He said Gujarat wants to move forward but is unable to see the way ahead, and the Congress is unable to show it the way.
The birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, whose political influence has surged with the passage of time, on Monday was marked by bitter trading of charges between the ruling BJP and opposition parties as they fought for his legacy.
While two bodies were recovered on Wednesday, the death toll climbed to four on Thursday after the recovery of two more bodies from the Indira Priyadarshini Hydroelectric project site in Kangra district.
BJP MLC C T Ravi was arrested in Karnataka, India, for allegedly using derogatory language against Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar. He was released on bail by the High Court of Karnataka, which observed that police failed to follow proper procedures during his arrest. The incident has sparked a political showdown between the BJP and the ruling Congress in the state.
This is the second time that Ranaut has met the BJP president since she stirred a controversy earlier this week with her disparaging remarks on the farmers agitation against the now repealed three farm laws.
Amid criticism over his absence from violence-hit Murshidabad in West Bengal, TMC leaders defended Baharampur MP Yusuf Pathan, saying he is "busy with the IPL." TMC sources expressed unhappiness with Pathan for not visiting the district during last week's communal clashes. Three people were killed in the clashes, which erupted during protests against recent amendments to the Waqf Act. The BJP seized the opportunity to criticize the ruling party, with Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar saying, "Bengal is burning under the indulgence of TMC leaders. But TMC MP Yusuf Pathan is busy sipping tea as Hindus get slaughtered. This is the true face of the TMC."
However, no video of the alleged incident was made available immediately by the party. Kejriwal is a Z-plus protectee. A senior police officer said that they haven't received any official complaint from the AAP yet.
The political and ideological differences between the Congress and Shashi Tharoor is no longer a matter of whispers.
Exit polls conducted after the Delhi Assembly elections on February 5th predict a close race between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with the BJP potentially securing a slight advantage. The polls suggest the Congress will not make any significant gains. However, it is important to note that exit polls are projections based on voter interviews and can vary significantly from the actual results, which will be announced on February 8th.
The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday condemned Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah's controversial remarks about Colonel Sofia Qureshi, a senior Army officer who briefed the media along with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh during Operation Sindoor.
The Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has registered a case against former PWD minister and senior AAP leader Satyendar Jain over alleged corruption in a Rs 571-crore CCTV project. According to the ACB, Jain allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 7 crore to waive the liquidated damages penalty of Rs 16 crore imposed on Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The project, which was executed when he was a PWD minister in the previous Arvind Kejriwal government, was related to the installation of 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras across all 70 assembly constituencies.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that at a time when the BJP should be targeting Pakistan and terrorists, it is only interested in attacking the Congress.
China and Pakistan are in a tight strategic alliance. India must deal with them one at a time, but be prepared in case they decide to collude, points out Shekhar Gupta.
JD-U MP Sanjay Kumar Jha heads a diplomatic mission to Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Singapore, to seek international cooperation after the Pahalgam attack while highlighting Pakistan's role in cross-border terrorism.
'We will inform them how Pakistan not only helps terrorists, it also provide training to them to target India and spread terror.'
The violence, which erupted over the setting up of a shop in Maheshtala under Rabindranagar police station in South 24 Parganas district, quickly escalated, turning the area into a virtual battlefield.
Aligarh BJP MP Satish Gautam has sparked a controversy over the celebration of Holi at Aligarh Muslim University, declaring that "no one can stop anyone from celebrating Holi inside the AMU campus". The controversy erupted after members of right wing Hindu groups accused the AMU administration of denying permission to the Hindu students to organise a 'Holi Milan' function on campus. Gautam has extended his support to Hindu students, saying, "If any Hindu student faces any problem in celebrating Holi inside the campus, then I am there to help him."
Devendra Fadnavis is the frontrunner to become the next chief minister of Maharashtra, according to a senior BJP leader.
The Maharashtra Congress on Friday said it will welcome an alliance between the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) if it is in the interest of the state and to keep the 'communal' Bharatiya Janata Party away.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking initiation of breach of privilege proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for making "blatant lies and vilification campaign" during his speech in the House. Dubey alleged that Gandhi used his parliamentary privilege to spread canards without authenticating his charges and distorted historical facts during his speech. Gandhi had claimed that mobile phones were not made in India but only assembled here, China has captured the Indian territory, and India had sent Foreign Minister S Jaishankar to the US to get an invite for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for US President Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony. He also made allegations related to the electoral rolls for the Maharashtra Assembly polls and the law for the appointment of the elections commissioner. Dubey accused Gandhi of misusing the Constitution's Article 105, which accords privileges to parliamentarians for their comments made inside the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. He urged the Speaker to initiate proceedings against Gandhi, alleging that Parliament's records and proceedings are a testimony to his irresponsible attitude.
'Talking about boycotting polls is simply a move to galvanise party leaders, workers, and supporters for the big political fight.'
