Bhopal Diary

Express News Service

Pro-Pakistan comment lands man in troubleA 23-year-old man from Maihar town of Satna district is the first person in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh to be booked for sedition (Section 124-A IPC) over making “pro-Pakistan” comment on a FB post after the October 24 India Vs Pakistan T20 World Cup clash. Identified as Mohd Farooq, the accused has also been booked u/s 153-B, 504 and 505 on the complaint by a local BJP leader. On October 24 night, after India lost to Pakistan in the group match, the accused commented “Pakistan-Babar Azam Zindabad’ on an FB post about the match. The case was lodged a week later on Sunday. 

More Congress MLAs might switch to BJP in stateJust a week before the October 30 by-elections to 4 seats in Madhya Pradesh, a first time Congress MLA Sachin Birla joined BJP leaving the opposition party stunned. If sources in ruling BJP in the capital, Bhopal, are to be believed, there will be more such high-profile exits of Congress MLAs, who could quit from the Vidhan Sabha before joining the BJP in the coming months. According to a senior BJP leader, three to four Congress MLAs, including one from Malwa-Nimar region, two from Bundelkhand region and one from Mahakoshal region are in touch with BJP state leadership. 27 Congress MLAs have joined the BJP since March 2020, when 22 Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalist MLAs joined the BJP scripting the fall of the Kamal Nath-led regime.

UP cadre IPS officer from MP named in suicide noteA 2012 batch UP cadre IPS officer Ashish Tiwari, who hails  from MP’s Itarsi town is among three men named in a suicide note purportedly written by Punjab National Bank officer Shraddha Gupta before committing suicide at rented accomodation in UP’s Ayodhya on Saturday. While police probe has revealed that Shraddha’s ex fiance Vivek Gupta (also named in the suicide note) was close friend of the IPS officer, the police officer’s kin claim that Vivek Gupta wasn’t their son Ashish Tiwari’s close friend. Vivek without Tiwari’s knowledge was using his name to build pressure on Shraddha for marriage. 

MLA booked for poll code violationJust a day before the results of the October 30 by-polls are out, one of the Congress candidates and an independent MLA have been booked by Burhanpur police for poll code violation. Former Congress MLA Raj Narayan Singh Purni (party’s candidate for Khandwa Lok Sabha seat by-poll) and independent MLA from Burhanpur seat Surendra Singh ‘Shera Bhaiya’ have been booked for violating poll code by campaigning in a place of worship even after close of campaigning for the October 30 by-poll. The duo has been booked under Section 188 and 126 of Representation of People Act.

Anuraag singhOur correspondent in  Madhya Pradesh [email protected]