New Delhi:

Actor-turned-politician Hema Malini took oath as the Member of Parliament for Mathura for the third time in a row on Tuesday. Speaking about the problems faced by people in her constituency, Hema Malini said, “Mathura is a religious tourism center and people from all over the country come in. Lakhs of people pour in here every day. It is becoming difficult to manage them.”

“We have developed the city so well that people are getting all kinds of benefits and so more people are coming in. So there is more pressure on us to do even better,” she added.

On other problems faced by the tourism centre, the BJP leader said, “There are problems like dealing with monkeys, the Yamuna, and managing the crowd that comes in.”

She said that she is supporting NDA’s candidate Om Birla for the post of Speaker, the election of which is slated to be held on Wednesday. “I want Om Birla to be elected as he was excellent and he managed very well in the past five years,” she said.

Hema Malini won the Mathura constituency in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections by defeating Congress’ Mukesh Dhangar by a huge margin of 2,93,407 votes. Ms Malini (75) garnered 5,10,064 votes while Mr Dhangar and BSP candidate Suresh Singh received 2,16,657 and 1,88,417 votes respectively.

Hema Malini also won the seat in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Prayagraj:

The Muslim side has objected to a plea seeking worship at “Krishna Koop” on the premises of Mathura’s Shahi Idgah and asked the Allahabad High Court that no order on the application be passed as the maintainability suit is pending before it.

The Muslim side has challenged the maintainability suit that seeks “removal” of Shahi Idgah mosque which it claims has been built on 13.37-acre land of Katra Keshav Deo temple.

After hearing the two sides, the High Court fixed the next date of hearing in the case on April 1.

On Wednesday, an objection was raised by the Muslim side on the application moved under Section 151 (inherent power of court) of Civil Procedure Code filed by Ashutosh Pandey.

In his plea, Mr Pandey said “Basoda puja” is performed every year by Hindu devotees at “Krishna Koop” (well) in the Shahi Idgah complex adjoining the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple on ‘Mata Sheetla Saptami’ and on ‘Mata Sheetala Ashtami’.

This year ‘Mata Sheetla Saptami’ is on April 1 and ‘Mata Sheetla Ashtami’ on April 2, the plea said.

On those days, the “Basoda puja” has to be performed by the plaintiffs at Krishna Koop, but the defendants are preventing them from performing the puja, Pandey said in the plea.

The Muslim side argued that pending the hearing on the maintainability suit, no order on such an application has to be passed.

The application was also opposed by the Muslim side saying it is Waqf property and the plea is not maintainable.

In May last year, the High Court transferred around 15 cases related to the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah masjid dispute to itself.

Ajmer:

Ajmer Dargah chief Syed Zainul Abedin said political parties should try to find solutions to disputes such as in Mathura and Kashi outside the courts.

Any dispute that is resolved by mutual consent will win hearts and trust of communities, he said.

The Ajmer Dargah chief was addressing a conference titled “Paigam-e-Mohabbat Hum Sab Ka Bharat” organised by the Rajasthan unit of All India Sufi Sajjadanshin Council in which heads of almost all the dargahs of Rajasthan were present.

Mr Abedin said that India was playing a positive role in restoring peace in the world by following the civilization of Vasudhaiva Kutambakam, a statement issued here said.

“India is playing its role in world peace, so efforts should be made to resolve the internal issues of our country peacefully outside the courts… All that is needed is a strong initiative,” he said.

On the Citizenship Amendment Act, the Ajmer Dargah chief also said that in the last few years, Muslims have been misled about the CAA law.

“The reality is that after a detailed analysis of the provisions of the Act, we found that the law has nothing to do with Indian Muslims and that the law will not affect them.

“It will benefit the persecuted minority immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh. This is not going to take away the Indian citizenship of anyone.

“Citizenship of any Indian cannot be taken away because there is no such provision in the law,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)