Three women from India killed in US car crash; their Gujarat village holds prayer meeting
Anand/New York, Apr 27: Three women originally hailing from Gujarat’s Anand district and settled in the United States were killed in a deadly car crash in the US state of South Carolina, their relatives here said on Saturday.
The accident occurred on Friday on the Staunton Bridge Road along Interstate 85 near Lakeside Road, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol troopers, said a media report. The overspeeding car jumped at least 20 feet in the air before crashing into trees, it said.
Relatives in Gujarat have identified the three as Rekha Dilip Patel, Sangita Bhavnesh Patel and Manisha Rajendra Patel. They belonged to Vasna (Borsad) and Kavitha villages in Borsad taluka of the state’s Anand district.
The women were also related, they said. The husbands of Rekha and Sangita – Dilip Patel and Bhavnesh Patel, respectively – are brothers, while Manisha’s husband Rajendra is a cousin of the two men.
Except for Sangita's father Vitthalbhai, who lives near Kavitha village, all other family members of the three women and their husbands had shifted to the US long back.
“I have learnt that my daughter and two other women have died in a road accident on Friday in the US. A fourth woman, also a relative, has been admitted to a hospital there. They were going for an outing,” Vitthalbhai Patel told reporters here.
He said Sangita never returned to India after moving there nearly 20 years ago. His son had come here a few months ago for his marriage-related shopping, said Vitthalbhai.
Niranjan Patel, a resident of Vasna (Borsad), said a prayer meeting was organised in their village for the three women.
“Rekhaben and Sangitaben used to live with their husbands in Atlanta, Georgia, and were going towards South Carolina when the accident occurred. The villagers expressed grief during the prayer meeting,” said Niranjan Patel.
The accident victims were travelling in an SUV, according to Chief Deputy Coroner Mike Ellis from the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, Fox Carolina reported.
He said the vehicle left the roadway on the right-hand shoulder, ran up the embankment, went through the cement bridge embankment, and jumped completely over all four lanes of traffic. It then went through some trees on the other side and down an embankment, he added.
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Notices seeking CEC's removal refer to Rahul's dissent note, incidents of voter-list manipulation
New Delhi (PTI): Notices seeking a motion for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar flag issues ranging from the appointment process to his public attack on Rahul Gandhi and instances of alleged manipulation of votes in recent elections, an opposition leader said on Monday.
The notices, submitted in both Houses of Parliament on Friday, seek a motion for Kumar's removal from the CEC's post, as opposition MPs have cried foul over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls and raised concerns over the alleged manipulation of voters' lists on multiple occasions.
The process to remove the CEC is similar to that for the removal of a Supreme Court or high court judge, meaning an impeachment can be effected only on the ground of "proven misbehaviour or incapacity".
According to the opposition leader, the around-10-page-long notices refer to a dissent note submitted by Gandhi in February 2025, when Kumar was picked for the post. Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, is a member of the panel that appoints the CEC, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
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In his dissent note, the LoP had said, "It is both disrespectful and discourteous for the PM and HM to have made a midnight decision to select the new CEC, when the very composition of the committee and the process is being challenged in the Supreme Court and is due to be heard in less than forty-eight hours."
The notices also mention the CEC's public ultimatum to Gandhi from a press conference in August 2025. Amid allegations of "vote theft" by the opposition, a combative Kumar had asked the LoP to either apologise or back his claims with a signed affidavit, as required under electoral rules.
The notices also refer to allegations of manipulations in the voters' list raised by opposition parties in Karnataka's Aland and Mahadevapura.
The notices have been signed by around 130 members in the Lok Sabha and 60 in the Rajya Sabha. The signatories include leaders of the INDIA bloc parties, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and some independent MPs.
According to sources, the notices list seven charges against Kumar, including "partisan and discriminatory conduct in office", "deliberate obstruction of investigation of electoral fraud" and "mass disenfranchisement".
The opposition parties have accused the CEC of aiding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on several occasions, especially with the SIR exercise, which they have alleged aims at helping the ruling party at the Centre.
If the motion is admitted in both Houses, a committee will be constituted jointly by the Lok Sabha speaker and the Rajya Sabha chairman.
The committee will consist of the chief justice of India (CJI) or a Supreme Court judge, the chief justice of one of the 25 high courts and a "distinguished jurist".
The proceedings of the committee are like any court proceedings where witnesses and the accused are cross-examined.
The CEC, too, will get a chance to speak before the panel.
According to rules, once the committee submits its report, it will be tabled in the House and discussions will commence for impeachment.
A motion to remove a judge or, in this case, the CEC, will have to be passed by both Houses.
When the House discusses the motion, Kumar will have the right to defend himself standing at the entrance of the House chamber.
