Here's a list of the full first-time ministers in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
The results for the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tripura were announced on Tuesday.
'I am a labourer's wife, the mother of labourers. But I won't be a labourer's grandmother for sure,' she says in the hope that her grandchildren will have a bright future in the Bihar that will unfold in the next decade.
Sarbananda Sonowal was on Tuesday sworn in as the 14th chief minister of Assam in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and other dignitaries at a huge public function at Khanapara field.
Most exit polls have forecast gains for Congress in at least four states including a clear majority in Rajasthan.
Rumblings of discontent in the Bharatiya Janata Party followed the party's disastrous performance in Bihar assembly elections on Sunday.
Curtains came down on Tuesday evening on campaigning for 57 seats going to poll in the fifth and last phase of bitterly-fought Bihar assembly elections on November five, with acrimonious exchanges provoking showcause notices from the Election Commission to top leaders of rival alliances.
Voters will decide the fate of 456 candidates in 32 constituencies spread over six Naxal-hit districts.
Known for railing up controversies, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was back in the game again on Wednesday evoking sharp criticism after he charged the Centre with ignoring the interest of the state and said seven union ministers from the state would not be allowed entry if they failed to bring desired assistance for the region.
Dharmendra Kumar Singh says the Bihar chief minister may be fighting a losing battle.
Muslims constitute 20% of UP's electorate. Currently, Muslim voters are divided between Akhilesh's SP and Mayawati's BSP. What will tilt the balance? Can Muslims back the winning party? Mohammad Sajjad explains the mysteries of UP's Muslim politics.
The JD-U appears unwilling to become the BJP's second-string. A senior leader said, "If the BJP demands that the 2014 polls be made the yardstick for seat-sharing in 2019, we will insist the results of the last assembly polls become the criterion for the next state election." Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Like Modi, Keshav Prasad Maurya worked at tea stalls. Dinesh Sharma, on the other hand, is a professor at Lucknow university.
Controversial Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's Man Friday Amit Shah arrived in Lucknow on Wednesday to take over the reins of the party in the country's most populous state, which he himself termed as the route to the ultimate seat of power in Delhi.
In terms of electoral fortunes, in all likelihood, the status quo is not going to change in any significant manner. These six seats from Bihar are unlikely to give any clear signal to UPA, NDA or Federal Front.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday night released the first list of 43 candidates for the high-stakes Bihar polls, giving about 60 per cent representation to those from SC and backward castes in an apparent attempt to target the base of rival Janata Dal-United-Rashtriya Janata Dal combine.
'The BJP has replaced huge portraits of the two BJP leaders from Gujarat with very small portraits of many leaders from Bihar. Much is being read into this changed tactic of hoardings and banners,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
In the third reshuffle since coming to power, Prime Minister Modi raised the strength of his Council of Ministers from 73 to 76.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was questioned by the Special Investigation Team on Thursday for the second time in the last four weeks on the Indian Premier League controversy as also various aspects leading to the mysterious death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
The consolidation of the Muslim vote behind Lalu Yadav in Bihar and Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh may have forced Modi to spin Priyanka Gandhi's neech rajniti statement as a insult to his OBC status, says Dharmendra Singh.
'In an alliance, you are forced to overlook loyal workers.' 'It sends a negative message and workers turn against the party.' 'I have forbidden this alliance.'
Blowing the bugle for the 2014 Parliamentary elections, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday hit out at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government for dilly dallying on granting special category status to the state.
Hours after 21 ministers took the oath of office and became a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ministry, speculation began on which minister would be handed which portfolio. However, all speculation ended after the list was announced.
Sukh Ram and Raja were charged with corruption during their tenure as telecom ministers. Sukh Ram was convicted while Raja has been acquitted. One had cash found under his bed; in the case of the other the trial judge mockingly asks: Where is the money? And if there's no money, where is the corruption? So, pronounced innocent. Sukh Ram is a Brahmin. 'Maybe he strayed just that one time, people like that aren't usually corrupt.' And Raja is a Dalit. 'Can you expect any better?' What race is in some places, caste is in India, says Shekhar Gupta.
Shivpal loyalists have been denied tickets.
This is the first time that a Muslim lady has filed a nomination in a Presidential election.
During the meeting that lasted one-and-a-half-hours, the prime minister asked his Cabinet colleagues to take up the "challenge" of reaching the message about the government's functioning to people through better connect with them.
From the Yadav-dominated Madhepura to the Brahmin-dominated Darbhanga and Bhumihar-dominated Begusarai -- three of the seven parliamentary constituencies in Bihar -- that go to vote on April 30 are crucial for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as it will be a test of his 'development model'.
A series of bypoll losses has pushed the Modi government into panic mode. Uncharacteristically, it's letting events dictate its actions, says Shekhar Gupta.
'Nitish is now a helpless junior ally of Hindutva.' 'He just cannot think of reining in the hoodlums raging, marauding and killing in the mohallas,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
We sorted through countless photographs taken around the world to come up with the top photos of 2019. Together these images tell the story of the year -- capturing moments of hope and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy.
A "record" 57.59 per cent of over 1.46 crore voters cast their ballots in 55 assembly seats in Bihar on Sunday in the fourth and penultimate round of polling.
Biju Janata Dal members had staged a walk-out while NDA ally Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 'special package' of Rs 1,25,000 crore for poll-bound Bihar during his address at Ara district, in the state.
M Thambidurai, leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam in Parliament, was unanimously elected as Lok Sabha's deputy speaker on Wednesday, making him the first leader to occupy the post twice.
The National Democratic Alliance on Monday finalised its seat sharing for Bihar polls with the Bharatiya Janata Party contesting 160 out of the 243 assembly constituencies while allies Lok Janshkati Party and Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha being allotted 40 and 20 seats respectively.
'The government and corporate sector must join hands to implement action which allows all of India to develop. It would be good for the corporate sector in the long run.' 'It is not that talent is a monopoly of a few castes who have been privileged over centuries. Talent also exists in other groups. They need opportunity and exposure,'
Modi's NDA is good enough to give a psychological boost to the once 'untouchable' BJP and Modi but if the NDA doesn't get a majority on its own, then walking the last mile will be the greatest challenge of this election for Modi, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
The 'secularists'are more adept at the politics of intense and alarmingly exaggerated fear-mongering, as this kind of politics provides easy votes of Muslims without making them answerable for the concrete issues of poverty, unemployment, lawlessness, and of basic needs like roads, electricity, etc, which is exactly how Nitish Kumar was defeated in the elections, says Mohammad Sajjad.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances