The Rajya Sabha elections saw several candidates elected unopposed, including Sharad Pawar and Ramdas Athawale, while Bihar, Odisha, and Haryana prepare for contested elections.
210 Maoist cadres, including a Central Committee member, surrendered to authorities in Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur, marking the "largest mass surrender" in the state's anti-Naxal operations. The surrendered Naxalites carried a collective bounty of Rs 9.18 crore and handed over 153 weapons. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed the development as a historic moment for Chhattisgarh and the nation.
A political controversy has erupted in West Bengal after President Droupadi Murmu raised concerns about the lack of development among tribal communities, leading to a clash between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Kerala BJP has contradicted the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's justification of the arrest of two Keralite Catholic nuns, stating they were not involved in human trafficking or forced conversion attempts and promising to help them.
The exact case in connection with which the searches were being conducted was not yet known.
"Why am I being stopped? I am not going to Lakhimpur where prohibitory orders are in place. I am only going to the Uttar Pradesh Congress office," he told police.
Jogi, 74, had been battling for life at the private hospital for the last 20 days and suffered a cardiac arrest in the afternoon, they said. He is survived by his wife Renu Jogi, the MLA from Kota constituency, and son Amit Jogi, a former MLA.
Talking to reporters in Bilaspur town of the state, he also accused the saffron party of trying to take political advantage of last week's communal violence in Biranpur village of Bemetara district.
Senior Congress functionary Praveen Chakravarty has questioned the DMK's flagship women's assistance scheme, suggesting it's superstitious to believe it alone will ensure electoral success, citing examples of similar schemes failing to secure victories for other parties.
The Supreme Court declined to examine a plea challenging a PMLA provision, stating the issue lies in the law's abuse, not the law itself. The court allowed the petitioner to approach the High Court if procedures weren't followed.
Vishnu Deo Sai, a prominent tribal face of the Bharatiya Janata Party, will be the next chief minister of Chhattisgarh where the saffron party returned to power after a gap of five years following the recently-concluded assembly polls.
The Madhya Pradesh government promoted 60 police personnel for their role in anti-Naxal operations, celebrating the state's success in eradicating Maoist influence.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has claimed the movie portrays half truth and only shows violence without conveying any message.
The arrest of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion has ignited a political controversy, with opposition parties criticizing the arrest and the Chief Minister defending the police action.
Bhupesh Baghel said about his father that he respected his father as a son, but as a chief minister, none of his mistakes that will disturb public order can be ignored.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offence Wing (ACB/EOW) has claimed in its chargesheet that Chaitanya, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, received Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore as his share from an alleged liquor scam in the state.
Security forces killed 14 Naxalites, including wanted ultras Mangtu (DVCM) and Hunga Madkam, in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh's Sukma and Bijapur districts in the Bastar region on Saturday, officials said.
Nitin Nabin, a five-time Bihar MLA, has been elected unopposed as the BJP national president, becoming the youngest person to hold the position. His appointment signals a generational shift in the party's leadership as it prepares for key state elections.
Eight police personnel and a civilian driver were killed in a Naxal blast in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Monday. The blast, which was carried out using a 60-70 kg improvised explosive device (IED), occurred near Ambeli village under Kutru police station area. The victims were travelling in an SUV when the blast occurred. The incident marks the biggest attack on security forces in Chhattisgarh in two years. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and other state leaders paid homage to the deceased at a wreath-laying ceremony in Dantewada.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma announced plans for a new anti-conversion law following the arrest of two nuns from Kerala on charges related to religious conversion and human trafficking. The announcement comes amid political tensions and accusations of wrongful arrest.
The Congress on Sunday named Baghel, a five-time MLA from Patan, to head the state Congress Legislature Party. Baghel, who took charge as Congress state president Congress after the 2013 assembly polls, was credited for the massive victory of the party in the recent assembly polls where Congress won 68 seats in the 90-member House.
After a controversy erupted over the alleged remarks of his father, the chief minister said he was pained by such comments and asserted that nobody was above the law in his government and police will take an appropriate action in the matter.
Bhupesh Baghel revived the Congress in Chhattisgarh after the party's frontline leadership was wiped out in a Maoist attack in 2013.
The meeting will focus on the current internal security scenario in the state, with a special emphasis on anti-Maoist operations, the release added.
The Chhattisgarh assembly was informed that 177 security and police personnel, including those from paramilitary forces, have committed suicide in the state in the last six-and-a-half years. Family, personal issues, and health problems are cited as reasons.
The agency had in October arrested Sameer Vishnoi, an IAS officer of the state, and two others, after conducting several raids in the case.
Senior party leaders and a host of senior civil and police officials attended the swearing-in ceremony.
The arrest was made following a police complaint lodged against him by Sameera Paikra, the BJP candidate from Marwahi constituency in the 2013 state assembly polls.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, handled over Rs 1,000 crore worth of proceeds from a liquor scam and used Rs 16.7 crore for his real estate project.
Opposition parties and political analysts in Karnataka believe the 'truce' between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is temporary, a lull before the storm and a 'strategic adjustment'.
Swaraj Abhiyan leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav in Delhi accused the Raman Singh government of paying $1.57 million (Rs 10 crore) as 'commission' to a company registered in tax-haven British Virginia Islands to procure the chopper.
Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi's vehicle was attacked on Thursday morning by unidentified persons near Girwar village in Marwahi constituency, police said.The assailants pelted stones on the vehicle when Jogi was traveling through his assembly constituency in Bilaspur district, they said.Though the vehicle was damaged, Jogi was unhurt, police said.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has announced that his government will introduce a new stringent law to prevent religious conversion of tribal people, and possibly others. He also advocated for the delisting of tribals, removing them from the Scheduled Tribe category if they convert to another religion, saying it will prevent proselytisation.
People were asked to rate their chief minister's work as excellent, good, bad or average. The ratings were prepared by accumulating `excellent' and `good' rating points and then subtracting `bad' points from it.
Cyclone Montha crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast, resulting in two deaths, extensive crop damage, and disruptions to power and transportation. Neighboring Telangana also experienced heavy rains. Government relief efforts are underway.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'The right to vote is the supreme right of democracy which is being executed through EVMs. No nationally or internally recognized institutions or governments have certified the EVMs as a cent per cent accurate. Despite this fact, by conducting polling using the machines in India, which is the biggest democracy in the world, the constitutional right of my vote is being violated. There is no guarantee whether my vote is cast in favour of whom I pressed the button through the EVM machine,' he said.
"It happens in a crowd, and the old and women face difficulties," Singh told reporters in Raipur when his attention was drawn to reports of police kicking an aged man on his face and caning villagers in Ajaib Nagar, 525 km from Raipur.
At least eight persons, including the loco pilot, were killed and 14 others injured after a passenger train allegedly jumped a red signal and collided with a goods train from behind near Bilaspur station in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, officials said.
Singhdeo was the main architect of the Congress party's poll manifesto, which he said was made after feedback from about 80,000 people from across the state.
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