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SIT chief’s role under scanner
Scorpene deal to be signed today |
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BJP decries minority status for Aligarh varsity
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Maoists, PWG raise head again
Centre challenges HC order
Left locks horns with UPA on
tribal Bill
Bihar poll campaign goes hi-tech
Paswan for Muslim Chief Minister
Railways figure in Bihar campaign
Brahmin family victim of casteism
Patil’s doctrine to wipe out Naxalism
Conviction of cops upheld
Don’t reduce rape sentence, SC tells HCs
Private colleges seek autonomy
Sarabjit’s sister seeks Sonia’s intervention
NHRC seeks report on police firing
New facts come to light
J&K HC Chief Justice transferred
Productivity-linked bonus for Rly staff
Special trains
Trishul successfully testfired
Condoms mandatory for Assam Rifles men
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SIT chief’s role under scanner
New Delhi, October 5 Amidst a Bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur putting pointed questions on various aspects of investigation while hearing Shankaracharya’s petition for transfer of the case outside Tamil Nadu, former Attorney-General Ashok Desai, appearing for the junior pontiff, alleged that SIT chief Prem Kumar had “prompted approver Ravi Subramaniam to even name lawyers of the seer as accused in the case right inside the court of a magistrate through his junior officer Srinivasan.” He said Prem Kumar, who was suspended by the Election Commission for openly canvassing for the ruling AIADMK during the 2004 general elections, was made in charge of the probe team with a motive by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa after the arrest of Shankaracharya on November 11 last year in the alleged murder of temple official Shankaraman. He was brought in the SIT even before his suspension was formally revoked in March this year with a design by the Chief Minister to investigate the case in a particular manner, Desai claimed. Not only this, the Madras High Court had passed severe strictures against him for his style of investigation in another murder case in 2000 observing that “it would be shameful to allow person like Prem Kumar to work as officer in police department…”, counsel said reading from the high court order. Desai and another senior advocate G.L. Sanghi, appearing for one of the key accused Raghu while questioning the appointment of an officer of such a background as in charge of the SIT, said in such circumstances fare trial was not possible in the state. They also urged the Bench to take into account the state government application for amending apex court’s order of bail to the seer in which it was pleaded that he should not be allowed to stay in any of the southern states. Ravi Subramaniam’s statement was crucial as it was the only evidence with the prosecution against Shankaracharya and the junior pontiff and if he was prompted to depose on the instruction of investigating officers, how could such a statement be relied upon, counsel said. |
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Scorpene deal to be signed today
New Delhi, October 5 The deal will be signed tomorrow evening between the representatives from the French consortium which manufactures the Scorpene and officials from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and those from the Indian Navy and the Mazagon Docks, where the submarines will be manufactured. Although there have been recent allegations from a sacked executive of French armament major, Thales, which will be a sub-contractor in the Indian submarine project, that the company had “a centralised slush fund to bribe and corrupt officials” to win contracts in various countries but Navy officials here said that the signing of the deal would be the best thing to happen to the force in the recent times. Thales, on its part, has strongly refuted the allegations, holding that the executive had been dismissed from service for committing irregularities in a contract. It also said it would take legal action against the newspaper and Josserand. The Navy is desperate that the already long-pending project to construct six Scorpene submarines at Mazagaon Docks under licence should not be delayed any further. Incidentally, the signing of the deal between India and France for the transfer of technology to construct the highly sophisticated Scorpene submarines will signal the start of a new era for the Indian Navy. The approximately $ 2.4 billion deal, will not only plug a major gap in the country’s defence preparedness but also provide India with the expertise to eventually manufacture the submarines indigenously. Although it will still take at least six years for the first of the six submarines to roll out of the Mazagon Docks, but it will come in handy as by the same time the first of the six or seven of the Navy’s present fleet would be phased out. The Navy, at present, has a fleet of 16 diesel-electric submarines. The Scorpene is equipped with six bow-located torpedo tubes providing salvo launch capability. The submarine’s weapons include anti-ship and anti-submarine torpedoes and anti-surface missiles. Eighteen torpedoes and missiles can be carried at a time and the handling and loading of weapons is automated. |
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BJP decries minority status for Aligarh varsity
New Delhi, October 5 “The government has committed a sin as it tried to convert Aligarh Muslim University into an Aligarh Muslim madrasa,” BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here, commenting on the Allahabad High Court’s decision to strike down the AMU Amendment Act of 1981, which designated the university as a minority institution. The verdict also invalidated a February 25 central notification that allowed 50 per cent reservation for Muslims in postgraduate medical courses. “The UPA government should rather cancel its reservation order that aimed to damage the original equal-opportunity foundations of the AMU. The government should desist from going for a Shah Bano-type solution to nullify the judgement,” Mr Naqvi told reporters at the party’s media briefing. The BJP leader also accused the Congress-led government of using religion-based reservation to further its own political interests. Meanwhile, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) today said that all students admitted to various educational and professional courses in Aligarh Muslim University under the minority quota should not be disturbed in the wake of the Allahabad High Court striking down the institution’s minority status. At a meeting convened here by NCM Chairperson Tarlochan Singh, the commission said that there was a general perception in the country that Aligarh University was a Muslim institution and its grown started when late Sir Syed Ahmed established an Anglo Mohammaden Oriental College. The commission has recommended to the government to protect the interests of students enrolled for various courses under the minority quota. The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday quashed the Aligarh Muslim University Amendment Act which provided the university with a minority institution status. |
