Many has termed the state government's move of considering 'third gender' a separate caste in the ongoing exercise as a 'criminal act'
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in Parliament premises on Wednesday over the alleged discrimination against opposition-ruled states in the Union Budget.
Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party, which is in an alliance with pro-Hindutva BJP and the Shiv Sena, noted Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) and Nitish Kumar (Bihar) -- all secular politicians -- aligned with the BJP for the sake of development of their respective states.
'You can be sure that the Pakistanis knew when the Indian Air Force aircraft took off, which type these were, and what their likely targets were.' 'The question was: How would they determine that the IAF wanted to fire, and when to bounce them?', notes Shekhar Gupta.
Notwithstanding divisions in the Cabinet, government is likely to give a green signal for inclusion of caste in census.
The meeting was attended by CMs of Kerala, Punjab and Telangana -- Pinarayi Vijayan, Bhagwant Manna and A Revanth Reddy, Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar, and senior BRS leader KT Ramarao among others.
The current census process leaves no scope for duplication, C Chandramouli, registrar general and Census commissioner, tells Saubhadro Chatterji
Party's chief spokesperson K C Tyagi said Kumar has agreed to take over the mantle from Lalan Singh.
The request to contest from the state is being made as people see her as the 'mother' who gave statehood to Telangana, he was quoted as saying in an official release
'The 4th meeting of the leaders of INDIA parties will be held on Tuesday December 19th, 2023 in New Delhi at 3 pm,' Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X on Sunday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks that the Constitution of India is 'blank' because he has never read it.
In a letter, State Council of Educational Research and Training director Sajjan R urged competent authorities to immediately suspend all such teachers' training programmes.
Rahul Gandhi said that the ongoing Lok Sabha election is aimed at saving the country's Constitution.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Bihar government to put in the public domain the break-up of the caste survey data to enable those aggrieved to challenge the findings.
The seat equation for the opposition alliance will become a matter of debate as UP Congress state president Ajay Rai mentioned that Congress is prepared for all 80 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and is ready to contest on all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
'There is ample evidence to suggest that attacks on the PM's probity and his connections with business houses do not resonate with voters.'
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accused the BJP of rigging the Maharashtra assembly elections and called for a return to ballot paper voting. He also criticized the Modi government for selling off public assets, undermining democratic institutions, and promoting communal polarization. Kharge's remarks come as the Congress prepares for its AICC session in Ahmedabad, where it will present its political and economic views.
Decks were cleared for inclusion of caste in the Census with a Group of Ministers on Wednesday approving the exercise to be undertaken from biometric stage, capping months of uncertainty over the issue that had divided many parties.
The Prime Minister's statement mollified agitated opposition members, who had forced adjournment of the House earlier after Home Minister P Chidambaram virtually ruled out inclusion of caste in the exercise.
Even as the Union cabinet spent a considerable amount of time discussing caste-based census and whether the demand for it is justified or feasible, sources say that the government is not in favour of such a move as it is fraught with a number of dangers and -- as some members said -- 'will institutionalise the caste-based polarisation in society'.
Sunday's denial of Rajya Sabha ticket to Union minister indicates that an end game to the JD-U-BJP rift may be in sight.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will hear on October 6 pleas challenging the Patna high court's August 1 order giving the go-ahead for a caste survey in Bihar.
Former Delhi government minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Friday quit the Aam Aadmi Party and joined the Congress, alleging discrimination against Dalit and minority leaders in the Arvind Kejriwal led party.
According to BJP sources, the party propped up Chouhan in its election campaign when the Congress plank of promising to conduct a caste census started finding resonance with the OBCs.
Justice Khanna said all the intervention applications filed on the issue will also be taken on April 16 when the final hearing will take place.
Without making two-thirds of the country's population a development partner, India's prosperity is impossible, the Congress leader added.
'Nitish Kumar may take a decision to dump the BJP alliance by November.'
Rai also asserted that the Congress will win the upcoming Assembly elections in all five states.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday alleged that the Indian Army was using caste as a factor for recruitment under the Agnipath scheme, drawing a swift rebuttal from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who rejected the charge as a "rumour".
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a scathing attack on the BJP in her maiden Lok Sabha speech, accusing the government of trying to weaken the Constitution and prioritizing the interests of one individual over the people. She criticized the BJP's alleged attempts to change the Constitution, the growing monopoly of the Adani Group, atrocities on women, and the demand for a nationwide caste census. She also challenged the BJP to hold elections using ballot paper, saying it would expose the reality.
The first meeting of the Group of Ministers on inclusion of caste categories in the census is likely to be held on July 1.
Gandhi also said the idea of 'One Nation, One Election' was aimed at distracting from real issues of the people.
The government on Monday said it was willing to discuss every issue under rules during the Budget session of Parliament and sought the support of the Opposition in running the proceedings smoothly.
With 12 MPs, the JD-U is the second biggest Bharatiya Janata Party ally after the TDP's 16, and leaders of the saffron party are in touch with allies over ministerial berths and other issues.
The Supreme Court on Friday questioned the Bihar government as to why it published its caste survey data but refused to restrain it from making public further data, and said it may examine if the state has power to conduct such an exercise.
Using the Mahabharat reference as a leitmotif, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that an atmosphere of fear prevails all around with a group of six trapping the entire country in a 'chakravyuh' he promised would be broken by the INDIA bloc.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked what was the harm if a person provided the details of caste or sub-caste during the Bihar caste survey when an individual's data was not going to be published by the state.
The move, a first in the country after the Supreme Court order, is intended to consolidate the BJP's Dalit outreach in Haryana.
They said they will raise issues related to rising prices, unemployment, corruption and caste census.
The law ministry said 78 per cent of high court judges appointed between 2018 and 2022 belonged to the upper caste.
