The US Department of Justice has issued a statement alleging a foiled plot from India to murder a US-based Sikh separatist. The foreign ministry said earlier today that it was examining the inputs from the United States.

Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun — a dual citizen of the United States and Canada — was allegedly the target of the plot.
In a statement today, the US Attorney’s Office accused an Indian government employee of being part of a murder conspiracy.

The US Attorney’s Office has filed “murder-for-hire” and murder-for-hire conspiracy charges against Indian national Nikhil Gupta. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years.

“We have already said that during the course of discussions with the US on bilateral security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others. We had also indicated that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on our national security interests as well, and relevant departments were already examining the issue,” the foreign ministry here has said.

“In this context, it is informed that on November 18, the Government of India constituted a high-level Enquiry Committee to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter,” the ministry said.
India will take “necessary follow-up action” based on the findings of the committee, it added.

On November 20, the National Investigation Agency filed a case against Pannun, accusing him of issuing social media messages that said people flying with Air India were in danger. He had also claimed that Air India would not be allowed to operate on November 19.

Last week, the White House said the US is “treating a reported plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil with utmost seriousness” and has raised the issue with the Indian government “at the senior-most levels”.

The Justice Department statement come two months after a diplomatic row with Canada, following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar, who was the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force and one of India’s most-wanted terrorists, was  killed in June.

Refuting the allegations as “politically motivated”, India said Canada should share evidence — a request Ottawa has so far declined.   
 

OBC classification in Telangana caused a splintering of political power, with backward communities vying against each other for more reservation benefits.

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Telangana Election: Get Latest News on Telangana Assembly Election along with Updates on Schedule and Result Date | Hindustan Times 

OBC classification in Telangana caused a splintering of political power, with backward communities vying against each other for more reservation benefits. 

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi of K Chandrasekhar Rao, the state’s two-time Chief Minister, is hoping for a third consecutive term, buoyed by its social welfare programmes that had something for everyone.  
As the ‘founding father’ of Telangana – sliced out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 – the BRS also hopes to have the loyalty points that could see it through in this election.
But the Congress, its morale boosted by the victory in neighbouring Karnataka, has been in fighting mode under its new young chief Revanth Reddy.  
The party claims it has closed its gap with the BRS – created after the formation of Telangana and the death of its strongman of undivided Andhra Pradesh YS Rajasekhar Reddy — and is hoping to gain following the BJP’s corruption allegations against the Chief Minister.  
The BJP allegations come following Congress claims that the BRS and the BJP are secretly in collusion. The party had taken full advantage of the perception formed after Mr Rao’s daughter, K Kavitha, was not arrested by Central agencies despite her name figuring in the Delhi liquor scam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had approached him seeking a spot in the NDA, had added to the Congress’s advantages.
The BJP move to change its state chief Bandi Sanjay with soft-spoken Kishan Reddy on the eve of polls was also a move questioned by many. The party, desperate for a nice in Telangana after the loss  of Karnataka, has tied up with Jana Sena of actor-politician Pawan Kalyan.
Chief Minister KCR heads the list of top battles today. He is fighting on two fronts – against Congress’s Revanth Reddy in Kamareddy and the BJP’s Etala Rajender of the BJP in his home turf Gajwel.  
The other keenly watched contests would include M Krishna Rao of the BRS versus M Prem Kumar of the Jana Sena Party in Kukatpally; the triangular battle in Malkajgiri between Mynampally Hanumath Rao, who recently switched from the BRS to the Congress, BJP’s N Ramachander and BRS’s M Rajashekhar Reddy.
Telangana is the last of the five states to vote in this round of election that is seen as semi-final before next year’s Lok Sabha polls. The counting of votes for all five states will take place on Sunday.