Brisk polling began on Thursday morning in 91 constituencies spread across 18 states and two union territories in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections. As people queued up across the nation to cast their vote, there were some famous faces in the lines at different polling stations. Take a look.
More than four years after they were "falsely implicated" in criminal cases in the aftermath of the bomb blast in Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, 70 Muslim youth will now get a sum of Rs 70 lakh from the Andhra Pradesh government as "compensation" in line with the recommendations of the National Commission for Minorities.
The result was so disastrous for the Congress and NCP that they lost 41 seats out of 48 to the BJP-Shiv Sena combine.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will reach Maldives on November 9 to attend the 17th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit to be held on November 10 and 11, in the scenic Addu island.
Akbaruddin Owaisi, younger brother of MIM President and Lok Sabha member Asauddin Owaisi, received four bullet injuries and multiple dagger injuries when a gorup of his political opponents attacked him in Barkas area under his Chandrayangutta constituency in Hyderabad.
Home Minister P Chidambaram said four political parties in Andhra Pradesh -- Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and YSR Congress -- are yet to make up their mind about their stand on Telangana.
Majlis-e-lttehad Muluslimeen legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi was critically injured in firing by a group of assailants in Hyderabad on Saturday. The assailants are believed to be followers of a local gangster Mohammed Pehlwan. They reportedly opened fire at Owaisi's vehicle. They also allegedly attacked him with sharp weapons when he was on his way to Barkas area of the city to attend some programmes in his constituency Chandrayangutta.
'Your strike rate is very important when it comes to seat-sharing.'
As many as 16 Congress MLAs backing YSR Congress leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy cross-voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against Kiran Reddy government, which survived because of the support from Praja Rajyam Party and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.
In 2014, young Muslims became Owaisi fans. But five years of BJP rule and a weakening Opposition have drawn older Muslims too towards the AIMIM chief. Not enough, though.
Caught in a controversy relating to his appreciation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Deoband based Darul Uloom vice chancellor Maulana Mohammad Ghulam Vastanvi offered to step down.
A Vaishali court in Bihar's Hajipur on Wednesday issued summons to All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi to appear personally before it on August 11 in connection with his reaction against awarding of capital punishement to Mumbai blast accused Yakub Menon last year.
BJP backed to the hilt Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its leader in the state and rebuffed a rebellious Chirag Paswan, while acknowledging his Lok Janshakti Party as an ally 'at the Centre'. At a press conference which was attended by top leaders of the JD-U headed by Kumar and the BJP, it was made clear that 'only those who accept the chief ministers leadership will be deemed to be a part of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar'.
The tepid economy has hit most sectors, from automobile and pharmaceutical industries in the district to its tourist footfall, reports Archis Mohan
The Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, spearheading the Telangana statehood movement, rejected a fresh appeal by Home Minister P Chidambaram to participate in Thursday's meeting to discuss the Justice Srikrishna report, even as Congress held hectic parleys with its leaders from Andhra Pradesh on ways to deal with the situation.
As the country readies to go to polls on July 25, one can't deny the role of the military, but there are other factors too.
Pluralism, democracy and minority rights were the focus of discussion at the American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin's two-day 20th annual convention, held in Detroit.
Darul Uloom Deoband head Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi on Thursday said he will abide by the decision of a three-member panel probing his pro-Narendra Modi remarks and won't challenge in court the outcome if it is against him.
'Thakur will not attend meetings of BJP parliamentary party during the session'
The affidavit, filed by B C Joshi, Director in the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the CAA does not confer any arbitrary and unguided powers on the executive as the citizenship to the persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh would be granted in a manner as specified under the law governing grant of citizenship.
A Special Investigation Team has been set up to look into the death of Tabrez Ansari, who was declared brought dead to the Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur on June 22, Saturday, police said.
The bill was introduced following a division of votes, with 186 members supporting and 74 opposing it.
The pleas also include a separate petition alleging hate speeches by other political figures including Congress party's Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Owaisi said, 'Srinagar is a ghost town. Yeh kya kar diya hai (What have they done)? The people are very angry. It moved us to see that people were searching for milk. We were told that since last three months children were not going to school, medicines or proper food have been in short supply. They said they were being tormented.They can't bear the torture of their youth."
It is likely that small parties would be given very few seats to contest, but these parties believe that they would be able to swing the result in favour of bigger alliance partners by transferring their vote bank.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi will join hands with the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to fight the corporation elections together. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen has nominated senior journalist and former correspondent of rediff.com Syed Aminul Hasan Jafri as a candidate for the Andhra Pradesh legislative council from Hyderabad local authority constituency.
"I do not want to go into politics, be it Uttar Pradesh politics or Gujarat politics. If you want to ask me about education or Uloom I would be glad to reply," he said when asked if he had become target of Muslim politics. Vastanvi, who earned a reprieve as the seminary's powerful Majlis-e-Shura (governing council) did not accept his resignation, received an overwhelming welcome at the Ahmedabad airport, where he landed en route to his native place in Surat.
The plea filed by NGO Association for Protection of Civil Rights and others also sought a direction to the Centre to refrain from preparing the National Register of Citizens.
Such is the force of his oratory that many Muslims, even those who don't vote for him, have come to believe that Asaduddin Owaisi is the first and only politician who speaks up for Muslims since Independence, observes Jyoti Punwani
Maulana Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi, the new vice-chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband tells Gyan Varma that he never praised Narendra Modi
Over 100 people in the Washington, DC metropolitan area gathered to hear Indian Muslim leader Syed Shahabuddin at a dinner hosted in his honour by the Association of Indian Muslims of America.
Several Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly have declared cases in which they have been charged with inciting communal tension. The Association for Democratic Reforms in a report gives details of elected representatives with such charges.
The outgoing Lok Sabha had 23 Muslim MPs, the most being from Congress and TMC. The highest number of Muslim MPs were in 1980 when as many as 49 MPs from the community which constitute nearly fifth of Indian population present in the Lok Sabha.
A prominent Hindu legislator in Pakistan's troubled northwest on Thursday condemned the kidnapping and killing of members of minority communities and appealed to the government to provide adequate protection to them.
The cross-examination of Akbar by Ramani's counsel remained inconclusive and would resume on on July 6.
The graves of several luminaries of Hindi cinema, including legendary playback singer Mohammad Rafi and music composer Naushad are in the danger of being dug out to make way for new ones. This is due to the space constraints faced by the Muslim Majlis, the trust which manages the Muslim Kabrastan (Burial ground) in the Santacruz-Juhu area of suburban Mumbai.
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".
Asaduddin Owaisi said that the high court judgment was a big set back for the Muslim community. "it is a huge disappointment to the Muslim boys and girls who were dreaming a better future because of this 4 per cent quota. Now what will happen to their aspirations".
A car and some window panes were damaged in the attack that took place around 1.30 am when Jadhav, who is the son- in-law of state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Raosaheb Danve.
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