Police suspect ISI hand in two rail accidents in Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi: From 'pappu' to 'shehzade', Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been the prime target of BJP's ridicule for years. Jabs at the Gandhi family have been the BJP leader's main line of attack at the main Opposition Congress in every election over the past decade. But as Congress inches towards a 100-seat tally in this Lok Sabha election -- its best show in a decade -- and the INDIA bloc's tally defies all exit polls, the Gandhi siblings have played a central role.

Mr Gandhi virtually launched his campaign with a Bharat Jodo Yatra across the length and breadth of the country. While the actual impact of the yatra in terms of Lok Sabha seats won is a subject of data and debate, there is no doubt that his public interactions on the trail brought him out of television screens to the people and contributed to shattering the perception the BJP had created of him.

Visuals of Mr Gandhi petting puppies, hugging people and chatting with people from every section of the society, from students to truck drivers to mechanics, showed a side of him the country had not seen before.

As for Priyanka Gandhi, many had expected her to contest the polls this time, and questions were raised when she did not. In her response, Ms Gandhi Vadra has said in several interviews that it was a conscious decision. If both she and Rahul contested the election, they would get tied up with campaigning in one constituency, she had said, adding that the plan was to keep her free for rallies. The move clearly seems to have paid off.

As Mr Gandhi travelled across the country to address rallies of the INDIA bloc, Ms Gandhi Vadra also took up the task of leading the Congress's campaign in family strongholds Amethi and Raebareli. Nine hours into the counting, the party seems set for a win in both seats, including Amethi, where Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma has emerged a giant slayer by defeating Union Minister Smriti Irani -- a sweet revenge for Rahul Gandhi's 2019 defeat.

In these seats, Ms Gandhi Vadra was as much the party's face as its brain. From addressing nukkad sabhas to planning the party's moves, she led the campaign in these prestige battles from scratch.

The 2024 election also saw her emergence as an orator who charms the audience and also connects with them. Her counterstrike to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charge that the Congress plans to bring a wealth distribution plan and would take away "mangalsutra" had made national headlines.

"He says the Congress wants to take away your gold, your mangalsutra. The country has been independent for 70 years. The Congress ruled for 55 years. Has anyone robbed you of your gold or your mangalsutra? When the war was on, Indira Gandhi gave her gold to the country. My mother's mangalsutra was sacrificed for this country," she had said.

According to a PTI report, the Congress leader was attending a party meeting in Amethi when she told the audience that there was a woman among them who wanted to educate her daughter, but her father-in-law was against it. So, the woman stitched sari falls to save money and ensured that her daughter became a graduate. She then invited the woman to stage as the audience cheered.

Such interactions smashed the image the BJP had created for the Gandhi siblings and the ruling party's "royal family" jabs lost their sheen.

Also significant is the fact that the Congress this time contested just 328 seats out of 543 -- its lowest ever, leaving the remaining 215 seats for INDIA allies. Known to bargain hard for seats and then failing to convert them into wins, this was a big climbdown by the Mallikarjun Kharge-led party. And the move seems to have paid off.

The Congress may still finish with half the seats as compared to the BJP, but the Gandhi siblings shine in its stellar show. And at the Congress press meet this evening, Mr Gandhi underlined sister Priyanka's contribution in the party's performance.

Nagpur: The Nagpur district court on Monday handed life imprisonment to former BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd engineer Nishant Agarwal under the Official Secrets Act for spying for Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI.

Agarwal will also have to undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 14 years and was also fined ₹ 3,000.

Additional sessions court judge MV Deshpande stated in the order that Agarwal was convicted under section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code for an offence punishable under section 66 (f) of the IT Act and various sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

"The court sentenced Agarwal to life imprisonment and RI for 14 years under the Official Secrets Act and fined him ₹ 3,000," said Special Public Prosecutor Jyoti Vajani.

Agarwal, employed in the technical research section of the company's missile centre in Nagpur, was arrested in a joint operation by the military intelligence and Anti-terrorism squads (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra in 2018.

The former BrahMos Aerospace engineer was booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the stringent OSA.

He had worked at the Brahmos facility for four years and was accused of leaking sensitive technical information to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the military Industrial Consortium (NPO Mashinostroyenia) of Russia.

Agarwal was granted bail by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court last April.

President Droupadi Murmu on Friday invited Narendra Modi to form a government at the Centre after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) elected him as the parliamentary party leader. PM Modi met the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan to stake claim to form the government.

Narendra Modi is expected to be sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time at 6 pm on June 9 (Sunday).

Addressing the media after his meeting with the President, Narendra Modi said that President Murmu gave him the letter to designate him as the Prime Minister and sought details of a suitable time for the swearing-in ceremony. She also sought the list of ministers to take the oath with him, the PM-designate said.

"The NDA meeting was held earlier today, where friends from the alliance have chosen me for this responsibility. All the NDA allies informed the President about this, and the President called me and appointed me as PM-designate. She informed me about the swearing-in ceremony and list of Cabinet ministers. I have informed her that evening of June 9 will be suitable for us," Narendra Modi told reporters.

The NDA, consisting of the BJP, Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United, and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena among others, has 293 MPs, comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The alliance has submitted its list of MPs to the President today.

Earlier today, the NDA leaders assembled here at the Central Hall of the old Parliament Building. Besides NDA MPs, senior leaders of the alliance, including chief ministers, were present. Besides Chandrabadu Naidu, Nitish Kumar and Eknath Shinde, Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Anupriya Patel, Pawan Kalyan were among the NDA leaders present on the main dais, alongside senior BJP leaders.

Senior leader Rajnath Singh proposed a resolution in support of Modi's leadership and the NDA MPs endorsed it. Later, the list of parliamentarians supporting Narendra Modi was submitted to the president.