An important meeting of top Bharatiya Janata Party leadership was held on Wednesday in Delhi regarding the party's organisational elections, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The new Delhi government has appointed six cabinet ministers, including Parvesh Verma, who defeated AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in the recent assembly polls. The ministers, all BJP MLAs, will be administered the oath of office on Thursday afternoon. The new ministers will take oath along with CM-designate Rekha Gupta in a grand ceremony to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries at Ramlila Maidan later in the day.
The bulldozer, part of the procession organised by the Adarsh Ramlila Committee, was on Monday stopped by police who termed its participation unauthorised and a new tradition.
Amid this unrest came the verdict of the Allahabad high court on June 12, 1975 that found Gandhi guilty over discrepancies in the electoral campaign, which led to the Emergency on the night of June 25.
The newly-formed Delhi Cabinet in its first meeting approved the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in the national capital. The cabinet also decided to present 14 pending CAG reports in the first session of the assembly. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that the previous AAP government did not allow the health scheme in the city, preventing the people from availing its benefits.
'Skirmishes with officials in the Press Information Bureau were an everyday affair as the newspapers sought clearances from the media censors for publishing the next day's editions'
Supporters of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) clashed with police in West Bengal on Monday during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, leading to several injuries and the torching of multiple police vehicles. The clash occurred after police stopped ISF supporters from attending an anti-Waqf Act rally in Kolkata. The protests escalated when the crowd attempted to break through police barricades. The situation was brought under control after a large police force was deployed. ISF leader Naushad Siddique condemned the Waqf Act and accused the BJP of trying to incite communal tension. Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress dismissed the ISF as a "party of no consequence." Communal violence related to the Waqf Act has also occurred in other parts of West Bengal.
The state police said the situation in Murshidabad is gradually returning to normal, with shops reopening and displaced families starting to come back.
Kapil Mishra, a former AAP member and a vocal critic of the BJP, RSS, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has undergone a complete political transformation, becoming a controversial figure often regarded as the "posterboy of Hindutva." He has now been inducted as a minister in the newly formed Delhi government, marking a significant shift in his political allegiance and raising questions about his role in shaping the city's future.
The ground, which served as the battleground for the 51-year-old bureaucrat-turned-politician during the Anna Hazare-led India Against Corruption movement, is getting decked up and workers are busy making arrangements.
The ISI strategy has been to use its proxies to target Hindus in India. They want an outrage and counter-targeting of India's minorities. Further, even the whiff of it restores the Pakistan army's popularity, especially when it's in the dumps, like now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Five of the seven newly sworn-in ministers in Delhi, including the chief minister, have declared criminal cases against themselves, while two are billionaires, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The findings are based on self-sworn affidavits submitted by the ministers ahead of the 2025 Delhi Assembly Elections. The report highlights that five ministers, including Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, have declared criminal cases against themselves, with one minister, Ashish Sood, facing serious criminal charges. On the financial front, two ministers are billionaires, with Manjinder Singh Sirsa having the highest declared assets worth Rs. 248.85 crores and Kapil Mishra having the lowest at Rs 1.06 crores. The average assets of the seven ministers stand at Rs 56.03 crores. All seven ministers have declared liabilities, with Parvesh Sahib Singh having the highest at Rs 74.36 crores. Six ministers have declared educational qualifications of graduate level or above, while one has completed only the 12th standard. Five ministers are between 41 and 50 years old, while the remaining two are aged between 51 and 60 years. The cabinet includes only one woman minister, the chief minister.
'What does Indira Gandhi want from me? At this age, what will I do to her?'
Many in the party believe that as was the cases in Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, the BJP leadership might put its bets on a "dark horse" among the newly-elected MLAs.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Parvesh Verma first rose in national politics in 2014 when he won the West Delhi Lok Sabha seat but his profile took a leap when he emerged as the giant killer in the Delhi assembly polls after defeating Aam Aadmi Party supremo and three-time chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The end of an extended weekend saw the crowd of protesters at Ramlila Maidan, where social activist Anna Hazare is on an indefinite fast, dwindling on Tuesday.
Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta and her Council of Ministers will take oath at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday afternoon in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking a return of the BJP in Delhi after 26 years.
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.
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.
Rekha Gupta, a former DUSU president and a long-time member of the RSS, has been chosen as the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly and will become the fourth woman chief minister of Delhi. She won the Shalimar Bagh seat in the February 5 Assembly polls, defeating her AAP rival Bandana Kumari. Gupta, a BCom graduate and lawyer, has a long history of working for women's welfare, having served as the national secretary of the BJP's youth wing and the national vice-president of BJP Mahila Morcha. The BJP has returned to power in Delhi after over 26 years, ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP.
For the past 22 days, a 24-year-old from a Haryana village has been in a standing position round-the-clock, in what villagers claimed began with praying for the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rekha Gupta in Delhi polls and later that she should become the chief minister.
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore reports on the hectic activity at the Ramlila maidan in New Delhi where anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare's mammoth protest is going on.
Ramlila performances, where the epic Ramayan is enacted, are a common sight. The climax of the festival often involves the symbolic burning of giant effigies of Ravan, Kumbhakaran and Meghnad.
Action will be taken against erring police personnel involved in midnight crackdown on yoga guru Ramdev and his supporters at the Ramlila ground last June after identifying them, he government told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Ten men were arrested in connection with the violence at Ramlila Maidan during police action against Baba Ramdev and his followers while they were protesting against corruption.
Toral Varia and Rajesh Karkera visit Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi and find that Anna Hazare is the new brand being marketed by street vendors.
Bollywood stars looked gorgeous on Dusshera, and we can certainly try some of these styles during the festive season.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday deprecated the practice of announcing freebies prior to elections, and said people were not willing to work as they were getting free ration and money.
Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Varun Gandhi, who has given a notice in Lok Sabha for tabling Anna Hazare's Jan Lokpal Bill as a private members' bill, on Wednesday sat with protesters at Ramlila Maidan where the Gandhian is on a fast. Wearing a green kurta and sporting a tricolour badge, the 31-year-old Philibit MP came to the ground around 8:30 am and sat in the protesters' enclosure. "I have come here as a common man," Gandhi said.
Fifty-one year-old Rajbala was on Tuesday cremated at her native village Bhatna in Sonepat, Haryana with yoga guru Ramdev and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj attending her last rites and calling her a 'martyr' who had sacrificed her life for the nation.
This is how the residents of Jamnagar danced the Garba.
First-time MLA Rekha Gupta will be the new chief minister of Delhi, capping 11 days of suspense over who will get the top post after the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power after over 26 years ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party.
The Delhi police have found fault with 11 supporters of Ramdev along with six policemen for the last year's violence at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi during the protest against black money.
Their leader is now Lalu Prasad Yadav, a convict in several corruption cases, he added.
Anger against peoples' representatives was in full display at the Ramlila Maidan on Friday when Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Gopinath Munde and Ananth Kumar had to abruptly leave the ground after being greeted with cries of chor chor from the crowd.
30,000 volunteers lit 2.5 million diyas in Ayodhya.
The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by the Ramdev-run Bharat Swabhiman Trust seeking review of its judgement in which it had criticised the yoga guru's disciples for indulging in brick batting with police during the midnight crackdown at the Ramlila Maidan last summer.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally on Sunday at the large Ramlila Maidan, a little over a kilometre from Old Delhi's Daryaganj that was hit by violence during a protest against the amended Citizenship Act. Elaborate security arrangements has been made for the rally.
Poori-subji at 3 am, performance for TV cameras and chanting of slogans amid rains Ramlila Maidan witnessed a flurry of activity on the first night of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption protest.
From medicines to medical check-ups; air-coolers at the Maidan to the overhead waterproof tents; from meals to snacks everything at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi is being taken care of by protestors themselves. Contributions, both in the form of cash and service, are pouring in at Ramlila Maidan for the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption protests.
