The Telangana High Court has granted transit anticipatory bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera in a case filed against him by Assam police over allegations against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife.
The BJP won a resounding victory in the Delhi Assembly elections, securing 48 seats out of 70. The party made significant inroads in constituencies dominated by various regional and socio-economic groups, including Purvanchalis, Sikhs, Jats, and slum dwellers. The BJP's strong performance can be attributed to its focus on these communities and its effective campaign strategies.
Turning her guns on the Election Commission, Banerjee alleged that the BJP had "stolen" the mandate in Maharashtra with the poll panel's help and was now attempting to replicate it in Bengal through the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise by deleting genuine voters' names.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, set to retire next month, plans to spend several months in solitude in the Himalayas. He also expressed a desire to teach underprivileged children, recalling his own humble beginnings. Kumar's tenure as CEC saw him oversee landmark elections, including the 16th Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections in 2022 and assembly elections in 11 states.
As US President Donald Trump claimed that India will significantly reduce Russian oil imports by year-end, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday hit back by criticising him for making announcements on behalf of New Delhi.
He also told Shah that avoidable disruptions could potentially hinder the Mahayuti alliance's winning momentum and give undue advantage to the Opposition, they said.
Pahalwan, who won the recent assembly polls from Najafgarh defeating AAP's Tarun Kumar by over 29,000 votes, claimed on the floor of Delhi Assembly that the renaming effort has been in the works for a long time.
Voting for the Delhi Assembly elections began on Wednesday, with prominent leaders like President Droupadi Murmu, Union ministers S Jaishankar and Hardeep Singh Puri, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi casting their ballots early in the day. Other notable figures who participated in the electoral process included Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, and Delhi Chief Electoral Officer R Alice Vaz. The election is a triangular contest between the ruling AAP, BJP, and Congress, with the AAP aiming for a third consecutive term. Polling is underway at 13,766 stations across Delhi's 70 assembly constituencies to decide the fate of 699 candidates. The results will be announced on February 8.
The Special Investigation Team probing the 'vote chori' (vote theft) in Aland assembly segment in 2023 assembly elections in Karnataka has discovered that "attempts" were made to delete votes and zeroed in on at least six suspects involved in the scam.
Social media has been buzzing with memes mocking Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal's 2023 prediction that BJP will need another birth to win the Delhi elections. The BJP's victory in the recent elections has turned Kejriwal's bold claim into the punchline of the season. Memes and videos are circulating, referencing the AAP's defeat, highlighting the 'drama' between Kejriwal and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, and even drawing parallels to the BJP's win with the 'Mentos Zindagii' ad campaign.
The National Democratic Alliance is busy with government formation in Bihar after its historic victory, and plans to distribute ministerial portfolios using the same formula as ticket allocation. Nitish Kumar will stay on as chief minister, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) are likely to get one deputy chief minister each.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accuses the NDA of plotting to steal the Bihar assembly elections, alleging collusion with the Election Commission and voter roll manipulation.
Eid al-Fitr was celebrated across India with prayers for peace and brotherhood, alongside protests condemning US-Israel actions in West Asia.
The Leh Apex Body (LAB) has requested direct talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his upcoming visit, deeming the scheduled sub-committee meeting insufficient for resolving Ladakh's long-standing issues.
On Monday, Sisodia met AAP leaders to prepare for next February's Delhi assembly elections.
'Are elections still fair in India, or are we all witness to a macabre style of 'selection' of lawmakers? The jury will be out on this for a long time because there is no definitive evidence on either contention, at least as yet,' notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
As Jana Nayagan and Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender become victims of piracy even before they got an official release, Sreeju Sudhakaran looks back at some of the major Indian movies that were impacted by pre-release leaks.
Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide free electricity in the National Democratic Alliance-ruled states before the Delhi assembly elections, promising to campaign for the saffron party if he fulfills this demand.
'They refuse to be transparent. They refuse to be accountable.'
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has initiated a 'substantive motion' against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to take a decision on dissolution of Delhi assembly "one way or another" within five weeks, questioning it for continuing to keep the house in suspended animation when no party is coming forward to form the government.
Kejriwal claimed that 16 AAP candidates had received offers from the BJP with the promise of ministerial positions and Rs 15 crore each if they switch sides.
A firebrand youth leader, a seasoned politician who became a legislator for the first time, and a veteran physician are among the 12 new faces elected to the fourth Assembly of Delhi. The Congress leads the debutants pack with six MLAs, the Bharatiya Janata Party has five and the Indian National Lok Dal one.
Most exit polls predicted an edge to the BJP over the ruling AAP.
Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of indulging in hooliganism and targeting AAP workers, claiming that Delhi Police is afraid and helpless to tackle the situation.
In seniority in the BJP leadership team, V K Malhotra, who passed into the ages this week, was next only to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Nanaji Deshmukh, notes Sudhir Bisht.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah directed BJP leaders to intensify grassroots outreach in West Bengal, setting performance benchmarks for the upcoming state elections. He emphasized party unity and the importance of booth-level workers.
The Delhi High Court has refused to stay the trial court proceedings against Delhi Law Minister Kapil Mishra for allegedly posting objectionable tweets during the 2020 assembly elections. The court rejected Mishra's plea challenging a sessions court order dismissing his petition against the summons of a magisterial court in the case. The court said there was no need to stay the trial court proceedings and that the trial court was at liberty to proceed further with the matter. The high court granted four weeks to the police to file its response to the petition and posted the hearing on May 19. The hearing is slated to come up in the trial court on March 20.
Rahul alleged that 25 lakh votes were stolen in Haryana through 5.21 lakh duplicate voters, 93,174 invalid voters, and 19.26 lakh bulk voters.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached the Calcutta High Court, seeking a CBI investigation into the role of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, senior police officials and others for allegedly obstructing its raids in Kolkata against political consultancy firm I-PAC and its director in connection with an alleged coal scam.
The report on the alleged liquor scam, a hot button issue in the run-up to the elections, claimed a loss of revenue to the tune of Rs 941.53 crore, saying timely permissions were not taken for opening the liquor vends in non-conforming municipal wards.
An ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
Delhi's crime rate against women stood at 144.4 in 2022 -- the highest among all states and Union Territories.
Bihar recorded its highest-ever voter turnout of 67.14 per cent in the second and final phase of the assembly elections. The election is seen as a referendum on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kishanganj recorded the highest polling percentage at 76.26.
The six constituencies of northeast Delhi affected by the 2020 riots saw a close contest between the BJP and AAP, with both parties winning three seats each. AAP's Chaudhary Zubair Ahmad won Seelampur by a margin of 42,477 votes, defeating BJP's Anil Kumar Sharma. AAP also won Babarpur and Gokalpur, while the BJP won Mustafabad, Karawal Nagar and Ghonda.
In the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) went all out to persuade voters to elect an effective and accountable government for the progress of the national capital, contributing to the BJP's thumping victory in the polls, according to sources.
Raut said a Congress-AAP alliance would have crushed the BJP in Delhi assembly polls, as counting trends show the Arvind Kejriwal-led party losing many seats amid the saffron surge.
Even if D K Shivakumar wanted to oust Siddaramaiah, whose support would he take?
The shrewd politician that he is, Siddaramaiah figured his rival had no option but to lump it, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the EC was very enthused by the voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir during the Lok Sabha elections, which showed the eagerness of the people to participate in the democratic process.
Rediff Labs analysed the 2015 assembly election results to develop a Sentiment Meter for the 2020 battle in Delhi.
