The Congress on Friday demanded that the government must introduce a law for implementing Article 15(5), which pertains to reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs in private educational institutions, in Parliament's next session. To buttress its argument, the opposition party cited a parliamentary committee report which stated that the SC, ST, and OBC community students are underrepresented in private universities. Addressing a joint press conference along with Adivasi Congress chief Vikrant Bhuria and party's OBC department head Anil Jaihind, Congress' SC Department chief Rajendra Pal Gautam said the number of private educational institutions in the country has been continuously increasing, but due to the non-implementation of reservations there and lack of money, children from SC, ST, OBC categories could not get access to them. "Due to this, during the Congress government, a law was made, in which provision was made for reservation for SC, ST, OBC categories in private higher education
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The BJP has maintained that the Centre's recent order to grant residential status to non-Muslim with invalid travel documents from neighbouring countries couldn't have been better timed, even as the opposition perceived it to be a strategy to prevent the party's apple cart from getting upset in poll-bound states of the east. Interpretations of the order across the political spectrum ranged from being the first step towards granting citizenship to persecuted Hindus who crossed over from Bangladesh in recent times to a recipe for a civil war among communities. As per the exemption order, persons belonging to minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who sought shelter in India on grounds of religious persecution on or before December 31, 2024 without valid travel documents, would not be prosecuted under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. Enforced on September 1, the law mandates creation of a Bureau of
Actor-politician Mithun Chakraborty has filed a defamation case against TMC's Kunal Ghosh, who has responded with a criminal defamation suit in a Kolkata court
Women workers of the NDA constituents in Bihar on Thursday enforced a five-hour state-wide bandh to protest the alleged hurling of abuse at the mother of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Congress' recently concluded 'Voter Adhikar Yatra'. The members of women cells of BJP, JD(U) and other alliance partners enforced the bandh, which began at 7 am, and staged protests in Patna and other areas. At Patna's Income Tax roundabout, the protesters raised slogans and displayed placards, slamming the Congress and RJD over the incident. Senior BJP leaders, state ministers, party MPs, MLAs and workers will also stage a sit-in outside the state unit office later in the day. Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal, MPs Ravi Shankar Prasad and Dharmshila Gupta, state minister Nitin Nabin and other senior leaders will participate in the dharna, a statement issued by state BJP said. Speaking to PTI, Patna (Central) Superintendent of Police Diksha said, "Adequate forces have been deployed at all .
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BJP leaders have been attacking the Congress after a purported video showed an unidentified person using a Hindi expletive against PM Modi from a dais raised during a rally in Darbhanga
Calling the remarks during Congress' Bihar yatra an insult to women and "Mother India," Modi said he may forgive RJD and Congress, but the people of Bihar never will
Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday alleged that the two activists Girish Mattannavar and Mahesh Shetty Thimarody were associated with the RSS and BJP. The two people are accused of being the brains behind the Dharmasthala row involving large-scale excavation following complaints of the burial of many young women and girl students, sources said. Two separate cases have been registered against Mattannavar and Thimarody for allegedly creating and circulating videos on social media, that disturbed communal harmony and offended public sentiments, police said on Tuesday. Kharge, who holds the Information Technology and Biotechnology Minister portfolio, told reporters that Thimarody is from RSS. "Against whom did they (BJP) speak inside the Karnataka Assembly? Wasn't that Mahesh Shetty Thimarody? This person is from RSS. The RSS is BJP's Guru. These people grew up in RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal," Kharge said. Regarding Mattennavar, the Minister said, "He is Bharatiya Janata Yuva .
