Rahul Gandhi asks new district chiefs in MP to work at grassroots level, be upright
Narmadapuram (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday asked the new district unit presidents of the party in Madhya Pradesh to work at the grassroots level, and also to stay upright so that they could not be blackmailed, a local leader said.
Gandhi spoke at an ongoing camp organised for the 71 newly appointed district presidents of the party at Pachmarhi under the `Sangathan Srajan Abhiyan' to strengthen the Congress organisation.
"Rahul ji asked us to reach the grassroots level, booth level, respect the smallest worker by keeping aside our ego, and tour the area religiously to ensure victory in the (assembly and Lok Sabha) polls in the state," said a camp participant.
Gandhi also ate dinner with the families of participants, he added.
"He gave us some examples of leaders who had amassed ill-gotten wealth and were now crawling before the government after being hounded. He asked us to be upright and righteous so that we can not be blackmailed or made to kneel," the Congress functionary added.
Before meeting the district presidents, Gandhi met senior party leaders in the state including Digvijaya Singh, Arun Yadav, Ajay Singh, MP Congress chief Jitu Patwari and Leader of Opposition in MP Assembly Umang Singhar.
Ajay Singh told reporters that Gandhi stressed the need for coordination and strengthening the organisation at grassroots level for winning the 2028 assembly elections.
The Congress held power in the state under Kamal Nath's leadership for a brief 15-month period from December 2018 to March 2020. Apart from that, it has been out of power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003.
In 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress failed to win even a single seat in Madhya Pradesh.
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Nashik court sends ‘godman’ Kharat to seven-day judicial custody in third rape case
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Nashik (PTI): A court in Maharashtra's Nashik on Monday remanded self-styled godman Ashok Kharat to judicial custody till April 20 in a third case of rape against him for allegedly sexually exploiting a pregnant woman.
The special investigation team (SIT) produced Kharat for a virtual hearing in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Ichpurani as his police custody in the case ended on Monday.
The SIT presented the remand report and sought judicial custody for Kharat, a former merchant navy officer. The court then remanded him to a seven-day judicial custody till April 20.
In the third case, Kharat, who was first arrested in mid-March, is accused of sexually exploiting a seven-month pregnant woman, the wife of his office staffer.
According to the complaint lodged by the victim's husband, the accused sexually assaulted the survivor on multiple occasions, including in his office in Nashik, between November 2023 and December 2025.
Kharat also conducted a ritual with the pregnant woman at a temple in Mirgaon village of Sinnar taluka of the district, it said.
Although the victim informed her husband about her plight, he did not believe her. But when he heard about complaints of Kharat's misbehaviour with other women, he planted a spy camera in the astrologer's office to find out the truth and recorded his acts.
The employee later handed over to the police a pen drive containing objectionable videos of the 'godman'.
Kharat faces nearly a dozen cases, eight of them related to sexual assaults.
The SIT, meanwhile, has filed an application in the court demanding Kharat's custody in another case. As the court granted them the necessary permission, the team will take the accused's custody from the Nashik Road Central Jail.
Kharat will be produced in court again in the fourth case on Tuesday.
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