'The Election Commission's involvement in the avoidable SIR controversy has carried a message down to the last voter -- who just does not like it,' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Opposition parties have called for a discussion in Parliament on the Maha Kumbh tragedy and the UP government's alleged focus on VIPs rather than the common pilgrims. Union minister Kiren Rijiju has stated that the Business Advisory Committee will decide on the agenda of the Budget Session, which will start from January 31. The Session will commence with President Droupadi Murmu addressing the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The Union Budget will be presented on February 1.
BJP president JP Nadda said on Sunday that the party does not seek to control the Waqf Board but wants to ensure that those managing it operate within the bounds of law and adhere to established rules. He said the properties and funds of the Waqf Board should be dedicated to promoting education, providing healthcare and employment opportunities for the Muslim community. Nadda also highlighted the BJP's growth and achievements, emphasizing its commitment to national unity and cultural heritage.
With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls scheduled for 2027, political experts are observing an increasing trend of temple-mosque disputes in the state, leading to heightened polarization. Recent bypolls saw the use of divisive slogans, and analysts believe this trend will intensify as the 2027 elections approach. The recent surge in claims about the existence of Hindu temples at the sites of mosques in various cities has fueled this polarization. The BJP-led government has been accused of promoting communal polarization, while opposition parties like the SP have criticized the ruling party's actions. The RSS chief has called for restraint in raising new temple-related disputes. Experts predict that communal polarization is likely to escalate in the coming days.
Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.
Aligarh BJP MP Satish Gautam has sparked a controversy over the celebration of Holi at Aligarh Muslim University, declaring that "no one can stop anyone from celebrating Holi inside the AMU campus". The controversy erupted after members of right wing Hindu groups accused the AMU administration of denying permission to the Hindu students to organise a 'Holi Milan' function on campus. Gautam has extended his support to Hindu students, saying, "If any Hindu student faces any problem in celebrating Holi inside the campus, then I am there to help him."
The woman, identified as Fatima Khan, who has done B.Sc in Information Technology, resided in Ulhasnagar area of neighbouring Thane district of Maharashtra with her family members.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has hit out at the Opposition for initiating impeachment notices against Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Allahabad high court's Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, saying 'whoever speaks the truth' is threatened in this way.
There is no confusion or dispute in the 'Mahagathbandhan' over Tejashwi Yadav being the main face for the Bihar chief minister's post, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar said on Friday while asserting that the CM will be from the Rashtriya Janata Dal if the alliance gets a majority in the upcoming polls.
While the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls, the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.
Shubham Dwivedi, a 31-year-old businessman from Kanpur who was killed in the Pahalgam terror attack, was cremated at his native village with full state honours on Thursday morning. The cremation was attended by Uttar Pradesh Cabinet ministers Yogendra Upadhyay and Rakesh Sachan, who placed wreaths on Dwivedi's mortal remains and offered their condolences to the bereaved family. A guard of honour was also presented to the departed soul. Dwivedi, who got married to Ashanya on February 12, was among the 26 persons, mostly tourists, who were killed on Tuesday at Baisaran meadow near Pahalgam in Anantnag district in one of the most gruesome attacks targeting civilians in Kashmir in a long time.
Upset with the Congress for not conceding any seat for the Samajwadi Party in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday hinted that the Congress could get the same treatment from his party in Uttar Pradesh.
He lashed out at the state government terming it an "extremely sad and inhuman" crime.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday alleged a 'well-planned' conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, where a team of Congress MPs led by Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit on December 4 amid restrictions imposed by the district administration.
'Maharashtrians are facing a dual battle -- numerical battle with North Indians and financial battle with Gujaratis and Marwaris.' 'This has created anxiety about survival and ownership over Mumbai and Maharashtra.'
Barring a few, such as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (74), Union Minister C R Patil (69) and Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Khanna (71), most other ministers attending the WEF represent the next generation of India's politicians.
The June 23 meeting of opposition parties, called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, will see anti-BJP players chalk out a strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.
While the results of the bypolls will not directly impact the composition of the 403-member state Assembly, the contest is being seen as a prestige fight between the BJP and opposition parties.
