These expulsions are in addition to the 18 expelled immediately after they refused to withdraw from the fray for the assembly polls.
An architect and Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Uttarkhand, whose body was found in Baheri area, was strangulated, a senior officer said here on Sunday.
Uttarakhand will become the first state in independent India to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on January 27. The UCC will bring about uniformity in the society and ensure equal rights and responsibilities for all citizens. The law was passed by the state assembly in February 2024 and received presidential assent a month later. The UCC will govern and regulate laws relating to marriage and divorce, succession, live-in relationships and related matters. It sets equal marriageable age for men and women, grounds of divorce and procedures across all religions, and bans polygamy and 'halala'.
Pulkit Arya is the son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya. As soon as the matter came to light, the party showed the door to Vinod Arya.
Bhandari, a three-term Congress legislator who was also a minister in the state in the past, joined the BJP in the presence of its senior leaders, including Union Minister Piyush Goyal and the party's national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam.
People in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand say the Agnipath military recruitment scheme and the Ankita Bhandari murder case will have a bearing on the electoral prospects of the Bharatiya Janata Party here as these issues weigh heavy on the minds of the electorate.
Uttarakhand has become the first state in India to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), fulfilling a key promise made by the ruling BJP ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami unveiled the UCC notification and launched a portal for mandatory online registration of marriages, divorces, and live-in relationships. The UCC aims to create equal laws for all citizens regardless of their religion, marking a historic moment in the state's legal landscape.
The BJP won in 34 of the 69 constituencies where elections were held, while Congress bagged only 21 seats.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has announced that the state will become the first in independent India to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), with the date of implementation to be announced soon. The UCC, which aims to unify personal laws for all citizens, has been approved by the state cabinet and preparations for its implementation are almost complete. Dhami stated that the training process for UCC implementation is nearly finalized and the government is aiming for a swift rollout. Speculation is rife that the UCC could be implemented on Republic Day, coinciding with the conclusion of municipal elections. The UCC includes provisions related to marriage, divorce, annulment of marriage, succession, and live-in relationships. The state government has introduced a dedicated portal for online registration of related matters and has authorized Common Service Centers (CSC) to simplify access for citizens. In remote areas, CSC agents will provide door-to-door services. The Gram Panchayat Development Officer will serve as the Sub-Registrar for registration work in rural areas. The government has also implemented Aadhaar-based registration to make the process easier. Citizens can track their application status through email and SMS, and an online complaint portal has been set up. Dhami dismissed Congress allegations of divisive politics, emphasizing that the UCC provides a uniform system and law for all.
A local Bharatiya Janata Party leader was shot dead on Sunday, allegedly by a Bahujan Samaj Party activist, sparking massive violence in Uttarakhand's Nainital district. In the ensuing violence, a policeman was burnt alive by a mob, which also torched a police station and over a dozen vehicles. Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the killing of Balwant Singh, head of Kotabagh block in the district.
The swearing-in ceremony may take place on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda and chief ministers of several BJP-ruled states likely to attend the event, he said.
A cloudburst triggered devastating flashfloods in the Harsil area of Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand, with at least 8-10 Indian Army personnel reported missing from a camp in the lower Harsil region.
The Uttarakhand assembly on Wednesday passed the Uniform Civil Code Bill, which may serve as a template for other Bharatiya Janata Party-run states to enact similar legislation.
They stated that when a soldier fights for the nation, he does so not as a Hindu, Muslim, or any other religion, but as a patriot.
The incident took place on September 19 at around 5:50 pm when a vehicle-based column of troops of 33 Assam Rifles was moving from its Patsoi Company Operating Base to Nambol Company Operating Base.
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.
'The government is distributing land in Ladakh as if they are selling cinema hall tickets.'
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju clarifies that tribal communities in the northeast and other areas will be exempt from the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to preserve their traditional way of life.
Despite falling short of majority, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttarakhand on Wednesday began efforts to form the government with its senior leaders trying to establish contact with Independent members of Legislative Assembly and the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal.
Does voter deletion controversy expose critical gaps in ECI verification procedures and safeguards protecting electoral roll integrity?
An Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson said a formal order for all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route in the state was likely to be issued soon.
'Mr Modi has the power and pre-eminence in the BJP-RSS to choose how long he wants to serve, and he is definitely going to want to contest in 2029.' 'He will only be 79, as old as Donald Trump now, and fitter,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
This is the third meeting of CEOs after Gyanesh Kumar took over as the chief election commissioner in February. However, Wednesday's day-long meeting assumes significance as the preparedness of a pan-India SIR are being discussed, officials said.
'If this was not tokenism, why is the central government not bringing the UCC, why is a small state like Uttarakhand doing so?'
'They are calling me an accused without even an inquiry.' 'The video was fabricated and doctored. Now the truth is coming out.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday accused the ruling Congress of trying to poach its members of Legislative Assembly in Uttarakhand to get a seat vacated for Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, enabling him to enter the state Assembly.
The Uniform Civil Code bill was passed by the state assembly and also received the presidential assent recently after which it has become a law.
Dhami will continue as the Uttarakhand chief minister, the BJP said on Monday, ending the 11-day suspense over it.
The shocking scenes of physical and psychological trauma unfolded on a massive scale as search and rescue operations were underway, digging out mud-buried bodies and rescuing the injured trapped in slush and rocks after flash floods triggered by a cloudburst devastated Chositi village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Thursday.
Uttarakhand is abuzz with speculation that the BJP could pick a new leader as CM, given the possibility that the Election Commission may not hold a by-poll enabling Rawat's election to the state assembly.
Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
As night fell over Chositi village, rescuers worked frantically and pulled out 167 people from under mounds of rubble. Of these, 38 are in a serious condition, officials said. The death toll went up steadily as the day progressed and there were fears it could rise further.
The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
Bihar Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashwani Choubey and his family, who were stranded in a temple in Kedarnath, have been rescued and brought to Dehradun by a helicopter on Thursday.
Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat resigns
Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.
Another MLA Rekha Arya, who was also supposed to join the BJP on Wednesday, is visiting the Simhasth Kumbh in Ujjain, but has sent her acceptance to the party.
A purported video of former Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat saying no work could be done in the state without paying commission has surfaced online.
Dhami under whose leadership the BJP had contested the February 14 assembly polls was the frontrunner for the post.
The Uttarakhand assembly poll result has presented the Bharatiya Janata Party with a dilemma of sorts as it weighs various options after outgoing chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who was tipped to continue in the post lost the election even as the party stormed back to power.
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