The Malabar Hill police registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 302 and launched an investigation into the matter

US president Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald trump on Wednesday secured nominations as presidential candidates for the elections later this year, setting up a rematch between the rivals after four years.

Both Mr Biden and Mr Trump, who had already disposed of their primary challengers, secured enough delegates in the states of Mississippi, Washington and Georgia to push them over the threshold needed to become their parties’ nominees in the November election.

To choose a presidential nominee, an indirect election or primary is held where voters decide the number of delegates each party convention receives and these delegates in turn select the party’s presidential nominee. In primaries, candidates need a majority of delegate votes at the convention to win the party’s presidential nomination.

“Voters now have a choice to make about the future of this country. Are we going to stand up and defend our democracy or let others tear it down? Will we restore the right to choose and protect our freedoms or let extremists take them away?” news agency Reuters quoted Mr Biden as saying, soon after the win.

Biden vs Trump: The Challenges

The 77-year-old, who is the first former US president to go on trial in a criminal case to hide hush money payments to a porn star, has been juggling court appearances while on the campaign trail. Mr Trump faces 91 felony counts on four indictments including attempting to overturn the 2020 election. He is also the only American president to be impeached twice.

Mr Biden’s return to the White House has been obstructed by majority voters believing he is too old to serve another four-year term. The ongoing crisis at the US-Mexico border, where an influx of migrants has overwhelmed the system, is another weakness for the 81-year-old leader. The recent murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley allegedly by an illegal immigrant has also become a flashpoint with the two parties.

After a fiery State of the Union address, the US president hit out at his Republican rival accusing him of threatening democracy. “I will not bow down,” he declared as he vowed to reinstate Roe vs Wade to stop the Republicans’ push to restrict abortion rights.

With agency inputs

After days of hectic discussions, the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, has made more headway in their seat-share talks.

The NDA partners have finalised the four seats from where Ajit Pawar will field its contestants, sources told NDTV.

Sharad Pawar’s nephew, the leader of the “real” NCP, will field candidates from Baramati, Raigarh, Shirur, and Parbhani. BJP will get 31 seats, while the Shiv Sena will contest 13.

Baramati is the Pawars bastion. For decades, the political family has fought from the seat and won. However, this year will see a contest between family members after a shock rebellion by Ajit Pawar split the party and its supporters. 

The sitting MP from Baramati and Ajit Pawar’s cousin, Supriya Sule, will likely face off with her sister-in-law and Mr Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar.

Ajit Pawar has fielded NCP’s Maharashtra president and sitting MP Sunil Tatkare to defend Raigarh against Anant Geete, who will likely be named to contest from this constituency by Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena. Mr Geete had earlier served as a Union Minister in PM Narendra Modi’s first term.

In Shirur, the NCP may field Pradeep Kand or Adhalrao Patil. Both leaders are not a part of the party. While Mr Patil, a former Shiv Sena MP, was appointed as the chief of the MHADA last month by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Mr Kand is the chief of a district cooperative bank in Pune.

The NCP will likely field Rajesh Vitekar against Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav – Parbhani’s sitting MP and a leader from the Uddhav Thackeray camp. Mr Vitekar is the president of the Parbhani Zilla Parishad.

In the seat-sharing talks so far, 31 of the state’s 48 seats will be contested by the BJP, 13 by Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and four by Ajit Pawar’s NCP.