Classical singer Pandit Chhannulal Mishra dies at 89
Mirzapur (UP) (PTI): Padma Vibhushan vocalist Pandit Chhannulal Mishra, a towering figure in the Hindustani classical music, died early Thursday. He was 89.
His daughter said Mishra breathed his last around 4 am after a prolonged illness.
The vocalist had been living in Mirzapur with his youngest daughter's family for some time.
Mishra's health deteriorated late Wednesday night, and he was admitted to a hospital, where he died during treatment.
"He was admitted to the hospital for the last 17-18 days with age-related issues. He passed away at home this morning at around 4 am," his daughter, Namrata Mishra, told PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to Mishra's family, and hailed the vocalist for his invaluable contribution to the Indian arts.
In a condolence message posted on X, Modi said it was his good fortune that he always received his affection and blessings and noted that Mishra was one of the proposers for his candidature from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in 2014.
Born in Azamgarh in 1936, Mishra grew up to be a doyen of Hindustani classical music, contributing immensely to such styles of the form as Khayal, Thumri, Dadra, Chaiti, Kajri, and Bhajan.
Mishra received music training from his father, Badri Prasad Mishra, as well as Ustad Abdul Ghani Khan of Kirana gharana, and Thakur Jaidev Singh.
He was an exponent of the Banaras gharana and the Purab Ang tradition of Thumri.
He won Padma Vibhushan in 2020 and Padma Bhushan in 2010.
Mishra's last rites will be performed in Varanasi at 5 pm.
He is survived by his son, tabla player Ramkumar Mishra, and three daughters.
His wife and one of his daughters died four years ago.
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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
