Meanwhile, the Congress and RSP whole-heartedly backed the Kollam MP.
The recent 'revelation' by TN fishers freed by Sri Lanka after they had paid up Lankan rupees 50,000 each in fines, that their hair was tonsured in prison and they were forced to remove their garments other than the underpants, and were also made to clean toilets, as if with vengeance, has touched a raw nerve this time, just as another issue or issues had done it ahead of the Jallikattu protests, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The temple authorities reportedly decided to withdraw the umbrella from display after leaders of the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist raised an objection.
A special bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and Kauser Edappagath directed the State Police Chief to come out with a new set of protocols for ensuring security of the doctors and other healthcare professionals in all government hospitals in the state.
The much-awaited report of the Justice Hema Committee, the government-appointed panel in 2019 that studied issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, comprises explosive accounts of harassment, exploitation, and ill-treatment being faced by women.
Over the last five days, Modi visited all of south, held roadshows, made an aggressive bid for his party, and took on the rivals with full gusto, especially the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Telangana that was in power for 10 years.
While the opposition alliance is putting up a united front in Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand's Dumri, Dhanpur and Boxanagar in Tripura and Uttarakhand's Bageshwar, its constituents are contesting against each other in Dhupguri in West Bengal and Puthuppally in Kerala.
Following the killing of an SDPI state secretary late Saturday night, a BJP leader was hacked to death less than 12 hours later on Sunday morning and later, prohibitory order under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Section 144 was imposed in the entire Alappuzha district, additional police force was deployed there and senior officers camped there to monitor the law and order situation.
The LDF was also leading in 10 out of the 14 district panchayats and 108 block panchayats of the total of 152, according to the State Election Commission figures.
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 recently held presidential election and the historic victory of Droupadi Murmu are likely to create political ripples in Kerala as the NDA candidate received an unexpected vote from the southern state.
'As a child, I didn't even know that he was an IPS officer... It was much later when I came back to India'
Any adverse electoral fallout in Thrikkakara by-poll may have an impact on Rahul Gandhi because this falls in the state he represents as a member of Parliament and KC Venugopal because it is his home state, reports Shine Jacob.
In private, questions are being raised about the wisdom of a 'dual-SIM' leadership during the long run-up to the 2026 assembly polls where 'family rule' could become an election issue, reports N Sathiya Moorthy.
As many as six who hold law degrees include cabinet ministers Nitin Gadkari, J P Nadda, Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal, Bhupender Yadav and Kiren Rijiju.
Nadda enjoys warm relations with Modi, who was for a long time in charge of the party's affairs in Himachal Pradesh.
The Lok Sabha contest in Thiruvananthapuram is shaping up to be a significant battle involving key candidates like Shashi Tharoor, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and Panniyan Ravindran. This three-cornered fight highlights the political dynamics in Kerala's capital city, with each candidate bringing their own vision and promises for the region's development, notes Rajeev Srinivasan.
'What we see today is bargaining.' 'The man's family sets a price for him and then they start bargaining.' 'He is sold to the family that offers the highest price.' 'In this market, a woman is just a commodity to be sold because if she remained at home, it is a humiliation for the family.'
'What happened to Andhra Pradesh? It is the perfect example of the transientness of Federal Units.' 'Federalism is a transient thing in this country.'
Anti-Congress regional parties may have felt the possible impact of Rahul's South-North yatra, pending a second East-West padayatra, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'If Kerala votes back the LDF, if Tamil Nadu brings the DMK and if Bengal votes for the Trinamool, we will project a formidable opposition to the BJP.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states, partial poll results showed Tuesday, forcing the party to rely on allies to form the government after a bitter and divisive election that was projected as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity.
And possibly in all of Asia, going by his reported fee of Rs 275 crore for Thalapathy 69, his coming movie.
Early trends from counting of votes on Tuesday threw up disappointing results for the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha elections, which appears to be losing heavily in its strongholds of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan although it is expected to form the government with about 290 seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA won 64 seats -- 62 bagged by the BJP and two by Apna Dal.
'We don't have to go abroad for anything.' 'Anyone who thinks we have a lot to learn from the US needs to have his head examined.' 'We are in a new era.'
In the event that like in the 17th Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi again gets locked out of the House, the Congress needs a second-in-command who will keep the momentum going inside Parliament, notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The Congress leader said his sister Priyanka Gandhi will be representing Wayanad if the people give her an opportunity and expressed confidence that she will do an excellent job at being their MP.
It is in circumstances like this that the Constitution becomes extremely important. It reminds us that we have a commitment towards higher human values to fulfil, a path to get back to, suggests Shyam G Menon.Else, we risk being rudderless in an ocean of money and majoritarianism, suggests Shyam G Menon.
Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, Student Federation of India, the students wing of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist, and others have strongly criticised the classes.
In the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls, there were 135 women candidates while in the second phase, there were 100 women candidates, bringing the combined total for the first two phases to 235 women candidates.
The Freelancer has been made with workman-like efficiency, but the subject of Islamic terrorism could do with a break, points out Deepa Gahlot.
The Popular Front of India (PFI) has been extensively using social media for recruiting youths for anti-national activities and one of the modules of the now-banned outfit even had prepared to attack foreigners, especially Jews visiting Vattakkanal, a hill station in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
'Metroman' E Sreedharan's decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party has given a boost to the saffron's hopes to make huge electoral inroads in Kerala, one of the toughest political terrains for the party, in the assembly polls likely to be held in April.
Singh targeted the Congress using a 'snakes and ladders' analogy, saying the party will fall to zero from 99 after being bitten by a snake -- referring to the grand old party winning 99 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
Polling is scheduled in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
Nadda claimed that over the years the number of people listening to the PM's programme has increased each month.
'If you want to really grow, it has to be geometric progression like it happened at the Centre or Haryana or Tripura, where you made a quantum jump.' 'This is possible in Kerala provided we present a better alternative with a great leadership, but the current leadership is busy fixing each other.'
As Election 2024 hurtles towards result day in a medley of mangalsutra, mujra, mutton, machli and other barbs, these may sound like character names from Hindi comics of yore. Instead, these are the mocking, sometimes vicious monikers given by political rivals to each other.
Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan slammed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and minister of higher education R Bindu over the issue of appointment in universities and said he is not able to work in an environment where too much political interference.
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