Constituencies that are going to the polls in the first phase, slated for April 19, have just 19 days for campaigning. Contrast that with those going to polls in the 7th phase, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which pulled off a hat-trick of wins in Haryana by bucking anti-incumbency, managed to make significant inroads into the Dalit seats and Jat strongholds.
How did a leader, once as important as Buta Singh, suffer such a precipitous fall from grace? After being Home Minister and governor, Singh is looking at a Bihar government probe at some of the actions he had taken as the governor of Bihar and his family is caught up in a clutch of court cases -- most of a criminal nature.
Sandeshkhali, a village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, has been at the centre of a political storm for nearly a month and has witnessed unprecedented protests over allegations of sexual abuse by scores of women against a local Trinamool Congress leader.
The national scheduled castes panel has sent a notice to IIT Madras over the de-recognition by the premier technical institute of a students' group, several of whose members are from the Dalit community, allegedly following a complaint that it was critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'As soon as the BJP feels they are going to lose power, they will publish the caste census data of 2011 and conduct the caste census of 2021.'
The Election Commission has issued a notification banning the conduct, publication or publicising of exit polls between 7.00 am to 6.30 pm on February 5 (Wednesday) when votes will be cast for the Delhi assembly and two bypolls in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
If Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil drops a hint of supporting or opposing a particular coalition on the eve of polling on November 20, things may change overnight.
Vijay, with his chief ministerial ambitions, is a one-man army, at least as of now, and his campaign team considers him omnipresent. He has to be present in all districts, if not all constituencies at the same time, as there is no second-line leader or platform speaker in the party, who can draw crowds, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
"The government of today which was in power in 1996 has to be morally committed on the issue," he said.
The youth -- their dreams of government jobs unfulfilled -- are voicing their frustration.
The government on Thursday listed bills on personal data protection, to amend forest conservation laws and on the contentious ordinance on Delhi services for the monsoon session of Parliament beginning next week.
"Not a single woman (from Sandeshkhali) has lodged any FIR. It was me who directed the police to lodge a suo motu case. Our block president has been arrested," she said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called for tough decisions and unity within the party after the Congress suffered electoral defeats in Maharashtra and Haryana. In a meeting with top party leaders, Kharge highlighted the need to strengthen the organization from the grassroots, fix accountability, and address internal bickering. He also urged leaders to remain united and avoid public criticism of each other. The Congress chief expressed concern over the party's performance in state elections despite a strong showing in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year. He acknowledged the need to learn from the setbacks and improve the party's strategy and communication to counter its rivals' propaganda.
Issuing a slew of directions, a bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat (since retired) and Aravind Kumar asked the central and state governments to pay Rs 30 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of those who die while cleaning sewers.
Delhi recorded a voter turnout of over 19 per cent in the first four hours of polling on Wednesday across 70 assembly constituencies, with the highest voter participation witnessed in North East district.
Caste assertions, including from the upper castes, could have the Sangh Parivar stumble yet again in its efforts to construct a Hindu rashtra.
Instead of harvesting the wrath against the BJP and using it to their advantage by opting for a collective form of leadership, the Congress decided once again to bestow their trust in the Hooda family who were given a free hand in the distribution of tickets. This turned out to be the biggest blunder and this faulty selection was the single over riding factor in the Congress defeat, explains Rashme Sehgal.
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has issued an arrest warrant against the senior superintendent of police of Gautam Buddha Nagar district for his "failure" to act in the alleged Bhatta-Parsaul rape cases.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said the State Election Commission has already issued a notification and it will remain unchanged.
A team of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday held on-spot inquiries in Sandeshkhali to ascertain facts about alleged sexual abuse by some Trinamool Congress leaders even as fresh agitation rocked the trouble-torn village, where locals torched the property of accused Trinamool leaders and held demonstrations against the delay in arresting the main accused, Shahjahan Sheikh.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has asserted the integrity of India's electoral process, stating that no discrepancies have been found between the votes counted on electronic voting machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips. Addressing concerns about mismatches in polling figures, Kumar attributed the issue to limitations in the data reported by the Voter Turnout Reporting (VTR) app, which excludes postal ballot votes. He emphasized the robust mechanisms in place to ensure accuracy, including reconciliation of every vote with Form 17C and thorough review of any minor errors. Kumar highlighted that the Election Commission rigorously follows guidelines for all aspects of the electoral process, including electoral rolls and machine handling.
