The administration started preparing for the demolition of two precariously standing hotels in subsidence-hit Joshimath in Uttarakhand on Tuesday, but faced protests from their owners and locals on the issue of compensation, while more families were evacuated from the danger zone as the number of affected houses rose to over 700.
Cracking the whip, Congress on Thursday night suspended rebel party MP from Haryana Chaudhary Birender Singh and former CWC member Jagmeet Brar for "gross indiscipline" and "deliberately lowering the prestige of the party".
Shah said that the people of the country will decide about the principal opposition party to BJP in the 2024 polls and they have not given this label to any party.
"If you show us (threaten us with) ED, we will also send proof against BJP leaders to the agency. A section of BJP ministers and leaders is hand in glove with the coal mafia. They even stayed at hotels run by them during elections," she said.
A day after a group of Congress MLAs met Sachin Pilot, another party legislator on Friday expressed support for the dissident leader as trouble brewed again in Rajasthan's ruling party.
Congress Vice president Rahul Gandhi's decision to use the same team he used in the Lok Sabha polls for the upcoming assembly elections has not gone down well with many in the party. Rediff.com contributor Renu Mittal reports
"The ruling establishment seems to have lost all sense of balance, and of proportion. It appears determined to undermine all democratic norms. It seems hell-bent to destroy the spirit of inquiry, the spirit of questioning, the spirit of debate and dissent, said the Congress president.
Refuting allegations of divisions in the Congress in Rajasthan, Corporate Affairs Minister and Member of Parliament from Ajmer, Sachin Pilot, speaks to Kavita Chowdhury on a range of issues, including the Congress's prospects in the coming Rajasthan Assembly polls.
Nadda's visit assumes significance as it came ahead of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje's planned 'dharmik yatra' next week, seen as an attempt to re-assert her influence in the state unit after maintaining a low profile since the BJP's defeat in 2018 assembly polls.
'Earlier, a lot of fear was in the minds of people that the BJP is anti-Christian and anti-minority, but over the years people have learnt to accept that the BJP is just another national party.'
The leadership vacuum created in the Board of Control for Cricket in India following president Jagmohan Dalmiya's demise will be filled only after Board Secretary Anurag Thakur calls a Special General Meeting.
The resolution praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and accused the opposition of 'opportunism' and a mindset of 'extreme hate'.
Observing that there are "definite and proved" allegations that complaints of the victims of violence in the aftermath of the West Bengal assembly polls were not even registered, the Calcutta high court on Thursday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into all alleged cases of heinous crimes like rape and murder, while accepting the recommendations of a National Human Rights Commission panel.
If Kerala wants to sustain its room for independent thinking and talk back to Delhi when needed, it should put its finances in order. Or - if one takes the North East example - Kerala's political posturing may end up commensurate with its financial dependence on others, suggests Shyam G Menon.
Gautam Adani's alleged proximity to Narendra Modi may dent the latter's self-styled image of incorruptibility, points out Kanika Datta.
National security, consolidation of border defences and border security highlights China's Tibet policy, points out Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu on Monday began an indefinite fast in New Delhi to protest against the split of Andhra Pradesh, accusing the Congress of playing politics in view of the Lok Sabha polls, but remained ambivalent on Telangana.
'From the time Rahul Gandhi entered the scene, I started feeling dissatisfied. No true Congressman will be able to agree with the way Rahul Gandhi functioned. He has not attained enough maturity or wisdom.' 'You cannot compare Rahul Gandhi with Narendra Modi. When you take into consideration Modi's political experience and abilities, nobody can think of projecting Rahul Gandhi against him.' 'The main culprits behind such a humiliating defeat are Veerappa Moily and P Chidambaram. It was Moily who did the maximum damage to people and the party.' T H Mustafa, one of the first Congress leaders to criticise Rahul Gandhi, speaks out in this interview to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi was on Monday sworn in as the chief minister of Punjab, making him the first Dalit to hold the top post in the state.
The much-awaited Karnataka Cabinet expansion would take place on Wednesday with the induction of 7-8 ministers, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Tuesday.
The defence secretary was responding to a question from Congressman Joe Wilson, a friend of India in the Congress who, of late, has been critical of India deciding to take an independent position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ignoring the recommendation of the state unit to field Vijayendra for the June 3 biennial elections to seven seats of Karnataka Legislative Council, the party central leadership on Tuesday announced names of four candidates, hours before the deadline for filing of nominations ended.
We must resist the temptation to look at the absolute numbers being vaccinated, and focus instead on the percentage of the population vaccinated, he said in his letter.
'TMC was calling me, AAP was also calling me.' 'But my supporters helped me realise that the people of Goa are backing the Congress this time to defeat the BJP.'
A fresh political row has erupted in West Bengal over Bharatiya Janata Party national vice-president Dilip Ghosh's alleged unsavoury remarks about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, with the Trinamool Congress seeking his arrest and unconditional apology.
'Many times when Khalistan slogans are raised, it is from those who feel alienated, not because they want a separate state.'
In 2014, the Congress had won five seats in Mumbai, which has 36 assembly segments.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, told a bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose that whenever there is an allegation that a probe is not being carried fairly, the court takes the facts into account and then transfers the case to CBI after a prima facie conclusion.
It was not a one-way ride up though for the man who now could potentially become the BJP's national president over time.
In his letter, Singh hinted since the Central Public Works Department's tableau already featured Bose, West Bengal's float was not included for the parade, without saying it in so many words.
'As soon as the violence broke out, they should have stepped in and sent a message that the state is there to stop this violence.' 'Had they done it right there, the situation would not have gone out of control.'
'What criteria is GoI (government of India) using to judge how long the lockdown is to continue...'
It will be interesting to see whether India-China border tensions figure during the deliberations of PLA deputies to the NPC and CPPCC, notes Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
The last meeting of the panel took place on January 24 but it remained "inconclusive".
The Congress chief, however, said he was not expecting any cooperation from the prime minister and the BJP-led central government for the development of Wayanad and Kerala.
IMD issued red alerts for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Idukki districts.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday raided the home of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and 30 other locations in connection with alleged corruption in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy.
Former Delhi chief minister and Kerala governor Sheila Dikshit, speaking for the first time after her gubernatorial resignation, tells Kavita Chowdhury there is a need for Parliament to codify rules for governors if they are required to demit office with a change in the central government. Edited excerpts
Chakraborty, an ardent trade unionist and a former Rajya Sabha member, was admitted to the hospital after he tested positive for COVID-19 on July 30.
