Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has assets worth Rs 20 crore, but owns no vehicle or residential flat, according to his affidavit to file nomination for the Lok Sabha election in Kerala’s Wayanad. Mr Gandhi has declared about Rs 9.24 crore in movable assets. This includes Rs 55,000 cash, Rs 26.25 lakh in bank deposits, Rs 4.33 crore in bonds and shares, Rs 3.81 crore in mutual funds, Rs 15.21 lakh in gold bonds and jewellery worth Rs 4.20 lakh.

The Congress leader owns immoveable assets worth Rs 11.15 crore. These include agricultural land in Delhi’s Mehrauli that he co-owns with sister and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Mr Gandhi also owns office space in Gurugram, currently valued at over Rs 9 crore. While the agricultural land has been mentioned as inherited property, the office space is not.

Mr Gandhi has also detailed in the affidavit the police cases he faces. These include a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) for allegedly disclosing the identity of family members of a rape victim in a social media post.

He has said that as per directions of Delhi High Court, the FIR is in a sealed cover. “I am, therefore, not aware of the details of the FIR. I am also not aware of whether I am arraigned as an accused in the FIR. I am, however, disclosing its existence out of abundant caution,” he stated.

The other cases against Mr Gandhi include those filed on complaints of defamation by BJP leaders. He has also mentioned in his affidavit the criminal conspiracy case linked to Associated Journals Limited.

Mr Gandhi won the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 general election. This time, he is up against CPI leader Annie Raja and state BJP chief K Surendran in the high-profile contest scheduled for April 26.

The unification of the four Flight Information Regions (FIRs) in India into one continuous airspace in Nagpur aims to enhance safety, reduce carbon footprint, reduce separations (between flights) and have more fuel-efficient flight paths for aircraft

Sanjay Nirupam, who was expelled by the Congress yesterday, has claimed that the party had issued the letter of expulsion immediately after he sent across his resignation last night. In a post on X, the former MP has shared his resignation letter, dated April 3. “Looks like, immediately after the party received my resignation letter last night, they decided to issue my expulsion. Good to see the such promptness. Just sharing this info. I will give detail statement today between 11.30 to 12 PM,” he said in the post.

Looks like, immediately after the party received my resignation letter last night, they decided to issue my expulsion.
Good to see the such promptness.
Just sharing this info.
I will give detail statement today between 11.30 to 12 PM pic.twitter.com/3Wil8OaxuE

— Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) April 4, 2024

Mr Nirupam was expelled by the Congress yesterday for six years on grounds of indiscipline and anti-party statements.

The action followed the Mumbai leader’s scathing remarks against Congress’s INDIA ally, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) over seat-sharing in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha election.

“Taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, Congress president (Mallikarjun Kharge) has approved the expulsion of Sanjay Nirupam from the party for six years with immediate effect,” an official communication from the party said.

The Maharashtra unit of the Congress had pushed for action against Mr Nirupam yesterday. He was also dropped from the party’s list of star campaigners for the upcoming polls.

Mr Nirupam wanted to contest the polls from the Mumbai North-West seat, where he lost to Shiv Sena’s Gajanan Kirtikar last time. But the Uddhav Thackeray-led party announced Amol Kirtikar – Gajanan Kirtikar’s son – as its candidate. Thereafter, Mr Nirupam had said the state Congress leadership must not get arm-twisted by Mr Thackeray’s party and he said the Sena faction cannot win any seat without Congress’s support. In a personal attack on Mr Thackeray, he said described him as the chief of “Bachi Khuchi Shiv Sena”.

He had also accused its candidate, Amol Kirtikar, of involvement in irregularities in a free food scheme during Covid, popularly known as Khichdi Scam.

Sitting MP Gajanan Kirtikar, who sided with the Eknath Shinde camp when the Shiv Sena split, has withdrawn from the contest after the Uddhav Thackeray faction propped up his son as its candidate.

The BJP, it is learnt, wants to field its candidate in Mumbai North-West as part of its seat-sharing understanding with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Mr Nirupam, who switched to the Shiv Sena to Congress in 2005, had earlier said that “all options are open” for him.

Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule has said people like Mr Nirupam are “always welcome” if his thoughts align with the BJP. “Seeing the political tenure of Sanjay Nirupam, he has done a lot of work for connecting people with Congress. He is well-recognised in North India. Talks with Sanjay Nirupam have not happened yet, but if he is ready and his thoughts align with the BJP, then people like him are always welcome,” he said.

The Eknath Shinde-led Sena has also sent out feelers. “If he wants to join us, we welcome him. However, the final decision in this regard lies with Eknath Shinde,” MLA Sanjay Shirsat has said.