<p>Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Harshal Patel has left the IPL bio-bubble following the death of a family member.</p>

<p>PTI has learnt that Harshal exited the bubble after getting to know about the tragedy in the family right after the game against Mumbai Indians.</p>

<p>Harshal has been the star performer for RCB over the past couple of seasons and took two wickets on Saturday night in the team's seven wicket win over MI.</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-2022-kkr-vs-dc-head-to-head-record-trivia-stats-and-predicted-playing-xis-469907">IPL 2022: KKR vs DC - Head to head record, trivia, stats and predicted playing XIs</a></p>

<p>"Unfortunately, Harshal had to leave the bio-bubble due to a death in his family. It was his sister. He did not take the team bus back to Mumbai from Pune," said an IPL source.</p>

<p>"He will be rejoining the bubble before the next game against CSK on April 12."</p>

<p>The 31-year-old has played eight T20Is after making his debut last year.<br />
RCB face Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday.</p>


Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Harshal Patel has left the IPL bio-bubble following the death of a family member. PTI has learnt that Harshal exited the bubble after getting to know about the tragedy in the family right after the game against Mumbai Indians.

Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Harshal Patel has left the IPL bio-bubble following the death of a family member. PTI has learnt that Harshal exited the bubble after getting to know about the tragedy in the family right after the game against Mumbai Indians. Harshal has been the star performer for RCB over the past couple of seasons and took two wickets on Saturday night in the team's seven wicket win over MI. ALSO READ: IPL 2022: KKR vs DC - Head to head record, trivia, stats and predicted playing XIs "Unfortunately, Harshal had to leave the bio-bubble due to a death in his family. It was his sister. He did not take the team bus back to Mumbai from Pune," said an IPL source. "He will be rejoining the bubble before the next game against CSK on April 12." The 31-year-old has played eight T20Is after making his debut last year. RCB face Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday.

IPL 2022: RCB pacer Harshal Patel leaves team's bio-bubble after demise of his family member

<p>For well over a year now, President Joe Biden’s vaunted negotiating style largely boiled down to this: I’m with you.</p>

<p>After he vanquished Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the Democratic primary, he brought the liberal icon’s ardent supporters into the fold by embracing much of the senator’s platform even as he ran on unifying the country. When moderate Democrats came to call, he used the tones of centrism to assure them of his conciliatory bona fides.</p>

<p>But when Biden ventured to the Capitol on Friday to help House Democrats out of their thicket, he had to choose sides. He effectively chose the left.</p>

<p>“The way he is governing doesn’t reflect the skills I know he must have from his years as a legislator,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., who had been one of the moderates demanding an immediate vote on a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, convinced that was what the president wanted — or at least needed. She called Biden’s refusal to push harder for legislation he had embraced “disappointing and frustrating.”</p>

<p>“I’m not clear why he came up to the Hill,” she grumbled.</p>

<p>Since the president claimed his party’s nomination last year, he has nurtured the fragile peace between his party’s fractious center and left by convincing both sides he is their ally. Unified first by their shared disdain for former President Donald Trump, and then by Biden’s adoption of an expansive platform, the two factions remained in harmony into this year. They responded to the pandemic by passing a sweeping stimulus package in the spring.</p>

<p>Now the two factions are at loggerheads — one flexing its power but as yet empty-handed, the other feeling betrayed, both claiming they have the president on their side — and the outcome of their battle over Biden’s proposals could determine Democrats’ fate in the midterms and the success of his presidency.</p>

<p>That agenda consists of two sweeping domestic proposals resembling a modern Great Society: the “American Jobs Plan,” spending $1 trillion over 10 years on traditional infrastructure like roads, bridges and tunnels; and a bigger and more controversial “American Family Plan,” which the Democrats labeled “soft infrastructure,” including universal prekindergarten and community college, paid family and medical leave, child care and elder care support, and an expansion of Medicare.</p>

<p>But liberals feared that moderate Democrats would vote for the infrastructure bill, claim victory and peel away from the social policy measure, so they refused to support the smaller infrastructure bill until the larger social policy package had been passed.</p>

<p>Heading into last week, both the moderates and the progressives felt as if they had ironclad promises: the moderates, that a vote on infrastructure would happen before October; the liberals, that the bill, a crucial part of the president’s domestic agenda, was inextricably twinned with their higher priority, the more expansive measure addressing climate change and the frayed social safety net.</p>

<p>The liberals, however, used their larger numbers to blockade the infrastructure bill — and they said they did it for Biden. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one of the left-wing leaders of the blockade, stood before reporters last week and said the blockaders were the ones “trying to make sure that the president has a success.”</p>

<p>“If we pass the infrastructure bill alone, we are not even accomplishing 10% of his agenda,” said Omar, the vote-counter in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a bloc of Democrats nearly 100 strong, who showed their cohesion in last week’s showdown.</p>

<p>This enraged both the nine centrist lawmakers who had forced Speaker Nancy Pelosi to promise an infrastructure vote by the end of September, and a larger, quieter group of backbench House Democrats, many from swing districts, who were eager for the president to sign the public works bill and start trumpeting the funding for roads, bridges and broadband in their districts, at a time when Biden’s approval ratings were sagging.</p>

<p>“I don’t think it’s good for the Joe Biden administration, and I don’t think it’s good for Democrats,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, suggesting that Biden was effectively siding with the left by not lobbying for passage of the infrastructure package.</p>

<p>In part, that anger stemmed from Biden’s go-along-to-get-along style.</p>

<p>“You got the feeling that Uncle Joe is for everybody, he likes everybody,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo.</p>

<p>Members of the moderate wing were explicit Friday, blaming the liberals but also insisting that they themselves were Biden’s true torch bearers. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., denounced a “small faction on the far left” that he said had employed “Freedom Caucus tactics” to “destroy the president’s agenda” — a reference to the hard-right faction of the House that bedeviled Republican leaders when they were in charge.</p>

