As many as 43 people, including 37 children, drowned and three others went missing while taking holy dips in rivers and ponds in separate incidents during the ‘Jivitputrika’ festival in Bihar, the state government said in a statement on Thursday.

The incidents occurred in 15 districts of the state during the festival held on Wednesday. During the ‘Jivitputrika’ festival, women fast for the well-being of their children.

“A total of 43 bodies have been recovered so far. Further search operation is on,” a statement issued by the Disaster Management Department (DMD) said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced an exgratia of Rs 4 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased.

The ex-gratia process has commenced, and the family members of eight deceased individuals have already received it, according to the statement.

According to PTI, the drowning incidents were reported in the districts of East and West Champaran, Nalanda, Aurangabad, Kaimur, Buxar, Siwan, Rohtas, Saran, Patna, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Gopalganj, and Arwal.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut was granted bail by a Mumbai court on Thursday in a defamation case filed by Medha Somaiya, wife of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, hours after he was convicted and sentenced to 15 days of simple imprisonment.

The court later suspended the sentence for 30 days and granted bail to the Rajya Sabha MP after he filed a bail application.

Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Aarti Kulkarni convicted Raut for the offence under Indian Penal Code Section 500 (punishment for defamation). Besides the jail sentence, the court has also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him.

After the court’s judgment, Raut’s lawyer promptly filed two pleas for suspension of the sentence and granting him bail, both of which the court approved.

“The defamation case was filed by Dr Medha Kirit Somaiya, wife of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. The court ordered 15-day imprisonment for Sanjay Raut and also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000,” Vivekanand Gupta, advocate representing Dr Medha, told ANI.

Raut was found guilty under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the magistrate court in Mazgaon, he added.

In her complaint filed through advocate Vivekanand Gupta, Medha Somaiya firmly alleged that Raut made baseless and completely defamatory allegations against her and her husband.

She emphasised that Raut accused them of being involved in a Rs 100 crore scam related to the construction and maintenance of public toilets under the jurisdiction of the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation.

Medha had sought an unconditional apology and a permanent injunction against Raut, prohibiting him from publishing, circulating, or printing defamatory material about her in the future.

“The statements made by the accused to the media are undeniably defamatory. These statements have been made to tarnish my character in the eyes of the general public,” the complaint firmly stated.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify his stand on the remarks made by his party MP Kangana Ranaut on farm laws, asking whether he is opposed to the comments or is upto some mischief.

BJP MP Ranaut had earlier made remarks calling for bringing back the three farm laws. “Farmers are a pillar of strength in India’s progress. Only in some states, they had objected to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers,” she said.

The Mandi MP, however, on Wednesday took a U-turn and withdrew her remarks calling for bringing back the three farm laws and said those were her personal opinions and did not represent the party’s stand.

The Opposition party demanded that the actor-politician be expelled by the ruling party if it did not agree with her remarks.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also hit out at the BJP over Ranaut’s remarks and said the poll-bound states, including Haryana, would give a befitting reply to the ruling party.

The actor-politician said she must remember that she is not only an artiste but also a BJP member now and her statements should be in line with her party’s policies.

In a post in Hindi on X along with his video, Gandhi said, “Who is deciding the government’s policy? A BJP MP or Prime Minister Modi?”

“Even after the martyrdom of more than 700 farmers, especially the farmers of Haryana and Punjab, the BJP people are not satisfied. INDIA will not allow any conspiracy of BJP against our farmers to succeed — If any step is taken to harm the farmers, Modi ji will have to apologize again,” the Congress leader said.

The Congress on Tuesday shared on X a video in which Ranaut said in Hindi, “Farm laws that have been repealed should be brought back. I think this may get controversial. The laws in farmers’ interest be brought back. Farmers should themselves demand this (to bring farm laws back) so that there is no hindrance to their prosperity.

In an apparent response to Ranaut’s remarks, Kharge said, “Even after the martyrdom of 750 farmers, the anti-farmer BJP and Modi government did not realize their grave crime! There is talk of re-implementation of the three black anti-farmer laws. The Congress Party strongly opposes this.”

The 62 crore farmers will not forget that the Modi government crushed the farmers under a vehicle, used barbed wire, teargas from drones, nails and guns against them, he said.