Hours after, however, firing from the Pakistani side was reported in Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Drones were also seen in the Pir Panjal area.
There is a strong possibility of opposition parties coming together to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday, stressing that he has had good talks with them and many will join hands gradually.
Opposition parties in India, including the Congress, Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP), have unanimously hailed the armed forces' "Operation Sindoor", a retaliatory strike against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operation, which involved missile and drone strikes, was conducted in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Despite political differences, all parties expressed support for the government and the armed forces, stressing the importance of national unity and integrity in the face of terrorism. While emphasizing the need for diplomatic avenues to prevent further escalation, some parties also called for caution in attributing political credit for the strikes.
JD-U Rajya Sabha MPs Ali Anwar and M P Veerendra Kumar met senior leader Sharad Yadav amid reports that he was also displeased with Nitish Kumar's action.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will meet Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav on Tuesday morning over the Women's Reservation Bill.
Police detained MNS leader Avinash Jadhav ahead of a rally planned in Thane to counter a protest staged by traders against the slapping of a food stall owner for not speaking in Marathi.
United Progressive Alliance Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee on Friday telephoned Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and is understood to have expressed his gratitude for extending support to him in the July 19 Presidential poll.
Kumar also asserted that his efforts should reap benefits for the younger generation, "for people like (his deputy) Tejashwi Yadav".
With party leader Shivanand Tiwari's remark on United Progressive Alliance's handling of the economy creating unease in ally Bharatiya Janata Party, senior Janata Dal-United leaders on Saturday got into fire-fighting mode and advised its spokespersons to consult them before speaking out.
The Congress said the rally by the INDIA will send a "strong message" to the Lok Kalyan Marg, where the prime minister's residence is located, that the BJP-led government's "time is up".
Janata Dal-United on Friday targeted ally Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh saying the saffron party like several of its political rivals had succumbed to the contagion of corruption.
JD-U leader Sharad Yadav speaks about the recent crisis in Bihar
The Janata Dal United said that it will wait for Congress-led United Progressive Aliance to announce its nominee for the vice Presidential election and will talk to its NDA allies before taking any decision on the issue.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has sacked all 11 ministers from the cabinet.
Seeking to create a pressure group in the ruling United Progressive Alliance to take on the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday called up Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and Dravida Munetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi.
Former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar was elected as leader of the JD-U legislature party.
Celebrations broke out as the Grand Alliance was all set for a thumping victory in the Bihar polls.
Stay away from violence and work for the party was Mulayam Singh Yadav's message to Samajwadi Party workers on the party's 9th national convention in Lucknow.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday met Rahul Gandhi at his residence in New Delhi as the talks on alliance to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar polls gained momentum.
They entered the Bihar poll battle to protect and carry forward their fathers' political legacy, but many of them could not win their own seat though some tasted victory.
Punjab Minister Anmol Gagan Mann on Wednesday said her Aam Aadmi Party will fight on all 13 parliamentary seats in the state.
Sharad Yadav, JDU chief and NDA convener, tells Gyan Varma if the UPA had discussed Pranab Mukherjee's nomination for Presidential election before announcing his name, the NDA would not have put up its candidate against the former finance minister
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Saturday visited Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar in the presence of party president Sharad Yadav to reconcile after Bharatiya Janata Party's top leadership in Delhi made it clear not to support Manjhi.
The Janata Dal-United will elect a new leader on Sunday, party chief Sharad Yadav said, a day after Nitish Kumar stepped down as the Bihar chief minister.
Naidu visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to enquire about his former cabinet colleague's health.
Janata Dal-United president Sharad Yadav dismissed speculation about his party firming up alliance with the Congress, saying there was no such prospect both pre and post 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The development comes a day after senior CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury called on Yadav at his residence amid talks of non-Congress and non-BJP parties coming together for the next general elections.
Post Nitish's exit, 17 parties plan to meet on Friday to formulate their future course of action. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has invited Sharad Yadav to join them, reports Archis Mohan.
K C Tyagi, senior Janata Dal-United leader and close confidante of party president Sharad Yadav, on Saturday filed nomination for the lone Rajya Sabha seat vacant from Bihar following resignation of rebel leader Upendra Kushwaha.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Janata Dal-United's Sharad Yadav, Samajwadi Party's Ramgopal Yadav and Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal will meet at Sharad Pawar's residence on Wednesday.
The alliance would announce a coordination committee, which could be of 11 members from principal opposition parties.
Shiv Sena-Uhhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said the seat-sharing talks between his party and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar have concluded as these two parties are driven by a desire and mindset to resolve issues.
In a major setback for former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the Patna High Court on Wednesday termed his re-election as JD-U legislative party leader unconstitutional.
They said they will raise issues related to rising prices, unemployment, corruption and caste census.
'Reports of the JD-U joining hands with the BJP again is baseless.'
Although it saw a veritable who's who of the Oppostion leadership, the Samajwadi Party stayed away from the Iftar dinner hosted by Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday.
In a move aimed at consolidation of opposition forces, six constituents of the erstwhile 'Janata Parivar' will soon become one party as their leaders on Thursday authorised Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to work out the "modalities" in that direction.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party falling short of a majority in the Lok Sabha and needing the National Democratic Alliance partners to form the government at the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United head Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party's N Chandrababu Naidu have emerged as potential kingmakers.
According to sources, Congress managers are attempting to fix a meeting between Sonia Gandhi and Mayawati. Congress is hopeful that Mayawati will support any government other than BJP, even though the BSP supremo had lashed out at Congress throughout her campaigning.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress have announced that they will contest together under the INDIA bloc.