Polling for the fifth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections will take place on May 20, 2024, with 49 seats going to the polls across 8 states.
Consensus emerged on the appointment of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as the chairperson of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), while Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar's name was proposed for the convener's post, pending approval of parties absent at the alliance meeting on Saturday, according to sources.
The party also doubted "there is no way of knowing with certainty as to whether these weapons were indeed recovered during the search or whether they were surreptitiously planted by the CBI or NSG".
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said his party was discussing the seat-sharing arrangements for the Lok Sabha polls with the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, and the issue would be "resolved".
If only the Congress could rebuild on its strengths and develop a modern enough ideology, we could again be moving towards a clearer two-party political landscape, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
A call made by Mamata Banerjee to Vijayamma, wife of late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Dr Y S Rajashekhar Reddy and mother of Jagan Mohan Reddy, is adding frown lines to the faces of Congress and Telegu Desam Party leaders alike.
A woman on Thursday lodged a police complaint, alleging that she was abducted by three persons from outside her residence in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali where allegations of sexual abuse against Trinamool Congress leaders have been levelled.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday called up Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee after which the key United Progressive Alliance ally decided to attend a meeting of the ruling coalition in Delhi on July 14.
The National Testing Agency, under fire over the lapses in the conduct of NEET and UGC-NET, is gearing up to conduct on Sunday a retest for the medical entrance exam for 1,563 candidates who were earlier awarded grace marks to make up for the loss of time at six centres.
"I am really disappointed with the way the party is functioning. I am fed up with so many allegations of corruption levelled against the party and the government. I also do not support the way the issue of Sandeshkhali was handled," he said while maintaining that the dual issues of corruption and Sandeshkhali were the primary triggers for his decision to quit.
One person was killed and at least 18 others were injured in a series of clashes between supporters of Trinamool Congress and Communist Party of India since Sunday night in West Midnapore district, police said on Monday.
In a major setback to the opposition INDIA bloc, Banerjee announced that her party has decided to go alone in the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Temples across Uttar Pradesh were packed with devotees on Sunday for Ram Navami, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath leading prayers at the Gorakhnath Temple. Heavy crowds were witnessed at temples in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi, where security was heightened. In Gorakhpur, Adityanath performed the traditional kanya pujan ritual, while in Varanasi, a 51-foot statue of Lord Ram has become a major attraction. The festival was celebrated with enthusiastic fervor across the state.
Banerjee said the prime minister will now have to move around the country and also abroad with two crutches.
Voting for the bypolls in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were held on Wednesday.
Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, in the eye of a storm over his mimicry of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on the premises of the Parliament complex, attacked him again claiming that mimicry is a form of expression and a fundamental right.
The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday denied involvement in the killing of two senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leaders in Burdwan town, claiming the two were victims of "mob fury".
A poster with death threats to West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, party's general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, appeared in Uluberia in West Bengal's Howrah district on Friday, police said.
An angry Banerjee slammed a minister, a former Trinamool Congress mayor and a few bureaucrats for their "below-par performance".
The Trinamool Congress on Thursday refuted accusations of a police cover-up by the parents of the woman doctor who was allegedly raped and murdered, insisting that a newly surfaced video contradicts their claims by showing the family previously satisfied with the investigation.
The TMC would field one candidate for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Haasan said his party would extend full support to him.
The 69-year-old leader had a fall inside her Kalighat home in south Kolkata after she returned after attending a programme, her family said.
The women's reservation bill is back in focus ahead of Parliament's winter session, with several opposition parties, including the Janata Dal-United, which had once opposed the move, demanding that it be introduced and passed in this session.
A group of around 130 Dalit families in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district have been facing discrimination for centuries, being denied access to a local temple. The families, belonging to the traditional community of cobblers and weavers, have been ostracized and face economic hardship due to this caste-based practice. Despite recent attempts by the administration to resolve the issue, the situation remains tense and the families are left with few options.
Sri Lanka is facing 'a very serious crisis' that makes India naturally worried, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told an all-party meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday and dismissed suggestions about such a situation arising in India.
Trinamool Congress strategy of opposing the United Progressive Alliance candidate has raised question mark over its continuance in the Congress-led coalition.
'The prime minister has not yet expressed anything regarding Manipur. Is Manipur a part of India or not? If it is, why hasn't the Prime Minister of India spoken about it'
Three men, with their faces covered, came on a motorcycle to her house in Konnanagar Jorapukur Ghat at 9 pm and started hurling bombs. They barged into the house, smashed a windowpane, damaged furniture, and abused and assaulted her, Bhattacharya said in her police complaint. The BJP leader said in her complaint that it was the handiwork of "anti-socials harboured by the TMC".
In UP and Bengal, it is willing to sacrifice its interests to stop the BJP and would work towards ensuring the BJP did not win incremental seats in Odisha and Telangana.
A woman was stabbed to death in Kolkata after being chased and allegedly stabbed multiple times outside a popular eatery by three people, including a minor. Police suspect the attack was an honor killing, as the victim was reportedly having an extramarital affair with one of the suspects. The three suspects have been arrested.
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee along with party leaders and workers sat on a dharna at the Rajghat in New Delhi on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on Monday demanding the release of funds for West Bengal by the Centre.
Mamata Banerjee's opposition to the Congress's Lokpal Bill was not a stand-alone event. Her unrelenting stand on FDI and other reform measures of the government are signs of a failing relationship, says Neerja Chowdhury.
The Election Commission on Tuesday censured former Calcutta high court judge and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay for his comment against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and debarred him from campaigning for 24 hours.
The parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf bill is set to propose that existing 'Waqf by user' properties will remain so if not in dispute or are government facilities but they must be registered before the new law takes effect, providing little relief to Waqf bodies in their unverified title claims.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee will not be attending the swearing-in ceremony of Congress leader Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka CM and has designated party leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar for the programme, a Trinamool Congress leader said.
Questioning the 'certificates' given to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by her Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi, the Congress on Tuesday wondered if there was a secret "nexus" between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Farmers from various parts of the country are protesting at Delhi borders against the three farm laws brought by the Centre, alleging that the legislations will hamper farming.
Kharge alleged that Dhankhar is working as a government spokesperson and acting like a school headmaster, often sermonising experienced opposition leaders and preventing them from speaking in the House.
In a veiled reference to West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said he cannot speak in favour of someone who wants to finish him politically and his party in the state.
The meeting of the Joint Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill took an ugly turn as the Trinamool Congress MP smashed a glass water bottle and threw it towards panel chairman Jagdambika Pal of the Bharatiya Janata Party during a heated exchange of words with BJP's Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a former Calcutta high court judge.
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