MP: Woman killed, 23 people injured as fuel tanker catches fire in Khargone
Khargone, Oct 26: A woman was killed and at least 23 other people were injured when a fuel tanker caught fire after overturning near a village in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district on Wednesday morning, officials said.
Superintendent of Police Dharmveer Singh while quoting locals said people from Anjangaon village had gathered to look at the tanker after it overturned near the village. The vehicle then suddenly caught fire causing the casualties, he said.
One of the injured persons said a blast occurred in the tanker after it overturned.
The incident took place at around 5 am near Anjangaon village under Bistan police station limits, about 30 km from the district headquarters, police said.
Khargone Collector Kumar Purushottam told reporters that one person was killed and at least 23 others suffered burn injuries in the incident which occurred after the tanker of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) overturned.
The deceased was identified as Rangubai (19), he said.
Some of the seriously injured persons were referred to Indore for further treatment, he said.
The collector also said that BPCL officials have been asked to conduct an inquiry into the incident.
Jagdish, who was among those injured in the incident, said a blast took place suddenly in the tanker when the villagers reached the spot after the vehicle overturned.
The tanker driver and conductor fled from the spot, he said.
Anjangaon resident Ghurmul Sisodia said the fire broke out suddenly in the fuel tanker when the villagers went to the spot to look at it.
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NCP leaders seek Maharashtra cabinet berth for Ajit Pawar's wife; rival camp favours merger talks
Mumbai (PTI): A day after Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar's death in a plane crash, leaders of his party NCP on Thursday pushed for a state cabinet berth for his wife Sunetra, while Opposition NCP (SP) signalled it wasn't averse to taking forward efforts for merger of rival groups.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders also suggested that Sunetra Pawar should step forward and lead the outfit, which is a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti alliance led by the BJP.
Senior NCP leader and FDA Minister Narhari Zirwal said it is people's wish that late Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra, a Rajya Sabha member, be inducted into the state ministry.
Asked about the NCP's future after the untimely death of Ajit Pawar, who was also the party president, Zirwal told a Marathi news channel that people want "vahini" (sister-in-law, referring to Sunetra Pawar) to be made a cabinet member.
"We will talk to our leadership about it (inducting Sunetra in cabinet) and take a decision,'' Zirwal, who was a close confidant of Ajit Pawar, said after the late politician's funeral in his hometown Baramati in Pune district.
To a question on the merger of the rival groups, ruling ally NCP and Opposition NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar, he noted, ''The two factions are already together (for local body polls). Everyone has realised that there was no point in remaining scattered and we have to be together.''
Another NCP leader and Ajit Pawar confidante, Pramod Hindurao, maintained Sunetra Pawar should carry forward the legacy of her husband and take care of party workers.
Sunetra Pawar, who fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on an NCP ticket, had lost to Supriya Sule, NCP (SP) working president and Sharad Pawar's daughter, in Baramati.
Meanwhile, state NCP (SP) president Shashikant Shinde told PTI that Ajit Pawar had himself spoken about sitting together and taking a decision on merger of the two NCPs after municipal and local body polls in Maharashtra.
Preliminary talks had already taken place in regard to merger, Shinde stated.
''When we had met for an alliance of the two parties for Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad corporation elections (which took place on January 15), he (Ajit) had said lets sit together and discuss (merger) after Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls (scheduled on February 5)," he said.
"Ajit dada (elder brother) was an emotional man and wanted the two factions to come together and the (Pawar) family to remain united. He had felt enough was enough. If the family and parties want a reconciliation, we have no problem. Now, we have to see if we can fulfil what became his last wish," Shinde said.
Asked if the NCP (SP) was ready to join the ruling Mahayuti alliance led by the BJP, Shinde evaded a direct reply.
"Nothing can be said as of now. Lets see if there is a positive outcome of efforts towards fulfilling Ajit dada's wish (of merger). The issue of whether NCP (SP) leaders would like to be in the ruling alliance can be discussed later,'' he insisted.
Ajit Pawar (66) and four others were killed when the chartered plane carrying them crashed at the Baramati airport in Pune district on Wednesday.
In July 2023, Ajit Pawar had joined the then-Eknath Shinde-led government, triggering a split in the NCP co-founded by his uncle Sharad Pawar.
