Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan -- a devotee of Marx and Engels, Lenin and Stalin for well over half a century -- was spotted with a man and child with a starling resemblance to St Nick aka Santa Claus aka Ded Moroz (as Santa is known in Vladmir and Josef's native Russia).
Finance ministers of states demanded an increase in allocation under 50-year interest-free loan scheme, while fiscally stressed states like Punjab and Kerala pitched for a special package and borrowing flexibility, sources said on Friday. In a pre-budget meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, states have also urged for higher borrowing limits to support fiscal activities, besides additional funds for Jal Jeevan Mission.
Kerala's election discourse operates surreptitiously. Its explicit face focuses on important national and local issues. At the same time, it seeks to secure apt communal equations to ensure votes, notes Shyam G Menon.
'It concerns the sea and the security of the nation. What has happened is a big tragedy.'
'I have never seen a common man tapping a chief minister on the shoulder and giving him his petition, like needing money for a child admitted in a hospital.'
''This chief minister is so obstinate that he is ready to use the police to attain his goal.' 'Had he been more mature rather than obstinate, Kerala would not have reached a boiling point.'
24 hours before campaigning ends in Thiruvanathapuram, Archana Masih/Rediff.com discovers Shashi Tharoor and his BJP rival Rajeev Chandrasekhar are busy getting their message across to voters.
The KPCC made this decision simultaneously as Sarin announced a press conference in Palakkad, declaring his intention to work with the Left Democratic Front moving forward.
Netto said that Christians in various parts of the country, especially in Manipur and north India, were being subjected to "cruelty and violence by dark forces" and alleged that there was no effective intervention against it by the authorities.
Ending weeks long suspense, Kerala Chief Minister and CPI-M politburo member V S Achuthanandan has taken part in the yatra taken out by party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
If a 15 seconds-long mic problem merits a case being registered, then the police risk an avalanche of complaints of similar and greater gravity, seeking their intervention, notes Shyam G Menon.
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
While the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls, the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.
The Z+ security cover of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel has been extended to Khan and Raj Bhavan, his office said in a post on 'X'.
'Vote banks will change affiliations and the BJP will come out with good success in Kerala.'
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand. The bypolls, however, will not have any direct impact on the respective legislative assemblies. The results will be declared on November 23. In Uttar Pradesh, polling will be held in Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur and Kundarki. Ninety candidates are in the fray in these seats with the maximum of 14 in Ghaziabad. This will be the first electoral test of the INDIA bloc as well as the NDA in the politically-crucial state after the Lok Sabha elections. In Punjab, bypolls will be held in four assembly seats - Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala. The bypolls were necessitated after MLAs representing them were elected to the Lok Sabha. Polling will also be held for the Palakkad seat in Kerala and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.
The Nipah virus has killed two people and infected two others in Kerala's Kozhikode district, the state government said on Tuesday.
The Kerala government on Friday decided to recommend a judicial inquiry against central probe agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, which are investigating the gold and dollar smuggling cases.
The chief minister said the protests were a 'natural response' by people who were facing a water crisis because of the cola companies.
The political and ideological differences between the Congress and Shashi Tharoor is no longer a matter of whispers.
'So, they have taken away the word Waqf from the Bill.' 'It will now be known as the UMEED Act.'
JD-U MP Sanjay Kumar Jha heads a diplomatic mission to Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Singapore, to seek international cooperation after the Pahalgam attack while highlighting Pakistan's role in cross-border terrorism.
The complaint states that journalists blocked his way at the guest house, the source said without elaborating.
'The media is portraying the Malayalam film industry as the worst place, but that's not true.'
A right-wing vlogger has been booked for allegedly spreading hatred via social media in connection with the recent blast at a religious gathering that killed four people near Kochi last week, police said on Wednesday.
Antony, along with his wife Elizabeth, reached Chandy's residence in Thiruvananthapuram to bid adieu to his trusted lieutenant during trying times of their decades-long political career.
In a crowded courtroom, the judge declared that Alam should be hanged to death for the killing of the girl, also from Bihar.
After his 'inadvertent' comment against Rajiv Gandhi enraged Congress legislators in the state assembly, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the late prime minister. Speaking after inaugurating the Communist Party of India - Marxist's local committee office at Thamarakkulam, the veteran Marxist leader said Rajiv Gandhi was "no better than Sanjay Gandhi."
Justice K Padmanabhan Nair had remarked that the 'sandalwood mafia had direct access to the state Forest Minister Vishwanathan' while hearing an anticipatory bail application of the four accused in the Walayar sandalwood theft case.
Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front opposition on Thursday forced the adjournment of the Kerala assembly over alleged police excess against women members of Legislative Assembly demanding re-investigation of charges against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien in the Suryanelli gang-rape case.
The CM expressed hope that budding athletes and sportspersons in the state can take inspiration from his achievement and adopt the same attitude of hard work and dedication shown by the Indian shuttler.
The air hung heavy with grief as an Indian Air Force aircraft carrying the mortal remains of 14 of the 45 Indians who died in a devastating fire at a building in Kuwait landed at Delhi's Palam technical area from Kerala's Kochi on Friday evening.
The great literary figure of Malayalam and Jnanpith Award winner M T Vasudevan Nair, who had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital here following heart failure, has died, hospital sources said on Wednesday.
Livid over the U-turn made by Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval in the Italian ship case, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Saturday sought his immediate withdrawal from the case.
Directed by Sudipto Sen, The Kerala Story depicts how women from Kerala were forced to convert to Islam and recruited by the terror group Islamic State.
he FIR was lodged against her based on a complaint, the police said.
"We know very well the importance of water from Mullaperiyar to Tamil Nadu. The five districts of Tamil Nadu are completely depending on water from Mullaperiyar. We are always for distribution of water without any objection," Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told media persons in Chennai.
According to police, the tragedy happened when a portion of the fire-hit building collapsed over him, crushing the hapless man while he was busy dousing the raging flames.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday ordered an immediate ban on the screening of the controversial film The Kerala Story to avoid "any incident of hatred and violence", a senior official said in Kolkata.
