Uttar Pradesh chief minister-designate Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday met Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda to discuss the formation of government in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent Rs 1,737.68 crore for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, according to the expenditure report submitted to the Election Commission of India. A majority of the funds were allocated to general party propaganda and candidate-related expenses, with media advertisements accounting for a significant portion. The BJP's election outreach also included extensive use of publicity materials and campaign-related travel. The party's expenditure on public meetings, processions, and rallies, including arrangements for stages, audio setups, barricades, and vehicles, stood at Rs 19.84 crore. The travel expenditure of star campaigners authorized by the party's central headquarters amounted to Rs 168.92 crore, while Rs 2.53 crore was spent on the travel of other party leaders.
The rally was not allowed to proceed towards the South Calcutta Law College, where the 24-year-old student was allegedly gang-raped by three men, including an alumnus of the institute, on June 25.
The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh will hold a three-day training camp for its leaders from June 14 in Pachmarhi in Narmadapuram. The move comes amid the party facing flak for some statements from its leaders post Operation Sindoor. BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have been invited to the camp to lecture the party cadre. The BJP said the event was pre-planned and was a routine affair, but the camp is seen as an attempt to discipline party leaders who have been making controversial statements.
A court in Kottayam, Kerala, has remanded BJP leader P C George to judicial custody in a hate speech case. The Erattupetta Munsif Magistrate Court rejected George's bail application and sent him to police custody until 6 pm. George surrendered before the court after the Kerala High Court dismissed his anticipatory bail plea. He was accused of delivering hate speech against a minority community during a TV channel discussion. The case was based on a complaint by Muhamed Shihab, a Muslim Youth League leader, who alleged that George made remarks capable of "inciting religious hatred."
The 2030 Youth Olympics will be the fifth edition of the international event.
Former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras announced that his Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) is no longer part of the BJP-led NDA, citing the alliance's support for his estranged nephew Chirag Paswan. Paras also accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of being "anti-Dalit" and demanded a Bharat Ratna for his late brother Ram Vilas Paswan, calling him the "second Ambedkar."
According to sources, the party has formed a committee comprising BJP's Rajya Sabha chief whip Shiv Pratap Shukla, party leader Abhijat Mishra, former national secretary and Gujarat MP Ram Bhai Mokariya and Mahesh Sharma to reach out to Brahmin members of the community.
At the customary meeting ahead of the session beginning Monday, the opposition raised various issues, including voter roll revision in Bihar, the Pahalgam terror attack and Trump's 'ceasefire' claims.
The Rajya Sabha witnessed an uproar on Tuesday over an unparliamentary remark by Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, who apologized to the Chair while clarifying that it was meant for the government that was "trying to create a regional divide" in the country. The controversy stemmed from a statement by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who slammed the Tamil Nadu government for its stand on the three-language policy under the National Education Policy (NEP). Kharge's use of a Hindi expression, deemed unparliamentary, sparked outrage from the treasury benches. He subsequently apologized for the remark, stating it was directed at the government's policies and not the Chair.
BJP national president JP Nadda has asked party's Uttar Pradesh chief Swatantra Dev Singh to convey it to the MLA to stay away from the probe, sources said.
Karnataka Minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology Priyank Kharge on Monday lodged a complaint against Bharatiya Janata Party national president J P Nadda, BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya and BJP Chandigarh president Arun Sood for malicious posts against Rahul Gandhi, particularly an animated video that allegedly features altered versions of the Congress leader's speeches.
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which secured a landslide victory in the recent Maharashtra assembly elections, is set to form the new government in the state. Outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to finalize a power-sharing agreement. The alliance partners, BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, will decide on ministerial berths at the meeting with Shah. Political circles are abuzz about the social equations in Maharashtra influencing the choice of the next Chief Minister.
Nadda said the investigating agencies had nabbed one accused from Azamgarh and another from Jaunpur.
