Uttarakhand's Pawandeep Rajan wins 'Indian Idol' 12
Mumbai, Aug 16: Singer Pawandeep Rajan has won the twelfth season of singing reality show "Indian Idol" and he says the victory has given him the confidence to work harder.
Rajan, who hails from Champawat, Uttarakhand, was announced as the winner of the show late Sunday evening following a 12-hour musical extravaganza billed as 'The Greatest Finale Ever' on Sony TV.
The singer said winning the title of Indian Idol season 12--judged by Anu Malik, Himesh Reshammiya and Sonu Kakkar-- was "unbelievable."
"I am overwhelmed and feel so fortunate. This is a responsibility and I will ensure to take the glory ahead. This has made me more confident to work. I was so nervous during the audition, I thought I would not even get selected. But the journey was nice.
"I learnt a lot from the judges, the team. 'Indian Idol' acted as a bridge to my dreams. I hope the fans continue to shower me with love," Rajan said in a statement.
The singer was awarded with a cheque of Rs 25 lakh from Sony Entertainment Television and a Maruti Suzuki Swift car.
Finalists Arunita Kanjilal and Sayli Kamble were declared as the first and second runners-up respectively. They were awarded Rs 5 lakh each.
The third and the fourth runners-up, Mohd. Danish and Nihal Tauro were awarded Rs 3 lakh each.
The "Indian Idol" season 12 was hosted by singer Aditya Narayan.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
