Amid the political blame game over Bengal's potato ban, which led to shortages in Jharkhand and Odisha, Uttar Pradesh farmers are the unlikely winners.
Ten Manipur tribal MLAs Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to withdraw Assam Rifles from security duties in the violence-hit state, saying its personnel have been putting their lives at risks to create buffer zones between the two warring communities.
Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
Surprisingly, the BJP's nearest rival in ad spend was not the Congress, but the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.
'If the Citizenship Bill passes, then the very principle of Indian citizenship, which is called jus soli (right of birthplace) will convert to principle of jus sanguinis (right of blood) on the basis of religion.' 'Citizenship is being given on the basis of religion and it is against the Constitution.'
'Jairam Mahto's new party dented the NDA because he pulled a lot of the OBC vote.'
The BJP, however, denied the former three-time state chief minister's assertion on Ranjan Gogoi who was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member by the government in March.
A group of villagers from Meghalaya allegedly vandalised and burnt down a forest office in Assam's West Karbi Anglong district, following the killing of six people in violence that occurred in a disputed area along the border between the two states, officials claimed on Wednesday.
The party leadership also thanked the people of Assam and credited the victory there and increased vote share in other states to party workers, state leaders and PM Narendra Modi.
Protesters in Imphal, Manipur stormed the residences of two ministers and three MLAs, demanding justice for the murder of three people in Jiribam district. The mob attacks prompted authorities to impose curfew in Imphal West district. The protests followed the discovery of three bodies, suspected to be of six missing people from Jiribam district, near the Manipur-Assam border.
Shinde said MLAs are keen on continuing the Sena founded by late Balasaheb Thackeray.
The party has forged ties with Bodo People's Front; continues talks with AGP.
'As demonetisation showed us, the Shah-Modi duo can take big risks.' 'Risking economic damage for political benefit, however, is one thing, stoking old fires in complicated Assam is another', warns Shekhar Gupta.
In the Interim Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that a high power committee would be set up to consider the challenges arising from 'fast population grown and demographic changes.' 'But who wants data? It pays to feed people's fears, insecurities and apprehensions. If such fears don't exist, they must be created,' her husband Parakala Prabhakar says in this fascinating excerpt from his book, The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis.
10 vacancies in the Upper House after Rajya Sabha members were elected to the Lok Sabha.
Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Rajnath Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam), H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka), and Jitan Ram Manjhi (Bihar).
Uttarakhand will become the first state in independent India to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on January 27. The UCC will bring about uniformity in the society and ensure equal rights and responsibilities for all citizens. The law was passed by the state assembly in February 2024 and received presidential assent a month later. The UCC will govern and regulate laws relating to marriage and divorce, succession, live-in relationships and related matters. It sets equal marriageable age for men and women, grounds of divorce and procedures across all religions, and bans polygamy and 'halala'.
Wangchuk, who has been camping at Ladakh Bhawan in the national capital, is yet to be approached by a central government representative, a group member said.
Hours before the ceremony, Saini visited the Valmiki Bhawan and offered prayers at a gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula.
Lakshman Prasad Acharya has been made the governor of Assam with the additional charge of Manipur while Gulab Chand Kataria has replaced Banwarilal Purohit as the governor of Punjab under major gubernatorial appointments, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has announced.
Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma added to the mystery by declaring only that the next CM would be from the BJP, without naming Sarbananda Sonowal, the CM of the outgoing government.
Several social media users said that the red-bound Constitution is a coat pocket edition, which has been presented to top Indian leaders, including the President and the Union Home minister.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday attacked the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre and accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of neglecting and using Assam, which he has been representing since 1991, for his "political advantages".
As soon as the House reassembled, Sarma stood to give his reply, which was objected by all opposition members saying "the matter was over".
There are three things you never do in a small North East state: Undermine local leaders, divide and rule, push homogenisation, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
BJP leader Pema Khandu took oath as the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh for the third consecutive term on Thursday.
'There are 7,000 guns which are in the hands of the armed militia of the Kuki and Meitei communities.'
'Everything was sacrosanct when the BJP was led by Vajpayee and Advani.' 'That was a different culture. But with Modi and Amit Shah nothing is sacrosanct.'
Sarma, whose stock is high in Delhi had earlier captured eyeballs as the BJP's first star campaigner from the region in far away Gujarat and Delhi.
The drive met with opposition in Tinsukia in upper Assam leading to lathicharge by the security forces, while in Sonitpur the alleged illegal settlers claimed that it was launched about a week before the stipulated date.
'The message has gone loud and clear (among the people of Assam) that the BJP is only interested in polarising (the country) and they are basically interested in (capturing votes in) the Hindi heartland and they don't bother much about rest of India.'
'We should let the dust settle and see how the political equation unfolds in Assam'
The Bharatiya Janata Party's 'mission 84' (winning 84 out of 126 assembly seats in Assam in 2016 polls) has run into a hurdle put up by the United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent. The militant outfit has threatened to use force to stymie all activities of the saffron party in Assam after January 10, 2015.
The BJP has dropped C T Ravi, a leader from Karnataka, Dilip Saikia, a Lok Sabha MP from Assam, as its general secretaries, and Vinod Sonkar, Harish Dwivedi, both Lok Sabha MPs from Uttar Pradesh, and Sunil Deodhar as secretaries.
RJD-JD-U leaders believe Dhirendra Krishna Shastri's visit is part of the BJP's 2024 poll strategy.
Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said people of the state have voted for development and protection of their identity.
The rebel Congress leader said he expressed his desire to join BJP and work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah. He also discussed Assam's political and flood situation.
Over 100 people have been arrested so far in the crackdown, according to Punjab Police.
The BJP, which rules the Centre, is in power in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and is all set to get Madhya Pradesh back and snatch Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress after today's vote count.
Others were more sympathetic to the prime minister.
