Veteran Cong leader, former MP minister Arif Aqueel passes away
Bhopal (PTI): Former Madhya Pradesh minister and senior Congress leader Arif Aqueel passed away on Monday at the age of 72 in a private hospital in Bhopal after prolonged illness, family sources said.
Aqueel, who was elected from Bhopal North assembly seat six times in his long political career, is survived by his wife, three sons and one daughter.
He won as an Independent MLA for the first time in 1990 and later joined the Congress. He emerged victorious from Bhopal North seat in the 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018 assembly polls. However, he lost the polls from Bhopal North in 1993 as a Janata Dal supported candidate.
He was a prominent Muslim face of the party and was cabinet minister in the Congress governments led by Digvijaya Singh (1996-2003) and Kamal Nath (2018-2020).
Both Singh and Nath expressed grief at the death of Aqueel.
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Trump says heavy bombing of Iran will continue ‘as long as necessary’
Washington/Tehran: US President Donald Trump has said that heavy bombing of Iran will continue “as long as necessary,” even as Iranian media insist that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remains alive and in command.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump referred to the alleged killing of Khamenei and called on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and police to join what he described as “Iranian patriots” in changing the government.
He said “that process should soon be starting” and claimed that Iran had been “very much destroyed and even, obliterated” in just one day.
“The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!” he added.
However, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim and Mehr news agencies have reported that Khamenei is “steadfast and firm in commanding the field,” rejecting claims about his death.
