QUICK NEWS

Irked by the BJP’s repeated threats of imposition of President’s Rule, deployment of central probe agencies and its attempts to create communal tension, the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government on Sunday snubbed its erstwhile ally, indicating that it was prepared for a protracted political battle.

The rebuff was more than apparent with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray conspicuous by his absence at a function where Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the maiden Lata Mangeshkar Award.

The MVA government was represented by senior Shiv Sena Minister Subhash Desai but Thackeray chose to remain absent on the grounds that his name was not mentioned in the official invite. State Governor BS Koshyari and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were among those who were present.

Iftar parties during the month of Ramzan, once a fixture in India's political calendar with the guest list closely studied for the signals they sent out -- from warming ties to freezing equations -- are no longer the buzz in the national capital.

The near-disappearance of the iftar culture from the political landscape is being seen as a sign of the distance India's politics has travelled over the last few years, a shift that is being attributed to the dominance of the BJP in national politics.

Political iftars -- a multi-partisan affair marked by competitive political outreach -- are believed to have been started by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who hosted the sunset meal for his close Muslim friends at 7 Jantar Mantar Road, then the AICC headquarters. Over the years, the iftars gained in political significance, becoming a symbol not only of political gamesmanship but of a personal and social outreach to Muslim leaders and to the community as a whole.

The Bombay High Court recently reprimanded a lawyer for levelling allegations of bias by the court while hearing bail applications and said such conduct was "unprofessional and unbecoming of an advocate" and "pollutes the fountain of justice".

The bench of single judge, Justice Anuja Prabhudessai, on April 19 was hearing the bail application filed by one Dipak Kanojia in 2021. When the matter was called out, Justice Prabhudessai asked Kanojia's lawyer, Anjali Patil, whether there was any urgency for the plea to be heard. Patil then started making allegations against the judge and said priority was being given to certain matters and to certain advocates.

On April 15, the police in the Barpeta district in lower Assam arrested six persons allegedly affiliated to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a Bangladesh-based terror outfit with links to Al Qaeda.

The police in Assam’s Barpeta district arrested 6 persons allegedly affiliated to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) on April 15. ABT emerged in 2007 in Bangladesh as Jamaatul Muslemin. The terror group rebranded itself as ABT in 2013. (ANI)

This was not the first such arrest in Barpeta. Last month, the police in the district had arrested a Bangladeshi national Saiful Islam (having aliases Mohammed Suman and Harun Rashid) and four others with links to ABT.

Former chief minister and state Congress president Kamal Nath, speaking about the advice of political strategist Prashant Kishore to the Congress leadership to elect a non-Gandhi as party president, has said, “It may be his personal view. The party will take a decision on this on the basis of consensus.”

Addressing a press meet on Friday, Nath added that Prashant Kishore had not said that the Gandhi family should be out of the party, but that the party should add new people.

“Prashant Kishore is a good political strategist and, if he wants to join the Congress, what’s wrong in it?” Nath said.