A fierce competition among parties to offer freebies and guarantees, a scramble for tribal, OBC, women votes and a touch of Hindutva -- all have combined to make the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls a high-stakes battle with main rivals BJP and the Congress pulling out all the stops to gain power.
Embattled Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of the Tihar Jail on Friday evening, hours after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in a money laundering case to enable him to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections, in a huge relief to his party struggling to gain momentum in the absence of its foremost leader.
Amid a raging controversy over allotment of a 'namaaz' (Islamic prayer) room in the Jharkhand Assembly, speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto on Thursday formed an all-party, 7-member panel, on the last day of the Monsoon session to look into the issue and come out with a report within 45 days.
The court will also decide on a plea by the Gyanvapi mosque management committee (Anjuman Intezamiya Masjid) seeking removal of Ajay Kumar Mishra as the court commissioner for the survey, lawyers said.
With the 'bhoomi pujan' for a temple at the spot where many devout Hindus believe Lord Ram was born, priests are enlivened with the hope that their Badhi Devkaali Mandir too will get footfalls from far and wide.
"We particularly want Bajrang Bali because he is linked to my own Dalit caste," Mayawati said.
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The excitement on the foundation laying ceremony of Ram Temple reverberated across the country as Ram bhakts gathered to to celebrate the groundbreaking occasion. People across the country were seen chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' and waving saffron flags. Fireworks were also burst and sweets were distributed to mark the day.
"Even Lord Ram is not helping the party to win polls. They (those two Indians) shared their views on the day of vote counting (for Delhi polls)," the Sena leader said.
'The temple's construction is the result of collective wisdom of some of the best brains in the country. Water and sacred soil from almost all pilgrimage sites in India, including Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kailash Mansarovar, Prayags (there are seven Prayags) and all 'puris' (seven holy towns in India, besides Ayodhya) have been used in the making of the temple'
Prayagraj is a must-visit place in 2025, but in January and February you can't miss the Maha Kumbh, a spectacular event like no other.
The AAP will contest all the 90 assembly seats in Haryana on its own, but the Lok Sabha polls will be fought as part of the INDIA bloc, Kejriwal said.
Amid different voices within the Congress and INDIA bloc on DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks against Sanatan Dharma, the principal opposition party on Monday said it respects all religions and stressed that others also have the freedom to express their views.
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Before you catch a brawny Prabhas as the Prince of Ayodhya in its VFX-heavy edition, Sukanya Verma looks at the many, many on screen portrayals of Ram over the years.
He will be one of the few in the audience for this year's Ramlila as general spectators will not be allowed to watch the show physically due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The nine-day enactment of the life of Lord Ram as per the epic Ramayana will be a virtual affair this year.
As many as 10 ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government failed to win their seats in the 2022 assembly elections, despite the BJP registering an impressive victory.
Key scenes from Ramayana were intricately hand painted on the sari's pallu.
'I was fortunate to have served as India's ambassador to Indonesia and witnessed on several occasions, the incredible performances of the Ramayana and episodes from the Mahabharata in Jogjakarta and in Bali,' recalls former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
A war of words has erupted in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh after the Congress objected to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party putting up hoardings taking credit for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The court also directed for completion of the survey by May 17 and submission of its report, Abhay Nath Yadav, who is representing the Gyanvapi mosque management committee, said.
On seeing them, Gandhi got off his vehicle, walked up to them and shook hands with several people in the crowd.
The main streets of Ayodhya wear a scintillating look with illuminated lamps and special decorations.
'This Sunday holds special significance for us, as we woke up to a new and transformed Sunday, with a feeling of relief that the lingering issue of Ayodhya dispute has been resolved once and for all'
The Muslims protested against the survey even as the mosque management committee moved a Varanasi district court seeking the appointment of a different court commissioner.
Mahendra Nath Pandeysaid that Gandhi has "no gotra", going by the traditional male lineage.
If Singham was a biryani, with all the flavours coming together seamlessly, Singham Again is a desi thaali, full of scrumptious dishes, but a tad in excess, discovers Sonil Dedhia who watched the film in New Zealand.
Celebrations broke out as the Grand Alliance was all set for a thumping victory in the Bihar polls.
With the Bhoomi Pujan scheduled to be on August 5 and the who's who of Indian politics likely to make a visit in Ayodhya, the district administration has deployed hundreds of people for a beautification drive in the temple town. Roads, walls, streets are being painted, cleaned to give them a new refreshing look. Thousands of municipal workers have been deployed to do a cleanup drive in the town which will see visits of dignitaries on August 5. Take a look.
According to the results announced on Thursday, 25 Samajwadi Party candidates were defeated by less than 5,000 votes while a similar fate awaited three nominees of the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
The British prime minister, who is of Indian origin, has often emphasised his Hindu roots and said he is proud of it.
The poll panel also referred to the instances of "inappropriate vocabulary and language" used during the ongoing campaign by persons, "in particular, by those invested with the statutory status of star campaigner".
With the assembly election results throwing up surprises, most exit polls got the outcome in Chhattisgarh and the scale of the Bharatiya Janata Party's win in Madhya Pradesh wrong.
Siya captures the wounded soul of its protagonist with deeply felt grit and pathos, observes Sukanya Verma.
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The Ramayan offers important life lessons.
Invitees to the 'pran pratishtha' consecration ceremony at the Ram temple started arriving Sunday in Ayodhya -- once a sleepy town now resplendent with new infrastructure and gripped by heightened religious fervour on the eve of a seminal event in India's political and religious history.
It was almost as if we were back to 'acchey din', when Parliament was a forum where two sides fought ferociously as equals. For that we need to thank Rahul Gandhi, notes Jyoti Punwani.
While the Congress top brass has declined the invitation to the January 22 consecration ceremony at Ayodhya's Ram temple, the party's Uttar Pradesh unit plans to go ahead with its own event a week earlier in the holy town.
