Vande Mataram Row: Sambit Patra Invokes Gandhi, Slams Congress Over 1937 Resolution

The Election Commission of India has officially allocated interim names and symbols to the two factions of the Trinamool Congress following a split in the party. The faction led by Mamata Banerjee has been named Mamata All India Trinamool Congress with the symbol of a football player. Meanwhile, the rebel faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee has been designated as the Democratic Trinamool Congress with an envelope symbol. The original TMC name and symbol have been frozen pending a substantive determination by the commission. These temporary allocations will be used for the upcoming by-elections in West Bengal's Rajnagar and Nandigram constituencies scheduled for October 6. The split comes amid ongoing legal battles in the courts and before the speaker regarding disqualification petitions and control over party assets, while political opponents have described the internal developments as an implosion within the party.

Surendra Kohli, who was convicted and later acquitted in the infamous Nithari serial killings case, has been found dead at a tea stall in the Bhupatwala area of Haridwar. According to local police, information was received around 11:30 AM about a man found hanging by a rope inside a small kiosk. Police took the body into custody for postmortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death, while initiating a formal probe into the incident. An Aadhaar card recovered from the deceased confirmed his identity as Surendra Kohli. Reports indicate that Kohli had been living incognito in Haridwar after being cleared of all charges by the Supreme Court and had set up the tea stall just three days prior. Haridwar police are currently treating the matter as a case of suspected suicide as forensic and medical assessments proceed.

Surendra Koli, who was acquitted in the Nithari murder case, has died by suicide by hanging in the Bhupatwala area of Haridwar city Kotwali. Police have taken the body into custody and initiated an investigation, with a post-mortem currently underway. Koli, who had been running a tea stall near Lal Mata Mandir in Bhupatwala for the past few days after his release from jail, had previously spent over a decade imprisoned before being cleared of all charges by the Supreme Court. Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident as medical reports are awaited to ascertain the definitive cause of death.

A speaker delivered a detailed critique of political history, recounting key moments involving leadership transitions, government dismissals, and party alliances across several decades. The address cited the 1969 presidential election controversy involving Neelam Sanjiva Reddy and Indira Gandhi, followed by later coalition developments involving leaders like Chaudhary Charan Singh, Chandra Shekhar, H.D. Deve Gowda, and I.K. Gujral. The speaker also highlighted historical milestones, including the landmark 1994 Supreme Court ruling in the S.R. Bommai case regarding floor tests, the 1993 Jharkhand Mukti Morcha bribery case, and the dissolution of various state assemblies over the years. Concluding the address, the speaker referenced regional leadership shifts in states including Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, and Punjab.