Row over filthy train sent for BSF jawans on Amarnath duty; 4 officials suspended
The incident sparked a political controversy after Congress lashed out at the government, alleging the train provided was full of dirt, cockroaches, and broken seats. "This is what happens when the government's entire focus is on PR for a few flashy trains, while the masses are forced to travel like animals," Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed said in a post on X.Following the incident, three senior section engineers and a coaching depot officer of Alipurduar Rail Division were suspended by Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, reported news agency PTI.A special train was provided for the BSF team after they flagged the substandard condition of the train. Soon after the replaced train was allotted, the BSF team commenced their journey from Udaipur to Jammu.advertisementWhile the Railways took note of the matter and ordered action, a day after the incident, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Zone under which the Alipurduar Rail Division comes, dismissed allegations of a dirty train being provided.'The allegation that BSF was provided such kind of coach for travel is incorrect. Coaches are provided for travel only after necessary maintenance, repairs and cleaning. This video is of an unexamined coach which was being sent for repair and was not meant for travel of BSF forces,' the NFR had posted.The Amarnath Yatra will be conducted for 38 days and is scheduled to end on August 9.The Centre has ordered the deployment of a total of 581 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) comprising about 42,000 on-ground personnel for the conduct of the yatra.Must Watch
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Indian Express
4 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Conviction for forgery to card game row, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate again lands in a controversy
From facing the prospect of losing his Assembly seat due to a criminal conviction to being caught on camera allegedly playing an online card game during an Assembly session, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate has spent the past year navigating one controversy after another. In February, a Nashik district court sentenced the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader to two years in prison for his role in a 30-year-old case involving document forgery and fraud. The case pertained to the illegal acquisition of two flats under the Chief Minister's discretionary quota. Under the law, any elected representative sentenced to two or more years in prison stands to lose their seat. Kokate, however, managed to retain his position after a sessions court in Nashik granted a stay on the conviction. The complaint was originally filed by former minister and three-time MLA Tukaram Dighole who alleged that Kokate and his brother had submitted forged documents to fraudulently acquire flats in the Nirman View Apartment complex in Nashik's Yeolekar Mala area. Dighole, a former Congress leader, lost to Kokate in the 1999 Assembly election in what was Kokate's debut win as a Shiv Sena MLA. Dighole passed away in 2019. According to the prosecutors, the Kokate brothers falsely claimed to belong to the Low-Income Group (LIG) and declared they owned no other property. This misrepresentation allowed them to benefit from the CM's 10% discretionary housing quota. Investigations later revealed that the documents submitted were forged. Kokate, a five-time MLA from Sinnar in Nashik district, has had a politically diverse career. Once a member of both the Shiv Sena and the Congress, he is now aligned with the NCP of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Following the NCP's split, Kokate chose to side with Ajit and was rewarded with the Agriculture portfolio in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government. Controversy, however, has continued to shadow him. Just days before his conviction in February, Kokate triggered outrage with remarks comparing farmers to beggars. 'Even a beggar doesn't take one rupee, but here we are offering crop insurance for Re 1. Yet some people still try to misuse it,' he said, further alleging that applicants from other states were exploiting the scheme. In April, he courted fresh criticism after accusing farmers of intentionally defaulting on crop loans to benefit from government waivers, and then spending the money on personal celebrations. 'You take loans and then default for five to ten years, expecting them to be waived. Farmers are not investing in their land. The government gives assistance for everything from drip irrigation to ponds and pipelines,' Kokate said at the time. On Sunday, the state agriculture minister found himself at the centre of a latest row after a purported video of him playing an online card game on his phone in the Assembly was shared on social media by NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar. Kokate, however, denied the allegation. 'I was not playing Rummy,' he said. 'I was trying to watch YouTube to find out what was happening in the Lower House. Someone had downloaded the game on the phone, and I was just trying to skip it. The video might be from when I was trying to close it.'
