In his letter to Modi, Kharge asserted that strict legal action should be taken against those giving such statements so that Indian politics can be prevented from degenerating and nothing untoward happens.
President Droupadi Murmu conferred the coveted Padma awards on 68 eminent personalities, including former Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar, dancer Shobana Chandrakumar, actor Anant Nag, and Vice Chancellor of King George's Medical University Soniya Nityanand. The awards were given in various disciplines and fields, including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, and civil service. The Padma Vibhushan was awarded to Justice (retd) Khehar for public affairs, while nine individuals received the Padma Bhushan. The Padma Shri was awarded to leading immunologist and KGMU VC Nityanand, footballer Inivalappil Mani Vijayan, singer Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, actor Ashok Laxman Saraf, mask maker Reba Kanta Mahanta, and musician Ricky Gyan Kej, among others.
Pawar also said it is the moral responsibility of the major Opposition parties in Maharashtra to protect in the state assembly polls the interests of smaller allies, which were part of the coalition in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has nominated Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora from Worli for the upcoming assembly elections.
A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump government as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will visit Maharashtra's Parbhani city on Monday to meet the families of two persons who died following violence there earlier this month.
The EC reiterated that the process was transparent with the involvement of candidates or their agents at every stage.
From the word go, Bihar growled its needs out when an MP from the state said aloud: "Give something for Bihar also, Madam." Every time the Budget mentioned cities and towns in Andhra Pradesh, "Kursi Bachao" was the call from Congress MPs.
'Not just Maharashtra, the Congress has not fielded even one Muslim candidate from Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa.'
This video is being viewed as the NCP-SP party's response to the appeal made by the rival camp's head and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to vote for the name 'Pawar' in Baramati in the upcoming general elections.
The poll authority noted that in the past these cities have "suffered" from urban apathy in voting.
Amid talks of cross-voting, three of the 37 Congress MLAs in Maharashtra skipped a meeting called by the party ahead of the legislative council polls on Friday.
Asaduddin Owaisi, who was once the leader of a little-known outfit confined to the old city of Hyderabad, has emerged as a powerful voice of Muslims in the country in recent years.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that he, his deputies Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, will work in shifts to ensure round-the-clock governance. Fadnavis will work from 12 noon to midnight, Ajit Pawar, known for his early rising habits, will be on duty in the morning, and Shinde, known for his late-night work ethic, will handle the night shift. This arrangement comes after Ajit Pawar's controversial return to the BJP-led government following a split from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The NCP, under Sharad Pawar's leadership, is now a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance with the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT). The recent assembly elections saw the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP faction, securing a comfortable majority.
Mansukh Mandaviya replaced Anurag Thakur in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new cabinet.
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.
'There was a 77 per cent chance that electorates in India voted for the same party for both the state and Centre when elections were held simultaneously.'
In doing so, it further cemented the community's determination to support the opposition. But at the same time, it consolidated its Hindu vote bank like never before.
Gaikwad, who was Dharavi MLA before being elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2024 general polls, also alleged the redevelopment project was real estate's biggest scam.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday took a veiled jibe at Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar by alluding to his age and speaking about the 'sentimental appeal of a last election'.
'That was my mistake.' 'Gautam Adani was not involved in forming the Maharashtra government.' 'Adani was not there in the meeting.' 'The meeting was at his guest house and we were sitting in his guest house.'
In an apparent reference to Sonia Gandhi, Modi said some INDIA bloc leaders left the Lok Sabha and moved to the Rajya Sabha as they have no courage to contest elections.
For now, Modi's government appears singularly focussed on demonstrating that it is not in any way inhibited by the BJP's loss of a majority, and will continue along its patented path of bulldozing all opposition and doing just as it likes, asserts Prem Panicker.
He alleged that the MVA allies were refusing to consider the factor of Maratha activist Manoj Jarange.
'BJP has shown that it can win even when Mr Modi is not the main figure on the ticket unlike 2014 to 2019.'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said the results of the assembly elections were historic, and they decided to whom the Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena belong.
Jitesh Antapurkar, who won a bypoll in 2021 on a Congress ticket and is considered close to former chief minister Ashok Chavan, has been nominated from Deglur.
Lakshman Prasad Acharya has been made the governor of Assam with the additional charge of Manipur while Gulab Chand Kataria has replaced Banwarilal Purohit as the governor of Punjab under major gubernatorial appointments, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has announced.
Amid a tug-of-war between Congress and the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray over seat sharing in Maharashtra ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, Shiva Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut expressed confidence in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, saying that the discussion on seat sharing is underway.
'Slogans like 'Ek hai toh safe hai' and 'Batenge toh katenge' resonated with voters.'
The Nationalist Congress Party is livid as Shivtare continues to criticise Pawar, whose wife Sunetra is likely to contest from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, even after meeting Shinde in Mumbai recently.
In the final match between Mohol and Mahendra Gaikwad, the latter left the bout with 16 seconds remaining and later abused referees, for which he too was suspended by the controlling authority for three years.
Nadda enjoys warm relations with Modi, who was for a long time in charge of the party's affairs in Himachal Pradesh.
Narvekar's father-in-law Ramraje Naik of NCP is the chairperson of the Legislative Council.
The alliance won 41 of the 48 seats leaving the Congress-NCP combine with just 5 seats.
Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
However, induction in the NCP-SP will come with riders, asserted the former Union minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, J P Nadda and several other leaders and prominent personalities were present at the ceremony.
The Commission, under Justice (retd) Ritu Raj Awasthi, would recommend an amendment to the Constitution to add the "new chapter or part" on simultaneous elections, the sources said.
In a lengthy statement on X late Monday night, a defiant Kamra said those busy leaking his number on social media or calling him incessantly should know that it all goes to his voicemail where they will be subjected to "the very song" that they hate.
