Voting for the Delhi Assembly elections began on Wednesday, with prominent leaders like President Droupadi Murmu, Union ministers S Jaishankar and Hardeep Singh Puri, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi casting their ballots early in the day. Other notable figures who participated in the electoral process included Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, and Delhi Chief Electoral Officer R Alice Vaz. The election is a triangular contest between the ruling AAP, BJP, and Congress, with the AAP aiming for a third consecutive term. Polling is underway at 13,766 stations across Delhi's 70 assembly constituencies to decide the fate of 699 candidates. The results will be announced on February 8.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar appear to have got the maximum representation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new council of ministers, while assembly poll-bound Maharashtra also found a significant presence.
The members of the cabinet committees included Union ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party and its National Democratic Alliance partners like Janata Dal-United, Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal-Secular, Shiv Sena and Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to form its government in Delhi after winning the recent assembly elections. Party leaders have stated that the new chief minister should be chosen from the elected BJP MLAs, with several contenders emerging from the newly-elected members. The decision on the next chief minister is expected to be made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from his foreign visit around February 15.
There is also speculation within the BJP that its national president J P Nadda, whose extended tenure will end by this month and who was among the leaders meeting Modi, may also be brought back in the government.
The BJP has fielded former MP Parvesh Verma from the New Delhi seat against Arvind Kejriwal.
Abuse of power, financial misconduct, and the never-ending turf wars are now coming to light as Boxing Federation of India's officials jostle to escape blame for the shocking turn of events.
Rekha Gupta had the support of the RSS, which actively participated in the Delhi assembly poll campaign to help the BJP win.
The EC asked him to provide factual evidence with specific and pointed response to type, quantity, nature and manner of poisoning of Yamuna.
Ten Union ministers will be the permanent invitees to the Inter-State Council, according to an official notification.
While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president JP Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers.
Among the new entrants to the Union cabinet, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been given the agriculture and rural development portfolios, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda the health portfolio and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar the power portfolio.
Delhi recorded a voter turnout of over 19 per cent in the first four hours of polling on Wednesday across 70 assembly constituencies, with the highest voter participation witnessed in North East district.
'I need to work to find some joy in this life.'
Eleven days after she was shot dead in a Gurugram hotel, the body of ex-model Divya Pahuja was recovered from a canal in Haryana's Fatehabad district on Saturday, police said.
According to the statement, NIA investigations have revealed the involvement of the notorious terrorist-gangster syndicate behind the killing of Gogamedi, who was shot dead in the living room of his house in Shyam Nagar colony in Jaipur in December 2023.
This day too will be completely devoted to oath-taking by newly-elected members of the lower House.
Six bills, including the one to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday amid protests by opposition members over the violence in Manipur.
Several Union ministers, including Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar resigned.
The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
President Murmu reached the new Parliament building in a six-horse buggy accompanied by the Presidential Bodyguards riding horses.
Lovely hailed the BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for giving him and his colleagues the opportunity to join the party when they felt lost.
The Railways has also partially cancelled two mail/express trains, thus the total number of trains affected during the day is 371, the officials said.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, all ministers in Modi 2.0 Cabinet, took oath as cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In all, 71 ministers were sworn-in along with Modi, taking the strength of the Union council to 72.
The Centre is likely to take punitive action against five senior police officers of West Bengal.
The BJP's top leadership will drop its MPs found to be facing anti-incumbency, according to its internal surveys -- a pivotal tactic to ensure the party achieves its target of winning 370 seats.
'I feel numb with the trauma we have been going through ever since we first got the news. For close to two weeks, we have been hearing my child will be rescued today. That today never comes'
Union ministers Virendra Kumar, Kiren Rijiju and Anurag Singh Thakur have been included in the rejigged Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, according to a notification issued by the Cabinet Secretariate last night.
Jaishankar briefed the leaders of all parties about the situation in the violence-hit nation and the steps taken by the Indian government.
The JD-U leader's outbursts met with disapproval from the RJD as well as ally BJP, leaving the party to fend for itself.
Here is the complete list of ministers in Modi 3.0 and their portfolios:
A search is on for suitable accommodation for Arvind Kejriwal and his family, Singh had said.
Students held a protest over the deaths of the civil services aspirants, raising slogans against authorities.
Wait for a while before he does another somersault... But one thing is reasonably certain -- the twice betrayed BJP may not embrace him again, predicts Virendra Kapoor.
The 102nd Constitution Amendment Act of 2018 inserted articles 338B, which deals with the structure, duties and powers of the National Commission for Backward Classes, and 342A that deals with the powers of the president to notify a particular caste as an SEBC and the power of Parliament to change the list. Article 366 (26C) defines SEBCs.
Addressing a press conference a day after Maliwal alleged that a member of Kejriwal's personal staff "assaulted" her, Singh said AAP supremo Kejriwal will take strict action in the matter.
Atishi will have a brief tenure in office as assembly elections in the national capital are due in February.
Delhi Water Minister Atishi ended her indefinite fast over the water scarcity in the national capital after she was hospitalised early Tuesday, Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday reserved its order on the maintainability of a writ petition filed by a local activist -- seeking a probe into allegations of irregularities against Robert Vadra relating to his land transactions with real estate major DLF in Haryana.
The choice that bypasses several other senior government leaders is likely to set a stage for another round of tussle between the AAP dispensation and the LG Secretariat.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances