PV wanted Ram temple at Ayodhya: P.V.R.K. Prasad

Boxer and Congress leader Vijender Singh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Singh had fought the 2019 general elections unsuccessfully from the South Delhi seat as a candidate of the grand old party.

“Today I am joining the BJP… it is like ghar wapsi (homecoming) for me,” Singh said after the joining the saffron camp at the party’s headquarters in the national capital.

“Good to be back,” he said, adding that, “When we would go out for the fight there were issues at airports but now under this government we are getting all the respect.”

The boxer’s name was doing the rounds for the last few days as Congress’ nominee from Mathura, from where actor and incumbent MP Hema Malini is contesting again.

Singh — India’s first Olympic medalist in boxing — comes from the Jat community, which has political influence in a large number of seats in Haryana, the state he comes from, western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

New Delhi: AAP leader Atishi on Tuesday made some strong allegations against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that the party approached her to join through a close associate.

"I have been told that either I save my political career by joining BJP or else I will be arrested by ED in the coming month," Atishi said.

She further accused that the BJP intends to arrest four more AAP leaders as the Modi government wants to crush all members of AAP.

"Now BJP's intention is to arrest four more leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party in the coming two months. They will arrest me, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Durgesh Pathak, and Raghav Chadha. They thought that after the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party would fall apart," she further said.

"But after Sunday's rally at Ramleela Maidan, now BJP thinks that arresting the top four leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party was not enough. In the coming time, the next four big leaders will be put in jail."

New Delhi: Seventeen Indians are on board an Israeli-linked container ship that has been seized by the Iranian military amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel.

Official sources said India is in touch with Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels, both in Tehran and in Delhi, to ensure the welfare and early release of the Indian nationals.

The Iranian action came amid increasing fears that Tehran may launch an attack on Israeli soil in retaliation to a strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria 12 days ago.

"We are aware that a cargo ship 'MSC Aries' has been taken control by Iran. We have learnt that there are 17 Indian nationals onboard," said a source.

"We are in touch with the Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels, both in Tehran and in Delhi, to ensure security, welfare and early release of Indian nationals," it said.

Reports said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards seized MSC Aries on Saturday morning when it was sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.