Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed concerns about the Congress party's leadership role within the INDIA bloc, raising questions about their ability to justify their position. Abdullah highlighted a sense of disquiet among some allies, who feel the Congress isn't doing enough to earn its leadership position. While praising Sonia Gandhi's leadership, he also criticized the alliance's lack of consistent engagement and called for more structured communication to address potential disagreements. Abdullah's comments suggest underlying tensions within the opposition alliance, particularly regarding the Congress's electoral performance and seat distribution strategies.
India is set to host a high-profile global javelin competition in September, featuring double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra and the world's top 10 javelin throwers.
'This was a decision taken and executed by Prabhakaran and his intelligence chief Pottu Amman. Both were convinced that the assassination would not be linked to them.'
Incidents of violence rocked Assam's Samaguri assembly constituency where by-elections will be held on November 13 with both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress alleging that gunshots were fired targeting each other's supporters over the last 24 hours, police said on Sunday.
As the polling dates for the maiden assembly polls after abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir draws near, several organisations of the Kashmiri Pandit community has decided to refrain from the electoral process in the Union Territory over 'persistent denial of their genocide'.
Convert the Haryana result into a blessing in disguise; make the calamity into an opportunity. Maharashtra was always the big ticket game in town; MVA must win it. The Congress should shift headquarters to Mumbai for the entire month. Show urgency and a hunger to win, asserts Sanjay Jha.
The order came following a petition in the high court seeking direction to the police to ensure protection to Opposition party workers in the wake of alleged post-poll violence in some places of the state following the elections.
DeepSeek is a case in point on how economic interdependence between nations are utilised for geopolitical ambitions and global domination efforts, observes China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
World Athletics (WA) had, in August this year, invited bids for the 2028 and 2030 editions of the championships and Coe said he is happy that India has joined the process.
Facing Kerala in the quarter-finals in Pune from February 8, J&K will be looking to script history as they aim to make it to the Ranji Trophy semi-finals for the first time ever.
The much-delayed elections of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will be conducted on August 12.
Justices Arif S Doctor and Somasekhar Sundaresan held there was nothing in the MCC that would interfere with the Board's ongoing activities.
United States President Donald Trump has warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to end the 'ridiculous war' in Ukraine or face high tariffs and further sanctions.
Ukraine has been informed about the Trump-Putin call.
The Congress party in India has alleged "serious and grave inconsistencies" in the data relating to the polling and counting processes for the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections. The party has sought an in-person hearing from the Election Commission to present evidence of alleged discrepancies, including the arbitrary deletion and addition of voters and inexplicable increases in voting percentages. The Congress leaders claim these irregularities benefited the ruling BJP-led alliance, which won a decisive victory in the polls.
With polls to elect the 18th Lok Sabha approaching, district poll panels are fixing the rates for expenses as part of the election expenditure monitoring process.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Asked about the organisational changes made by Gandhi and the subsequent reported statements by some leaders who had written to her over party reforms, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said he had not seen a single statement by any Congress leader on the issue and cannot comment on that.
'He needs to see results while he is in office.'
Leaders of the Maharashtra NDA alliance, including the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, are set to meet with the BJP's national leadership on Thursday to finalize the composition of the new state government. The meeting is expected to confirm the formula of one chief minister and two deputy chief ministers, with the BJP likely to hold the chief ministerial post and its allies Shiv Sena and NCP sharing the deputy chief minister positions. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won a landslide victory in the recent state assembly elections, securing 230 seats in the 288-member House.
As a leader, he was ambitious, not for himself but for India and its people. His was not the short-term election cycle calculation of individual political gain. His was a practical vision of how to better the lives of his fellow citizens, asserts Ambassador Shivshankar Menon, who served as foreign secretary and national security advisor when Dr Singh was prime minister.
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
Five months after a couple of Pawars jousted in an electoral battle in Baramati, two other Pawars will take on each other at the hustings on November 20, 2024.
A group of villagers in Maharashtra's Malshiras assembly segment, who had insisted on a "re-election" with ballot papers, have relented after police intervention. The villagers, who claimed the NCP (SP) candidate, Uttam Jankar, had polled less votes in their village than the BJP candidate, Ram Satpute, had planned to hold their own "repoll" on December 3. However, police warned them of legal action, and Jankar, along with police officials, had a meeting with the villagers, who ultimately decided to drop their plan. Despite this, they plan to continue their protest by other means.
The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi supporters gheraoed Vinod Tawde and raised slogans.
'What is the harm in having more polling booths?'
'It's not really going to bring about purity in the election process.'
The final turnout in the Maharashtra assembly polls was 66.05 percent, up from 61.1 percent in 2019, according to the Election Commission. The polling percentage for the Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll was 67.81 percent. The increase, excluding postal ballots, highlighted the EC's efforts to engage a broader electorate, the statement added. Kolhapur led with 76.63 per cent, followed by 75.26 per cent in Gadchiroli, while the lowest was in Mumbai island city at 52.07 per cent and 55.95 per cent in the metropolis' suburban district. More than 68,000 citizens aged over 85 and 12,000 individuals with disabilities cast their votes through home voting.
Democracy does not begin and end with elections and the integrity of election process is pivotal for sustaining the democratic form of government, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while striking down as unconstitutional the electoral bonds scheme for political funding.
About 68 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm on Wednesday in 38 assembly constituencies in Jharkhand where voting in the second and final phase ended, officials said.
Hunter Biden was convicted early this year on federal gun and tax charges and was set to appear soon in Delon, California, where he faced the potential of lengthy prison sentences.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he is willing to discard old ideas and embrace new ones as long as they fit into his essential ideology of 'nation first'.
The US Supreme Court has upheld a law requiring TikTok's China-based parent company to divest from the app, paving the way for the popular platform to be banned from the US starting Sunday. The court's decision was unanimous, with the justices citing national security concerns related to TikTok's data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. While existing users may still access the app, new users will be unable to download it and updates will no longer be available. The decision comes as the Biden administration prepares to hand over the reins to the incoming Trump administration, which is expected to review the situation before making a final determination on TikTok's fate.
From the time he left office after his loss in the 2020 presidential election to his nomination as the Republican candidate in the 2024 race, Trump continued to dominate the American news cycle and the country's psyche.
The elections in the country should be held within the stipulated time of 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly.
In its order to the J-K chief secretary, the EC said there is a ban on transfer of officers connected to elections as the Model Code of Conduct is in force in the Union Territory.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Election Commission's response on a PIL challenging its decision to increase the maximum number of voters from 1,200 to 1,500 at every polling station, saying no elector should be excluded.
If Rashid cannot be the king, he could be the kingmaker after October 8 when the results to the J&K assembly are declared.
The Congress on Tuesday said it cannot accept the Haryana assembly polls verdict as there were 'serious issues' about the integrity of the counting process and functioning of the EVMs in some districts, and asserted that it would take up the matter with the Election Commission.
The auction, a violation of democratic norms, has been condemned by several political leaders. Elections to gram panchayats in Punjab will be held on October 15.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances