In the first phase, a total of 3.75 crore voters will decide the electoral fate of 1,314 candidates, including top leaders such as INDIA bloc's chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary of the BJP.
Madhav made the statement when asked why Sarma cannot contest despite being responsible for 25 seats.
Assam Congress spokesperson Reetam Singh was arrested on Saturday for a social media post questioning the status of cases registered against three senior BJP leaders, including a former state chief and two serving MLAs. The arrest came after a complaint by the wife of BJP MLA Manab Deka, who was mentioned in Singh's post. Singh's arrest was met with criticism from the Congress, with Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi alleging that Singh was "brutally dragged away" by police.
Sarma also claimed that marriages of minors were registered by the Kazis earlier, but the proposed bill will prohibit any such move.
Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi claimed in a social media post that the website of the Ministry of Food Processing shows the CM's wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma's firm Pride East Entertainments Pvt Ltd has received Rs 10 crore as part of credit credit-linked subsidy.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the arrest of six individuals, including an opposition MLA, for allegedly expressing support for Pakistan following a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. The arrests come as part of a crackdown on individuals promoting pro-Pakistan sentiments on social media. The chief minister stated that Assam will not tolerate any support for Pakistan in connection with the attack in Pahalgam, where 26 people were killed.
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.
'Zubeen Garg had come on his own free will.'
Assam Police's Special Investigating Team (SIT) is probing the death of singer Zubeen Garg, conducting raids and facing protests as the investigation unfolds.
Guwahati police have registered an FIR against journalist and YouTuber Abhisar Sharma for allegedly ridiculing the Assam and Union governments and promoting religious enmity. The FIR invokes Sections 152, 196, and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar to launch infrastructure projects, participate in Bhupen Hazarika's birth centenary, and attend the Combined Commanders' Conference.
The opposition Congress in Assam has accused the BJP government of running a "police raj" after official data revealed that 72 people were killed and 220 injured in police actions since Himanta Biswa Sarma became the chief minister in May 2021. The Congress has demanded that the Supreme Court take suo motu cognisance of the data and investigate the alleged fake encounters in the state. The data shows that a total of 256 police actions have been taken between May 2021 and February 2024, resulting in the deaths of 38 people in police remand and 34 more while in custody but before remand. The Congress has alleged that the ruling party is using the police for political gains, while the government has defended its actions, stating that police cases have been registered in each incident and that the NHRC guidelines have been followed.
Worsening the crisis in Assam, State Education and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma quit on Monday demanding the immediate ouster of Tarun Gogoi as chief minister.
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.
After a series of meetings, Sarma told reporters that BJP's Assam legislature party is likely to meet in Guwahati on Sunday and all questions related to the next government will be answered there.
The stage is set for the crucial first phase of the assembly elections in Bihar on Thursday, as 3.75 crore voters will decide the electoral fate of 1,314 candidates, including top leaders such as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance's (INDIA's) chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The CM also said that to prevent the sale of land from the indigenous communities like tribals and Adivasis to others in undivided Goalpara district, a strong law will be brought.
Sarma said his government was looking forward to the legislation on the Uniform Civil Code, which will be considered during a special four-day session of the Uttarakhand assembly that is starting from February 5.
The Assam Assembly has discontinued the decades-old practice of a two-hour break on Fridays to allow Muslim legislators to offer 'namaz'. The decision, which was made in August but implemented this session, has been met with criticism from opposition MLAs who argue that it was imposed by the ruling BJP. The decision was taken by the House's Rules Committee, which was headed by the Speaker, and was justified as a move to promote secularism and productivity.
Kejriwal also said such threats by Sarma are unbecoming of a chief minister. Sarma had on Friday threatened to file a defamation case against Kejriwal if the AAP leader alleged corruption cases against him outside the assembly.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (I-T) Department are likely to join the Assam Police in investigating alleged organised financial crimes and acquisition of benami properties by event manager Shyamkanu Mahanta, an accused in the death of Assam's cultural icon Zubeen Garg.
