Author: LokMarg

Walking on the ramp for the first time dressed in a bridal attire Shehnaaz Gill made a stunning appearance and looked extremely pretty.

Looking exquisite in a Red Samant Chauhan Lehenga, Shehnaaz won everyone’s heart. She started off walking confidently as the showstopper of the fashion show and then danced her heart out on Sidhu Moose Wala’s song ‘Sohne Lagde’.

Shehnaaz took to Instagram to share the video, she wrote, “Debut walk done right! Walked for the super talented designer @samantchauhan. Thank you people of Ahmedabad for making us extra special for me! Your hospitality and love are immeasurable. #ShowStopper #ShehnaazGill”.

Fans were in awe of her as they left comments praising her for her Ramp debut. A fan wrote, “Most gorgeous punjabi bride #shehnaazgill”.

Another one wrote, “Most Beautiful Showstopper Ever, Keep Shining like the brightest star #shehnaazgill”.

And, another Instagram user echoed similar sentiments and wrote, “I’m so proud of you Gill, you nailed your first ramp”.

On the work front, Shehnaaz was last seen in the Punjabi film, ‘Honsla Rakh’ opposite Diljit Dosanjh. She is reported to make her Bollywood debut very soon. Due to Shehnaaz’s close proximity to Actor Salman Khan, fans have been speculating that she will be seen in his next film ‘Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali’.

‘Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali’ will have Pooja Hegde as the female lead, alongside Aayush Sharma and Zaheer Iqbal. (ANI)

Seven terrorists including three Pakistanis were killed in encounters with security forces in the Valley, said Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir Vijay Kumar on Monday.

“An encounter began in Kupwara on Sunday. Two LeT terrorists from Pakistan were killed yesterday itself. Another Pakistani terrorist was gunned down early morning today. A local terrorist from Shopian, Showkat was gunned down along with him,” IGP Kashmir told ANI.

“In Pulwama, a local terrorist of LeT was gunned down. In Kulgam, a local terrorist of Jaish-e-Mohammed and one Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist were killed. A total of seven terrorists killed so far. Three of them were Pakistanis and four were local terrorists. Encounters concluded in Kupwara and Pulwama. Search is underway in Kulgam,” added the official.

According to Jammu and Kashmir Police, encounters broke out between terrorists and security forces in Chatpora area of Pulwama and in DH Pora area in Kulgam on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Kupwara Police launched a joint anti-terrorist operation alongwith the Army’s 28RR on the disclosure of an arrested terrorist Showket Ahmed Sheikh.

Security forces are on alert as there have been incidents of targeted killings in Kashmir and sections of the minority community had threatened that they were preparing for mass migration if the government did not relocate them.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who was on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, had urged the people not to allow inimical forces to break the social fabric and noted that the electoral process is likely to begin in the coming months.

Rajnath Singh also made a veiled reference to Pakistan and said some forces were trying to sow seeds of hatred in the Union Territory.

He said there is a foreign conspiracy in the recent targeted killings in Jammu and Kashmir and such attempts would be foiled.

He was addressing an event held here today to mark the 200th anniversary of Maharaja Gulab Singh’s ‘Rajyaabhishek ceremony’.

“I appeal to the people here that the social fabric of Jammu and Kashmir should never break rising above religion, caste. There are some forces here which have always tried to break this social fabric and promoted the radicals. Recently, attempts were made again to ignite hatred in J-K,” he said. (ANI)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday rejoined Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) ongoing investigation in connection with an alleged money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper for the fourth day.

The Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in Kerala arrived at ED headquarters at around 11.10 am accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi was questioned by the ED for over 27 hours for three straight days from June 13 to June 15. The Congress leader deposed before the ED investigators in the case for the first time on June 13.

He first sought exemption from appearance on June 16, following which he was called on June 17. But the senior Congress leader wrote to the ED to postpone his questioning citing the illness of his mother Sonia Gandhi. The ED then allowed him to join the probe on June 20 on his request.

