Veteran Jammu and Kashmir leader and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has again been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged money laundering case. The 86-year-old, who represents Srinagar in the Lok Sabha, was summoned in the same case last month. But citing health reasons, he did not appear at the offices of the agency in Srinagar.

He is the latest Opposition leader — after Jharkhand’s former Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal — to be called in for questioning ahead of the national elections due in summer. Mr Soren has now been arrested after repeated no-show.
 
The case involves alleged siphoning of funds belonging to the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association or JKCA, which were apparently being transferred to personal bank accounts of various people, including the office bearers of the association.
 
Between 2001 and 2012, the BCCI (Board of Cricket Control, India) had given Rs 112 crore to JKCA for the development of cricket in Jammu and Kashmir.

The money laundering probe started in 2018 after the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a chargesheet against the office-bearers.

Mr Abdullah, who was the chairman of the cricket association at the time, was chargesheeted by the Central agency in 2022.

The chargesheet against him claims that during his tenure as the cricket association chief, Mr Abdullah diverted the funds received by the officials and others in the name of development of the game and used it for personal gains.

The funds were first sent to many private bank accounts and were later divided among the accused, the chargesheet alleged.

A teacher from a school in Karnataka’s Mangaluru has been dismissed after an uproar from a right-wing group over alleged derogatory comments on the Mahabharat, Ramayan, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The group, supported by BJP MLA Vedyas Kamath, alleged that a teacher from St Gerosa English HR Primary School in the coastal town taught students that the Mahabharat and the Ramayan were “imaginary”.

They alleged the teacher spoke against PM Modi too.

The group alleged the teacher referred to the 2002 Godhra riots and the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case while speaking against PM Modi. She is trying to “induce feelings of hatred in the minds of children”, the group said in a complaint.

They also held protests on Saturday, and today the BJP MLA joined them, demanding the suspension of the teacher.

The Deputy Director of Public Instructions (DDPI) is investigating the case. The school has removed the teacher over the alleged remarks.

“St Gerosa School has a history of 60 years and to date, no incident like this has happened. This unfortunate incident has created a temporary mistrust between us and our move will help rebuild this trust with your cooperation and we all work together for the better future of our students,” the school said in a letter.

So far, no First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against her.

The Rashtriya Lok Dal will be joining the NDA, party chief Jayant Chaudhary made it clear today, indicating that the deal is sealed with workers and leaders on board. All that remains is the formal announcement, which can be expected shortly after the birth anniversary of his father Ajit Singh, which is being marked today.

Asked about reports that his party leaders are not too happy about the decision, Mr Chaudhary said, “I took this decision after speaking to all the MLAs and workers of my party. There was no big planning behind this decision, we had to take this decision within a short time because of the situation”.

“We want to do something good for the people,” he added.

#WATCH |Delhi: On joining NDA, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary says, “…I took this decision after speaking to all the MLAs and workers of my party. There was no big planning behind this decision, we had to take this decision within a short time because of the situation. We want to… pic.twitter.com/oCokYUX8gA

— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2024

This was the clearest speech from Mr Chaudhary on the subject that had kept the Opposition, especially Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi party on tenterhooks so far. On Friday, asked whether he was ready to join the BJP, the 45-year-old had said, “Is there anything left to be done? How can I refuse?”

While the BJP had made its offer to the RLD that week, promising a Rajya Sabha seat, two Lok Sabha seats (Baghpat and Bijnor likely) and two ministerial berths from Uttar Pradesh, Mr Chaudhary had been on the verge of acceptance. Then the BJP sweetened the deal on Friday with a Bharat Ratna for Chaudhary Charan Singh, former Prime Minister and the grandfather of Mr Chaudhary.

“Dil jeet liya mera (They have won my heart),” Jayant Chaudhary had said on the occasion, after which he was asked whether he was ready to join the BJP.

The defection of the RLD on the heels of Nitish Kumar in Bihar will reinforce the perception that the INDIA bloc is a united front and give credence to the BJP’s divided house claims. Besides Nitish Kumar,
Arvind Kejriwal with his Aam Aadmi Party and Mamata Banerjee with her Trinamool Congress have already done the heavy lifting.

The change of camp by the RLD is also likely to cost the bloc a chunk of Jat votes in western Uttar Pradesh. While the party may not have the heft to win too many seats on its own, the support of Jats can make the difference between victory and defeat in a handful of seats including Baghpat, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh, Agra and Moradabad.

Western Uttar Pradesh has 29 of the state’s 80 seats. The RLD was offered seven by the Samajwadi Party last month, but the lack of clarity over the constituencies had created confusion and uncertainty in the RLD ranks.

The Samajwadi Party, which has been in denial so far, is yet to comment on the RLD chief’s remarks.