Rush Hour: Dhananjay Munde resigns, Samajwadi Party MLA booked for remarks about Aurangzeb and more

Nationalist Congress Party leader Dhananjay Munde resigned as Maharashtra’s agriculture minister on Tuesday after his aide Walmik Karad was named as an accused person in the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.

Munde cited health reasons but said he was pained by photos that were circulated widely online on Monday showing Deshmukh being assaulted. The photos were part of the chargesheet in the murder case. “It has been my firm demand since day one that the accused… should be given the strictest punishment,” he said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis accepted Munde’s resignation, while Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said Munde stepped down on moral grounds. The Opposition had been demanding his removal. Deshmukh was abducted and killed in Beed district in December. Karad, a former Nationalist Congress Party Corporator, surrendered last year, claiming he was framed. Read on.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has criticised remarks about the Maha Kumbh Mela made in a programme aired by Asianet News, a Malayalam TV channel in which he holds a stake.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Chandrasekhar claimed that several Malayalees had told him they were hurt by the programme. “They felt the programme was ridiculing the Kumbh Mela,” he wrote, directing the channel’s leadership...

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