Over 18,000 inmates of Chhattisgarh jails take `holy bath' with water from Prayagraj
Raipur (PTI): Nearly 18,500 prison inmates across Chhattisgarh on Tuesday took a `holy bath' with water brought from the Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj where the Maha Kumbh is underway, an official said here.
The "punya snan" was held in a special 'kund' (tank) set up in 33 prisons -- five central jails, 20 district jails and eight sub-jails, Deputy Inspector General (Prison) S S Tigga told PTI Videos.
The "sacred water" from Prayagraj was mixed in regular water in the tanks. Videos from jails in Durg, Bilaspur, Surguja and Kabirdham districts showed 'snan kunds' decorated with flowers, and prayers being offered ahead of the bath.
Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, who holds charge of the Home portfolio, brought the holy water from Prayagraj which was distributed to the prisons, said Tigga.
There was a lot of excitement among prisoners who chanted "Har Har Gange" and expressed happiness over the arrangement, he added.
"We are fortunate that we got the opportunity to take a holy bath with water from Maa Ganga. We never thought we will get such a chance in our life, which became possible with the initiative of the government and jail administration," Ghasiram Yadav, an inmate at the Raipur Central Jail, said.
An official of Dhamtari district jail said all 239 prisoners took a holy bath.
"The purpose was to make prisoners experience spiritual purification and improve their mental health. `Ganga-jal' (water of the Ganga river) is considered sacred and a symbol of purification in Indian culture," he said.
The jail administration believes that a bath with Ganga-jal will give mental peace to prisoners, strengthen them spiritually, and inspire them to bring about self-transformation, adopt positive thinking and live a better life by joining the mainstream, the official added.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