The Print
34 minutes ago
- The Print
18 Muslim women made it to Lok Sabha since independence; 13 of them dynasts: Book
From royalty to a tea vendor-turned-politician's wife and from a first lady to a Bengali actress, the 18 Muslim women who treaded the hallowed corridors of power in the Lok Sabha are an eclectic mix, with each of them having an interesting backstory, but one common thread — their path to power was always strewn with struggle and hurdles. And while dynastic politics may not be conducive for democracy to deepen its roots, it has played a positive part in giving chances to Muslim women, with 13 out of the 18 being from political families. New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) That women were always under-represented in the Lok Sabha is a known fact, but Muslim women members have been a greater rarity with only 18 making it to the Lower House since independence, according to a new book. The story of these 18 Muslim women has been chronicled in an upcoming book– 'Missing from the House — Muslim women in the Lok Sabha' by Rasheed Kidwai and Ambar Kumar Ghosh. Kidwai says he wanted to document the profile of 20 Muslim women who made it to the Lower House, but two of them — Subhasini Ali and Afrin Ali — had openly proclaimed that they did not follow Islam. 'Only eighteen Muslim women have made it to the Lok Sabha since the first parliamentary polls in 1951-52. It is a shockingly abysmal figure, considering Muslim women are about 7.1 per cent of India's 146 crore population. Out of the 18 Lok Sabhas constituted till 2025, five times the Lok Sabha did not have a single Muslim woman member,' Kidwai and Ghosh write in their book, published by Juggernaut and will be released next month. Equally shocking is the fact that the number of Muslim women elected to Parliament in one tenure never crossed the mark of four in the 543-seat lower house of Parliament, the book points out. The book also notes that none of the five southern states — Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana — otherwise known for better political representation than the North and with better literary levels and other socio-economic indicators, have not yet sent a single Muslim woman MP to the Lok Sabha. The 18 Muslim women who made it to the Lok Sabha include Mofida Ahmed (1957, Congress); Zohraben Akbarbhai Chavda (Congress, 1962-67); Maimoona Sultan (Congress, 1957-67); Begum Akbar Jehan Abdullah (National Conference, 1977-79, 1984-89); Rashida Haque (Congress 1977-79); Mohsina Kidwai (Congress, 1977-89); Abida Ahmed (Congress, 1981-89); Noor Bano (Congress, 1996, 1999-2004); Rubab Sayda (Samajwadi Party, 2004-09); and Mehbooba Mufti (People's Democratic Party, 2004-09, 2014-19). The other Muslim women who entered the Lower House are Tabassum Hasan (Samajwadi Party, Lok Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party 2009-14); Mausam Noor (Trinamool Congress 2009-19); Kaisar Jahan (Bahujan Samaj Party, 2009-14); Mamtaz Sanghamita (Trinamool Congress 2014-19); Sajda Ahmed (Trinamool Congress 2014-24); Ranee Narah (Congress, 1998-2004, 2009-14); Nusrat Jahan Ruhi (Trinamool Congress, 2019-24); and Iqra Hasan (Samajwadi Party, 2024-present). A dominant political figure who made an indelible mark on Indian politics was Mohsina Kidwai. She not only entered the Lok Sabha but also went on to join the council of ministers and hold several portfolios, including labour, health and family welfare, rural development, transport and urban development. Another fascinating personality that the book talks about is the wife of Mohammad Jasmir Ansari, a tea vendor-turned-politician. In 2009, Kaisar Jahan, wife of Ansari, won a fiercely fought four-corner contest even though she had barely thirty-five days to prepare and campaign. As 2009 Lok Sabha polls neared, Mayawati summoned MLA Jasmir and Kaisar Jahan to Lucknow. 'Jasmir and Kaisar stopped at 'Sharmaji ki Chai' in Hazratganj before heading to the chief minister's residence. Jasmir was anticipating a ministerial position, but instead, Mayawati came straight to the point by asking him to contest the polls. The lingering taste of chai vanished quickly as Jasmir struggled, looking tentatively at his wife for an answer. Mayawati, a politician among politicians, sensed his unease. She directly asked Kaisar: 'Tu ladegi? The answer came immediately and spontaneously from both Jasmir and Kaisar-yes,' the book narrates. There is also a first lady among the 18 Muslim women – Begum Abida Ahmed, wife of the country's fifth president, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. Over four years after Ahmed passed away in 1977, Abida Ahmed agreed to fight a Lok Sabha by-election from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, in 1981 and won, becoming the first and only First Lady of India to have entered the competitive arena of politics. She won again in 1984, making it two in a row from Bareilly. Begum Noor Bano, originally Mahatab Zamani and the widow of the former ruler of Rampur, was royalty who was a key figure in the political landscape of that area and fought many battles with Azam Khan of the Samajwadi Party and Jaya Prada, who also contested on an SP ticket. Her husband, Nawab Syed Zulfikar Ali Khan Bahadur, belonged to the Rohilla dynasty and was popularly addressed as 'Mickey Mian'. He was killed in a freak road accident in 1992 while