Birla files nomination as NDA candidate for speaker's post
New Delhi (PTI): Kota MP Om Birla on Tuesday filed nomination for the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker as an NDA consensus candidate, a position he held in the previous House.
JD(U) leader and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh told reporters here that Birla's name was decided unanimously by all NDA parties and that senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh also reached out to the opposition for their support.
Hitting out at the opposition, Lalan Singh said they wanted a decision on the post of deputy speaker immediately despite Rajnath Singh requesting that everyone should sit together and discuss the issue when the time comes for the selection.
His Cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal said it would have been better to have an consensus candidate and criticised the opposition for putting forth conditions.
Democracy cannot be run on conditions, he asserted.
The opposition INDIA bloc has fielded Congress leader K Suresh as its candidate for the speaker's post.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
