The media’s question on why a woman sarpanch’s brother-in-law was representing her at a Samajwadi Party event drew a sharp response from party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Asked why the sarpanch was not present and her brother-in-law was filling in for her, Mr Yadav had a counter question: “Why are all of you (reporters) male?”

The exchange took place at an event to distribute laptops among students who had performed well in exams. The event was being held at the Belhara panchayat area in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district. The organiser was local sarpanch Shabana Khatun, but she was missing. What’s more, her name was not on the hoardings either. Instead, her brother-in-law Ayaz Khan was present. It was his photograph on the posters, with “chairman” written next to him.

The Belhara panchayat seat is reserved for women. In the last polls, Ms Khathun was elected from there. But local residents say she never attends any panchayat event. It is her brother-in-law who takes all decisions of the panchayat, local residents say. Official documents are sent to the sarpanch’s home to be signed.

In fact, in several such reserved seats, husbands and other male relatives of woman sarpanches are known to be the de-facto sarpanch and the elected women do little more than sign documents.

At the event, a group of reporters asked Mr Yadav how a male relative representing a woman sarpanch can send a message of women empowerment. “Is this anything new? So many pradhanpatis (husbands of pradhans) are here. If this even a topic? Now, if I ask, why are all of you (reporters) male?” Mr Yadav replied to cheers from his supporters.

He then asked one of the reporters if there was no woman reporter in his channel who could have been sent for the event. “Send someone else then,” Mr Yadav said with a smile, adding, “I am only replying to your question.”

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested an employee of the Indian Embassy in Moscow, Russia, on charges of spying for Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI. The arrested individual, identified as Satendra Siwal, was working as a Multi Tasking Staff (MTS) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

The operation unfolded as ATS received intelligence from confidential sources suggesting that ISI handlers were enticing Indian Ministry of External Affairs employees, offering financial incentives in exchange for sensitive information related to the Indian Army. The information being obtained posed a grave threat to India’s internal and external security.

Satendra Siwal, a resident of Shahmahiuddinpur village in Hapur, was identified as a key player in this espionage network. He was allegedly extracting confidential documents by exploiting his position within the Indian Embassy in Moscow. The accused, motivated by greed for money, allegedly passed critical information concerning the strategic activities of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, and Indian military establishments to ISI handlers.

Following extensive intelligence gathering and surveillance, Satendra Siwal was summoned to the ATS Field Unit in Meerut for interrogation. During questioning, he reportedly failed to provide satisfactory answers, eventually confessing to his involvement in spy activities. Satendra Siwal has been working as an India Based Security Assistant (IBSA) at the Indian Embassy in Moscow since 2021.

Crime Branch officials reached the residence of Delhi minister Atishi today to serve a notice in connection with allegations that the BJP was attempting to “poach” Aam Aadmi Party MLAs.

Sources said Ms Atishi was not present at her residence. The minister, however, has given directions to her office staff to receive the notice, sources in the AAP said.

“The team will go again to serve notice to Atishi. This morning, she was not present at her residence,” a senior officer of Delhi Police Crime Branch said.

This comes a day after Crime Branch officials served a notice to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to reply within three days in a probe into his claims that the BJP attempted to poach seven AAP MLAs.

Mr Kejriwal and Ms Atishi are scheduled to lay the foundation stones of two schools in Rohini later in the day.

On January 27, Mr Kejriwal and Ms Atishi had claimed that the BJP was trying to poach AAP MLAs by offering Rs 25 crore each and a ticket to contest next year’s assembly poll to topple the AAP government.

The BJP had rubbished the allegations, terming them “false” and “baseless”, and dared the chief minister to furnish evidence to back his claims.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)