returning from New Delhi to Rampur. Noor Bano won the 1996 and 1999 Lok Sabha polls, but her electoral battles with Jaya Prada in 2004 and 2009 ended in defeats. Among the 18 Muslim women, Bengali actress Nusrat Jahan Ruhi also broke a number of glass ceilings as she went on to win the Lok Sabha polls on a TMC ticket in 2019. In the current Lok Sabha, there is just one Muslim woman MP, and that is SP's Iqra Hasan Choudhury. From earning the distinction of being one of the youngest MPs after defeating a veteran leader from the BJP to becoming the centre of social media discussion as a young, London-educated Muslim woman leader, Iqra Hasan has appeared to have carved out a space for herself in the public imagination. In his foreword to the book, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor writes, 'Nearly seventy-eight years have passed since that portentous stroke of midnight on 15 August 1947, when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru proclaimed a 'tryst with destiny' and India awakened to 'life and freedom.' …Yet even after almost eight decades, a shameful reality, which should deflate our self-congratulatory fervour over our democratic track record, still haunts us.' 'Not everyone has found 'utterance' in the world's largest democracy, many of whose towering leaders eulogize it as the 'Mother of Democracy.' This self-serving description is enabled, in part, by a too-pliant news media, an ineffectual civil society and a menaced academic class, so that no one dares point out the irony inherent in the claim,' Tharoor says. 'Although we depict India as a doting mother nurturing and nourishing a clamorous, combative and chaotic republic, corrupt and inefficient, perhaps, but nonetheless flourishing, the truth is that throughout our democratic history, we have consistently failed our women citizens: failed to afford them, in the thoroughfares of our country, a life of dignity and decency,' he says. PTI ASK RHL RHL This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
The Print
34 minutes ago
- The Print
Opposition flags Trump's remarks, SIR in session eve meet; govt says all issues to be discussed
The government sought coordination with the opposition in the smooth running of the month-long session. At the customary meeting ahead of the session beginning Monday, the opposition raised various issues, including voter roll revision in Bihar, the Pahalgam terror attack and Trump's 'ceasefire' claims. New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The government on Sunday told an all-party meeting that it is ready to discuss all issues raised by the opposition in the Monsoon session of Parliament, and asserted that it will respond appropriately to demands for a response on US President Donald Trump's claims on Operation Sindoor. There should be govt-opposition coordination in running Parliament smoothly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters after the meeting. He said the government will respond appropriately in Parliament on opposition raising the issue of Trump's claims on Operation Sindoor. The government, he emphasised, is open to discussing all issues in Parliament in line with rules and traditions and asserted that the government was very much open to discussing important issues like Operation Sindoor. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said his party sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on Trump's claims, 'lapses' which led to the Pahalgam attack and Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of poll rolls in Bihar. He said it was incumbent on PM Modi to give a statement in Parliament on key issues raised by his party. Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said he raised the alleged 'poll scam' of SIR in Bihar and Trump's claim that he brokered 'ceasefire' between India and Pakistan, at the meet. Responding to a question, he said INDIA bloc is only for Lok Sabha polls and AAP is contesting assembly polls on its own. BJD's Sasmit Patra said the Centre can't escape responsibility from the 'failing' law and order in states and Parliament should debate it. He was referring to an incident of self-immolation by a college student and another case of a 15-year-old being set on fire by a group of men in Odisha. Patra said there was a 'complete collapse' of law and order in Odisha and the BJP government there was 'helpless' and has 'failed'. CPI(M)'s John Brittas said Prime Minister Modi should speak in Parliament on Trump's claims on Operation Sindoor and Pahalgam terror attack. Leaders of various political parties attended the meeting chaired by Union minister and Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha J P Nadda. Rijiju and his junior minister Arjun Ram Meghwal also represented the government at the meeting. Gogoi and Jairam Ramesh of the Congress, Supriya Sule of NCP-Sharad Pawar, DMK's T R Baalu and RPI (A) leader and Union minister Ramdas Athawale were amongst those who are attending the meeting. INDIA bloc parties have resolved to raise during Parliament's Monsoon session the issues of Pahalgam attack terrorists not being brought to justice, Trump's repeated claims of brokering a 'ceasefire' during India-Pakistan hostilities and the SIR in Bihar that the opposition alleges 'threatens people's voting rights'. PTI KR/PK/SKC NAB DV DV This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
