Togadia ends 'indefinite fast' on health grounds
Gandhinagar, April 19: Citing health reasons, former VHP leader Pravin Togadia on Thursday called off his "indefinite fast" and said he will now travel across the country to build pressure vis-a-vis his demands, including building a grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya.
Togadia had begun his fast here on Tuesday in support of the Ram Temple and other issues.
Togadia, a diabetic, said there was deterioration in his health and hence he was calling off his hunger strike.
"I am calling off my fast at the insistence of 'sants' who called on me. They have also asked me to resolve to work for the welfare of Hindus."
The former Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader lost three kg in weight. Doctors present at the fast venue feared that his kidneys could be affected due to fasting and require hospitalisation.
Togadia was demanding that Parliament pass a law to facilitate the construction of a grand Ram Temple at the site of the former Babri Masjid in Uttar Pradesh.
He said he will also campaign for an end to debt of farmers, employment for youths and women welfare.
"I will begin to travel across the country from this weekend," he said, adding he also wanted a ban on cow slaughter, revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution and resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits who displaced in the Valley.
Taking a jibe at the Modi government, Togadia said: "Those elected in 2014 have performed worst than those who ruled before 2014. I will work to build an alternative that works to meet the aspirations of the people."
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi "should, instead of travelling abroad, visit the homes of people" in the country.
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Ajit Pawar wins Baramati battle, defeats nephew Yugendra by more than 1 lakh votes
Baramati, Nov 23: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Ajit Pawar on Saturday won from his traditional Baramati assembly constituency by defeating his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar by more than one lakh votes.
Ajit, who parted ways with his uncle Sharad Pawar last year and was seeking an eighth term from this family bastion in Pune district, polled 1,81,132 votes while Yugendra Pawar polled 80,233 votes.
Ajit, thus, defeated his younger brother's son by 1,00,899 votes.
Five months ago, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) had triumphed in Baramati in the Lok Sabha elections, with incumbent MP and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule defeating Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes.
Both the NCP factions did not leave a single stone unturned during the assembly campaign, and even Sharad Pawar's wife Pratibha Pawar and Sule's daughter Revati were seen campaigning for Yugendra, while Ajit Pawar brought his mother on stage during his concluding rally in Baramati.
While Sharad Pawar told the people of Baramati that they needed a new leadership, alluding to Yugendra Pawar whom he described as a highly-educated candidate, Ajit Pawar cautioned people not to fall prey to the "emotional pitch" by the senior Pawar.
After Saturday's results, Ajit Pawar, who along with several other NCP legislators sided with the BJP-Shiv Sena government in 2023, could claim to be the real political heir of his estranged uncle who founded the NCP in 1999.
Sunetra Pawar, now a Rajya Sabha member, thanked the people of Baramati for reposing their faith once again in `Dada' (elder brother in Marathi, as Ajit is fondly called).
