Sharma had on Monday slammed Congress' association with the ISF led by Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui in West Bengal, contending that it was against the "Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism" and the party cannot be selective in fighting "communalists".
Several exit polls on Monday forecast a clear majority for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab with some of them giving an edge to the saffron party in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
A Congress delegation will meet the Election Commission on Friday to submit a petition against PM Narendra Modi for his 'divisive and intemperate remarks' used in Kerala.
The move came in the wake of several political parties complaining to the Election Commission, alleging that Virendra was inclined towards the ruling Trinamool Congress, sources said.
The states fear they would end up funding both their own scheme as well as the newly-announced National Health Protection Scheme.
PM Modi came under severe criticism after he compared the infant mortality rate among the Scheduled Tribe community in the southern state to that in Somalia.
With crucial assembly elections round the corner in four states, Congress leaders are currently debating whether to project chief ministerial candidates in the poll-bound states.
The newly introduced 'None of the Above' option was barely opted by voters in Delhi Assembly polls, for which the results were declared on Sunday.
Naxalites blew up the mini-goods van in which the security personnel were travelling by using an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), police sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, saying those who have been thrown out of power are taking out foot march to get back to power.
Shah made the announcement at a public meeting, putting to rest speculation over the party's choice for the top post.
A fresh petition seeking a National Investigation Agency probe into the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab on January 5 was filed before the Supreme Court on Monday.
Rahul Gandhi pressed Modi to 'say something' on the issue.
The government is learnt to have described the Union Budget as an annual constitutional exercise covering the entire country and not just a few states.
Vijay Rawat, brother of India's first chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat who recently died in a helicopter crash, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Karnataka on Friday sought to woo farmers, women and younger generation with a slew of welfare measures in its last budget in the current term, also earmarking Rs 1000 crore towards development and renovation of various temples and maths in the state.
The ED action, sources said, has been initiated after taking cognisance of a 2018 FIR of the Punjab Police against some companies and individuals alleged to be involved in illegal sand mining in the state.
In a public show of dissent, the 'G-23' leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Kapil Sibal, who have been pressing for a leadership change and organisational overhaul in the Congress, gathered on one stage in Jammu on Saturday, saying the party is weakening and they have come together to strengthen it.
Gandhi is seeking responses from Congress leaders and workers through the party's Shakti app, sources said. The opinion of common people on the issue will also be sought in a day or two.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat reached the poll-bound state besides Union ministers J P Nadda and Thawar Chand Gehlot, and Bihar minister Mangal Pandey, who are already camping here.
He announced his 24-hour fast in a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, speaking at length about his anguish over the ruckus in the House during the passage of two farm bills on Sunday.
Even as the Union Cabinet recommended President's Rule in poll-bound Maharashtra after Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan resigned following the end of the 15-year-old Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance in the state, Chavan blamed the NCP for the breakup.
Dev also attacked Narendra Modi government for imposing '12 per cent' GST on sanitary napkins, which she said 'runs contrary' to the government's 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign.
'The BJP had won elections when the Akhlaq issue and award wapsi happened and the party will win this time too,' he said.
The Congress on Saturday wrote to the Election Commission seeking action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his 'Congress shielded terrorism for vote bank' remark and said he has crossed the 'lakshman rekha'.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has signed an 'agreement of cooperation' with several party members who might be fielded in the upcoming Manipur assembly elections, in a bid to prevent switching of allegiance before the polls.
We should work in unison to boost growth: FM
In Madhya Pradesh, the C-Voter poll projections gave the BJP 107 seats with a vote share of 41.5 per cent, against Congress' vote share of 42.3 per cent and a simple majority of 116 seats.
The rising pitch of road shows and long rallies with hectoring pitches seem to have exhausted and numbed the audiences, rather than motivating them to vote for the party, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided it would not adopt the path of appeasement and vote bank politics.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Wednesday dubbed the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party as "KASAB", adding yet another acronym in the Uttar Pradesh poll campaign, and said development will elude the state till "Kasab is laid to rest".
Banks asked to maintain record of cash being ferried in these vehicles all the time
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea on the recent breach in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security in Punjab.
More than 100 senior leaders and functionaries have been deployed to work as district in-charges in 44 assembly segments in Western Uttar Pradesh to coordinate and streamline campaigning and booth management, BJP leaders in New Delhi said.
The Congress has been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for holding political rallies amid the rise in coronavirus cases in the country.
Aside from the 36 MPs, the meeting was also attended by BJP president J P Nadda and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, they said.
The Muslim Rashtriya Manch has decided to organise at least 50 meetings with minority community members in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the assembly polls next year.
The octogenarian, who has already announced his retirement from electoral politics, is sought to be put on the pedestal by the governing party's central leaders.
Vijay Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel took oath on Sunday in Gandhinagar.
While the Congress alleged that the Vidhana Soudha has become a shopping mall and the BJP stood for 'Broker Janata Party', Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai reminded the opposition how Rs 25 lakh cash was allegedly seized from the staff of Congress MLA from Chamarajanagar C Puttarangashetty four years ago.
