Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLA Lasya Nandita died today in a tragic road accident in Hyderabad. The 37-year-old, who was a first-time MLA, suffered serious injuries after her vehicle lost control and collided with the road divider.

Lasya Nandita was rushed to the hospital immediately after the accident, and later died at the hospital. The driver involved in the crash is reported to be critically injured and is currently receiving medical treatment.

Just ten days ago, Lasya had survived another accident in Narkatpally where she sustained minor injuries. On February 13, while she was on her way to Nalgonda to attend a rally by the Chief Minister, an accident occurred, resulting in the death of her home guard.

Lasya Nandita, a prominent figure in the political landscape, had previously served as a corporator from Kavadiguda since 2016.

Born in 1986 in Hyderabad, Lasya Nandita made her foray into politics around a decade ago. She served as a corporator in the Kavadiguda ward before being elected as MLA from Secunderabad Cantonment in the 2023 Telangana assembly elections.

Senior BRS leader KT Rama Rao took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his condolences at Nandita’s sudden death. The driver involved in the crash is reported to be critically injured and is currently receiving medical treatment.

After her father’s death last year, Lasya was entrusted with the responsibility of carrying forward his legacy. In the November 2023 elections, she secured a victory after being nominated as the party’s candidate.

As the Congress labours through intense seat negotiations with INDIA bloc allies ahead of the national election, Rahul Gandhi dialled Uddhav Thackeray yesterday to discuss the deadlock over eight of Maharashtra’s 48 seats.

Rahul Gandhi, who is in the middle of a Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, reportedly spoke to the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader for an hour.

The Congress, say sources, want to contest three of Mumbai’s six Lok Sabha seats – Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North West. Uddhav Thackeray reportedly wants to contest 18 Lok Sabha seats in the state, including four in Mumbai – Mumbai South, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East and Mumbai South Central.

For the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar’s NCP and the Congress, the seat talks are entirely uncharted territory as the parties formed the ideologically mismatched alliance after the last Lok Sabha election in 2019. The three have managed an agreement on nearly 40 seats but negotiators are stuck on eight seats.

The undivided Shiv Sena fought 22 of 48 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and won 18, including three in Mumbai.

Uddhav Thackeray’s party ended its 25-year alliance with the BJP months later, after failing to agree on power-sharing terms following the Maharashtra state polls.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed after the Shiv Sena split and Eknath Shinde’s faction formed a new government with the BJP.

Earlier this year, Sharad Pawar’s NCP suffered a similar rupture, with the veteran’s nephew Ajit Pawar joining the Eknath Shinde-BJP coalition government.

The Congress fears a similar exodus after two of its prominent leaders in Maharashtra, former chief minister Ashok Chavan, and Milind Deora, crossed over to the BJP.

The defections have complicated the seat negotiations for the Maharashtra opposition allies.

Sources say Uddhav Thackeray’s party, after the Congress defections, wants a greater share in Mumbai seats.

However, sources assert that Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge are all determined to make it work, aware that for each party, it is a battle for survival.

The Congress recently sealed difficult seat sharing deals with Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party.

The party has also redoubled efforts to close a deal with Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has refused to part with more than five of her state’s 42 seats.

Alia Bhatt has wrapped filming for her next, Jigra. The Vasan Bala directorial also features The Archies actor Vedang Raina.

Alia Bhatt surprised fans on Thursday with photos from the sets of Jigra alongside her co-star Vedang Raina. The two can be seen sitting together and sharing a cute candid moment.

Check it out here:

Alia captioned the post, “Jigra oh… abki teri baari ho #VedangRaina & that’s a film wrap on #JIGRA @Vasan_Bala @swapneel25. See you soon… 27th September 2024 at a cinema near you.”

Vedang reacted to the snaps in the comments section. He wrote, “The best ever.”

Jigra was announced in September last year. While much of the film’s details have been kept under wraps, it is touted to be a tale of a sister’s love for her brother.

Jigra will release on September 27, 2024.