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Tag: Gopal Mandal

  • Bihar MLA Gopal Mandal spotted on train in undergarments booked

    By PTI

    PATNA: An MLA of the ruling JD(U) in Bihar, who hit the headlines for travelling by a New Delhi-bound train in undergarments and quarrelling with co-passengers when they took umbrage, has been booked under various sections of the IPC besides the SC/ST Act, officials said here on Sunday.

    They said the FIR was lodged on Saturday at the GRP police station in Ara, based on a complaint lodged against the MLA Gopal Mandal.

    The complainant, Prahlad Paswan, had recorded his statement at GRP New Delhi on Friday soon after the train reached its destination.

    He alleged that he was traveling in the same compartment of Tejas Express as the legislator and had expressed his discomfort when he saw Mandal going towards the toilet in his vest and underpants.

    Paswan has alleged that he was physically attacked by the MLA and his cohorts, who asked him to disclose his name and abused him making reference to his caste.

    Paswan has also alleged that the attackers robbed him of some valuables, which included a finger ring, and forced him to drink water drawn from the lavatory tap.

    A zero FIR was lodged on the basis of Paswan’s complaint at New Delhi which was forwarded to authorities concerned here.

    The MLA, who represents Gopalpur constituency of Bhagalpur district, has so far not reacted to the various allegations made in the FIR though he had responded to the public outcry with the claim that he was suffering from dysentery and had felt the urge to relieve himself as soon as the train chugged off from Patna on Thursday evening.

    When asked for his comments, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is the de facto leader of the JD(U), said he would not like to say anything till investigation was on.

  • Ruckus in Rajdhani train after JDU MLA Gopal Mandal spotted in his innerwear

    Express News Service

    PATNA: JDU leader and MLA from Bihar Gopal Mandal found himself in an embarrasing situation after he was spotted wearing his innerwear while travelling in a special Rajdhani train late on Thursday night. 

    Travelling to the national capital along with two of his assistants, Mandal was reportedly returning from the washroom in his scanty clothing when a co-passenger expressed his objection. 

    Identified as Prahad Paswan, the co-passenger of the Patna-New Delhi Tejas special Rajdhani express got into an altercation with the MLA who reportedly hurled abuses at him. Paswan was also travelling with his family and objected to the MLA roaming about in his innerwear. 

    #WATCH I was only wearing the undergarments as my stomach was upset during the journey: Gopal Mandal, JDU MLA, who was seen in undergarments while travelling from Patna to New Delhi on Tejas Rajdhani Express train yesterday pic.twitter.com/VBOKMtkNTq
    — ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2021
    On reaching Delhi, media surrounded the MLA. Speaking to them, Mandal said, “I was only wearing the undergarments as my stomach was upset during the journey. I had to hurriedly use the toilet in the night.”

    As the incident created a ruckus, the Railway Police Force had to intervene and pacify both the parties in the A1 train coach. RPF IG of East Central Railway S Mayank, while confirming the incident, said, “Yes, this was brought to our attention on Train no 02909 Patna-New Delhi TejashSpl. The RPF reached the spot in the coach after being informed about some heated arguments between the MLA and a co-passenger.”

    He further stated that the RPF is trying to get the video of the incident. 

    The co-passenger, who raised the objection, has not filed any formal complaint against the MLA.

  • JDU MLA claims Nitish will leave CM post after six months, Tejashwi will form government

    By ANI
    BHAGALPUR: JDU MLA Gopal Mandal has claimed that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will step down from his post after six months and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav will form the government in the state.

    On Wednesday there was a phone conversation between Gopal Mandal and Bihpur MLA E Shailendra in which it was alleged that Gopal Mandal was abusing and using casteist slur. About this, the Navagachiya JDU held a press conference at the local hotel in Bhagalpur on Thursday.

    During the press conference, JDU MLA Gopal Mandal from Gopalpur denied the allegations in the viral audio and said that the viral audio was not correct.

    During this, he said that it was made viral by E Shailendra. “What kind of coalition is this,” he said.

    He even said, “After 6 months, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will step down from his post and the government of Tejashwi Yadav will be formed.”

  • JDU MLA Gopal Mandal claims he ensured BJP candidate’s defeat in adjoining Bihar seat

    By PTI
    PATNA: In an embarrassment to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), a party MLA has claimed to have ensured the defeat of an “arrogant” BJP candidate in an adjoining constituency by refusing to campaign in favour of the latter.

    A video clip of Narendra Kumar Niraj alias Gopal Mandal, the third-term MLA from Gopalpur in Bhagalpur district, went viral on social media on Tuesday.

    Mandal can be heard, in the clip, making many uncharitable remarks against district BJP chief Rohit Pandey who was fielded from Bhagalpur seat but lost to Ajeet Sharma of the Congress.

    Mandal says in the video “whoever I campaigned for, in adjoining seats, won. But, I did not canvas for Rohit Pandey who has a lot of arrogance (ghamand)” and he lost.

    Mandal also expressed resentment over Pandeys failure to greet him while they were sharing the dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an election rally.

    “The result BJP lost one of its pocket boroughs”, the MLA said.

    Named after the eponymous town, Bhagalpur was held by the BJP from 1990 till 2014 when Ashwini Kumar Choubey, the sitting MLA, got elected to the Lok Sabha from Buxar and ended up in the union council of ministers.

    Sharma wrested the seat for the Congress in the ensuing by-poll and retained it, defeating Choubeys son Arijit Shashwat, in the assembly polls of 2015.

    He made a hat-trick in the assembly polls last year, defeating Pandey by a slender margin of just over 1,000 votes.

    JD(U) leaders requested on condition of anonymity that Mandals averment must not be seen as the partys official line but a “personal opinion” of the MLA.

    This is the second instance, in recent past, of the party facing an embarrassment over the maverick MLAs behaviour.

    A few weeks ago, another video had gone viral in which the MLA was seen gyrating alongside dancing girls.

    BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand trained his guns at the JD(U) MLA over his remark that Pandey “did not look like a Brahmin”.

    “The remark betrays a caste-based complex (jaatiwadi kuntha)…such utterances lead to social chasms. Parties swearing by social justice must conduct workshops for educating their cadre”, he said.

    RLSP national general secretary Madhaw Anand, whose party is eyeing a return to the NDA fold, voiced disapproval of the “anargal bayaan” (nonsensical statement) and said leaders of parties must rein in their loose cannons.

    The Congress, meanwhile, chose to take a dig at the NDA over the episode.

    “This is kharmaas (an inauspicious month as per Hindu calendar, which ends on Makar Sankranti). Let the period end and there will be a kharmandal (turmoil) in the NDA which would be hard to control, “, said BPCC spokesman Rajesh Rathore.

    Rathores remark was an indirect reference to claims made by the RJD, its senior alliance partner in the state, about the possibility of NDA MLAs, mostly from the JD(U), crossing over to the Grand Alliance.

    The RJD has been insisting that JD(U) MLAs were feeling stifled on account of its diminished clout in the NDA and an aggressive stance adopted by the BJP which has returned with a tally, in assembly polls, far greater than that of the Chief Ministers party.