BJP fields former Vice Chancellor in Tirur
The Hindu
The BJP has surprised voters of Malappuram by fielding M. Abdul Salam, former Vice Chancellor of Calicut University, in Tirur.
Dr. Salam will take on the UDF’s Kurukkoli Moideen and the LDF’s Gafoor P. Lillis. Dr. Salam is one of the two Muslim candidates on the BJP banner in Malappuram — the other is Sattar Haji Kalliyath in Tirurangadi. Sattar Haji had been with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) before joining the BJP and is currently the district president of the Minority Morcha. Dr. Salam was in the thick of many controversies during his tenure as Vice Chancellor. He went to the varsity as a UDF nominee in 2011 and relinquished the post in 2015, leaving behind a rogue image after having embittered and alienated most sections of employees, including those loyal to the UDF and LDF.
In , the grape capital of India and host of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela every 12 years, environmental concerns over a plan to cut 1,800 trees for the proposed Sadhugram project in the historic Tapovan area have sharpened political fault lines ahead of local body elections. The issue has pitted both Sena factions against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra. While Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief, and Uddhav Thackeray, chief of the Shiv Sena (UBT), remain political rivals, their parties have found rare common ground in Tapovan, where authorities propose clearing trees across 34 acres to build Sadhugram and a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) hub, as part of a ₹300-crore infrastructure push linked to the pilgrimage.












