Firstpost Editor's Picks: Rajkumar Hirani accused of sexual assault, SP-BSP alliance, Kulgam encounter; today's must-read stories

SP-BSP alliance in UP reduces options for BJP, ensures 2019 polls will not be referendum on Narendra Modi By announcing their alliance, the Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party have ensured that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will find it very difficult to get into a singular contest. This will dramatically impact his chances of securing another term in office. Rajkumar Hirani accused of sexual assault by female employee who worked on Sanju; filmmaker denies charges Rajkumar Hirani has been accused of sexual assault by a woman who worked with him in the Ranbir Kapoor starrer Sanju. According to a HuffPost India report, the woman said she was sexually abused more than once over a six month period between March and September 2018. Hirani, via a statement, has denied these charges. Al-Badr chief Zeenat-ul-Islam, killed in Kulgam encounter, acted like 'Pied Piper' to expand group's South Kashmir base In the weeks he survived as the group’s chief, the police says Zeenat ul-Islam tried to act like a “Pied Piper”, attempting to expand the Al-Badr’s base in South Kashmir. But before he could really make a mark and fill the groups’s ranks, he fell to a hail of bullets on Saturday evening, along with another militant. Jallikattu row, two years on: How the many who came to protest found a platform to tackle wider social issues Amidst loud sloganeering against the ban on Jallikattu, there were also active discussions on several social issues like increasing farmer suicides, saving lakes, banning plastic usage etc. The 16-day protest had, in fact, become a networking space for any concerned citizen. Congress to contest all 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh; Ghulam Nabi Azad says open to alliances with ‘secular’ parties A day after it was virtually left out of an anti-BJP alliance formed by the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, the Congress on Sunday declared it will contest all the 80 Lok Sabha seats from the state on its own.