EPS' acceptance of Amit Shah's proposal for an electoral alliance with the BJP is being interpreted to mean how the AIADMK has signed up the NDA national leader as a junior partner. Not many have appreciated EPS for this strategic move that has now forced the BJP to play second fiddle to the AIADMK. This has meant that the BJP has buried its ambitions of capturing power in Tamil Nadu now, and is willing to wait until after the 2029 Lok Sabha polls, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The latest annual report of the finance ministry has disclosed that the agency funded seven projects worth USD 750 million in 2023-24.
Many were so disillusioned with AAP that they left it in droves. A 10% drop in AAP's vote share is a pointer to that. To assume that if AAP had teamed up with the Congress, the Congress' 6.3% vote share would have helped AAP retain control of Delhi is erroneous, argues Sudhir Bisht.
The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) has confirmed that Kannada actor Ranya Rao, recently arrested for gold smuggling, was allotted 12 acres of industrial land in 2023 by the previous BJP government for setting up a steel plant. The allocation was approved during a state-level meeting in January 2023, when the BJP was in power. The Congress government, which came to power after the May 2023 elections, has released documents confirming the land allotment. Ranya Rao was arrested after gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore were seized from her at Bengaluru airport.
Hundreds of residents along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir were evacuated to safer zones after Pakistani shelling following Indian airstrikes on terror targets in Pakistan. The shelling killed 12 people, including four children and two women, and injured over 50. The evacuations come amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 civilians dead. The government has provided temporary shelter for those evacuated.
The Maharashtra government, led by a coalition of the BJP and Shiv Sena, has admitted that it cannot increase the monthly financial aid under the Ladki Bahin Yojana to Rs 2,100, as promised during the 2024 assembly polls. The government cites severe financial stress as the reason. Social Justice Minister Sanjay Shirsat, a Shiv Sena leader, has said that the scheme will continue with the existing amount of Rs 1,500, but the increase is not feasible at this time. The minister also accused the Finance Department, led by Ajit Pawar, of diverting funds from his department without his knowledge. He called for a law to ensure that the social justice and tribal affairs departments receive their allocated funds. The statement comes as an embarrassment for the Mahayuti government, which had heavily campaigned on the promise of increasing the Ladki Bahin Yojana aid.
If the DMK is able to sustain the momentum until the assembly polls, the AIADMK especially and the PMK and possibly the infant TVK too would find it hard to sign up with the BJP, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent Rs 1,737.68 crore for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, according to the expenditure report submitted to the Election Commission of India. A majority of the funds were allocated to general party propaganda and candidate-related expenses, with media advertisements accounting for a significant portion. The BJP's election outreach also included extensive use of publicity materials and campaign-related travel. The party's expenditure on public meetings, processions, and rallies, including arrangements for stages, audio setups, barricades, and vehicles, stood at Rs 19.84 crore. The travel expenditure of star campaigners authorized by the party's central headquarters amounted to Rs 168.92 crore, while Rs 2.53 crore was spent on the travel of other party leaders.
The Delhi High Court has stayed the release of the movie 'Udaipur Files' amid concerns that it could promote communal disharmony. The court has directed petitioners to approach the central government with their grievances, and the stay will remain in effect until the government decides on the matter.
At the Bharatiya Janata Party election rally in Ghonda on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, Narendra Modi startled the gathering when he touched the feet of a candidate not once, but three times.
The BJP has demanded the death penalty for former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The party's leaders have called for the CBI to appeal the verdict, saying it was not an ordinary murder case but a genocide. The BJP has also said that the "wheels of justice" are starting to turn and that other Congress leaders involved in the riots will soon face consequences.
Maharashtra Forest Minister and BJP leader Ganesh Naik will hold a 'janata darbar' in Thane, a stronghold of Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde, amid speculation of unease within the ruling Mahayuti alliance. The event, which will be held near the collector's office in Thane city, is being seen by some political circles as a direct challenge to the Shiv Sena's influence in the area. The BJP and Shiv Sena have been experiencing tensions in their relationship for the past few weeks, which came to the forefront with Shinde's recent warning to not take him lightly. The rivalry between Naik and Shinde goes back several years, with both competing to increase their influence in Thane. The event has been downplayed by Shiv Sena leaders, who emphasize that it is simply a public hearing to address grievances. However, the timing of the event and the recent tensions between the BJP and Shiv Sena have fueled speculation about its political significance.
Kejriwal described the BJP's election manifesto as "dangerous for the country".
The killings of Gopal Khemka and his son Gunjan, seven years apart, bear a striking resemblance, reports M I Khan.
According to Khemka's family members, his son was also shot dead by criminals six years ago in Hajipur.
Devendra Fadnavis, a seasoned politician with deep roots in the RSS, is set to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third time, after his party, the BJP, won a landslide victory in the state assembly elections. Fadnavis' political journey has been marked by resilience and strategic maneuvering, as he has navigated through challenging times, including political upheavals and controversies.
A five-time Olympic shooter, Randhir Singh was the lone eligible candidate for the OCA president's post.
'He was walking on the road when a car coming from Bhogpur hit him. He suffered head injuries and was taken to a private hospital where he died in the evening'
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