BMC polls: Two BJP nominees secure tickets but fail to submit nomination papers
Mumbai (PTI): Two candidates of the BJP for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections failed to submit their forms on Tuesday, when the deadline to submit nominations ended, triggering a blame game between officials and aspirants.
Shakeel Ansari and Mandakini Khamkar were fielded from ward numbers 211 and 212, and their names had figured in the official list of the BJP.
Returning Officer Krishna Jadhav, who is in charge of both wards, told PTI that no nomination papers were received from the two candidates before the 5 PM deadline on December 30.
"I have not received nomination papers of the BJP candidates. So there are no candidates of the party from both the wards," he said.
More than 2,500 nomination forms have been submitted before the deadline for 227 corporator seats in Mumbai for the January 15, 2026, elections.
Ansari and Khamkar were supposed to make a debut in the civic polls.
Khamkar claimed she was outside the returning officer's office at 4:47 PM, when she was informed that her form would not be accepted. She was not even allowed to enter the RO office in ward 212.
"The RO decided to stop allowing entries around 4:30 pm. I arrived by 4:10 pm and had already completed procedures when officials told us they wouldn't accept any more forms.
"I received my AB form a bit late. I reached there around 4 pm., but the presence of many other independents caused delays in filing my nomination," she told reporters.
She blamed the returning officers for refusing to accept the forms.
"How can they deny the forms of BJP, the national party?" she asked.
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Chamoli hydropower tunnel train collision: 88 injured, magisterial probe ordered
Gopeshwar/Dehradun (PTI): Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the collision between two loco trains inside the Pipalkoti tunnel of the under-construction Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project, which left 88 people injured.
Earlier in the day, Kumar said that the accident occurred around 8.30 pm on Tuesday at the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) site inside the tunnel being built by THDC (India).
A loco train carrying workers for tunnel excavation during the night shift was about two kilometres inside the tunnel when another loco train coming from the opposite direction lost control and collided with it.
One of the trains had workers and officials on board, while the other carried material.
Upon receiving information about the collision, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered proper treatment for the injured. He spoke to the DM over the phone and instructed him to ensure that all the injured receive the best possible medical facilities.
DM Kumar and Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar met the injured at the Gopeshwar District Hospital.
Kumar said 109 people were on board the loco train at the time of the accident, most of them labourers. None of the injured was serious, he said.
He said that 88 of them were injured, although none of them are in serious condition. They said that 84 workers were discharged after receiving first aid, while four are still hospitalized.
DM Kumar and SP Panwar also inspected the project site and sought detailed information about the incident from the project officials.
They instructed them to strictly implement all necessary safety standards to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.
After inspection, the DM issued orders for a magisterial inquiry into the accident caused by the collision of the loco trains.
Meanwhile, the Railways said the trains involved in the collision had no connection with it.
"It is clarified that this unfortunate incident occurred in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, involving a trolley used in the local transportation system during the construction of a hydroelectric project tunnel. The train referred to in the news reports is not an Indian Railways train, but a transportation system being used locally by the project team," the government entity said in a statement.
According to officials, rail-like vehicles are used to transport workers, employees, and materials for construction work inside the tunnel.
The project, being built between Helang and Pipalkoti on the Alaknanda River, will generate 444 megawatts of electricity through four turbines. The project is targeted for completion by next year.
