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Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take part in Durga Puja festivities in Kolkata on Friday. He arrived in the metropolis on Thursday night and was received at the airport by senior state BJP leader Rahul Sinha. Shah will inaugurate the pandal of the Santosh Mitra Square Sarbojanin Durgotsab Samity in north Kolkata on Friday. Organised by BJP councillor Sajal Ghosh, the Durga Puja pandal has showcased 'Operation Sindoor'. Shah will then visit the Kalighat temple in south Kolkata and offer puja. Later, he will inaugurate the Durga Puja pandal of the BJP-backed Paschim Banga Sanskriti Mancha at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) in Salt Lake. He will leave the city in the evening.
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The BJP on Thursday made important appointments for key poll-bound states, including for next year, naming Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupender Yadav as its election in-charge of Bihar and West Bengal. The party appointed Baijayant 'Jay' Panda, one of its vice presidents, its in-charge for the assembly polls in Tamil Nadu where it is a junior partner to the AIADMK. While the Bihar assembly elections are expected to be held in November, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are likely to go to polls in March-April. A BJP statement said Union minister C R Paatil, who heads the party's Gujarat unit and is considered a capable organisation hand, and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya are co-incharges for the Bihar polls. Former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb is the co-incharge for West Bengal and Union minister Murlidhar Mohol is the co-incharge for Tamil Nadu, it added. Both Pradhan and Yadav are among the most experienced poll managers of the BJP and
The protests followed a 15-day hunger strike over the statehood demand, led by environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk
The BJP on Wednesday alleged that the violence in Ladakh was a part of the Congress' nefarious design to create situations in the country which were witnessed in Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines under a nefarious design. The ruling party's charge came after the movement for the demand of statehood to Ladakh and the Union Territory's inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution descended into violence, arson and street clashes in Leh, killing four people and injuring at least 45, including 22 police personnel. "Today in Ladakh, an attempt was made to portray some protests as being led by 'Gen Z' but when an investigation was carried out, it was found that this was not a Gen Z protest but actually a Congress protest," BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters at the party headquarters here. "The Congress has a nefarious design. It's Congress' conspiracy. 'Bharat tere tukde honge Inshallah, Inshallah' is the Congress' main line This is Rahul Gandhi's plan
Terming Special Intensive Revision exercise in Bihar as another "dirty trick" from the BJP toolkit, the Congress Working Committee said it is aimed at manipulating electoral rolls and retaining power
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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that an impression was developing in the Union Territory that its statehood will not be restored as the BJP could not win assembly elections last year. He said BJP was the only party that opposed statehood restoration. "Sometimes it looks like people of Jammu and Kashmir will not get statehood because the BJP lost the elections. This is an injustice because nowhere was it said that statehood will be restored only if the BJP wins," Abdullah told media outside his private office here. "If there is opposition to the restoration of statehood, it is coming only from the BJP," he said. Abdullah said the biggest challenge before his 11-month-old government is that Jammu and Kashmir is not a state. "The way the people were promised and the Supreme Court was informed, we expected it to be a three-step process: first delimitation, then elections, followed by restoration of statehood," the chief minister said. "The delimitatio
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Congress accused that the 'limited' reform comes eight years too late; Vaishnaw pointed to the significantly higher tax rates under the UPA government
JP Nadda visited Amar Colony market as new GST rates came into effect, urging retailers to pass on benefits to consumers and promote Swadeshi products this festive season
With the Social and Education Survey, popularly known as 'caste census' commencing in Karnataka on Monday, state BJP President B Y Vijayendra accused the Congress government and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of trying to divide the Hindu society, and called it "unfortunate". He termed the caste census as the "misadventure" of the state government, despite it not having any powers to conduct such a survey. "The caste census has reached the High Court...the chief minister, who should be thinking about the development of the state, is involving himself in attempts to divide the Hindu society. This is an unfortunate thing for the state," Vijayendra said. Speaking to reporters here, he said, "People are discussing it. People and society have become aware now, but there is a need for Hindu society to become more aware. This misadventure of the state government, despite them not having any powers to do the cast census is condemnable. We will see what happens at the court." The survey by the
Latest news updates LIVE: PM Modi unveiled projects worth Rs 5,000 crore in Arunachal Pradesh. Catch all the latest developments here
