BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
The Rajasthan high court recently passed an order terming the live-in relationship between a man and a married woman as "illicit".
Cow vigilante Monu Manesar, who was booked by Rajasthan Police for the murder of two Muslim men in February and is also accused of inciting communal hatred in home state Haryana, was arrested Tuesday, officials said.
Some farmer outfits on Friday threw their weight behind the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) woman constable who allegedly slapped actor and Bharatiya Janata Party MP-elect Kangana Ranaut, saying the entire sequence leading to the incident needs to be properly investigated.
A criminal, irrespective of his religion, caste or class, must not be spared, the CM told officials addressing a high-level meeting at the Chief Minister's Office in Jaipur.
Senior Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia has filed a police complaint against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his alleged "hateful statement" such as Lok Sabha MP and former party president Sonia Gandhi's "residence should be burnt".
Addressing a party rally in Rajasthan, Gandhi also flayed the BJP over the situation in ethnic strife-torn Manipur and said the ideology of the BJP has set the northeastern state on fire.
In Punjab, farmers sat on railway tracks at many locations in 22 districts, including Amritsar, Ludhiana, Tarn Taran, Hoshiarpur, Firozpur, Fazilka, Sangrur, Mansa, Moga and Bathinda. Because of the disruption of train services, passengers experienced inconvenience.
Candidates of a teacher recruitment exam confronted police and indulged in arson while a delegation of theirs met Tribal Area Development Minister Arjun Singh Bamniya in Udaipur. While the meeting was going on, the protesters confronted the police again in the evening following which police opened fire to control the situation.
While Gehlot is learnt to be leading the race for chief minister's post, Pilot is also putting up stiff resistance and is staking his claim.
The funeral was conducted with state honour at Tiyawali village in the presence of his family members, relatives and senior officials from the district administration and police.
The resolution is likely to be passed on the very first day of the session, government sources said. The opposition BJP has said the government's move to bring the resolution will be strongly opposed.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
'Every religion is sacred and beautiful. There's no reason for people to hate each other because they practise different faiths.'
'We want to send a notice to the BJP that Rajputs are no longer their slaves.'
'I always feel that to shake up human beings, you have to go a little extreme.'
The Lok Sabha is set to witness a fierce debate on the no-confidence motion against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government on Tuesday with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose membership was restored following a Supreme Court direction, likely to be the lead speaker of the opposition bloc INDIA.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea filed by a women's organisation seeking directions to states to take immediate action in consonance with a 2018 verdict of the apex court to effectively deal with incidents of lynching and mob violence against Muslims by cow vigilantes.
A contempt plea alleged that incidents of mob lynching and vigilantism were taking place despite the apex court verdict in this regard.
'Episodes of targeted attacks on Muslims established that for a section of people and, sadly, even officials of the State, the election results conveyed no lessons.' 'Opposition parties must not be hesitant in speaking out whenever the mob with tacit State support targets Muslims,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
The Congress will begin the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from the violence-hit Manipur on Sunday, in what is being seen as the party's bid to set the narrative in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and put the spotlight on issues such as unemployment, price rise and social justice.
There they were, showing the world that there are still people motivated not by religious structures, not by past glories, not by hatreds deliberately stoked. These were ordinary folks doing something extraordinary purely because they think that effort might shake a nation out of a spiralling miasma of division, mistrust, cynicism, sophistry and violence.
This is their first meeting since the conflict began.
Is it is necessary to play divisive politics to succeed in the next general elections? asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions by lawyer Nizam Pasha, appearing for the women, that the CBI has asked them to come and depose before it during the day.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmer organisations that spearheaded the 2021 protest, adopted the resolution to "intensify the fight against the policies of the Union government to save farming, food security, land and livelihoods of the people".
'Sachin Pilot has revived the Congress.' 'What goes in favour of Ashok Gehlot is experience.'
Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday lashed out at opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties over Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks against 'Sanatan Dharma', accusing them of insulting 'Sanatan Dharma' for votebank and appeasement politics.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com does a deep dive into four elections when Narendra Modi resorted to anti-Muslim fervour and points out that Hindu-Muslim politics does not necessarily mean victory for the BJP.
While the Congress is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Telangana by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Mizoram by the Mizo National Front.
'The biggest change that the BJP can initiate in the run-up to 2024 is appointing new faces as chief ministers.' 'In doing so, it will send a message well beyond 2024.'
A cultural preference for sons in India may be expressed as 'son preference' or 'daughter aversion', arising from patrilocality, patrilineality, the cost of dowry, and old-age support from sons.
Accusing the BJP of working to 'divide India and spread hate and violence', he asserted that a fight of ideologies is going on in India.
Honeypreet is the only woman in the 'wanted' list.
In the wake of arrest of five persons for extortion in Manipur including a suspected member of a banned terror group, the Manipur police has again warned of stern action against all those who were misusing the uniform for their ulterior motives.
The government announced the decision apprehending spread of rumours through social media by anti-social elements ahead or during the rally called to be held on Monday.
The political war of words over Manipur intensified on Saturday with the BJP raising the incidents of atrocities against women in West Bengal and Rajasthan and questioning the 'silence' of the opposition, which termed it as a diversionary tactic to avoid debate on the situation in the north-eastern state.
The two persons who opened smoke canisters in the Lok Sabha chamber had smuggled them in cavities cut into the left sole of custom-made sports shoes supported by thick rubber layers, according to Delhi Police's FIR.
Sources said the police are likely to seek the Parliament's permission to recreate the December 13 incident that unfolded on the anniversary of the 2001 attack on it.
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