The party has also expanded its list of spokesperson to 23, with MP Anil Baluni being elevated as the chief spokesperson and remaining its media head.
Sources said the Telangana chief minister was busy with preparations for the launch of his ambitious Rs 80,000 crore Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project that would end water woes in the state, while in a letter to Modi, the West Bengal chief minister had expressed her inability to attend the Niti Aayog meeting on June 15, saying it is "fruitless" as the body has no financial powers to support state plans.
The ED case came about after the CBI first carried out a preliminary enquiry followed by filing a regular case on the orders of the Bombay high court that asked it to look into the allegations of bribery made against Deshmukh by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
Amid intense criticism over Commonwealth Games preparations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a meeting with union ministers and others involved in the sporting event but kept away Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi, triggering speculation about his being sidelined.
The protest by Dalits against the demolition of a Ravidas temple in the Tughlakabad area of Delhi turned violent on Wednesday night, leaving several people, including policemen, injured.
Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti on Wednesday gave divergent versions on the issue of merger even after their leaders have held a series of meetings since Parliament gave its nod for creation of Telangana last week.
The Manikarnika actor, known for provocative and often inflammatory statements, was once again the centre of debate -- and ire -- with politicians across the spectrum, including Bharatiya Janata Party MP Varun Gandhi, among the host of social media users and others who reacted with outrage for her comments at an event on Wednesday evening.
The Uttarakhand Police and SDRF teams rushed to the spot to help in the rescue operations.
Ram Bahadur Rai, editor of Hindi magazine Yathawat and an expert on the Ram Janamabhoomi movement, speaks to Gopal Krishna, how then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao had a plan to construct a Ram temple in Ayodhya and what transpired in the days leading up to and post December 6 1992 in the second and final part of this interview.
Most of the holidays had been declared by the previous Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party governments apparently to keep certain sections of the society in good humour, often with an eye on the vote bank.
Days after the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licenses for 2G spectrum, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday held consultations with senior Cabinet colleagues on its impact on the telecom sector and the way forward. The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Paranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Law Minister Salman Khurshid.
Even with an ongoing pandemic, theatres in many states functioning at 50 per cent occupancy, a quieter social life and fewer movies, Bollywood still managed to pack in plenty of drama and trauma, fun and festivity, love and war into the year.
Noted historians Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib and Amar Farooqi believe that banning the sale of a book by DU because it refers to Bhagat Singh as a "revolutionary terrorist".
'70 years back, Dalits used to be abused, scolded, slapped, but killing a Dalit was rare because a Dalit was somebody's property.' 'Now that they are free, they are facing violent attacks.'
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
For a cricket crazy country like India, can cricketers be the role models for the youth of the nation?
'Shouldn't our investigation agencies be fiercely independent and conduct fair investigations, show some spine and say no to such witch hunting?' 'That they will not be cowed down by what the Centre wants them to do.'
Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrashekhar Rao along with a delegation met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to thank him for getting the Telangana Bill passed in Parliament and also discussed issues related to the new state.
In the face of a virtual revolt by the top bureaucrats who are learnt to have complained against a proposed extension (the fourth in a row) of cabinet secretary K M Chandrashekhar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh okayed the appointment of Ajit Kumar Seth as the next cabinet secretary from Africa, where he is currently of a week-long visit.
Lokendra Singh Kalvi talks about the distortion of history in Jodhaa Akbar.
The Babri Masjid Action Committee meeting was held against the backdrop of the apex court recently asking parties involved to sit together and arrive at a consensus on the issue, which has been dragging on for decades.
"Let them hear us, we are prepared. But we are not ready for out-of-court settlement," Jilani said.
'Politics affects everything in your life...' 'It's a wrong perception that artistes should not talk about politics.'
Rajeev Chandrashekhar, who is the only lawmaker to reject the salary hike, communicated to the prime minister that he would not reconsider his decision until the government re-examines the issue of One Rank One Pension.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav are and 10 political leaders who were on Thursday elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Farmer leader Darshan Pal accused the Centre of dividing farmer organisations, but it will not happen.
'There was a revolt. They were fighting for their rights.' 'They lost their rights after colonial forest policies came into place.' 'These freedom fighters were trying to reassert those rights.'
'As a course mate who has followed closely this star on the Bombay Sappers firmament, my heart swells with pride to see his extraordinary brilliance and focus; his commitment and his dedication; his hard work; and his technical as well as tactical knowledge,' says Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd) of his batchmate General Manoj Pande who will take over as chief of the army staff on May 1.
As the 2019 Lok Sabha election approaches, some rare photographs from the 1996 election campaign, which saw a Bharatiya Janata Party prime minister for the first time in India's history, albeit only for 13 days.
A copybook President, R Venkataraman, who passed into the ages on Tuesday, skilfully guided the country through a testing period of coalition politics in its nascent days that saw three prime ministers in two years.
A senior civil aviation ministry official said this was one of the key issues discussed during Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday to ask for a relief on ATF. Top airline executives like Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal and Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya also met the PM to highlight the issue.
Neeraj Shekhar won the prestigious Ballia Lok Sabha by-election by a margin of over 1,30,000 votes over his nearest rival, Bahujan Samaj Party's Vinay Shankar Tewari.
While the assembly elections are being seen as largely a contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance, the state has been witness to mushrooming of "morchas" (fronts) which may queer the pitch for the lead players in a tight contest.
Most of the parties supported 'one nation one election', says defence minister Rajnath Singh.
The video conference, which began at 11 am, comes amid indications that the central government may extend the nationwide lockdown with some possible relaxations even as Punjab and Odisha have already announced extending the lockdown beyond April 14 when the current spell of 21-day shutdown across the country ends on Tuesday.
The Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal MPs, including his daughter Misa Bharti and Manoj Jha, also staged a protest at Mahatma Gandhi's statue inside the Parliament complex and contended that despite being the chief opposition party in Bihar and the single largest party in the Assembly, it was not invited.
The counting will begin at 8 am, and as per the Election Commission's COVID-19 guidelines, a candidate, his poll agent and counting agent can remain present in the counting hall, officials said, adding various measures have been taken to ensure social distancing and avoid crowding.
