Tej Pratap Yadav faces stiff challenge in Hasanpur

News Network
October 31, 2020

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Hasanpur, Oct 31: He relinquished Mahua and shifted to "safe" seat of Hasanpur assembly segment, but the gamble seems tough for Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav who is pitted against a formidable JD(U) sitting legislator.

Hasanpur seat is located in the Samastipur district of Bihar but comes under the Khagaria Lok Sabha constituency.

Tej Pratap Yadav, who had plunged into electoral politics winning from Mahua assembly constituency in Vaishali district in 2015 elections, left it this time and chose to enter into the fray from the Hasanpur seat.

It is said in the political circles that he had to move out of Mahua because of the possibility of his estranged wife challenging him there in the election. Mahua is located near the Parsa assembly segment, a bastion of his wife Aishwarya Rai's father Chandrika Roy's family.

Tej Pratap and Aishwarya's marriage was in trouble within six months of them tying the nuptial knot in May 2018.

Their marital dispute case is pending with a Patna Family Court. The fear was not untrue, as Aishwarya is seen going to the people of the Parsa constituency and raking up "ill-treatment" meted out to her by Lalu Prasad's family and seeking justice for her.

But the outing to Hasanpur appears to be no cakewalk for Prasad's maverick son.

Though it is a Yadav-dominated constituency, Tej Pratap's principal rival Raj Kumar Rai of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party JD(U) who belongs to the same caste is holding the seat since 2010.

There are a total of eight candidates contesting for the seat which will go to vote in the second phase on November 3. The Janadhikar Party (JAP) of former Madhepura MP and an influential Yadav politician Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav has also fielded his candidate Arjun Yadav for the seat.

Realising that the journey is arduous, Tej Pratap is working hard and leaving nothing to chance. He is campaigning in the constituency since the filing of nomination on October 13. The RJD leader is using all the trick up his sleeve to match the style of his charismatic politician father for a better connect with the voters.

He is seen playing cricket with the youngsters during campaigning, riding a tractor in a field, playing the flute and eating 'litti-chokha' (famous Bihari food) with the people.

Though the Yadav votes are the deciding factor, Muslims and other Backward castes like Kushwahas and Nishads (fishermen) also have a significant presence.

As per the voter list of 2019, there are 2,74,252 electorates in Hasanpur. Yadavs constitute nearly 65,000 of the total voters, while Muslims electorate are at 25,000. Forward-caste count is around 20,000 while Paswans strength is around 18,000, Kushwahas at 16,000 and Extremely Backward Castes at 13,000.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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Bengaluru: Darshan Babu is an engineer who is fond of betting on cricket matches and has been placing major bets on Indian Premier League (IPL) games since 2021. He often borrows money after losing a bet, or to place one when he is short on funds. His 23-year-old wife, tired of the constant harassment by creditors, died by suicide.

Ranjitha was found hanging at her home in Karnataka's Chitradurga on March 18. According to the family, Darshan had racked up a debt of over Rs 1 crore.

He worked as an assistant engineer in the Minor Irrigation Department at Hosadurga and had been ensnared in the realm of IPL betting from 2021 to 2023. This took a major toll on the couple's finances. Allegedly, he had borrowed over Rs 1.5 crore to place bets after his luck ran out and he lost all his money. While he managed to return Rs 1 crore, cops say that he still has a pending loan of ₹ 84 lakh.

Ranjitha married Darshan in 2020. She realised the truth about Darshan's involvement in betting in 2021, claims her father Venkatesh.

In his complaint, Venkatesh said that his daughter was extremely distressed due to the constant harassment by moneylenders and this led to her suicide. He has also named 13 men who had allegedly lent the money.

He said that his son-in-law was lured into betting with a promise of quick money.

"He (Darshan) was not willing to get into betting, but the suspects forced him saying it was an easy way to get rich. They promised to finance his betting activities against some blank cheques as security," he said.

Cops during their investigation found a suicide note, where she detailed the harassment they faced. Darshan and Ranjitha have a two-year-old son.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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Gokarna (Uttara Kannada): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said the Congress will decide about making him the Chief Minister in future, bringing to the fore again the issue of leadership change.

There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the Chief Minister's post after the Assembly election results in May last year, and the Congress had managed to convince the latter and made him the Deputy Chief Minister.

There were some reports at the time that a compromise had been reached based on a "rotational Chief Minister formula," according to which Shivakumar will become CM after two-and-half years but they have not been officially confirmed by the party.

During a temple visit here, a priest prayed that God's blessings may be showered on Shivakumar, and he became the Chief Minister.

Speaking to reporters here in Uttara Kannada district, Shivakumar, who has in the past made no secret of his ambition to become Chief Minister, amid speculations of change in guard mid-way of the Assembly term, responded to talk in some political circles about the leadership issue.

"What's wrong if a priest expresses his desire before God while praying? The priest has expressed his desire. Now Siddaramaiah is the Chief Minister, I'm working as Deputy Chief Minister under him, also as party's state President. People speak about it and desiring it (Shivakumar should become CM) is a different matter, it will be decided by our party," Shivakumar said.

"Now we are all working under the leadership of Siddaramaiah, and our desire is that the state should progress further under his leadership," he said.

"There will be people including supporters and priests, who pray for us, they will express their opinion. Can we stop them from doing it? At the temple it is between God and his disciple, they have expressed their feelings to God," Shivakumar added. 

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News Network
March 28,2024

New Delhi: After India summoned an American diplomat over their remarks on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case, the US reiterated on Wednesday its call for "fair, transparent, timely legal processes".

We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller while responding to questions on India summoning Gloria Berbena, the US Acting Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi.

The meeting at the foreign ministry's South Block office lasted nearly 40 minutes yesterday with India objecting strongly to the US remarks on the arrest of Mr Kejriwal.

Miller also responded to a question on the Congress party's frozen bank accounts, saying, "We are also aware of the Congress party's allegations that tax authorities have frozen some of their bank accounts in a manner that will make it challenging to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections."

He said the US encourages "fair, transparent and timely legal processes" for each of these issues.

"With respect to your first question, I'm not going to talk about any private diplomatic conversations, but of course, what we have said publicly is what I just said from here, that we encourage fair, transparent, timely legal processes. We don't think anyone should object to that," he said.

Mr Kejriwal was arrested last week by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the third Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader after Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh to be taken into custody in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.

The US State Department on Tuesday said it is monitoring reports of Mr Kejriwal's arrest and called on New Delhi to ensure "a fair and timely legal process" for the jailed Chief Minister.

India objected to it and warned of "unhealthy precedents".

"States are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others, and this responsibility is even more so in case of fellow democracies. It could otherwise end up setting unhealthy precedents," the foreign ministry said.

"India's legal processes are based on an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes. Casting aspersions on that is unwarranted," the ministry stressed.

The US remarks came days after Germany's Foreign Office stressed that Mr Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial. The Indian government had reacted strongly and summoned the German envoy, labelling their remark "blatant interference in internal matters".

The excise policy was introduced to bring an overhaul to the liquor business in Delhi, but was scrapped after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a probe into the alleged irregularities in the policy. The ED believes the bribe money from the policy was allegedly used for funding the AAP's election campaigns. It has also called Mr Kejriwal a "conspirator" in the case.

His arrest just ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election has also prompted furious protests from the opposition camp.

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