Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Saturday that they have not received any message from the Centre for talks to address their issues and said a group of 101 farmers will again begin their march to Delhi on December 8.
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
The 17-year-old girl, whose body was found in a canal in Kaliaganj police station area on Friday, knew the man, Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Sana Akhtar said, identifying him as the prime accused.
Sporadic post-poll violence continued on Tuesday in West Bengal claiming several lives as chief minister Mamata Banerjee asked officials to act decisively and Prime Minister Narendra Modi rang up Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to express anguish over the law-and-order situation.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday apologised for the ethnic conflict in the state which claimed over 250 lives and rendered thousands homeless, and appealed to all communities to forget and forgive past mistakes and live together in a peaceful and prosperous state.
Polling is underway to elect 119 members of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, with voters queuing up to exercise their franchise amid tight security on Thursday.
Union minister Smriti Irani reacted furiously to the Congress leader's barb at the prime minister over the Rafale purchase and the tense situation in Manipur.
Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Kunwar Bhartendu Singh, accused of inciting last month riots in Muzaffarnagar, was on Thursday apprehended by the Uttar Pradesh police and sent to 14-day judicial custody.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday sought four additional companies of central forces following communal clashes in the state and said a battalion of the India Reserve Battalion will also be deployed in Nuh.
The BJP MLA alleged that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is "trying to create a kingdom of criminals in Maharashtra".
RJD-JD-U leaders believe Dhirendra Krishna Shastri's visit is part of the BJP's 2024 poll strategy.
The activists of PFI had allegedly mobilised rioters and were in contact with Hayat Zafar Hashmi, the key conspirator of the violence, the police said.
It has assured that details of those giving information will not be revealed besides informers will be given due rewards.
Questioning the team's authority headed by a former Patna high court judge, Banerjee pointed out that Ram Navami processions organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party had carried arms and driven tractors and deliberately taken routes where 'Namaz' was being offered.
A member of the delegation said the home ministry is likely to send a team to the area.
In a blistering attack against the BJP over the violence in Manipur, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that its politics had "murdered Bharat Mata" in the northeastern state and termed members of the ruling party "traitors".
"The violence in Assam is not a communal clash as alleged by the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is a clash between Bodos and religious minority community triggered by some elements with vested interests. Both communities have been affected by the clashes," Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said vehemently refuting BJP's allegation that it was a communal clash sparked by illegal migrants from Bangladesh.
Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said no 'jatha' (group) of farmers will resume their foot march to Delhi on Tuesday. The farmers suspended their march after some were injured in teargas shelling by Haryana security personnel. Pandher accused the Centre of being confused on how the protesters should proceed to the national capital, citing contradictory statements from different ministers. He also criticized the government's lack of response to the hunger strike of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, which has entered its 14th day.
The Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in Rajasthan on Sunday, winning 115 seats out of the 199 where assembly elections were held last week.
A Congress worker died during a protest near the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in Lucknow, India, on Wednesday. The Congress party alleged the worker, Prabhat Pandey, died due to "police brutality," while police said he was brought to the hospital unconscious and had no visible injury marks. An investigation is underway, and a post-mortem is to be conducted by a panel of doctors.
The state government will help all those whose properties were vandalised in the clashes, she said.
Questioning the Congress's stand on caste census, the BJP leader made certain remarks on Gandhi's caste that triggered the uproar and had Congress members trooping into the well of the Lok Sabha. "Anurag Thakur insulted me and I don't want any apology from him. Abuse or insult me as hard as you can but don't forget we will pass the caste census in this Parliament for sure," the Leader of the Opposition said.
Senior Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy on Friday stirred the hornet's nest by saying that the party will not accept the use of violence and muscle power by its candidates during the upcoming civic polls in West Bengal.
South Haryana hasn't delivered a chief minister since 1967, when his father Rao Birender Singh was ousted from power. It's a legacy Rao Inderjit Singh is determined to reclaim.
'As soon as the violence broke out, they should have stepped in and sent a message that the state is there to stop this violence.' 'Had they done it right there, the situation would not have gone out of control.'
The government will also give Rs 10 lakh to those injured in the violence, said Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Awanish Awasthi.
Violence was reported from some places of the north east state hours before the second phase of polling commenced as a BJP supporter was gunned down allegedly by a Congress worker and a crude bomb exploded outside the residence of an expelled saffron party leader, police said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the Mahayuti allies have agreed to conduct a 'performance audit' of ministers during their tenure.
'If Mamata Banerjee doesn't want, then violence cannot be stopped.'
So far, over 35 people have been arrested in connection with the violence.
The BJP lashed out at the Congress for its "promotion of violence" and dubbed its yatra as "Bharat Todo Yatra".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called for tough decisions and unity within the party after the Congress suffered electoral defeats in Maharashtra and Haryana. In a meeting with top party leaders, Kharge highlighted the need to strengthen the organization from the grassroots, fix accountability, and address internal bickering. He also urged leaders to remain united and avoid public criticism of each other. The Congress chief expressed concern over the party's performance in state elections despite a strong showing in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year. He acknowledged the need to learn from the setbacks and improve the party's strategy and communication to counter its rivals' propaganda.
'Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have called his MLAs and ministers and said 'this should not happen in India. Manipur is not a part of any banana republic, I will not allow this to happen, talk it out, what is the problem'
Bose is planning to convert the police outpost near the North Gate of the Raj Bhavan into a 'Jan Manch' (public platform), he said.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pinned its hopes on the old guard to ensure victory in next month's assembly elections in Chhattisgarh as it gave tickets to 11 sitting MLAs and renominated 13 leaders who lost in the 2018 polls.
The Congress on Wednesday filed a police complaint over the recent statements of leaders belonging to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) targeting Rahul Gandhi.
Asserting that the Communal Violence Bill will create bitterness among people, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said his party would oppose it in Parliament as well as outside.
A body of advocates in Prayagaraj have e-mailed a petition to the Chief Justice of Allahabad high court against the demolition of a house of the alleged mastermind of the June 10 violence in the city by the Prayagraj Development Authority.
A Trinamool Congress legislator on Sunday threatened to not support any bill tabled by the government in the West Bengal Assembly in the future and abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in the state if 'atrocities' on his loyalists allegedly by a rival faction continued, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party said the collapse of the Mamata Banerjee government was just a matter of time.