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is in Mumbai to attend the ongoing Ganesh festivities, visited Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' residence and later took 'darshan' of the famous Lalbaugcha Raja Ganpati with his family members. Shah also held a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and state BJP leaders. Shah arrived in the city on Friday night. On Saturday morning, he met Shinde at the state government's Sahyadri Guest House in south Mumbai, where he also interacted with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) joint general secretary Atul Limaye, Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan and newly appointed Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam. Shah later visited 'Varsha', the official residence of CM Fadnavis, party sources said. After that the Union minister visited the famous Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh mandal with his family members as part of his annual tradition. CM Fadnavis and Deputy CM Shinde also accompanied them. Shah is also scheduled to pay a visit to the Ganesh pandals in
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With the Election Commission planning to add nearly 14,000 new polling booths amid prospective Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of rolls in West Bengal, the BJP faces a shortage of Booth Level Agents (BLAs), exposing a critical organisational gap that could weaken its 2026 poll challenge, while the TMC, with no such issues, exudes confidence. For the Trinamool Congress, the expansion of polling stations from the existing 80,000 to an estimated 94,000, spread across 294 assembly seats, is less a burden than an opportunity to tighten its grip at the grassroots. In contrast, the BJP functionaries acknowledge they are planning to cover only about 70 per cent of booths with BLAs during the SIR exercise, well short of what is needed to ensure an effective presence statewide. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP could deploy polling agents in around 50,000-55,000 of West Bengal's existing 80,681 booths. The target now stands at 65,000-70,000, but insiders admit the party may struggle to ge
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday demanded that India impose higher tariffs on imports from the United States to protect the interests of Indian farmers. There was no immediate response from the central government to Kejriwal's demand. US President Donald Trump has imposed a 50 per cent trade tariff on India over its crude oil imports from Russia. The tariff will impact exports and job creation in labour-intensive sectors such as shrimp, apparel, diamonds, leather and footwear, and gems and jewellery. Addressing a press conference here, Kejriwal alleged that the BJP-led central government has decided to waive 11 per cent duty on cotton imported from the US, a move he claimed could adversely affect domestic growers. "There are lakhs of farmers in the country who depend on cotton for their livelihood. If cotton is imported duty-free, our farmers will suffer losses. Why is the government hurting them?" he asked. The former Delhi chief minister said countries across th
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Ruling BJP on Thursday fulfilled its major poll promise, with Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini announcing the rollout of the 'Lado Lakshmi Yojana' from September 25 under which eligible women will be given Rs 2,100 monthly assistance. Saini announced the decision after a meeting of the Haryana cabinet. The cabinet took a decision to implement the Deen Dayal Lado Lakshmi Yojana, Saini said. This scheme will be implemented from September 25, on the day of Deendayal Upadhyaya's birth anniversary, he said. Under this scheme, all eligible women beneficiaries will get Rs 2,100 financial assistance every month, Saini said. From September 25, women aged 23 years and above will get benefits of this scheme.Be it married or unmarried, both categories will get benefit of the scheme, he said. In the first phase of this scheme rollout, we have decided to include those families whose annual income is below Rs 1 lakh, Saini said. In coming time, this scheme will be expanded in phases to include
Home Minister Amit Shah will arrive in Assam on Thursday to take stock of the party's organisation ahead of the assembly elections, which would be due next year. After reaching Guwahati, Shah will attend a meeting of the state BJP's core committee, and later have dinner with party members. "He will discuss the preparation for the forthcoming Assam assembly elections, which is very important for the party. The home minister takes a keen interest in it," Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday. On Friday, Shah will inaugurate the newly-constructed Brahmaputra wing of the Raj Bhavan, followed by the inauguration of the National Cyber Forensic Laboratory and unveiling of various projects of ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles. Later in the day, he will also attend a convention of the newly elected panchayat members of the NDA. After that event, he will review the progress of the Jyoti Bishnu Cultural Complex, an auditorium with a seating capacity of 5,000 people. In the evening,
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday accused the BJP of making elections a "mockery", asserting that people will remove it from power as it has "stolen votes". Addressing a rally in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, the DMK leader alleged that the deletion of the names of 65 lakh voters from the electoral rolls of Bihar during the special intensive revision was "more dangerous than terrorism". "Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav have joined hands to protect democracy. The BJP-led NDA will be defeated in the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar," he asserted. Accusing the BJP of making the Election Commission its "puppet", he said, "Rahul Gandhi has exposed the EC, but the poll panel did not respond to his charges. It asked him to file an affidavit... Rahul Gandhi won't be scared." Earlier in the day, Stalin and DMK MP Kanimozhi arrived in Bihar to join the Congress's 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Muzaffarpur district. Soon after joining the yatra, Stalin, in a
The BJP on Tuesday said the Enforcement Directorate's raids against AAP Delhi unit chief and former health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj have exposed the "medical scam" under the previous Arvind Kejriwal government. The AAP government in Delhi was involved in the "scam" in the construction of hospitals and purchase of medicines and equipment. An investigation into the "scam" in purchase of medicines is already being conducted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said in a video statement. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is searching the premises of Bharadwaj and some private contractors as part of a money laundering probe linked to an alleged scam in health infrastructure projects during the previous AAP government in Delhi, official sources said. At least 13 locations in the National Capital Region are being searched under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, they said. "We have said it earlier also that the previous AAP government led by Arvind ..
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday charged the Election Commission with having a "partnership" with the ruling BJP at the Centre, and vowed to thwart "institutionalised theft of votes" in the guise of special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. A week into the fortnight-long 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', Gandhi also seemed delighted at the response, claiming that people were taking part "organically, without being asked to do so", and that the slogan 'vote chor, gaddi chhod' (vote thief, vacate your seat of power) was now on the lips of "even six-year-old children". The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha wound up the second leg of the yatra, which will now resume on Tuesday, with a press conference in Araria district, where he reached from adjoining Purnea in an impromptu motorcycle rally. The Congress leader deftly side-stepped a pointed question about the reluctance to declare RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, seated by his side, as the chief ministerial candidate even though