Congress, NCP will decide together: Sharad Pawar on Maharashtra impasse
Mumbai: Amid talks that the NCP and Congress may support the Shiv Sena in government formation in Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said whatever be the decision, the two parties will take it together.
The Shiv Sena has been invited by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to stake claim to form government on Monday. Pawar also said there has been no discussion within his party on the governor's invite to the Sena.
"We (the Congress and NCP) contested the election together. Whatever the decision, we will have to take it together," Pawar told reporters ahead of the NCP's core committee meeting here.
The BJP, which is the single largest party in the state with 105 seats, on Sunday decided against staking claim to form government for want of adequate numbers. The governor then invited the second largest party Shiv Sena, which has been at loggerheads with the BJP over sharing the chief minister's post.
The Shiv Sena won 56 seats in the October 21 state polls, while the NCP and Congress bagged 54 and 44 seats, respectively. While the Shiv Sena has been making efforts to reach out to the NCP and the Congress, the Pawar-led party on Sunday said the Sena will have to walk out of the NDA first.
Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant, the lone party minister in the Modi Cabinet, on Monday announced his decision to quit the NDA government.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
