The Congress party's Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the second day in Kerala on Monday, amid an encouraging turnout of people who have been lining up the streets of the state in thousands to extend support to Rahul Gandhi who has embarked on the 3,500 km Kanyakumari-Kashmir foot march.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who has been in poor health, walked a few kilometres in Mandya, Karnataka.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 was crucial in ending terrorism in Kashmir. He stated that the provision fostered separatism among Kashmiri youth and impeded the region's full integration into India. Shah also highlighted the development initiatives undertaken in Jammu and Kashmir post-Article 370, including a reduction in terrorism, successful local body elections, and an increase in tourism and film production. He emphasized the significance of writing India's history with facts and evidence, countering narratives that had obscured the country's rich heritage.
Citing the example of last year, he said many pilgrims who came for the yatra from rural areas of Uttar Pradesh had to return from Rishikesh and Haridwar as they had not registered in advance for it.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in Kashmir on Saturday as most areas of the valley received snowfall, disrupting flight and railway operations and also leading to the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, officials said.
Interacting with civil society members at the Bharat Jodo Yatra Conclave at the Constitution Club in New Delhi, Gandhi said the yatra is like tapasya for him, according to sources.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi seems to be winning friends during his party's Bharat Jodo Yatra in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The two-time MP was taking part in the Rahul Gandhi-led march in Phillaur in Jalandhar where he fainted, said senior party leader Partap Singh Bajwa, who was also marching in the yatra.
Asked about his remarks at the Udaipur chintan shivir earlier this year that the Congress' connect with the people had been broken, Gandhi insisted that he had stated that the connect had weakened.
The first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee under Mallikarjun Kharge's presidency will be held in Hyderabad on Saturday during which the party's top brass will deliberate on evolving a strategy for upcoming assembly polls in five states and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The National Green Tribunal has been informed by the Uttar Pradesh government's environment department that over 1.12 lakh trees will be felled in the protected forest area in the state to make way for the upcoming Kanwar Yatra route.
The Congress said the foot march, being led by party leader Rahul Gandhi, will proceed according to its schedule and reach Jammu on Monday afternoon.
'The Kerala BJP leadership is doing the job of clerical staff. What the boss orders, they just follow them.'
He asserted that it was time to "throw such forces out" to protect "mati, beti, roti" (land, daughter, bread).
The drive begins just days ahead of the Char Dham Yatra in the state.
The two-wheeler giant had only 14 per cent of the electric two-wheeler market in May this year, but its 26.8 per cent in December
Before the launch of the 'Bharat jodo yatra, former Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will on Wednesday take part in a prayer meeting at former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's memorial in Sriperumbudur.
An encounter took place between security forces and terrorists in a remote forest in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar early on Sunday, officials said.
Justice Devan Ramachandran, in an order issued on Thursday evening, said it was a tragedy that the orders of the court and the competent authorities are 'given absolutely no respect' by persons and entities 'who are in charge of the future of this nation'.
The Amarnath Yatra has been suspended from Jammu due to inclement weather conditions and no fresh batch was allowed to proceed from Jammu to the base camps of the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said.
Bhatt was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment in a 1990 custodial death case in Jamnagar and 20 years in jail in a 1996 case relating to planting drugs to frame a Rajasthan-based lawyer in Palanpur. He is currently lodged in the Rajkot Central Jail.
Eyeing the revival of the crisis-ridden party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party chief Sonia Gandhi described the march as a "landmark occasion" and hoped that the march would help rejuvenate the grand old party.
The BJP may be in the Opposition in many states, but nowhere is it as divided as it is in Karnataka, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Calling the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra a "unique and historic" movement, Rajasthan Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena said Rahul Gandhi's march is much bigger than Lord Rama's padyatra from Ayodhya to Sri Lanka.
Rajya Sabha member Raut questioned why Gandhi was raking up issues which touch the people's emotional chord and giving the Bharatiya Janata Party a chance on a platter to divert attention.
The RSS chief, who is engaged in a campaign to increase contact with Muslims, on Thursday visited Masjid and madrassa in Delhi and met Chief Imam of All India Imam Organisation Dr Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, who called the RSS chief 'the Father of the Nation'.
'With his passing, Indian cinema has lost its most undaunted voice, a voice of unsettling truths, a window to history, a school of filmmaking.'
Travelling from South India to Kashmir in December was magical for Ganesh Nadar as he feasted his eyes on the beauty of the snow-capped Himalayas.
He said the party has not extended an invitation to Singh to join the yatra.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday hoisted the national flag at the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' camp site in Srinagar and followed it with a fun snowball fight with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
"No celebrations, processions, gatherings, etc. shall be allowed during forthcoming Kanwar Yatra-2021 starting from July 25 in NCT of Delhi," stated an order issued by the DDMA.
Rahul Gandhi has become a symbol of 'Bharat jodo' (unite India) and will be seen in a new avatar post the Congress' pan-India march, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said.
'He treated stars and assistants with the same unfailing courtesy.'
Meta announced a first-of-its-kind initiative called 'WhatsApp Bharat Yatra', where the company will go to Tier-II and Tier-III cities to provide on-ground, in-person training to small businesses.
He, however, said if at all the party rebels want to return, the doors of 'Matoshree' (the personal residence of Thackerays) are always open for them.
A dedicated commercial court for Bengaluru Urban District has directed micro-blogging site Twitter to block the handles of the Indian National Congress (INC) and its 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' till the next date of hearing.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who embarked on the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' from Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari on Wednesday, will be staying in a container for the next 150 days.
However, no video of the alleged incident was made available immediately by the party. Kejriwal is a Z-plus protectee. A senior police officer said that they haven't received any official complaint from the AAP yet.
India and China have agreed to work towards a "roadmap" for rebuilding mutual trust following the border standoff in eastern Ladakh, according to a statement from the Indian Defence Ministry. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun in Vientiane, Laos, on the sidelines of a regional security conclave. Singh called for drawing lessons from the "unfortunate border clashes" of 2020 and emphasized the need for cooperation rather than conflict. Both sides agreed to work towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual trust and understanding, and a meeting of the Special Representatives and Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism will also take place soon.
Route inspection for Kanwar Yatra and peace meetings with Hindu and Muslim community members came on instructions of police commissioner Alok Singh, according to a police statement