The April 11 polling will decide the fate of several political bigwigs.
AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan was suspended from Maharashtra assembly for refusing to say 'Bharat mata ki jai'.
Notwithstanding the claims and counterclaims of different political parties about riding the crest of a populatiry wave in Uttar Pradesh, Tuesday's results of the three bypolls out of the 403 state assembly seats have sprung surprises for all key political players.
Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu alleged that by not allowing Parliament to function, Congress was not stopping the Modi government but "creating hurdles" in the country's development.
ABVP leader Nandanam Susheel Kumar, who has been accused of abetting suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, demanded a "fair" inquiry.
Rao exuded confidence that his party will win 90-plus seats in the 119-member assembly and will not take support from other parties.
The bill was introduced following a division of votes, with 186 members supporting and 74 opposing it.
The Janata Dal-United and the Nationalist Congress Party also joined the walkout.
This phase will decide the fate of senior minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav of Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal legislature party leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's 'Man Friday' Bhola Yadav among others.
Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday accused the writers, who returned their awards, of double standards saying they were selective in attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "growing intolerance" in the country and overlooked the Congress wrongdoings including Emergency in the past.
The hijab-row triggered protests in Karnataka spread across the state on Tuesday, with campuses witnessing 'conflict-like' situations marked by stone-pelting incidents, use of force by police and the Muslim girls standing their ground for wearing the headscarves, prompting calls for peace and calm both by the government and the high court, which is now looking into the students' plea for their right to their hijab.
The BJP has incorporated caste as a significant component of its politics.
the PM said, "Hatred and violence have no place in diverse and democratic societies."
The parties also said that the decision has come in late and had the Modi government shed its 'arrogance earlier' and repealed the laws opposed by farmers, a number of precious lives lost during the nearly year-long agitation could have been saved.
BJP president Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari were among those who addressed public meetings in different parts of the state on Sunday.
On possible alliances for the upcoming state polls, the SP president said, "Doors of our party are open for all small parties. Many smaller parties are already with us. More will come with us."
In 2014, young Muslims became Owaisi fans. But five years of BJP rule and a weakening Opposition have drawn older Muslims too towards the AIMIM chief. Not enough, though.
The Election Commission on Wednesday expressed "strong displeasure" over Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut's remarks that Muslims should be stripped of voting rights and advised him to be more circumspect in future in his public utterance.
The flyover was built over a period of about three years at a cost of Rs 600 crore.
The GMC poll was being seen as a litmus test for the BJP in the backdrop of its sudden and surprising decision to change the state's chief minister and the entire cabinet recently, ahead of the state Assembly polls due next year.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to appoint Hindutva hardliner Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh chief minister has drawn an avalanche of reactions from opposition parties.
The RJD leader, who is the Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial face, said that if voted to power, providing jobs to unemployed youth would be his topmost priority.
The students were booked under sedition charges after a complaint was filed by BJYM member Mukesh Lodhi.
The All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat is preparing a white paper on the state of Indian Muslims languishing in jails in various terror cases, which could convince the community to vote against the Congress party, reports Vicky Nanjappa
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that India's High Commission in New Zealand is in touch with local authorities for more information.
According to BJP insiders, every Union minister has been given 3-4 seats to mentor and has been told to work hard on these constituencies in the next 20 months to ensure the party's victory.
About 2.34 crore voters, spread across 78 assembly segments of the 243-strong assembly, will decide the fates of 1,204 candidates, including the Speaker and 12 members of the state cabinet.
The tepid economy has hit most sectors, from automobile and pharmaceutical industries in the district to its tourist footfall, reports Archis Mohan
Dr Zafarul Islam Khan, president, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, a non-political body of prominent Muslim organiastions, and Lateef Mohammad Khan, general secretary, Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee, Hyderabad discuss hate speeches and their repercussions, in an interview with Vicky Nanjappa.
Congress's Mumbai unit president Sanjay Nirupam also told reporters that the party was planning to hold discussions with like-minded parties for a common candidate in mayor's election.
The plea filed by NGO Association for Protection of Civil Rights and others also sought a direction to the Centre to refrain from preparing the National Register of Citizens.
'The DMK may get a little more than 50% of the minority vote.' 'The AIADMK always gets over 10% of the minority vote.'
Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister only till the time the BJP wishes, points out Ramesh Menon.
Rejecting the charge, Reddy termed it 'baseless and false' and said he would quit politics if Owaisi proved it.
The BJP too described the Muslim rule in India as 'barbaric'.
Opposition parties ask the government to listen to the concern of the intellectuals returning awards.
It is likely that the party's allies in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, two of the five states going to the polls in April-May, might insist on allocating fewer seats than they did in 2016, reports Archis Mohan.
"Shouldn't those who killed 92 persons get death sentence?... when should capital punishment be awarded?" the 46-year-old controversial politician asked.
A petition seeking lodging of a case against All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Chief Asaduddin Owaisi was filed in a court in Meerut by a member of Uttar Pradesh Bar Council who alleged his remarks on the youths held by the National Investigation Agency amounted to treason and promoted terrorism.
Facebook -- which counts India among its largest markets with over 300 million users -- has been in the eye of a storm after a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report alleged that the social media platform's content policies favoured the ruling party in India. The report had accused Facebook of ignoring posts containing hate speech by BJP MLA Raja Singh. Since then, the ruling BJP and Congress have been trading barbs over the social media giant's alleged political bias.
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