<p>“We were elected to achieve reasonable, common-sense solutions for the American people — not to obstruct from the far wings,” Gottheimer fumed in a statement released late Friday night. “This far-left faction is willing to put the president’s entire agenda, including this historic bipartisan infrastructure package, at risk. They’ve put civility and bipartisan governing at risk.”</p>

<p>Given the range of the party’s suburbanites-to-socialists coalition, it may have been inevitable that Biden would eventually anger one wing of his party. What was striking, and perhaps equally surprising to both blocs, was that he alienated the moderates who had propelled him to the nomination while delighting the progressives who vociferously opposed him in the primary.</p>

<p>The president is not backing off the public works measure so treasured by the moderates.</p>

<p>But as he told House Democrats on Friday, he believes it’s “just reality” that the infrastructure legislation will not pass without assurances from two centrist senators, Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., that they will support the more wide-ranging bill.</p>

<p>Although, as Biden conceded in the Capitol, that will not happen until the more expansive bill is pared back to meet the two senators’ approval.</p>

<p>The decision to keep the fate of each bill tied to the other’s measure amounts to a gamble. Infrastructure was the bird in hand; it passed the Senate with bipartisan bonhomie in August with 69 votes.</p>

<p>Together, they are in trouble, which deepens with every new demand by Manchin and Sinema that pulls the social policy bill further from the liberals’ vision. If the two factions cannot agree on that measure, Biden might end up with nothing — a catastrophic blow for his party and its leader.</p>

<p>Delaying the infrastructure bill is not, as Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., put it, “the linear and expeditious path to which most of us would aspire.”</p>

<p>Phillips, a well-liked moderate who captured a Republican district in 2018, expressed hope earlier in the week that Biden could serve as a bridge between the party’s factions. But he acknowledged Friday that those chances had “been sadly diminished” in light of what he called the president’s “nothing-burger” of a visit to the Capitol.</p>

<p>Phillips said he thought both bills would still get done. But privately, other lawmakers from competitive seats were disconsolate that they would not be able to spend the remainder of this fall holding up evidence of bipartisan achievement in Washington.</p>

<p>Biden is eager to sign both bills. One of his aides Friday likened them to children he loves equally.</p>

<p>That has not, though, stopped both factions of the party from claiming that they are the ones seeking to assure passage of his agenda.</p>

<p>The result is quite a turnabout.</p>

<p>“We are fighting for the Build Back Better agenda,” said Omar, employing Biden’s preferred slogan — which would have been shocking at this time two years ago, when she rallied early to Sanders’ candidacy.</p>

<p>Throughout 2019 and in the first months of 2020, Biden was an object of scorn from the left. He was too old, too moderate and an obviously bad fit for an increasingly young, diverse and progressive party, they said, often mocking him in harsh terms.</p>

<p>Biden believed liberals were the ones out of step with the Democratic center of gravity. And he effectively proved it by assembling a multiracial coalition that was animated by defeating Trump more than by any bold policy agenda.</p>

<p>Yet because his primary had largely centered on ousting Trump and unifying the country, he had little in the way of firm policy plans. And in making peace with progressives after he secured the nomination, he adopted a number of their ideas.</p>

<p>That has allowed left-wing Democrats to say, with wide smiles, that they are only trying to fulfill Biden’s vision. The question now is whether his attempt to pass both bills will pay off — or if his decision to not push for quick passage of the infrastructure bill will leave him with a protracted standoff or nothing at all.</p>

<p>What is certain, however, is that after Biden’s all-things-to-all-people campaign, he has committed himself to many of the policies that his liberal critics were skeptical he would embrace.</p>

<p>“For all of the progressives who kept telling me there was no difference between Joe Biden and Mike Bloomberg,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., an early Biden supporter, “where Biden has come down in this internal debate shows how absurd that claim always was.”</p>


For well over a year now, President Joe Biden’s vaunted negotiating style largely boiled down to this: I’m with you. After he vanquished Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

