Sandeep Singh, Yogeshwar Dutt join BJP
Former Indian hockey captain Sandeep Singh and Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt joined the BJP on Thursday.
Akali Dal MLA Balkaur Singh also joined the BJP.
Mr. Dutt is an Indian freestyle wrestler from Haryana and won the bronze medal in the 60 kg category at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2013 and won a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Mr. Dutt said he has long been impressed with the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, he added, has showed that “good things can be done in politics“.
Echoing his view, Mr. Singh said he will now serve the country in politics after doing so as a sportsperson. He is a former captain of the Indian national hockey team.
Dalit kids beaten to death: Priyanka asks CM to ensure strict punishment for perpetrators
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath to ensure stringent punishment to those who beat to death two Dalit children in the State for defecating near a village panchayat.
Two Dalit children, who did not have a toilet at home, were allegedly beaten to death by two upper-caste men for defecating near a village panchayat building in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district on September 25, police said.
“Being a mother, I am deeply saddened by the cruelty and inhumanity of this incident. What was the fault of these children and what would be their mother going through? I request Kamal Nath ji to ensure stringent punishment and that such violent and condemnable incidents do not take place,” Ms. Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
The incident took place in the evening at Bhavkedhi, 25 km from the district headquarters. The village, according to locals, had been declared as Open Defecation Free (ODF) on April 4, 2018.
The two alleged assailants, Hakam Yadav and his brother Rameshwar Yadav, were arrested soon after the incident, police said.
AAP appoints Sanjay Singh incharge of Delhi polls
Sanjay Singh
The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday appointed senior leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh as its in charge for the forthcoming assembly elections in Delhi.
The AAP also appointed its national secretary Pankaj Gupta as the campaign director for the polls, at a meet of its Political Affairs Committee chaired by convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
In a statement, the AAP said the appointments are a part of its election strategy as dates for the Delhi elections are likely to be announced soon.
Priyanka hits out at UP government on Shahjahanpur student’s arrest
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday hit out at the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh over the arrest of the student who has accused former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand of rape, and asked if this is the BJP’s justice.
Rajya Sabha bypolls on October 16
The Parliament building has a diameter of 560 feet and covers nearly six acres. | File
The Election Commission has announced the date of polls for Rajya Sabha seats, which fell vacant due to death of Arun Jaitley and Ram Jethmalani.
Polling will be held on October 16, 2019.
While Jaitley was representing BJP from Uttar Pradesh, Jethmalani was an MP from Bihar.
LDF announces candidates for Kerala by-elections
The ruling CPI(M)-led LDF in Kerala on Thursday announced its candidates for five bypolls to be held on October 21.
In Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram, Mayor V.K. Prasanth will be the CPI(M)-LDF candidate, while Advocate Manu Roy is the LDF-supported Independent candidate in Ernakulam assembly consitituency, CPI(M) State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said releasing the list.
While Manu C Pullikal will be in fray from Aroor in Alappuzha, K.U. Janeeshkumar from Konni in Pathnamthitta district and M. Sankar Rai will be the party candidate from Manjeswaram in Kasaragod.
While the bypoll to Manjeswaram in Kasaragod district was necessitated due to the death of MLA P B Abdul Razak of the Indian Union Muslim League, in the other constituencies the sitting legislators had resigned to contest in the Lok Sabha polls in April this year.
Yediyurappa gets another rap from BJP central leadership
B.S. Yediyurappa
Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has again received a rap from the Bharatiya Janata Party high command. In an embarrassing development for both the Chief Minister and Revenue Minister R. Ashok, the BJP central leadership has asked its State unit to scrap a committee formed to choose the mayor and deputy mayor candidates for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
The committee, led by MLA S. Raghu, had been constituted a few days ago after the Chief Minister and Mr. Ashok met Bengaluru city MLAs to discuss elections to the post of mayor and deputy mayor. The committee, which has already met, was supposed to submit its recommendation to the Chief Minister.
However, the BJP central leadership is learnt to have asked that the panel be scrapped, hours before the State core committee met in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
PM Modi wishes Manmohan Singh on his birthday
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to wish former PM and senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh on his birthday. Dr. Singh turns 87 today.
"Best wishes to our former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji on his birthday. I pray for his long and healthy life," Mr. Modi wrote.
‘Love jihad’ a growing threat to Christian community, says National Commission for Minorities Vice-Chairman
George Kurian, Vice-Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), has raised the issue of alleged “love jihad” and its supposed connection to terror activities, saying it is a growing threat specifically to the Christian community.
In a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah early this week, he demanded an investigation by the National Investigation Agency and an effective law to “curb such fraudulent activities of radicalised elements”.
In the letter, a copy of which is with The Hindu , Mr. Kurian says, “The spate of organised religious conversions and using the victims for terror activities by trapping them through ‘love jihad’ has shown the Christian community is a soft target for Islamic radicals.”
(With inputs from Agencies)