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Hizb militant held in Delhi
New Delhi, October 5 Mustaq Ahmed was arrested last evening close to Golcha movie hall in Daryaganj at around 6.10 p.m. yesterday, said DCP (Special Cell) Ajay Kumar. ‘’Rs 10 lakh in cash was recovered from his possession,’’ the DCP said, adding that the money was to be passed on to someone here. Mustaq Ahmed was staying in south district. The police got the information that the currency was meant for terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir. The notes were in the denomination of Rs 1000 notes including some fake currency. The police further said the money was passed to him from Pakistan through Hawala. The police are investigating into the matter to know about the other persons involved in this racket. A raid was also conducted at the house of the accused immediate after his arrest. The police has registered a case under different Sections of the IPC at the Lodhi colony police station.
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Maoists, PWG raise head again
Kolkata, October 5 The Maoists blow up a CRPF camp at Banduan village in Purulia. Last week, the combine force of the MCC guerrilla and the PWG action squad personnel killed two CPM leaders in west Midnapore and burnt down their party office. On August 18, the Maoists killed five persons, including two policemen and a villager in the Borjora police station area in Bankura district. After their action, the MCC guerrilla distributed their leaflets and posters in the area warning the CPM and the police with dire consequences. On May 28, the Maoists killed three policemen, including the OC of Bagmundi police station, in the Ayodha hills area of Purulia, by blasting landmines on the police jeep. In June 14 a senior police official was killed and the Jeep in which he was travelling was also burnt in the same area. During the same period, the two CPM offices in Bankura and Midnapore districts were attacked and two party workers were gunned down in two separate incidents. The Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee expressed concern that the extremists had launched attacks on the police and the innocent people in the Purulia — Bankura-Midnapore border areas.
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Centre challenges HC order
New Delhi, October 5 Dealing with an important aspect as how far the IB reports could influence the decisions of the government in such appointments, a Bench of Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Mr Justice B.N. Srikrishna and Mr Justice R.V. Raveendran raised certain queries about the veracity of intelligence reports based on information gathered by officials of the level of a constable or so and authenticity of the same. Agreeing with the observation of the Bench that there was need to improve the information gathering mechanims, Solicitor General (SG) G.E. Vahanvati, however, opposed High Court’s 2003 order directing the Centre to consider the appointment of Batish at the first opportunity when a post of CAT’s judicial member fell vacant. His appointment could not be re-considered as his candidature was rejected not only at various stages of assessment by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) but by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) whose approval was mandatory, SG said. He said the appointment of Batish and Ram Kishore Prasad as judicial members of CAT in Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand respectively were rejected following “adverse” reports of IB against them but they had challenged it in the respective state High Courts. Vahanvati admitted that though Batish’s name was in the list of 121 probable candidates considered by the Centre for appointment as judicial members of CAT from the Bar to fill seven vacancies in different states, but during the process of scrutiny his name was eliminated by the government with a concurrent order of the CJI. He said the Jharkhand High Court had rejected the petition of Prasad, a lawyer from the state but HP High Court allowed Batish’s petition. Questioning the order in his case, the Solicitor General said the High Court had completely overlooked the fact that the approval of CJI under the amended (1987) CAT Act was mandatory. Otherwise also, there were “many contradictions” in the order of the High Court, which had held that the IB report was a non-issue after certain clarifications about the competence of Batish were made by a judge of the High Court and its Registrar General, which had found mention in the intelligence agency’s reference. When the Bench raised certain questions about the competence of IB to assess the competence of a law officer or a member of the Bar, particularly by an official of the level of a constable or so, SG said, “I accept every world of the Court that such exercise has to be done with all seriousness by the Home Ministry. I will convey to the government that it should be done with all seriousness.” “But IB reports cannot not just be brushed aside as they are very important to verify the antecedent, integrity and political affiliation of a candidate for appointment to such important posts,” he said. But Batish’s counsel claimed that as per IB report “there was nothing against him.” At this Vahanvati showed the reports against Batish and Prasad to the Bench. The Court reserved its judgement on the Centre’s appeal against the High Court order.