Despite this setback, Pandey emphasised that discussions regarding ticket distribution are ongoing and solutions will be found through timely communication.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray has slammed the state government's decision to make Hindi a mandatory third language in schools from Classes 1 to 5, calling it an attempt to "Hindi-fy" the state. Thackeray has vowed to oppose the decision vehemently and ensure it is not implemented. The move is part of the new curriculum implementation under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which mandates a three-language formula for classes 1 to 5. Thackeray argues that Hindi is not a national language but a state language and its imposition undermines the principle of linguistic regionalization. He also questioned why Hindi is being forced on Maharashtra but not in southern states. The Opposition Congress has also criticized the move, calling it an imposition of Hindi and a threat to Marathi sentiment. The state government, however, defended its decision, stating that Hindi is a means of communication in the entire country and that Marathi is already compulsory.
The 56-year-old judge, enrolled as an advocate in 1992, was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad high court on October 13, 2014 and took oath as a permanent judge of that court on February 1, 2016.
'This was all conspired to gain a hold on the Wrestling Federation of India and to attack the BJP and its ideology...This team of Rahul, the Congress keeps doing these things.'
The Indian government has stated that the water in the Ganga river at Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj was fit for bathing during the recently concluded Maha Kumbh, citing a new report from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The report, however, contradicts an earlier CPCB report that found high faecal coliform levels at several locations in Prayagraj during the Maha Kumbh. The government also highlighted measures taken to ensure water quality during the event, including the installation of sewage treatment plants and the use of advanced oxidation techniques to treat wastewater.
The decision on Rahul Gandhi's appointment as the Leader of Opposition was made after a meeting of the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.
The Congress is contesting 328 seats in the ongoing elections -- the lowest since Independence.
The people of Amethi want to rectify their 'mistake' of 2019 and Congress workers as well as leaders are demanding that Rahul Gandhi contest from the constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party's Uttar Pradesh chief Ajay Rai said.
Anandiben Patel said students should study ancient Indian texts to appreciate the unparalleled research and discoveries made by their ancestors.
One hundred years ago, a group of 10 revolutionaries carried out an operation that shook the British Empire. Utkarsh Mishra revisits the 'Kakori Conspiracy Case', a turning point in the armed struggle for independence.
For Adityanath, it's not just a chance to reaffirm his dominance in Uttar Pradesh, it's an opportunity to solidify his narrative as a vote-winner.
If the Congress is contesting fewer seats than ever before, the BJP is set to contest its highest-ever number of Lok Sabha seats.
The Election Commission on Monday rescheduled from November 13 to November 20 the assembly bypolls to all nine and four seats in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, respectively, and one seat in Kerala in view of festivals, an official statement said.
Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are majority shareholders of Young Indian with 38 per cent shares held by each one of them. They were questioned for hours by the ED in this case a few years back.
Singh had fought the 2019 Lok Sabha election unsuccessfully from the South Delhi constituency as a Congress candidate.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that she has been admitted to hospital due to an illness and hence would not join the party's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Friday.
The Uttar Pradesh government has said that over 65 crore people visited the sacred site in Prayagraj since the Maha Kumbh began on January 13.
The counting of votes for the bypolls to 46 assembly seats in 13 states and in the Lok Sabha segments of Nanded in Maharashtra and Wayanad in Kerala, a crucial electoral exercise since the parliamentary polls in April-May, will begin at 8 am on Saturday.
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
The Congress party has accused the BJP of engaging in "damage control" after the party distanced itself from comments made by two of its MPs, Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma, criticizing the Supreme Court. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh stated that the BJP's clarification was merely an attempt to mitigate the damage caused by the MPs' remarks and that the party's actions were hypocritical, given the silence of the BJP president on similar comments made by other party members.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the passengers onboard the bus that fell 150 metres into a river in central Nepal were from Jalgaon district in the state as per preliminary information, and efforts are on to bring them back.
A salute to Sarojini Naidu freedom fighter, poet, women's right activist on her 146th birth anniversary.
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