Srinagar: A large crowd gathered outside the district jail in Leh on Saturday to welcome the release of former Congress councilor Samla Dorje Narbu (36) and former Congress Jammu and Kashmir MLA Deldon Namgel (47) after they were granted bail by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.Police arrested Namgail on September 26, 2025, and Narboo a day later, following violent protests in Leh on September 24, in which four people were killed and around 80 others were injured in police firing against protesters demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh. The police had accused both of them of inciting violence and being present at the incident site, but both of them denied the allegations. With his release, all those arrested in the September 24 violence have been released on bail.Police said 38 policemen and 57 CRPF personnel were also injured in the violence. Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), two influential political and religious groups in Leh and Kargil, were demanding his release. LAB co-chairman Charing Dorji, who was outside the prison and greeted the two, said he was happy that the two had been released after being jailed for so long without anything.The HC on Thursday granted bail to the accused citing the Supreme Court judgment that the power to grant bail should be exercised compassionately. “The heinousness of the offense in itself cannot be a ground for denying the benefit of bail, if there are other weighty circumstances justifying the grant of bail,” the HC had said, adding that the state’s concerns can be addressed by imposing appropriate conditions. The court also said that “in the case of non-bailable offenses which do not entail punishment of death or life imprisonment, bail is a rule”.The court directed the accused to furnish a bond of Rs 1 lakh each to the satisfaction of the trial court and the jail superintendent. It imposed several conditions, including that the petitioners must cooperate with the investigating agency, participate in the trial proceedings unless exempted, refrain from influencing witnesses, must not commit any further crimes and must not leave India without the prior permission of the trial court and the investigating officer.In his application, Narbu said he was taking care of people on hunger strike at a hospital on September 24 who had fallen ill and was not present near the site of the incident. Environmentalist and LAB member Sonam Wangchuk had called for a hunger strike to pressure the Center to grant Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh. They closed it down after the September 24 violence.However, Namgel, in his application, said that the people of the area are raising their demands within the ambit of the Constitution and peaceful protest is a fundamental right. Their application stated that “the demands made by the people were completely patriotic in their reach as well as their expressions”. Although, he said, he was implicated in the case, he said he believed in non-violence.The state had opposed bail, saying both men were influential political figures who could abuse their positions. It alleged that Narbu and Namgal were present at the scene, were “active participants” and “key players” in the violence.Following the reorganization of the erstwhile state, Ladakh was carved out of Jammu and Kashmir and made a union territory on October 31, 2019. The region includes Muslim-majority Kargil and predominantly Buddhist Leh.Both districts are governed by elected autonomous councils handling local administration, while overall governance rests with a centrally appointed LG, without a Legislative Assembly – a structure that has prompted demands for full statehood and constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

AIADMK leader D Jayakumar (file photo)

New Delhi: Royapuram Assembly constituency in North Chennai has emerged as a major political battleground ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections on April 23, the counting of which is scheduled for May 4. Considered an AIADMK stronghold under veteran leader D Jayakumar for over three decades, Royapuram went to the DMK in 2021 after Idrim R Murthy won a decisive victory, reshaping its political landscape. For the upcoming elections, the DMK has fielded orthopedic surgeon Dr A Subair Khan, son of late party leader A Rehman Khan, to retain the seat. He faces a tough challenge from six-time MLA Jayakumar, who is trying to regain his former stronghold, relying on his long-term ties with the coastal community as a former fisheries minister. Jayakumar was the runner-up in 2021, losing to Murthy, who garnered 53.16% votes and a victory margin of over 27,000. However, in 2016, Jayakumar won the seat with a margin of 55,205 votes and 6.57%. Actor-politician Vijay’s TVK’s TV Somu and NTK’s Babumaylan are also in the fray. Royapuram: Home of fishing communities Royapuram has historically been a center of the working class, home to fishing communities, port workers and small traders. For many residents, especially fishermen, election concerns go beyond visibility, focusing on livelihood issues such as better access to markets and stable income. The constituency also faces significant urban challenges. Residents often cite severe air and dust pollution caused by heavy freight traffic, prolonged traffic congestion near the Royapuram bridge and frequent sewage contamination of drinking water. These issues have made infrastructure and environmental health central to the current election discussion.(With ANI inputs)

New Delhi: Opposition leaders on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his Women’s Reservation Bill address, where he accused the TMC, Congress, DMK and its allies of being guilty of “feticide” for not allowing the quota bill to be passed in the Lok Sabha.TMC MP Derek O’Brien said, “Narendra, the worst way to insult women is to use them as bait* to try to pass the Delimitation Bill.”TMC MP Mahua Moitra dismissed the PM’s speech as “theatrics”, and said that “women’s reservation has already been passed in 2023 and notified 2 days ago”.“Hello Narendra Modi – Your dramatization and your Godi media script will not hide the truth – Women reservation has already been passed in 2023 and notified 2 days ago. Now no one can stop you from implementing it and giving 1/3rd of 543 seats to women as TMC has done. In his address, PM Modi described the defeat of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, which sought 33% reservation for women and increasing the seats to 816 before the 2029 elections, as a major setback for women across the country, and apologized for failing to get it passed despite government efforts.He said, “Today I have come to talk to the mothers, sisters and daughters of the country. Today every citizen of India is seeing how the dreams of India’s women power have been brutally crushed. Despite millions of efforts, we could not succeed. For this, I sincerely apologize to all the mothers and sisters.”She said, “For us, national interest comes first. But for some people, when party interest becomes everything, then women empowerment and national interest gets affected. The same has happened this time too. The women of this country have had to pay the price for the selfish politics of parties like Congress, DMK, TMC and SP.”

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Addressed an election rally in Coimbatore on Saturday, where he told voters Tamil Nadu Will bring NDA to power and remove him DMK Government.“A new chapter is being written in Tamil Nadu politics. Tamil people are giving a clear message – NDA is in, DMK is out,” he said.