The country's top wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, have been protesting since April 23, demanding criminal action against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Under Election Commission guidelines, campaigning has to end 48 hours before the close of polls for each phase.
As the election nears, political positions on prohibition are shifting.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched a scathing attack on his predecessor Rabri Devi, calling her appointment as Chief Minister "suspension-induced" during a heated debate in the state legislative council. The verbal sparring, marked by accusations and counter-accusations on law and order, saw Kumar accusing the RJD of being unable to handle Hindu-Muslim tensions and engaging in "mischief." Rabri Devi, in response, asserted her right to speak about her achievements during her tenure as Chief Minister. Kumar, however, retorted with a sharp, local phrase, dismissing Rabri Devi's claims. The exchange, which saw both sides engage in mudslinging, ended with the Chairman admonishing the opposition for their unruly behavior.
Several petitions were filed in the apex court challenging the Act, contending that it was discriminatory towards the Muslim community and violated their fundamental rights.
The Congress on Friday claimed that a 'silent undercurrent' is brewing across western Uttar Pradesh against the 'failures' of the Modi government, as it flagged issues such as 'neglect' of sugarcane farmers and examination paper leaks.
Ruling constituent Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday joined the opposition in stalling proceedings in Lok Sabha and leading street protest in New Delhi on the issue of the new sugarcane policy and vowed to struggle till the ordinance to fix a uniform price is withdrawn.
Seventeen of the 25 ministers in the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan, including Govind Ram Meghwal, who also led the party's campaign committee, lost in the assembly elections.
Despite this setback, Pandey emphasised that discussions regarding ticket distribution are ongoing and solutions will be found through timely communication.
Rahul's babalog have forged an alliance that is now formidable. This is a challenge to older congress MPs. Second-timers and third-timers cannot be very happy with this development
Only in the event of the RSS managing to force Modi into accepting a consensual candidate, will the party not continue to 'being' the 'next Congress', observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and raised concerns over its timing, alleging that over two crore voters of the state may be disenfranchised by this mammoth exercise being done just ahead of assembly elections.
A senior TMC leader will be present at the proposed meeting, he said.
Ajit Singh represented a bridge between a constituency that represented a more traditional era in politics and a modern, forward-looking, India, remembers Aditi Phadnis.
A video had surfaced on social media which purportedly showed SP leader Mukesh Siddharth making the controversial statement.
"I am fighting a big battle to save my country from the corrupt. That is why they are behind bars today and not getting bail even from the Supreme Court," Modi said.
Chaudhary's jibe comes in the wake of his allegations the BJP has been trying to woo RLD leaders as well as the party chief into the saffron fold ahead of Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
Leaders of 24 non-BJP parties have been invited for the meet on June 17 and 18, the first edition of which saw the participation of 15 parties.
Amid the raging feud in Samajwadi Party, its senior leader Shivpal Yadav reached Delhi on Wednesday evening to invite 'like-minded' socialists for the party's 25th anniversary celebrations on November 5, a move seen as an attempt to stitch an alliance for the state assembly polls.
Dimple Yadav's husband and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is currently on a two-day campaign yatra from Mainpuri to Etah.
The Bahujan Samaj Party will not enter into any alliance for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly polls, party chief Mayawati said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has decided to cut short his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Uttar Pradesh by skipping western part of the state and saving five days, a party leader said on Monday while citing board exams.
Demanding a strong Lokpal bill against corruption, nine non-National Democratic Alliance opposition parties including the Left, Telugu Desam Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal on Tuesday staged a protest at the main gate of Parliament.
An eighth BJP candidate on Thursday filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, setting the stage for a contest with the Samajwadi Party on February 27.
The June 23 meeting of opposition parties, called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, will see anti-BJP players chalk out a strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.
It was a changed scenario in the new Lok Sabha with the churning brought out by the elections throwing in contrasts.
'Prashant Kishor is a businessman before he is a politician, and given that the expected average turnout for JSP candidates is 5,000 to 6,000 votes and since Bihar has a significant number of seats where the margin between the winner and runner-up falls within that range he will capitalise on exactly that to showcase his presence.'
Naidu broke the fast by taking a glass of coconut water following intervention by Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan, Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav, Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh and other leaders who prevailed upon him to end the fast.
Asked how many seats the Congress would fight on, Singh said they would be flexible in seat sharing.
An average voter turnout of 20 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of voting in the bypolls to 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand on Wednesday amid an incident of stone pelting in a village in UP's Meerapur and allegations of police personnel deterring voters from casting their ballot.
The beleaguered United Progressive Alliance got a boost on Saturday with the Rashtriya Lok Dal, led by Ajit Singh, deciding to join the coalition at the Centre and fight the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in alliance with the Congress. Ajit Singh, whose RLD has five members in the Lok Sabha, met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday evening and expressed his willingness to join UPA. His decision was welcomed by the Congress president.
The delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Rajasthan is all set to vote on Saturday to elect members of a new assembly with the Bharatiya Janata Party aiming to unseat the ruling Congress, which is fighting hard to change the trend of alternate governments in the state.
The announcement put an end to speculation that Sonia Gandhi may not contest in the upcoming polls due to health reasons and the party's newly appointed general secretary in-charge (East UP) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may be fielded from her constituency.
The Shiromani Akali Dal skipped the meeting, besides the Aam Aadmi Party, the TRS and the BJD.
The Delhi high court on Friday sought a response from the Centre, Election Commission of India, and 26 political parties on a petition seeking to restrain opposition parties from using the acronym INDIA for their alliance.
The April 11 polling will decide the fate of several political bigwigs.
His remarks came a day after the Samajwadi Party wrote to Rajbhar and Shivpal Singh Yadav that they are free to go wherever they feel they can get more respect.
The Rashtriya Lok Dal, with five members in the Lok Sabha, on Monday formally joined the United Progressive Alliance amid speculations that its chief Ajit Singh would be included in the Cabinet as the civil aviation minister. With the RLD joining the ruling coalition, its strength has gone up from 272 to 277 MPs. In the backdrop of speculations that Ajit Singh will be inducted into the Cabinet, Digvijay Singh was asked who will be the next civil aviation minister.
'We used to discuss how image-conscious Nitish Kumar was and his sophisticated conduct in public life. All this has become a thing of the past.'
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