'The Amit Shah Show' in Jaipur
Jaipur, July 21 : With its plush interiors and latest Bollywood flicks, the city's Raj Mandir is as popular as any other tourist place.
On Saturday, instead of running Sanjay Dutt's biopic "Sanju", it hosted a different performance: the Amit Shah Show. The BJP chief came in along with an array of state BJP leaders. At the centre of attention were the party's social media volunteers.
Adorned with party flags, the hall brimmed over with around 5,000 volunteers who came from different parts of Rajasthan for tips on fighting the election battle in the state later this year.
"Since the city's auditoriums cannot accommodate so many volunteers, we zeroed in Raj Mandir," said a state party leader.
Amit Shah called upon the 'cyber warriors' to ensure that public welfare schemes reach every person of the state. "The aim for all of us is Mission 180 (winning that many seats in the 200-member Assembly)", he said. Sharing his winning tips with them, he said that "fake claims" of the Opposition should be given a befitting reply on social media platforms.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia also reposed her trust in the social media warriors.
For local party leaders, it was nothing short of a thrill.
Bhawarlal Mali, chairman, municipal corporation, Jalore, said Shah has infused a new life in the party members. "The party chief has told us to stay united and win these elections," he said.
Mukesh Rajpurohit, an ABVP member from Jalore, found Shah's advice quite encouraging. "Shah told us to seek help from our cyber warriors to win the Assembly elections. We will try to work on it," he said.
Anjana Sharma, corporator and BJP vice-president-Nagore rural, said Shah's visit to Jaipur and Modi's address in Lok Sabha on Friday have motivated the BJP workers. "Today, instead of watching reel-time heroes, we saw the real hero in Shah," she said.
BJP sources said Raj Mandir was booked for a day. The IT department's workshop for state working committee started at 11 a.m. and the cinema hall turned into a political venue.
After the culmination of IT department's workshop, the social media volunteers meeting continued in this iconic cinema hall which was addressed by Amit Shah. Other prominent leaders seen were national vice-president and Rajasthan in charge Avinash Rai Khanna, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia and other senior BJP leaders like V. Satish, Bhupendra Yadav, Chandrashekhar, Muralidhar Rao and Ramlal.
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Fisherman killed in crocodile attack in Odisha's Kendrapara
Kendrapara (Odisha) (PTI): A 48-year-old fisherman was killed in an attack by a saltwater crocodile in a village on the fringes of Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha's Kendrapara district, a forest officer said on Wednesday.
The forest and fire brigade personnel later retrieved the maimed body from a river.
The incident took place at Baulakani village in Mahakalapada forest range when the fisherman, Deba Kumar Mandal, was dragged into the water by a crocodile while he was casting a fishing net on Tuesday afternoon. His body was retrieved on Wednesday, the officer said.
Though the incident occurred outside the national park limits, the deceased fisherman's family would be covered under an ex gratia compensation payment scheme after post-mortem examination, Varadaraj Gaonkar, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) Forest Division, said.
As per the revised ex gratia compensation for human fatalities arising out of conflict with wild animals, the forest department will provide a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the bereaved family, he said.
Human-crocodile conflict in areas close to the national park has resulted in the loss of four human lives in the last 12 months.
The national park is home to 1,858 saltwater crocodiles in its water bodies and river system. No crocodile death has been reported in the last one year, the DFO said.