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has taken a swipe at the BJP government, asking where the GST collections over the past eight years have gone. The GST Council, comprising Centre and states, has decided to reduce tax rates on goods and services, from September 22 -- the first day of Navratri. "The public is asking where the money collected in the name of GST has gone," Yadav wrote, listing possibilities such as whether the total amount would be delivered in cash to people's homes like the "UP BJP government's Mahakumbh model", adjusted in the next insurance premium, credited directly to bank accounts as direct benefit transfer, or deducted from the "Rs 15 lakh" promised earlier by the BJP. In the post late Sunday night, Yadav further asked if the amount would be distributed along with the long-pending promise of subsidised LPG cylinders, paid using funds allegedly received by BJP from companies through "backdoor routes", handed out in cash on the eve of the next election, us
The Congress on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of taking "sole ownership" of the amendments made to the GST regime and said the current reforms were inadequate, with no resolution to the states' demand for an extension of compensation for another five years. The opposition party slammed the reforms as "applying band-aid after inflicting deep wounds" and said the government should apologise to the public for its GST on essential items. A day before reduced GST rates come into effect, Modi made a strong pitch for promoting 'swadeshi' goods and asserted that the next generation GST reforms would accelerate India's growth story, increase ease of doing business, and attract more investors. In his address to the nation, Modi said a 'GST bachat utsav (savings festival)' will begin from the first day of Navratri, and coupled with the income tax exemption, it will be a "double bonanza" for most people. Reacting to his address, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge took a swipe
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday claimed that the Centre was taking undue credit for lowering GST rates, though the move was initiated by the state. Her statement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address to the nation, said a GST savings festival will begin from the first day of Navratri' on Monday, which, coupled with the income tax exemption, will be a "double bonanza" for most people. Without naming the Prime Minister, Bannerjee said, We are losing Rs 20,000 crore as revenue, but we are happy about the lowering of GST. But why are you (Modi) claiming credit for it? We had sought a lowered GST. It was our suggestion at the GST Council meeting with the Union Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has attacked the BJP government commenting that an emergency has struck India's foreign policy under it and that it has failed to protect the country from arbitrary tariffs and visa fees. He also said the government has failed to protect Indians living abroad from violent attacks. In a post on microblogging site X on Saturday, Yadav said, "An emergency has struck foreign policy under the BJP rule: The BJP government is unable to protect India from arbitrary tariffs and arbitrary visa fees." He said the government is unable to keep up relations with neighbouring countries, adhere to the country's historical non-alignment policy, protect overseas Indians from handcuffs, chains, public humiliation and violent attacks, and bring any country along on the matter of terrorism. The post in Hindi added that the BJP government has put the foreign policy aside. Speaking to reporters at the party office in Lucknow, the Samajwadi Party chief slammed the
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation, the Congress on Sunday took a swipe at him, asking whether he will address US President Donald Trump's India-Pakistan "ceasefire" claims and the concerns of lakhs of Indian H1B visa holders or just repeat what is already known on the new GST rates. Prime Minister Modi will address the nation at 5 pm on Sunday, his office said. However, the Prime Minister's Office gave no indication of the subject of his address in the evening. His address will come on the eve of Navratri, the day from when the revised GST rates will kick in, with the prices of a large number of products set to come down. In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "As the PM prepares to address the nation, his good friend in Washington DC has once again stolen his thunder and claimed -- for the 42nd time - that he stopped Operation Sindoor by using increased trade with America as leverage." President Trump has
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Arunachal Pradesh on Monday, during which he will unveil infrastructure projects worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore. The PM is scheduled to arrive at the Donyi Polo Airport in Hollongi around 9 am, after which he will fly to the Raj Bhavan in Itanagar on a helicopter, officials said. He will then travel to Indira Gandhi Park, where he will unveil the development projects and address a rally. Modi will lay the foundation stones for the Tato-I and Heo hydropower projects, both of which will be developed on the Yarjep River in the Shi Yomi district. The Tato-I project, with a capacity of 186 mw, will be developed jointly by the Arunachal Pradesh government and the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) at Rs 1,750 crore. It is expected to generate around 802 million units of electricity annually. The 240-mw Heo project will also be developed by the state government and NEEPCO at Rs 1,939 crore. It is expected to produce 1,000 milli