The T20 World Cup 2024 gala featuring the Indian team reached the doorsteps of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. The Indian team, after landing in New Delhi around 6:00 AM freshened up at the ITC Maurya Hotel before taking the team bus to PM Modi’s residence. The Rohit Sharma-led team had a brief dance performance at the hotel after embracing a grand welcome. Not long after, the players, led by skipper Rohit, cut a special cake at the hotel before they headed off to meet the Prime Minister.

At around 1:00 PM, the Indian left PM Modi’s residence for the Delhi airport, from where they will be flying to Mumbai for the next round of celebrations.

#WATCH | Indian Cricket team meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.

Team India arrived at Delhi airport today morning after winning the T20 World Cup in Barbados on 29th June. pic.twitter.com/840otjWkic

— ANI (@ANI) July 4, 2024

Notably, the Prime Minister had congratulated the Men in Blue for their World Cup over a phone call after the final last Saturday. As per the schedule, the Indian team’s breakfast was planned with PM Modi.

The players reportedly have a flight to catch at 2:00 PM which will take them to Mumbai, where an open bus parade has been planned. BCCI secretary Jay Shah and Rohit had posted on social media on Wednesday, urging fans to turn up in large numbers to show their support for the side.

It would be a special moment for the 37-year-old Rohit, who is a Mumbaikar and a huge fan favourite in the city.

A similar road show was held in Mumbai 17 years ago when Dhoni’s team had beaten arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the inaugural 2007 World T20 in South Africa. 

Tired but excited, they acknowledged the waiting fans by waving at them and flashing warm smiles.

Suryakumar, who took the sensational match-winning catch of David Miller in the final, was the most animated in responding to the cheering.

Pant, who returned to international cricket at the just-concluded event after a life-threatening car accident, saluted the gathered crowd, while pacer Mohammed Siraj blew flying kisses in their direction.

Rohit and Player of the Final Kohli, both of whom retired from T20Is at the end of India’s campaign, were among the last to come out of the VIP exit.

Rohit raised the coveted trophy for the fans to catch a glimpse before boarding the bus. Kohli, on his part, gave a thumbs up to acknowledge the support.

In their excitement to see their heroes in person, some fans claimed that they had been waiting outside the airport since last night.

“We have been here since last night. It was very important for us to win this World Cup after losing the ODI World Cup last year,” a group of fans said.

The squad won the country its second T20 world title, ending an 11-year wait for an ICC trophy, on Saturday. India’s previous ICC title was in 2013 when it won the Champions Trophy under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

With PTI Inputs

Rajasthan BJP leader Kirodi Lal Meena, 72, has announced his resignation – at a public prayer meeting in Jaipur – from the state cabinet and all posts.

Mr Meena – who held multiple portfolios, including Agriculture and Rural Development – said last month, before counting of votes for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he would quit if the BJP lost any of the seven seats in eastern Rajasthan assigned to him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“…the PM spoke to me and gave me a list of seven seats. I worked hard (and) if the party loses even one seat out of that seven, I will leave the post of minister…” he declared hours before counting.

READ | Will Quit As Minister If BJP…: Rajasthan MP Kirodi Lal Meena

Given the BJP swept the state in 2014, winning 24 of its 25 seats (the 25th went to an ally), and it ousted the Congress from power in last year’s Assembly election, Mr Meena’s bet seemed safe.

However, in a plot twist not picked up by exit polls, the Congress-led INDIA bloc won eight seats – after failing to win even one in 2009 and 2014 elections. Four of those – Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa, and Tonk-Sawai Madhopur were among constituencies Mr Meena was tasked with winning.

In Dausa, the seat previously held by Mr Meena, the Congress’ Murari Meena thumped the BJP’s Kanhaiya Lal Meena, by 2.37 lakh votes, to reclaim the bastion of party stalwart Rajesh Pilot.

On Thursday, Mr Meena posted the famous Ramcharitramanas lines ‘Raghukul reeti sada chali aai, pran jaai par vachan na jaai‘ on X to underline his intent to keep his promise at any cost.

रघुकुल रीति सदा चलि आई।
प्राण जाई पर बचन न जाई।।

(श्रीरामचरितमानस)

— Dr.Kirodi Lal Meena (@DrKirodilalBJP) July 4, 2024

And he told reporters, “There is no reason for resentment. I have resigned. I did not go to the recent cabinet meeting… I could (not) go morally.”

