Mamata Banerjee fended off a spirited challenge by a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal with a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress on Sunday for a third consecutive term and the saffron party and the Left Democratic Front were poised to form government again in Assam and Kerala respectively while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party would deliberate on its failures and do course correction after internal deliberations.
The 65-year-old leader had taken over as general secretary of the CPI-M from Prakash Karat in the 21st party congress, which was held in Visakhapatnam, in 2015.
The identity of the two men, who also shouted slogans of "CPI(M) murdabad" and "Hindu Sena zindabad", could not be immediately known.
"I congratulate the people of Kochi on the proud moment," the PM said.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders condoled the death of Veerendra Kumar.
A recent interfaith marriage of a Muslim activist of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist's youth wing DYFI, has stirred up a political storm after the relatives of the Christian bride alleged "love jihad", with a senior left party leader supporting the charge, only to retract his statement later.
Many elderly villagers said it was for the first time in their decades-old life that they were seeing and experiencing such severe rainfall.
Day 1 of the relaxations saw scores of people hitting the roads in their four wheeelers and two wheelers in various parts of the state, including coronavirus hotspots, and there was confusion galore over the easing of nroms.
The PM name is to be decided only after the Lok Sabha results, a top opposition leader said.
Shailaja Teacher, arguably the most famous Covid warrior in India, versus former student leader Shafi Parambil who defeated 'Metro Man' E Sreedharan in the last assembly election. Shyam G Menon reports from the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency, which some feel is the most politically important contest in Kerala this election.
Unsubstantiated and illogical opinions, delivered freely from within or abroad, could not destroy the democratic nature of the country, he added.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who inaugurated the celebrations, clarified that the Governor was not invited due to "protocol" issues.
The verbal duel between the Congress and BJP over the controversial 'love and narcotic jihad' remark by Pala Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt, intensified on Sunday with the former saying it does not want the Sangh parivar to gain foothold here while the latter claimed that both CPI (M) and Congress were cornering the Bishop over the issue.
The IMD also issued a red alert in the same 10 districts for August 3 also.
Personnel of Kerala police and the forest department's Crime Investigation Team, probing the incident which triggered widespread outrage especially on social media, visited the spot and collected evidence, he said, assuring that all concerns raised will not go in vain and justice will prevail and the culprits brought to book.
Father Uzhunnalil, 58, who hails from Kerala, was abducted in March last year by the terror group.
The statement came after chief ministers of West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh announced that the law is "unconstitutional" and has no place in their respective states.
Eminent rocket scientist S Somanath has been appointed as the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation as well as the space secretary, a personnel ministry order issued on Wednesday said.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
'Vote banks will change affiliations and the BJP will come out with good success in Kerala.'
After widespread criticism about the new amendment made to the Kerala Police Act, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that it will in no way be used against free speech or impartial journalism and apprehensions to the contrary are unfounded.
In a rare gesture, not only the legislators of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-headed Left Democratic Front and Congress-led United Democratic Front, but the lone Bharatiya Janata Party member in the 140-member state assembly, O Rajagopal, also supported the resolution against the Centre, saying 'it is the democratic spirit'.
Unlike previous days, the House even saw Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front members standing up from their seats and locking horns with opposition members, prompting the Speaker to warn both sides.
If the process becomes completely online, there will be no intervention from a state government at any level.
'Politics and religion can be a combustive combination, but this once I am pleased that Pinarayi Vijayan made an issue of a rather innocuous tweet by Amit Shah.' 'It provided the perfect excuse to seek respite from political pronouncements and take (temporary) refuge in the classics,' says T V R Shenoy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-National Democratic Alliance, which fought the April 2 assembly polls with the fancy claim of winning at least 35 seats in Kerala, on Sunday came a cropper as it failed to retain even its lone segment Nemom, even as all its major contestants, including 'Metroman' E Sreedharan and party state chief K Surendran, fell by the wayside.
801 cases have been registered in connection with violent protests which were witnessed during the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by pro-Hindu outfits on Thursday, police said, adding that 717 people are now in preventive custody.
IMD issued red alerts for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Idukki districts.
He also said a total of Rs 38.75 crore, deposited by people in the Karavannur Cooperative bank in this district, which is now facing charges, had already been returned.
She would be the first Indian to be occupying the coveted post at IMF after former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan
'The CPI-M workers first destroy houses of our people and then kill them.' 'There is anarchy in Kannur.'
Aditi Phadnis predicts frequent stand-offs between the Centre and states in the future.
The Congress demanded a National Investigation Agency probe into the matter while BJP state chief K Surendran courted arrest for forcefully entering the complex soon after the fire broke out. Fire department sources told PTI that their personnel at nearby Chenkalchoola were informed about the incident at 4.45 pm and by the time they reached the spot, the room was filled with smoke.
'The situation in India is much more grave and serious than all of us think.' 'That's why it's important to defeat the BJP in 2024.'
Payal Kumari, daughter of a migrant worker from Bihar, battled the odds including financial woes, to top the BA archaeology course at Kerala's Mahatma Gandhi University.
The Trinamool Congress registered a decisive victory in West Bengal on Sunday, contrary to results of most exit polls which predicted a tight race between the BJP and the TMC with an edge to the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
As Kerala reeled under a daily increase of nearly 30,000 cases of COVID-19, the deadly Nipah virus has come as another thorn in its side, prompting the state to further heighten the alertness of its health machinery to prevent an outbreak of a different infection.
