BJP to fight Haryana Assembly polls alone

New Delhi, Aug 28: BJP today accused Haryana Janhit Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, whose party today snapped their alliance, of acting as the B-team of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and announced that it will fight the Haryana Assembly elections on its own.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain mocked Bishnoi's "delusion" of becoming the state's chief minister and derided him as "a general without an army". People of Haryana, he said, have decided to elect a BJP government.

"BJP will fight election on its own... and will form government after getting people's mandate. People have made it clear that they want a BJP government in the state," he said in a press conference soon after Bishnoi's announcement of severing ties with BJP.

BJP had fought eight and HJC two seats in Lok Sabha elections as alliance partners and while BJP won seven seats HJC lost both of them. Both parties have had an uneasy run since then as BJP wanted to give fewer seats to HJC in assembly polls than what was decided earlier, citing changed ground realities.

"We wanted him (Bishnoi) to understand ground realities. Any understanding is rooted in the facts on ground. He has left us as B-team of Congress. He had six MLAs and all of them except him joined Congress. He is a general without an army. We have never betrayed any ally," he said.

Hussain said relations between both parties had soured during Lok Sabha polls itself when BJP rejected Bishnoi's proposal to field Venod Sharma, a close aide of Hooda who has left Congress.

BJP also turned down the proposal to make Bishnoi's controversial elder borther Chandra Mohan alias Chand Mohammad the alliance candidate.

"He did not have candidates for two Lok Sabha seats. Where would he get people to fight Assembly polls? And he has delusion of becoming chief minister," he said.

Bishnoi had said they tried their level best to keep the alliance working and made sincere efforts.

"BJP is not ready to stick to agreed alliance principles," Bishnoi, younger son of late chief minister Bhajan Lal, had said, adding "betrayal is in the nature of BJP".

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Rajdhani Express Derails, 7 elephants killed after collision in Assam

News Network

December 20,2025

At least seven elephants were killed and one calf injured after a herd collided with the Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express in Assam's Hojai on Saturday morning, leading to disruption of rail services.

The Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express struck a herd of elephants, resulting in the derailment of the locomotive and five coaches. No passenger casualties or injuries were reported, officials said.

The New Delhi-bound train met with the accident around 2.17 am, PTI reported. The Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express connects Mizoram's Sairang (near Aizawl) to Anand Vihar Terminal (Delhi).

Railway has issued helpline numbers at the Guwahati Railway Station:-

•   0361-2731621
•   0361-2731622
•   0361-2731623

The accident site is located about 126 km from Guwahati. Following the incident, accident relief trains and railway officials rushed to the spot to initiate rescue operations.

Train Services Disrupted

Sources said that due to the derailment and elephant body parts scattered on the tracks, train services to Upper Assam and other parts of the Northeast were affected.

Passengers from the affected coaches were temporarily accommodated in vacant berths available in other coaches of the train. Once the train reaches Guwahati, additional coaches will be attached to accommodate all passengers, after which the train will resume its onward journey.

The incident occurred at a location that is not a designated elephant corridor. The loco pilot, upon spotting the herd on the tracks, applied emergency brakes. Despite this, the elephants dashed into the train, leading to the collision and derailment.

Last month, an elephant was killed after being hit by a train in Dhupguri in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district. The incident took place on November 30.

The adult elephant was killed on the spot, and a calf was discovered lying injured beside the tracks.

Over 70 Elephants Killed In Train Collisions Over Last 5 Years

At least 79 elephants have died in train collisions across the country in the last five years, the Environment Ministry had informed Parliament in August.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh had said the figure is based on reports from state governments and Union Territory administrations for the period 2020-21 to 2024-25.

He said that the ministry does not maintain consolidated data on the deaths of other wild animals on railway tracks, including in designated elephant corridors.

Singh confirmed that three elephants, including a mother and her calf, were killed on July 18 this year after being hit by a speeding express train on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section in West Bengal's Paschim Midnapore district. The incident took place near Banstala between Jhargram and Banstala stations.

The minister said several measures have been taken jointly by the Environment Ministry and the Railways to prevent such accidents.

These include imposing speed restrictions in elephant habitats, pilot projects such as seismic sensor-based detection of elephants near tracks and construction of underpasses, ramps and fencing at vulnerable points.

The Wildlife Institute of India, in consultation with the ministry and other stakeholders, has also issued guidelines titled 'Eco-friendly Measures to Mitigate Impacts of Linear Infrastructure' to help agencies design railways and other projects in ways that reduce human-animal conflicts.

Singh added that capacity-building workshops were conducted for railway officials at the Wildlife Institute of India in 2023 and 2024 to raise awareness on elephant conservation and protection.

A detailed report titled 'Suggested Measures to Mitigate Elephant & Other Wildlife Train Collisions on Vulnerable Railway Stretches in India' had also been prepared after surveys across 127 railway stretches covering 3,452 km.

Of these, 77 stretches spanning 1,965 km in 14 states were prioritised for mitigation, with site-specific interventions suggested.

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