Sources said a formal announcement was delayed because Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma had tried to persuade the senior tribal leader to reconsider his decision. “I also met the Chief Minister. He respectfully said he will not accept the resignation…” Mr Meena had said earlier.

Overall the BJP only won 14 seats – 10 down from its 2019 election score.

Across the country the BJP, expecting to win 370 seats on its own, and over 400 with its National Democratic Alliance partners, was restricted to 240 and 293, respectively, after a strong showing by the opposition. The Congress won 99 seats on its own – its best score in the past three elections.

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A son’s desperate search for his mother – one of many heartbreaking stories from Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras after 123 people were killed in a stampede at a poorly-planned public meeting by ‘godman’ Bhole Baba, who preached divinity from a swank ‘ashram’ built on 13 acres of land worth Rs 4 crore.

Meenesh Kumar’s plight mirrors those of hundreds – friends and families of those who died, crushed under the feet of panicked fellow worshippers – who, hours after the tragedy, run from one hospital to another, and back again, praying, ironically, their father, mother, son, or daughter is alive.

For many those prayers will fall on deaf ears, and they must shuffle into cold-hearted morgues to identify their kin. For the rest, and a tearful Mr Kumar is hoping to be among them, relief awaits.

READ | Suffocation, Chest Injuries: Agra Doctor On UP Stampede Deaths

And if he is so lucky, Mr Kumar told NDTV, “I will never let her to any ‘satsang’.”

Meenesh Kumar’s Story

“My mother said this ‘baba’ says good things in his ‘satsang’. I went once or twice… but she used to go to all… from Madhya Pradesh to Rajasthan, and in UP also. I told her, ‘you are too old… don’t go.’ But she did not agree. Now, if I find my mother, I will never let her go…” he told NDTV.

“I don’t know much about this baba…” he said and called on the state government – led by the Bharatiya Janata Party – to identify those whose negligence led to this disaster.

READ | “Organisers Tried To Cover Up Incident”: Yogi Adityanath

“The administration should know whose mistake this was… and they should correct it,” he said.

Meenesh Kumar lives in a village in UP’s Mainpuri district.

His mother, Ramkali Devi, 54, was among the 2.5 lakh people who trooped dutifully into a small open field in Hathras to listen to Bhole Baba, who has blamed “anti-social elements” – and not negligent organisers and aggressive private security, which includes an ‘army of women’, for this tragedy.

Ramkali Devi left her home on Monday. The ‘prayer meet’ was on Tuesday.

She has not been seen or heard since. And then, amid the gloom, there seemed to be a ray of light for Meenesh Kumar, whose search led him to the district hospital in Hathras.

READ | In Killer Stampede, One Entry, One Exit For Crowd Of 2.5 Lakh

Ramkali Devi, like you and I, and almost everyone else, has a mobile phone. Meenesh Kumar had been ringing it incessantly, hoping, almost against hope, she would eventually pick up.

And eventually a woman did… but it wasn’t his mother.

A stranger did. She said she would arrange for him to speak to his mother. Only she did not. When he called back, stranger things lay in store. “She told me my mother had gone to Agra,” he said.

“When I called again (a third time) she said, ‘Why are you troubling me?’ and switched off the phone,” a puzzled and even more worried Mr Kumar said.

“If Baba Has Powers…”

For many, even Bhole Baba‘s most ardent followers, this tragedy has hit hard.

READ | Siblings, Aged 3 And 9, Among Children Killed In Stampede

Binod, a resident of Hathras, said he had shredded posters of the ‘godman’ that once adorned his home… a home that was filled with his wife, his mother, and his daughter. Today all three are dead.

“I was away, I came to know about the stampede in the evening. I rushed home to find they are all dead,” he said, breaking into tears.

READ | “If Baba Has Powers…”: Victims Mourn, Pick Up Pieces

From the many who were injured, and the families of the dead, there is one loud message to Bhole Baba… a demand, now, for proof of his divinity. “If the baba really has powers and cares about us, he should come here and heal us…” is the resounding cry to the ‘godman’ and his many crores.

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