Rescue work underway after a collision between the Kanchanjungha Express and a goods train, near Rangapani railway station, on June 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to contest from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi retains Rae Bareli

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make her electoral debut from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala in a bypoll, after her brother and former Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi, decided to retain the Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Gandhi said it was a difficult decision for him as he has an emotional connection with both Rae Bareli and the people of Wayanad.

Kanchanjunga accident: locopilot of goods train had authority to cross all signals in red

The locopilot of the goods train that rammed into the rear of Kanchanjunga Express between Rangapani and Chattar Hat railway stations of the Northeast Frontier Railway in West Bengal had the authority to cross all signals in danger. Documents made available to The Hindu revealed that the Station Master of the Rangapani railway station issued Travel Authority (TA-912) authorising the locopilot of the goods to cross all signals in red. 

Nikhil Gupta, accused of murder-for-hire plot against Sikh separatist Pannun, pleads not guilty in U.S. court

Indian national Nikhil Gupta, accused of being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against a Sikh extremist on American soil pleaded not guilty in the case at a federal court in New York. Gupta was extradited to the U.S. from the Czech Republic on Friday.

Gaurav Gogoi asks EC to release data on EVMs found faulty in Lok Sabha elections

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi asked the Election Commission of India to put out data on how many EVMs were found faulty throughout the Lok Sabha polls. Mr. Gogoi’s statement came a day after a fresh political row erupted more than EVM tampering claims with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders citing a media report that alleged that a relative of the Shiv Sena candidate in Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency was found using a mobile phone “connected” to an electronic voting machine during the counting of votes on June 4.

NCERT working as RSS arm, assaulting Constitution: Jairam Ramesh over textbook revision row

The Congress accused the NCERT of working as an “affiliate” of the RSS amid the controversy over revision of NCERT text books. The comments by Opposition leaders come amid changes including removal of certain events like the Gujarat riots and Babri masjid demolition from the NCERT school textbooks. However, NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani had defended the move by calling the changes as part of annual revision process.

Delhi water crisis BJP-made: AAP’s Sanjay Singh

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh has alleged that the water crisis in New Delhi was orchestrated by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Several areas in the national capital have been reeling under a water crisis for weeks, with little to no supply, and shortage being met by private water tankers.

BJP sounds poll bugle for Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana, and J&K

The Bharatiya Janata Party ignalled its poll readiness for Assembly elections in three States and one Union Territory, that of Jammu and Kashmir, where Assembly election is to be held for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 and removal of statehood. In a communiqué from the BJP, the party stated that Union Ministers Bhupendra Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw will be election in-charges for Maharashtra; their Cabinet colleagues Dharmendra Pradhan and Tripura MP Biplab Deb of Haryana; Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to be in-charge of Jharkhand; and Union Minister G. Kishen Reddy will be in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir.

BJP stages protest in Karnataka against great distress brought to the public by fuel tax hike

BJP leaders staged a protest against the State government’s decision to increase taxes on fuel, leading to a hike in the prices of petrol and diesel, in several districts. Some protestors rode bikes pulled by bullocks on the main streets. They staged a protest at the Kittur Channamma Circle and stopped traffic for some time. They raised slogans against the Congress government in the State.

With BJP in office, Odisha govt. leans in on Central schemes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to release the 17th instalment of the PM-KISAN scheme, amounting to over ₹20,000 crore on June 18 in Odisha. The scheme is likely to benefit 9.26 crore farmers. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Deputy Chief Minister K.V. Singh Deo will be in western Odisha district of Bargarh, known as the rice bowl of Odisha, to celebrate the PM-Kisan Utsav.

2024 Tony Awards: Daniel Radcliffe, ‘The Outsiders’ and ‘Stereophonic’ win big as women make strides

The Outsiders, a gritty adaptation of the classic young adult novel, became the essence of a Broadway insider on Sunday, winning the Tony Award for best new musical on a night when women made strides.The musical based on the beloved S. E. Hinton book is about rival gangs of haves and have-nots in 1960s Oklahoma. The win meant Angelina Jolie, a producer, landed her first Tony, too.

Chinese vessel, Philippine supply ship collide in disputed South China Sea

A Chinese vessel and a Philippine supply ship collided near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, China’s coast guard said. The coast guard said a Philippine supply ship entered waters near the Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands that’s part of territory claimed by several nations.

New Delhi:

Rahul Gandhi, the Congress candidate from Raebareli, is campaigning to defend the family bastion – a stronghold of the since Independence.

Mr Gandhi reached the constituency with his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, to participate in one of the biggest rallies since he filed nominations for the seat. It was Mr Gandhi’s first rally in Raebareli.

While concluding his speech, Mr Gandhi asked his supporters whether they had any questions. A supporter in the crowd asked, “When are you getting married?” The Congress leader paused for a few seconds…smiled and said, “Jaldi karni padegi” (Now, I have to get married soon). Mr Gandhi waved at the crowd while his sister smiled and clapped and he walked off the stage.

As he ended his speech, he called his sister to the front of the dais.

Mr Gandhi expressed his appreciation for her efforts in the Raebareli campaign. “I am touring different parts of the country in the election and my sister is spending time here, a big thanks to her for this,” he said.

Priyanka Gandhi, who is not contesting in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, is rallying for her brother in Raebareli and party loyalist and close aide, Kishori Lal Sharma, in Amethi. The two seats combined were considered a stronghold of the party until BJP’s Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi in the previous general elections in 2019 and took the seat away from the Congress.

The suspense surrounding Amethi and Raebareli ended when Congress fielded Kishori Lal Sharma from the former and Mr Gandhi from the latter. The BJP has taunted the Congress for its choice and Ms Irani, the current MP from Amethi even called Mr Sharma a “proxy” and the Gandhis would have fought themselves and not fielded a proxy if they felt they could win.

We will leave no stone unturned in welcoming our guests. Congress’s decision to not field anyone from the Gandhi family in Amethi signifies that it has accepted defeat even before voting takes place,” said the actor-turned-politician.

Rahul Gandhi had won Amethi in 2004, 2009, and 2014, but a defeat to Ms Irani in 2019 reduced the Congress’s UP footprint. He had contested Wayanad in 2019 as a second seat and won it to retain his MP status.

Raebareli’s tryst with Congress can be traced back to the first general elections in 1952 when the seat was held by Feroze Gandhi, the husband of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and son-in-law of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who won the Raebareli seat in 1952 and then again in 1957. After he died in 1960, the Congress fielded RP Singh in the by-elections and retained the seat.

Sonia Gandhi picked Raebareli, a seat she won for four consecutive terms. In February 2024, when Mrs Gandhi announced her decision to not contest the next Lok Sabha elections, she wrote a letter to the Raebareli electorate, who supported her for two decades. “My family in Delhi is incomplete; it’s you all in Raebareli who complete it,” wrote the former Congress president. She added that her family’s ties with Raebareli run deep and she received it as a “saubhagya (good fortune)” from her in-laws.