New Delhi, April 30
BJP vice-president of Najafgarh district Sunil Jindal was stabbed by an unidentified assailant. He has been admitted to the RML Hospital.

In a statement, BJP’s West Delhi candidate Jagdish Mukhi alleged the assailant was a Congress supporter.

The statement said, Delhi Aaj Tak news channel had invited Mukhi and his counterpart from the Congress Mahabal Mishra at the Le Meridien hotel for a debate in which about 150 people were also present. 

In the end of the third round of debate, Mishra allegedly lost control. Meanwhile, one of the members from the public took out a knife and tried to attack Mukhi. To protect Mukhi, BJP supporters made a human chain. In this process, Jindal sustained injuries.

Mahabal Mishra was not available for the comment.

Ghaziabad, April 30
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday told crowds here that it was senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani who had spoken in favour of Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah and not Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“Who says Manmohan Singh is weak? It is the BJP that showed signs of weakness. During the Mumbai attacks, we gave a befitting reply to the terror attack,” Rahul Gandhi said, addressing a massive rally here.

“It was L.K. Advani who went to Pakistan and spoke in favour of Jinnah. Our

PM never went to Pakistan,” he said amid thunderous applause at the Ghantaghar Ramlila Grounds in Ghaziabad, which goes to polls May 7.

He said: “A real leader is one who can make right decisions at the right time. The BJP bowed to militant pressure and released one of the most dreaded terrorists, Maulana Masood Azhar, who was also behind the October 26 Mumbai attack. Jaswant Singh himself escorted him in the Kandahar hijack case,” he said.

Ghaziabad is an important constituency as BJP president Rajnath Singh is contesting from here. Surendra Prakash Goel, the sitting MP, is the Congress candidate.

Impatient crowds gave a rousing welcome to Rahul Gandhi as his chopper landed amidst high security.

“How can India shine when the poor is without food, shelter and employment? India Shining (the BJP catchphrase during the 2004 election) should reach every home of this country,” he said. Rahul Gandhi said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, during the last five years, worked for the uplift of the common man of India. “Real progress and real development is one in which every citizen, whether poor or rich, is developed and progressing. The UPA realised this and worked in the direction of making India a truly successful nation. The actual credit of the country’s development goes to farmers,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He also recounted schemes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, saying these were aimed at making the “life of an average Indian better”.

Rahul Gandhi also hit back at the BJP for opposing the India-US nuclear deal.

“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was very determined about the nuclear deal. He told me that he would sign the nuclear deal whether the government goes or remains,” Rahul said, during his 25-minute speech. — IANS

New Delhi, April 30
It was a scorching day today with the heat wave sweeping through the capital. However, according to the Met department, the mercury level has dipped a little since the day before.

“The maximum temperature recorded today is 42.2° Celsius,” an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Delhi saw its hottest April day in five decades on Wednesday, as the temperature touched 43.5° Celsius.

The slight dip in the temperature however offered no respite to Delhiites who mostly stayed indoors and if they had to go out, used umbrellas and scarves.

The IMD officials said the heat wave condition would persist over the next few days.“The heat wave will continue. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around the 42° Celsius,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature recorded in the early hours of Thursday was 24.3° Celsius.“There is no sign of rain — temperatures are likely to rise because of this,” the official added.

The hot westerly winds blowing from Rajasthan have increased day temperatures. The max temperatures are hovering five degrees above the average, the official said.

With power cuts playing the spoiler and exams on their heads, students have resorted to air-conditioned coffee shops “What else can I do? I have an air cooler at home, but for the past 20 minutes there was a power cut,” said Shagufta, a final year student of Delhi University. — IANS

Faridabad, April 30
The Congress is banking heavily on the “progressive” image of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is scheduled to address an election meeting here on May 4 to brighten the prospects of its nominee from Faridabad parliamentary constituency, Avatar Singh Bhadana.

The BJP on the other hand expects a positive swing among the voters in favour of its nominee, Ram Chander Bainda, from the visit of its star campaigner and Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narender Modi, who is scheduled to address a pubic meeting here tomorrow.

The BSP, which is said to be making inroads in the traditional support base of the Congress, is also upbeat on account of the scheduled meeting of the party’s stalwart, Satish Chand Mishra, tomorrow at Ballabgarh.

All eyes are on the proposed visit of the Prime Minister as the event is expected to give a boost to the morale of the Congress workers. The visit

is expected to ease the sharp factionalism among the leaders which is adversely affecting the Congress election campaign in Faridabad.

The Haryana’s urban local bodies minister, A.C.Chaudhary, has already tendered his resignation from the cabinet to Sonia Gandhi in protest against the party not giving tickets to Punjabis in the state. He along with the chairman of Haryana Administrative Reforms Commission, Karan Dalal and Mahender Pratap—the three Congress MLAs—are not supporting their party nominee.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and in-charge of Haryana’s

affairs, Prithviraj Chavan, have personally intervened, but the three rebels appear to be hardly convinced.

Open rebellion on the part of the leaders has demoralised the Congress workers. The party is not able to sell the development works done by the UPA government.

A senior Congress leader, on condition of anonymity, opined that the rebellion of the three MLAs gives the impression that they want the nominee of the non-Congress party to win.

What disturbs the Congress camp is severe inroads made by the BSP, which has fielded the former star cricketer of Indian cricket team, Chetan Sharma.

