Tejashwi, Kushwaha, Sahni meet jailed Lalu over seat-sharing in Grand Alliance
Patna/Ranchi, Dec 29: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha and new entrant to the "Mahagathbandhan" (Grand Alliance) Mukesh Sahni met Lalu Prasad in a Ranchi jail Saturday as part of the process for seat-sharing in the opposition coalition in Bihar for the 2019 general election.
Prasad is lodged at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi on medical grounds, after his conviction in the multi-crore-rupee fodder scam cases.
Sources close to the jailed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo said preliminary talks were held between Prasad and the three leaders regarding seat-sharing in the anti-NDA grouping.
The RJD is the pivot of the "Mahagathbandhan" in Bihar and hence, Prasad's approval in finalising the allocation of seats is required.
The ruling Janata Dal (United), led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, poked fun at the leaders going to the Hotwar jail in Ranchi to "prostrate" before the imprisoned RJD supremo for finalisation of the seat-sharing.
At present, the Grand Alliance in Bihar comprises the Congress, the RJD, the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), Sahni's fledgling outfit, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav's Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD).
Sahni, a Bollywood set designer-turned-politician who has launched the VIP, joined the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) grouping last Sunday, hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the JD(U) and the Ram Vilas Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Delhi announced the seat-sharing formula among the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents for the 40 Lok Sabha segments in Bihar.
After the meeting with Prasad, Kushwaha, accompanied by Sahni, told reporters in Ranchi that the talks were primarily about the RJD supremo's health.
"There were some political discussions also, the details of which we need not make public. But, of course, we discussed the strategy to defeat the BJP-led NDA in both Bihar and Jharkhand," he added.
To a pointed query on seat-sharing among the Grand Alliance constituents, the RLSP chief said it would be discussed at a later stage.
"All the alliance partners were not present today. A seat-sharing formula must be arrived at in the presence of representatives of all the constituents," he added.
Asked whether he hoped for a bigger share in the Grand Alliance compared to when the RLSP was in the NDA, which had offered him only two of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, Kushwaha, who also reportedly wants the Chatra seat in Jharkhand for his confidant Nagmani, said, "Wait for the opportune time, you will get to know."
Prasad's younger son and RJD heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav also met the party supremo after Kushwaha and told reporters that there was no hurry to announce a seat-sharing formula.
"Our priority is to make the NDA bite the dust and not to make the number of seats a prestige issue," he said.
Meanwhile, Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha told a regional news channel in Patna that the seat-sharing formula would be worked out only after January 14.
"We think the Congress should get at least 12 (seats), but we will also have to take into account that we have to accommodate many constituents," he said.
January 14 is the date on which "Kharmas", a month considered inauspicious, ends. Prasad had reportedly sought the deferment of a decision on seat-sharing until that date, Jha said.
Meanwhile, the JD(U) launched a stinging attack on Prasad and former Union minister Kushwaha over the meeting of the two leaders in Ranchi.
JD(U) MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar issued a statement referring to Prasad as the "prisoner no. 3351" of the Hotwar jail and accused Kushwaha, whom he did not refer by name, of going to the Jharkhand capital to perform a "dandvat" (prostration) before the imprisoned RJD supremo.
"I had predicted that seat-sharing in the Mahagathbandhan will have to follow a dandvat by all the constituents at the Hotwar jail. It has been proved right," he said.
In a dig at Prasad over the allegations of illegal land deals levelled against him, most notably by Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, the JD(U) spokesperson hoped that those visiting the "prisoner no. 3351" had carried the records of their assets as they would have to part with some of those in return for an assurance of a ticket from Prasad.
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Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for doc's murder in hospital
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Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.
Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.
It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.
"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."
"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.
After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
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