'The Election Commission is conducting the National Register of Citizens in Bihar through the backdoor.'
The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly has terminated the membership of BJP MLA Kanwar Lal Meena after he was convicted and sentenced to three years in jail for pointing a pistol at a sub-divisional magistrate. Meena's membership was terminated effective from May 1, following legal opinion from the advocate general and senior legal experts. Meena had approached the Supreme Court seeking suspension of his sentence, but the top court dismissed his plea and directed him to surrender within two weeks. The Election Commission has been informed of the vacancy, and a by-election on the Anta seat would be held within six months.
All the 12 cabin crew members, including two pilots, on board the ill-fated London-bound Air India flight were killed in the Ahmedabad air crash on Thursday.
The incident occurred between Diva and Kopar railway stations when the overcrowded train was going towards Kasara, an official said.
The controversy deepened after a video surfaced showing Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at the wedding, personally handing over a Fortuner SUV and making a remark widely interpreted as normalising dowry.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra has triggered a row with his comments suggesting that non-Muslims were attacked in Pahalgam because terrorists feel Muslims are being "mistreated" in the country. The BJP has accused him of using the language of terrorists and demanded an apology. Vadra condemned the Pahalgam terrorist attack but suggested that communal issues and a feeling of vulnerability among minorities are contributing to the violence. He said it is time to separate politics and religion and called for introspection by political parties. Vadra's remarks have been met with strong condemnation from the BJP, which accused him of playing politics on the issue and demanded a clarification from the Congress party. The BJP has also criticized Vadra for justifying the actions of terrorists.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused the government of misleading the nation on the India-Pakistan conflict and demanded holding a special session of Parliament immediately, following Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan's acknowledgement of aircraft loss in the hostilities.
Gehlot's remark hinted at a possible thaw between the two senior Congress leaders after years of political tussle.
Tharoor also said he is honoured by the invitation of the government to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals to present the nation's point of view on recent events.
Led by Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MP Supriya Sule, Group 7 will engage with key countries in Africa -- Egypt, South Africa, Ethiopia -- and Qatar to present India's position on Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
The government nominated Tharoor, who serves as chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, to lead one of the seven multi-party delegations abroad for putting across India's stand against Pakistan for supporting terrorism.
Ajit's remarks came at a time when Maharashtra is witnessing heated political debates over the Mahayuti government's demand to remove Mughal empire Aurangzeb's grave from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
'The Congress submitted four names to the government as the people who should accompany the delegation.' 'I don't know what happened to those names.' 'When I was approached, I told them to speak to my party.' 'I have no further involvement with this delegation.'
Delhi University has condemned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's unannounced visit to its North Campus, calling it a breach of institutional protocol and a disruption of student governance operations. Gandhi, who is also the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, interacted with students from Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at the DU's North Campus, focusing on issues of representation, equality and academic justice. The university criticised the visit for disrupting the functioning of a key student body, the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU). The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which holds several posts in the DUSU, also issued a statement criticising Gandhi's visit.
A statement issued by the parliamentary affairs ministry earlier on Saturday said the all-party delegations will project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations.
Pawar recalled that he was a member of a delegation sent by former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao to the UN under the leadership of BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha is preparing his excuses for future defeats in the upcoming assembly elections, including Bihar, Fadnavis said in his articles published in the Indian Express and Marathi daily Loksatta.
Former Maharashtra MLA and NCP leader Zeeshan Siddique has received a death threat via email, demanding Rs 10 crore and threatening to "kill him the same way" as his father, Baba Siddique, who was shot dead last year. The sender claimed to be a member of the D-company and warned Zeeshan not to contact police. Police have launched a probe into the death threat and extortion demand.
Tharoor said if Pakistan were to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism, "we can talk to them".
Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut claimed that former Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena head Eknath Shinde wanted to join the Congress in the past. Raut's claim comes after former Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole offered Shinde and Ajit Pawar the "rotational post of the chief minister" if they switched to the opposition alliance. Raut said that "nothing is impossible in politics" and that Shinde and Ajit Pawar are carrying the flags of the BJP.
This came after Pakistan People's Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday stated that Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had tasked him to lead a delegation to present Pakistan's case on the recent escalations of tensions between the two nations.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has sent its corporators to Malaysia to prevent cross-voting in the upcoming Vishakapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) mayoral election on April 19. The YSRCP, which holds a majority in the GVMC, is also planning to shift its corporators abroad to prevent poaching from the TDP. The TDP corporators are being sent to Malaysia to avoid pressure and influence from the YSRCP, according to a TDP corporator.
Congress MP and former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi stoked controversy by demanding proof of the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian armed forces in Pakistan territory in the past under the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre.