For well over a year now, President Joe Biden’s vaunted negotiating style largely boiled down to this: I’m with you. After he vanquished Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the Democratic primary, he brought the liberal icon’s ardent supporters into the fold by embracing much of the senator’s platform even as he ran on unifying the country. When moderate Democrats came to call, he used the tones of centrism to assure them of his conciliatory bona fides. But when Biden ventured to the Capitol on Friday to help House Democrats out of their thicket, he had to choose sides. He effectively chose the left. “The way he is governing doesn’t reflect the skills I know he must have from his years as a legislator,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., who had been one of the moderates demanding an immediate vote on a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, convinced that was what the president wanted — or at least needed. She called Biden’s refusal to push harder for legislation he had embraced “disappointing and frustrating.” “I’m not clear why he came up to the Hill,” she grumbled. Since the president claimed his party’s nomination last year, he has nurtured the fragile peace between his party’s fractious center and left by convincing both sides he is their ally. Unified first by their shared disdain for former President Donald Trump, and then by Biden’s adoption of an expansive platform, the two factions remained in harmony into this year. They responded to the pandemic by passing a sweeping stimulus package in the spring. Now the two factions are at loggerheads — one flexing its power but as yet empty-handed, the other feeling betrayed, both claiming they have the president on their side — and the outcome of their battle over Biden’s proposals could determine Democrats’ fate in the midterms and the success of his presidency. That agenda consists of two sweeping domestic proposals resembling a modern Great Society: the “American Jobs Plan,” spending $1 trillion over 10 years on traditional infrastructure like roads, bridges and tunnels; and a bigger and more controversial “American Family Plan,” which the Democrats labeled “soft infrastructure,” including universal prekindergarten and community college, paid family and medical leave, child care and elder care support, and an expansion of Medicare. But liberals feared that moderate Democrats would vote for the infrastructure bill, claim victory and peel away from the social policy measure, so they refused to support the smaller infrastructure bill until the larger social policy package had been passed. Heading into last week, both the moderates and the progressives felt as if they had ironclad promises: the moderates, that a vote on infrastructure would happen before October; the liberals, that the bill, a crucial part of the president’s domestic agenda, was inextricably twinned with their higher priority, the more expansive measure addressing climate change and the frayed social safety net. The liberals, however, used their larger numbers to blockade the infrastructure bill — and they said they did it for Biden. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one of the left-wing leaders of the blockade, stood before reporters last week and said the blockaders were the ones “trying to make sure that the president has a success.” “If we pass the infrastructure bill alone, we are not even accomplishing 10% of his agenda,” said Omar, the vote-counter in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a bloc of Democrats nearly 100 strong, who showed their cohesion in last week’s showdown. This enraged both the nine centrist lawmakers who had forced Speaker Nancy Pelosi to promise an infrastructure vote by the end of September, and a larger, quieter group of backbench House Democrats, many from swing districts, who were eager for the president to sign the public works bill and start trumpeting the funding for roads, bridges and broadband in their districts, at a time when Biden’s approval ratings were sagging. “I don’t think it’s good for the Joe Biden administration, and I don’t think it’s good for Democrats,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, suggesting that Biden was effectively siding with the left by not lobbying for passage of the infrastructure package. In part, that anger stemmed from Biden’s go-along-to-get-along style. “You got the feeling that Uncle Joe is for everybody, he likes everybody,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo. Members of the moderate wing were explicit Friday, blaming the liberals but also insisting that they themselves were Biden’s true torch bearers. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., denounced a “small faction on the far left” that he said had employed “Freedom Caucus tactics” to “destroy the president’s agenda” — a reference to the hard-right faction of the House that bedeviled Republican leaders when they were in charge. “We were elected to achieve reasonable, common-sense solutions for the American people — not to obstruct from the far wings,” Gottheimer fumed in a statement released late Friday night. “This far-left faction is willing to put the president’s entire agenda, including this historic bipartisan infrastructure package, at risk. They’ve put civility and bipartisan governing at risk.” Given the range of the party’s suburbanites-to-socialists coalition, it may have been inevitable that Biden would eventually anger one wing of his party. What was striking, and perhaps equally surprising to both blocs, was that he alienated the moderates who had propelled him to the nomination while delighting the progressives who vociferously opposed him in the primary. The president is not backing off the public works measure so treasured by the moderates. But as he told House Democrats on Friday, he believes it’s “just reality” that the infrastructure legislation will not pass without assurances from two centrist senators, Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., that they will support the more wide-ranging bill. Although, as Biden conceded in the Capitol, that will not happen until the more expansive bill is pared back to meet the two senators’ approval. The decision to keep the fate of each bill tied to the other’s measure amounts to a gamble. Infrastructure was the bird in hand; it passed the Senate with bipartisan bonhomie in August with 69 votes. Together, they are in trouble, which deepens with every new demand by Manchin and Sinema that pulls the social policy bill further from the liberals’ vision. If the two factions cannot agree on that measure, Biden might end up with nothing — a catastrophic blow for his party and its leader. Delaying the infrastructure bill is not, as Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., put it, “the linear and expeditious path to which most of us would aspire.” Phillips, a well-liked moderate who captured a Republican district in 2018, expressed hope earlier in the week that Biden could serve as a bridge between the party’s factions. But he acknowledged Friday that those chances had “been sadly diminished” in light of what he called the president’s “nothing-burger” of a visit to the Capitol. Phillips said he thought both bills would still get done. But privately, other lawmakers from competitive seats were disconsolate that they would not be able to spend the remainder of this fall holding up evidence of bipartisan achievement in Washington. Biden is eager to sign both bills. One of his aides Friday likened them to children he loves equally. That has not, though, stopped both factions of the party from claiming that they are the ones seeking to assure passage of his agenda. The result is quite a turnabout. “We are fighting for the Build Back Better agenda,” said Omar, employing Biden’s preferred slogan — which would have been shocking at this time two years ago, when she rallied early to Sanders’ candidacy. Throughout 2019 and in the first months of 2020, Biden was an object of scorn from the left. He was too old, too moderate and an obviously bad fit for an increasingly young, diverse and progressive party, they said, often mocking him in harsh terms. Biden believed liberals were the ones out of step with the Democratic center of gravity. And he effectively proved it by assembling a multiracial coalition that was animated by defeating Trump more than by any bold policy agenda. Yet because his primary had largely centered on ousting Trump and unifying the country, he had little in the way of firm policy plans. And in making peace with progressives after he secured the nomination, he adopted a number of their ideas. That has allowed left-wing Democrats to say, with wide smiles, that they are only trying to fulfill Biden’s vision. The question now is whether his attempt to pass both bills will pay off — or if his decision to not push for quick passage of the infrastructure bill will leave him with a protracted standoff or nothing at all. What is certain, however, is that after Biden’s all-things-to-all-people campaign, he has committed himself to many of the policies that his liberal critics were skeptical he would embrace. “For all of the progressives who kept telling me there was no difference between Joe Biden and Mike Bloomberg,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., an early Biden supporter, “where Biden has come down in this internal debate shows how absurd that claim always was.”

Biden throws in with Left, leaving his agenda in doubt

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched a scathing attack on the opposition over the issue of the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. While speaking inside the Lok Sabha PM Modi accused leaders of Congress Party and the Left of inciting the people at protests site.