In the present scheme of things, the BSP nominee is getting encouraging reception among the Brahmins and the support to him among the Scheduled Castes is getting consolidated. Any gain on the part of the BSP is a direct loss to the Congress.

The HJC (BL) has fielded a Punjabi in former MLA, Chander Bhatia, from Faridabad. The Congress camp expects to corner support of a major chunk of Punjabis on account of the visit of the Prime Minister.

New Delhi, April 30
Promising zero per cent tax on mobile recharge coupons till Rs 500 and stationery, BJP candidate from New Delhi Vijay Goel launched his Lok Sabha agenda today.

BJP leader Arun Shourie inaugurated Goel’s rath that would perform road shows around the constituency playing an audio video CD of Goel’s achievements.

“This is a way of reaching out to the youth. The youths are intelligent enough to decide who deserves their vote. My website has received over 50,000 hits since its launch last week,” said Goel.

Shourie said, “Goel specialises in not just taking up problems, but coming up with solutions to those problems.”

He added, “He will implement the agenda for the youth that he has formulated only if he gets the voters’ support.”

Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) president Nupur Sharma also endorsed the youth agenda of Goel. “Goel has a vision for the youth as he has been in the students’ union,” she said.

Goel promised if elected, he would open 300 sports clubs around the city and put streetlights in dark lanes.

“We will provide student concession passes in Metro and open vocational colleges that would help the youth get job-oriented education,” said Goel.

New Delhi, April 30
With the election bell ringing, candidates are now trying to include some star campaigners in their rallies. Congress candidate from the West Delhi parliamentary constituency, Mahabal Mishra, thinks that star campaigners attract a huge audience. Saffron party’s candidate Jagdish Mukhi echoes the same thought, “Star campaigners help in attracting the electorate.”

As the elections are drawing near, every candidate and party are trying hard to woo voters. In such a condition, there is a race to invite popular politicians who cannot only ask for votes for the candidates but can also make a dent in the votes of the opposition.

In West Delhi, the BJP has already added spice to its rallies and door-to-door campaigning by including star campaigners as Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prem Kumar Dhawan. Besides, it has also confirmed the visit of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L.K.Advani on May 4 in a large rally at West Delhi constituency.

“I went to see Arun Jaitley in the recent campaigning of Jagdish Mukhi. I hope to see the other star campaigners as well in the coming days. As the date of polling is approaching, this is the best way politicians can attract crowd,” says Arawati, a slum dweller.

“I believe that people get excited to see a big ‘neta ji’ coming at their doorstep and talk about the local issues of the area,” says Mukhi, as he invites a star campaigner, Om prakash Chotalla, during his campaigning in the area today.

Mahabal Mishra is also trying to boost his campaigning. Sources say that Mishra was recently trying to approach the party head to invite Rahul Gandhi to his rally.

When asked about the star campaigners, Mishra said, “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has agreed to participate in the rally on May 3. I am trying to include our youth leader Rahul Gandhi also as he has a huge fan following.”

Prem Kumar Sharma, a resident of Rajouri Garden, says, “If Rahul Gandhi comes to campaign for Mahabal Mishra, I would definitely go and listen to his speech. I am fascinated by the way he talks and I like his ideas and philosophy.”

Another resident of the area, Neeta Sharma says, “We wish to see big politicians talking about local issues and achievements. I would witness both Mukhi’s and Mahabal’s campaigns.”

Sources from the BJP said that people would see star campaigners like Smriti Irani and Sushma Swaraj in the coming days of Mukhi’s campaigning.

Noida, April 30
A special court has held a youth guilty of raping and killing a nine-year-old girl and has sentenced him to life imprisonment. A fine of Rs 25,000 has also been slapped on him.

The convict, Ajay, was presented in the court of special judge R.H. Zaidi yesterday.

According to an eyewitness, the victim, nine-year-old Payal (name changed) of Dankore village, had gone out of her house to see a marriage procession on May 6, 2004, but she never returned.

Payal’s body was found on a field. She had clenched a lock of some one’s hair in her fist.

The police had seized a mobile phone from there. It belonged to Suresh. Suresh told the police that he had sold his cell phone to Harish. Harish said he had given it to his cousin, Ishwar. Ishwar further revealed that he had forgotten the phone in Ajay’s taxi.

The DNA test of the hair found in Payal’s fist had matched to Ajay’s. Besides, her friend told the court that she had seen Payal last with Ajay.

Ajay too confessed to the crime.

The court found Ajay guilty under Sections-376 and 302 of the IPC and Section 3 (2) of the SC/AST Act.

New Delhi, April 30
With the arrest of Nitu and Annu, the Delhi police claims to have solved the murder of a drug addict.

The Harsh Vihar police had received a phone call stating that an unclaimed youth’s body was lying on Khera Kabristan in Mandoli village. The victim’s face was smashed beyond recognition.

The police pasted posters displaying the victim’s face in nearby areas.

On April 26, the victim’s father saw him on a poster and identified him as his son Mohan Lal. His brother disclosed that he was drug addict and was involved in several criminal cases. 

It was learnt that the victim had gone to commit a crime with his friends Tannu and Chotta Banti on a bike in December 2008.  The bike hit a wall causing the death of Tannu and Chotta Banti.

The accused, Annu, brother of Tannu who had died in the accident, suspected Mohan behind Tannu’s death. He hatched a conspiracy with Nitu, who was Mohan Lal’s friend, to take revenge. They allegedly called Mohan to Kheara Kabristan and killed him.