Veteran singer Vani Jairam found dead at her residence in Chennai
Chennai (PTI): Iconic singer Vani Jayaram who has crooned over 10,000 songs in 19 languages, including the very popular Hindi number 'Bole re papihara' died here on Saturday.
She was 77 and was living alone at a downtown apartment, where she was found dead, police said.
Vani Jayaram's husband predeceased her and she had no children, the singer's domestic help said.
The singer's maid said she turned up as usual for work on Saturday. However, she did not get any response despite repeatedly pressing the calling bell, she told reporters here.
Immediately, she said, she alerted the singer's relatives who informed police.
In the presence of Vani Jayaram's relatives, police broke open the door and found her dead, she said.
Malarkodi, who has been working for the past 10 years as a maid in the singer's house said police found an injury on Vani Jayaram's forehead. Police said she may have fallen down and injured herself.
Asked if she had any health issues, the worker said she was perfectly alright.
"She was busy receiving guests and well-wishers who visited her to greet her for getting the Padma Bhushan award. Phone was endlessly ringing and she answered all the calls and thanked everyone who greeted her. She lived alone," the woman said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