PM Modi's Scathing Attack in Lok Sabha

<p>Veteran Communist leader Sudhakar Reddy on Thursday termed as "meaningless" the appeal of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the Congress and Left parties to come together with her party -- the TMC -- to fight the BJP.</p>

<p>Banerjee Wednesday reached out to opposition Congress and CPI(M) but the two parties rejected her appeal saying her policies are responsible for the saffron party's growth.</p>

<p>The national General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) said the Trinamool Congress chief still sees the Left parties as "enemies and not as political opponents".</p>

<p>"Several hundred of offices of the Left parties in West Bengal are still occupied by Trinamool. More than 100 people were killed. Several thousands were thrown out of their villages. Still, that type of attacks are going on", he told PTI.</p>

<p>The Chief Minister's appeal in this background is meaningless, Reddy said.</p>

<p>He further charged the ruling outfit in West Bengal with "attacking and destroying" the Left.</p>

<p>"It is she (Mamata) who is responsible for forcibly using violence against the Left in a very big way, and weaken the Left in West Bengal in the most undemocratic way and now what's the meaning of this appeal?", Reddy asked.</p>

<p>Left parties see the BJP as an "enemy" and would like to fight against it but at the same time view Trinamool as "equally a rival", he said.</p>

<p>Speaking during the debate on the Governor's address in the state Assembly in Kolkata, Banerjee had said the BJP is trying to run a parallel government in West Bengal and parties like the Congress and the CPI(M) should "join hands" with the Trinamool Congress to fight against it.&nbsp;</p>


Veteran Communist leader Sudhakar Reddy on Thursday termed as "meaningless" the appeal of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the Congress and Left parties to come together with her party -- the TMC -- to fight the BJP.

Veteran Communist leader Sudhakar Reddy on Thursday termed as "meaningless" the appeal of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the Congress and Left parties to come together with her party -- the TMC -- to fight the BJP. Banerjee Wednesday reached out to opposition Congress and CPI(M) but the two parties rejected her appeal saying her policies are responsible for the saffron party's growth. The national General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) said the Trinamool Congress chief still sees the Left parties as "enemies and not as political opponents". "Several hundred of offices of the Left parties in West Bengal are still occupied by Trinamool. More than 100 people were killed. Several thousands were thrown out of their villages. Still, that type of attacks are going on", he told PTI. The Chief Minister's appeal in this background is meaningless, Reddy said. He further charged the ruling outfit in West Bengal with "attacking and destroying" the Left. "It is she (Mamata) who is responsible for forcibly using violence against the Left in a very big way, and weaken the Left in West Bengal in the most undemocratic way and now what's the meaning of this appeal?", Reddy asked. Left parties see the BJP as an "enemy" and would like to fight against it but at the same time view Trinamool as "equally a rival", he said. Speaking during the debate on the Governor's address in the state Assembly in Kolkata, Banerjee had said the BJP is trying to run a parallel government in West Bengal and parties like the Congress and the CPI(M) should "join hands" with the Trinamool Congress to fight against it.

Mamata Banerjee's appeal for Left, Congress, TMC to join hands 'meaningless': Sudhakar Reddy

<p>Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Sunday that Congress president <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/rahul-gandhi-to-contest-from-wayanad-in-kerala-besides-amethi-206891">Rahul Gandhi contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Wayanad</a> in the state — apart from Amethi in UP — could only be seen as a move to fight the Left parties and not the BJP, and asserted that the LDF would defeat him in the April 23 Lok Sabha elections.</p>

<p>There was no need to attach any special importance to the Congress president contesting from the state and Gandhi was just one among the 20 candidates of the opposition UDF, who are trying their luck from Kerala, he said.</p>

<p>"If Gandhi's fight is against the BJP, he should have contested against the saffron party. In Kerala, the fight is between LDF and UDF in the elections," Vijayan told a meet-the-press programme at the Press Club here.</p>

<p>He was reacting to the announcement by Congress that Gandhi would contest from the hilly Wayanad, considered a fortress of the party, in addition to the Gandhi family's pocket burrow Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh in the polls.</p>

<p>"The present move can only be seen as a fight against the Left. But, we have no anxiety...We are fully confident and will strive to defeat him in Wayanad," the CPI-M veteran said.</p>

<p>Gandhi had announced earlier he would retain Amethi in Uttar Pradesh as his constituency after elections, he said.</p>

<p>"So, it is like...Gandhi will continue as the MP from Amethi and in Wayand he is examining if he can defeat the Left", the Chief Minister said asking what message the Congress was conveying to the people through the move.</p>

<p>When asked about the proposed post-poll alliance with the Congress at the national level, Vijayan said it was a matter to be thought off after the elections.</p>

<p>BJP state chief P S Sreedharan Pillai said the Congress decision to field Gandhi from Wayanad showed the "decay" in the grand old party.</p>

<p>"After realising that he will lose from Amethi, Gandhi has decided to contest from wayand", he told reporters here.</p>

<p>The BJP would give a "tough fight" to the Congress candidate, he said adding Gandhi's Wayanad contest was being viewed by the party as "acceptance of defeat".</p>

<p>The state Congress leaders were all in a jubilant mood over the AICC chief's decision.</p>

<p>Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala said the party'saim was to ensure Gandhi's victory with a massive margin.</p>

<p>"I challenge Pinarayi Vijayan, if he can defeat Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad and we accept the challenge," he told reporters at Alapuzha.</p>

<p>It would be a "historical win" for Gandhi in Wayanad and there would be a "Rahul wave" in the entire state, he claimed.</p>

<p>"A prime ministerial candidate is contesting from Kerala for the first time and this will have an impact in the entire state," he said adding the UDF would win all 20 seats.</p>

<p>Party's state unit President Mulapally Ramachandran said the decision to field Gandhi from Wayand would be "a happy news for secular-democratic forces" in the state.</p>

<p>He also remembered how former Congress presidents Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had scripted impressive victories from South India.</p>

<p>Congress leader M I Shanavas, who died in November last year, had won Wayanad, known for its picturesque locales and spices, in the 2009 and 2014 elections.</p>

<p>The LDF has decided to field CPIs P P Suneer in the constituency this time while BJP-NDA yet to announce its candidate.&nbsp;</p>


Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Sunday that Congress president Rahul Gandhi contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Wayanad in the state — apart from Amethi in UP — could only be seen as a move to fight the Left parties and not the BJP, and asserted that the LDF would defeat him in the April 23 Lok Sabha elections.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Sunday that Congress president Rahul Gandhi contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Wayanad in the state — apart from Amethi in UP — could only be seen as a move to fight the Left parties and not the BJP, and asserted that the LDF would defeat him in the April 23 Lok Sabha elections. There was no need to attach any special importance to the Congress president contesting from the state and Gandhi was just one among the 20 candidates of the opposition UDF, who are trying their luck from Kerala, he said. "If Gandhi's fight is against the BJP, he should have contested against the saffron party. In Kerala, the fight is between LDF and UDF in the elections," Vijayan told a meet-the-press programme at the Press Club here. He was reacting to the announcement by Congress that Gandhi would contest from the hilly Wayanad, considered a fortress of the party, in addition to the Gandhi family's pocket burrow Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh in the polls. "The present move can only be seen as a fight against the Left. But, we have no anxiety...We are fully confident and will strive to defeat him in Wayanad," the CPI-M veteran said. Gandhi had announced earlier he would retain Amethi in Uttar Pradesh as his constituency after elections, he said. "So, it is like...Gandhi will continue as the MP from Amethi and in Wayand he is examining if he can defeat the Left", the Chief Minister said asking what message the Congress was conveying to the people through the move. When asked about the proposed post-poll alliance with the Congress at the national level, Vijayan said it was a matter to be thought off after the elections. BJP state chief P S Sreedharan Pillai said the Congress decision to field Gandhi from Wayanad showed the "decay" in the grand old party. "After realising that he will lose from Amethi, Gandhi has decided to contest from wayand", he told reporters here. The BJP would give a "tough fight" to the Congress candidate, he said adding Gandhi's Wayanad contest was being viewed by the party as "acceptance of defeat". The state Congress leaders were all in a jubilant mood over the AICC chief's decision. Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala said the party'saim was to ensure Gandhi's victory with a massive margin. "I challenge Pinarayi Vijayan, if he can defeat Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad and we accept the challenge," he told reporters at Alapuzha. It would be a "historical win" for Gandhi in Wayanad and there would be a "Rahul wave" in the entire state, he claimed. "A prime ministerial candidate is contesting from Kerala for the first time and this will have an impact in the entire state," he said adding the UDF would win all 20 seats. Party's state unit President Mulapally Ramachandran said the decision to field Gandhi from Wayand would be "a happy news for secular-democratic forces" in the state. He also remembered how former Congress presidents Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had scripted impressive victories from South India. Congress leader M I Shanavas, who died in November last year, had won Wayanad, known for its picturesque locales and spices, in the 2009 and 2014 elections. The LDF has decided to field CPIs P P Suneer in the constituency this time while BJP-NDA yet to announce its candidate.

Rahul Gandhi fighting from Wayanad means he is fighting Left, not BJP: Kerala CM Pinari Vijayan

<p>The Communist Party of India has left out student leader Kanhaiya Kumar from its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, indicating that its seat-sharing talks with the RJD in Bihar has hit roadblocks.</p>

<p>The Left party on Friday said it has identified 53 seats in 24 states for the upcoming polls and announced names of 15 candidates.</p>

<p>"Our talks with the RJD are ongoing and we will take a call on Kanhaiya Kumar once those are finalised. Both the state and local units have identified a seat for him and we have to see how the talks with RJD pan out," said CPI leader D Raja, indicating that if the RJD doesn't concede to its demand, his party will have to go back to the drawing board.</p>

<p>CPI is believed to have asked for the Begusarai seat for Kanhaiya.</p>

<p>Sources said Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad is against giving the student leader a seat as he believes that his caste, Bhumihar, would not go down well for his party, which is traditionally anti-upper caste.</p>

<p>Also, the RJD feels the only Left party having significant presence and support base in Bihar is the CPI(ML).</p>

<p>Names of candidates have been declared for Mavelikkara, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Wayyand in Kerala, Bastar South in Chhattisgarh, Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, Kathua in Jammu, Tumakuru in Karnataka, Parbhani and Shirdi in Maharashtra, Inner Manipur, Aska in Odisha, Sri Ganganagar, Udaipur and Chittorgarh in Rajasthan.</p>

<p>The party has also formed an election manifesto committee with D Raja as its convener.</p>


The Communist Party of India has left out student leader Kanhaiya Kumar from its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, indicating that its seat-sharing talks with the RJD in Bihar has hit roadblocks.

The Communist Party of India has left out student leader Kanhaiya Kumar from its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, indicating that its seat-sharing talks with the RJD in Bihar has hit roadblocks. The Left party on Friday said it has identified 53 seats in 24 states for the upcoming polls and announced names of 15 candidates. "Our talks with the RJD are ongoing and we will take a call on Kanhaiya Kumar once those are finalised. Both the state and local units have identified a seat for him and we have to see how the talks with RJD pan out," said CPI leader D Raja, indicating that if the RJD doesn't concede to its demand, his party will have to go back to the drawing board. CPI is believed to have asked for the Begusarai seat for Kanhaiya. Sources said Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad is against giving the student leader a seat as he believes that his caste, Bhumihar, would not go down well for his party, which is traditionally anti-upper caste. Also, the RJD feels the only Left party having significant presence and support base in Bihar is the CPI(ML). Names of candidates have been declared for Mavelikkara, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Wayyand in Kerala, Bastar South in Chhattisgarh, Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, Kathua in Jammu, Tumakuru in Karnataka, Parbhani and Shirdi in Maharashtra, Inner Manipur, Aska in Odisha, Sri Ganganagar, Udaipur and Chittorgarh in Rajasthan. The party has also formed an election manifesto committee with D Raja as its convener.