The 53-year-old legislator from Adampur met with the BJP leaders in New Delhi and later, heaped praises on them. He was expelled by the Congress from all party positions last month.
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.
The Shiv Sena leader also asserted that Eknath Shinde will take any position in the Union cabinet as his interest lies in Maharashtra politics.
This is the second time that Ranaut has met the BJP president since she stirred a controversy earlier this week with her disparaging remarks on the farmers agitation against the now repealed three farm laws.
Sources said Paswan's party may contest on five of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
Bharatiya Janata Party working president JP Nadda and party general secretary in-charge of West Bengal Kailash Vijayvargiya led a rally in support of the amended Citizenship Act in Kolkata on Monday.
Nadda said 130 crore people of the country have come forward to take vaccines on the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite the opposition trying to mislead them and create obstructions.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief J P Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah held a brainstorming session on Tuesday with key party leaders tasked with boosting its prospects in 144 Lok Sabha seats, considered difficult for it, in the 2024 polls.
A heated debate erupted in the Rajya Sabha over the ongoing strike by ASHA workers in Kerala, with Congress and CPI(M) MPs trading accusations over responsibility for addressing their demands for a higher honorarium and post-retirement benefits. Congress MP Jebi Mather alleged that both the Kerala government and the Union government had ignored the workers' pleas, while CPI(M) MP John Brittas countered by claiming Kerala provides the highest honorarium to ASHA workers. The debate also saw demands for an AIIMS in Kerala and a hike in MBBS seats, as well as concerns over maternal health, elderly care, and mental health in India.
Kejriwal described the BJP's election manifesto as "dangerous for the country".
Top Union ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, are expected to attend the meeting at the party headquarters, the sources said.
Former Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, has been chosen as the new Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha. Gupta, a BJP MLA from Rohini, vowed to immediately table 14 CAG reports allegedly withheld by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government upon taking charge. His election is a foregone conclusion due to the BJP's majority in the Assembly.
The rain and flood situation in northeastern states remained grim on Tuesday, with lakhs people affected in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur, even as the meteorological department predicted more rain in several parts of the region.
BJP top brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior leaders from across the country, are part of the national executive.
The choice of 59-year-old Nadda has come as a bit of surprise as the party had indicated last week that it could take a call on the issue after the membership drive after about six months.
"Modi ji should apologise. There is no question of our apologising," he added.
Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda interacted on Monday with a group of foreign envoys, including from the US, Australia and Israel, during which it was suggested that the BJP should increase party-to-party interaction with other countries.
For the past one week, Modi has been holding in-person meetings with Union ministers apparently to take stock of the work done by the government in the last two years and to discuss various issues.
Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda on Thursday met leaders of the party's allies in Uttar Pradesh -- Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal-S and Sanjay Nishad of the Nishad party -- at his residence in New Delhi as part of its government formation exercise.
With the party fielding three Union ministers, besides four other MPs, as candidates in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, it may continue with the strategy in Rajasthan.
Hours before the ceremony, Saini visited the Valmiki Bhawan and offered prayers at a gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula.
A careful calculation of the BJP's support base seems to have been at work in the cabinet expansion that took place a day after the party's national president chaired a meeting of the "core group" here.
It is important to note that neither of the patients have any history of international travel, the ministry underlined.
The list includes constituencies where the BJP came second or third in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and also some which the party has never won.
The Indian government has advised states to intensify surveillance for respiratory illnesses, including influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illnesses (SARI), following the detection of five human metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases in the country. The decision comes amidst reports of a surge in HMPV cases in China. The Union Health Secretary, Punya Salila Srivastava, chaired a virtual meeting with states and union territories to discuss the situation and public health measures. While there is no cause for public concern, the government is emphasizing the importance of preventive measures such as handwashing, covering coughs and sneezes, and avoiding close contact with those showing symptoms.
Devendra Fadnavis is the frontrunner to become the next chief minister of Maharashtra, according to a senior BJP leader.