Breaking News Live: Hello and welcome to the ABP News LIVE Blog. Follow this space to get the latest developments and breaking news from India, including India’s nation mourning as a mark of respect to its ex-Japanese premier Shinzo Abe, seeking to corner the ruling BJP over the issue of terror, Mumbai rains, Covid’s latest update, Monkeypox, and other developing stories across the country and abroad.
India Pays Tributes To Its ‘Great Friend’ Shinzo Abe, State Mourning Today
India on Friday announced a day of mourning as a mark of respect to its “great friend” ex-Japanese premier Shinzo Abe, whom President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a statesman and an outstanding leader.
Describing Abe as his “dear friend”, Modi said as a mark of India’s deepest respect, one-day national mourning shall be observed on July 9. The national flag will be flown at half-mast throughout India on Saturday on all buildings where it is flown regularly.
Abe, 67, the longest-serving prime minister of Japan, was assassinated in the west Japanese town of Nara while he was campaigning for his party. He was airlifted to a hospital for emergency treatment but was not breathing and his heart had stopped. He was later pronounced dead despite emergency treatment.
“I find it difficult to believe that Shinzo Abe is no more. He was a great statesman, and his infectious affability endeared him the world over. That he fell prey to an assassin’s bullet is a tragedy for the whole humanity. My heartfelt condolences to his family and the people of Japan,” President Kovind said on Twitter.
Congress’ Presser Today Across India To ‘Expose’ BJP
Seeking to corner the ruling BJP over the issue of terror and its alleged links with terrorists, the Congress will on Saturday hold a series of press conferences in 22 cities across the country.
Congress leaders said the aim is to counter the BJP’s “fake nationalism claims” and to take the message to the grassroots level that the ruling party has “connections” with individuals who have indulged in heinous crimes and terror acts.
The Congress has alleged that one of the prime accused in the killing of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur was a BJP member. It has also released his photographs with BJP leaders in Rajasthan.
Murmu To Meet Bengal’s BJP Lawmakers On Saturday To Seek Their Support
NDA presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to visit Kolkata on Saturday and meet BJP MPs and MLAs from West Bengal to seek their support for the July 18 poll to elect the first person of the country.
Murmu is visiting various states to garner support from lawmakers and is at present campaigning in her home state of Odisha.
She will arrive in Kolkata around 10 AM on Saturday, BJP sources said. “Later in the day, she will meet BJP lawmakers at a hotel in the New Town area,” a BJP leader said.