Patna, May 29 :  At least 19 people were killed due to lightning and thunderstorms in Bihar, officials said on Tuesday.

"The state government has ordered ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of those who lost their lives," Pratyaya Amrit, Principal Secretary of the Disaster Management Department said.

Five deaths were reported in Gaya and Aurangabad districts followed by four deaths in Munger, three in Katihar and two in Nawada.

Heavy rains accompanied by strong winds uprooted trees, damaged houses and brought down power cables across the state on Monday.

The downpour also brought down the temperature.



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Ranipet (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being "controlled" by US President Donald Trump and that the PM wanted the AIADMK to capture power so that he could control Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

Also, he claimed that the prime minister "handed out our energy security and gave away our data, besides selling our farmers and small and medium industries."

"You saw yesterday (in Parliament) the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi completely lacking confidence," Rahul said on the delimitation bill.

"He (PM) could not even face the opposition. He was sitting sideways. And the reason is, he is controlled by the United States. He signed the India-US deal that sold our country out," Rahul said while addressing an election rally here.

He further said, "Today, if Donald Trump tells Modi to jump, Modi jumps. If Donald Trump tells Modi to lie down, Modi lies down. Why? Because Donald Trump controls Modi fully. How does he control him? He controls through the Epstein files. He controls him because he knows Modi's financial systems and understands Modi's link with Adani," the Congress leader alleged.

Just as he was being controlled by Trump, Modi wanted to do the same to the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. "That is why he wants to put AIADMK in power in TN," Rahul said.

The Union government had rejected references to PM Modi in the latest Jeffrey Epstein case files, describing it as “little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal that deserves to be dismissed with the utmost contempt”.