As per official sources, the Congress leader, a Z+ category protectee of the Central Reserve Police Force after the Union government withdrew the Gandhi family’s Special Protection Group cover in 2019, has been confronted with several documents collated by the ED as evidence recovered so far in the case to get his version.

Rahul Gandhi has been questioned in detail about the ownership of Young Indian Private Limited (YIL) by the Gandhi family and its shareholding pattern in Associate Journals Limited (AJL), the company that runs the National Herald newspaper, said sources.

Investigators in the ED, sources said, have also questioned Rahul Gandhi to describe about the circumstances under which AJL was acquired by YIL in 2010, making it the owner of all assets owned by the National Herald newspaper.

The National Herald, started by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was published by the AJL. In 2010, the AJL, which faced financial difficulties, was taken over by a newly-floated YIL with Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda as directors, both of them Gandhi loyalists.

In a complaint in the Delhi High Court, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy accused Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds.

Officials familiar with the probe said Rahul Gandhi is being asked questions about the takeover of the AJL by YIL since the Gandhis have stakes in the latter.

The Congress leader is being questioned under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED has also recorded statement of Rahul Gandhi to know about the incorporation of the YIL, the operations of the National Herald and the fund transfer within the news media establishment.

The ED is also investigating the financial transactions as well as the role of party functionaries in the functioning of AJL and YIL.

National Herald is published by the Associated AJL and owned by YIL.

The ED has also taken the written statement of Rahul Gandhi under Section 50 of the PMLA.

Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal were earlier questioned in the case. Rahul Gandhi’s mother Sonia Gandhi has also been summoned by the ED to appear before the investigators in the case on June 23. She was admitted on June 12 to the Ganga Ram Hospital following post-Covid complications.

There are allegations that AJL was founded in the 1930s to print National Herald and had 5,000 freedom fighters as shareholders. AJL is now in Gandhi’s family ownership. AJL declared in 2008 that it would not print newspapers anymore and will enter real estate.

In 2010, a new firm called YIL is incorporated with Rs 5 lakh and with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi among other Congress leaders as directors. It pledges to do charity but does none till 2016, as per allegations.

It is also alleged that AJL’s 9 crore shares (99 pc of all) are transferred to YIL and that Rahul Gandhi alone holds 75 per cent shares while Sonia and other senior Congress own the rest.

There is another set of allegations that Congress gave AJL a Rs 90-crore loan which Congress writes off in lieu of alleged ownership of AJL assets worth Rs 2,000 crore.

However, Congress claims that loan was given to pay salaries of AJL staffers and to save National Herald and that YIL is a not-for-profit company and its ownership still vests with AJL.

“YIL can’t pay dividends to shareholders and not a penny has moved. How can there be money laundering without any money changing hands.”

The case to investigate alleged financial irregularities under the PMLA was registered about nine months ago after a trial court took cognisance of an Income Tax Department probe carried out on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

Swamy had approached the court alleging that the assets of AJL were fraudulently acquired and transferred to YIL, in which Sonia Gandhi and her son owned 38 per cent shares each.

The YIL promoters include Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Swamy had alleged that the Gandhis cheated and misappropriated funds, with YIL paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that AJL owed to Congress.

Congress argued that YIL was a not-for-profit company under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 that can neither accumulate profits nor pay dividends to its shareholders.

Calling it a case of political vendetta, senior Supreme Court advocate and Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi had said, “This is truly a very weird case — an alleged money laundering case on which summons are issued with no money involved.”

The federal agency’s move followed the questioning of senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Treasurer Pawan Bansal in April this year in New Delhi in connection with its money laundering probe into the National Herald case.

The agency then recorded the statements of both the Congress leaders and then under the PMLA. While Kharge is the CEO of YIL, Bansal is the Managing Director of AJL.

