Denied LS ticket, Congress leader joins BJP in Assam
Guwahati (PTI): Assam Congress leader Suruj Dehingia on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after being denied ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Dehingia wanted to contest the polls from the Jorhat constituency, from where the Congress on Tuesday named its Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi.
The Congress also expelled Dehingia, a state general secretary.
He defected to the saffron party at BJP's state headquarters here in presence of Rajya Sabha MP Pabitra Margherita, several local ministers and MLAs.
Almost simultaneously, the Assam Congress issued an order expelling Dehingia with immediate effect, but did not cite any reason.
"Hon'ble President Assam PCC, Shri Bhupen Kumar Borah has expelled Shri Suruj Dehingia, General Secretary, APCC from Indian National Congress with immediate effect," the order signed by APCC General Secretary (Organisation) Bipul Gogoi said.
Gaurav Gogoi is a Lok Sabha MP from Kaliabor, which has been rechristened as Kaziranga after the delimitation exercise last year.
This time, he will contest against incumbent BJP MP Topon Kumar Gogoi in the neighbouring prestigious Jorhat seat.
Out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress announced candidates for 12 seats. It has offered Dibrugarh seat to alliance partner Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), while no decision has been taken yet on Lakhimpur constituency.
The BJP named 11 Lok Sabha candidates from Assam. The remaining three seats are left for allies -- two for AGP and one for United People's Party Liberal (UPPL).
The BJP has nine MPs in the current Lok Sabha from the state, while its allies AGP and UPPL have no representation. The Congress holds three seats and the AIUDF one, while another is an Independent candidate.
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NIA court to complete framing of charges against 2010 hand-chopping case accused on May 15
Kochi (PTI): A special court here will complete proceedings for framing charges against the prime accused in the 2010 hand-chopping case involving professor T J Joseph, in which PFI activists were accused of attacking him at Muvattupuzha.
Ernakulam Special Court for NIA cases judge P K Mohandas, on April 30, heard the arguments of counsel for accused Savad and Shafeer C and decided to proceed with framing charges against the duo.
A group chopped off Thodupuzha Newman College professor Joseph's right hand in July 2010, accusing him of religious blasphemy in a question paper he had prepared.
The case, later taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), resulted in the conviction of 19 accused.
The first accused, Savad, who allegedly chopped off Joseph’s palm, was arrested in Berram in Mattannur, Kannur, in January 2024, where he had allegedly been hiding under the pseudonym Shajahan.
The NIA also arrested Shafeer, who allegedly arranged shelter and provided logistical support to Savad at Chakkad and Mattannur in Kannur since 2020.
On April 30, the court heard the counsel for the accused and the NIA prosecutor on framing charges against the duo.
"On going through the documents and evidence in the case and on hearing the counsel for the accused and the prosecutor, I am of the opinion that there are grounds for presuming that the first accused has committed offences punishable under provisions of the IPC, the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and that the second accused has committed offences punishable under the IPC and the UAPA, and there are materials for framing charges under these provisions against the accused," the court said.
The court directed that Savad be produced and Shafeer, who is on bail, appear before it on May 15 for recording their pleas as part of the charge-framing process.
After framing the charges, the court will schedule the trial in the case.
