In an apparent reference to the political row over his visit to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud’s home for Ganesh Puja, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the “Congress and its ecosystem” were angry because he participated in Ganesh Puja.

Addressing a rally in Odisha’s capital Bhubaneswar, the Prime Minister said, “Ganesh Utsav is not just a festival of faith for our country. It played a very important role in the freedom movement.”

“Even at that time, the British who followed the policy of divide and rule used to hate Ganesh Utsav. Even today, the power-hungry people busy in dividing and breaking the society are having problems with Ganesh Puja. You must have seen that the people of Congress and its ecosystem are angry because I participated in Ganesh Puja,” he said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has asked its Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal to resign after her comments on senior leader Atishi, who has been named the next Chief Minister of Delhi by Arvind Kejriwal. Senior AAP leader and MLA Dilip Pandey said Ms Maliwal reads out the BJP’s script despite being sent to the Parliament by the AAP.

“Swati Maliwal takes the Rajya Sabha ticket from AAP but takes the script to react from BJP. If she has even a little shame, she should resign as a Rajya Sabha MP and choose the path to Rajya Sabha on a BJP ticket. If she wants to be in Rajya Sabha, she should get ticket from BJP,” said Mr Pande.

Gunshots have been ringing out in Bamako but the authorities now say the situation is under control. 

​Gunshots have been ringing out in Bamako but the authorities now say the situation is under control.