Pandian joined the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in 2011, and since then, he has been Patnaik's private secretary.
While Rajnath Singh said secularism was the most misused word in politics, Sonia alleged that ideals and principles of the Constitution were under threat and being attacked deliberately
The Congress will begin the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from the violence-hit Manipur on Sunday, in what is being seen as the party's bid to set the narrative in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and put the spotlight on issues such as unemployment, price rise and social justice.
The ad is one more illustration of the way Maharashtra's new Shinde-Fadnavis government has been milking the Ganpati festival, with CM Eknath Shinde visiting Ganpati Mandals all day these last 10 days.
The Congress slammed Ravi Shankar Prasad, accusing him of distorting, twisting and lying "with a straight face".
'Rather than criticising the kind of candidates fielded by political parties from our living rooms, NOTA in a sense implores the electorate to say this by turning up in person at a polling booth to ensure their protest is registered.'
Should the anti-defection law in India exist only to prevent democratically elected governments from being toppled?
"A BJP leader had told me that my phone was being tapped. I said if anybody wants to listen to what I am saying I welcome it. I am Balasaheb's chela (disciple), whatever I do, I do it openly," Raut told reporters. "In spite of the phone-tapping, we formed the government in Maharashtra," he said. Raut's remarks come a day after state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh alleged that the Fadnavis dispensation misused government machinery to tap the phones of opposition leaders, especially during the formation of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government.
Singh alleged that the BJP was attempting to "defame" Delhi CM, claiming that all attempts to bring a bad name to Kejriwal and his party will fail.
A delegation of Trinamool Congress leaders on Wednesday met Election Commission officials here and alleged that the use of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo on advertisements of various central schemes and the COVID vaccination certificates, distributed by the Union health ministry, violated the model code of conduct.
BJP candidate and former chief minister Bhajan Lal's grandson Bhavya Bishnoi on Sunday defeated his nearest rival and Congress nominee Jai Prakash in the Adampur assembly seat by-election, retaining the family bastion.
Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut said the Bharatiya Janata Party's national executive should pass a resolution to demand investigation by these agencies in the land case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to depose before it on July 21 for questioning in the National Herald newspaper-linked money-laundering case, officials said on Monday.
The BJP MLA alleged that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is "trying to create a kingdom of criminals in Maharashtra".
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey, who wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla accusing Trinamool Congress's Mahua Moitra of taking 'bribes' from a businessman to ask questions in Parliament, has also written to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, urging him to investigate the IP addresses of her log-in credentials for the House.
The JD-U also accused the ruling BJP of having "authoritarian" tendencies and destabilising non-BJP governments in several states, including Delhi and Jharkhand besides Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra earlier.
Notably, after coming to power in November 2019, the then MVA government scrapped certain policy decisions of its predecessor BJP-Shiv Sena government led by Fadnavis.
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."
The Congress will conduct a caste census in Madhya Pradesh after winning the assembly polls and establish a university in the name of Sant Ravidas, said party president Mallikarjun Kharge, accusing the regime at the Centre of wishing to change the Constitution.
The Aam Aadmi Party has charged that the ordinance, promulgated Friday night, "overturns" the May 11 apex court order giving the elected government in Delhi the control over services matter. The development has set the stage for an intense confrontation between the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation and the Centre and the Lt Governor.
According to several Congress functionaries, Suresh filed his papers as a "backup plan" in the event of the nomination of Shivakumar getting rejected.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K Kavitha after an hours-long raid at her premises in Hyderabad and brought her to Delhi for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, agency sources said.
He reaffirmed that parties opposed to the BJP can win with a "huge majority" in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls if they agree to join hands.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Sunday paid homage to those who lost their lives during the Partition as the Congress accused the ruling party of using the traumatic events as a 'fodder' for its political battles.
Aaditya, son of Shiv Sena president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, dubbed the searches by the I-T department on Kanal as 'invasion by Delhi' ahead of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi cited a viral video on social media platforms, claiming that in it Modi's voice is heard in a call with BJP rebel Kripal Parmar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged the use of artificial intelligence for creating deepfakes saying this can lead to a big crisis, as he urged the media to spread awareness about its misuse and impact to educate people.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that after fulfilling Bharatiya Janata Party's poll promise on Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya, work has begun in Mathura and Vrindavan as well.
'We have taken technology to the mandal and booth level.'
The Congress on Thursday secured a seat in the present Bengal assembly as its candidate Bayron Biswas won the Sagardighi bypoll, defeating the nearest rival of the Trinamool Congress by 22,980 votes.
The prime minister took no names but made an apparent reference to reports about "rate card" for different government jobs in the Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal and prevalence of "cut money" in the state.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted raids at over a dozen locations in Chhattisgarh including at premises linked to state Congress leaders as part of an ongoing probe into the alleged coal levy scam, officials said.
Talking to reporters in Bhopal, Kharge said he believes in collective leadership and if elected president, will consult party leaders Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul Gandhi on organisational matters.
'The central BJP has worked out an arrangement -- Yogi manages the state while Modi manages the Centre.'
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the mass consumption items such as pulses, wheat, rice, flour, and curd will not attract the 5 per cent goods and services tax (GST) when sold loose, and not pre-packed or pre-labelled. The clarification came amid protests and widespread criticism by Opposition Members of Parliament over foisting GST on daily-use essentials and subsequent price rise. The all-powerful GST Council, chaired by the Union minister, had last month decided to impose GST on some mass consumption items to simplify the rate structure, which came into effect on Monday.
Pawar pressed for forging alliances of anti-BJP parties at state level and favoured picking up the prime ministerial candidate after the election results, as happened after the 1977 and 2004 general polls.
The Congress is gearing up to demonstrate a political show of strength on Monday when the party leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection in connection with a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper.
Responding to a complaint by Right to Information activist Saket Gokhale, the commission said it has found no violation of the provisions of the model code in the issue.
Call it the art of staying rooted yet bending with prevailing political winds. With Telangana going to the polls in December, and assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra and Odisha scheduled next year, what factors have influenced parties' recent moves?
Fadnavis claimed the BJP was "beyond running behind anyone" as the people of India were with the party and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