All roads leading to the ED office in central Delhi are barricaded by the police amid heavy deployment of Rapid Action Force personnel and Delhi Police.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will hold a meeting with the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and the Sub-Divisional Officers (Civil) – SDOs on Monday to review the flood situation and disaster preparedness.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “In wake of ongoing situation of floods & to review preparedness, will connect with my cabinet colleagues, DCs and Civil SDOs on June 20, 9.30 am onwards from my office via VC.”
The Indian Army continued flood relief operations for the fourth consecutive day, informed officials on Sunday. The relentless relief operations in inclement weather conditions have been carried out in seven districts of Assam.

“14 composite columns have been able to rescue around 4500 stranded locals including critical patients, elders women and children. Alongwith rescue operations Indian Army columns also ensured timely supply to relief camps to support thousands of other locals,” read an official statement.

During relief operations numerous heartwarming stories came to light, one such story is of Captain Rupam Das who hails from Pathshala, Bajali district.

“Captain Rupam Das became an example of service before self. The dedicated Officer as part of the Indian Army Column for flood relief operations in Sathikuchi village in Nalabari District saved hundreds of lives in spite of his house and his family members stranded during the same time,” informed the Army officials.

His action is an exceptional example of selfless service to humanity, country people and the nation. Such inspiring acts manifest exceptional human values, strong military grooming and display the foundational qualities of the youth of the nation, added the statement.

In another incident, at Palepara village in Kamrup Rural, a cancer patient, a lady in her 40s, who was stuck for three days was rescued and further sent to the hospital in Guwahati for advanced health care.

Three elderly people in their 90s were rescued safely at Kadamtola and Holapara in Baksa District.

Nearly 31 lakh people of 32 districts – Bajali, Baksa, Barpeta, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Cachar, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Dima Hasao, Goalpara, Hojai, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Karbi Anglong West, Karimganj, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, Sivasagar, South Salmara, Tamulpur, Tinsukia, Udalguri, have affected in the second wave of the deluge.

More than 7.31 lakh people have affected alone in Barpeta district followed by 3.54 lakh people in Darrang district, 3.52 lakh people in Bajali, 2.41 lakh in Nagaon, 2.21 lakh in Goalpara, 2.18 lakh in Kamrup, 1.65 lakh in Nalbari, 1.14 lakh in Lakhimpur, 1.25 lakh in Hojai and 1.13 lakh in Bongaigaon.

Following the torrential rains in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring country Bhutan, the water level of all major rivers of the state are rising and many rivers are flowing above danger level marks in several places.

The water level of Beki, Manas, Pagladiya, Puthimari, Kopili, Jia-Bharali, and Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level mark in many places of the state. (ANI)

Congress workers will hold “peaceful” protests across the country on Monday against the “anti-youth” Agnipath scheme and the central government’s “vendetta politics” targeting party leader Rahul Gandhi, who is being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

Taking to Twitter, Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday, “Tomorrow lakhs of Congress workers across the country will continue peaceful protests against the anti-youth Agnipath scheme and against Modi government’s vendetta politics targeting its MP Rahul Gandhi. A Congress delegation will also meet Rashtrapati in the evening.”
A delegation of Congress leaders is also likely to meet President Ram Nath Kovind today and submit a memorandum on the issue of entry of Delhi Police into their party headquarters and the alleged misbehaviour with party MPs during protests against Rahul Gandhi’s ED questioning.

The grand old party held a ‘satyagraha’ on Sunday at Jantar Mantar in solidarity with the youth protesting against Central Government’s Agnipath Recruitment Scheme.

Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for the fourth round of questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald case

Regarding his questioning by ED on Monday, as per official sources, the Congress leader, a Z+ category protectee of the Central Reserve Police Force after the Union government withdrew the Gandhi family’s Special Protection Group cover in 2019, was confronted with several documents collated by the ED as evidence recovered so far in the case to get his version.

After the Agnipath scheme, which allows Indian youths to serve in the regular cadre of the Armed Forces for a period of four years, was announced on June 14, protests erupted in various states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Assam. As the agitation intensified in some places, protestors went on the rampage setting trains on fire, torching vehicles and damaging both private and public properties.

