Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was hospitalised for over a week for COVID-19 complications, on Wednesday wrote to the Enforcement Directorate seeking postponement of her appearance in the National Herald case by a few weeks till she recovers completely.

The 75-year-old Congress leader, who was discharged from hospital on June 20, had been summoned by the agency for questioning on June 23 in the money laundering case related to the newspaper.

Her son and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has already been quizzed by the probe agency for over five days.

Sonia Gandhi had earlier been scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 8 but had sought more time from the probe agency in view of her COVID-19 infection. The agency had then issued a fresh summons.

“Since she has been strictly advised rest at home following her hospitalisation on account of COVID and lung infection, Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi has written to ED today seeking the postponement of her appearance there by a few weeks till she has recovered completely,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot earlier said that Gandhi should not appear before the ED as she has just returned after many days of hospitalisation.

“Sonia Gandhi has just come back from the hospital after many days, I don’t think she should go there now,” Gehlot told reporters when asked about her appearance before the ED.

He said she would cooperate with the ED but will not be able to go there.

Gehlot again asserted the case against the Gandhis has nothing in it as it has been reopened by the ED seven years after it was closed by the same agency.

He said since there is no money involved in the AJL case, the question of money laundering does not arise, an argument repeated by party leaders since the ED summoned the Gandhis.

“They have created a case of money laundering where there is no exchange of money involved,” the veteran Congress leader said.

Gehlot said never has such questioning of opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi taken place when they were subjected to long hours of questioning.

The chief minister said that he is seeking time from the directors of the ED, the CBI and the chairman of the CBDT ‘to convey the feelings of people towards them and how their credibility is going down in the eyes of the public’.

He alleged that thy were acting under pressure from the government and should not lower the dignity of the agencies as they are premier bodies of the country.

Congress president Gandhi was discharged from the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here on Monday evening and was advised to rest at home, the party said.

She was admitted to the hospital on June 12, days after she tested positive for COVID-19 on June 2.

The Congress has accused the Centre of targeting opposition leaders by misusing investigative agencies and has termed the entire action “political vendetta”.

Incessant heavy rain in Jammu and Kashmir over the last four days has caused flash floods and landslides. The strategic Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was blocked due to landslides leading to the stranding of hundreds of vehicles.

The developing situation has forced the authorities to close schools in the Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts. Similarly, schools have also been shut in Baramulla district.

Heavy rains have led to a rise in the level of most water bodies in Kashmir with the Jhelum river crossing the flood alarm mark at Sangam in Anantnag district on Wednesday, officials said here.

The authorities have started moving people from low-lying areas to safer locations.

The continuing rains and the snowfall in higher reaches including the cave shrine of Amarnath has brought down the day temperature substantially.

A group of rebel Maharshtra MLAs, led by dissident Shiv Sena dissident leader Eknath Shinde, arrived here on Wednesday morning and were taken to a luxury hotel on the outskirts of the city amid tight security.

The MLAs were received at the airport by BJP MPs Pallab Lochan Das and Sushanta Borgohain

Shinde, who initially refused to talk to mediapersons waiting outside the airport, later said he has ‘the support of 40 MLAs’.

The MLAs arrived here from Surat and were taken to the hotel in three buses of the Assam State Transport Corporation,

Speculations are rife that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was likely to meet the MLAs during the day though the BJP party or his office are yet to confirm the meeting.

Tight security has been imposed with a huge posse of police personnel posted in and around the hotel.

The MLAs were taken to Surat from Mumbai on Tuesday and the decision to shift them to Guwahati was taken on security grounds, according to a BJP source.

The Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra is facing a crisis following the revolt by a section of its MLA led by Shinde.

New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday announced the name of former Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu as its Presidential candidate.

BJP chief J.P. Nadda announced Murmu’s name during a press conference at the party headquarters here. The decision was taken by the BJP Parliamentary board, the party’s top decision making body.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, Nadda and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were present at the meeting.

Announcing Murmu’s name, Nadda said that the BJP is trying to build a consensus among all the parties.

“After opposition parties announced their candidate, the BJP, after talking to all the NDA allies, decided to field Murmu as its Presidential candidate. Detailed discussions were held on 20 names and a consensus was built that someone from the East and from the tribal community must be made the President of India. After discussions, the Parliamentary board decided to name Draupadi Murmu as the Presidential candidate, ” Nadda said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the opposition parties announced former Union minister Yashwant Sinha as their consensus candidate for the post of President.

