Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget, focusing on investments and growth. The speech was marked by its business-like approach and lack of cultural references, while opposition members raised concerns about regional representation.
Amid the ongoing debate over remarks made by Hindu spiritual leader Devkinandan Thakur against actor Shah Rukh Khan over the inclusion of a Bangladeshi player in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate questioned the role of the BCCI and the ICC in allowing Bangladeshi players to be part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction pool.
Glimpses from Sunday's Congress rally at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi against 'Vote Chori'.
Union minister Giriraj Singh's controversial remarks regarding the 'naqab' incident in Bihar have drawn criticism from opposition leaders, escalating the political row.
Anwar announced he was quitting the NCP and was also giving up his Lok Sabha membership on September 28 after Sharad Pawar's "defence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Rafale fighter jet deal.
Opposition leaders have criticized Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's remarks about Jawaharlal Nehru's alleged desire to build the Babri Masjid with public funds, accusing him and the BJP of distorting historical facts.
The Congress party has strongly refuted Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's claim that Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to build the Babri Masjid using public funds, calling it a 'lie' and a 'WhatsApp university story'. Congress leaders have accused Singh of distorting history and distracting from real issues.
Bihar's opposition Mahagathbandhan is experiencing internal conflict following their defeat in the recent assembly elections. Congress leaders have expressed dissatisfaction with their alliance with the RJD, leading to a blame game and further disarray within the opposition camp.
A seasoned politician and two-term Member of Parliament, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, who has served as a Union minister and senior Congress leader, resigned from the Congress party, marking the end of his decades-long association with an organisation that his family has been part of for three generations. In an interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff he speaks why he quit the party.
A R Rahman, whose score for the Donny Boyle directed survival drama 127 Hours had brought him a Golden Globe nomination a month ago, has done better at the Oscars. He has bagged two Oscar nominations, like he did for Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire. Apart from the score, he also received a nomination for If I Rise which he sang with the British artist Dido.
The Congress on Wednesday expelled former Madhya Pradesh MLA Laxman Singh, who is brother of ex-chief minister Digvijaya Singh, from the primary membership of the party for six years for 'anti-party activities'.
Anwar's move came a day after media reports quoted Pawar having told a Marathi news channel that he did not think people had doubts over the prime minister's intentions in the Rafale fighter plane deal.
Anwar, an AICC general secretary, came out with a flurry of tweets calling for 'urgent and deep introspection' over the debacle of the party, the second largest constituent of the opposition coalition, which contested as many as 70 seats but returned with a tally of just 19.
A day before the assembly poll results, the Congress on Friday appointed observers for Maharashtra and Jharkhand to oversee the post-election scenarios.
Bhagwat highlighted the vital role of families and warned that according to population science, if a society's total fertility rate dips below 2.1, it could face extinction.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, veteran leader Sharad Pawar led faction moved the Supreme Court on Friday seeking that both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) be given new poll symbols.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to use the 'clock' symbol in its publicity material in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections with a disclaimer that the matter was sub judice before it.
The court also directed the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction to publish a disclaimer in newspapers, including Marathi ones, that the issue of allocation of "clock" symbol was pending in court.
In a major organisational rejig ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday appointed Avinash Pande the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra while Sachin Pilot was made the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the responses of Ajit Pawar and his 40 MLAs on a plea moved by the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party challenging Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar's decision declaring the group led by the deputy chief minister as the real NCP.
In 1999, Sharad Pawar, along with P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar were expelled from Congress. The same year, Pawar founded the NCP.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Sharad Pawar, said that on March 19, this court passed a reasoned order in which they (Ajit Pawar group) were asked to issue advertisements that the allocation of 'clock' symbol is sub judice before this court and they were permitted to use the same subject to final outcome of these proceedings.
According to the Election Commission data, 30 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats went to the BJP-led coalition in the latest elections, a sharp drop compared with 39 in 2019 and lower than the tallies of 2014 (31) and 2009 (32).
He furnished an undertaking before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan pursuant to a March 14 order by the apex court.
If the Congress is contesting fewer seats than ever before, the BJP is set to contest its highest-ever number of Lok Sabha seats.
Days before the first vote for the Lok Sabha polls is cast, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the rival Nationalist Congress Party factions led by party founder Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to abide by its directions on the use of symbols, party names and disclaimers in publicity material for the elections.
Amarinder Singh was ousted from the party and he later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
It asked the Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led faction to issue a public notice in newspapers in English, Hindi and Marathi saying that the 'clock' symbol is sub-judice and its use is subject to adjudication.
Observing that the name and photographs of Sharad Pawar cannot be used by the Ajit Pawar faction for political gains, the Supreme Court on Thursday sought a response from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by the Maharashtra deputy chief minister on a plea of the veteran Maratha leader alleging misuse of his popularity by the rival camp.
The Mahagathbandhan's seat-sharing announcement comes a day after the filing of nomination papers for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls was over.
Dutta had accused Indian Youth Congress chief Srinivas B V of causing mental agony to her after she levelled sexual harassment charges against former IYC president Keshav Kumar.
The bench gave liberty to Sharad Pawar to move the poll panel for allocation of the party symbol and directed the poll panel to allot it in one week of the application.
The youngest in the CWC is 31-year-old Neeraj Kundan, who is an ex-officio member of the body as the president of the National Students Union of India, the students' wing of the party.
Ajit Pawar left the stage just moments after party leader Jayant Patil was given the chance to speak before him which sparked rumours of a rift in the party.
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said he has recommended the name of his party spokesman Tariq Anwar for a ministerial post in the proposed Cabinet reshuffle at the Centre.
Congress observers for Rajasthan on Tuesday recommended disciplinary action against three party leaders, including two ministers, for the crisis in the state, but did not seek any action against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
While 39 members of the all-important panel are general members, it has 32 permanent invitees, including some in-charges of state and 13 special invitees.
Manish Tewari, Prithviraj Chavan, Anand Sharma and Bhupinder Hooda are the members of the pro-reform G23 group who wrote a letter to party's interim president Sonia Gandhi.
TRS leader K T Rama Rao confirmed that Kishor's Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) is working for TRS officially.
Sources said the Congress, which has 19 legislators in the Bihar assembly, will go by what the Rashtriya Janata Dal decides and its presence will help strengthen the coalition.
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