Former Gujarat CM Shankarsinh Vaghela joins NCP in presence of Sharad Pawar
Ahmedabad, Jan 29: Former Gujarat Chief Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela was Tuesday inducted into the Nationalist Congress Party here in the presence of its chief Sharad Pawar and made the party's national general secretary.
Pawar said NCP will use Vaghela's political experience and mass following in Gujarat as well as for the party's national development.
"When democracy is under threat in India under BJP rule, I have decided to join the NCP to fight against BJP and strengthen the hands of anti-BJP forces," Vaghela said after joining Pawar's party.
When queried whether he would fight the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, Vaghela said it was for his party to decide.
Speaking on the occasion, Pawar said, "I have asked Vaghela to not only concentrate on Gujarat but also contribute towards national development of NCP. He will be national general secretary of the party. In Gujarat we want to strengthen anti-BJP forces and by bringing in Vaghela, we have tried to do that."
His entry into the NCP can lead to a three-corner fight on a few Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat in case the Congress and the NCP fail to reach an alliance against the ruling BJP, political observers said.
All 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat are currently in the BJP's kitty.
The NCP and Congress had fought 2017 Assembly polls separately with the former managing to win just one seat in the 182-member House.
The 78-year-old Kshatriya strongman had left the Congress before the 2017 Gujarat Assembly elections, after he and a few of his supporter MLAs voted against Ahmed Patel, the Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha, and backed BJP nominee Balwantsinh Rajput.
Vaghela, however, did not join the ruling BJP and put up Independent candidates in the state Assembly elections held in December 2017, all of whom lost.
The former Gujarat chief minister recently toured various places, including Delhi, declaring that he would work for the defeat of the BJP-led government at the Centre.
Vaghela started his career with the BJP, but in 1996 engineered a split in the saffron party after he was denied chief ministership a year earlier in favour of Keshubhai Patel.
Vaghela, in 1996, became the state's chief minister with outside support from the Congress.
He also served as Union textile minister in the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre as well as Gujarat Congress president and leader of opposition in the state Assembly.
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UP: Fake IAS officer marries woman, flees with Rs 15 lakh dowry
Gorakhpur (UP) (PTI): A newly married man fled with the Rs 15 lakh given to him as dowry by the bride's family, and it came to light later that he was an alleged serial scammer, police said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Pritam Kumar Nishad from Etawah, allegedly posed as an IAS officer to deceive the woman into marrying him. He is currently absconding with his sister, and a case has been filed against him for cheating, dowry harassment, and forgery, officials said.
According to the police, the woman's family claimed that they spent nearly Rs 30 lakh for the wedding that was solemnised on March 11.
The match was arranged through a matrimonial group, where the accused introduced himself as an IAS officer, sharing purported interview clips, office visuals, and photographs with politicians to gain the family's trust.
Despite initially claiming he would marry without dowry, the accused allegedly demanded Rs 15 lakh shortly before the engagement. The bride's family paid Rs 10 lakh in cash during the engagement and the remaining Rs 5 lakh on the wedding day, the police said.
The fraud came to light on Saturday after the woman reached Etawah, and a wedding attendee informed the family that the accused was not a civil servant. When her relatives visited the address provided by him, they found her in a small rented room, while the accused and his sister had fled, the police added.
The woman has also alleged that the accused planned to take her to Goa and sell her, and accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
The police suspect that the accused may have been involved in multiple such marriages in the past. Based on a complaint lodged at the cantonment police station, an FIR was registered on Saturday evening.
Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Kaustubh said efforts are underway to arrest the accused.
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