Munde's death: Second mid-summer tragedy for BJP

June 3, 2014

Mumbai/New Delhi, June 3: Union Minister for Rural Development Gopinath Munde was killed early Tuesday in a road accident in the national capital when he was on way to the airport to catch a flight to Mumbai.Gopinath Munde 3

He was 64 and is survived by his wife Pradnya and three daughters, including Maharashtra legislator Pankaja Munde-Palve.

The news of his death was confirmed by senior cabinet minister Nitin Gadkari to media persons at the AIIMS Hospital where Munde was rushed for treatment.

According to initial reports, Munde suffered serious internal injuries in the head and chest, but later succumbed to a massive heart attack during treatment.

This is the second mega-tragedy for one of Maharashtra top political families comprising the Munde-Mahajan clans.

Barely eight years ago, in April 2006, Munde's brother-in-law and senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan was shot and grievously injured by his brother Pravin, at his Worli home. Munde was married to Pramod's sister Pradnya.

Mahajan, 56, succumbed to the injuries May 3 that year, plunging the BJP in a state of shock at the passing of its charismatic and youthful leader, who also served as a union minister handling different portfolios in the A.B. Vajpayee cabinets.

Following Mahajan's death, Munde was catapulted as the most important BJP leader in the state until the advent of the Gadkari who became the BJP president in 2010 - leading to a tussle for supremacy in state politics.

At the same time, the BJP chose Munde to be the party's deputy leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made him a cabinet minister, handling crucial portfolios.

The late Mahajan's daughter, Poonam Mahajan-Rao was swept to victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North-Central constituency, defeating Congress's Priya Dutt, while her uncle Gopinath Munde was re-elected to parliament from Beed.

Similarly, Munde's daughter Pankaja Munde-Palve is active in state politics and is a state legislator from Parali, a constituency in her native Beed district in Marathwada region.

The other important leaders in the clan are Pandit Anna Munde (Gopinath's brother) and his son Dhananjay (Gopinath's nephew), both of whom quit the BJP to join the Nationalist Congress Party.

Munde's death is also the second big blow to the backward Marathwada region of the state in the past couple of years.

Barely two years ago Aug 14, 2012, the Congress' charismatic union minister and former state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, 67, died following a prolonged illness.

Later that year, Maharashtra was plunged into grief when Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray died Nov 17, 2012.

For the BJP, Munde's death will be deeply felt as he was one of the few grassroots leaders who toured the remotest parts of the state during his political career spanning over four decades.

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Agencies
March 14,2020

New Delhi, Mar 14: India on Friday was mulling over the option of deporting The Wall Street Journal's South Asia deputy bureau chief for misreporting Delhi riots in which over 50 people were killed last month. However, the government denied that it had made any such decision.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that a complaint was registered against Eric Bellman, the WSJ South Asia deputy bureau chief based in New Delhi, by a private individual on the government's online grievance redressal platform.

"Referring the complaint to the related office is a routine matter as per standard procedure. No such decision on deportation has been taken by the Ministry of External Affairs," Kumar said.

However, government-funded Prasar Bharati News Services had earlier tweeted screenshots of the complaint which was filed by an undersecretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, Vinesh K Kalra, saying that the ministry has asked the Indian embassy in the US to "look into the request for immediate deportation of Bellman for his "anti-India behaviour".

The official had complained to the embassy about Bellman's controversial reportage on the killing of an Intelligence Bureau staffer named Ankit Sharma.

The WSJ had reported that Ankit Sharma's brother had said that he was killed by a mob belonging to a particular religious community. Ankit's brother later told Indian media that he never spoke to the WSJ reporter.

After the Prasar Bharati tweet got circulated widely on social media, the government backtracked and said that no such decision has been taken.

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News Network
January 29,2020

Aurangabad, Jan 29: Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of creating a conflict between Hindu and Muslim communities in the country, former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar has said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was adding fuel to the fire.

He was speaking at a rally held on Tuesday at Pathri in Parbhani district of Maharashtra against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). It was organised by NCP MLC Abdullah Durrani.

"Modi and Shah used to create conflicts between Hindus and Muslims during the Gujarat elections. Now they are adopting the same strategy in the country," Kumar alleged.

Citizens should keep the religious conflicts aside and question the present government about unemployment and the poor state of the economy, he said.

"Through the CAA, the government is adding fuel to the fire, which is already raging in the country," he alleged.

When anyone questions the government about the problems existing in the country, it in turn asks him about his citizenship, the former JNUSU leader alleged.

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News Network
July 4,2020

Pune, Jul 4: Now that wearing mask in public places has become the new normal, a resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad of Pune district, Shankar Kurade has got himself a mask made of gold worth Rs 2.89 lakhs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's a thin mask with minute holes so that there is no difficulty in breathing. I am not sure whether this mask will be effective," said Kurade.

Kurade loves wearing gold ornaments and his hands and neck are loaded with jewellery.

This unique idea struck him soon after he saw a man wearing a silver mask on social media.

"I saw a video on social media of a man in Kolhapur wearing a silver mask and then an idea struck me to have a mask of gold. I talked to a goldsmith and he gave me this five and a half pound gold mask in a week," said Kurade.

"All my family members love gold, if they too demand it, then I will get it designed for them too. I do not know if I will be infected with coronavirus wearing a gold mask or not, but following all the rules of the government can prevent the spread of virus," he added.

Since childhood, Shankar is very fond of gold ornaments, that is the reason he wears gold rings in all the fingers, gold bracelets on his wrist and huge gold chains around his neck.

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