A total of 46,000 Agniveers will be recruited this year but a top military officer said it will go up to 1.25 lakhs in near future. The entry age for all new recruits in the Armed Forces has been fixed as 17.5 to 21 years of age.

However, following protests, the Central government announced an increase in the upper age limit for the recruitment of Agniveers from 21 years to 23 years for the recruitment cycle of 2022 as it has not been possible to undertake the recruitment during the last two years. (ANI)

As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for the fourth round of questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald case, his party will hold a peaceful protest across the country against the central government’s “vendetta politics”.

The Wayanad MP was questioned by ED from June 13 to 15 amid intense protests from party leaders and workers.
Notably, the ED had asked Gandhi to appear again on Friday (June 17), but he requested the officials to exempt him from appearing tomorrow and urged for a new date on Monday (June 20).

Later, ED issued fresh summons to Rahul Gandhi to join the investigation on Monday, granting his request to the agency to consider deferring his questioning from June 17 to June 20 citing his mother and party interim president Sonia Gandhi’s health condition.

Regarding his questioning by ED on Monday, as per official sources, the Congress leader, a Z+ category protectee of the Central Reserve Police Force after the Union government withdrew the Gandhi family’s Special Protection Group cover in 2019, was confronted with several documents collated by the ED as evidence recovered so far in the case to get his version.

Congress will hold peaceful protests across the country on Monday against the Agnipath recruitment scheme.

Taking to Twitter, Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday, “Tomorrow lakhs of Congress workers across the country will continue peaceful protests against the anti-youth Agnipath scheme and against Modi government’s vendetta politics targeting its MP Rahul Gandhi. A Congress delegation will also meet Honble Rashtrapati in the evening.”

A delegation of Congress leaders will also meet President Ram Nath Kovind today and submit a memorandum on the issue of entry of Delhi Police into their party headquarters and the alleged misbehaviour with party MPs during protests.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi was questioned in detail about the ownership of Young Indian Private Limited (YIL) by the Gandhi family and its shareholding pattern in Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company that runs the National Herald newspaper, said sources.

Investigators in the ED, sources said, had also asked Rahul Gandhi to describe the circumstances under which AJL was acquired by YIL in 2010, making it the owner of all assets owned by the National Herald newspaper.

The National Herald, started by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was published by the AJL. In 2010, the AJL, which faced financial difficulties, was taken over by a newly-floated YIL with Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda as directors, both of them Gandhi loyalists.

In a complaint in the Delhi High Court, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy accused Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds.

Officials familiar with the probe said Rahul Gandhi is being asked questions about the takeover of the AJL by YIL since the Gandhis have stakes in the latter. The Congress leader is being questioned under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). (ANI)

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday carried out searches at multiple locations in Jammu and Kashmir in a terror attack case, sources said.

The raids were learnt to be conducted mainly at locations of suspects in south Kashmir with the assistance of Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.
Sources said that the raids were conducted in connection with a case pertaining to an attack on the security forces on March 11 this year in Darasgarh, Pulwama.

The NIA sleuths are learnt to have picked a few suspects from their residence for questioning in the case.

The development comes days after the NIA conducted raids at four places in the Union Territory including three locations in Baramulla and one in Handwara district in the cross LoC Trade and terror financing case.

The case pertains to the generation of additional profits through a cross LoC trade mechanism between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and using funds so generated for fomenting terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

The trade was started in the year 2008 via two Trade Facilitation Centres (TFCs) located at Salamabad, Uri in Baramulla District and Chakan-da-Bagh in Poonch district.

On April 18, 2019, India indefinitely suspended cross-LoC trade at two points along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, following reports that it was being “misused” by elements from across the border to smuggle weapons, narcotics and fake currency.

The case was registered suo-moto by NIA on December 16, 2016.

