During this Ramzan, another religious practice was turned into an offence: Breaking the fast, or iftar.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf puts your Swadeshi knowledge to the test.
Janhvi Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao are going all out to promote their new film, Mr And Mrs Mahi.
In the morning, he offered prayers at the Dashashwamedh Ghat and the Kaal Bhairav temple in Varanasi.
Although Muslims in Varanasi are clearly disconcerted by Narendra Modi's Hindutva agenda and are fearful of the future, they believe his emergence on the national political stage will not disturb the famous 'Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb.'
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal will file his nomination for the high-profile electoral contest in Varanasi where he will face stiff challenge from BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders, including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, waved at the large crowd as the procession wound its way through Varanasi's roads.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Thursday filed his nomination papers from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, saying he had been called by "mother Ganga" to contest from this holy city.
Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party leader Arvind Rajbhar and his supporters have been booked for allegedly disrupting operations at the Mau Railway Station after Ghosi MP Rajeev Rai raised the issue.
The Allahabad high court on Friday issued a notice to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a petition challenging his election from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
Glimpses from India and around the world that will make you smile and cry.
Meet the maverick serial election contester who shares his name with current Bihar's best known politician.
The suspense over whether Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest the polls from Amethi and Raebareli respectively continued.
Pitching his aam aadmi credentials, Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday filed his nomination for the high-profile Varanasi Lok Sabha seat and accused Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi of spending huge sums of money in the ongoing electoral battle, which he said was all about eliminating corruption.
In a major boost to the Congress in Varanasi -- where it is fighting an uphill battle against Bharatiya Janata Party's Narendra Modi and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal -- Mukhtar Ansari's Quami Ekta Dal has announced its support for the Congress with an aim to defeat Narendra Modi.
When the prime minister of India arrives in a city and summons the city's police commissioner, divisional commissioner and district magistrate to be briefed about the police action taken in the horrifying case of a young woman being raped by multiple men over 23 days, is he sending a message to the chief minister of the state about law and order in the province?
In the five years in politics Priyanka Gandhi has undeniably emerged as a thorn in the BJP flesh, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. It is time that this thorn is twisted a wee bit more when the elections have become far more uncertain than what it was when the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com visited many polling booths in Varanasi on polling day. This is what he discovered.
A number of high-profile electoral battles, starring veterans and debutants, formidable opponents and unlikely contestants, feature in Tuesday's outcome.
Aam Aadmi party on Thursday released manifesto for its most important contest - Varanasi Lok Sabha seat where party chief Arvind Kejriwal is taking on BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Besides the not-so-hidden unease between Modi and Adityanath, Modi chose to address the Lok Sabha to ensure that he could personally claim all the kudos, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 75 on Wednesday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party launching over a fortnight long 'Sewa Pakhwada' to mark the birthday of its preeminent leader.
Senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi on Monday joined the party men who have offered to contest against Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat.
The accused had taken a picture of the 'Jansampark Kaaryalay (public relations office)' of Modi, who represents Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, and put it 'up for sale' on OLX website, they said.
Buildings were decorated with colourful lights and earthen lamps dotted houses as people across the country thronged temples and celebrated Diwali with pomp on Monday.
Almost all prominent leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as members of the National Democratic Alliance and North-East Democratic Alliance accompanied Modi.
On his arrival in Varanasi earlier on Monday, the prime minister offered prayers at Kaal Bhairav Temple.
'MGNREGA was about a guaranteed right to work.' 'The new law does not guarantee employment at all.' 'It removes everything that made MGNREGA a legal guarantee.'
The Congress also fielded Madhusudan Tiwari from Gorakhpur against BJP's actor-turned politician Ravi Kishan.
To a question on whether deciding against contesting in the constituency would send a wrong signal, she said, "No I don't think so... I had said from the start that I will do what my party says...my party decided this and I am happy to follow the instructions."
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA won 64 seats -- 62 bagged by the BJP and two by Apna Dal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi quit his Vadodara Lok Sabha seat, choosing to retain Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, where the Bharatiya Janata Party recorded a landslide victory bagging 71 of the 80 seats in the recent elections.
Despite the hype over the possible candidature of All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijaya Singh for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, the Congress has narrowed down its choice to local legislator Ajay Rai and former party MP Rajesh Mishra, with the former emerging as a front runner.
"No material has been placed on record to make the petition triable," the judge said.
On speculations of Priyanka Gandhi contesting in the 2024 election, Rai said that Priyanka Gandhi will contest from wherever she wants to.
As required, Modi submitted the affidavit while filing his nomination papers Tuesday as an election candidate from the Varanasi parliamentary constituency, a seat he has held twice earlier.
A leader of reserve and quiet dignity, former prime minister Manmohan Singh had a keen taste for Urdu verses, and his poetic banters with Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj in the Lok Sabha are among the most viewed parliamentary debates on social media.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday arrived in the holy city for a month-long campaign and was greeted with posters that accused him of being a 'deserter', an apparent reference to his resignation as Delhi chief minister within 49 days of taking charge.
If Priyanka wins the Lok Sabha bypolls, it would be for the first time that three members of the Gandhi family will be in Parliament. Her mother Sonia Gandhi is a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan.
The PM had paid her a visit last month too before filing his nomination from the parliamentary constituency of Varanasi.
