BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath dies at 63, leaders condole
Hyderabad (PTI): Opposition BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath passed away early on Sunday at a private hospital here following a heart attack.
He was 63.
Gopinath had been admitted to the AIG Hospitals on June 5 after a massive heart attack.
He was declared dead at 5.45 am, the hospital said.
Gopinath, MLA from Jubilee Hills here, had defeated Congress leader and former cricketer Mohd Azharuddin in the 2023 assembly elections.
A former TDP leader, Gopinath served as the party's Hyderabad unit president and was elected from Jubilee Hills on a TDP ticket in 2014. He joined the ruling BRS (then TRS) in 2016 along with several other TDP legislators. He was re-elected to the Assembly on a BRS ticket in 2018 and again in 2023.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Union Minister and state BJP president G Kishan Reddy, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao and several other leaders condoled the demise of Gopinath.
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Two held for 'firing' at BJP leader's house in Bengal
Kolkata (PTI): A day before the counting of votes for the West Bengal assembly elections, two persons were arrested on Sunday for allegedly being involved in a firing incident outside the residence of a BJP leader in North 24 Parganas district, police said.
BJP leader Kundan Singh lodged a police complaint, alleging that a few gunmen fired at his house in the Noapara constituency around Saturday midnight.
Based on the CCTV footage, the two accused were apprehended, a senior officer said.
BJP's Noapara candidate Arjun Singh, in a post on social media, claimed that around 12.05 am, two armed miscreants arrived on a motorcycle at the residence of Kundan Singh, a BJP functionary and secretary of the Barrackpore organisational district, with an "intent to kill him".
According to the BJP leader, the accused are residents of Garulia and are known criminals.
Their names as offenders had been submitted to the Election Commission, he said.
The police officer did not specify whether the two arrested persons were the same individuals named by Arjun Singh.
According to the complaint, one round of firing took place outside Kundan Singh's house, triggering panic in the area.
The BJP candidate also questioned the role of the police, claiming that one of the accused had been detained by the police on the polling day but was later released in the evening.
The Noapara assembly seat went to the polls on April 29.
Several BJP leaders alleged that attempts were being made to create an atmosphere of fear ahead of the counting and weaken the organisation of the opposition parties.
The counting of votes will take place on May 4. Polling for the West Bengal assembly elections was held on April 23 and April 29.
The BJP urged the Election Commission to intervene immediately to ensure peaceful counting.
TMC candidate Somnath Shyam rubbished Arjun Singh’s allegation, claiming that the BJP nominee had orchestrated the firing incident to divert attention from imminent defeat.
“Arjun Singh knows all the gangsters in the Barrackpore belt. Everyone knows about his links with the underworld. Let the police investigate the incident,” Shyam said.
