
Mantri ji's son is here: Jharkhand minister's son's hospital inspection sparks row
The footage prompted sharp criticism from the opposition, who questioned what official authority the minister's son held to conduct such visits to a medical institution. Facing mounting backlash, Krish Ansari deleted the video from Instagram.In response to the growing controversy, Health Minister Irfan Ansari defended his son, clarifying that Krish is the grandson of his father, senior Congress leader Furqan Ansari.He insisted that Krish had not committed any wrongdoing. According to the minister, Krish had gone to the hospital after learning that one of his teachers was unwell and stayed back to assist some tribal patients.Dismissing the criticism, Irfan Ansari said, "There's nothing wrong with what he did. Anyone can visit a hospital. Anyone can help. He didn't run over anyone or kill anyone nor did he insult a Dalit. He only went to the hospital on humanitarian grounds. Everyone should appreciate this."Ansari described the visit as "an act of kindness, not a mistake", and accused the BJP of politicising the matter unnecessarily. "Someone offering help should be appreciated, not condemned," he said.The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, has slammed the state government over the incident, alleging misuse of power and a breach of administrative protocol. Party leaders argued that the son of a constitutional functionary holds no right to visit or inspect government-run healthcare institutions, and called the act a blatant violation of governance norms.- Ends

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Time of India
40 minutes ago
- Time of India
Bina MLA meets BJP chief amid row over allegiance
Bhopal: Congress MLA from Bina Nirmala Sapre, who has openly supported the BJP since last year, finds herself politically isolated as both parties distance themselves from her, and discontent brews within the ruling party's local workers. On Tuesday, Sapre met new BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal in Bhopal following complaints by BJP urban local body members and party workers in her Bina constituency over her functioning. Earlier this week, several BJP leaders had earlier approached the party headquarters, questioning whether Sapre was acting as their representative or still aligned with the Congress. On May 5 last year, during the last lap of Lok Sabha election campaign in the state, Sapre joined the BJP's public meeting in Rahatgarh in the presence of CM Mohan Yadav. She campaigned for the BJP Lok Sabha candidate Lata Wankhede for the next five months. However, the BJP officially did not give her primary membership though Sapre claimed she shifted her loyalty from the Congress to BJP. Now, BJP local leaders and workers have complained about her way of working to Khandelwal. Following this, Khandelwal summoned her to Bhopal, and they had a closed-door meeting on Tuesday. Party sources claimed that she does not have the support from the BJP's workers in the constituency. And the party officially does not accept her as a member. Speaking to TOI, BJP state spokesman Ajay Singh Yadav said, "Nirmala Sapre left the Congress because she was dissatisfied with that party. It is true she contested the 2023 assembly elections on a Congress ticket, but she must decide her future. A new state party president has taken charge and that is the reason she came to meet him. It was a regular meeting." No matter how much the BJP tries to camouflage the volatile situation in Bina constituency, the truth remains that Sapre is an MLA with no party supporting her. Since she left the Congress, the opposition party has written to the Speaker for her disqualification from the state assembly while the BJP denies having given her primary membership. Technically she is still a Congress MLA with no acceptance from the BJP. Ruling party workers have also taken their grievances against Sapre to the chief minister.


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
For 5 years now, MP Assembly remains without a dy speaker
Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Assembly has been without a deputy speaker for the past five years as the monsoon session is set to commence on July 28, 2023. Following the November 2018 assembly elections, the Congress party which was in majority refused to part with the deputy speaker's post in January 2019, breaking a 29-year tradition of allocating the post to the opposition. When the BJP regained power in March 2020, the deputy speaker's post has remained vacant since then. Heena Likhiram Kavre was the last deputy speaker of the state assembly when Congress was in power until March 2020. A deputy speaker not only preside over sessions in the Speaker's absence but also heads important House committees, coordinates between the media gallery advisory committee and legislators, and lead the committee for revising MLAs' pay and allowances. According to the MP Assembly's tradition established in the 1990s, the Speaker is appointed by the ruling party while the deputy speaker's post is given to the opposition. However, with 109 MLAs, the BJP sought to demonstrate its strength in the House in 2019 and called for an election for the Speaker's post. While the position was awarded to Congress, the BJP nominated Jagdish Dewra, the current deputy chief minister, for the deputy speaker's role. The then Speaker conducted a voice vote to elect Heena as deputy speaker. Nevertheless, the BJP returned to power in March 2020 after Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the party with his supporter MLAs, leaving the Deputy Speaker position vacant since then. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You To Read in 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Officials in the state secretariat stated that it is likely the longest period that the MP Assembly has been without a deputy speaker. The BJP returned to power for the fifth time in Madhya Pradesh, winning 163 of the 230 seats in the House in the November 2023 assembly elections. The appointment of the deputy speaker depends on the ruling party's discretion to assign it to its own members, give it to the opposition, or leave it vacant. The position has remained vacant for the past 20 months, and the BJP appears inclined to maintain the status quo on the issue in the House.


The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Danger of thought: on the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill
The Maharashtra Special Public Security (MSPS) Bill, 2024 follows the disturbing pattern of executive overreach in the name of security. Existing laws are often misused against political opponents and critics of the ruling party, including commentators. Charges are often vague and sweeping, and the process itself becomes the punishment in many of these cases. Given this pattern, the move by Maharashtra's Mahayuti government led by the BJP to create an entire law to criminalise a certain kind of thought portends danger to freedom and democracy. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the new law would only target those who try to undermine the constitutional order, but the possibility — indeed the probability — of its misuse is apparent. The State says that it is seeking to prevent Maoists from brainwashing youth, professionals, and civil servants through front organisations. As in the proposed law, which is now awaiting the assent of the Governor before coming into force, the State government can declare any suspect 'organisation' as an 'unlawful organisation'. Offences under the proposed law include membership of such organisations, fundraising on their behalf, managing or assisting them, and committing unlawful activities. The Bill's focus is on people and organisations that act as a front for Maoists, and what is unlawful is so broadly defined that anyone can be its target. Among other things, according to the Bill, 'unlawful' is 'any action taken by an individual or organization whether by committing an act or by words either spoken or written or by sign or by visible representation or otherwise, which constitute a danger or menace to public order, peace and tranquility'. Offences are cognisable and the accused can be arrested without a warrant. Punishment includes jail terms of two years to seven years, along with fines ranging from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh. The State argues that Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have enacted Public Security Acts and banned 48 Naxal frontal organisations. The Opposition parties offered feeble resistance to the Bill and raised some broad concerns regarding its misuse but it was passed in the Assembly through a voice vote. As an afterthought, the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) protested on the floor when it was taken up in the Legislative Council. The Bill had gone through a long deliberative process, but as it turns out, all parties appeared to be in agreement, barring the lone CPI (M) MLA who protested against it on the floor of the Assembly. The idea that thought and speech, howsoever unpalatable they might be to the ruling establishment, should be policed poses a grave danger for India as an open society.