UP man booked for announcing reward for beheading BKU's Rakesh Tikait in social media post
Muzaffarnagar/Meerut (UP), May 18 (PTI): A man has been booked over his social media post in which he allegedly announced a reward for anyone who beheads Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait.
With the viral post sparking protests by the followers of the farmer leader in Muzaffarnagar and Meerut, a case was registered against Amit Choudhry at the Civil Lines Police Station in Muzaffarnagar.
Station House Officer Ashutosh Kumar Singh said that in the viral video, the accused purportedly announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for the beheading of Tikait.
Led by the BKU's Muzaffarnagar district president Naveen Rathi, hundreds of protesters demanded immediate police action against Choudhry. Rathi said he has lodged an FIR against the accused.
In Meerut, BKU activists gheraoed Jani police station, demanding action against Chowdhury. BKU Meerut district president Anurag Chaudhary led a tractor-trolley protest and staged a sit on the police station premises.
Police in both districts issued statements regarding the registration of FIRs but did not elaborate on the accused and reasons why he made such statements against Tikait. It is part of the probe, they said.
ये अमित चौधरी है भाकियू (अटल) के राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष है, इन्होने किसान नेता राकेश टिकैत का सिर कलम करने पर 5 लाख के इनाम की घोषणा की है। इस बयान को लेकर किसान यूनियन ने थाने का घेराव कर FIR दर्ज करने की मांग की है। #Bijnaur @OfficialBKU @RakeshTikaitBKU pic.twitter.com/0y2WEZTxoM
— Lokesh Rai (@lokeshRlive) May 18, 2025
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Cong performed better in Kerala, anti-incumbency trends influenced WB, TN: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the Congress had largely met or exceeded expectations in several States, even as results in some regions reflected shifting voter sentiments.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said the party accepted the mandate in Assam while performing better than anticipated in Kerala.
He also pointed to possible anti-incumbency trends influencing outcomes in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
“In Assam, we got the expected result, and we accept the people’s mandate. In Kerala, we have won more seats than expected. We anticipated around 76 to 80, but we have gone up to around 95,” Siddaramaiah said.
In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, there may have been an anti-incumbency trend, and that could have influenced the results, he added.
Siddaramaiah also extended his congratulations to a new political entrant in Tamil Nadu, noting the emergence of a different electoral dynamic in the State.
“I congratulate the new entrant who has achieved success there,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said electoral outcomes in some States had diverged from the party’s internal assessments, reflecting evolving voter expectations.
“We expected a certain trend, but the results have been different. Political reading was wrong in some places,” he said.
“People were looking for change in some States, and that has been reflected in the results,” Shivakumar, who is also the Congress Karnataka unit president, said.
Referring to Kerala, he said the Congress-led alliance had benefited from public sentiment.
“There was already an expectation based on local body elections, and people had shown confidence in us. That has translated into a strong result,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
On Tamil Nadu, he acknowledged that the scale of political shift had come as a surprise.
“We expected to secure around 30 to 40 per cent of the vote share, but such a major shift was not anticipated. It shows that voter expectations were different,” he said.
Shivakumar added that electoral outcomes underscored the need for better political assessment in future.
“We have to understand these changes carefully. Political reading cannot go wrong like this,” he said.
