Massive turnout in Kalpetta as Priyanka Gandhi kicks off campaign for Wayanad bypoll
Wayanad (Kerala) (PTI): Thousands of people, including UDF leaders and workers, gathered in Kalpetta on Wednesday to participate in a massive roadshow welcoming Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, as she prepares to make her electoral debut by filing nomination papers for the upcoming Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll.
Priyanka, who arrived in the hill district on Tuesday night along with her mother -- Congress Parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi -- led the roadshow along with her brother -- Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi -- from the new bus stand at Kalpetta.
Priyanka's husband, Robert Vadra, and one of their children were also seen along with her in the open-roof vehicle along with other senior party and IUML leaders during the roadshow.
UDF workers and supporters as well as members of the general public of all age groups, who were waiting since early morning, welcomed her carrying placards with Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi's photographs, balloons in the party colours and drum beats.
Balloons in the party colours of the Congress and its ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) also lined both sides of the nearly two kilometer long roadshow route.
Green flags of IUML and the tricolour of the Congress, which were absent during Rahul Gandhi's roadshow in April this year, were also seen, but in very few numbers.
Priyanka would be contesting against LDF's Sathyan Mokeri and BJP's Navya Haridas.
The by-election for Wayanad LS seat became necessary after Rahul Gandhi, who won the Lok Sabha polls from there and Rae Bareli constituency, decided to vacate Wayanad.
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Gujarat cops file theft case against jailed scribe Langa after recovery of govt documents from him
Ahmedabad (PTI): The Gujarat police have registered a theft case against senior journalist Mahesh Langa, who is already behind bars in an alleged Goods and Services Tax scam, following the recovery of some documents of the Gujarat Maritime Board from him, an official said.
This is the second First Information Report (FIR) registered against Langa after his arrest earlier this month by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch in the alleged GST scam.
Langa, who worked with a leading newspaper in Gujarat, was sent to judicial custody last week after his remand in the GST case came to an end.
"The second FIR was registered on Tuesday night at Sector 7 police station in Gandhinagar city," District Superintendent of Police Ravi Teja Vasamsetty said on Wednesday.
The online FIR is not accessible to the public as it has been put under "sensitive" category, he said.
Sources said that Langa and an unidentified employee of the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) have been booked on the charges of theft and under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
"During the investigation, the Ahmedabad police recovered some official documents of the GMB from his possession. Since these documents are government property, the board officials approached us and lodged a complaint against Langa and an unidentified employee of the GMB (who gave him documents)," the SP added.
Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad crime branch on Tuesday arrested five more persons in connection with its ongoing probe into the GST fraud case, a release by the crime branch said.
With this, the crime branch has so far arrested 14 persons, including Langa, after the registration of an FIR earlier this month.
The crime branch on October 7 registered the FIR against several persons and entities after getting a complaint from central GST over an alleged scam of floating bogus firms with an intent to defraud the government by availing bogus input tax credit through fraudulent transactions, a release by the Crime Branch said.
