The Congress in Kerala on Friday approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) against the decision of Doordarshan to telecast the controversial movie The Kerala Story, saying it was a 'tacit effort' to divide society on religious grounds to further the electoral prospects of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The poll panel has asked state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra to respond to the notices by 3 pm on Thursday and 7 pm on Friday, respectively.
After a three-and-a-half-hour meeting, which was stormy at times, the Congress Working Committee, the party's highest policy making body, authorised incumbent chief Sonia Gandhi to schedule the internal elections after the conclusion of assembly polls in five states due to be held in April-May.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the people have given his government a mandate for stability and continuity for the third consecutive term after seeing its work of 10 years and accused the Congress of trying to build a narrative that it has defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls.
Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to regulate the appointment and service terms of Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners incorporating key amendments like retaining their status at par with Supreme Court judges, upgrading the search committee and inserting a new clause to protect them from court cases while discharging their official duties.
'He did not seek vote. He did not describe the missile launch as an achievement of the government. He only hailed the scientists. There was no electioneering involved'
There is no exception for any candidate or political party when it comes to the law, be it the Representation of the People Act, the Indian Penal Code or the model code of conduct, SY Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner tells Rediff.com contributor Upasna Pandey
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused NIA officials of attacking villagers in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP hit back at her saying that the attack on the NIA officials is Sandeshkhalli 2.0 orchestrated by the state.
Justice Krishna S Dixit, presiding over a single judge bench, issued notice to the parties concerned and paused the ongoing investigation.
'When there are no good roads and no buses plying to villages, your spending on development is skewed.'
The notices were served following complaints received by the Nanded district administration of poll campaigning-related posts being circulated on these WhatsApp groups ahead the next week's state assembly elections, he said.
Modi said that those who call themselves the biggest sympathisers of the backward communities are in reality their biggest enemies.
'It has been 14 years since I began living in exile and it's shocking that the situation in Balochistan has only worsened rather than improved.'
No limit exists on the number of electoral bonds that a person (including corporate entities) can purchase.
'If the Pawars are so powerful, then why are they scared of me?'
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said notifying the rules for the CAA days before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections shows the Bharatiya Janata Party is not confident about winning 400 seats in the ensuing polls.
'I wonder how people who come to power through democratic means turn out this way.' 'But people of India are strong, and those who think they can hoodwink people, are mistaken.' 'You can fool some people for some time, but not all people, all the time.'
Nine workers, including five women, died and 10 others were injured in a blaze at a fireworks-manufacturing unit in Sivakasi on Thursday, a senior police official said.
The party has contested the reassessment proceedings, claiming they were barred by limitation.
'Commission is of the considered view that in this matter no such violation of the extant advisories/provisions is attracted'
He has refused to concede the election, while the mainstream US media has declared 77-year-old Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as the winner, who is now the President-elect.
Sakshi, Bajrang accuse WFI of using devious means to get suspension lifted, threaten fresh protest
The Uniform Civil Code bill was passed by the state assembly and also received the presidential assent recently after which it has become a law.
The Trinamool Congress on Friday complained to the Election Commission of partisan behaviour by central police forces in favour of its rival Bharatiya Janata Party, while the saffron party made a counter-complaint that Chief Minister Mamata Benerjee had violated the model code of conduct by being inside a polling booth in Nandigram for two hours on polling day.
Observing that the name and photographs of Sharad Pawar cannot be used by the Ajit Pawar faction for political gains, the Supreme Court on Thursday sought a response from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by the Maharashtra deputy chief minister on a plea of the veteran Maratha leader alleging misuse of his popularity by the rival camp.
In an unprecedented order to check criminalisation of politics, the Supreme Court on Tuesday held nine political parties including the ruling BJP and JD (U) in Bihar guilty of contempt and fined eight of them for violating its February, 2020 order on publication of criminal antecedents of their candidates for the assembly polls.
Eminent economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Monday described the electoral bonds scheme as a scandal and welcomed the Supreme Court's recent judgment annulling it.
It is time the political leaderships in this country arrived at a common ground over issues of foreign and security policy concerns. There has to be a greater communication between the government and the Opposition leaderships for the nation to present a unified face against the rest of the world, advises N Sathiya Moorthy.
India is headed for general elections early next year, and the DIA is expected to be legislated only after the 2024 polls and the formation of the government.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta took note of the submissions of lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGOs 'Common Cause' and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, that the plea needed to be listed for hearing at the earliest.
This is 71-year-old Khan's fourth conviction since 2022 adding to the troubles of the beleaguered founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party ahead of the February 8 polls.
The trouble for Ashok Lavasa's family began a few months back when his wife, Novel Singhal Lavasa, came under the scanner of the income tax department on charges of alleged tax evasion.
These Congress rebels, who had voted in favour of the BJP nominee in the Rajya Sabha polls, later abstained from voting on the Budget, defying a party whip.
'The BJP was supporting him from behind in order to bring down the Congress government.'
The AAP on Wednesday last had posted a video story on 'X' featuring industrialist Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Modi. The next day, the party posted a picture of Adani and Modi, and alleged that the prime minister works for the industrialist and not the people.
'Who has given how much money to which party, the people of India must know this fact.'
'Nehru remains central to the polemic between the Congress and the BJP, or stated ideologically, between secular and Hindu nationalism.' 'The reason is that Nehru represents what is optimally possible as a secular politics along with liberalism and democracy in a country like India.'
The Congress party will have an elected president by June 2021, with the party's working committee on Friday approving holding the internal election after the assembly polls.
The poll panel's letter to the social media giants comes against the backdrop of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and the BJP reportedly asking voters of Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram on the internet platforms to cast ballot in their favour.
The bench said the petition has relied on a March 2 verdict of the apex court which had ruled that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and ECs will be done by the President on the recommendation of a committee, comprising the prime minister, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and the CJI, to maintain the "purity of election".
