Afternoon briefing: Smriti Irani’s fresh dig at Rahul

Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Smriti Irani on Friday slammed the Congress’s position in Kerala, taking a swipe at senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting from the Wayanad constituency. Smriti Irani attacked the Congress for being challenged by its INDIA bloc partner CPI in Kerala, with the party’s star candidate contesting against Rahul Gandhi. The Communist Party fielded its general secretary Annie Raja From the Wayanad constituency in Kerala against Rahul Gandhi. The BJP has fielded its Kerala chief K Surendran from Wayanad, making it a three-way battle. Taking a swipe at the Congress, Smriti Irani said during a Karnataka rally, “The condition of the Opposition is that they are fighting in Wayanad. Left parties are saying that why doesn’t Rahul Gandhi go to Uttar Pradesh and contest. But when the same Left goes to Delhi for an INDI Alliance meeting, they hug Rahul Gandhi.” Dig Deeper
A Delhi court on Saturday extended the judicial custody of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia till April 18 in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja extended Manish Sisodia’s judicial custody after he was produced before the court on the expiry of the judicial custody granted earlier. His party colleague Sanjay Singh, a co-accused who was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in the case, also appeared before the court for the proceedings. Manish Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26, 2023, for his alleged role in the “scam”. The ED arrested Sisodia in a money-laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023. Dig Deeper
NIA team attacked in Bengal’s East Midnapore, bricks pelted at vehicle; 1 officer injured. Dig Deeper
PM Narendra Modi’s Ghaziabad roadshow today: Avoid these routes | Traffic advisory. Dig Deeper
NCERT adds abrogation of Article 370, revises definition of Left in textbooks. Dig Deeper
Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde to contest from Kalyan seat: Devendra Fadnavis. Dig Deeper
‘Delhi mein hugging, Karnataka mein…’: Smriti Irani’s jibe at Rahul Gandhi amid Amethi buzz. Dig Deeper
‘Huge impact’: Lakshadweep sees surge in tourists after PM Modi’s visit. Dig Deeper
Meghan Markle strongly warned ahead of Prince Harry’s UK visit for how ‘she has acted for…’ Dig Deeper
Indian woman gets US citizenship at the age of 99, netizens question American dream. Dig Deeper
Iran tells US to ‘step aside’ as it readies response to Israel’s consulate attack. Dig Deeper
Jaya Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan’s granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda co-founded Aara Health and also started the NGO Project Naveli in her early twenties. In an interview to ETimes, the 26-year-old opened up about coming from privilege and how it played a role in her career. Navya joined her father Nikhil Nanda’s business at 21, and now also hosts her vodcast What the Hell Navya, featuring mom Shweta Bachchan, herself and Jaya. Dig Deeper
It appears the time has come to draw the line with Ravindra Jadeja. He is not an impact player anymore. Be it with the bat or ball, he has been found wanting on countless occasions in recent years. We don’t have to go back too far to understand how ineffective he has been though. On Friday night against Sunrisers Hyderabad, batting at No.5, he scored a 23-ball 31*. While most of the Chennai Super Kings batters’ approach was questionable, scoring at a strike of around 135 at that number particularly hurt CSK who lost their second successive game. Jadeja then bowled exactly the way he batted and returned figures of 0/30 in his four overs. Dig Deeper