Ambedkar calls Modi a 'blackmailer'
Mumbai: A day after he was booked for his remarks against the Election Commission (EC), Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being a blackmailer.
Addressing a poll rally at Akola in Maharashtra, Ambedkar alleged that Modi blackmailed the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her party saying if she did not want her son-in-law Robert Vadra to be in jail, they should refrain from joining hands with any other party.
"Can anyone tell me why Congress did not have an alliance with any other party across the country? Modi had put a condition that if Congress party wants Rabert Vadra not to be in jail, then it should refrain from forging an alliance with any other party," he claimed.
"That is why Congress did not have an alliance with any party. Modi is a blackmailer. He is blackmailing Sonia Gandhi and everyone else.
"This is Modi's style of functioning that Congress party did not have an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi and Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal," Ambedkar alleged.
Ambedkar, grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, is contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha election from Akola and Solapur constituencies in Maharashtra as a candidate of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA).
VBA is an alliance of Ambedkar-led Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh (BBA) and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM. The VBA is contesting all 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Ambedkar was in talks with the Congress-NCP for the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress-NCP combine had been trying to bring Ambedkar, who has pockets of influence in the state, in its 'maha agadhi', a grand alliance of anti-BJP parties.
However, talks in this regard remained inconclusive.
On Thursday, Ambedkar had said at an election rally at Digras in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district that he will jail the EC for two days if voted to power for not letting political parties speak about the Pulwama terror attack.
Later, a case was registered against him under IPC sections 503 (criminal intimidation), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), 189 (threat of injury to public servant).
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Iran attacks oil tanker near Dubai; Trump warns of strikes on energy sites if Hormuz remains shut
Tel Aviv/Washington: Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker off Dubai on Monday after US President Donald Trump warned that Washington would target Iran’s energy infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.
According to a Reuters report, the Kuwait-flagged tanker Al-Salmi is owned by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and was capable of carrying around 2 million barrels of crude. . It was struck in what authorities later described as a drone attack. The company said the incident occurred early Tuesday, causing a fire and hull damage. No injuries were reported and the fire was brought under control, Dubai authorities said .
Oil prices rose briefly following the attack and added to volatility in global energy markets. In the United States, retail gasoline prices crossed $4 per gallon for the first time in more than three years, according to data from GasBuddy, as crude prices moved above $101 per barrel.
Israel said it carried out missile strikes on military infrastructure in Tehran and on sites linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah in Beirut. Explosions were reported in parts of Tehran, with Iran’s Tasnim news agency saying power outages occurred in the eastern Pirouzi district following the blasts.
The Israel Defense Forces said four soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon. In recent days, three peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon were also killed in separate incidents in the same area.
Iran’s military spokesperson said Tehran’s latest wave of missile and drone strikes targeted US military positions at five bases in the region and sites in Israel. Thousands of troops from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division have begun arriving in the Middle East, according to US officials, expanding Washington’s military options even as diplomatic efforts continue.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Reuters Trump wants an agreement with Iranian leaders before a revised April 6 deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, adding that talks were progressing, while public statements from Tehran differed from private communications.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said proposals received through intermediaries were “unrealistic” and maintained that Iran was focused on defending itself.
In a social media post, Trump said that if a deal is not reached soon and the strait is not reopened, the US would strike Iran’s electric generating plants, oil wells and Kharg Island. However, a report in The Wall Street Journal said Trump had told aides he may be willing to end the military campaign even if the strait remains largely closed and address reopening it later. The White House referred to earlier remarks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the strait would be opened “one way or another.”
The administration has also requested an additional $200 billion in funding for the conflict, a proposal that faces opposition in the US Congress.
