Nadda meets Shah as BJP gets down to picking new Delhi CM
New Delhi (PTI): BJP president JP Nadda met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday as the party's exercise to pick the new Delhi chief minister gathered pace, a day after it won the assembly polls and ended a more than 26-year spell out of power.
Senior leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had held consultations at the BJP headquarters on Saturday as well after Modi delivered a victory speech to jubilant party workers.
With the BJP making impressive gains in every region and among most communities in the polls, it has been left with a wide pool of potential chief ministerial candidates.
With larger political messaging often guiding the party's choices in choosing its chief ministers in different states, political watchers believe that Delhi would be no exception.
While visible faces such as Parvesh Verma, a leader from the Jat community who defeated AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, and seasoned organisational leaders like Satish Upadhyay, Vijender Gupta, Ashish Sood and Pawan Sharma are being talked about, the BJP has a history of elevating leaders with a relatively low public profile.
A BJP leader said the party could also consider an MLA with 'Purvanchal' background, a Sikh, or a woman, depending on the political calculations guiding its top brass.
Past experience, including in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in 2023, and Odisha last year, leave little room for speculation on such matters, he added.
The BJP picked Mohan Yadav in Madhya Pradesh, Bhajanlal Sharma in Rajasthan and Mohan Charan Majhi in Odisha, taking most political observers by surprise.
"You never know... The national leadership can come up with an altogether fresh face who fits the bill and is capable of discharging the duties as Delhi chief minister amid high expectations of the people," the BJP leader said.
The BJP's Delhi unit president Virendra Sachdeva said the decision on the chief minister would be taken by the party's central leadership, adding that all newly-elected MLAs were capable of discharging the duties assigned to them.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
