The parties failed to make an impact with their voteshares getting restricted to 2 per cent or below.
'The Congress-NCP is a declining force while we are a rising force.'
"I don't want Z category security. I want to be an A-category citizen, at par with you all. Why was UAPA not invoked against those who fired at me? ...I want to live, to speak. My life will be safe when the poor are safe. I will not get scared of those who shot at my car," he said in Parliament.
Shah had on Tuesday attended a party event in Lucknow where he said that the Opposition is spreading rumours about the CAA.
With the Yogi Adityanath government taking credit for cracking down on criminals and making it an election issue, political parties are now having a rethink on aligning with those who have a criminal background but also enjoy influence in their areas.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, hearing a petition filed by lawyer Vineet Dhanda seeking stern legal action against those disturbing peace and harmony in the country in the name of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, said, "The country is going through a critical time, the endeavour must be to bring peace and such petitions do not help."
Left behind after elections will be the Biharis with their stagnant conditions of poor education, poor health infrastructure, poverty, unemployment, division of society and the aftermath of coronavirus. What will remain is the Bihari tenacity, observes Asmita Bihari.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
The Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and some smaller parties will contest the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls together, and an announcement in this regard would be made soon, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday.
'None of these three countries -- Turkey, Iran or Malaysia -- ever made a hostile move against India to support the Pakistan-based terrorist elements,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Demonstrators took to the streets to protest against what they called the rigged election in which Pakistan ruling party is said to be winning, and erected barricades to block the movement, Dawn reported.
AIMIM's Maharashtra unit chief and Aurangabad MP Imtiyaz Jaleel said, "Our party does not support the statement made by Waris Pathan. The party will seek an explanation from him over the remarks."
India has slammed Pakistan for its decision to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and said any action to alter the status of the militarily-occupied region has no legal basis.
Maharashtra's Minorities Affairs Minister Eknath Khadse courted controversy after comparing Yoga with Namaz, evoking a sharp response from the opposition in Mumbai.
As the five states -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram -- go to the polls, here is how the big names are faring.
"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 bench said it will hear petitions pertaining to Assam and Tripura separately as the problem with CAA in these two states is different from rest of the country.
MIM President Asaduddin Owaisi told rediff.com on Thursday that MIM was a political party responsible to the people and it cannot act under pressure from any committee or forum.
Most parts of Hyderabad remained shut on Saturday after several Muslim organisations, including the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, called for a strike to mark the 16th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Shops remained closed and roads wore a deserted look in the old city, where thousands of policemen, along with two companies of the Rapid Action Force, maintained a tight vigil. All educational institutions, business establishments remained shut.
VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi alleged that actors Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan were "tarnishing" the image of the country by claiming that intolerance was prevalent.
Hitting out at Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut for demanding revocation of voting rights of Muslims, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi said the Bharatiya Janata Party cannot dissociate itself from his statement and asked it to take action against him.
A circular issued by the state home department grants relaxation in timings to shops, beer bars and other establishments selling liquor, alcohol, beer, wine and country liquor on December 24 (Eid-e-Milad), December 25 (Christmas) and December 31 (New Year's Eve).
The Opposition, which had been demanding that the bill be referred to a 'joint select committee', staged a walkout when its demand was rejected by the government.
Leaders of the All Parties Democratic Movement termed the amendment 'a clear violation of the Constitution.'
Before the elections, concerns have been raised in the country over the participation of hardline Islamist groups in large numbers.
Anwar, an AICC general secretary, came out with a flurry of tweets calling for 'urgent and deep introspection' over the debacle of the party, the second largest constituent of the opposition coalition, which contested as many as 70 seats but returned with a tally of just 19.
'The BJP's solo aim in Mumbai and Maharashtra is to finish off the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar's NCP.'
'Modi should arrest Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra and Parvesh Sharma.' 'These leaders were instigating mobs and spreading hatred and they must be thrown in jail.' 'I had seen dreams of a new India under Modi, but now I am disillusioned with him.'
On Thursday, the city police had arrested three MIM legislators for their bid to attack Taslima Nasreen when she was in the city to release a Telugu translation of her controversial novel "Shodh."
The Hyderabad MP trashed it saying he would not be cowed down by it.
Senior Muslim leader, veteran Parliamentarian and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi was bid a tearful adieu by lakhs of his supporters on Tuesday when he was laid to rest at the Dargah Agha Dawood in Hyderabad.
The Minister of state for home's comment came after the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee accused the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government of trying to convert Arunachal Pradesh into a Hindu state.
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.
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.
India will need to watch carefully and understand the new round of instability and uncertainty in Pakistan, while charting the course of its future diplomatic initiatives, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi will join hands with the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to fight the corporation elections together. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Even as its demand for disenfranchisement of Muslims community has evoked sharp reactions from political parties, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday sought to know why the issue of voting rights of Kashmiri Pandits has not been raised in the same manner.
Here are some of the reactions to the apex court's decision.
Earlier this month, the parliament approved amendments in Hudood laws on rape and adultery.
