An average voter turnout of 20 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of voting in the bypolls to 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand on Wednesday amid an incident of stone pelting in a village in UP's Meerapur and allegations of police personnel deterring voters from casting their ballot.
On his part, BJP Lok Sabha MP Narayan Rane, himself no stranger to controversies, got into damage control mode and sought to calm frayed nerves, saying he has chided his son over the remarks.
The Bill to amend the Wakf Act, 1995, will make it mandatory for Waqf boards to register their properties with district collectors to ensure their actual valuation.
The representation of women in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls continues to remain dismally low, as only about 12 percent of the candidates in the fray in the fifth phase are female, according to an analysis by poll rights body ADR.
Opposition parties on Wednesday opposed the 'one nation, one election' proposal by calling it impractical and a 'cheap stunt' by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Rana's blistering attack came in response to AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi's controversial speech in 2013 that it would take them only '15 minutes' to balance the 'Hindu- Muslim ratio' in the country if the police were removed.
'The lesson you taught was that you will free the murderers of Bilkis' three-year-old daughter. You also taught us that Ahsan Jafri can be killed. You taught the lesson of Gulbarga bakery, you taught the lesson of Best bakery lesson'
Nineteen Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Left, the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Aam Aadmi Party, came together to jointly announce the boycott, saying they find no value in a new building when the "soul of democracy has been sucked out".
What some of our leaders were up to on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
According to some observers, the Congress gained ground by attracting votes from Telugu Desam Party sympathisers after the TDP opted out of the race due to its own reasons.
In polls held on February 28, the BJP and Independents won 18 seats each, the AIMIM got seven and one went to the Congress.
In the Tamil Nadu election, to be held next month, the AIMIM will contest three of Tamil Nadu's 234 seats -- Vaniyambadi, Krishnagiri and Sankarapuram.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) international joint general secretary Surendra Jain on Tuesday warned All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi for his comment on the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
From making dosas at a roadside eatery to trying out skills using a pair of scissors at a hair cutting saloon, politicians leave no stone unturned to impress voters during the run-up to the upcoming Telangana assembly polls.
He alleged that the MVA allies were refusing to consider the factor of Maratha activist Manoj Jarange.
An Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson said a formal order for all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route in the state was likely to be issued soon.
Rajnath said that it was on Mahatma Gandhi's request that Savarkar wrote mercy petitions to the British.
Voting for by-elections to seven assembly constituencies of six states, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, started on Tuesday at 7 am.
An Indian national who was drafted into the Russian army on the pretext of a job has been killed in Russia's war against Ukraine, the Indian embassy in Russia said on Wednesday.
Union minister Raosaheb Danve has caused a flutter by saying if the Bharatiya Janata Party needs victory in the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra in 2024, then it must ensure that All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and sitting MP Imtiaz Jaleel contests the election next year.
In the last five years, 480 candidates with declared cases related to hate speech have contested elections to state assemblies, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the ADR said.
As controversy raged over Yati Narsinghanand's objectionable remarks against Prophet Muhammad, his supporters on Sunday alleged that the Dasna temple head priest is being illegally kept in detention by police, which denied the claim.
According to Jaishankar, the problem is that the Russian authorities maintain that these Indian nationals entered into contracts for services with the Russian army.
'If there can be more than 50 Islamic countries and more than 150 Christian nations, why can't India be declared a Hindu Rashtra given that Hindus constitute a majority of its 100 million people?'
'The people preferred Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar...'
ACP, Crime Branch, J M Yadav said Danish Qureshi, a panelist on news channel debates, was arrested after his purported post on the micro blogging site on reports about discovery of a 'Shivling' inside Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque complex during a court-mandated videography survey drew criticism from some quarters.
Congress workers stormed into the Gujarat party headquarters in Ahmedabad on Monday and burnt posters of senior leader Bharatsinh Solanki to protest against the party's decision to give a ticket to sitting MLA Imran Khedawala from his Jamalpur-Khadia seat in the city.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said his party would oppose the Centre's move to bring a bill in Parliament to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf boards, and accused the BJP of trying to snatch the rights of Muslims.
Tension prevailed in areas surrounding the historic Charminar in Hyderabad on Friday after suspected Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen supporters pelted stones at police protesting the arrest of MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi for his alleged hate speech, injuring five policemen and some mediapersons.
Opposition leaders said India should speak for what is right and should not be afraid of its neighbour.
More Indians renounced their citizenship and took citizenship in other countries in 2022 than ever before, according to data. Answering multiple questions in Parliament - the last on March 31 this year - Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan told the Lok Sabha that more than 200,000 Indians gave up Indian citizenship in 2022. The question was asked by Congress Members of Parliament Kodikunnil Suresh and M K Raghavan, and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi.
The Congress had released 'Farmers Declaration', 'SC, ST Declaration' and 'Youth Declaration', comprising its promises to the Telangana voters in the assembly polls scheduled to be held in a couple of months.
A clash erupted between All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen and BJP councillors of the Meerut Municipal Corporation at the oath-taking ceremony on Friday, following a disagreement over the singing of Vande Mataram to begin the event.
A minaret of Khajoor ki Masjid in Gudri Bazaar in the heart of Faizabad city is said to be encroaching on the proposed Ram Path by three metres.
After MNS threat, some people in Khultabad area, where the tomb is located, tried to lock the structure.
Bharatiya Janata Party MPs Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dhotre were among those who missed casting their votes in the presidential poll on Monday.
Banda chief judicial magistrate Bhagwan Das Gupta appointed Garima Singh, additional chief judicial magistrate (MP-MLA Court Banda) as the investigating officer in the case, the official said.
"Owaisi is an old friend of mine. As far as I know, he was 'Kshatriya' (Hindu) earlier. He is a descendent of Lord Ram, not the one belonging to Iran," said Singh.
The AAP may secure 43 per cent share while the BJP is expected to get 35 per cent vote share.
The respective Dussehra rallies of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray were once again about whose version of Hindutva is genuine and who is the true inheritor of party patriarch Bala Thackeray's legacy.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances