Opposition parties are questioning the Election Commission's intentions behind the second phase of special intensive revision of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories. The BJP has slammed the Congress and called the opposition a 'herd of dissatisfied souls'.
Police have registered a case against journalist Siddique Kappan and 10 others in connection with a solidarity event held in Kochi condemning the arrest of journalist Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek.
The BJP on Saturday disassociated itself from the criticism of the Supreme Court by its MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma. Party president J P Nadda rejected the comments as their personal views and affirmed the ruling party's respect for the judiciary as an inseparable part of democracy. Nadda said he has directed both the leaders and other members of the party to not make such comments.
BJP MP and actor Ravi Kishan has been awarded the Sansad Ratna for his outstanding performance in the Lok Sabha, becoming the first actor-turned-politician to receive the honour.
During the presser, Gandhi showed a picture of a woman who appears on the voter list 22 times in 10 booths in the Rai assembly constituency, and said this shows that this was a 'centralised operation'.
Veteran politician Satyapal Malik, who served as governor of multiple states and later became a vocal critic of the government, has died at the age of 79.
Amid the political push and pull, the Centre's decision to allow sugar exports and remove the 50 per cent duty on molasses exports has rekindled hope in the industry that more relief may follow.
A 35-year-old 'sevadaar' at the Kalkaji temple in Delhi was allegedly beaten to death after an argument over 'chunniprasad'. Police have arrested one person and are searching for others involved.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav likened Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to an infiltrator, saying he is from Uttarakhand and should be sent back to the state. Yadav also criticized the BJP's governance and alleged injustices against Dalits and backward communities.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claims a Bengali-speaking woman and her child were threatened in Delhi after an alleged assault. She urges Bengali migrant workers in BJP-ruled states to return to Bengal if harassed and questions the absence of central commissions in BJP-ruled states when atrocities occur.
While the results of the bypolls will not directly impact the composition of the 403-member state Assembly, the contest is being seen as a prestige fight between the BJP and opposition parties.
The opposition INDIA bloc has declared RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
According to political observers, the AIMIM sees a catchment area in Bihar, where Muslims are more than 17 per cent of the total population but have never got a proportionate representation in the state legislature.
A purported video showing local Bharatiya Janata Party leader Babban Singh Raghuvanshi engaging in obscene acts with a dancer has gone viral and is trending rapidly on social media.
"I am going to Raghopur to get feedback from the people of the constituency, which wants an end to the supremacy of one family. Before Tejashwi Yadav, a second-term MLA, his father Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi had represented that seat. Yet, it is crying for basic amenities," alleged Kishor.
Aligarh BJP MP Satish Gautam has sparked a controversy over the celebration of Holi at Aligarh Muslim University, declaring that "no one can stop anyone from celebrating Holi inside the AMU campus". The controversy erupted after members of right wing Hindu groups accused the AMU administration of denying permission to the Hindu students to organise a 'Holi Milan' function on campus. Gautam has extended his support to Hindu students, saying, "If any Hindu student faces any problem in celebrating Holi inside the campus, then I am there to help him."
The speculation about the rift in the BJP's state unit was fuelled by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's post on X on Wednesday stating that the party is bigger than the government.
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said that if Hindus are safe, then Muslims are also safe in his state.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Home Minister Amit Shah and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav engaged in a humorous exchange during a Lok Sabha debate on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, with Shah taking jabs at Yadav's attempts to highlight internal party dynamics. Yadav, in turn, poked fun at the BJP's leadership selection process and hinted at potential internal divisions within the party.
In seniority in the BJP leadership team, V K Malhotra, who passed into the ages this week, was next only to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Nanaji Deshmukh, notes Sudhir Bisht.
The RSS which catapulted Jagdeep Dhankar to national prominence after 21 years of hibernation could not come to his rescue when BJP higher ups decided to seek his resignation, points out Prakash Bhandari.
Bharatiya Janata Party National general secretary Tarun Chugh said on Sunday that the BJP government does not work for the people by asking their religion and added that they are fulfilling the message of Prophet Muhammad by empowering Muslim women.
Developing relations with the Taliban is needed, but plunging headlong into Afghanistan without due thought will be akin to the rooster entering a KFC outlet, warns Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
Uddhav Thackeray criticized BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for his controversial remarks amid the Marathi-Hindi language row, accusing him of trying to divide people and disturb harmony.
Chail MLA Pooja Pal, recently expelled from the Samajwadi Party, met with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Pal praised Adityanath's actions against gangster Atiq Ahmed, who was accused of murdering her husband. She also addressed comments about her personal life and political career.
With the tagline "Na duri hai, na khai hai, Modi hamara bhai hai, (there's no detachment, there's no chasm, Modi is our brother)", the campaign aims to attract at least 1,000 Muslim women towards the party.
The incident has brought back into focus the controversy that erupted last year when BJP-led governments in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand directed food outlets along the Kanwar route to display the names of their owners and staff.
BJP-ruled states argued in the Supreme Court that governors and the President have autonomy in assenting to bills passed by state assemblies, asserting that courts cannot mandate assent.
'Bihar's voters' electoral memory is long, and their evaluations are relational; who came to the village, who followed up, who resolved a problem.'
The Congress party has accused the BJP of engaging in "damage control" after the party distanced itself from comments made by two of its MPs, Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma, criticizing the Supreme Court. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh stated that the BJP's clarification was merely an attempt to mitigate the damage caused by the MPs' remarks and that the party's actions were hypocritical, given the silence of the BJP president on similar comments made by other party members.
The warming up of ties became apparent after the Centre announced the country's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna to his grandfather and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.
Uttar Pradesh BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, sources said, and is believed to have briefed him on a host of issues related to the party's organisational matters in the politically crucial state.
'Are elections still fair in India, or are we all witness to a macabre style of 'selection' of lawmakers? The jury will be out on this for a long time because there is no definitive evidence on either contention, at least as yet,' notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Uttar Pradesh Women Welfare Minister Baby Rani Maurya has proposed renaming the Mughal-era Shahjahan Garden in Agra after the Malwa Kingdom queen Ahilyabai Holkar, citing her contributions to women's empowerment. The proposal has sparked debate, with opposition parties criticizing it as a tactic to divert attention from pressing issues. The UP government has already renamed Allahabad as Prayagraj and Faizabad as Ayodhya.
Yadav further accused the BJP of "using distractions" to avoid addressing real issues such as rising unemployment, inflation, lack of investment in Uttar Pradesh, and failing healthcare facilities.
The opposition, which had earlier accepted defeat, is again jumping around today, the UP CM said.
"The party will try to connect with these voters by organising 'Sneh Milan: Ek Desh, Ek DNA Sammelan' in various West Uttar Pradesh districts," he said, adding these conferences would start after Eid next month and the first convention will be held in Muzaffarnagar.
The first cloud-seeding trial has been conducted in parts of Delhi, including Burari and Karol Bagh areas, aimed at inducing artificial rain to tackle air pollution.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other UDF MPs protest the arrest of Catholic nuns in Chhattisgarh, alleging religious persecution by the BJP government and demanding their immediate release.
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