In the wake of the recent hostilities, both sides have moved from weapons to words, with India dispatching several delegations to visit more than 30 capitals across the world. A similar effort by Pakistan is set to start on Jun 2.
Top military officials from India and Pakistan highlighted their views at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, billed as Asia's premier defence forum, amid heightened tensions between the two sides following last month's military confrontation.
Opposition parties in India, including the Congress, Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP), have unanimously hailed the armed forces' "Operation Sindoor", a retaliatory strike against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operation, which involved missile and drone strikes, was conducted in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Despite political differences, all parties expressed support for the government and the armed forces, stressing the importance of national unity and integrity in the face of terrorism. While emphasizing the need for diplomatic avenues to prevent further escalation, some parties also called for caution in attributing political credit for the strikes.
Thapar had strong reservations about Project Cheetah, India's initiative to reintroduce African cheetahs into the wild. He argued that India does not have the necessary habitat or prey base to support free-ranging cheetahs and that the authorities lacked experience in managing spotted felines in the wild.
Newly appointed Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi has denied allegations of having links to the Pakistani establishment, calling the claims made by the BJP a "C-grade Bollywood movie" that will "flop miserably." Gogoi said he had only visited Pakistan once 12 years ago with his wife, who was working on an international project focused on climate change. He questioned why the BJP government had not acted on the allegations in the past 11 years if there was any wrongdoing. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who made the initial allegations, said he would release further evidence on September 10 after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) completes its inquiry.
The ruling Mahayuti members in both houses of the Maharashtra legislature condemned state Congress head Harshvardhan Sapkal's remarks comparing Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and demanded strict action against him. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the remarks will be verified and action will be taken accordingly as per the law. The state legislative council witnessed an uproar after the ruling Mahayuti members raised the issue of Sapkal's remarks, and the proceedings were suspended for 10 minutes. BJP group leader Pravin Darekar said comparing the chief minister to Aurangzeb is a highly condemnable act and an insult to Maharashtra. He also demanded that a case be filed against Sapkal and strict action be taken to set an example.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
Tharoor said his remarks were preceded by a reference to the several attacks that have taken place in recent years alone, during which previous Indian responses were both restrained and constrained by India's responsible respect for the LoC and the IB.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections were a 'blueprint for rigging democracy' and this 'match-fixing' would next happen in Bihar and 'anywhere the Bharatiya Janata Party is losing'.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that some Congress leaders pressured individuals to donate funds to the Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited (AJL) on instructions from senior party functionaries. The ED's chargesheet in the National Herald case claims that these individuals made payments to the company "under the influence" from senior leaders who promised them "certain favours" in party politics. The chargesheet, filed on April 9 before a local court, names Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused, along with five others, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency alleges that these donations were not made voluntarily but in expectation of political benefits. The ED also found that YI and AJL received funds from various entities through "quid pro quo" arrangements, where individuals were asked to make payments for advertisements in the National Herald in exchange for past favours from Congress leaders.
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday continued its searches at places linked to Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara as part of the probe into alleged gold smuggling-linked money laundering case against Kannada actress Ranya Rao and others, official sources said.
The Congress leaders maintained that Indian defence forces had attained complete superiority and dominance over Pakistan before the sudden "ceasefire" was announced by US President Donald Trump.
The opposition party, however, said the four eminent Congress MPs and leaders who have been included at the instance of the Modi government will, of course, go with the delegations and make their contributions.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday demanded that Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa reveal the source of his claim that 50 bombs had reached the state, questioning if he had direct links with Pakistan. Bajwa, who had made the statement in a TV interview, said he cooperated with police but refused to divulge his sources. The police visited Bajwa's residence and questioned him about his statement. Mann also sought a clarification from the Congress party, saying the government will take strict action if Bajwa's statement was meant only to "create panic."
The reality is that far from being friendless, India is better positioned in the world than at any point post-Cold War, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has expelled a local leader and his son after they were named in a dowry harassment and abetment to suicide case in Pune, India. The victim, Vaishnavi, allegedly hanged herself on May 16 after facing harassment from her in-laws for dowry. The police have arrested her husband, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law, while the father-in-law and brother-in-law are absconding. The case has garnered attention due to the involvement of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who attended the couple's wedding and gifted them an SUV.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said he is "more than happy" to take responsibility for everything wrong the party did in its history, including the 1984 Sikh riots. He acknowledged that the party made "a lot of mistakes" when he was not there, but said he has publicly stated that what happened in the 80s was "wrong." The remarks were made during an interaction at Brown University in the US. The video of the interaction was uploaded on the YouTube channel of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs on Saturday. The BJP has criticized Gandhi for his remarks, accusing him of "ridiculing" the beliefs of Hindus and Sikhs.
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