The division bench also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 each on the Commission and Sant Kumar Netam, who had alleged in a petition that Jogi did not belong to the Scheduled Tribe category.
Some India states are likely to record a significantly higher number of heatwave days, according to the national weather body.
National Commission for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Chairman Buta Singh''s son Sarabjot Singh is reported to have cracked under the Central Bureau of Investigation's pressure and admitted on Friday to his involvement in a bribery scam.
The monsoon session of Parliament which saw many disruptions since it began on July 20 over the Manipur violence issue, is set to become more turbulent with the government likely to introduce a bill in the Lok Sabha to replace the Delhi services ordinance.
The cabinet of the new government led by Rekha Gupta balances representation of all major communities that propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Delhi with a massive majority after over 26 years.
Sheela Bhatt and Sharat Pradhan bring voices from the ground in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, which is voting today in the first phase of elections
Taking serious note of repeated defiance of orders to make himself present before the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, its chairman P L Punia has issued arrest warrants against a senior superintendent of police of Gautam Buddha Nagar. He has been asked to ensure his presence on October 25, the next date of hearing in the case of seven Bhatta-Parsaul women alleging rape.
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes on Friday accused policemen of raping and killing the Lakhimpur teenager, even as the Uttar Pradesh government filed a status report before the Allahabad high court on the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department probe into the incident. The commission, which had visited Lakhimpur Kheri recently to inquire into the death of the 14-year-old girl in Nighasan police station, spoke to the parents of the victim.
President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday emphasised the need to strengthen affirmative action as a tool for inclusion while urging the rejection of divisive tendencies rooted in perceived social hierarchies.
Universally practiced forms of discrimination and exclusion include social and cultural segregation, expressed in various forms of refusal to have any social interaction; endogamy, expressed through the universal prohibitions on Dalit-non-Dalit marriages and through severe social sanctions on both Dalits and non-Dalits, who break this taboo.'In short, in most social contexts, Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians are Dalits first and Muslims and Christians only second,' it said.
Union Home minister P Chidambaran on Saturday denied having received any report from the Central Bureau of Investigation on the latest developments in former home minister Buta Singh's son Sarabjot Singh's alleged bribery case.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sources said on Saturday that they would be questioning National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Chairman and former Union Home Minister Buta Singh in connection with the Rs 1 crore bribery case involving his second son Sarabjot Singh.Sources said that Sarabjot Singh had told the CBI after his arrest, that he had informed his father about 'settling'' the complaint against Nashik civic works contractor Ram Rao Patil.
The unrest in the Sandeshkhali region of West Bengal ballooned into a major political row on Thursday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the saffron camp of fomenting trouble in the area, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Commission for Women (NCW) accused her party Trinamool Congress and the state government of being complicit in crimes against women in the area.
Two top Muslim organisations -- All India Milli Council and Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind (Mahmood Madni) -- on Tuesday backed National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Chairman Wajahat Habibullah's call for scheduled caste status to Muslim and Christian Dalits.
The family has set forth demand to the Union Home Ministry, including that Sarabjit's body be cremated with full state honours, Raj Kumar Verka, Vice Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes, told PTI.
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has decided to summon BKU leader Mahendra Singh Tikait for allegedly making casteist remarks against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati at a rally in Bijnore district on March 30. The Commission had issued a notice to the BKU leader on the basis of the FIR report as the district administration failed to provide the full text of Tikait's speech.
The Delhi Police on Tuesday said it has no records of licenses of three firearms recovered from the residence of National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Chairman Buta Singh's son Sarobjit, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with a corruption case.
Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Buta Singh, whose son has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a bribery case, on Friday said "political forces" were out to damage him and his family and ruled out his resignation.
