A demolition drive at the Manikarnika Ghat was met with protests from locals, who alleged that the city's heritage was being destroyed in the name of redevelopment, a charge rejected by the district administration.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the redevelopment of the Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, alleging the destruction of historical heritage for personal branding. The project has faced protests over damage to religious artifacts and the demolition of old structures.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati paid tribute to the party founder, late Kanshi Ram, on his 91st birth anniversary. She emphasized the BSP's commitment to action over words, highlighting the party's focus on the upliftment of backward classes. Mayawati also referred to herself as the "iron lady" and emphasized the importance of understanding the power of one's vote.
A resolution to this effect was passed at the party's general body meeting in Hyderabad, party sources said.
Recent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh have ignited political debate in West Bengal, with the ruling TMC and opposition BJP utilizing the issue to advance their respective agendas. While the TMC emphasizes communal harmony and calls for international intervention, the BJP criticizes the TMC's inaction and links the situation to its push for the Citizenship Amendment Act. The issue has also brought other opposition parties into the fray, with all sides highlighting the interconnectedness of the region's socio-political fabric.
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.
The high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded -- 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
'Divine experience and a proud moment' is how the 15 couples who were the 'mukhya yajman' for the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya described the grand event and said that the day will be forever etched in their memories.
'The Constitution of India defeated the BJP.'
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
With a significant number of Opposition leaders present at the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress government in Karnataka, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said Opposition unity requires much more than optics of this nature and stressed the need for meeting of minds, a common agenda and sacrificing partisan interests.
Three of the fence-sitters rule fairly large states Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha that together send 63 members to Lok Sabha -- where the Congress or other opposition parties have been pushed to the margins.
Opposition leaders on Saturday stepped up pressure on Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for stringent action against Bharatiya Janata Party's Ramesh Bidhuri over his derogatory remarks against Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali in the House.
The government on Monday said that matters regarding Chinese intrusion can't be discussed in Parliament as it concerns the security of the country.
RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale met with the leadership of the UP BJP, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, state BJP President Bhupendra Chaudhary and state BJP General Secretary (Organisation) Dharmapal.
The BJP bagged 1,989 of the 4,371 panchayat samiti seats while the Congress won 1,852 with almost all results of the four-phase local government polls being declared.
Introducing UCC is a challenging task for any government. The complexities are real and difficult to negotiate as it deals with sensitive religious and cultural sentiments. How can it strike an easy balance between individual rights and community interests?, asks Ramesh Menon.
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday won four seats in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal retained the Mokama assembly seat in the bypolls to seven assembly constituencies in six states.
In renaming TRS and repositioning it as a 'national' party, KCR is also eyeing a pole position in opposition politics ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Voting will be held on Thursday in bypolls to seven assembly seats in six states -- a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties.
Ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday sought cooperation of all parties for the smooth conduct of proceedings with "decency, dignity and discipline", even as the Opposition demanded discussion on the Agnipath scheme, unemployment and farmers' issues.
Voting began on Thursday in the by-election to seven assembly constituencies in six states -- a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties.
Rajya Sabha is likely to adjourn sine die after taking up five bills on Wednesday, the sources said on Tuesday. The Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla said, will meet at 6 pm on Wednesday instead of the usual 3 pm.
Assuring that tribals will never indulge in violence at riot-ravaged Kandhamal district, the Kui Samaj Samanwaya Samiti on Monday demanded an immediate withdrawal of CRPF jawans from rural pockets of the tribal dominated district. "I can assure in writing that the tribals will never go for violence again as the state government has announced a good package for Kandhamal," Samiti secretary Lambodar Kanhar told PTI over phone.
Chief ministers and other senior leaders made last-minute appeals to voters for their support in Mokama and Gopalganj of Bihar, Adampur of Haryana, Manugoda of Telangana, Gola Gorakhnath of Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar of Odisha.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
In a surprise move, Bahujan Samaj Party president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday not only dissolved all district and city level units of the ruling party, but also the "bhaichara samitis" raised amid much fanfare to promote her much hyped "social engineering", that was believed to have propelled her to power in 2007.
The Kui Samaj Samanwya Samiti, a body of tribals, on Tuesday announced its plan to field candidates both for the Lok Sabha and assembly seats in riot ravaged Kandhamal district in Orissa.KSSS could also field its candidates in other tribal dominated districts like Balangir, Subarnapur, Kalahandi and Daspalla assembly seat in Nayagarh district.
Northern Railways on Friday cancelled 27 trains passing through Rajasthan and diverted several others in the wake of the ongoing agitation by the Gujjar community in the state, causing acute hardship to commuters.
Just ahead of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's visit to India, several Nepali groups have urged Beijing not to support the monarchy with arms.
Without naming anyone, Modi at a Constitution Day event in the Central Hall of Parliament hit out at family-based parties, describing them as 'party for the family, party by the family' and added, 'I don't think I need to say anything more'.
Opposition parties, though resigned to the fact that they lack the numbers to defeat or stall the bill in the two Houses, have decided upon different tactics that they would employ to highlight their reasons for opposing it.
The contentious bill will be tables in RS on Wednesday. The BJP hopes to get up to 130 votes in a 240-member upper house.
Among the parties that boycotted the proceedings of the House included the Congress, which was the among the first to walkout, followed by members of the CPI-M, CPI, TMC, NCP, SP, Shiv Sena, RJD, DMK, TRS and AAP.
The export project, an initiative of the ministry of commerce and industry, was spearheaded by Rajya Sabha MP and Dhangar community leader Dr Vikas Mahatme. It was aimed at increasing the income of farmers and open new avenues of self-employment.
Unsure about having the numbers in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and other parties have decided they will create awareness about the "divisive" nature of the proposed legislation, reports Archis Mohan.
The BJP is still short of the halfway mark of 123 in the 245-member House, but can now muster a 'working' majority with help of allies, friendly parties, some Independents and nominated members.
In his remarks in New Delhi at an all-party meeting held virtually, Modi said healthcare workers involved in treating COVID-19 patients, frontline workers, who include police personnel and municipal staff, and old people suffering from serious conditions would be inoculated on priority.
With almost all opposition parties too backing the 'Bharat bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure peace is maintained.
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