Their joining is likely to come as a big boost to the BJP in Haryana with a few months remaining for the polls.
The Congress sought the imposition of President's Rule followed by fresh polls in Haryana.
Months after winning the Lok Sabha polls from Sirsa, the former Union minister and the Congress' prominent Dalit face also indicated her desire to contest the upcoming assembly elections and said she wishes to work in the state but the high command will take a final call on the matter.
'The youth is stressed and students are depressed.'
Was Ram Rahim's release on parole for the 10th time since his conviction in 2017 timed to coincide with the Haryana assembly elections? It does seem so when one considers he has been released mostly when there was an election in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Listing the times that Ram Rahim has been out on parole.
Former Dera manager Ranjit Singh, who was also a follower of the sect, was shot dead in 2002.
The parole comes two months after the Sirsa-headquartered sect chief had walked out of the Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak district on November 21 last year after he was granted a 21-day furlough -- his third temporary release from jail in 2023.
'Gurashman's death is being treated as unexpected, and while there is nothing to suggest it was suspicious, we will ensure our investigation is as thorough as possible to confirm this'
A team of three Union ministers will hold talks on Monday with a delegation of farmer leaders, who are planning to march towards Delhi to press for their demands.
Temperatures in 17 locations breached 45 degrees Celsius on Monday, with the punishing heat affecting health and livelihoods.
'Arithmetic could decide the Haryana election given the presence of multi-cornered contests.'
The Sirsa-headquartered sect chief, who is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, walked out of the Sunaria prison in Haryana's Rohtak on Saturday after being granted a 40-day parole and reached Barnawa Ashram in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat.
Among the fatalities recorded on Friday, the maximum 17 were from Uttar Pradesh, 14 from Bihar, five from Odisha and four from Jharkhand, where officials said more than 1,300 people are hospitalised with heatstroke conditions.
The Met office has issued a "red" warning for Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and west Rajasthan, stressing the need for "extreme care for vulnerable people".
He has been incarcerated since 2017 in Haryana's Sunaria jail where he is serving a 20-year term for raping two women disciples at his ashram's headquarters in Sirsa.
Temperatures in 17 locations breached 48 degrees Celsius on Monday, with the relentless heat affecting health and livelihoods across large parts of northwestern and central India.
India's first woman elephant mahout Parbati Baruah famous as Hasti Kanya, tribal environmentalist Chami Murmu, social worker Sangthankima who runs Mizoram's largest orphanage and plastic surgeon Prema Dhanraj who treats burn victims are among 34 "unsung heroes" awarded Padma Shri on Thursday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday named 72 more candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Anurag Singh Thakur, and former chief ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Basavaraj Bommai.
The Punjab and Haryana high court Tuesday issued notices to the Centre, and the states of Haryana and Punjab, on two separate petitions filed pertaining to the farmers' Delhi Chalo march.
Temperatures remained above 45 degrees Celsius in large parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh, affecting daily life as many chose to remain indoors in the afternoon.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji was hearing a petition of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee which had challenged the grant of temporary release to the Dera Sacha Sauda chief.
Singh is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples.
According to a police official from Rohtak, Singh returned to Sunaria jail late afternoon.
Farmers will march towards Delhi on Tuesday after a meeting with two Union ministers over their demands, including legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) for crops, remained inconclusive.
The Bharatiya Janata Party replaced at least 25 sitting MPs with new faces as the party released its second list of 72 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Wednesday.
A 21-year-old farmer was killed and a few others injured following a clash between security personnel and protesting farmers at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border.
Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai and farmer leaders from Punjab will meet on Sunday for the fourth round of talks.
They committed criminal trespass, injured officials, disrespected the Indian flag and damaged public property.
The committee advising the wrestlers have set a deadline for the arrest of the WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Farmers from Punjab clashed with Haryana police at two border points between the states on Tuesday, facing tear gas and water cannons as they tried to break past barricades blocking their protest march to the national capital. The police lobbed tear gas shells -- some of them dropped from a drone -- and tried to disperse groups of stone-pelting protesters in the face-off that last several hours at Shambhu border near Ambala in Haryana.
In Phase 6, indications are that the BJP, which is defending 40 seats, will lose in double digits and gain in single digits. Not good, if you are the ruling party scrambling to earn a working majority, with just one phase left to go, argues Prem Panicker.
Three suspected shooters were nabbed in Punjab's Patiala district early on Friday in connection with the killing of a Dera Sacha Sauda follower a day ago, the police said.
Nijjar was a close associate of Gurdeep Singh alias Deepa Heranwala, who was involved in the killing of around 200 people in Punjab during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh walked out of the Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak district on Thursday after he was granted a 30-day parole.
Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa had told reporters on Tuesday that those who pelted his vehicle with stones on Sunday cannot be called farmers.
The move comes just ahead of the Adampur bypoll, which is scheduled to be held on November 3.
BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa also slammed those who targeted Arshdeep and called him a 'Khalistani'.
Bareta, who was one of the accused in the incidents related to the desecration of a religious text in Faridkot in 2015, was declared a proclaimed offender.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a number of prominent Sikhs at his residence on Friday and highlighted the works done by his government for the community.
The latest parole to the Dera chief, who is serving a 20-year jail term for raping his two disciples, comes three months after he was granted a similar parole.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances