Bihar polls: Prashant Kishor backs rebel BJP candidate in Gopalganj
Gopalganj, Oct 24 (PTI): Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Friday announced his support for rebel BJP candidate Anup Kumar Srivastava in Bihar's Gopalganj, alleging that his own nominee Shashi Shekhar Sinha withdrew from the contest under pressure from the saffron party.
Kishor made the announcement at a press conference in Gopalganj, making it clear that the case of Srivastava was an "exception" to the rule followed by his one-year-old party, which did not give tickets to disgruntled elements from other parties who joined the Jan Suraaj Party just ahead of elections.
"Srivastava, who is a well-known social worker in Gopalganj, has also served as the district BJP president. He alleges that the party overlooked his claim to field a person with deep pockets", Kishor said.
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"So, in this constituency, both he and Jan Suraaj Party are victims of BJP's injustice. Sinha withdrew from the contest, citing old age and ill health. He seems to have realised after campaigning for a few days that at 76 years, he did not have the energy to contest an election. I have learnt from credible sources that he withdrew under pressure from the BJP", Kishor alleged.
Notably, the Jan Suraaj Party had recently submitted a representation before the Election Commission, accusing the BJP of putting pressure on its candidates to withdraw from elections.
Kishor has also been displaying photographs of the party's Danapur candidate Mutru Sah with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Brahmapur nominee Satya Prakash Tiwari with BJP's in-charge for the ongoing elections, Dharmendra Pradhan, to allege that top leadership was involved in the poaching of his candidates.
Kishor acknowledged that with the nomination process over, “we cannot allot the Jan Suraaj Party symbol to Srivastava. But, henceforth, he shall be part of the Jan Suraaj family, and our full support will be to him, despite his being an Independent candidate. We want to give the BJP a taste of its own medicine."
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Four of family found dead in Maharashtra’s Nanded district in suspected mass suicide
Nanded (PTI): A farmer, his wife and their two sons were found dead in two different locations in Maharashtra’s Nanded district on Thursday morning, in what police suspect to be a mass suicide, an official said.
Around 8 am, the bodies of Ramesh Sonaji Lakhe (51) and his wife Radhabai Lakhe (45) were discovered on a cot in their home at Jawala Murar village in Mudkhed tehsil, he said.
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The bodies of their sons, Umesh (25) and Bajrang (23), were subsequently found on nearby railway lines. It appears they jumped in front of a speeding train, the official said.
Police inspector Dattatray Manthale told reporters, “The parents were found dead inside their home, while the sons took their lives on the railway tracks. We have asked a Forensic Science Laboratory team to collect evidence. The truth will come out only after a thorough technical investigation and autopsy.”
While the nature of their death appears to be part of a suicide pact, police said the exact circumstances remain unclear.
The family belonged to the small-scale farming community, but it is not yet confirmed if financial distress or a domestic crisis triggered the extreme step, the official said.
Neighbours described the Lakhes as a hardworking family who struggled against the odds of small-land farming to sustain themselves.
The Nanded rural police are recording statements of relatives and checking for notes or final messages left by the family.
