Esha Deol and her husband Bharat Takhtani have chosen to go their separate ways after being together for 11 years. In a joint statement released on Tuesday, the couple announced their mutual and amicable decision to separate. They also expressed their commitment to co-parenting their children and requested privacy during this time. 

“We have mutually and amicably decided to part ways. Through this shift in our lives, the best interests and welfare of our two children is and will be of utmost importance to us. We’d appreciate our privacy is respected,” read their statement provided to Delhi Times.

The news of Esha’s and Bharat’s split had been in the spotlight for quite some time. It began when Bharat didn’t attend his mother-in-law Hema Malini’s birthday party last year and was also absent from Esha’s birthday celebration.

Esha and Bharat were married in 2012. They have two daughters, Radhya and Miraya, who are currently six and four years old.

See Also: Gadar 2: Esha Deol gives a shout-out to Sunny Deol, says Let’s Hear The Lion Roar 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday doubled down on his attacks on the Congress, declaring party stalwart and former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said he was against reservations for marginalised communities because it “promoted inefficiency in the system”.

“I remember Nehruji a lot these days…” Mr Modi began, “He once wrote a letter to chief ministers, in which he said he was against reservation and that (it promoted) non-meritorious people.”

“Nehruji used to say that if SC, ST or OBCs get reservation in jobs, then government work standards will fall. He even stopped recruitment. What Nehruji said has been pathhar ki lakeer (‘set in stone’) for the Congress since. Your mindset can be understood through such examples,” the PM lashed out.

“The party has always been against the interest of SC and ST communities.”

“But we have always prioritised them… first Dalits and now Adivasis. Who are the beneficiaries of our schemes? All our works are for the SC, ST, and OBC communities,” the PM continued.

The PM also referred to President Murmu’s election; she is the first tribal woman to hold the post.

READ | Congress’s Slave Mentality Led To World Undermining India: PM

“Your (opposition to Ms Murmu) wasn’t for ideology. You made someone who went from BJP (former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha) the candidate. You were opposed to an Adivasi woman.”

The sharp comments on the Congress – part of a vitriolic attack in the Rajya Sabha (following similarly sharp remarks in the Lok Sabha Monday) – come weeks before a general election the BJP is expected to win, and one in which a caste survey/census, and reservation, are likely to be key poll planks.

READ | “Had No Faith In Indians’ Abilities”: PM Quotes Speeches By Nehru, Indira

On Monday the PM targeted both Mr Nehru and another Congress stalwart and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, claiming their speeches revealed they had no faith in Indians’ abilities.

“The Congress never trusted India’s potential. They always considered themselves rulers and belittled people,” the Prime Minister claimed, before he attacked Nehru (again) for the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. “Kashmiris have paid a heavy price for Nehru’s mistake…” he declared.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday borrowed from Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to take a swipe at the Congress ahead of a Lok Sabha election due in less than two months, declaring “I pray you can save at least 40 seats”. The Prime Minister was in the Rajya Sabha to take part in the Motion of Thanks discussion on President Droupadi Murmu‘s address to Parliament.

“The challenge has come from West Bengal… that the Congress will not be able to cross 40 (seats),” Mr Modi chuckled to a soundtrack of BJP MPs thumping desks, “I pray you can save at least 40”.

Ms Banerjee – whose relationship with the Congress and the party-led INDIA bloc is close to collapsing over a seat-sharing row – last week doubted the Congress’ ability to win “even 40 seats”.

READ | Doubt Congress Will Get “Even 40 Seats” In Lok Sabha Polls: Mamata Banerjee

The Congress has slumped to catastrophic defeats in the past two general elections, winning 72 seats in the 2014 poll and only 44 five years later. For contrast, in 2009 the party won 206 seats.

Her remarks followed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s claim that seat-sharing talks are ongoing.

Questioned over the Bengal leader’s apparent distancing from the INDIA bloc, Mr Gandhi indicated he remains optimistic an agreement between the two parties is still possible. “Neither Mamataji nor Congress has come out of the alliance… Mamataji is saying she is (still) in the alliance,” he said.

The Bengal Chief Minister responded with a scathing attack on Mr Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ – which has visited six districts as it marches to Maharashtra – and compared the foot march to a “mere photo opportunity” for “migratory birds”, one aimed at dividing minority votes in the state.

“I proposed Congress contest 300 seats… but they refused. Now, they’ve arrived in the state to stir up Muslim voters. (Now) I doubt whether they will secure even 40 seats if they contested 300.”

Ms Banerjee then dared the Congress to take on and defeat the BJP in Hindi heartland states like the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh; these send 134 MPs to the Lok Sabha and are ruled by the BJP, which dumped the Congress out of the latter two in November.

Trinamool-Congress ties are nearly at breaking point as a result of disagreements over dividing Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats between themselves and Left parties, which are also INDIA members.

Last month Ms Banerjee declared her party will contest all 42 on its own, and only consider an INDIA alliance after the election results, indicating her distrust in the bloc’s ability to challenge the BJP.

READ | “No Tie-Up With Congress”: Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal Twist Stuns INDIA

“I had no discussions with Congress. I have always said that in Bengal, we will fight alone. I gave them (the Congress) many proposals… but they rejected them. I am not concerned about what will be done in the (rest of the) country… but we are secular and, in Bengal, we alone will defeat BJP,” she said.

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