A number of high-profile electoral battles, starring veterans and debutants, formidable opponents and unlikely contestants, feature in Tuesday's outcome.
Union minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United and its ally Rashtriya Janata Dal, founded and headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav, were heading for a merger.
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.
Lok Sabha constituencies that sprung a surprise in the 2024 polls.
The response was tepid in other parts of the country even as several INDIA bloc parties as well as other non-BJP outfits extended their support to the bandh.
Rocky was absconding since the death of Aditya Sachdeva, son of a Gaya businessman, allegedly due to bullet he had fired from his pistol at the car that had overtaken his SUV on the way to Gaya from Bodhgaya on Sunday night.
The Mahagathbandhan's seat-sharing announcement comes a day after the filing of nomination papers for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls was over.
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.
'At his wedding with Patralekha, I officiated as the groom's father as Raj has lost both parents, and that's the relationship we share today.'
Sanjay Jha's importance lies in his connections to senior BJP and RSS leaders to maintain a smooth relationship within the NDA government in Bihar and at the Centre and to contest the 2025 Bihar assembly elections together under Nitish Kumar's leadership.
The rumours have primarily been about the impending resignation of JD-U national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan', for alleged proximity towards ally Rashtriya Janaat Dal at the expense of loyalty to his own party.
'They know that if they do not tie up with the Congress, then the minorities will move to the Congress.'
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
In the past five years, UP's Opposition remained passive and defensive against the BJP, a trend that does not augur well for the impending battle.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
The Opposition INDIA bloc on Friday finalised a 14-member coordination-cum-election strategy committee comprising members of various parties, and it will function as the alliance's highest decision-making body and start work on seat-sharing immediately, sources said.
Campaigning for May 13 elections in 96 Lok Sabha constituencies across 10 states and Union territories including all seats in Andhra Pradesh, where assembly elections are also being held concurrently, and Telangana concluded on Saturday evening.
The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday urged a Varanasi court not to make its Gyanvapi mosque complex survey report public for at least four more weeks, according to the lawyer for the Hindu side.
A prime accused in the 2010 gang rape case of a Japanese tourist in Bihar's Gaya district was arrested and sent to jail, the police said on Monday.
Sixty-eight Rajya Sabha members, including nine Union ministers, are completing their tenure this year, triggering a race of sorts among leaders across political parties to eye a six-year term in the Upper House of Parliament.
Rocky's father Bindeshwari Prasad was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for sheltering their son who was on the run after the killing.
The BCCI has also named one inter-squad for a three-day match slated for December 20 to 22.
A senior JD-U leader said Lallan Singh has expressed his desire to give up the top party post.
Bihar assembly Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary on Sunday called on Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav, at a time when the state was witnessing a big political churn.
Controversial Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav on Thursday was expelled from the party for six years over anti-party activities.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
The transferred officers included 22 IAS, 79 IPS, 45 Bihar Administrative Service officers
On Tuesday, 49 opposition MPs were suspended for the remaining part of the session for disrupting proceedings, taking the total tally of suspended MPs in Lok Sabha to 95.
The little-known but insightful story of Uttar Pradesh's youngest chief minister, Akhilesh Singh Yadav or Tipu. By his father's biographer Frank Huzur. The last of a two-part series.
This follows a Supreme Court directive to move Yadav to a jail outside Bihar.
'Singh was forced to submit his resignation to Nitish Kumar few days ago and convinced to announce his offer to resign at the party meeting.'
Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat, whereas Kirti Aazd will fight from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, all ministers in Modi 2.0 Cabinet, took oath as cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In all, 71 ministers were sworn-in along with Modi, taking the strength of the Union council to 72.
The Kirti Chakra awardees are Major Digvijay Singh Rawat of 21st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), Major Deependra Vikram Basnet from the Sikh Regiment's fourth battalion and Havildar Pawan Kumar Yadav from the 21st battalion of the Mahar Regiment, according to the defence ministry.
Earlier in the day, Pappu Yadav secured a bail from the Patna high court in connection with the killing of Communist Party of India-Marxist legislator Ajit Sarkar in 1998.
The Allahabad high court reserved its judgment on Friday in a petition challenging the maintainability of a suit seeking 'restoration' of a temple at the site of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.
Swami Prasad Maurya, who recently stirred controversy over his remarks on Ramcharitmanas, and veteran leader Azam Khan are also among the 14 national general secretaries.
Here is the complete list of ministers in Modi 3.0 and their portfolios:
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