The Congress's second AICC session in Gujarat post-Independence is being held on the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's party presidency and the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Sarma also criticised the Opposition Congress for not condemning the "objectionable statement" by the Karnataka minister.
The United States Department of Justice released a batch of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking investigation, including photos and records showing Bill Clinton, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Michael Jackson in social settings with Epstein, CNN reported.
The BJP and its Mahayuti allies have won 68 seats unopposed in the Maharashtra civic polls scheduled for January 15, even as the Opposition parties alleged the ruling combine used threats and money to force candidates to withdraw from the fray.
The Chinese military on Monday started new major drills in the 'middle areas' of the Taiwan Strait amid rising diplomatic tensions with Japan over Taiwan that Beijing claims as its territory.
'Like me there are crores of Marathi people in the state hoping for this miracle to work.'
Electoral fortunes of 1,302 candidates, including over half a dozen ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, will be sealed on Tuesday with 3.70 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise across 122 assembly segments in the second and final phase of the Bihar polls.
Attempting to defuse the controversy, the Nishad Party chief said the comment, made in Hindi and labelled misogynistic and crude, was light-hearted and made casually.
The incident occurred on March 18 but came to light on Sunday after the student lodged a complaint at the Mancheswar Police Station, alleging that accused Udit Pradhan mixed an intoxicating substance in her drinks and raped her in the hotel, a senior officer said.
After big win in Bihar, the BJP is likely to push harder in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK government and the uneasy BJP-AIADMK alliance are preparing for a tense election filled with seat-sharing fights, changing alliances, and the unpredictable entry of Vijay's TVK party, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
'This plan was never official. It was there secretly. It was by the high command.'
Hindus will offer prayers from sunrise to sunset on Basant Panchami while Muslims to offer namaz from 1 pm to 3 pm on Friday.
Security has been tightened in Beldanga, West Bengal, ahead of a foundation stone-laying ceremony for a proposed mosque, modelled on Ayodhya's Babri Masjid. The area has been placed under high security with additional forces deployed.
NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar demonstrated the preparation of a fake Aadhaar card in Donald Trump's name and its use to register bogus voters.
This is the fourth such death reported in the state since the exercise began on November 4, sparking a political blame game.
Amid speculation over leadership change in Karnataka, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the issue will be resolved after discussions with senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, while deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar claimed there is unity in the party.
Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated he would only travel to New Delhi if formally invited, while Deputy CM D K Shivakumar visited Delhi for a wedding and party event. The two leaders have recently tried to dispel rumors of a leadership change. Shivakumar is also planning a 'Vote Chori' campaign event in Delhi.
His assertion came after Trump claimed that his "friend" PM Modi has assured him that India would stop purchasing oil from Russia, a move he described as a big step toward increasing pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
There are vexing questions around the disconnect between Nifty returns and portfolio returns, between economic growth and earnings growth, and finally, between earnings growth and market returns, points out Debashis Basu.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday jumped into a muddy pond in Bihar and interacted with fishermen present at the spot, whom he told that they always had his back.
According to an FIR registered at Edachery police station, around 200 people marched towards the Congress office carrying dangerous weapons and vandalised the building, causing damage estimated at around Rs five lakh.
Dhurandhar's most dangerous idea is that Director Aditya Dhar envisions an Indian state run by a deep state -- an intelligence machinery not accountable to Parliament, courts, or voters. A future political system where unelected officials decide when Indian democracy is 'fit' to function, observes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Smaller allies of the ruling NDA in Bihar, including HAM and RLM, have expressed resentment over the seat-sharing arrangements announced for the upcoming assembly elections, raising concerns about the alliance's unity.
'Knowing that a no-confidence motion would succeed, the BJP central leadership forced N Biren Singh to resign.' 'If he had lost on the floor of the House, it would have been a major setback for the BJP.'
'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.'
'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.'
The Muslim League had orchestrated two deadly attacks on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1939 but the Congress establishment 'quietly' kept the story buried for 86 years because it was an 'uncomfortable truth', the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Friday, launching a blistering attack on the opposition party.
The Election Commission on Tuesday announced that it has come out with the "final electoral roll" in Bihar ahead of the assembly polls, taking into account all the claims and objections to the draft voters' lists, which were published as part of special intensive revision (SIR).
Speaking to reporters during a meeting with Rutte at the White House on Thursday (local time), Trump said the US needs Greenland for "international security" and hinted at future discussions on the matter.
These civic body bypolls were a litmus test for the BJP, as they were its first big electoral battle after coming to power in Delhi in February this year.
Lobbying has intensified among NDA partners in Bihar for the post of Speaker in the assembly, with BJP MLA Prem Kumar considered a frontrunner. A special assembly session will be convened soon to elect the Speaker.
Given Modi's track record from the time he became Gujarat chief minister in October 2001, it is highly improbable that Nabin will get opportunities to display his individual capacity. Even the team of organisational leaders that he will 'appoint' in a few weeks or months, will unlikely to be his choice, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
There has been speculation within state's political circles, especially within the ruling Congress, for some time now about the CM change later this year, citing the power-sharing agreement involving incumbent Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.
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.
The Congress party has claimed credit for the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, an accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, from the US, saying the Modi government did not initiate the process and merely benefited from the "mature, consistent and strategic diplomacy" begun under the UPA. Former Home Minister P Chidambaram said the government did not secure any breakthrough to make the extradition possible, nor is it the result of any grandstanding. He added that it was a testament to what the Indian state can achieve when diplomacy, law enforcement and international cooperation are pursued sincerely and without any kind of chest-thumping. Chidambaram detailed the UPA government's efforts in securing Rana's extradition, citing the registration of a case against him in 2009, diplomatic pressure on Canada and the US, and continued efforts despite legal setbacks. He highlighted the role of the UPA in securing Rana's conviction for other terrorism-related offences and the cooperation between the US and Indian agencies in gathering evidence and securing his extradition. The Congress leader further stated that it was the UPA's groundwork that paved the way for Rana's extradition, even after the change in government in 2014.
'Now there is no fight between us (Thackerays); now the fight is with them.'
'The preparedness of our defence forces and positioning of intelligence assets were very different in 2008, so we had to rebuild our assets and preparedness.'
'This daylight robbery of elections is happening in the commercial capital of India, Mumbai city, so you can imagine what they will do to win elections in the interiors of India.'
