Daily Bulletin: BJP offers support to TRS in Telangana minus AIMIM; Shivraj Singh Chouhan confident of win in Madhya Pradesh; day's top stories

BJP offers support to TRS in Telangana minus AIMIM After consistently attacking K Chandrasekhar Rao’s (KCR) Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) as a ‘family party’ and branding its government as corrupt, BJP has reportedly switched tracks post the exit polls results. BJP state president K Laxman told The Times of India on Saturday that his party was ready to tie up with TRS if Telangana ends up with a hung Assembly on 11 December. He, however, said that it was only on the condition that TRS must ditch Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM. “Our party wants to support a government (in Telangana) minus Congress and AIMIM,” Laxman said. [caption id=“attachment_5139761” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Telangana caretaker chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao. PTI[/caption] India vs Australia: Rahane, Ashwin stretch India’s lead past 300 Ajinkya Rahane brings up his 16th Test fifty on Day 4 of the first Test as India goes past the lead of 300 runs. Lyon accounted for the three wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara (71), Rohit Sharma (1) and Rishabh Pant (28). Follow LIVE updates of Day 4 of the first Test  here . Shivraj Singh Chouhan says he is confident of BJP’s win in Madhya Pradesh  Even as exit polls predicted a not so favourable outcome for the BJP, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday claimed that he is confident of returning back in power with a “comfortable majority”. “I am the biggest surveyor as I remain in the midst of public all day long. The BJP is set to romp home,” Chouhan told reporters. Rahul Gandhi flays Narendra Modi after former Army officer says surgical strikes were “overhyped” While praising retired Lieutenant General DS Hooda who said that the “hype” around surgical strikes was unnecessary, Congress president Rahul Gandhi targeted prime minister Narendra Modi for using “military as a personal asset”. “Spoken like a true soldier General. India is so proud of you. Mr 36 has absolutely no shame in using our military as a personal asset. He used the surgical strikes for political capital and the Rafale deal to increase Anil Ambani’s real capital by 30,000 crore,” Rahul tweeted on Saturday. Sharad Yadav to apologise to Vasundhara Raje for body shaming her A day after Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje urged the Election Commission (EC) to take action against Sharad Yadav for body shaming her during an election rally in Alwar, the senior Bihar politician on Saturday said that he will apologise to her. “I saw her statement. I have very old family relations with her. If my words hurt her, I express my regret. I will also write a letter to her,” Yadav was quoted as saying by ANI. On 5 December, at a rally in Alwar, Yadav chose to pick on Raje’s physical appearance and body shamed her. “Vasundhra ko aaram do, bahut thak gayi hain, bahut moti ho gayi hain, pehle patli thi. Humare Madhya Pradesh ki beti hai,” Yadav had said at a public meeting. John Kelly to step down by end of 2018 The chief of staff in Donald trump’s administration, John Kelly would be leaving the administration at the end of 2018, Trump announced on Saturday. Kelly is the latest in a series of moves by the US President to change his inner circle of aides. Kelly’s replacement might be an interim chief of staff until a permanent successor is found, the Republican leader said. Bulandshahr violence: Armyman named in FIR apprehended Army personnel Jeetendra Malik alias Jeetu Fauji who was allegedly involved in the killing of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh in Bulandshahr earlier this week was detained by his Army unit in Jammu and Kashmir and handed over to a Special Task Force (STF) on Saturday night. According to reports, he would now be presented in the court. Malik’s role in Monday’s mob violence surfaced after a purported video showed him allegedly opening fire. ADG (Law and Order) Anand Kumar had said that a police team was sent to Jammu and Kashmir, where Malik is posted, and that the “person in the video is Malik”, reported The Indian Express. According to a CNN-News18’s report, Malik has apparently accepted that he was in Bulandshahr on the day of the violence but was not involved in the act of violence at the scene of the crime. Meanwhile, Malik’s brother  Dharmendra Malik had said on Saturday that there was a conspiracy to trap his brother. Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government had transferred the Senior Superintendent of Police, Krishna Bahadur Singh  and replaced him with Prabhakar Chaudhary — Superintendent of Police in Sitapur district. “India is not a dharamshala”, says Amit Shah on Assam NRC Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Saturday said that only Indian citizens have the right to use the country’s resources, and it is not a ‘dharamshala’ where illegal immigrants can come and settle down. Describing illegal immigration as a threat to the country, Shah said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a way to solve the basic problems of the country and should not be connected to the BJP alone.