Opposition parties in Odisha, BJD and Congress, have criticised Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, accusing him of a surge in police brutality. The allegations stem from a custodial death in Ganjam district and other instances of alleged police misconduct. The BJP has defended the government, stating that prompt action has been taken in response to these cases.
A fast track court acquitted Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Manoj Pradhan, on Thursday, due to lack of evidence in one of the five cases against him during last year's communal violence in Orissa's Kandhamal district.
Kandhamal district in Orissa had witnessed widespread violence after the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram on August 23, 2008.
The Supreme Court has set aside the bail granted to Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Manoj Kumar Pradhan, sentenced to seven years RI for his role in communal riots in Orissa's Kandhamal district where members of the Christian community were targeted.
Besides the national capital, polling will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir. Simultaneously, polling will be held for 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha.
Internal discord within the INDIA bloc has led to alliance partners contesting against each other in at least eight assembly seats in Bihar. The Congress, RJD, and Left parties are facing challenges in seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming elections.
Sitting Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Legislative Assembly Manoj Pradhan was on Thursday sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for six years by a fast track court for a murder during the 2008 communal riots in Orissa's Kandhamal district. Fast track court-II judge C R Das convicted Pradhan for the murder of Bikram Nayak, a Christian from Budedipada of Tiangia village under Raikia police station limits on August 26, 2008.
The principal of a college in Odisha was arrested after a student set herself ablaze following alleged sexual harassment. The incident has sparked protests and political tensions in the state.
Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Orissa assembly, Manoj Kumar Pradhan, a convict in two Kandhamal riot cases, on Wednesday surrendered before a local court in Phulbani after his bail by the Orissa high court was challenged in the Supreme Court.
This has invited sharp reaction from the Opposition, with the Samajwadi Party saying that the BJP was afraid of its defeat in Milkipur due to which it moved the court for "stalling" polls on the assembly seat.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
With the Income Tax department recovering over Rs 225 crore cash during a series of raids on an Odisha-based distillery group on charges of tax evasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured the people that the money looted from the public will be returned.
In a first since last year's state elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday held a 'courtesy meeting' with Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari at her chamber in the state assembly, raising eyebrows in political circles.
There are 17 post graduates, 29 graduates among 70 newly-elected MLAs.
Shah said opposition parties led by the Cong misled people on CAA and disturbed the atmosphere of Delhi. Delhi will go to polls next year and HM exuded confidence that 'lotus will bloom'.
'It would be a folly on our part to believe that the KKK or its Indian version exists only as some dedicated organisation. Rather, the Indian KKK, much like the American counterpart, exists as a fragmented and amorphous collection of independent groups and individuals,' says Shehzad Poonawalla.
