Union Minister Praful Patel and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is the Nationalist Congress Party's OBC face, are among 18 candidates announced by the party on Thursday for the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra.
While Agarwal said the government was trying to change character of the country, his other party colleagues said the names of persons 'who have made no contribution to the freedom struggle' are being given.
"The 2017 state election results in India demonstrate broad-based popular support for the Indian government's policy agenda and will facilitate the implementation of further reforms, a credit positive for the sovereign," Moody's said in a statement.
However, the SC granted liberty to the Gujarat Congress to file 'election petition' after conclusion of polls.
The party may announce Somen Mitra as the Lok Sabha candidate from North Kolkata whose name is set to be decided upon following intra-party elections to choose contenders -- a move initiated by the Congress vice-president to ensure transparency in ticket-distribution system. Renu Mittal reports.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati dismissed as "drama" Samajwadi Party's demand for special category status for Uttar Pradesh, saying they are raising the issue with an eye on the forthcoming general elections.
A list of prominent journalists who also became successful politicians.
Yogi Adityanath, who has been declared BJP candidate from Gorakhpur will be the second leader to contest from the district as a chief minister after Tribhuvan Narayan Singh, who lost in 1971.
The MPs from Uttar Pradesh who may be given ministerial portfolios are: Anupriya Patel, leader of Bharataiya Janta Paty's ally Apna Dal; Shahjahanpur MP Krishna Raj and Chandauli MP Mahendra Pandey.
The Congress on Sunday demanded a thorough probe into Siddique's murder and said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, who holds home portfolio, should take moral responsibility for law and order "failure" and resign.
'The government is running a 'beti darao', not a 'beti bachao' drive'
It also said that the SKM will take note of all developments and will hold its meeting soon and announce further decisions.
In the same breath, the RPI-A leader said, "No one can challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- neither Congress president Rahul Gandhi, nor SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, nor BSP supremo Mayawati."
Here is the lowdown of the each state and parties.
A senior Congress leader said the Opposition's presidential pick Meira Kumar might also pay a visit to Lucknow to seek votes from the electoral college as the party "will not leave any stone unturned" for the election.
The new Ministers of State sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan include Virendra Kumar, Anant Kumar Hegde and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, former IAS officers Alphons Kannanthanam and R K Singh, former diplomat Hardeep Puri and ex-Mumbai police chief Satyapal Singh. Two other new faces are Ashwini Kumar Choubey, a member of the Lok Sabha from Bihar, and Shiv Pratap Shukla from Uttar Pradesh.
It will be the year of preparation for the electoral test in Uttar Pradesh, due in 2022. But before that, the West Bengal Assembly election will set the mood for the rest of 2021.
After hike in rates of petrol, diesel and LPG, the prices of CNG and cooking gas piped to household kitchens (PNG) in the national capital were hiked on Thursday by Re 1. CNG price in NCT of Delhi has been increased to Rs 59.01 per kg from Rs 58.01, according to the information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd - the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital. This is the third increase in CNG rates this month, which follows a spike in input (natural gas) prices across the globe.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said he had never imagined that an ordinary village boy like him would have the honour of occupying the highest post in the country, and thanked the people of his birth place for this.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed support to her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, saying she was shocked to hear of the CBI raid on his office.
'Today, we being the majority pass a law and if the Opposition parties do not like it, they throw files at the Chair, and beat up women marshals.'
Moveable assets accounted for 46 per cent of the wealth of the 10 richest candidates in the first phase of the 2024 elections.
Conceding that the RJS is the "big brother" in Bihar, the Congress said that Rahul was "the face of anti-NDA forces" in the country.
Union minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday said states have not been sponsoring adequate number of officers for central deputation which has prompted changes in the service rules.
Opportunistic face of SP has come before the people: Yogi Adityanth.
Ramesh said Congress has taken "the right steps" vis--vis Uttar Pradesh elections.
UP and Bihar contributed 105 seats to the BJP's tally in 2014. It has now lost 8 Lok Sabha by-polls in the last four years, including three successive losses in UP and two seats in Rajasthan.
Dubey was arrested outside the Mahakal temple at Ujjan in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday morning.
Malik, who was appointed as the Bihar governor in September last year, will take charge of Jammu and Kashmir at a time when it is under governor's rule.
Party's general secretary Ram Madhav, whose name was doing rounds as a contender, is not among the six candidates with sources saying he is likely to get a bigger responsibility in the organisation following a rejig expected soon.
From President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit to Rahul and Varun Gandhi, at least 50 parliamentary constituencies will be contested by 'sons and daughters' of politicians of various parties during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
They alleged that the BSP was getting a 'bad name' because of the 'huge sums' being demanded for party tickets.
Many changes are likely in the BJP and government in coming weeks.
Give safety and security first to the people, say MPs.
This year promises to offer ample opportunities on the electoral turf to the SP, BSP and Congress to get their act together and play the "semi-final" of sorts before the "final match" two years later, reports Virendra Singh Rawat
Nitish Kumar has to make an existential choice: Between governance and politics, argues Aditi Phadnis.
The induction of Shiv Pratap Shukla, a Brahmin face in the BJP, is being seen as a well-calculated move to keep the upper caste in good humour.
'They are trying to destroy the culture and trying to impose Manu Dharma through Hindi'
The choice of 59-year-old Nadda has come as a bit of surprise as the party had indicated last week that it could take a call on the issue after the membership drive after about six months.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi could only manage 244 votes.