“We (opposition parties) have unanimously decided that Yashwant Sinha will be our common candidate for the Presidential election, ” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told mediapersons soon after the meeting of opposition parties held at the Parliament Annexe.

June 29 is the last date for filing nomination for the Presidential poll, while voting will take place on July 18. Counting of votes will take place on July 21.

Several major opposition parties, including the Congress, the NCP and the TMC, on Tuesday picked former Union minister Yashwant Sinha as their candidate for the July 18 presidential polls.
Opposition leaders, who gathered at the Parliament annexe for the meeting convened by NCP chief Sharad Pawar to decide on a common candidate for the much discussed presidential election, unanimously agreed on Sinha’s name.

The veteran politician, who has stepped aside from the Trinamool Congress and was earlier with the BJP, will file his nomination papers on June 27.

“We regret Modi government made no serious effort to have consensus on a presidential candidate,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who read out a joint statement after the meeting, said.

He noted that the initiative to have a consensus candidate for the highest office of the Republic should have been taken by the government.

“We are happy to announce that we have unanimously chosen Yashwant Sinha as the common candidate of the opposition parties for the presidential election, which will take place on July 18, 2022,” Ramesh said.

“In his long and distinguished career in public life, Shri Yashwant Sinha has served the nation in various capacities – as an able administrator, accomplished parliamentarian and acclaimed Union Minister of Finance and External Affairs. He is eminently qualified to uphold secular and democratic character of the Indian Republic and its Constitutional values,” the statement said.

The leaders also announced that a committee formed to steer Sinha’s presidential campaign will start working from today. Sinha, who has been vocal on a range of issues, is in his 80s.

Pawar told reporters that he has personally spoken to a cross-section of leaders from various parties. These included Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Telangana’s K Chandrashekar Rao from the TRS who stayed away from the meeting.
Pawar said he also spoke to TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as well as Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Tejashwi Yadav (Rashtriya Janata Dal), Farooq Abdullah (National Conference) and Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena) and they all supported Sinha’s candidature.

“We will also try to convince the BJD and YSR Congress,” Pawar said when asked whether they are on board.

The parties that attended the meeting included the Congress, NCP, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, Samajwadi Party, National Conference, AIMIM, RJD and AIUDF.

Five regional parties considered non aligned – TRS, BJD. AAP, SAD and YSRCP — stayed away. These parties had also stayed away from the June 15 meeting convened by Banerjee.

The ruling BJP-led combine has over 48 per cent vote share in the electoral college to pick the new president, and its candidate has a clear advantage over the opposition.

Reading out the joint statement, Ramesh said the parties have appealed to all political parties to support Sinha as president so the country could have a worthy ‘rashtrapati’ elected unopposed.
His party colleague Mallikarjun Kharge said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had called him and a few other leaders to ask whether they had a name for top constitutional post.

“This was just for the sake of contacting, This cannot be termed a serious effort,” Kharge said.

The joint statement also said that India is passing through difficult times and the BJP government at the Centre has failed totally in fulfilling its promises and commitments.

“It is misusing ED, CBI, Election Commission, Governor’s office and other institutions as weapons against opposition parties and state governments run by them. Therefore, we assure the people of India that the unity of opposition parties, which has been forged for the presidential poll in a spirit of equality, common commitments and consensus-building through dialogue, will be further consolidated in the months ahead,” the joint statement said.

Sinha’s name came up after Pawar, Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah declined the opposition offer to be their joint candidate for the top post. Their names were proposed during the meetings of opposition parties on the issue.

According to Left party sources, Sinha, who was vice president of the TMC, resigned from the party after the Congress and Left parties wanted him to be an independent candidate and not associated with any one party.

Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Surjewala, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D Raja, RJD’s Manoj Jha, VCK’s Thol Thirumavalavan, NC’s Hasnain Masoodi, RSP’s NK Premchandran and AIMIM’s Imtiaz Jaleel were among those who participated in the meeting.

The presidential election would be held on July 18 to elect a successor to incumbent Ram Nath Kovind and the result would be out on July 21.

The BJP parliamentary meeting will meet later on Tuesday to discuss the BJP-led NDA’s choices for the new president.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for the fifth day of questioning in the National Herald money laundering case.

