Vikramaditya Singh resigns from Sukhu cabinet, says felt humiliated
Shimla (PTI): Amid a fresh scramble for power in the state, Himachal Pradesh Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh on Wednesday announced his resignation from the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu cabinet.
"I am submitting my resignation to the chief minister and the governor," he told reporters.
"There have been attempts to humiliate and undermine me from some quarters and in spite of reservations, I supported the government," he said.
Troubles have been mounting for Congress since Tuesday, when it lost the sole Rajya Sabha seat to the BJP with six of its members cross-voting in the poll.
Vikramaditya Singh, as he announced his resignation, said he was "deeply hurt" with the transpirings over the past two days and said there's a need to ponder what went wrong for the Congress.
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He said he has apprised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi about the developments and the ball is now in the party high command's court.
"The Congress party had made promises to the people and we owe the responsibility to fulfil those promises and I would decide my future course of action after consulting my supporters," Vikramaditya Singh said.
He said that the 2022 assembly election in the state was fought in the name of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, also his father. "There was no poster, or hoarding or banner which did not carry his picture. There was a full-page ad with his picture in the newspapers a day before voting."
But after victory when the matter of his statue came, the government failed to decide the location.
"It is not a political but an emotional thing for a son," Vikramaditya Singh said.
He also quoted a couplet by the last Mughal Emperor of India Bahadur Shah Zafar, "Kitna hai bad-naseeb 'Zafar' dafn ke liye, do gaz zameen bhi na mili kuch-e-yaar main."
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Nine dead as fire breaks out in residential building in east Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): A fire broke out in a residential building in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar early Sunday, leaving nine people belonging to two families dead, including a toddler, officials said.
The incident was reported around 3.48 am at a four-storey building in Vivek Vihar Phase-I, following which police, fire and disaster management teams rushed to the spot.
According to the police, the blaze engulfed flats on the second, third and fourth floors of the building, prompting a large-scale rescue operation.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said nine charred bodies were recovered from different floors.
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"One body was recovered from the first floor, five from the second floor and three from the staircase which was found locked," the DFS officer said.
Those found dead on the second floor have been identified as Arvind Jain (60), his wife Anita Jain (58), son Nishant Jain (35), daughter-in-law Anchal Jain (33) and grandchild Akash Jain.
On the third floor, three members of a family were found dead. They were identified as Nitin Jain (50), wife Shailey Jain (48) and son Samyak Jain (25).
On the first floor a woman identified as Shikha Jain (45) was found dead while her husband Naveen Jain (48) sustained injuries.
A senior police officer said, "Around 10 to 15 people were rescued from the premises during the firefighting operation. Two of them, who sustained minor injuries, were shifted to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital."
A total of 12 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, while teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and local police assisted in the rescue and evacuation efforts.
Police said the fire was brought under control after several hours. Efforts are underway to determine the cause of the fire, police said.
Further investigation and proceedings are underway.
