Monday, 23 December 2024
Monday, 23 December 2024
Top INDIA bloc leaders gathered at the Ramlila Maidan to express solidarity with arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, and urged people to vote out the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls to 'save democracy and the Constitution'. Chief Minister Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal and JMM leader Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana Soren were also addressed the gathering, castigating the Central government over the arrest of their husbands in corruption cases.
President Droupadi Murmu conferred Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, on Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart and former deputy prime minister L K Advani at his residence. Advani, a doyen of Indian politics, has served the nation with unwavering dedication and distinction for over seven decades, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee mocked the BJP-led NDA's target of winning 400-plus seats in the Lok Sabha polls and challenged the saffron party to win at least 200 constituencies. "The BJP is saying '400 paar', I challenge them to cross the 200-seat benchmark first. In the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls, they aimed for 200 plus seats but had to stop at 77. Some of these 77 have since joined us," she said while campaigning for TMC candidate Mahua Moitra in the Krishnanagar area.
The money trail of the alleged Rs 45 crore kickbacks generated from the Delhi excise policy 'scam' and used for the 2022 Goa election campaign by the Aam Aadmi Party, as claimed by the Enforcement Directorate, has also been 'substantiated' by the CBI and the Income-Tax department in their separate investigations, according to documents filed in court. Statements of five 'Angadiya' firm operators have also been recorded by the ED to establish the 'money trail' of this alleged Rs 45 crore bribe amount.
The Opposition INDIA bloc urged the Election Commission to ensure a level-playing field in the Lok Sabha polls and asserted that despite the BJP creating 'undemocratic obstacles', the alliance is committed to fight, win and save the country's democracy. The poll panel should stop the Enforcement Directorate, CBI and the Income Tax department's actions against Opposition parties being taken to adversely impact the elections, the Congress leader demanded, adding that former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal be immediately released.
Some people pelted stones and damaged several cars during an election rally in support of the BJP's Lok Sabha candidate and Union minister Sanjeev Balyan in Khatauli area of Muzaffarnagar district, police said. The BJP's district unit president Sudhir Saini has condemned the incident and demanded strict action against those involved.
Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on April 1 a Gyanvapi mosque management committee's plea against an Allahabad High Court decision upholding a lower court's order allowing Hindu prayers in the southern cellar of the mosque. The high court had dismissed the committee's plea in which it had challenged the district court's January 31 order allowing Hindus to offer prayers in the cellar.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has banned the use of red carpets at government events, reserving them exclusively for diplomatic receptions, as part of austerity measures to cut down unnecessary expenditures in the cash-strapped nation. According to a notification issued by the Cabinet division, the prime minister has instructed that the red carpet will not be used for federal ministers and government figures at official events in the future.
One person on average gets killed in human-animal conflict every week in Karnataka, reveals official data. More than 600 people have lost their lives due to attacks by wild animals, majority of them being from elephants, over the last decade, officials said.
Star batter Babar Azam was reappointed as Pakistan's white-ball captain, two months ahead of the T20 World Cup. The decision to reinstate Babar was taken after a unanimous recommendation from the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) selection committee.
