NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Vadra on Wednesday took a swipe on the BJP-led central and state government in Assam, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of running a “government of double-slavery.”Addressing a rally in Nazira, Priyanka targeted the BJP’s central campaign pitch, saying it had failed to deliver on its promises. “They had spoken of a double-engine government. Didn’t they say so in the last election? Modi ji used to come and say that now they will run a double-engine government. But they have run a government of double-slavery. Modi ji has become a slave to America and because of his policies today the entire country is in crisis. And Hemanta ji is Modi ji’s slave. And on top of that, they want this government of double-slavery to make the people of this beautiful and self-respecting state of Assam slaves, keep them suppressed,” she said.Priyanka urged voters to reject what she described as politics driven by fear and self-interest. “They only work for you when they see some benefit in it for themselves. This has not been the tradition of this country. Even today, we want a government in Assam which doesn’t scare you, doesn’t threaten you, doesn’t serve its own selfish interests, but serves you, works honestly for you, advances and strengthens your culture and your civilisation,” she added.She further alleged that the BJP government in Assam was functioning through intimidation and corruption, claiming that public resources were being misused. “It is not just that one leader is prospering. The biggest thing that happens due to corruption is that your money is snatched away. This money is meant to be used for you—schools, hospitals, roads, taps—but instead it is being used to build palaces and enrich families,” she said.Targeting the state leadership, Priyanka claimed that “only one family is looting everything in Assam,” while ordinary citizens continue to struggle. She also accused the BJP of failing to fulfil key promises, including raising wages for tea garden workers and granting Scheduled Tribe status to several communities. “Various tribal communities have been demanding ST status for years. The BJP had promised to accord ST status to them, but they failed to give it,” she said.Raising concerns about governance, she alleged that people were being coerced into attending rallies. “PM Modi and CM Himanta are ruling the country and state with fear and threats. Our fight is against that fear, and for protecting Assam’s culture and civilisation,” she said.Highlighting Congress’ promises, Priyanka outlined welfare measures her party would implement if voted to power. “If you want such an Assam, then choose the Congress government. Our first guarantee is that for women, if you want to start some small work or business, you will be given Rs 50,000. Whatever scheme we bring for women, its cash will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of women,” she said.She also promised expanded healthcare support. “You will get health insurance up to Rs 25 lakh. The government will provide free treatment up to Rs 25 lakh for whatever disease you have. Our government has already shown this in Rajasthan,” she said.Priyanka also raised the issue of justice for Assamese singer Zubeen Garg, asserting that it was a legitimate public concern. “The Congress government wants Zubeen Garg ji to get justice. Within 100 days, as soon as our government is formed, we will get him justice. Today, all local ‘Bhumiputras’ have received temporary land deeds. We will give permanent deeds instead of temporary ones to 10 lakh local sons of the soil,” she said.Rejecting accusations of politicising the issue, she said, “I honestly don’t believe that such things should be politicised. But I think that when there is a demand among the public that somebody who they revered and respected is not getting justice, then, as politicians, isn’t it our duty to say that yes, we are going to make every effort to give justice? How is that politicisation?”Calling for a political change, she urged voters to envision a “new Assam.” “Raise your heads, puff out your chests, and make up your mind that with the new government, a new Assam will come. Your Assam, that Assam which was Zubeen Garg ji’s dream, that Assam which is in your hearts, that Assam which is everyone’s dream, in which your children’s future becomes bright, in which this corruption stops,” she said. Congress is anti-development: PM ModiMeanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also mounted a strong counterattack on Congress during his rallies in the state. Addressing a gathering in Biswanath, he accused the party of being “the root cause” of corruption in independent India. “The entire country knows that Congress is anti-development and has been the root of corruption in independent India. In Assam, Congress committed acts that the people are well aware of. Congress has played with Assam’s identity, pride, and security. Since independence, it compromised Assamese identity for the sake of power and repeatedly neglected Assam’s interests,” he said.He further alleged that Congress had encouraged illegal infiltration for political gains. “They (Congress) have compromised with Assam’s ‘aatma’ (soul), ‘shaan’ (pride), ‘pehchan’ (identity) and ‘suraksha’ (security),” Modi said, adding that the BJP government had taken steps to remove encroachments and protect local identity.The Prime Minister also reiterated the BJP’s governance record, stating that the party’s “double-engine government” had ushered in development and stability. “The BJP’s 10-year rule heralded a new dawn of ‘seva’ (service) and ‘sushasan’ (good governance) in Assam,” he said.Modi further promised key policy measures if the BJP returns to power, including implementation of the Uniform Civil Code and protection of tribal rights under the Sixth Schedule. He also expressed confidence in securing a third consecutive term in the state.The political exchange comes as Assam heads into a high-stakes assembly election, with polling for all 126 constituencies scheduled for April 9 and counting set for May 4. The contest is expected to be a direct fight between the ruling BJP-led NDA and the Congress, with both sides intensifying their campaigns and sharpening their attacks in the final stretch.

Iranian strikes have left many of the 13 US military bases used by American forces across the Middle East “all but uninhabitable,” forcing the Pentagon to scatter troops across hotels, office spaces and other temporary sites as the war enters its fourth week.The damage has upended the way the US military is fighting in the region. With major bases hit, command centers damaged and support infrastructure disrupted, thousands of American troops have been pushed out of the facilities built to sustain war operations and into improvised locations, according to military personnel and American officials.