Lok Sabha: CPI(M) releases first list of 15 candidates, leaves out Kanhaiya Kumar

<p>The CPI(M)-led Left Front in West Bengal will organise a rally in Kolkata on Sunday to give a call to oust Trinamool Congress in the state and the BJP at the Centre.</p>

<p>The rally of the Left Front at Brigade Parade grounds on February 3 comes 15 days after Mamata Banerjee headed TMC's had organised <a href="http://www.wionews.com/photos/west-bengal-cm-mamata-banerjees-grand-opposition-rally-who-said-what-191441#farooq-abdullah-national-conference-leader-191420">mega opposition parties rally </a>at the same venue on January 19 last.</p>

<p>Though there were more than two dozen leaders of 22 opposition parties, the Left parties had kept a distance from the TMC rally.</p>

<p>"We will give the call to oust TMC in Bengal and the BJP at the Centre. The people of this country are fed up with the Modi government, they want a change," CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra said.</p>

<p>The CPI(M)-led front is pulling all stops to ensure that the February 3 rally turns out to be a massive success. The event is also seen as an attempt by the Left to regain its lost ground in West Bengal.</p>

<p>The Left Front comprises of 10 parties including CPI(M), RSP, CPI and Forward Bloc.</p>

<p>Once a formidable force in West Bengal, the Left Front which lost to the TMC in 2011, ending a 34-year regime in the state, is now fighting hard to make their presence felt in the state.</p>

<p>The Left in last several elections has witnessed a sharp decline in its vote share with BJP outsmarting it to become the main opposition in Bengal.</p>

<p>The role of Left parties in national politics largely depends on the number of seats it will win from Bengal.</p>

<p>In 2004, when CPI(M)-led Left front played a pivotal role in forming the UPA-I government by winning 35 Lok Sabha seats from the state. Nationally, the front had won 62 seats.</p>

<p>In 2014, the CPI(M) had won just two seats in Bengal, while Left Front secured 11 seats.</p>

<p>From flags, posters, slogans and roadside meetings to social media messages on Twitter and Facebook, the party is making all efforts to reach out to the masses.</p>

<p>Apart from senior Left leaders, Kanhaiya Kumar, the former JNU students union president, will be one of the key speakers at the rally.</p>


The CPI(M)-led Left Front in West Bengal will organise a rally in Kolkata on Sunday to give a call to oust Trinamool Congress in the state and the BJP at the Centre.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front in West Bengal will organise a rally in Kolkata on Sunday to give a call to oust Trinamool Congress in the state and the BJP at the Centre. The rally of the Left Front at Brigade Parade grounds on February 3 comes 15 days after Mamata Banerjee headed TMC's had organised mega opposition parties rally at the same venue on January 19 last. Though there were more than two dozen leaders of 22 opposition parties, the Left parties had kept a distance from the TMC rally. "We will give the call to oust TMC in Bengal and the BJP at the Centre. The people of this country are fed up with the Modi government, they want a change," CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra said. The CPI(M)-led front is pulling all stops to ensure that the February 3 rally turns out to be a massive success. The event is also seen as an attempt by the Left to regain its lost ground in West Bengal. The Left Front comprises of 10 parties including CPI(M), RSP, CPI and Forward Bloc. Once a formidable force in West Bengal, the Left Front which lost to the TMC in 2011, ending a 34-year regime in the state, is now fighting hard to make their presence felt in the state. The Left in last several elections has witnessed a sharp decline in its vote share with BJP outsmarting it to become the main opposition in Bengal. The role of Left parties in national politics largely depends on the number of seats it will win from Bengal. In 2004, when CPI(M)-led Left front played a pivotal role in forming the UPA-I government by winning 35 Lok Sabha seats from the state. Nationally, the front had won 62 seats. In 2014, the CPI(M) had won just two seats in Bengal, while Left Front secured 11 seats. From flags, posters, slogans and roadside meetings to social media messages on Twitter and Facebook, the party is making all efforts to reach out to the masses. Apart from senior Left leaders, Kanhaiya Kumar, the former JNU students union president, will be one of the key speakers at the rally.

West Bengal: Left to organise rally Sunday to show strength before Lok Sabha polls

<p>Left parties will not participate in the All India Trinamool Congress` (TMC) led Opposition rally in Kolkata on January 19.</p>

<p>This comes a day after the announcement that leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge will represent the party in the rally, owing to the absence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at the mega event.</p>

<p>TMC is organising the rally to gather support for a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/tmc-rally-to-see-participation-of-non-bjp-political-leaders-from-kashmir-to-kanyakumari-mamata-190607">pan-India anti-BJP front</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Party chief Mamata Banerjee had been touring the country for the last one year in an effort to shore up a strong and united opposition front to fight the Lok Sabha elections against the BJP.</p>

<p>According to sources in the West Bengal Congress, the state unit of the party wanted Rahul and Sonia to skip the rally and instead send a party leader.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Also, the state leadership is believed to have told the party chief that Congress workers were ready to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections alone.</p>

<p>West Bengal Congress leaders were also annoyed over the TMC supremo not inviting any state leader for the rally.</p>

<p>Rahul, in the past, had assured his state party unit that any decision on forging an alliance with the TMC will be taken after considering state leadership`s opinion.</p>

<p>Among those to be present at the rally include Rashtriya Janata Dal`s Tejashwi Yadav, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal and Janata Dal(Secular) leader and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.</p>

<p>Reportedly, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati are yet to confirm their participation in the mega opposition rally.&nbsp;</p>


Left parties will not participate in the All India Trinamool Congress` (TMC) led Opposition rally in Kolkata on January 19. This comes a day after the announcement that leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge will represent the party in the rally, owing to the absence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at the mega event.

Left parties will not participate in the All India Trinamool Congress` (TMC) led Opposition rally in Kolkata on January 19. This comes a day after the announcement that leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge will represent the party in the rally, owing to the absence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at the mega event. TMC is organising the rally to gather support for a pan-India anti-BJP front. Party chief Mamata Banerjee had been touring the country for the last one year in an effort to shore up a strong and united opposition front to fight the Lok Sabha elections against the BJP. According to sources in the West Bengal Congress, the state unit of the party wanted Rahul and Sonia to skip the rally and instead send a party leader. Also, the state leadership is believed to have told the party chief that Congress workers were ready to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections alone. West Bengal Congress leaders were also annoyed over the TMC supremo not inviting any state leader for the rally. Rahul, in the past, had assured his state party unit that any decision on forging an alliance with the TMC will be taken after considering state leadership`s opinion. Among those to be present at the rally include Rashtriya Janata Dal`s Tejashwi Yadav, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal and Janata Dal(Secular) leader and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. Reportedly, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati are yet to confirm their participation in the mega opposition rally.

