Cong workers want Priyanka to take on Modi in Varanasi

Varanasi, Jan 24: Posters urging Priyanka Gandhi to contest the coming general elections from Varanasi-- Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency-- came up in the holy city on Thursday.

The local unit of the Congress too demanded that Priyanka, who formally entered politics on Wednesday and was appointed the general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, be pitted directly against Modi to galvanise voters of UP and neighbouring states.

The posters featuring Priyanka Gandhi in the middle, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the top and local Congress leader Ajay Rai, who had contested against Modi in 2014, at the bottom, have come up across Varanasi.

The lines, "Kashi Ki Janta Kare Pukar, Priyanka Gandhi Ho Sansad Hamar. We want Priyanka", were printed in bold letters in the centre of the posters.

Holding the posters and shouting slogans, some youth Congress workers also took out a march in the Lahurbir locality demanding that Priyanka be declared the party's candidate from Varanasi.

"The Congress party soldiers (workers) are ready to make her (Priyanka) win the elections from the temple town constituency... If she contests from here, the impact would be felt in the neighbouring states as well," Rai said.

"The wave of PM Modi has now faded as people want to get rid of the Modi-Shah misrule who have ruined the lives of scorers of small businessmen and rendered thousands of people jobless due to their faulty policies and chest thumping," he added.

Rai expressed confidence that the Congress would win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as well as the 2022 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

The country witnessed a negative economic growth during the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule, Rai said.

Criticising the the Union government's Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas event being held in Varanasi from January 21 to 23, the Congress leader questioned why the dates of the event were changed.

The event is held to pay respects to father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, who returned to India from South Africa on January 9. The BJP changed the dates to gain political mileage, he said.

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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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