FIR against BJP MLA after his SUV 'hits' motorcycle in MP
Tikamgarh, Oct 8: An FIR has been registered against BJP MLA Rahul Singh Lodhi after his SUV allegedly hit a motorcycle in Madhya Pradesh's Tikamgarh district, killing two persons, a police official said on Tuesday.
Lodhi, who is an MLA from Kharagpur Assembly seat in Tikamgarh and nephew of former Union minister Uma Bharti, however, said his vehicle was not involved in the mishap and that he was at a village 20 km away from the accident spot.
According to the police, the sports utility vehicle (SUV) of Lodhi on Monday allegedly hit the motorcycle at Pipawani village, located around 15 km from the district headquarters, on Tikamgarh-Chhatarpur road.
Two motorcycle riders died on the spot, while one received injuries and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in neighbouring Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, the official said.
"Based on a complaint filed by family members of the deceased, an FIR was registered against Rahul Singh Lodhi on Monday night," Baldevgarh police station in-charge Brijesh Kumar said.
He said an initial investigation revealed that the SUV was being driven by Lodhi when the accident occurred near Hanuman temple at Pipawani village around 2.30 pm on Monday.
The SUV has been seized, he added.
The case has been registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), 279 (rash driving on public way) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), and Section 184 (driving dangerously) of the Motor Vehicles Act, he said.
The police earlier said all three motorcycle riders were killed, but on Tuesday informed that one of them did not die, but was injured and hospitalised.
"On Monday night, we received information that the person injured in the accident also succumbed on his way to Jhansi. But, we received information this morning that he was saved and undergoing treatment at a hospital in Jhansi," Kumar said.
The deceased were identified as Brijendra Ahirwar (25) and Ravi Ahirwar (23).
Meanwhile, Lodhi said his vehicle was not involved in the accident, and claimed he was in Futer village, located around 20 km from the spot.
The MLA said his driver informed him about the accident while on his way to Futer.
"I was in Futer village in my constituency and my driver was coming to pick me up. My vehicle was passing from the (Tikamgarh-Chhatarpur) road at the time of accident," he claimed.
"My driver informed me about the accident which involved other vehicles, and I alerted the local police station," Lodhi said.
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Raj Thackeray questions need for NEET, demands Pradhan’s resignation
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Thursday questioned the need for NEET-UG and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi seek the resignation of Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan.
Thackeray's demand comes amid massive protests over the cancellation of the examination following allegations of paper leak.
The MNS chief said the government is so “obsessed” with bringing everything under a centralised authority that it appears to make no difference if the lives of hundreds of thousands of people are thrown into “disarray”.
In a post on X, Thackeray said that for several years now, a single individual (Pradhan) has remained entrenched in the position of Union education minister. Despite numerous “irregularities” and “scandals” within the NEET framework during his tenure, this “gentleman” continues to occupy the post, he said.
“One wonders: has he been rewarded with this continued tenure because he is so zealously pursuing the agenda of imposing the Hindi language across the entire nation? I earnestly appeal to the Prime Minister: please demand the immediate resignation of this Minister of yours, who has repeatedly toyed with the lives and future of 22 lakh students,” Thackeray said.
The National Testing Agency on Tuesday cancelled the NEET (UG) 2026 exam held on May 3 amid allegations of paper leak, with the government asking the CBI to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the “irregularities”. The examination for students seeking admission to undergraduate courses in medical colleges will now be held afresh on dates to be notified separately.
Thackeray said the Centre continues its tradition of creating “chaos” in every matter and holding the public to ransom. The “NEET paper leak” has proved this once again, he said.
Thackeray sought to know what the Centre did when it found out the alleged malpractice. It merely cancelled the examination and ordered a CBI inquiry, he said.
In 2024, a CBI inquiry was ordered in a similar case, but nothing substantial was achieved through it, he said.
The government projects an air of having fulfilled its duty in all of this. But what about the lives of 22 lakh students and their families, who have been left hanging in the balance, he asked.
Thackeray said fundamentally, there was no need to “impose” NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test)-UG back in 2016.
“However, this government’s obsession with bringing everything under a single, centralised authority is so intense that, to them, it seems to make no difference if the lives of hundreds of thousands of people are thrown into disarray,” he said.
The MNS chief also asked ministers within the Maharashtra government to show some “spine” and join voices with those of the southern states and oppose this system.
Thackeray said leaders from the southern states have voiced their opposition in much the same way as he. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay has also demanded the cancellation of NEET. The reason for this is that the five southern states, combined with Maharashtra, collectively possess over 350 medical colleges, whereas the large states in the north have only 180 medical colleges, he said.
Consequently, this persistent push that began in 2016 is essentially an attempt to facilitate the “entry of students from the north into medical colleges in the south”, alleged Thackeray. To ensure this, the largest network of coaching classes has been established in the northern states, he claimed.
