With the counting for the high-stakes assembly elections is on in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa, here's a look at some of the big names and where they stand.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari, who is an MP from Punjab, on Friday quoted from an affidavit filed by the Punjab government in court which said that 70 per cent of the youth in Punjab are on drugs of various kinds. It is the same Akali-BJP government, which filed the affidavit in the court.
The Shiromoni Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance on Tuesday created history in Punjab by storming back to power for a second consecutive term, breaking a 46-year-old jinx.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday claimed that victory of the Janata Dal-United-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in the Bihar assembly elections reflects the national mood against Congress party.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who is on a visit to the United States, has been served the summons issued by a US court in a human rights violation case for alleged torture of Sikhs in his state, according to petitioners.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal expressed his gratitude to Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh for his efforts in cleaning polluted rivers in the state. Badal appreciated the central minister's efforts through a unanimous resolution adopted by the state assembly on September 30, which thanked Ramesh for his "whole-hearted assistance to the scheme to make the state of Punjab pollution free."
Demanding an enquiry into the whole incident, Badal demanded exemplary punishment for the guilty.
A tragic train accident in Amritsar on Friday took a political turn with the Opposition accusing the state's Congress government for lapses in allowing celebrations near railway tracks.
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal announced the decision to snap ties with the NDA on Saturday night, amid stepped up agitation by farmers in Punjab over the three legislations which were recently passed by Parliament amid Opposition protests.
A teenage girl died while her mother sustained serious injuries after they were allegedly molested and thrown off a moving bus near Moga in Punjab.
Badal claimed that even the Centre had promised to transfer Chandigarh to Punjab. His comments on Chandigarh, which is the common capital of Punjab and Haryana, comes amid the demands by the Congress government in Haryana for a separate high court and the tussle over sharing of river waters.
Though the Congress lost the battle in 2007 to the Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, it hopes to regain power in Punjab this year. The party, which is banking on the anti-incumbency factor, believes it "will throw Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and Bhartiya Janata Party out of power".
Sources said Modi also called up various leaders, including Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham's M K Stalin and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal.
The Indian men continued their winning streak by clinching the fifth Kabaddi World Cup title, while women bagged the crown for the fourth consecutive time.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday felicitated five players from the state, who have been included in Indian hockey team for London Olympic Games starting from July 27.
If Singham was a biryani, with all the flavours coming together seamlessly, Singham Again is a desi thaali, full of scrumptious dishes, but a tad in excess, discovers Sonil Dedhia who watched the film in New Zealand.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded two Congress turncoats and its former Union minister Vijay Sampla for next month's Punjab assembly polls as it released its second list of 27 candidates on Thursday.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday described the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as "fourth holocaust" of the community and said the upcoming Sikh carnage memorial being built by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee will preserve history of this barbaric incident.
An explosion took place at the headquarters of the intelligence wing of the Punjab police in Mohali Monday night, sources said in Chandigarh.
With numbers on its side -- the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college -- and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, the AIADMK and the YSRCP, the NDA candidate will likely sail through the contest.
42 MLAs, including leader of Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi, went to the assembly and submitted their resignations.
Punjab government Tuesday cleared the appointment of slain Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh's daughter as 'Naib Tehsildar' (revenue officer).
Sidhu in a press conference on Friday had questioned the Channi-led state government over the steps taken for the delivery of justice in the cases of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and drug trafficking.
The Delhi unit of the Akali Dal (Badal) took out a march in Delhi demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Minister Jagdish Tytler.
Brigadier Gagneja (retd) was attacked by bike-borne assailants on August 6 in Jalandhar.
"He has said that he wants to serve Punjab and there is no choice except serving from Aam Aadmi Party," she said.
Fifteen people were injured on Wednesday as Sikh activists protesting against the alleged desecration of their holy book clashed with cops.
In a special session, the Punjab Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a resolution declaring Sarabjit Singh as national martyr and sought an impartial investigation by an international agency into his "merciless" attack in a Pakistani jail.
Punjab government's plea for clemency for Khalistani terrorist Devinderpal Singh Bhullar is under the Centre's consideration, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Thursday.
Haryana Jail Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala also said, "Gurmeet Ram Rahim is like every other prisoner here and he also has his fundamental rights."
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday demanded a financial assistance of Rs 300 crore from the Centre to modernise the state police to meet any challenge posed by terrorism. The chief minister said if the state police were better equipped and trained, there was no need to fly commandos to tackle any terror strike.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday said his government will take all possible legal steps pertaining to death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana. "My government has been taking advice from legal experts. All possible legal steps will be initiated pertaining to Rajoana's case," he told reporters. On Friday, the Sikh clergy directed him and Shiromani Guru Prabhandhak Committee head Avtar Singh Makkar to make efforts to save Rajoana.
The BJP senior leadership believes the YSRCP is a more reliable potential ally post-2024 Lok Sabha election than the TDP.
The Punjab cabinet has approved the summoning of a special session of the assembly on September 22 to bring a confidence motion.
Under pressure from the leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Patiala Mayor Jaspal Pardhan, who has been booked by the police in the murder case of a woman, has resigned. Pardhan's son Preetinder Singh told PTI that his father had late on Monday night sent the resignation letter to party secretary and spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema after the ruling SAD asked him to resign on moral grounds.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and other areas have stayed put at various Delhi border points, protesting against the new farm laws, which they fear will dismantle the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporate firms.
The Punjab government on Thursday announced an assistance of Rs 1 crore for the family of Sarabjit Singh, who died in Pakistan following a murderous assault in a jail there, and declared a three-day state mourning.
The Congress stalwart could not have asked for a better gift on his 75th birthday.
Olympic medallist boxer Vijender Singh, who joined the farmers' agitation at the Haryana-Delhi border on Sunday, said he will return his Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award if the Centre's new farm laws are not withdrawn.