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Left locks horns with UPA on
tribal Bill
New Delhi, October 5 The UPA government is treading cautiously on this issue and does not want the Left parties to take political mileage after its fiasco in the Employment Act, where the Communists went to town claiming that they had forced the government to amend the bill and enact the law. Incidentally, Amethi MP, Rahul Gandhi, son of the Congress president, had voiced the concerns of the environmentalists, who had accused the tribes of posing a threat to the natural habitats of wildlife. His views evoked sharp criticism from different quarters. With UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi assuring that the Tribal Bill would be tabled in the winter session, the Left parties have drawn up a strategy to garner political mileage. In this backdrop, CPM MP Brinda Karat today demanded the UPA government to table the Bill in the winter session of Parliament by amending the proposed law to prevent any move to dilute tribal rights in the name of environmental degradation. |
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Bihar poll campaign goes hi-tech
Patna, October 5 Like the February Assembly poll, this time too Bihar is going to witness another round of “helicoptered elections”, courtesy lack of proper motorable roads in major parts of the state. “Uran Khatola” (helicopter), as is the popular buzzword for helicopter here, is the only dependable mode of transport for all political parties to reach to their target audiecne, most of whom stay in villages without basic amenities of life. Be li” garib raj” or “Naya Bihar”, political parties cannot afford to ignore helicopter . In the February polls about 30 helicopters were reportedly put to service. This time too, already 10 helicopters have landed at Patna airport from Deccan Aviation, Span, Escorts and Prem Air. Asia Aviation, Pawan Hans and many others are likely to follow the suit.. If politicians are to be believed, the JD (U) and the BJP would be hiring three helicopters each for the election. The RJD would hire three and the LJP has presently settled down for two. For the Congress, one of its choppers has already arrived and another two are scheduled to arrive shortly. The treasurers of all political parties understandably feigned ignorance when asked about the expenses involved in hiring choppers “A package is worked out with the airline concerned and that it is done in Delhi”, was the standard answer by all parties. A visiting helicopter pilot on condition af anonymity said that the flying per hour depended on the machine being used and it could range anywhere between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh. The waiting charges is almost half of flying cost.
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Paswan for Muslim Chief Minister
Patna, October 5 Mr Ramvilas Paswan was releasing the election manifesto of the LJP here today. According to Mr Paswan, after the 1984 riots following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, it took 20 years for the Sikhs to get justice after Mr Manmohan Singh became the Prime
Minister. " The Muslims in Bihar can also empower them socio-economically in real sense once they have a Muslim Chief Minister here so that they can no longer be exploited in the name of vote bank politics”. Mr Ramvilas dropped a bombshell today by claiming that the Congress President Sonia Gandhi did not agree to his proposal for Muslim Chief Minister after the February assembly poll which only precipitated the poll in
Bihar." Had the Congress agreed to my proposal, I could have taken active role to form the new government in Bihar after the February poll. The Congress should be blamed for the assembly poll within a span eight months ”, he said. The BJP-JD(U) , on the contrary, today found an unexpected friend in the form of Ramvilas Paswan who accused the RJD and its founder Lalu Prasad Yadav of masterminding the riots in Bihar . Mr Ramvilas alleged:“From Bhagalpur riots in 1989 to riots in Munger, Sitamari and other places, you will find the involvement of Lalu Prasad Yadav where Muslims were the victims”. The accusation came at a time when the RJD-led UPA was appealing to the people of Bihar not to allow the saffron brigade to transform the state into another Gujarat. Mr Ramvilas, however, did not spare the BJP either. He lampooned the BJP, wondering what happened to the formation of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya despite the NDA's rule at the Centre for six years. In its manifesto, apart from promising to install a Muslim Chief Minister, the LJP also assured reservation of jobs for backward
Muslims (Pasminda Muslim samaj) on the lines of the SC and ST of the Hindus under Article 341. |
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Railways figure in Bihar campaign
Patna, October 5 From the present Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, to the former Railway Ministers Nitish Kumar and Ramvilas Paswan, all are now vying with one another to bag the credit for the recent positive growth in the Railways. Mr Lalu Prasad is already emboldened with the praise heaped on him by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, for good performance of Railways during his tenure. Mr Lalu Prasad said if the UPA was voted to power in the Bihar Assembly poll, he would make Bihar shine the way the Railways shone under his leadership. |
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Brahmin family victim of casteism
Patna, October 5 In a shocking incident in the caste- ridden state, a Brahmin priest’s family was brutally beaten and excommunicated by members of the community. According to the police, the fault of the Brahmin family was that it lied to hide the fact that they
performed Puja at a Dalit’s house. |
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Patil’s doctrine to wipe out Naxalism
