Agriculture Minister Plants Paddy in Ayodhya Amid Ram Temple Donation Row, Congress MP's Empathy Goes Viral, SC Warns Lawyers on Self-Incrimination
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited Ayodhya district on Thursday as part of his ministry’s ‘Khet Bachao Abhiyan’ (Save Fields Campaign), amidst ongoing controversy over Ram Temple donations. Chouhan interacted with farmers and participated in paddy plantation activities in their fields. He arrived in Lucknow from Delhi with around a dozen senior ministry officials and met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The minister did not visit Ayodhya town or the Ram Temple as he had to return to Delhi the same evening. He directed some officials to proceed to Pantnagar in neighbouring Uttarakhand, where Chouhan is scheduled to address an alumni event on Friday. Officials undertook a six-hour road journey to reach Pantnagar by evening.
Separately, the Congress party’s communications team has noted the compassionate gesture of MP Imran Masood during a press conference in Bhopal as part of the party’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ (Students’ Voice) campaign. Masood, representing Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, invited a student to the briefing. When the youngster broke down while discussing exams and his hard work, Masood quickly consoled him with a hug. The communications team has begun sharing the video and plans to use it on social media to highlight the empathy shown by the Congress MP.
In the Supreme Court, the prosecution opposed a request from some lawyers convicted in a murder case for more time to surrender so they could entrust their pending briefs to other lawyers. The prosecution informed the court that the lawyers’ Bar Council licence to practise had been suspended since 2017. Justice B V Nagarathna, presiding over the bench, cautioned: “Advocates, what all you do we don’t want to express. Even if you are barred, you will be practising… We can say many more things explaining ourselves. So don’t tell against another advocate. If you point one finger, three will point at you.” The court granted the convicts one more week to surrender.
