The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday hit back at Congress President Sonia Gandhi for her remarks on "increase" in communal incidents in the country after it came to power, saying the charges were "baseless" and an outcome of the party's "desperation".
Polling in 31 district panchayats, 231 taluka panchayats and 81 municipalities of Gujarat and by-elections of 23 municipalities and 3 taluka panchayats were held on Sunday.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to name the committee's chairperson soon.
Voting for by-elections to seven assembly constituencies of six states, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, started on Tuesday at 7 am.
Congress MP Mohammad Jawed and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi have challenged the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the Supreme Court, arguing that it violates constitutional provisions. The petitions claim the bill imposes arbitrary restrictions on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the religious autonomy of the Muslim community. They also allege that the bill discriminates against Muslims by imposing restrictions not present in the governance of other religious endowments. The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, with the petitioners arguing that it introduces limitations on the creation of Waqfs based on the duration of one's religious practice, mandates inclusion of non-Muslim members in Waqf administrative bodies, and shifts key administrative functions to government officials, thereby diluting the autonomy of Waqf management.
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.
Application to hold public meeting was received from Owaisi's party but he was denied permission, Azamgarh District Magistrate Suhash L Y said.
Bharatiya Janata Party MPs Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dhotre were among those who missed casting their votes in the presidential poll on Monday.
The newly-elected MLAs of Telangana would take oath during the first session of the Legislative Assembly scheduled to be held on Saturday.
Congress workers stormed into the Gujarat party headquarters in Ahmedabad on Monday and burnt posters of senior leader Bharatsinh Solanki to protest against the party's decision to give a ticket to sitting MLA Imran Khedawala from his Jamalpur-Khadia seat in the city.
As Telangana voters queued up to exercise their franchise in the assembly polls on Thursday, they were pleasantly surprised by finding some of the well-known actors and politicians around them.
Banerjee had slammed the BJP for allegedly trying to import AIMIM in Bengal to sharpen the communal polarisation and divide the Hindu-Muslim votes among themselves.
"By attending, the Prime Minister has not only laid the foundation of a Mandir, but also the foundation of a Hindu Rashtra," Owaisi told reporters in Hyderabad.
Retorting to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's minority remark, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif said that Pakistan is the last country that should be lecturing any country on how to treat minorities."
Nearly 17 years after a blast in Malegaon town of north Maharashtra claimed six lives, a special court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all the seven accused, including former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, noting there was 'no reliable and cogent evidence' against them.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Law Commission to look into the issue of hate speeches being made by leaders of political, social and religious outfits and consider framing guidelines to regulate such provocative statements.
The Bahujan Samaj Party will not enter into any alliance for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly polls, party chief Mayawati said.
What some of our leaders were up to on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
Surya accused Owaisi of speaking the language of "rabid Islamism, separatism, and extremism" saying that this was also used by Jinnah.
'Barricading will remain for a few more days. Situation today is better than previous days and we are keeping an eye on law and order here'
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Telangana president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Wednesday said his party, when it comes to power in the state, would abolish minority reservations and provide the benefit to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and others.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief said that even if the bill is passed by Parliament, he will "knock on all doors" in the country and keep his point of view in front of the people.
Naqvi said the culprits have been arrested on the basis of the crime committed by them and not on the basis of their creed.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who faced trolling on social media in the wake of India and Pakistan reaching an understanding on May 10 to halt all military actions, has received support from veteran diplomat Nirupama Menon Rao, a body of Indian diplomats and a host of politicians from several parties.
Earlier in the day, BSP supremo Mayawati said her party will make efforts to not field 'bahubali' (strongmen) or mafia candidates in the upcoming polls and announced that Ansari, who is lodged in a jail in Banda, will not be given a ticket from Mau again.
Official sources said the CRPF commandos will be deployed for the security of Owaisi round-the-clock.
The AAP may secure 43 per cent share while the BJP is expected to get 35 per cent vote share.
The parliamentary committee scrutinizing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill has been granted an extension until the last day of the next Budget Session. This decision follows a heated meeting marked by a walkout from opposition members who expressed concerns about the committee's draft report. The committee will visit several states to meet stakeholders and finalize its report.
"We have to move together. We have to take Azadi (freedom), things that we don't get by asking, we have to take it by force, remember it," the AIMIM leader can be purportedly heard saying in Hindi.
Telangana came to a standstill for a minute on Tuesday for mass singing of the national anthem as part of the celebration of 75 years of independence.
Union minister Raosaheb Danve has caused a flutter by saying if the Bharatiya Janata Party needs victory in the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra in 2024, then it must ensure that All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and sitting MP Imtiaz Jaleel contests the election next year.
AIMIM's West Bengal unit leader Anwar Pasha along with some of his colleagues joined the Trinamool Congress, claiming that the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party was only acting as a polariser of votes to help the BJP.
Here are how the numbers are stack up in the lower house if the no-confidence motion takes place.
Ambedkar said at an election rally at Digras in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district earlier on Thursday that he will jail the EC for two days if voted to power.
With numbers on its side -- the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college -- and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, the AIADMK and the YSRCP, the NDA candidate will likely sail through the contest.
The engineer, Farhaj Ahsan, has been working in New Zealand for the past seven years. He is married and has two children.
From making dosas at a roadside eatery to trying out skills using a pair of scissors at a hair cutting saloon, politicians leave no stone unturned to impress voters during the run-up to the upcoming Telangana assembly polls.
He added, "You can never trust Pakistan as long as the Pakistani deep state, Pakistani ISI, Pakistani military's objective is to destabilise Bharat."
According to some observers, the Congress gained ground by attracting votes from Telugu Desam Party sympathisers after the TDP opted out of the race due to its own reasons.
Owaisi criticized the court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, saying it weakens India and distracts from real issues like inflation and unemployment.
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