Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has suspended Bareilly City Magistrate Alankar Agnihotri on charges of indiscipline after he resigned from service in protest against government policies.
The Supreme Court's stay on the UGC equity regulations aimed at preventing caste-based discrimination on campuses has been met with mixed reactions. Opposition parties welcomed the decision, while some expressed concern over the implications for marginalized communities.
The Congress party has announced its intention to contest all 11 seats in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections, signaling a solo approach. The party aims to represent the voices of youth and teachers and has begun voter registration efforts.
A seasoned politician and two-term Member of Parliament, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, who has served as a Union minister and senior Congress leader, resigned from the Congress party, marking the end of his decades-long association with an organisation that his family has been part of for three generations. In an interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff he speaks why he quit the party.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that singing 'Vande Mataram' will be made compulsory in every school and educational institution of the state.
The Congress party has intensified its criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the Vande Mataram controversy, alleging that he has insulted the Congress Working Committee of 1937 and Rabindranath Tagore. The party demands Modi address current issues instead of historical debates.
Whichever combination finally emerges, Malegaon could set a record for being a town run neither by Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti, nor by the Opposition MVA, but by a combination of two or three Muslim parties.
If Xi Jinping can establish control over the PLA Ground Force, relations between India and China will settle down to an even keel. The next few weeks will show whether Xi has finally succeeded in gaining control over the PLA Ground Force. That could bring about the substantive shift in India-China relations that both our leaders have been working for, observes Ambassador Prabhat Shukla.
'When the prime minister and home minister promised their full support for the development of Kerala, why should we not be a part of them?'
The Congress MP said he had been "troubled" by the US tariff regime from the very beginning, adding that India was already at a disadvantage compared to its regional competitors.
Rahul Gandhi was 'punished' with ten push-ups for arriving two minutes late to a Congress training camp in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. The 'punishment' was part of a discipline rule set by AICC Training Department head Sachin Rao.
Suresh Kalmadi brought several top-class events to India including the 2003 Afro Asian Games, the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
'It was very clear in the Parliament election that there was an erosion of Hindu votes in southern Kerala from the CPI-M to the BJP.'
A postgraduate student from Assam was allegedly assaulted by five peers at Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU) hostel in Madhya Pradesh. The five accused were expelled and booked. The incident follows the death of a student from Tripura in Dehradun, causing national outrage.
Hindus will offer prayers from sunrise to sunset on Basant Panchami while Muslims to offer namaz from 1 pm to 3 pm on Friday.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday lauded the organisational power of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party as he shared Narendra Modi's old picture and said how a grassroots worker went on to become the chief minister and prime minister by sitting at the feet of their leaders.
'The question for the TMC is not whether it can hold its bastions, but whether it can expand effectively into regions where the BJP already possesses a good ecosystem.'
'We can't afford to fight each other.' 'We have to win the 2026 election.'
'Marathi-speaking people of Mumbai have now emerged as a consolidated vote bank standing firmly behind the Thackerays.'
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has removed Amit Palekar from the post of Goa unit president following the party's poor performance in the recent Zilla Panchayat elections. Shrikrishna Parab will hold the additional charge until further orders.
If Patel had lived a few years more, he may or may not have become prime minister. But for sure, his presence would have kept Nehru in check, points out Harishchandra.
In a fresh twist to the ongoing power struggle in Karnataka, caste groups backing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar on Thursday threw their weight behind them, with one warning Congress against unseating the incumbent CM while the other community strongly batted for Shivakumar's elevation.
'It would have polarised the Marathi-non Marathi divide further. 'Fadnavis had a very clear strategy: Let all Marathi people campaign for us (the BJP), and whatever results we get will be delivered by Marathi people only.'
A diarrhoea outbreak in Indore, India, has resulted in multiple deaths, with contaminated water suspected as the cause. Authorities are investigating and providing assistance to affected families.
The passing of bills without Parliament, including the treasury benches, having any real understanding of what they contained through any rigorous process has accelerated through the Modi era, points out Aakar Patel.
'She was brave. She didn't care a hoot. And India was not the strongest of nations as it is now.'
'She was brave. She didn't care a hoot. And India was not the strongest of nations as it is now.'
'It interferes in administrative matters of institutions, robbing them of their independence in day-to-day affairs and appointments.'
Upset over being denied tickets by the Bharatiya Janata Party despite being its 'loyal workers for years', several aspirants have rebelled against the party and are now contesting the upcoming elections to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) as independent candidates.
The Congress has appointed Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi as the new president of its Assam unit, replacing Bupen Kumar Borah, ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. The party also appointed three new working presidents - Jakir Hussain Sikdar, Roselina Tirkey and Pradip Sarkar - to its Assam unit. Gogoi, the son of former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, is currently the deputy leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha. The party is going all-out in its bid to wrest power from the BJP after losing two consecutive state polls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday dramatically turned up at the residence of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) chief Pratik Jain amid an ongoing Enforcement Directorate raid, alleging that the central agency was attempting to seize the Trinamool Congress's internal documents, hard disks and sensitive data linked to its election strategy.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in the assembly on Tuesday that singer Zubeen Garg's death while swimming in the sea in Singapore is a case of 'plain and simple murder'.
Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday met Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav, apparently with the mandate to defuse tensions with the ally, which has plunged the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) into turmoil in poll-bound Bihar.
'I don't want to be called a new Indian voter when I am an old Indian voter.'
Home Minister Amit Shah criticized the opposition in Rajya Sabha, linking the division of the 'Vande Mataram' song to the partition of India. He accused Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru of dividing the song for appeasement politics.
Six children with thalassemia in Madhya Pradesh, India, have tested positive for HIV, suspected to be transmitted through contaminated blood transfusions. An investigation has been ordered, and the opposition Congress party is demanding accountability.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday challenged Home Minister Amit Shah to debate with him on his three press conferences in which the Congress leader alleged 'vote chori' by the Bharatiya Janata Party in collusion with the Election Commission.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
The remark triggered sharp reactions from opposition leaders, who accused the minister of being insensitive to the plight of those affected by floods.
On speculations of Priyanka Gandhi contesting in the 2024 election, Rai said that Priyanka Gandhi will contest from wherever she wants to.
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