West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged people to celebrate the Hanuman Jayanti festival peacefully, and said while religion is a personal choice, festivities were an occasion for all to join in.
The advisory came a day after BJP and TMC workers clashed in Sandeshkhali area of North Parganas district.
Violence erupted after some students, protesting against the alleged eve-teasing incident, wanted to meet the vice chancellor at his residence, according to police and university sources.
There is the problem of regions in the North East being theatre for power-play by nations with borders and influences converging in those parts, which in turn requires a sizable presence of the armed forces, notes Shyam G Menon.
Patnaik, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi earlier in the day to discuss developmental issues related to his state, also ruled out joining any third front, a plan floated by some regional parties earlier.
K C Venugopal (Congress) charged the Modi government with providing little funds for the MGNREGA.
'It is difficult to replace him because if he is replaced, it will lead to a sense of defeat among the Meiteis, rightly or wrongly, and more chaos.'
Bypolls in three assembly constituencies in as many states passed off peacefully on Monday with around over 70 per cent voter turnout, though some technical glitches in electronic voting machine were reported in Tamil Nadu and the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal alleged that the Central Reserve Police Force was "influencing" voters.
According to political analysts, the results of these bypolls, which saw a high-voltage campaign by senior leaders from various parties, will set the tone for the forthcoming elections in the state, including of the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and other civic bodies.
A Congress delegation led by the party's state unit chief Adhir Chowdhury was not allowed to enter trouble-torn Makra village in Birbhum district, which was made out of bounds for politicians by the Trinamool Congress government.
Rahul made his clash with the Sangh ideology clear amid growing speculations about BJP leader and his cousin Varun Gandhi's entry into Congress, as he said that their ideologies do not match.
Smartly blending its development agenda with Hindutva politics, the BJP has not lost assembly elections in the state since 1995.
BJP's best bet lies in the TDP and the TRS striking a deal with the Congress and framing the battle as a UPA versus NDA clash, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Locket Chatterjee, BJP MP from Hooghly, has threatened that the last rites will be done on the roads if the police don't allow them to move forward.
Rahul Gandhi succeeds Sonia Gandhi, who led the party for the last 19 years.
The first election that the US and UK-trained Conrad Sangma, who now runs the National People's Party (NPP) formed by his father PA Sangma, fought in 2004 had resulted in a narrow defeat.
'The opposition parties didn't want voting as it would have exposed the cracks in their alliance. They ran away from the House'
'Modi ji do hear out that this is the Indian youth, it will not be suppressed and you will have to listen to their voice sooner than later'
The searches are linked to suspected movement of hawala money during the ongoing polls season and tax evasion, they said.
Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Tuesday indicated that there were shortcomings by the administration in assessing the situation in Nuh, where a communal violence erupted on July 31 during a religious procession.
'The central government forces are supporting one group and the state government forces are supporting another group and this is resulting in non-stop cross-firing, which has resulted in the killing of many innocent people.'
If the bribe-for-PPE-supply controversy in Himachal escalates, the BJP could have a lot to lose.
The party released two videos as 'proof' of BJP workers vandalising the statue.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she has written to the Centre, seeking permission to visit the strife-torn state of Manipur.
Clashes were reported from several parts of Bengal, where polling is underway in the third phase of assembly elections, with Trinamool Congress candidates Sujata Mondal and Nirmal Majhi alleging that they were heckled and assaulted by BJP workers, a charge denied by the saffron camp.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday urged dialogue between the protesting farmers and the Centre while addressing a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party office-bearers, during which he also invoked the border clashes with China and the construction of the Ram temple.
A Trinamool Congress member on Wednesday used the debate on price rise in the Lok Sabha to attack BJP over Tuesday's incident in the House where members came to the verge of a clash.
The AGP had in January withdrew its support to the BJP government in Assam in protest against the Centre's decision to go ahead with the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
Violence had rocked West Bengal's rural polls on Saturday, leaving 15 people dead while ballot boxes were vandalised, ballot papers torched, and bombs thrown at rivals in several places.
Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi had on Saturday paid a visit to the violence-hit areas of Asansol and Raniganj.
Over seven months of violence severely hit businesses, schools, colleges and other institutions, besides disrupting transportation and communication networks. It also affected the agrarian sector, considered the mainstay of the state economy.
Around 15 other temporary structures were also demolished as part of the drive, police said.
A 21-year-old farmer was killed and a few others injured following a clash between security personnel and protesting farmers at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border.
The Congress party is thinking of ways to counter the BJP in Lok Sabha constituencies is it unlikely to win, reports Renu Mittal.
While the Congress demanded immediate sacking of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, the Samajwadi Party and a few others sought imposition of President's rule in the state that has witnessed sporadic violence in since May 3.
The veteran politician accused the BJP of breaking duly elected governments in opposition-ruled states even as it boasted about providing a stable government at the Centre.
Refuting the opposition's claim that Manipur 'is burning', a senior government functionary said on Thursday that no killing has happened in the state since July 18 and asserted that peace and normalcy will be restored soon through ongoing talks with the two warring communities -- Meiteis and Kukis.
Rahul Gandhi could be where Modi has not been. Modi aspired to be with the pantheon of gods on the walls, while Rahul could sit with the family because there is a family member in the picture.
Two days after Anil Vij denied having information about any intelligence input on a possible build-up of tension in Nuh, the Haryana Home Minister on Sunday said Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar can update on the issue stressing that he has 'all the information'.
Post-poll violence that erupted in at least three assembly constituencies in Meghalaya left several people injured, while one person was found dead in a mysterious circumstance, officials said on Friday.
