Brisk polling began on Thursday morning in 91 constituencies spread across 18 states and two union territories in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections. As people queued up across the nation to cast their vote, there were some famous faces in the lines at different polling stations. Take a look.
The 94-year old former Tamil Nadu chief minister was under continuous monitoring and treated with active medical support, a press release by Kauvery Hospital said.
Deb, whose name was proposed by party MLA Sudip Roy Burman in the meeting, will be the new chief minister of Tripura, Gadkari said.
Jhunjhunwala passed away early on Sunday morning due to a cardiac arrest, a source in his newly set up airline said.
Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh and Prahlad Patel, Subramanian Swamy, known for his strong views on a host of issues, Suresh Prabhu, Dushyant Singh, who is the son of former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, Vijay Goel, Vinay Katiyar and S S Ahluwalia are among those who have not found a berth in the new list while Union minister V K Singh is no longer a regular member and has been named as a special invitee.
In his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in the party mouthpiece Saamana, Raut said state Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray in his address to Shiv Sainiks on January 23 had turned the tables on the BJP, which was criticising him over his illness.
Former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Thursday sworn in as the 14th Vice President of India.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday pitched for formulating a policy for using the Reserve Bank of India's rising foreign exchange reserves for funding road projects, saying the country needs low cost finance for such infrastructure projects. Addressing a virtual event organised by industry body CII, Gadkari further said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) should also have a financial arm like the power ministry's Power Finance Corporation (PFC). "We have a surplus of dollar reserves in the country. I have decided to talk with the RBI Governor, about how we can formulate a policy by which we can use this foreign exchange reserves for development of infrastructure in the country," he said.
'Despite the pandemic, we aspire to maintain the momentum of last year.'
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday listed India's "corrupt politicians" who, he said, should not be allowed to contest elections.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Sunday said he has tested positive for coronavirus and will work from isolation while the central bank will continue to function normally. Das said he is asymptomatic and has alerted those who came in contact with him in recent days.
Raj said on Monday that he had tried to talk to BJP chief Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his ticket but did not get any response.
No major glitches in electronic voting machines were reported and the voting passed off peacefully with high security observed at the 3,360 critical booths in 493 locations where more than 25,000 police personnel, nearly 13,000 home guards and 100 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed, officials said.
The combativeness reflects her insistence not to meekly acquiesce to what has been going on in Raisina Hill for years or decades, observes Kartikeya Tanna.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said American electric car major Tesla is set to start its operations in India next year and would also look at setting up of a manufacturing unit based on demand. The Road, Transport and Highways minister has been pushing for green fuel and electric vehicles for cutting India's huge Rs 8 lakh crore crude imports. Tesla Inc. co-founder and chief executive Elon Musk had in October said the company will enter the Indian market in 2021.
'If they come to power, they will try to change the Constitution. They are destroying Babasaheb's name. They are fundamentalist people,' says Surai Sasai, the Buddhist monk who has issued an edict that Nagpur's Buddhists not vote for the BJP or its candidate Nitin Gadkari. The Buddhist areas in Nagpur, Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel discovers, have a special identity and a firm thinking of its own. Additional reportage and Photographs: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
The BJP, whose campaign was focussed more on issues related to nationalism and Shaheen Bagh, failed to find support among voters.
Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde died in a road accident while on his way to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Tuesday.
As the election season approaches, bad ideas seem to gain currency. Here's analysis of promises election parties have made.
Speaking during the Question Hour, the road transport and highways minister said the country has set several world records in road construction despite COVID-19. The construction of Zoji La tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh highway will be completed before 2024, while another Z-Morh tunnel will be completed in the next three months, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, said the history of Kashmiri Pandits have a great and rich history.
Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said highways sector continues to be a focus area for the government and announcements of multi-modal logistics parks and multi-modal passenger stations will be a game changer.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met the top brass of Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party to discuss strategy for next Lok Sabha elections but former party president Nitin Gadkari was conspicuous by his absence.
"The national lockdown, which has been extended till May 3, will be reviewed once we get stock of the situation next week. We will decide our next steps on relaxation of the lockdown after that," Thackeray said.
A little over three months after taking charge as president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajnath Singh has managed to annoy his predecessor, Nitin Gadkari, by not standing by the former party chief in his fight against corruption allegations.
Top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will attend the swearing-in ceremony in which Narendra Modi will take oath as Gujarat chief minister on Wednesday. Heavy security arrangements have been made at the Sardar Patel Stadium where Modi will be sworn in as Chief Minister at a grand function at around 11 am.
India and China needed to develop mutual trust and respect to strengthen bi-lateral relations, Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari said in Itanagar on Thursday.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Thursday lodged a police complaint against yoga guru Ramdev, seeking a first information report over his 'dishonest and wrongful representations' on modern medicine.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) favoured abolition of income, sales and excise tax and the party may include it in its vision document to be unveiled ahead of General elections next year.
'But the coldness between the two is definitely melting.'
A complaint was on Wednesday filed in a court against Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari over his controversial statement equating the intelligence quotient of Swami Vivekanand with that of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
Kejriwal's apology spree began last month, with "sorries" to the BJP's Nitin Gadkari, the Congress's Kapil Sibal and the Akali Dal's Bikram Singh Majithia.
Arvind Kejriwal's Indian Against Corruption has "dubious" foreign funding and his allegations against Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari were at the behest of his "masters", party mouthpiece Kamal Sandesh has alleged, an accusation rejected by the social activist.
While inaugurating the projects, Modi said highways construction has reached 27-km a day from mere 12-km a day during the Congress regime.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday defended Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, who has been accused of receiving illegal favours in land allotment from Maharashtra's Congress-NJationalist Congress Party government.
The snooping row surrounding Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley appears set to explode into a bigger controversy after the main conspirator reportedly claimed that attempts were made to access the call detail records of over 60 persons, including that of top BJP leaders.
Right to Information crusader and India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal, who has promised to expose five top politicians indulging in corrupt activities, is expected to target Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday
Bringing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products under the single nation-wide GST regime will reduce taxes on these products and increase the revenue of both the Centre and states, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will definitely try to bring petrol and diesel under GST if she gets the support of the state governments, said Gadkari while addressing the Times Now Summit virtually. "In the GST Council, finance ministers of states are also members.
Some senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders conspired together to deny second consecutive term as party president to Nitin Gadkari and were also instrumental in supplying "material" to media against him, claimed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue M G Vaidya.
The disquiet over Kapil Sibal... Modi's rise rattles the UPA... Nitin Gadkari is missed... All this, and more, in this week's Dilli Gupshup