The Deepa Thoon controversy, if not allowed to die a natural death, could take the election focus away from the anti-incumbency impacting the DMK and into the secular space. Stalin would love to have it that way, all over again, after the three past elections, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Raj Thackeray is working at the behest of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.'
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
He will hold the office till February 9, 2027.
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
The Opposition in Maharashtra boycotted the government's customary tea party on the eve of the Winter session, citing its failure to appoint leaders of the opposition (LoPs) in both houses of the state legislature.
Ghazala Hashmi, an India-born American politician, has been elected as Virginia's Lieutenant Governor, marking a historic moment as the first Muslim and South Asian American to hold the position.
'The possibility of Nitish Babu continuing at least for some time is very much there, but don't rule out the artistic possibility of a leadership change executed very elegantly.'
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra has triggered a row with his comments suggesting that non-Muslims were attacked in Pahalgam because terrorists feel Muslims are being "mistreated" in the country. The BJP has accused him of using the language of terrorists and demanded an apology. Vadra condemned the Pahalgam terrorist attack but suggested that communal issues and a feeling of vulnerability among minorities are contributing to the violence. He said it is time to separate politics and religion and called for introspection by political parties. Vadra's remarks have been met with strong condemnation from the BJP, which accused him of playing politics on the issue and demanded a clarification from the Congress party. The BJP has also criticized Vadra for justifying the actions of terrorists.
Trump has been critical of Mamdani's policies and had warned on the eve of the November 4 election that Mamdani's win will be a "complete and total economic and social disaster" for New York City.
Former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin was sworn in as a minister in Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy's cabinet. His appointment is seen as significant ahead of the Jubilee Hills bypoll.
His victory means that his party will have to learn from him, because after the rise of Donald Trump, the Democrats have been in disarray. They have had no real answer to the Trump phenomenon and Zohran, with his emphatic and clear policies aimed at working class Americans offers them a national path for a return, asserts Aakar Patel.
'A terrorist has no religion -- they are nothing but the face of evil. When you offer namaz for a terrorist, attend their funeral, or give them a grave, you affirm that they belong to a religion. That must stop'
'Now when I'm a mother and have two sons, I do look back and say, "Oh my God! What was I thinking?"'
Mamdani will meet Trump in the White House on Friday, the first meeting between the two and also since his victory in the New York City Mayoral election on November 4.
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has issued a show-cause notice to Al-Falah University, which is under scanner in connection with the Delhi blast probe, for displaying false accreditation on its website, officials said on Thursday.
Tips to avoid the heat, crowds, and travel risks, including incidents like the tragic Mufrihat accident that killed 45 Indian pilgrims.
An ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
The Assam government on Tuesday distributed the report of the Tewary Commission, which had probed into the 1983 Nellie massacre during which over 2,000 people were killed, and large-scale violence that year, in the Assembly on first day of Winter Session.
Bihar recorded its highest-ever voter turnout of 67.14 per cent in the second and final phase of the assembly elections. The election is seen as a referendum on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kishanganj recorded the highest polling percentage at 76.26.
Siddiqa Begum, daughter and legal heir of Shah Bano, has served a legal notice on the makers "for immediate restraint on the publication, screening, promotion, or release of the upcoming film."
The government said the right of the girl to wear a headscarf in her house and outside it, "does not stop at the school gate".
The Kerala High Court has stated it cannot accept multiple marriages of a Muslim man when he cannot maintain his wives, especially when one seeks maintenance. The court's observation came during a case where a woman sought maintenance from her husband who survives by begging.
The Supreme Court of India has agreed to examine whether Muslims can be governed by secular Indian succession law for ancestral properties instead of Shariat without renouncing their faith. The court will consider three petitions on the matter, including one filed by Naushad K K, a resident of Kerala, who wants to be governed by the succession law without leaving Islam. The court has issued notices to the Centre and the Kerala government to file their responses.
'The implementation of the judgment has largely been left to the discretion of the very executive authorities it sought to restrain.'
If women voters are mobilised in big numbers to the voting booths on November 6 and 11 by the Nitish Kumar-led NDA, then it will be quite difficult for the Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan to defeat the incumbent government, points out Sheela Bhatt.
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly passed a Bill providing 4% reservation for Muslims in public contracts, sparking protests from the opposition BJP. The Bill, which amends the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (KTPP) Act, aims to increase Muslim participation in government contracts valued up to Rs 2 crore for civil works and Rs 1 crore for goods and services. The BJP criticized the move as unconstitutional and vowed to challenge it in court.
The Jan Suraaj Party announced its second list of candidates for the Bihar assembly elections, covering 65 constituencies. The party has kept its choice for the Raghopur seat, where founder Prashant Kishor is expected to contest, under wraps. The list includes candidates from various sections of society, including the extremely weaker sections, Other Backward Classes, and Muslims.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has announced its intention to challenge the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in court, labeling it a "black law" that threatens the community's rights. The AIMPLB, a major organization representing Muslims in India, asserts that the Bill, if passed, would lead to the seizure of Muslim properties and undermine the autonomy of Waqf Boards. The organization plans to launch nationwide protests against the Bill, echoing the farmers' agitation, and has urged all citizens to resist the legislation. The Bill has been met with criticism from various quarters, including opposition parties, who claim that the Centre is rushing it through Parliament without adequately addressing concerns raised by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
Priests at the famed Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan have rejected a demand to stop using attires made by Muslim artisans for its deity, emphasizing that religious discrimination has no place in temple traditions. The demand was raised by a right-wing group, who argued that the deity's attire should be made only by those who adhere to "religious purity." The temple priests countered by highlighting the historical contributions of Muslim artisans to temple traditions and the impracticality of replacing them.
India has strongly rejected a UN expert's report claiming that Myanmar refugees in India faced pressure after the Pahalgam terror attack, calling the analysis biased and unfounded.
Over one lakh Muslims gathered in Karnataka to protest the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, which they say erodes the autonomy of Waqf institutions and threatens their rights. The protest, organized by the Karnataka State Ulema Coordination Committee, saw strong opposition to provisions in the amended law that they argue allow for coercive acquisition of Waqf properties. Leaders alleged that the amendment is part of a broader political agenda and urged the community to uphold their legal and constitutional rights.
'Only because of the absence of a dedication record in writing, how can such properties be treated as located on misappropriated government land?'
'Even as the Supreme Court's anti-punitive demolition judgment nears its first anniversary, no formal contempt proceedings have been initiated either by the Supreme Court or any high court against officers or demolition squads who have acted in violation of it.'
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 bill aims to include all the Muslims sects in the Waqf board, Rijiju said.
On Sunday, October 26, 2025, New York mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani and two of his most prominent backers, United States Senator Bernie Sanders and US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, framed his election as a one-on-one battle versus President Donald Trump and his administration at a raucous rally at the Forest Hills stadium in New York City's Queens borough.
'When voting clause by clause on Waqf came up in the JPC, the TDP and JD-U supported the BJP on each and every clause.'
What an achievement it will be if a young Gujarati-Punjabi man is able to give the most powerful nation in the world a new direction, asserts Aakar Patel.
'The BJP only talks of Kashmiri Pandits when elections are held.'
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