The LoC trade across Chakan-Da-Bagh in the Poonch district of the Jammu region and Salamabad in the Baramulla district of north Kashmir was intended as a confidence-building measure (CBM) for the population living in Jammu and Kashmir and across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok). (ANI)

Multiple people, including a police officer, were shot at a music event on U Street Northwest in Washington, DC, at a location that is just less than 2 miles from the White House, local media reported.

“MPD (Metropolitan Police Department) is responding to the situation in the area of 14th and U Street, NW, for a shooting incident in which multiple people have been shot, including an MPD officer. Media staging at 15th and U Street, NW. Chief Contee to provide a media briefing,” said the DC Police Department in a tweet.
In a tweet, DC police Union also confirmed that a police officer was shot during the DC shooting. ” We can confirm that one of our members working in the area of 14th and U St NW has been shot. The member has been transported to the hospital and is in stable condition.”

According to a local media outlet, the shooting took place at or near the site of a Juneteenth music concert called “Moechella” on 14th and U Street. There are unconfirmed reports of more victims being found with one MPD officer being shot in the leg police are asking everyone to avoid the area, said local US media on Monday.

With increasing incidents of gun violence in the United States, President Joe Biden had said that the US needs to ban assault weapons for the sake of protecting children and families or raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21.

“We need to ban assault weapons. … if we can’t, then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21. Ban high-capacity magazines. Strengthen background checks. Enact safe storage laws and red flag laws. Repeal gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability,” he said.

He further said that this is not about taking away anyone’s rights. “It’s about protecting children. It’s about protecting families. It’s about protecting communities. It’s about protecting our freedoms to go to school, to a grocery store, to go to church without being shot and killed,” he said.

“This is not about taking away anyone’s guns…we believe that we should be treating responsible gun owners as examples of how every gun owner should behave,” he said.

On May 24, a mass shooting incident took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde in Texas in which several people including 19 children were killed. This was the deadliest attack since the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed, according to CNN.

On May 31, an elderly woman was killed and two other persons were injured when gunfire erupted at a high school graduation ceremony in New Orleans.

The shooting occurred outside the Convocation Center on the campus of Xavier University where graduates of Morris Jeff High School were gathered, NBC News reported citing New Orleans police.

On June 1, at least four people were killed in a shooting incident at a hospital campus in Oklahoma’s Tulsa city, CNN reported citing police. The shootout incidents in the US have been increasing. (ANI)

Over 80 trains have been cancelled and massive traffic jams are being witnessed across Delhi-NCR on Monday as some organisations have called for a “Bharat Bandh” to mark their protest against the Agnipath recruitment scheme unveiled by the Central government last week. This comes a day after Tri-service chiefs ruled out the withdrawal of the scheme.

The commuters in the national capital experienced difficulties in commuting as heavy traffic jams were reported in various parts of the city including at the Delhi-Gurugram expressway as Delhi Police installed barricades at various checkpoints in wake of the Bharat Bandh against the Agnipath Scheme.
Precautionary measures are being taken at various railway stations in many states as several stations were vandalised and many trains were set ablaze by agitators.

Over 80 trains have been cancelled on Monday amid the protests in various parts of the country against the new recruitment scheme in the Armed Forces.

Train services of the Western Railway zone were affected yesterday as well.

Security has been beefed up in several states on Monday amid protests against the Centre’s new Agnipath recruitment scheme.

States including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and others have increased security, considering the widespread violence that happened last week as thousands protested against the Centre’s decision.

“Police force has been deployed at multiple locations. We are ready to tackle any kind of situation that may arise. We also urge the youth to not get involved in any untoward activity,” Anupam Singh, DCP North, Howrah told reporters.

In Delhi’s neighbouring areas Faridabad and Noida, Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which prohibits the assembly of four or more persons, has been imposed.

Uttar Pradesh Police said that strict action will be taken against those found involved in jeopardising peace.