New Delhi, October 5 Addressing a conference of Directors and Inspectors-General of Police here, Mr Patil also stated that violence in Jammu and Kashmir has decreased consistently. Home Minister expressed happiness over the decrease of violence consistently in Jammu and Kashmir and exuded confidence that “state police, in tandem with other security forces, will be able to sustain the momentum of improvement in the overall scenario and foil any attempt of the militants to queer the pitch”. He said there was no doubt that the scourge of “terrorism is one of the more daunting challenges before the police and para-military forces. The challenge of terrorism must be faced imaginatively, sqaurely and resolutely. There is no cause that can ever justify the killing of innocent people and no democratic government could tolerate the use of violence against innocent people”. On the growing Ultra-Left wing violence, he said, “Naxalism remains a serious threat to the internal security of the country... with violent activities of the CPI (Maoists) and other Naxal groups in Chattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and elsewhere continuing unabated”. Observing that Naxalism fed on widespread socio-economic, political and region inequities, coupled with poverty, unemployment and a lack of proper infrastructure, Mr Patil said “high priority has to be accorded to ensure faster integrated development in Naxalite-affected areas in 13 states”. “Urgent economic development of the affected areas to create more employment avenues, land reforms, redistribution of land, assurance of tribal rights to forest produce and spread of education and health facilities, together with firm police action was the prescription to wipe off this menace. We plan to work in this direction in right earnest,” he said. The Home Minister said the overall situation in the North East had also shown signs of improvement not only in terms of declining levels of violence but also through growing public revulsion to mindless acts of terrorism. “There have been increasing instances of public protests against high-handedness by militant cadres and the people are now becoming more forthcoming and speaking against the militants,” he said and added that there had been a “welcome increase” in the number of militant groups coming up for peace talks with the government. About improving the condition of police forces, Mr Patil said the Home Ministry had set up a committee to examine the recommendations of previous commissions set up on police reforms.
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Conviction of cops upheld
New Delhi, October 5 The incident had taken place on October 20, 1988, when the victim Guddappa was found hanging in a police station at Ranebennur. He was allegedly kept in “wrongful” confinement by the police for questioning in a murder case. Terming the death of a person in the police custody as a serious matter, a Bench of Mr Justice H K Sema and Mr Justice P P Naolekar noted that there was no infirmity in upholding the conviction of the Sub-Inspector and four constables, found guilty by the trial court.
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Don’t reduce rape sentence, SC tells HCs
New Delhi, October 5 The direction came on an appeal against the Madhya Pradesh High Court judgement, reducing the 10-year rigorous imprisonment to a rape case convict to merely a nine-and-half-months period, which he had undergone during judicial custody. A Bench of Chief Justice R. C. Lahoti, Mr Justice G. P. Mathur and Mr Justice P. K. Balasubramaniam said “The sentence awarded by the High Court was clearly illegal and inadequate.” The apex court also took serious objection to the High Court not assigning any satisfactory reason for reducing the sentence so such a low scale, which was not even the minimum prescribed in law.The findings of all the three judges were unanimous, Mr Justice Balasubramaniam in a separate order said while dealing with rape cases, the impact of the crime on victim has to be taken into consideration. “The reasons must be set out clearly and cogently. The mere existence of a discretion by itself does not justify its exercise,” he observed, describing any efforts by courts to offer the rapist a chance to marry the victim grossly against law. |
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Private colleges seek autonomy
Hyderabad, October 5 While we are willing to go along with the government on the issue of social justice, the financial viability of the institutions should be taken into account,the All India convention of the Unaided Professional Educational Institutions held here on 1st October maintained.The day-long convention, the first by the private professional institutions and attended by 60 delegates from 18 states across the country, discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to admission procedures and the rules of reservation and fixation of fee structure in the private professional colleges. Held in the backdrop of the recent Supreme Court judgment scrapping reservations in private colleges and giving them a free hand in the matters of admission and fixing the fees, the convention wanted the government to honour the verdict in the proposed legislation in this regard. “We don’t want to adopt a confrontationist attitude with the government with regard to reservations. We are only seeking greater freedom in filling up seats which fall outside the government quota,” the convener of the convention and Secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Private Engineering College Management Association, Prof V Malakonda Reddy, said. The convention wanted merit in the qualifying examination to be the criterion for admissions into the professional colleges and asked for enhanced fee structure for all seats including those under quota. “The state governments should remit the fees for the reserved seats at the time of admissions annually,” the convention urged.