Zubeen Garg's manager Siddhartha Sharma and festival chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta were arrested from Delhi on Wednesday in connection with the singer's death in Singapore last month, the Assam Police said.
Sarma, who heads the Bharatiya Janata Party-led North East Development Alliance (NEDA), met Sangma at a hotel in Guwahati on Tuesday night, they said.
'He's (Modi) asked CMs of different states to work together as 'Team India'. He even made an appeal to Vote India!'
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma believes that the BJP could win more seats in the state by aggressively campaigning in minority-dominated areas. He attributed the party's recent success in the bypolls to its beneficiary schemes, which he claims have garnered support from the minority community. Sarma emphasized that the BJP will continue with its development work for all communities and has no plans for appeasement. He also gave an update on the Guwahati-North Guwahati bridge project, which is progressing well and is scheduled to be opened to the public in July 2025. Sarma also hinted at a possible cabinet reshuffle in the coming months.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J P Nadda and several other top leaders of the NDA.
"Who is Shahrukh Khan? I don't know anything about him or his film Pathaan," was Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's curt answer to queries by reporters in Guwahati on Saturday.
Sarma, while responding to reporters' questions on high price of veggies in Guwahati, had said, "Vegetables are not priced so high in villages. Here the Miya vendors charge us more. Had it been Assamese vendors selling vegetables, they wouldn't have fleeced their own people."
The Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments on Thursday signed an agreement in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah here to resolve their decades old border disputes.
Reciting Islamic verse 'Kalma' saved the life of Assam University Professor Debasish Bhattacharya by a whisker from the terrorists' bullets in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam where he was holidaying with his family.
Rescue operations at a flooded coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district continued for the seventh day on Sunday to locate trapped labourers inside the quarry. The bodies of four labourers have been recovered so far, with the dewatering process expected to reach its final stage soon. The mine was abandoned 12 years ago and was under the Assam Mineral Development Corporation until three years ago. The leader of the workers has been arrested and the police are conducting investigations into the case.
Assam Police have filed a murder charge against Zubeen Garg's manager and a festival organizer in connection with the singer's death in Singapore. The investigation is ongoing, with authorities seeking cooperation from Singaporean officials.
At least one person was killed and several others, including policemen, were injured in a clash between evicted people and security personnel in Paikan Reserve Forest in Assam's Goalpara district on Thursday, an official said.
Senior Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia has filed a police complaint against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his alleged "hateful statement" such as Lok Sabha MP and former party president Sonia Gandhi's "residence should be burnt".
Sisodia claimed that while the Assam government procured PPE kits for Rs 600 a piece from other companies, Sarma gave urgent supply orders to the firms of his wife and son's business partners for Rs 990 a piece "taking advantage of the COVID-19 emergency".
The Congress's performance in the Lok Sabha elections showed that it may be down but not out, and Modi is determined to ensure that in the next round in 2029, it is consigned to irrelevance, points out Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Replying to the motion, he said the crime rate has not increased if the population growth is taken into account.
The government nominated Tharoor, who serves as chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, to lead one of the seven multi-party delegations abroad for putting across India's stand against Pakistan for supporting terrorism.
Incidents of violence rocked Assam's Samaguri assembly constituency where by-elections will be held on November 13 with both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress alleging that gunshots were fired targeting each other's supporters over the last 24 hours, police said on Sunday.
Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has called upon China to expand its economic influence in Bangladesh, controversially mentioning that India's northeastern states being landlocked could present an opportunity. Yunus, who recently visited China and met with President Xi Jinping, highlighted Bangladesh's role as the "only guardian of the ocean " in the region, suggesting it could be a pathway for Chinese economic expansion. This statement has sparked debate, with Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic advisory council, questioning the relevance of India's landlocked states in Yunus' appeal to China. Yunus, however, emphasized the importance of a strong friendship with China, viewing it as a counterbalance to India. During his visit, Yunus signed nine agreements with Beijing and secured USD 2.1 billion in investments, loans, and grants from the Chinese government and companies.
