New Delhi [India], March 22 (ANI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will arrive in Kerala on Monday as part of campaigns for the upcoming assembly polls.
“Rahul Gandhi will be in Kerala tomorrow to begin a two-day visit to the State,” Congress tweeted on Sunday.
He will take part in public meetings organised at several districts.
On February 24, Gandhi had taken a dip into the sea with fishermen in Kerala’s Kollam. Later he joined them for fish and experienced their daily lives.
Congress is contesting 91 seats in the Assembly polls. Among the United Democratic Front (UDF) allies, Indian Union Muslim League ( IUML) will be contesting on 27 seats, Kerala Congress, the splinter group headed by PJ Joseph having prominence in Christian dominated Kottayam-Idukki belt will field its candidates contesting on 10 seats.
Under the UDF banner, the Revolutionary Socialist Party ( RSP) will field its candidates on five seats while the Mani C Kappan-led faction that broke away from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), ahead of assembly polls has been given two seats.
The election for 140-member Kerala Assembly will be held on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)

Chandigarh [Punjab], March 22 (ANI): The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP Punjab unit Convener Bhagwant Mann were “hand in glove” with the BJP led Centre and that Mann had given his assent to the implementation of the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 in a meeting of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Food and Consumer Affairs with AAP chief’s approval.
In a statement here, former minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said Kejriwal should have apologised to the farmers for the ‘sin’ committed by Mann during the AAP public function at Baghapurana on Sunday. “The very fact that he did not do so proves that Kejriwal sold off the interests of farmers to the BJP led central government.”
Stating that the actions of the AAP leadership had irrefutably proved that both Kejriwal and Mann were partners in crime in the conspiracy against the farming community, Dr Cheema said it was also now clear that Bhagwant Mann indulged in this “devious act” with the approval of the Delhi Chief Minister. “AAP has struck a deal with the centre at the cost of the welfare of the farmers of the country. It stands thoroughly exposed.”
Asserting that earlier also Mann had obliged the BJP government on the same issue, Cheema said Mann had walked out from the Lok Sabha when the Essential Commodities Act was tabled for amendment.
“At that time Mann made a false claim that the Bill was not put to vote. Now he has supported the same Act which proves that he is mixed up with corporate houses and did all this purposely to benefit them as well as the central government,” Cheema said.
The former minister also urged the youth not to be misled by Kejriwal’s promise to fulfill the commitments made by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh by giving them government jobs if the AAP government comes to power in the state. (ANI)

Shopian (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], March 22 (ANI): Two terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces here in Shopian in the early hours of Monday.
The encounter broke out at the Manihal area of Shopian and it is currently underway, police said.
“#ShopianEncounterUpdate: 02 #unidentified #terrorists killed. #Operation going on. Further details shall follow,” Kashmir Zone Police tweeted.
Earlier on March 16, two terrorists were killed in an encounter in Shopian. (ANI)

Purulia/Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 22 (ANI): Lashing out at the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that time has come to give a befitting reply to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led government, which is involved in “toll bazi”.
“A syndicate exists in West Bengal. People of West Bengal were bereaved from development. This toll bazi, syndicate money government which did not allow development…. time has come to give a befitting reply to this government,” Goyal said while addressing a poll rally in Purulia.
When there will be BJP at the Centre and West Bengal, both will work for the development, he said.
The BJP leader also referred to an incident where Banerjee refused to speak at an event organised to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary in Kolkata and asked if chanting Jai Shri Ram is a crime.
“Some days back, your CM refused to deliver a speech at a programme after someone from the audience chanted Jai Shri Ram. Is chanting Jai Shri Ram a crime? West Bengal is probably the only state where Durga idol immersion is stopped by the government,” he said.
Addressing another rally in Kolkata, Goyal targeted the TMC regime over “pathetic” infrastructure in West Bengal and also condemned violence in the state.
“It is a sad thing to see the pathetic condition of infrastructure in West Bengal. Violence is condemnable. Communist and Trinamool Congress governments were involved in violence and supported minority appeasement,” he said.
“People of West Bengal suffered misgovernance for years. The time has come to give a befitting reply to the Communist Party and Trinamool Congress… A double-engine government that boost up development is needed here. The survey reports are showing that BJP is forming the government with 200+ seats,” Goyal added.
Elections to the 294-member state Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)

Jhargram (West Bengal) [India], March 22 (ANI): A Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker was allegedly killed by BJP cadres near Netura bus stand area here on Sunday night.
TMC worker Durga Soren was admitted to Jhargram hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Later, TMC workers staged a protest and blocked road to protest the death of the party worker. Following this, huge police force was deployed in Jhargram hospital area.
“He was found unconscious from the road. After being brought to the hospital from there, the doctor declared him dead. We will see how soon the police take action. Later, we file an official FIR at the police station. I want to know from the BJP leaders…what is really the number of TMC workers who died due to attacks planned by them,” TMC spokesperson Debangshu Bhattacharya said.
The incident comes ahead of the Assembly polls in West Bengal. Elections to the 294-member state Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], March 22 (ANI): Doctors at a private hospital in Bhopal removed a 16-kilogram tumour from the abdomen of a 20-year-old woman after performing a 6-hour-long surgery on Sunday.
Hospital Manager Devendra Chandolia said it was an ovarian tumour and the surgery was performed successfully. The condition of the woman is stable.
“Two days back, she came from Rajgarh and her tumour was very large. She was having problems while eating and walking. This tumour is known as an ovarian tumour. The woman’s weight was 48 kilogram and the weight of the tumour was 16 kg. This is major surgery,” Chandolia told ANI.
“Chances of her survival would have diminished if it was not removed in time. The surgery went on for around six hours. She is out of danger,” he said. (ANI)