7 pilgrims from Karnataka killed in UP road crash
Seven pilgrims from Karnataka on their way to Ayodhya died while nine others were injured after the minibus they were travelling in collided with a truck in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district. A group of 16 people - primarily from Karnataka’s Bidar and Gulbarga districts - had left the state on May 14 to visit religious places in Uttarakhand and UP, Bahraich SP Keshav Kumar Choudhary said. “Around 5. 30 am on Sunday, when they were heading to Ayodhya and had reached Nainiha market on the Bahraich-Lakhimpur road, a truck coming from the opposite direction crashed head-on with their minibus,” said the SP. A police team had to use gas cutters to retrieve five bodies. Nine others were taken to the district hospital where two of them succumbed later, police said. An FIR has been filed against the truck driver.
BSY's son denied MLC poll ticket
In a setback to former Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa, BJP leadership denied a ticket to his son and state unit vice-president B Y Vijayendra for the June 3 legislative council elections. Vijayendra’s name was among the 20 names recommended by the state BJP core committee, which includes CM Basavaraj Bommai. However, the party’s central leadership denied a ticket to him. Of the seven seats for which elections will be held, BJP, with its strength in the assembly, can win four seats, while Congress and JD(S) can win two and one, respectively. This is the third time Vijayendra has been denied a ticket by BJP. With Yediyurappa’s supporters openly expressing their ire against BJP brass, Vijayendra appealed to them to show restraint. According to some party insiders, the leadership decided against giving a ticket to Vijayendra as it would weaken BJP’s stand against dynasty politics ahead of 2023 polls.
Training for 85 first-time Punjab MLAs
Eighty-five first-time Punjab MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha will return to the classroom. Having little knowledge of the working of the House, the MLAs have been invited to learn “the tricks of the trade”. A three-day session, being organised in association with the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies, will be conducted through lectures by parliamentarians, legislators and officers. From the importance of holistic health to the process of legislative and financial business in the Assembly; and from committee systems to the importance of question hour - the MLAs will get lessons in all aspects of business of the House. The need for training the legislators was felt as 73 per cent of the legislators are first-time MLAs.
Governor slams Mamata kin for attacking judiciary
West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar slammed Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee over the latter’s attack on a section of the judiciary. While addressing a rally in East Midnapore district of West Bengal, Abhishek launched a scathing attack on a section of the judiciary for directing CBI to probe on various issues in the state. Describing a section of the judiciary as biased, Abhishek said that a couple of judges are acting at the behest of others by directing CBI probe on minor issues. Hitting out at Mamata Banerjee’s nephew for his comment, the BJP said that ‘judiciary’ is the last resort to ‘save Bengal’.
