Opposition leaders said India should speak for what is right and should not be afraid of its neighbour.
Polling in 31 district panchayats, 231 taluka panchayats and 81 municipalities of Gujarat and by-elections of 23 municipalities and 3 taluka panchayats were held on Sunday.
A meeting of the joint committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Friday witnessed fireworks with members vociferously opposing certain provisions of the draft legislation, leading to a brief walkout by opposition members.
A united opposition is set to corner the NDA government on issues ranging from the NEET paper leak case to railway safety.
'If there can be more than 50 Islamic countries and more than 150 Christian nations, why can't India be declared a Hindu Rashtra given that Hindus constitute a majority of its 100 million people?'
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi will join hands with the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to fight the corporation elections together. Vicky Nanjappa reports
'The Election Commission is conducting the National Register of Citizens in Bihar through the backdoor.'
The Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament, will debate the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday. The bill has been met with strong opposition from several parties who claim it is unconstitutional. The government, however, insists the bill aims to improve the management of Waqf properties in India by bringing transparency and efficiency.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Telangana president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Wednesday said his party, when it comes to power in the state, would abolish minority reservations and provide the benefit to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and others.
Banerjee had slammed the BJP for allegedly trying to import AIMIM in Bengal to sharpen the communal polarisation and divide the Hindu-Muslim votes among themselves.
Voting for by-elections to seven assembly constituencies of six states, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, started on Tuesday at 7 am.
According to some observers, the Congress gained ground by attracting votes from Telugu Desam Party sympathisers after the TDP opted out of the race due to its own reasons.
The Bahujan Samaj Party will not enter into any alliance for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly polls, party chief Mayawati said.
The AAP may secure 43 per cent share while the BJP is expected to get 35 per cent vote share.
The anti-encroachment drive at Vishalgad Fort in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district turned violent as a mob hurled stones at police personnel and damaged properties, leading to the registration of cases against 500 people and the arrest of 21 others, police said on Monday.
'Barricading will remain for a few more days. Situation today is better than previous days and we are keeping an eye on law and order here'
Naqvi said the culprits have been arrested on the basis of the crime committed by them and not on the basis of their creed.
Union minister Raosaheb Danve has caused a flutter by saying if the Bharatiya Janata Party needs victory in the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra in 2024, then it must ensure that All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and sitting MP Imtiaz Jaleel contests the election next year.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday hit back at Congress President Sonia Gandhi for her remarks on "increase" in communal incidents in the country after it came to power, saying the charges were "baseless" and an outcome of the party's "desperation".
Among the national parties, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist opposed the proposal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National People's Party supported it.
From making dosas at a roadside eatery to trying out skills using a pair of scissors at a hair cutting saloon, politicians leave no stone unturned to impress voters during the run-up to the upcoming Telangana assembly polls.
"By attending, the Prime Minister has not only laid the foundation of a Mandir, but also the foundation of a Hindu Rashtra," Owaisi told reporters in Hyderabad.
After taking oath, he hailed his state Telangana, Bhimrao Ambedkar, apart from raising the AIMIM's slogan for Muslim, along with the West Asian country.
Earlier in the day, BSP supremo Mayawati said her party will make efforts to not field 'bahubali' (strongmen) or mafia candidates in the upcoming polls and announced that Ansari, who is lodged in a jail in Banda, will not be given a ticket from Mau again.
Official sources said the CRPF commandos will be deployed for the security of Owaisi round-the-clock.
Application to hold public meeting was received from Owaisi's party but he was denied permission, Azamgarh District Magistrate Suhash L Y said.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) international joint general secretary Surendra Jain on Tuesday warned All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi for his comment on the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
"Those who hoist the Pakistani flag, they should be punished," Katiyar said.
In the last five years, 480 candidates with declared cases related to hate speech have contested elections to state assemblies, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the ADR said.
Telangana came to a standstill for a minute on Tuesday for mass singing of the national anthem as part of the celebration of 75 years of independence.
Surya accused Owaisi of speaking the language of "rabid Islamism, separatism, and extremism" saying that this was also used by Jinnah.
Retorting to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's minority remark, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif said that Pakistan is the last country that should be lecturing any country on how to treat minorities."
While the results of the bypolls will not directly impact the composition of the 403-member state Assembly, the contest is being seen as a prestige fight between the BJP and opposition parties.
A clash erupted between All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen and BJP councillors of the Meerut Municipal Corporation at the oath-taking ceremony on Friday, following a disagreement over the singing of Vande Mataram to begin the event.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief said that even if the bill is passed by Parliament, he will "knock on all doors" in the country and keep his point of view in front of the people.
The ongoing controversy over religious conversion was fuelled by Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday.
With numbers on its side -- the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college -- and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, the AIADMK and the YSRCP, the NDA candidate will likely sail through the contest.
The representation of women in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls continues to remain dismally low, as only about 12 percent of the candidates in the fray in the fifth phase are female, according to an analysis by poll rights body ADR.
Rana's blistering attack came in response to AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi's controversial speech in 2013 that it would take them only '15 minutes' to balance the 'Hindu- Muslim ratio' in the country if the police were removed.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Law Commission to look into the issue of hate speeches being made by leaders of political, social and religious outfits and consider framing guidelines to regulate such provocative statements.
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