Gandhi, 52, arrived at the ED headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road in central Delhi at 11.15 AM along with his security escort.

A strong contingent of police and paramilitary personnel was deployed around the federal agency’s office even as Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been imposed in the area.

The Congress MP from Wayanad has spent about 42 hours at the ED office over the last four sittings with the investigators, where he was questioned over multiple sessions and his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

He was questioned for three consecutive days last week, and after Monday’s questioning, he was asked to rejoin the session and complete the recording of his statement.

Gandhi left the agency office after midnight on Monday.

The probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper.

The ED is understood to be asking Gandhi about the incorporation of the Young Indian Private Limited, operations of the National Herald, the loan given by the party to the newspaper’s publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL), and the transfer of funds within the news media establishment.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has also been summoned by the agency for questioning in the case on June 23.

She was discharged from a private hospital on Monday where she was admitted for Covid-related issues and has now been advised rest.

The Congress has accused the Centre of targeting opposition leaders by misusing investigative agencies and has termed the entire action a political vendetta.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal performed Yoga asanas along with hundreds of people at Thyagaraj stadium here on the occasion of International Yoga Day on Tuesday.

He appealed people to resolve for practising Yoga and Pranayam every day.

Kejriwal joined members of ‘Dilli Ki Yogashala’ along with his deputy Manish Sisodia at the stadium for the Yoga session.

In a series of tweets he said Delhi government has arranged free Yoga classes, and urged people to practice the exercises themselves and others for living a healthy life.

Residents of the city in groups of 20-25 if willing to practice Yoga are provided an instructor by Delhi government under the ‘Dilli Ki Yogsahala’ programme.

India’s COVID-19 tally climbed to 4,33,19,396 on Tuesday with 9,923 fresh cases, while the number of active cases increased to 79,313, according to Union health ministry data.

The death toll climbed to 5,24,890 with 17 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.18 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.61 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 2,613 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.55 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 2.67 per cent, the ministry said.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,27,15,193, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.21 per cent, it said.

So far, 196.32 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country under the nationwide inoculation drive, according to the ministry.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the 1-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore on May 4, 3 crore on June 23 and 4 crore on January 25 this year.

The 17 new fatalities include six from Delhi, five from Kerala, two from Maharashtra, and one each from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

Of the total 5,24,890 deaths reported so far in the country, 1,47,888 were from Maharashtra, 69,889 from Kerala, 40,113 from Karnataka, 38,026 from Tamil Nadu, 26,238 from Delhi, 23,527 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,209 from West Bengal.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that the state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Monday declined the opposition leaders’ request to contest the upcoming presidential election and said the candidate for the polls should be one who will generate a national consensus and ensure opposition unity.

In a statement, Gandhi said several esteemed leaders of the Opposition have done him the honour of thinking of him for the opposition’s candidature in the upcoming elections for the presidency.

“I am most grateful to them. But having considered the matter deeply I see that the Opposition’s candidate should be one who will generate a national consensus and a national atmosphere besides Opposition unity. I feel there will be others who will do this far better than I,” he said.

“And so I have requested the leaders to give the opportunity to such a person. May India get a President worthy of the office presaged by Rajaji as the last Governor General and inaugurated by Dr Rajendra Prasad as our first President,” Gandhi said.

The 77-year-old former bureaucrat had also served as India’s High Commissioner to South Africa and Sri Lanka. He is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari.

Security forces have killed seven militants, including four Pakistani nationals in three counterinsurgency operations in Kupwara, Kulgam and Pulwama districts of Kashmir in less than 24 hours, officials said on Monday.

“24 terrorists killed in 20 days, ahead of Yatra anti-terror operations intensified. Total 114 terrorists including 32 Pakistani terrorists killed in Kashmir valley this year so far,” IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said.

“Four Pakistani terrorists affiliated with Lashkar-i-Toiba have been killed in Kupwara Lolab Encounter, we are still searching the area, besides in Kulgam 2 terrorist each of Lashkar and Jaish were killed and one unidentified terrorist was killed in Pulwama. All operations were carried jointly with the army on a specific input generated by Jammu Kashmir police,” IGP added.

Kumar further said that among seven killed militants, five were linked with Lashkar-i-Toiba, one with JeM and  four have been identified as Pakistani and three local.