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Sarabjit’s sister seeks Sonia’s intervention New Delhi, October 5 “I request you to ask the Congress Chief to raise the matter with Pakistani leadership and ensure the release of my brother Sarabjit who is innocent,” Dalbir told Mr Vora. She said her brother had strayed into Pakistan under the influence of alcohol and the blasts he had been charged with carrying out had taken place before he went across the border. Dalbir had an appointment with Mrs Gandhi, but could not meet her as she was busy, Congress sources said. “I will not leave Delhi without meeting Gandhi. I am disappointed that she did not meet me even after I was granted time to meet her,” Dalbir told reporters. Dalbir was a member of the Congress Party for the past 15 years, but crossed over to BJP a couple of months back.
— PTI
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NHRC seeks report on police firing
New Delhi, October 5 While passing directions yesterday, the commission said: “If the contents of the report are true, it raises serious issues of violation of human rights of citizens.” According to the news report, 11 students were killed and nearly 90 injured when the police opened fire to quell thousands of students who had taken to the streets in Tura and William Nagar districts. The Garo Students Union was spearheading the demonstration to protest against government’s plans to shift the headquarters of the Meghalaya Board of Secondary Education from Tura to Shillong.
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New facts come to light
Muzaffarpur, October 5 “The police is trying to ascertain the identities of the four persons who had stayed in a hotel here and used a Scorpio Jeep to reach the examination centre on all examination dates between September 21 and September 28,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (Tirhut range) Gupteshwar Pandey told reporters today. The investigations have so far revealed that the MP himself did not appear in the examination and a ‘ghost writer’ appeared the examination, he said, adding the police was trying to zero in on the four persons who stayed at a hotel in the town. “It appears that a racket was going on in the college for quite some time. The police probe will also find out how many more students did a Shahabuddin by engaging ghost writers in the LLB part II examinations,” the DIG said. Meanwhile, raids at the residence of a clerk of the SKJ Law College, called Lochan, who has absconded, yielded a diary containing 12-13 names including that of Shahabuddin, he said. —PTI
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J&K HC Chief Justice transferred
New Delhi, October 5 Justice Jha’s transfer has been ordered by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam after consultation with the Governor and Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, a Law Ministry statement said. The brief statement said that he had been directed to assume the charge of his new assignment on or before October 18. |
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Productivity-linked bonus for Rly staff
New Delhi, October 5 According to a press note issued here on Wednesday, the payment of bonus to all eligible non-gazetted railway employees is to be completed before the beginning of Dasehra holidays. Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) personnel will not be entitled to bonus, according to the press note. If wages exceed Rs 2,500 per month, the productivity linked bonus will be calculated on the assumption that wages are Rs 2,500 per month.
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Special trains
New Delhi, October 5 According to Press note issued by NR here on Wednesday, the 707-S Hyderabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin Special train will depart from Hyderabad station at 5.45 pm on October 8 and reach Hazrat Nizamuddin at 8.40 pm the next day. In the return direction, the 708-S Hazrat Nizamuddin-Hyderabad special train will depart from Hazrat Nizamuddin station at 7.25 am on October 10 and reach Hyderabad at 11 am the next day.
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Trishul successfully testfired
Balasore, October 5 The PTA had been flown earlier at 2.47 pm.
— PTI |
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Condoms mandatory for Assam Rifles men
Shillong, October 5 “I do not know about other forces but as far as my force is concerned all jawans are supposed to carry condoms, whether on duty in remote places or on a leave to be united with his family’’, Director General Assam Rifles Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh told UNI in an interview.
— UNI |
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In video: LJP releases manifesto ahead of Bihar polls. (
