Telangana police on Saturday arrested Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy over allegations of extortion.

Warangal Subedari police arrested the MLA from Huzurabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad and shifted him to Warangal for questioning.

The MLA will be produced before a court later in the day.

A case was registered against Kaushik Reddy at Subedari Police Station following a complaint by a granite quarry trader that the BRS leader threatened him, demanding payment of Rs 50 lakh.

Manoj Reddy, who operated a quarry in Vanagapalli in Kamlapur mandal, lodged a complaint through his wife Ramadevi that, citing public outcry over the granite quarry, the MLA extorted Rs 25 lakh and was demanding another Rs 50 lakh.

Reacting to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's statement that "we will not give water from the Indus River to Punjab," Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Neel Garg questioned the statement and accused Abdullah of deliberately politicizing the water issue.

Neel Garg stated that the authority to decide on river waters lies with the Central Government. Hence, Omar Abdullah cannot take a unilateral decision on this matter. He emphasized that Punjab needs water, and therefore, Punjab should also get a share of the Indus River's water.

Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on Friday extended a formal invitation to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu to grace the inaugural ceremony of the annual conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, India region Zone II, being held from June 30 and July 1 in Dharamsala, the state’s winter capital in Kangra district.

Speaker Pathania informed that the conference will see participation from delegates representing Zone II, which includes Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir.

Among the attendees will be the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Speakers and Deputy Speakers of state Legislative Assemblies, Leaders of the Opposition, Chief Whips, and MLAs from member states.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday expressed surprise at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s statement claiming his state had complete water rights over the Indus Water system and urged the Centre to undo the historic injustice done with Punjab by the then Indira Gandhi government while deciding distribution of water of the Indus Water Basin.

In a statement released here, former Minister and senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said it was a historical fact that the then Indira Gandhi government had done great injustice to Punjab while giving away a huge share of river waters to the non-riparian state of Rajasthan. “Every time, it is Punjab which suffers the most. River waters were snatched from Punjab,” he said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Friday that his government has accepted the cabinet subcommittee (CSC) report on reservations, which has been sent to the law department for examination and comments.

The cabinet met on Wednesday to discuss the CSC report on reservations. The ruling National Conference (NC) government had formed a CSC comprising five of its ministers to make recommendations on ‘rationalisation of reservations for government jobs’, in order to make the reservations open and merit-friendly.

As per the existing reservations for STs, SCs, OBCs, residents of backward areas (RBAs), residents of the Line of Control (LoC), physically challenged candidates and horizontal reservations, open merit candidates have to compete for only 30 per cent of the advertised government jobs and seats in various professional courses.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab Senior Spokesperson Neel Garg has firmly refuted the misleading claims made by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal regarding power tariffs and industrial policies in Punjab. Setting the record straight, Garg highlighted the SAD-BJP regime's abysmal track record and contrasted it with the transformative governance under the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government.

Garg stated, “The Day Tariff, which Mr. Badal is lamenting about, was introduced in 2017 during the Congress government, not under AAP's administration. The Akali Dal-BJP government left behind a legacy of corruption, inefficiency, and debt. We inherited this mess and have worked tirelessly to clean it up.”

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Thursday greeted the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on his birthday.

In a post on ‘X’, Revanth Reddy called the LoP Rahul Gandhi the ‘hope of India’.

“Happy birthday to hope of India, my leader, embodiment of silent strength, true visionary, compassionate & wise, who has people’s interests in his heart, and a soldier fighting for the idea of India, an inspiration for all those who truly love India, and above all, one of the finest humans I have ever met,” reads the post.

Setting the tone for International Day of Yoga to be held on Saturday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday led a yoga session at his residence, hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to promote yoga globally.

CM Dhami wrote on X, “Under the guidance of the respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodiji, our government is making unprecedented efforts to promote yoga on a wide scale. Yoga programs are being organised in every district of the state, in which a large number of local people are participating.”

“We have approved the new yoga policy in Uttarakhand. This will create about 13,000 new jobs. All the residents of the state are requested to include yoga in their daily routine and contribute actively in building a healthy, aware, and developed nation,” he said.

President Droupadi Murmu is expected to celebrate her 67th birthday in Dehradun on Friday and review preparations for throwing open Rashtrapati Niketan, the 186-year-old Presidential Retreat in the Uttarakhand capital, for public viewing from June 24, an official said.

The estate, spread over 21 acres, is being thrown open to the public as part of an initiative to increase citizen engagement with the President and the heritage of Rashtrapati Bhavan, said an official statement sharing details of the President’s engagement.

President Murmu will visit the Rashtrapati Niketan on Friday to review the preparations for the opening of the Estate for the public, the statement said.

She will also lay the foundation stone for Rashtrapati Udyan, a 132-acre ecological park on the occasion, said the official, adding that it is likely to be completed by next year.

The ruling Congress party in Karnataka celebrated the birthday of Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, with fanfare on Thursday in Bengaluru.

The event was organised at Central College Grounds in Bengaluru to mark the birthday of LoP Rahul Gandhi. The event was organised under the leadership of senior party leader B.V. Srinivas. On the occasion, a portrait of LoP Rahul Gandhi made using 30,000 notebooks was unveiled.

Battery-operated tricycles, wheelchairs, and laptops were also distributed to specially-abled sportspersons.

An eye donation registration camp has also been organised by the Youth Congress under the leadership of Karnataka Youth Congress President H.S. Manjunath. The camp will be held on Thursday at 3 pm at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office on Queen’s Road, Bengaluru.

Participating in the event at the Central College Grounds, Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar stated, “Rahul Gandhi’s message is that every section of society should receive protection and that the Constitution must be safeguarded.”