of their baggage revealed that foreign-origin gold had been converted into fine powder and meticulously mixed with packaged food products of similar colour, texture, and consistency. This method was designed to evade routine detection.

The gold powder was concealed across several ordinary-looking food packets, including milk powder, oats, various flours, Nutella and coconut milk powder. In total, about 33.50 kg of food products mixed with gold powder were recovered from the baggage of the three travellers.

Through careful segregation and assaying, DRI officers recovered 9.40 kg of pure foreign-origin gold. The seized gold has been valued at around Rs 14.81 crore. The consignment was seized under the relevant provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.

During questioning, all three passengers admitted that they were acting on behalf of the same organised gold-smuggling syndicate. Customs arrested them under the Customs Act, 1962.

Officials described the modus operandi as novel and highly sophisticated. By blending powdered gold with everyday food items that closely matched its appearance and texture, the smugglers attempted to bypass standard security and customs checks.

The DRI said the operation highlights the evolving tactics used by international gold-smuggling networks and the agency’s continued efforts to dismantle such syndicates. The case forms part of the DRI’s sustained crackdown on gold smuggling through Indian airports.

Further investigations are under way to identify other members of the syndicate and trace the larger network behind the operation.

New Delhi, Sep 25: Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Sunil Sharma, reacting to Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s ultimatum to CEC Gyanesh Kumar on “either resign within 48 hours or face protests”, said on Friday that many forces in the country are working against its growth and are trying to weaken the constitutional institutions.

“We heard CJP’s ultimatum. This is a newly formed party, and I cannot say yet what their expectations or goals are. But the direction in which they have started doing politics raises questions, because there is a history here,” he said, speaking to newsmen.

In the aftermath of CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke’s Thursday press conference with his peers, spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka,

“Whether in name of secularism or the way the Communists expanded their political ground here, could they also be moving in the same direction?” he asked.

“Our nation is growing at fast speed. Many powers are at play, working to reduce the pace of the ‘Viksit Bharat ‘. Owing to these powers, many tools are growing that are working against the nation, we have to counter these forces too,” he said.

“When the youth of the nation, using some external force, try to debilitate or defame constitutional institutions, somehow it affects their future, as well as it affects the nation’s future. We should come together for the growth of the nation,” he added.

BJP MP Ghulam Ali Khatana, reacting to CJP’s statement on CEC Gyanesh Kumar, said, “India is a very large democratic country. Everyone has the right to protest and put forward their views. Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, democratic institutions and people’s rights have been strengthened and empowered.”

West Bengal Minister Dilip Ghosh said, “Every 4 to 6 months they bring out a new issue which is against the institutions of the country or against the country. Defames the country somehow. This is nothing but a publicity stunt. The public is slowly realising these issues. They are trying to defame the country’s institutions.”

He added that first came the Gen Z protests, and now CEC Gyanesh Kumar is being defamed.

“These are conspiracies against the nation. Some elements do not have a sense of the nation, and they just get on the streets to create chaos,” Ghosh said.

BJP MLA Vikram Randhawa said, “Their cause is baseless. Moreover, Congress has no real agenda; that’s why they push agendas when there are none.”

“You are losing elections left and right; first they blamed the EVM (Electronic Voting Machine), but when that didn’t work, now you are directly blaming the Chief Election Commissioner,” he claimed.

Earlier, addressing a press conference on Thursday, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said that if within 48 hours Gyanesh Kumar doesn’t resign, the Cockroach Janata Party will start a nationwide agitation and vowed to sit on strike unless the CEC steps down.