New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Varun Gandhi on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court challenging invoking of National Security Act (NSA) against him by Uttar Pradesh government for allegedly inciting communal tension.

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Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi and Sandeep Kapoor appeared on behalf of Varun before a bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and sought permission to file the petition.

The bench allowed their plea that the petition be included in the mentioning list for Thursday.

The Uttar Pradesh government had booked Varun under the NSA on Sunday for the hate speeches.

— PTI

BJP missing Vajpayee: Sushma

Bhopal: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) acutely feels the absence of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from the present political scene, senior party leader Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday.

Swaraj described this time’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani and Vajpayee as an inseperable pair till the last general elections and said the former would feel the veteran leader’s absence the most.

Swaraj, attending a ‘meet the press’ programme was asked about the Supreme Court’s decision to deny film star Sanjay Dutt to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Lucknow seat and relied that it did not matter at all to the BJP.

The BJP feels Lucknow was Vajpayee’s seat and it did not matter at all whether Dutt contested the polls from there or not, she added.

— PTI

Uttar Pradesh denies underworld threat to Varun

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday refuted media reports that underworld don Chota Shakeel was plotting to kill Varun Gandhi, booked under the stringent National Security Act, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was transferred to high-security Etah jail only to ensure peaceful elections.

“News reports appearing in a section of media today is far from truth,” said Director General of Police Vikram Singh while reacting to reports in this regard.

Singh said the state government had sought the Election Commission’s permission to transfer Gandhi, the BJP candidate from Pilibhit, to Etah jail to ensure peaceful conduct of elections and to maintain public order in the constituency.

“On the basis of permission given by the EC, Varun was transferred to Etah jail last night,” said Singh, who was flanked by principal secretary home Fateh Bahadur Singh.

According to official sources, intelligence agencies had informed the state government a week ago about an intercepted telephonic conversation between Pakistan-based Shakeel and his key shooter Rashid indicating a plot to kill 29-year-old Gandhi, the day he came to surrender at a Pilibhit court.

Rashid was arrested in Karnataka last week after intelligence agencies intercepted the telephonic conversation between Shakeel and his aides between 15-21 March, the sources said.

— PTI