Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleges 'vote chori' amid controversy over the quality of indelible ink used in Maharashtra civic polls. The Election Commission has launched a probe into the matter.
The Congress party protested in the Rajasthan Assembly over the alleged installation of additional cameras in the area of opposition benches, disrupting proceedings. The opposition party alleged that the cameras have been put up to "spy" on its members.
Earlier today, former RJD candidate Madan Shah broke down in public, claiming that he was promised a ticket by the Rashtriya Janata Dal for the upcoming 2025 Bihar assembly polls.
''Women are coming into public spaces in larger numbers than ever before. They are educated, capable, opinionated, and determined.' 'But the more women push for access to public space, the harder they are pushed back -- through attacks like this, through discrimination, through the glass ceiling, through the deliberate denial of recognition.'
The Calcutta high court on Friday refused to intervene in the construction of a mosque -- modelled on Ayodhya's Babri Masjid -- at Beldanga in West Bengal's Murshidabad, proposed by suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir.
A controversy has erupted in Karnataka following allegations that the police disrobed a BJP woman functionary while arresting her in connection with an attack on government officials. Police deny the charge, claiming the woman disrobed herself and attacked the officers.
Speculation is growing that former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin may be inducted into the Telangana Cabinet. The Telangana PCC President neither confirmed nor denied the possibility. If inducted, Azharuddin would be the first minority minister in the current cabinet.
Ministers will not be allowed to hold official meetings and meet visitors in the legislature complex during the session. They will have to conduct their official briefings and meetings in Mantralaya, the state secretariat, he said.
Manipur has been under President's Rule since February after BJP leader N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister, amid criticisms about his government's handling of the ethnic clashes between Meiteis and Kuki-Zos, which broke out in May 2023.
The Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry in Maharashtra has successfully passed a trust vote in the state assembly, securing a commanding majority of 230 seats in the 288-member house. The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP 'Mahayuti' coalition, with a majority mark of 144, had a comfortable win with the support of smaller parties and independent MLAs. The trust motion was tabled by Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant and others, and was passed by a voice vote. The 15th legislative assembly began its tenure on December 7, and the floor test was considered a mere formality. Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister for the third time on December 5, with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as deputy chief ministers.
'When the BJP wanted the election to focus on 'ghuspathiya' and promises that look like pies in the sky, we forced them to talk about jobs, giving free 125 units of power, and addressing women's indebtedness.'
The newly-elected members of Uttar Pradesh Assembly will take oath on April 11-12, while the Speaker would be elected on April 13, official sources said in Lucknow on Thursday.
The eighth Delhi assembly will have fewer women members but a higher number of lawmakers with graduate degrees, according to a report.
The Assam government has introduced a bill to ban polygamy, proposing imprisonment for offenders while excluding Scheduled Tribes and Sixth Schedule areas from its purview.
The Rajya Sabha session was marred by heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches regarding the deployment of security personnel in the House. The session was adjourned amidst protests and accusations of undemocratic conduct.
Priti Kinnar, a transgender social worker, is set to contest the Bihar assembly elections from Bhorey seat on a Jan Suraaj ticket, challenging the incumbent Education Minister. Her entry into politics has sparked mixed reactions, with some seeing it as a potential boost for the transgender community and others questioning its impact on the election outcome.
Association for Democratic33 per cent of 4,092 sitting MLAs were non-graduates.
The Assam assembly will discontinue with the two-hour break provided on Fridays to facilitate Muslim legislators to offer 'namaaz', Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The rule will be implemented from the next session, an assembly official said.
The debate over working hours flared up after Infosys Co-founder N R Narayana Murthy called for 14-hour workdays.
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Tuesday fielded Milind Narvekar, a close aide of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, in the biennial elections to 11 seats from the legislative council, taking the number of candidates in the fray to 12.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has refuted reports that indelible ink marks on voters' fingers were being wiped off during the ongoing civic polls. The BMC clarified that the Municipal Commissioner had not made any such statement.
Amid talks of cross-voting, three of the 37 Congress MLAs in Maharashtra skipped a meeting called by the party ahead of the legislative council polls on Friday.
Eighteen BJP MLAs were suspended for six months from the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for disrupting the budget session and disrespecting the Speaker. The incident occurred on the last day of the budget session, when the opposition BJP MLAs staged a massive protest over the allocation of a four percent reservation to Muslims in public contracts. The MLAs climbed onto the podium where the Speaker's chair is situated and threw papers at him.
Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra suggests political developments are underway in the ruling Congress party and expects them to culminate after the Bihar assembly polls, hinting at a possible change in Chief Minister.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday asserted that Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, a former state Bharatiya Janata Party president, would be made 'big man' by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the assembly polls.
'This plan was never official. It was there secretly. It was by the high command.'
The ruling Mahayuti members in both houses of the Maharashtra legislature condemned state Congress head Harshvardhan Sapkal's remarks comparing Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and demanded strict action against him. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the remarks will be verified and action will be taken accordingly as per the law. The state legislative council witnessed an uproar after the ruling Mahayuti members raised the issue of Sapkal's remarks, and the proceedings were suspended for 10 minutes. BJP group leader Pravin Darekar said comparing the chief minister to Aurangzeb is a highly condemnable act and an insult to Maharashtra. He also demanded that a case be filed against Sapkal and strict action be taken to set an example.
The election was necessitated as the term of office of seven members expires on June 14.
Voting is underway for the second and final phase of the Bihar assembly elections across 122 constituencies. Key candidates and political dynamics are in focus as the state decides its next government.
Eighteen Jharkhand Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs were suspended from the assembly till 2 pm of August 2 and were removed by marshals after they refused to leave the House on Thursday.
Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party MLC C T Ravi was arrested after a first information report (FIR) was registered against him, for allegedly using a derogatory word against minister Laxmi Hebbalkar in the Legislative Council on Thursday, police said.
According to political observers, the AIMIM sees a catchment area in Bihar, where Muslims are more than 17 per cent of the total population but have never got a proportionate representation in the state legislature.
The Bihar Assembly session was adjourned after a heated exchange between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav regarding the special intensive revision of electoral rolls. The situation escalated quickly, leading to unparliamentary language and a shouting match between members of the ruling and opposition parties.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticizes the government's proposed bill to replace MGNREGA, arguing it weakens the guaranteed 100 days of employment for the poor and centralizes control over the scheme.
Dhankhar, who represented the Kishangarh Assembly constituency as a Congress MLA from 1993 to 1998, received pension as a former legislator until July 2019. It was discontinued after he was appointed the governor of West Bengal.
Electoral fortunes of 1,302 candidates, including over half a dozen ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, will be sealed on Tuesday with 3.70 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise across 122 assembly segments in the second and final phase of the Bihar polls.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleges that several Maharashtra ministers and government officials have been honey trapped, a claim refuted by BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who challenged Raut to provide evidence.
Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan administered the oath of office to 61-year-old Netam at a function held at the Raj Bhawan in Raipur.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
BJP members, including the Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, opposed the resolution, saying it was not part of the listed business.
