'INDIA will easily cross 50 seats out of 90 in Jammu and Kashmir.'
Both candidates have shifted from their traditional constituencies - Sadhotra from Marh and Sharma from Akhnoor - after these two segments were reserved for Scheduled Castes.
The Bharatiya Janata Party termed Mufti's temple visit a "political gimmick."
National Conference emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats in the 87-seat House
Despite the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance throwing all its weight to snatch Jharkhand from the hands of a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-headed coalition, the saffron camp suffered a debacle leaving the party's rank and file wondering what had gone wrong.
Debutant legislator Rekha Gupta was sworn in as Delhi chief minister along with six ministers on Thursday in a grand show of strength full of colour and spectacle to mark the Bharatiya Janata Party's return to power in the city after more than 26 years.
Former United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday is cruising towards winning the race for the White House in one of the greatest political comebacks in American history by almost defeating his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in an election that virtually divided the country into two camps.
'The new Waqf bill sows the seed for conflict in every town and village of India.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years to sweep away the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party with a two-thirds majority on the back of a hyper localised campaign and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'AAP-da'(disaster) blitzkrieg.
National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah Friday challenged the Bharatiya Janata Party to contest Lok Sabha polls in the Kashmir Valley, saying he will quit politics if the national party's candidates do not lose their security deposits.
Confronted by outrage in Greenland, the US has scaled down a proposed visit to the island.
Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has come to a standstill and has been facing unrest with several political and nationalist parties launching an indefinite blockade of all national highways from Wednesday against alleged rigging of the election results.
The BJP state unit hailed Vasan and said his advice will be used in the coming days to guide the alliance.
Despite heavy snowfall in Srinagar, the rally to mark the culmination of Bharat Jodo Yatra went ahead, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other prominent leaders of opposition parties addressing the march.
With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls scheduled for 2027, political experts are observing an increasing trend of temple-mosque disputes in the state, leading to heightened polarization. Recent bypolls saw the use of divisive slogans, and analysts believe this trend will intensify as the 2027 elections approach. The recent surge in claims about the existence of Hindu temples at the sites of mosques in various cities has fueled this polarization. The BJP-led government has been accused of promoting communal polarization, while opposition parties like the SP have criticized the ruling party's actions. The RSS chief has called for restraint in raising new temple-related disputes. Experts predict that communal polarization is likely to escalate in the coming days.
Every trick in the trade is being tried unabashedly.
In simple arithmetical terms every possible 'arrangement' is being made to deny a majority to its rivals. A split verdict would hand a vital advantage to the BJP which is adept at extracting the best out of such a situation, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has launched a scathing attack on the interim administration, accusing Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus of running a "fascist regime" that persecutes minorities and allows terrorists to operate freely. Hasina, who is currently in India, made the remarks in a virtual address to overseas Awami League supporters, vowing to bring Yunus and his allies to justice for alleged atrocities. Her comments come ahead of a visit by India's Foreign Secretary to Dhaka, where he is expected to raise concerns about the safety of minorities in Bangladesh.
The PMK has now lent its voice to the protests against the mining of atomic minerals in Kanyakumari.
Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan on Sunday asserted that every party wants him to be on its side, indicating he could tilt towards the one that offered a better bargain.
The People's Democratic Party which has emerged as the single largest party in Jammu and Kashmir appears to be in the pole position to form the government in the 87 member Assembly. Rediff.com brings you images from the ground.
In the months immediately following the 2024 tragedy, reporting on the landslide per se had been a straightforward affair. On one side was death and destruction. On the other side, survivors and the business of survival. It was black and white. What direction to take was clear. Rehabilitation in comparison, felt like a complex situation. One that is fraught with shades of grey. As grey as human life, explains Shyam G Menon.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena expressed concern over AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal labelling Atishi a "temporary chief minister" and called it a "flagrant disregard for the democratic spirit and values enshrined in the Constitution". In his letter to Atishi, Saxena said Kejriwal's remark was an insult to President Droupadi Murmu, who appointed her, as well as himself as her representative. Hitting back, Atishi alleged the lieutenant governor's office was working as a BJP "proxy" and asserted that Kejriwal was Delhi's "tallest leader".
Brisk polling was seen for the Wayanad Lok Sabha and the Chelakkara assembly seats in Kerala as they witnessed a turnout of 20.54 and 19.08 per cent, respectively, after the first three hours of voting on Wednesday.
As the world continues to rage under the ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, the two presidential candidates in the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump during the presidential debate hosted by ABC News on Tuesday (local time), presented their views on ending the conflict and Washington, DC's role in it.
Shigeru Ishiba is expected to prioritise strengthening Japan's military capabilities and fostering deeper international partnerships, particularly with India, with whom Japan shares significant strategic interests, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
The Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, with the ruling NDA defending it as beneficial for minorities while the opposition called it "anti-Muslim". All amendments moved by the opposition were rejected and the bill was passed with 288 votes in favor and 232 against. Union Minorities Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asserted that India is the safest place in the world for minorities, refuting claims of their insecurity.
A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, claiming it was a "blatant intrusion" into the rights of a religious denomination to manage its own affairs in the matter of religion. The plea, filed by Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, argues that the amendments would distort the religious character of Waqfs and irreversibly damage the democratic process in their administration. Several other petitions have been filed in the apex court challenging the validity of the bill, including those by Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, and AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
Parties like the NC and Peoples Democratic Party claimed the administration has not addressed their main concern on whether ''outsiders'' ordinarily residing in J-K will be allowed to enroll as voters.
'The Kerala BJP leadership is doing the job of clerical staff. What the boss orders, they just follow them.'
Describing her Republican rival Donald Trump as an unserious man, Kamala Harris warned Americans of the consequences of re-electing him for the second term.
Immediately after announcing his candidacy for United States presidentship, Bobby Jindal, the first ever Indian-American to run for White House, faced a frontal attack by Democrats on Thursday, who poked fun at his presidency run and termed his record as governor "dismal".
'When voting clause by clause on Waqf came up in the JPC, the TDP and JD-U supported the BJP on each and every clause.'
It was a protest which held a mirror to the government of a state taking pride in its commitment to democracy, gender equality and social indices.One person, who in his employed days had known governments and political parties at close quarters, told me that public perception of how the Kerala government handled the ASHA workers' strike had been terrible, reports Shyam G Menon.
A voter turnout of 10.82 per cent was recorded till 9 am on Saturday in 58 constituencies in six states and two Union territories where polling is underway in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Maurya resigned as the party's national general secretary on February 13, accusing the leadership of discriminating against him and not defending him over his controversial statements on the Ramcharitmanas and the Ayodhya temple consecration ceremony.
The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was on Tuesday adjourned sine die amidst strong protests by Opposition Peoples Democratic Party demanding a discussion on the death of a National Conference worker allegedly in police custody last week.
Former President Donald Trump is becoming increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge and is out for unchecked power, Vice President Kamala Harris said on Friday in an unprecedented attack on her Republican rival ahead of next week's election.
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
"You're not running against Joe Biden. You're running against me," Vice President Harris, who is the Democratic candidate, told the former President, when he criticised the current administration. The matchup on TV Tuesday night began with a handshake -- Harris took the initiative walking up to Trump's lectern -- but later descended into acrimony.