Rat kills 24-yr-old patient in Mumbai hospital

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called for the “immediate resignation" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the BJP-led NDA eked out a muted election victory on Tuesday. The Trinamool supremo also thanked the people of West Bengal for the mandate as the party secured a lead in 29 seats. 

“... I am happy that the Prime Minister did not get the majority figure. The Prime Minister has lost credibility, he should resign immediately because he had said that this time they would cross 400 seats…Even after causing so many atrocities, spending so much money, this arrogance of Modi ji and Amit Shah, INDIA has won and Modi has lost. They have even lost in Ayodhya," the INDIA bloc leader reminded. 

Mamata also insisted that she would try to ensure that Modi “is out of power and INDIA bloc is in" following the results. The Trinamool Congress chief claimed that the people of India had ‘broken’ PM Modi's morale after he ‘broke’ many politicial parties. 

The Election Commission has declared the TMC the winner in two seats with notable leads in 27 others. The BJP is presently leading in 12 seats while the Congress holds a lead in the Maldaha Dakshin constituency.

New Delhi: If shocking trends on counting day could be ranked, Uttar Pradesh would be the topper. Nearly three hours into the counting of votes for Lok Sabha polls, the BJP's big bastion in the past two general elections is witnessing en epic neck-and-neck battle between the BJP-led NDA and INDIA bloc comprising Samajwadi Party and Congress. In fact, INDIA bloc holds a slim lead over NDA. 

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led NDA won 62 of the state's 80 seats, with the BSP and Samajwadi Party, then allies, winning 10 and five seats, respectively. This time, the BSP is on its own, and early trends do not suggest that it will pull off a good show.

While the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party is contesting 62 seats, the Congress is fighting 17.

The BJP has stuck to its old ally, Apna Dal (Sonelal), and has also brought in Jayant Chaudhary's RLD and OP Rajbhar's Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party into the NDA fold.

For the Congress, Amethi and Rae Bareli, its family strongholds, are prestige battles. This holds especially true for Amethi, where Rahul Gandhi lost to BJP's Smriti Irani last time. As of 11 am, Ms Irani is trailing to Congress's Kishori Lal Sharma, a Gandhi family loyalist. In Rae Bareli, Mr Gandhi is leading by over 60,000 votes.

Exit polls had earlier given the NDA an edge in Uttar Pradesh, but the INDIA bloc leaders had dismissed the projections.

Key Lok Sabha Seats

Among the key Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently leading over Congress's Ajay Rai in Varanasi, while Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is ahead in Rae Bareli.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is leading from the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat.

In Lucknow, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is seeking a third term, is leading over SP's Ravidas Mehrotra and BSP candidate Sarwar Malik.

Hema Malini, BJP's actor-turned-politician, is ahead in the Mathura constituency against Congress' Mukesh Dhangar.

Union minister Smriti Irani is trailing behind Congress' Kishori Lal Sharma in Amethi.

Bengaluru/Mysuru: Well-known Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa and 10 others have been arrested for the murder of 33-year-old from Chitradurga, Bengaluru police said on Tuesday.

S Girish, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), confirmed the development.

"We have taken him (Darshan) into custody for the murder of a man named Renukaswamy. The case has been registered at the Kamakshipalya police station. Ten more people have been taken into custody and we are interrogating them," Girish said and declined to give more details.

Police sources said that the 47-year-old 'Challenging Star' was picked up from Indiranagar (Ittigegudu) in Mysuru, his hometown, around 8:30 am. He is being brought to Bengaluru.

Renukaswamy's body was recently found in western Bengaluru's Kamakshipalya. There were injury marks on the head and other body parts.

Darshan, among the A-listers of Kannada cinema, has often been in conflict with the law but this is the most serious allegation against him. 

“CCTV was examined, and the victim was identified as Renukaswamy from Chitradurga,” the Bengaluru Police said.

What is the case?

According to sources, the preliminary investigation revealed that Renukaswamy had sent obscene messages to the actor’s girlfriend Pavithra Gowda.

Police sources disclosed that Renuka Swamy had harassed Pavithra Gowda. Following Pavithra’s complaint, Darshan allegedly instructed Vinay, an associate, to bring Renuka Swamy to Bengaluru.

According to the police, the victim, Renuka Swamy, was murdered on June 8. His body was found in a drain in Kamakshipalya, located in Bengaluru, on June 9. Mr Swamy, who worked for a pharmacy company, had sent "obscene messages" on social media to an actress close to Darshan, the police said. 

Mr Swamy was from Chitradurga, over 200 km from Karnataka's capital. 

Local residents reportedly alerted the police to the murder when they saw stray dogs dragging a body from the drain. Investigations led to the arrest of some suspects who allegedly directed the police to Darshan.

"He was my only son. Last year he got married. I spoke to him on Saturday only. I want justice," Mr Swamy's father Srinivasaiah said. 

Police have provided tight security at Darshan's RR Nagar residence in Bengaluru.