“Amid protests against Agnipath Scheme, anti-social elements may jeopardise peace. Section 144 imposed in Gautam Buddha Nagar and strict action will be taken against those found involved in such incidents,” said Ashutosh Dwivedi, ADCP, Law and Order, Noida.

Heavy traffic jams on the Sarhaul border had also been witnessed at the Delhi-Gurugram expressway as Delhi Police began checking vehicles in wake of the Bharat Bandh protest.

Earlier today, passengers at Gorakhpur Railway Station were troubled after trains got cancelled amid the Bharat Bandh call. “We have been waiting for three to four hours. When we checked train status last night, it didn’t say cancellation, but on reaching there we found out about it,” they told media persons.

On the other hand, all the schools in Jharkhand will remain closed today. “JAC exams for class 11 were scheduled for today. New dates will be announced for today’s exams,” Sister Mary Grace, Principal, Ursuline Convent School and Inter College told ANI.

According to an official order by the district administration, schools in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur will also remain shut today.

In Rajasthan’s Jaipur, prohibitory orders under section 144 have been imposed from 6 pm on Sunday till midnight of August 18 in the view of the possibility of disturbance to law and order due to the protests.

Punjab Police’s ADGP Law and Order has directed the CPs and SSPs across the state to be on alert and asked them to monitor the activities of social media groups which are actively mobilizing or spreading instigating information about the scheme.

Meanwhile, the train services of the East Coast Railway zone were affected amid the protests in various parts of the country, informed the railways’ officials on Monday.

A total of 18 East-bound train services scheduled from different Northern Railway terminals have been cancelled today, according to Northern Railways.

It further informed that as many as 71 Delhi area-bound commuter trains (including return services) have also been dismissed for today in the wake of the protests against the Centre’s Agnipath recruitment scheme.

On Sunday, train services of the Western Railway zone were affected amid the protests in various parts of the country against the new recruitment scheme in the Armed Forces. The train services had cancellations, partial cancellations and a few diversions of trains.

As the protests continue, a senior Army officer on Sunday clarified that the scheme will not be rolled back and said that it is the “only progressive step to make the country young”. (ANI)

Days after the Opposition’s meeting to mull strategy for the presidential poll, Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday held a key meet to brainstorm on the upcoming election slated to be held on July 18.

The meeting was chaired by the party’s national president JP Nadda at his residence and was attended by senior leaders like Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ashwini Vaishnaw, G Kishan Reddy, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Vinod Tawde, CT Ravi, Sambit Patra and others.

According to the sources, in the meeting that went on for almost an hour, the elections were discussed in detail. A big announcement is likely to be made soon.

“The management team will hold discussions with the party leaders in the BJP-ruled states and also get in touch with the other parties to seek votes for the NDA candidate for the poll,” said the sources.

Notably, Nadda and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh were entrusted with the responsibility of holding talks with all political parties. However, no major development has taken place in connection with the matter.

Both the leaders have held an interaction with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and other Opposition leaders. However, the party is expecting the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD and Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP to vote for the NDA candidate.

Opposition leaders, who met in the national capital on Wednesday announced that they have decided to field one consensus candidate for the Presidential poll scheduled to be held on July 18.

“Several parties were here today. We’ve decided we will choose only one consensus candidate. Everybody will give this candidate our support. We will consult with others. This is a good beginning. We sat together after several months, and we will do it again,” TMC leader Mamata Banerjee said after the meeting.

CPI MP Binoy Viswam who participated in the meeting said that Mamta Banarjee had proposed NCP’s Sharad Pawar’s name as the Presidential candidate of the Opposition. Pawar did not accept that proposal.

Leaders of 17 political parties joined a crucial meeting of opposition parties convened by Mamata Banerjee to build consensus on fielding a joint candidate against the NDA in the presidential election here.

TMC, Congress, CPI, CPI(M), CPIML, RSP, Shiv Sena, NCP, RJD, SP, National Conference, PDP, JD(S), DMK, RLD, IUML and JMM – participated in the meeting held at the Constitution Club of India here.