As the results for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 were declared on Tuesday, here is how some of the big faces fared in the contest.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Wednesday expelled Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who defied the party's order to resign from his post and presided over the two-day trust vote debate.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has permitted 100 per cent contribution from non-resident Indians (NRIs) and overseas citizens of India (OCIs) in the corpus of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) based out of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), the country's international financial services centre (IFSC). However, the Indian diaspora is yet to fully embrace this new route. The regulator allowed this route to enhance the fund ecosystem at GIFT City and attract genuine investments from overseas Indians.
89-year-old Chatterjee, who is suffering from a kidney-related ailment, was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition on Tuesday.
Finally breaking his silence, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the former law minister and Aam Aadmi Party lawmaker Somnath Bharti, who has been booked in a domestic violence case, is becoming an embarrassment for the party and his family, and therefore should surrender.
A 10-time Lok Sabha MP, Chatterjee was a central committee member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, which he had joined in 1968. He was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009.
The AAP national convenor is out on an interim bail till June 1. He has to surrender on June 2.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent one of his officials to the 20, Akbar Road residence of the Speaker on Friday morning to convey his birthday wishes to Chatterjee. The official presented a bouquet to him on behalf of Dr Singh.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu called Kangana Ranaut the 'daughter of Himachal' amid the backlash the Congress is facing over a purportedly objectionable post against the actress-turned politician.
Bansuri Swaraj is banking on Narendra Modi's popularity, and the fact that the New Delhi electorate is known to vote on national rather than local issues for the Lok Sabha polls.
The trust has around 35 kg of gold and will deposit the gold which is not in day-to-day use of the temple.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani alongwith Uma Bharti is scheduled to visit Somnath temple on Saturday, party sources said.
A number of high-profile electoral battles, starring veterans and debutants, formidable opponents and unlikely contestants, feature in Tuesday's outcome.
Out of these nine constituencies in the two districts, seven had been held by the ruling party while the Congress represented Amreli and Una seats.
Daily life was partially affected in West Bengal on Wednesday due to a 12-hour shutdown called by the Bharatiya Janata Party, protesting the police action against demonstrators during a march to the state secretariat.
Raveena Tandon and daughter Rasha Thadani offered prayers at the Somnath Mahadev temple in Gujarat.
Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Biman Bose on Monday rubbished Somnath Chatterjee's scathing comments on party general secretary Prakash Karat and criticised the former Lok Sabha Speaker for dragging Jyoti Basu's name into the controversy. "I feel that these are rubbish. If somebody wants to malign the party, that is in bad taste and is sad," said Bose, the state party secretary.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Somnath Bharti was on Wednesday assaulted allegedly by BJP workers at the Assi ghat in Varanasi when he went there to participate in an election-related programme.
'BJP insiders acknowledge that the party needs to be helmed by someone who can match Arvind Kejriwal's stature.' 'A Sudhanshu Trivedi or Bansuri Swaraj could bring the freshness the party needs in Delhi,' points out Aditi Phadnis.
The Aam Aadmi Party's national executive is meeting in New Delhi where it is likely to take a decision on the fate of its former minister and member of Legislative Assembly Somanath Bharti, who is on the run in a domestic violence case.
Lok Sabha Sepaker Somnath Chatterjee has said those who are occupying constitutional positions must give primacy to discharging their constitutional obligations in remarks seen as an oblique backing to Kerala Chief Minister V S Achutanandan's stand in his standoff with the party rival Pinarayi Vijayan.
'We have to find a way out of this confrontational politics.'
Defending the decision to expel Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the party, CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat on Thursday said they did not have any other option but to take disciplinary action against the veteran Marxist as he refused to quit the post after a party directive.
Muhammad Yunus proved that he was neither an armchair economist nor a slogan mongering political activist, but a doer destined to do what Mahatma Gandhi said -- to remove every tear from every eye, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
'You can see both being used in our textbooks already and that will continue in new textbooks'
Within hours of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's expulsion from the CPI-M, several leaders from the ruling UPA coalition thronged his residence to express their solidarity with one expressing readiness to accept the veteran Marxist in his party.
Congress member V Kishore Chandra Singh Deo could occupy the Lok Sabha Speaker's chair in case Somnath Chatterjee opts to quit his post. According to top party sources, Singh Deo, who represents the reserved Parvathipuram constituency of Andhra Pradesh, has been considered the most appropriate Congress MP to replace Chatterjee.
Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan on Thursday criticised the decision taken by authorities at the Somnath temple in Gujarat to restrict entry of non-Hindus inside, sans permission, and stated that the Central government has never supported any discrimination on the basis of religion.
Surprised at his name being proposed for the Presidential post, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has said he will consider the move if there is a large consensus on it.
'As soon as I came to know, I deleted that post. Everyone who knows me, also knows very well that I can never make personal and indecent comments towards any woman. I wanted to know how this happened,' she said.
The party fielded Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur, while Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada has replaced Varun Gandhi in Pilibhit.
Somnath Bharti's estranged wife Lipika on Monday said she was mulling approaching court against the Aam Aadmi Party lawmaker while addressing a press conference, which was interrupted by her mother-in-law who said she was ready to move to an old-age home to keep the couple together.
Asked about reports about candidature of actor Amitabh Bachchan for the post of President, Amar Singh said he or Samajwadi Party never announced that Amitabh would be the candidate for the post.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday suspended the two-year jail term of Aam Aadmi Party MLA Somnath Bharti in a case of assault on All India Institute of Medical Sciences security staff.
A Delhi court on Tuesday upheld an order sentencing Aam Aadmi Party MLA Somnath Bharti to two years in jail for assaulting the AIIMS security staff after which he was taken into custody and sent to the prison, his lawyer said.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration will soon provide advanced training to Indian astronauts, with the goal of mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station, a top American diplomat said Friday.
NDA on Wednesday boycotted Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's all-party meeting aimed at defusing the stalemate over the Opposition demand to dismiss Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Megha Engineering had emerged as the second-biggest buyer of electoral bonds and donated the highest amount of about Rs 586 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party, according to the data released by the Election Commission on March 21.
He is the first Communist leader to occupy the high office.
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