Their lists show that a significant number of contenders are closely related to the current ministers, legislators or MPs, including their sons or daughters, wives and brothers or sisters.
The bodies of two village defence guards (VDG) killed by terrorists were found near a rivulet on Friday during a massive search operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district, officials said.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat were among the early voters to exercise their franchise as polling was underway on Wednesday for the state assembly elections.
The PM said the Congress and its allies should not encourage the "Pakistan agenda" and speak the language of separatists.
Defying predictions of his political eclipse, Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar has not only consolidated his position in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti, but also fortified his place in Maharashtra politics by becoming deputy chief minister for the sixth time.
The body of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader was found inside the party office at Usthi in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, a police officer said on Saturday.
The Julana assembly seat in Haryana's Jind district is set to witness a keen electoral bout with the Bharatiya Janata Party fielding Capt Yogesh Bairagi, a former commercial pilot, against Congress' wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat for the October 5 assembly poll.
Over 150 people were injured, including eight seriously, in a fireworks accident during a temple festival near Neeleswaram in Kasaragod late Monday, police said.
Following allegations by a section of farmers from Vijayapura district that their lands were marked as Waqf properties, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil on Monday said the notices issued to them will be withdrawn, and the Deputy Commissioner is inquiring into the 'mistake'.
Pratibha Pawar, wife of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, was allegedly stopped from entering the premises of Baramati Hi-Tech Textiles Park in Pune district on Sunday for half an hour. This was informed by the office of Baramati MP Supriya Sule. Notably, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife and Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar is the chairperson of the Baramati Hi-Tech Textiles Park. A video shared by Supriya Sule's office shows female aides of Pratibha Pawar and Sule's daughter Revti Sule asking a security guard at the Park to open the gate as they wanted to do some purchasing. The guard told them he was instructed by one Anil Wagh to not open the gate. A male aide accompanying Pratibha Pawar and Revti Sule confirmed to PTI that they were not allowed to enter the premises for at least 30 minutes. When contacted, Textile Park chief manager Anil Wagh said he was not aware that Pratibha Pawar was supposed to visit the premises. He claimed he instructed security personnel to not allow any political rally inside. When he was told that Pratibha Pawar had arrived, he immediately asked security guards to open the gate and allow them inside. According to Wagh, Pratibha Pawar and Revti Sule visited some companies on the premises of the Park and interacted with women workers. Baramati Hi-Tech Textile Park is one of 26 parks approved by the Union Ministry of Textiles. Under the chairmanship of Sunetra Pawar, this park was set up in the year 2008 over an area of 65 acres in Baramati in Pune district. A fierce electoral battle is playing out in the Baramati assembly constituency between Ajit Pawar, who revolted against uncle Sharad Pawar last year, and his nephew Yugendra Pawar.
'Gehlot made it a Modi versus Gehlot contest. It was for the first time in a northern Indian state where the prime minister had to confront a chief minister.'
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has written to President Droupadi Murmu expressing concern over the ongoing violence in Manipur and urging her immediate intervention to ensure the safety and security of the people. In his letter, Kharge highlighted the 'failure' of the state and central governments in restoring law and order, citing the loss of over 300 lives and the displacement of nearly a lakh people. He emphasized the constitutional imperative of the President to intervene and protect the lives and properties of citizens in Manipur.
Former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh was seriously injured after stones were hurled at his car in Nagpur district on Monday night. The incident occurred as Deshmukh was returning to Katol after attending a meeting in Narkhed village. Police are investigating the attack, which occurred on the last day of campaigning for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections.
A newly married woman on an outing with her husband was allegedly raped by five men in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district following which police have rounded up over 100 persons, an official said on Friday.
They said police parties fanned out to find them amid reports that they had been abducted and killed by terrorists.
Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 58.22 per cent till 5 pm on Wednesday in the elections to the 288-member state legislative assembly, with Gadchiroli district logging more than 69 per cent voting, poll officials said.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said the Ladki Bahin scheme, women's participation in voting in large numbers, and religious polarisation may have played a role in Mahayuti's victory in Maharashtra assembly polls.
Apart from recruiting 18,000 women in state's police force, Thackeray said all female police stations will also be established in Maharashtra.
The ED had conducted searches against the legislator, Sai Aaina Farms Pvt Ltd (now Mahira Infratech Pvt Ltd), other companies of the Mahira Group and some others in July last year.
The Lok Sabha member from Dakshina Kannada met family members of Krishnappa, a BJP worker who was allegedly hacked to death, while his wife and son were grievously injured in the attack after they protested against bursting of crackers outside their house in Bengaluru Rural district's Hoskote on Sunday.
A day after six persons died in the Tirupati stampede, the Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday announced a judicial inquiry into the incident that seems to have been the result of a policeman's innocuous act of opening the gate with the intention of aiding a sick woman.
Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal's health has become critical after 27 days of a fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border protest site. Doctors attending to him have warned that he is at risk of cardiac arrest and multi-organ failure. Dallewal, 70, began his hunger strike on November 26 to pressure the Centre to accept the agitating farmers' demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP on crops. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have issued a statement saying that Dallewal's immunity has become very weak due to the continuous hunger strike, putting him at risk of infection. Former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi met Dallewal at the protest site on Saturday evening and conveyed the concerns expressed by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding his health and well-being. The statement also said that candle marches will be taken out across the country on December 24 in support of Dallewal's hunger strike. On December 26, when Dallewal's fast will complete one month, symbolic hunger strikes will be held at tehsil and district levels.
Political pundits unanimously suggest that the state is not experiencing a discernible Gandhi wave this time around.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven.
The Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, will decide whether only the chief minister and deputy CMs will take the oath of office on December 5, or whether ministers will also be sworn in. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for the evening at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending. While BJP sources have indicated that Devendra Fadnavis is the frontrunner for the chief minister's post, the BJP legislature party leader is yet to be appointed. NCP chief Ajit Pawar has stated that the chief minister will be from the BJP, with deputy CMs from the Shiv Sena and NCP. The Mahayuti alliance secured a landslide victory in the assembly elections, winning 230 seats out of 288. The government formation has been delayed due to disagreements on the chief minister's position.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, Pangarkar joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Friday in the presence of party leader and former state minister Arjun Khotkar.
Different angles behind the killing were being probed, but the police will talk about it later, Fadnavis, who holds charge of the state home department, told reporters in Gondia district.
Discordant voices emerged on Sunday from the Mahayuti even as the alliance continued to remain in the throes of government formation more than week after it swept the Maharashtra assembly polls.
"Give up arms and come for talks or our forces will hunt you down," the home minister said in election rallies in Jammu and Kashmir.
Three Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have threatened to contest as Independents from Jalna in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls after the seat went to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena as part of the Mahayuti's seat-sharing arrangement.
The final round of voting for the Jharkhand Assembly elections is taking place on Wednesday, with the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition seeking to retain power while the BJP-led NDA aims to take control. The election will decide the fate of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife, and several other candidates. Key issues during the campaign included alleged infiltration from Bangladesh, corruption, and Hindutva.
A Kolkata court on Saturday convicted prime accused Sanjay Roy of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, 162 days after the crime that sparked nationwide outrage and led to prolonged protests.
A day after 21 houses were set on fire in Bihar's Nawada district, a top state government official on Thursday said 15 people have been arrested in this connection.
The KPCC made this decision simultaneously as Sarin announced a press conference in Palakkad, declaring his intention to work with the Left Democratic Front moving forward.
The Shiv Sena leader also asserted that Eknath Shinde will take any position in the Union cabinet as his interest lies in Maharashtra politics.
Security has been tightened in Manipur's Jiribam district ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's scheduled visit on Monday, with authorities imposing a ban on aerial photography using drones, officials said.
An average voter turnout of 20 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of voting in the bypolls to 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand on Wednesday amid an incident of stone pelting in a village in UP's Meerapur and allegations of police personnel deterring voters from casting their ballot.
Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal has launched a veiled attack on party president Ajit Pawar, claiming that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was in favor of his induction in the cabinet. Bhujbal expressed his disappointment and humiliation over his exclusion, alleging that he was treated like a "toy" by the party leadership. He also alleged that Ajit Pawar makes decisions for the NCP like Fadnavis does for the BJP and Eknath Shinde does for the Shiv Sena.
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.
Congress workers too lodged a complaint with the police that some of their members suffered injuries during the clash.
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