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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

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Mirror, Mirror on UP’s Wall

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Of Priyanka, Rahul, Dimple, Akhilesh, Aparna—the poster boys and girls in the UP election—who’s the fairest of them all?

By Dilip Bobb

Think Uttar Pradesh elections and the images that come to mind are paan-spitting wizened veterans waddling through the heat and dust with tired slogans and recycled promises.  Then there are the other usual suspects, criminals and gangsters who look like they came straight from Bollywood casting.  Not this time, though. This election brings a strong whiff of fresh air, and glamour, young blood and, even more stark—good looks.  Moreover, it’s gender neutral. The tie-up between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress has certainly upped the glamour quotient. They are literally, the poster boys and poster girls of this campaign. There’s Akhilesh Yadav himself, whose youth and energy and political savvy is a sexy counterpoint to the image his father Mulayam Singh, projects.  Next to him, on posters and in person, is wife Dimple, with her dimples and Rapunzel-type hair and attractive features, and now, the deserving status of star campaigner.

Then we have the brother-and-sister combination of the dimpled lad, Rahul Gandhi, who has inherited his father’s good looks, as has his sister Priyanka, who has created a bit of a mini storm over the universal definition of her as “pretty’’ which, BJP MP Vinay Katiyar, today contested by claiming that there were “prettier star campaigners than Priyanka Gandhi”. He did not elaborate but one of them could be the relatively unknown Aparna Yadav, another member of the ever-expanding Mulayam family tree.  Aparna is Mulayam’s daughter-in-law from his second marriage who is contesting from Lucknow. Aparna is married to Mulayam’s second son, Prateek, who has recently hit the headlines with photos of his blue Lamborghini. Aparna has started giving  television interviews, where she shows herself fluent in English and Hindi, has a good singing voice when asked to recite a few ghazals, and is very convincing in defending her businessman husband’s love for fast cars bought with his own money. 

It’s tough to imagine those undecided voters with no ideological underpinnings being able to resist the appeal of the newly-launched posters of Dimple and Priyanka, looking like they are auditioning for a beauty contest. Or, for that matter, those showing Akhilesh and Rahul, both good looking males with political sex appeal in abundance.  Against that, what chance will a poster of Amit Shah have?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Tihar jail extortion case: MHA sanctions CBI inquiry against AAP leader Satyendar Jain

Satyendar Jain and former Tihar Jail DG Sandeep Goel were accused of running an extortion racket from Tihar and demanding protection money from high profile inmates

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In another setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Ministry of Home Affairs accorded sanction for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry against Satyendar Jain, jailed AAP leader, for allegedly extorting Rs 10 crore from conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar as protection money. 

Satyendar Jain and former Tihar Jail DG Sandeep Goel were accused of running an extortion racket from Tihar and demanding protection money from high profile inmates allegedly. The development follows as Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal is in Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.

Earlier, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena sanctioned the CBI inquiry into extortion charges against Satyendar Jain. In a letter seeking the LG’s nod to probe the extortion charges, the CBI in November last year wrote that Satyendar Jain was accused of running a high-profile extortion racket from Tihar Jail and demanding Rs 10 crore as protection money from Sukesh Chandrashekhar to enable him to live peacefully and comfortably in jail.

The aforesaid allegations were made by the conman who said Satyendar Jain extorted money in various tranches during 2018-21, either personally or through his accomplices to enable Chandrashekar to live comfortably in different jails of Delhi namely Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli.

AAP leader Satyendar Jain was arrested in May 2022 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Jain’s last bail plea was dismissed by the Supreme Court on March 18 this year and the top court asked him to surrender in connection with the money laundering case. The AAP leader was given an interim medical bail on May 26, 2023 after he fell in the jail bathroom. Jain underwent a spinal operation during his bail period.

Beside Satyendar Jain, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and Vijay Nair are also in Tihar Jail.

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Rahul Gandhi warns ED, CBI of strong action whenever government changes

The Congress leader’s statement follows after the Income Tax department’s fresh notices asking the party to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore.

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Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused central agencies of working at the behest of the BJP-led government at the Centre and warned them that strict action will be taken against these institutions when the government changes.

The senior Congress leader asserted that if the institutions had done their jobs properly there would have been no problem. He added that these agencies should think that some day the BJP government will change and after that there will be action. He further said that it is his guarantee that the action will be so strong that no institution will dare to do such things again.

Taking to social media platform X, Rahul Gandhi wrote that when the government changes, action will definitely be taken against those who destroyed the democracy. Mentioning that it is his guarantee, Rahul Gandhi said that such actions will be taken that no one will dare to do all this again.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement follows after the income tax department’s fresh notices asking the party to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore. The party has accused the ruling BJP of indulging in tax terrorism to financially cripple the opposition party ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

While addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters along with Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, party treasurer Ajay Maken alleged that the BJP is in serious violation of income-tax laws. He said the I-T department should raise a demand of Rs 4,617.58 crore from the saffron party for such violations.

Ajay Maken said that the income-tax returns filed by Congress for eight years have been reopened on baseless and manufactured grounds to levy illegal I-T demand orders totalling thousands of crores of rupees. He stated that the timing of the I-T department’s action in February and March, days before and even days after the Lok Sabha election were announced on March 16, speaks for itself about the mala-fide nature of these actions.

Furthermore, the opposition party will hold nationwide protests over the weekend against fresh income tax demand of over Rs 1,800 crore, which it has described as an egregious attack on democracy and imposition of tax terrorism amid the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

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Jammu and Kashmir: 10 killed as taxi rolls into gorge at Ramban, PM Modi announces ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh

Ramban deputy magistrate said that it was pitch dark and raining heavily when the accident occurred near Battery Chashma around 1.15am.

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In an unfortunate incident, ten passengers were killed when a taxi veered off the road amid heavy rain and fell into a gorge in Ramban district on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway early on Friday.

Baseer-ul-haq, Ramban deputy magistrate said that it was pitch dark and raining heavily when the accident occurred near Battery Chashma around 1.15am. He added that while the vehicle, believed to be a Chevrolet Tavera, has not been traced yet, 10 bodies have been recovered from the steep slope from where it went down 500 metres.

Police along with quick reaction teams, the local tehsildar, assistant commissioner, revenue, and other officials were at the spot supervising rescue work. Reports said that two identity cards were recovered from two bodies. 

The bodies were identified as taxi driver Balwan Singh, 47, of Amb Gharota in Jammu district, and Vipin Mukhiya, of Bhairagang in West Champaran district of Bihar. The identified bodies were taken to Ramban district hospital. Police asserted the taxi was on its way to Kashmir from Jammu.

Expressing grief over the accident in Ramban, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF, which would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. Furthermore, the injured would be given Rs 50,000.  PM Narendra Modi also extended condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for a quick recovery of the injured. 

Taking to social media platform X, President Droupadi Murmu said that the news of many people getting killed after a vehicle fell into a ditch in Ramban area on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is very sad. She also offered condolences to the bereaved families.

Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir police shared on social media platform that a passenger taxi rolled down a deep gorge on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Battery Chashma in Ramban area. It added that Police, SDRF and civil QRT Ramban reached on spot, rescue operation is going on.

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