A minor fire followed by smoke at the venue of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's mass contact programme held here amid tight security gave tense moments to police and other officials on Friday.
If the process becomes completely online, there will be no intervention from a state government at any level.
The police, which took the women to safety, said that the duo informed the security forces that they came to Sabarimala without knowing the customs of the temple.
The Bahujan Samaj Party will contest in all the 140 assembly seats in Kerala in the forthcoming elections, scheduled to be held on April 13. Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, Gafoor Puthuppadi, general secretary, BSP Kerala unit, alleged that both the ruling Communist part of India-Marxist led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led opposition United Democratic Front were anti-development, and had betrayed people's expectations.
The term of the Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura legislative assemblies is ending on March 6, March 13 and March 14 respectively.
Protesting against the police action, BJP has called for a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Thiruvananthapuram district on Tuesday.
The results will be announced on May 2.
The BJP's strong showing came as a surprise for many as the party did not even have a councillor in Tripura.
Though the party defended him saying "the case and his arrest is politically motivated."
The Mamata Banerjee-led party, which has often been mocked by opponents for not having a well-defined ideological plank, seems to have finally found its calling in Bengali sub-nationalism, as a section of top party leaders feel only an 'inclusive message of regionalism, which the Bengalis can identify with, will counter the aggressive nationalism and Hindutva practised by the saffron camp'.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front on Wednesday suggested further tightening of the measures on liquor policy if it returns to power.
Normal life was on Wednesday disrupted in Kerala due to the dawn-to-dusk 12-hour hartal called by Communist Party of India-Marxist led Left Democratic Front to demand resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over the solar scam issue.
However, Head priest Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru told reporters at the temple that he had only consulted senior tantri Kandararu Mohanararu on the matter.
In four years, the state has had to battle cyclones, two floods, and two epidemiological disasters. If people bring Pinarayi Vijayan back to power, he must have done something right, obsevers Aditi Phadnis.
While Health minister K K Shylaja would lead the chain at Kasargod, senior CPM leader Brinda Karat would be the last person at the end of the chain in Thiruvananthapuram.
The LDF was also leading in 10 out of the 14 district panchayats and 108 block panchayats of the total of 152, according to the State Election Commission figures.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who inaugurated the celebrations, clarified that the Governor was not invited due to "protocol" issues.
In the petition, the government stated that the act violates "Articles 14, 21, and 25 of the Constitution of India" and is violative of the basic structure principle of secularism as well.
Targetting Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over the solar scam, Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front opposition created an uproar in the Kerala assembly, which resumed its sitting on Monday after a fortnight's interlude.
Political observers have said that the TMC, now desperate to shed the 'anti-Hindu' tag and embrace 'soft Hindutva', is carefully planning its moves, with help from poll strategist Prashant Kishor and team, as is evident from its decisions to organise Brahmin Sammelan, provide sops to Sanatan Brahmins, and financial aid to Durga puja committees.
A day after various exit polls predicted Opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front coming to power in Kerala, ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front leaders shrugged it off
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday targeted Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front over the gold smuggling scam, saying the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led government "betrayed" the people of the state just as Judas did to Lord Jesus for a few pieces of silver.
Cities, roads, stations rechristened in the time of Modi.
Shah also attacked the Congress and said "the party was finished in the country due to corruption and family rule."
The veteran Kerala Congress leader had been a dominant player in Kerala's coalition politics, serving under six chief ministers.
Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan are the other three states to pass a resolution opposing the contentious legislation, reports Archis Mohan.
A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices L N Rao and Dinesh Maheshwari said it was only going into the aspect of security of the two women -- Bindu and Kanakadurga, and would not like to entertain any other prayer made in the petition.
Holding placards bearing pictures of Lord Ayyappa and chanting his hymns, the protesters marched through the busy roads of Kochi, the state's commercial hub, after launching the stir from the famed Shiva temple there.
In the printed copy of his address, prepared by the state government and distributed to legislators and media, there was a reference to the alleged tendency of the central government to 'roughshod' the traditions of cooperative federalism by bypassing the state government.
Accompanied by police personnel, the members of Chennai-based women empowerment outfit 'Manithi' could barely move 100 metres through the traditional forest path towards the temple when hundreds of devotees rushed down to the valley to chase them away.
The temple board, in earlier round of litigation, had opposed the public interest litigation by Indian Young Lawyers Association seeking to throw open the shrine for all women.
Governments in most of the world saw their approval ratings dip as they struggled to contain the raging virus, which hit economy hard everywhere, but Indian politics followed a different script, with the outgoing year marking further shrinking of a rudderless Congress while the ruling BJP soared riding on Modi's enduring appeal.
The module was also planning to carry out targeted killings in India and was in the advanced stage of procuring arms, including automatic rifles and pistols, ammunition and explosives to carry out the attacks, he said.
The actor met with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and discussed the political situation in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Unlike previous days, the House even saw Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front members standing up from their seats and locking horns with opposition members, prompting the Speaker to warn both sides.
Mamata Banerjee fended off a spirited challenge by a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal with a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress on Sunday for a third consecutive term and the saffron party and the Left Democratic Front were poised to form government again in Assam and Kerala respectively while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years.
The Lord Ayyappa shrine will re-open for the two-month-long Madala-Makkarvilakku puja on Saturday.
More than 750 constituencies spread across four states and one union territory will go to the polls on Tuesday
Biennial elections are being held for 58 Rajya Sabha seats across several states and by-poll for one in Kerala.
With Thursday's win, the Congress's strength in the Lok Sabha has gone up to 48.
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