In effect, much of the land-based US military is now fighting the war while working remotely, even as fighter pilots and aircraft crews continue flying combat missions and maintaining warplanes for strikes on Iran.The shift has allowed the Pentagon to keep up its campaign, but current and former military officials say it has come at a clear operational cost.“Yes, we have the ability to set up expedient operation centers, but you’re absolutely going to lose capability,” said Master Sgt. Wes J. Bryant, a retired Special Operations targeting specialist in the US Air Force. “You can’t just put all that equipment on the top of a hotel, for example. Some of it is unwieldy.”A US military official said that troops are not working from the roofs of civilian hotels.There were close to 40,000 US troops in the region when the war began. Since then, Central Command has dispersed thousands of them, with some moved as far away as Europe, according to American military officials. Many others remain in the Middle East, though no longer at their original bases.Among the hardest-hit installations are bases in Kuwait, where military officials said some of the most serious damage has been sustained. A strike on Port Shuaiba destroyed an Army tactical operations center and killed six US service members. Iranian drones and missiles also hit Ali Al Salem Air Base, damaging aircraft structures and injuring personnel, and Camp Buehring, where maintenance and fuel facilities were struck.Elsewhere in the region, Iran hit Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the regional air headquarters of US Central Command, damaging an early-warning radar system. In Bahrain, a one-way Iranian attack drone struck communications equipment at the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet. At Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, Iranian missiles and drones damaged communications equipment and several refueling tankers.One day after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared Iran’s military “neutralized,” Iranian missiles struck a base in Saudi Arabia, injuring 29 American soldiers and damaging US refueling and surveillance aircraft.The relocation of troops reflects the scale of Iran’s retaliation after joint American and Israeli strikes. Iran has targeted not only US military bases, but also embassies and oil and gas infrastructure throughout the region. With its supreme leader and dozens of other leaders killed, the Iranian regime has responded by launching hundreds of drones and missiles into neighboring countries and largely shuttering the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route.The conflict has also spilled into civilian spaces. Early in the war, an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq launched a drone swarm attack on an upscale hotel in Erbil. Iranian officials have also accused the United States of using civilians as human shields by relocating troops into hotels and commercial sites.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has openly urged civilians across the region to report the new locations of dispersed American troops.“We are forced to identify and target the Americans,” the intelligence arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a message to people in the region, according to Tasnim News Agency. “Therefore, it is better not to shelter them in hotels and to stay away from their locations.”The message added that “it is your Islamic duty to accurately report the hiding places of American terrorists and send the information to us on Telegram,” a social media app.Even after weeks of strikes, senior US officials acknowledge that Iran still has the ability to inflict damage.Despite a punishing air campaign, the Iranians “still retain some capability,” Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged in the Pentagon news conference last week. General Caine said that “layered defenses throughout the region” were allowing the United States to protect troops and interests but that the Pentagon was trying to bolster defenses in the region.Part of the problem for the Pentagon is that many of the bases and command centers the United States built up during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were designed for conflicts in which Washington largely controlled the skies and faced enemies without advanced missile capabilities. While Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and the US Embassy in Baghdad were often targeted in suicide bombings and other attacks, neither the Taliban nor Iraqi militias possessed the kind of ballistic missile capability Iran now has.That has left many of the bases the United States relied on for two decades suddenly exposed in a very different kind of war — one in which service members can no longer safely live or work there for extended periods, according to military officials.Some current and former officials say that vulnerability also points to a larger failure of planning by the Trump administration. They argue the administration underestimated how Iran would respond and failed to adequately prepare both military and civilian personnel in the region before the war began.According to those officials, the administration did not reduce staffing at American embassies and other facilities in the region ahead of the war, nor did it order departures for nonessential government employees and family members. The State Department also did not warn Americans to avoid the region until after the war had already begun.Two former US officials briefed on military operations said there were no reinforced roofs on command centers at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, where one service member was killed and several others were wounded in an attack.The pace of the war has also strained personnel and equipment. Military officials say American refueling tankers were rushed into the region with little time to orient or practice before being thrown into nonstop operations. Earlier this month, two American KC-135 tankers collided, killing six service members. A Central Command spokesman said that incident is under investigation.Even so, some military officials argue the US military remains capable of continuing the fight despite being forced into a more fragmented posture.Sergeant Bryant said one of the military’s biggest strengths is what he called “decentralised execution,” or the ability to continue functioning even when units are separated and command structures are disrupted.“You could cut off the head of the snake and down to the last individual soldier, we’re still going to be operating,” he said. But, he added, “you still lose something.”Pentagon officials say the campaign is continuing despite the damage. “The Department of War has everything it needs to execute any mission at the time and place of the President’s choosing and on any timeline,” Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.But even as the United States continues its air campaign, the damage to its regional military infrastructure has created a new battlefield reality. American forces are still fighting, but many are no longer doing so from the bases built for exactly that purpose.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Krunal Pandya speaks to commentator Ian Bishop before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings, at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

NEW DELHI: Harbhajan Singh, Aakash Chopra and Navjot Singh Sidhu have come under severe criticism on social media for their commentary [Hindi] in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). This is not the first time that fans have advocated for a better product from the broadcaster. Ex-West Indies player Ian Bishop sits on the other end of this divide.While addressing a larger point, former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Team Director and sports administrator Joy Bhattacharjya wrote on X, “I am all for the credit given to Ian Bishop for the research he puts into the junior cricketers.”