Heavy rainfall across North India leads to fatalities, structural damage, travel disruptions, and school closures. Eastern states brace for more rain.
Heavy rains and landslides in Himachal Pradesh have resulted in multiple fatalities and widespread disruption, including road closures and train cancellations.
A day after a goof-up over serving snacks to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu snowballed into a major controversy necessitating a CID probe, state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Satpal Satti on Friday claimed the Congress government has become a 'laughing stock' for ordering an 'inquiry into samosas'.
Shivakumar said, "Mahayuti leaders should visit my state to see how Congress' welfare guarantees are benefiting people."
The death toll from cloudburst and flash flood-related incidents in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh has risen to 14, with a search underway for 31 missing individuals. Extensive damage to homes, infrastructure, and livestock has been reported across the district.
Himachal is first state in the country to pass such a bill under which "A person shall not be entitled for pension under the Act, if he has been disqualified at any point of time under the tenth schedule of the Constitution".
Amid the political uncertainty in Himachal Pradesh, state Congress chief Pratibha Singh on Friday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party's work is better than that of the grand old party.
They were suspended for misbehaviour and shouting slogans in the House.
Flash floods triggered by a cloudburst in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, resulted in casualties and widespread damage, prompting rescue operations and relief efforts.
This will be the 49-year-old JMM leader's fourth stint as chief minister. Soren retained the Barhait seat, defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes in the recent assembly polls.
Sukhu met Modi and discussed various issues related to Himachal Pradesh during the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday.
Monsoon hit the state on June 20 and has since then cost it Rs 5,000 crore in damages.
High drama was witnessed during the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet meeting on Saturday with ministers Jagat Negi and Rohit Thakur leaving midway following a 'heated debate' over policy decisions, sources said.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said like other states, the BJP started the game of using money power, power of the government and muscle power to destabilise the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh but has failed.
The case pertains to the 340 MW Seli Hydropower Electric Project on the Chenab river in Lahaul and Spiti district.
The Congress top brass on Wednesday rushed former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and DK Shivakumar to Shimla to parley with members of the party which is facing loss of support and risks losing power in the state.
Six Himachal Pradesh Congress MLAs who voted against party nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha elections, along with three Independent lawmakers, have shifted to a hotel in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Uttarakhand amid an ongoing rebellion against Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
The Congress maintained that the state government had not ordered any such inquiry and it could be an internal matter of the CID. A top CID official has also said that no formal inquiry was ordered into the incident.
Shivakumar also said that the central observers have spoken to Sukhu, party MLAs and state unit chief Pratibha Singh and all differences have been ironed out.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu called Kangana Ranaut the 'daughter of Himachal' amid the backlash the Congress is facing over a purportedly objectionable post against the actress-turned politician.
The returnees also included three independent MLAs, who too had landed in Panchkula on Tuesday after casting their votes in the Rajya Sabha election.
The Congress has 40 MLAs while the BJP has 25 in the 68-member state assembly. The remaining three seats are held by independents.
The political crisis arose in Himachal Pradesh during the recently held polling for the Rajya Sabha elections as nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels and three independents, voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan.
The Sanjauli area was choked as the protesters took out a march. The area teemed with hundreds of demonstrators, several of whom carried Hindu religion insignia, such as saffron flags and banners bearing Lord Ram's image and the protesters demanded demolition of the illegal mosque in 15 days.
Agnihotri will be in charge of Jal Shakti, transport, and language, arts and culture departments while Chief Minister Sukhu has kept with himself finance, general administration, home, planning, personnel and other portfolios which have not been allotted to any minister, the notification stated on Tuesday.
The chief minister and his wife Kamlesh Thakur presented a cheque of Rs 51 lakh to chief secretary Prabodh Saxena at their official residence in Shimla.
Amid the political crisis in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu on Thursday left for Delhi to 'meet' the Congress high command.
Protestors demanding the demolition of an illegal structure in a mosque in Shimla's Sanjauli area were lathi-charged by security forces on Wednesday after they broke police barricades during a demonstration.
His Holiness, The Dalai Lama on Wednesday turned 88 with his birthday being celebrated through prayers and cake-cutting in various monasteries in Himachal Pradesh.
The 77th Independence Day on Tuesday was a low-key affair in Himachal Pradesh with the traditional cultural programmes missing from official and district-level functions as the state mourns the deaths and destruction caused by incessant rains.
With the induction of seven members, the strength of the cabinet rose to nine.
The official said Sukhvinder's brother Satpal possibly transferred Rs 2.50 lakh from Canada to his cousin Jitu Singh alias Jita in Gwalior to facilitate the November 7 killing.
The BJP in Himachal has its own problems. But it is not a party that sits around twiddling its thumbs.
Rebel Himachal Pradesh Congress MLA Rajinder Rana on Saturday claimed that nine more party legislators 'feeling suffocated' due to Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's style of functioning are in touch with him as he called the chief minister 'liar number one'.
The demolition started with the removal of the roof amid tight police security, Latif told the PTI on Monday evening.
On the eve of the Haryana assembly poll results, the issue of chief minister-ship has taken centre stage in the Congress with all eyes on its high command's next move as the party expects to regain power after 10 years in the state.
The electoral exercise, the first since the Lok Sabha elections, will decide the fate of many veterans and some debutantes including Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur.
Himachal Pradesh seam bowler Sidharth Sharma died in a hospital in Vadodara after a brief illness.
With the party bagging its first victory in the hill state without the charismatic presence of Virbhadra Singh, Sukhu's elevation makes it clear that the party is ready to move on.
The 77-year-old former Congress president is set to enter the Upper House for the first time from Rajasthan.
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