Kolkata: Left to skip TMC rally on January 19

<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday that the conduct of the Kerala government in <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/kanaka-durga-one-of-the-women-who-entered-sabarimala-temple-allegedly-thrashed-by-mother-in-law-190500">the Sabarimala issue</a> will go down as one of the "most shameful" in history. Modi was speaking in Kollam, Kerala.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"The conduct of Kerala LDF government on Sabarimala issue will go down in history as one of the most shameful behaviour by any party and government. We knew that communists do not respect Indian history, culture and spirituality but nobody imagined that they will have such hatred," Modi said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Modi added that the Congress was "no better".&nbsp;</p>

<p>"UDF is no better. Congress has multiple stands — they say one thing in Parliament but a different thing in Pathanamthitta," he said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"Our stand on this issue has always been clear. And, the actions of our party match our words," he added.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Supreme Court decreed in September 2018 that women should be allowed to visit Kerala's Sabarimala temple. The temple had until then been off-limits to women between the ages of 10 and 50.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The reason for the ban is that it is believed that the temple deity, Lord Ayappa, has vowed to stay celibate. And that he will look at a woman only when he is ready to marry her.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Supreme Court decree was met by massive resistance, with both the BJP and Congress mobilising people against it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Kerala Chief Minister Pinari Vijayan on the other hand has said repeatedly that the Supreme Court order has to be enforced.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On Tuesday, Modi said the Left and Congress work against gender and social justice.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"Left and Congress make tall claims about respect to gender justice and social justice but their actions are exactly the opposite. NDA Government has been working towards abolishing Triple Talaq," Modi said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"Who is opposing us on this?" he asked. "Communists and the Congress," he answered.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">PM in Kollam, Kerala: UDF and LDF are different in name but in neglecting Kerala's yuva shakti, they are same. UDF and LDF are different in name but in ignoring the poor, they are same. UDF and LDF are different in name but in cheating the people of Kerala, they are same. <a href="https://t.co/bbNuse17uV">pic.twitter.com/bbNuse17uV</a></p>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1085159187427065856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">PM Modi in Kerala: UDF &amp; LDF are two sides of the same old coin. Different in name, but in corruption, casteism &amp; communalism, they are same. Different in name, but in damaging Kerala's cultural fabric, they are same. Different in name, but in political violence, they are same. <a href="https://t.co/rAbyxgb3UW">https://t.co/rAbyxgb3UW</a></p>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1085159459301789697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<p>Modi on Tuesday also referred to his government's recent 10% quota for the upper castes saying his government believed every Indian, irrespective of caste, deserved "equal opportunity".&nbsp;</p>

<p>And he mentioned India's upward movement in the ease of doing business rankings.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">PM Narendra Modi in Kollam, Kerala: 4 years back did anyone think that India could be the fastest growing economy? In 4 years, we have made the transition from being one of the fragile five nations to the fastest growing economy. <a href="https://t.co/MxAktXE7s0">pic.twitter.com/MxAktXE7s0</a></p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">PM Modi in Kollam, Kerala: 4 years back, did anyone even think of improving Ease of Doing Business rankings? In fact, this term was missing from the dictionary of policymakers. In 4 years, we have moved up from rank 142 to rank 77, one of the fastest improvements in the world. <a href="https://t.co/VlHfXxAp8h">pic.twitter.com/VlHfXxAp8h</a></p>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1085154379580301312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>


Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday that the conduct of the Kerala government in the Sabarimala issue will go down as one of the "most shameful" in history.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday that the conduct of the Kerala government in the Sabarimala issue will go down as one of the "most shameful" in history. Modi was speaking in Kollam, Kerala. "The conduct of Kerala LDF government on Sabarimala issue will go down in history as one of the most shameful behaviour by any party and government. We knew that communists do not respect Indian history, culture and spirituality but nobody imagined that they will have such hatred," Modi said. Modi added that the Congress was "no better". "UDF is no better. Congress has multiple stands — they say one thing in Parliament but a different thing in Pathanamthitta," he said. "Our stand on this issue has always been clear. And, the actions of our party match our words," he added. The Supreme Court decreed in September 2018 that women should be allowed to visit Kerala's Sabarimala temple. The temple had until then been off-limits to women between the ages of 10 and 50. The reason for the ban is that it is believed that the temple deity, Lord Ayappa, has vowed to stay celibate. And that he will look at a woman only when he is ready to marry her. The Supreme Court decree was met by massive resistance, with both the BJP and Congress mobilising people against it. Kerala Chief Minister Pinari Vijayan on the other hand has said repeatedly that the Supreme Court order has to be enforced. On Tuesday, Modi said the Left and Congress work against gender and social justice. "Left and Congress make tall claims about respect to gender justice and social justice but their actions are exactly the opposite. NDA Government has been working towards abolishing Triple Talaq," Modi said. "Who is opposing us on this?" he asked. "Communists and the Congress," he answered. PM in Kollam, Kerala: UDF and LDF are different in name but in neglecting Kerala's yuva shakti, they are same. UDF and LDF are different in name but in ignoring the poor, they are same. UDF and LDF are different in name but in cheating the people of Kerala, they are same. pic.twitter.com/bbNuse17uV — ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2019 × PM Modi in Kerala: UDF & LDF are two sides of the same old coin. Different in name, but in corruption, casteism & communalism, they are same. Different in name, but in damaging Kerala's cultural fabric, they are same. Different in name, but in political violence, they are same. https://t.co/rAbyxgb3UW — ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2019 × Modi on Tuesday also referred to his government's recent 10% quota for the upper castes saying his government believed every Indian, irrespective of caste, deserved "equal opportunity". And he mentioned India's upward movement in the ease of doing business rankings. PM Narendra Modi in Kollam, Kerala: 4 years back did anyone think that India could be the fastest growing economy? In 4 years, we have made the transition from being one of the fragile five nations to the fastest growing economy. pic.twitter.com/MxAktXE7s0 — ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2019 × PM Modi in Kollam, Kerala: 4 years back, did anyone even think of improving Ease of Doing Business rankings? In fact, this term was missing from the dictionary of policymakers. In 4 years, we have moved up from rank 142 to rank 77, one of the fastest improvements in the world. pic.twitter.com/VlHfXxAp8h — ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2019 ×

Conduct of Kerala govt on Sabarimala issue will go down in history as 'most shameful': Modi

<p>The Congress and the Left parties Wednesday hailed the resignation of union minister M J Akbar following charges of sexual harassment and dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak up now.</p>

<p>While the Congress termed the resignation as "victory of truth", it asked whether the prime minister will dare to speak up now.</p>

<p>The Left parties said Akbar's resignation was a victory for the #MeToo movement and the protests carried out by them against the journalist-turned-politician.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The CPI and the women's wing of CPI-M, however, said Akbar should have resigned early and the action has come "too late".</p>

<p>The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said this was insufficient and sought criminal proceedings against Akbar.</p>

<p>Congress leader Ragini Naik said the silence of Modi on the #MeToo movement is deafening, as she accused the government as being "misogynist" which has "deceived" those crores of women voters who placed their faith, reposed their trust in the BJP in 2014.</p>

<p>"Times is up Modi ji. The silence of PM Modi on #MeToo movement is deafening.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"The silence of Prime Minister Modi has deceived those crores of women voters who had placed their faith, reposed their trust in the BJP in 2014," she told reporters.</p>

<p>"Now that M J Akbar, who has been accused by no less than 36 women of misconduct and harassment, has finally resigned, will PM Modi dare to speak up," Naik asked.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"I think the Modi government was compelled to ask M J Akbar to resign from the Union ministry as the #MeToo movement gained momentum in the country. He should have resigned on the first day when his former colleagues made sexual harassment allegations against him," CPI general secretary Sudhakar Reddy said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Slamming Akbar for the delay in tendering his resignation, he said, "It is too late".&nbsp;</p>

<p>CPI Secretary D Raja said, "The resignation can be called a moral victory for all those women who have suffered such sexual harassment".&nbsp;</p>

<p>He said the social atmosphere in the country was such that women can get the confidence to speak up against the sexual harassment faced by them.</p>

<p>The AAP Wednesday hailed the women who accused Akbar of "sexual harassment" and said his resignation "completely exposed" the 'Chaal, Charitra and Chehra' of the ruling BJP at the Centre.</p>

<p>Reacting to Akbar's resignation, AAP spokesperson Dilip Pandey said the action was "not sufficient" and demanded criminal proceedings against him.</p>

<p>Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said she saluted those women who stood on their charges against the minister bravely despite the "brazen" stance taken by the government.</p>

<p>"This resignation is a vindication of the power of truth. More strength to India's women," she said.</p>

<p>"The resignation of MoS External Affairs MJ Akbar after serious charges were levelled against him by senior women journalists who worked with him is a vindication of the power of truth even if it began with one brave person speaking up," she said.</p>

<p>Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev termed Akbar's stepping down as a "moral victory" for everyone and sought support for the #MeToo movement across party lines.</p>

<p>"M J Akbar's resignation is a moral victory for everyone. The defamation case can't change that. The #MeToo movement needs support across party lines," she tweeted.</p>

<p>"I admire the courage of @priyaramani &amp; all the victims who spoke out against sexual harassment &amp; abuse. @mjakbar s resignation is a moral victory for everyone. The defamation case can't change that. The #MeToo movement needs support across party lines. "</p>

<p>Naik said the Congress believes that the belated resignation of Akbar is a result of the persistent pressure put by women who have shared their horrific and uncomfortable stories.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It is also a vindication of the Congress party's unequivocal stand on the #MeToo movement, she said.</p>

<p>"We also think that it is a time for a fair trial so that justice prevails. This country has a rule of law and the Congress Party believes that any allegation levelled against anybody must pass this test of justice. We hope and wish that all the women fighting this tough battle would be heard and finally justice would be imparted," she said.&nbsp;</p>


The Congress and the Left parties Wednesday hailed the resignation of union minister M J Akbar following charges of sexual harassment and dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak up now.

The Congress and the Left parties Wednesday hailed the resignation of union minister M J Akbar following charges of sexual harassment and dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak up now. While the Congress termed the resignation as "victory of truth", it asked whether the prime minister will dare to speak up now. The Left parties said Akbar's resignation was a victory for the #MeToo movement and the protests carried out by them against the journalist-turned-politician. The CPI and the women's wing of CPI-M, however, said Akbar should have resigned early and the action has come "too late". The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said this was insufficient and sought criminal proceedings against Akbar. Congress leader Ragini Naik said the silence of Modi on the #MeToo movement is deafening, as she accused the government as being "misogynist" which has "deceived" those crores of women voters who placed their faith, reposed their trust in the BJP in 2014. "Times is up Modi ji. The silence of PM Modi on #MeToo movement is deafening. "The silence of Prime Minister Modi has deceived those crores of women voters who had placed their faith, reposed their trust in the BJP in 2014," she told reporters. "Now that M J Akbar, who has been accused by no less than 36 women of misconduct and harassment, has finally resigned, will PM Modi dare to speak up," Naik asked. "I think the Modi government was compelled to ask M J Akbar to resign from the Union ministry as the #MeToo movement gained momentum in the country. He should have resigned on the first day when his former colleagues made sexual harassment allegations against him," CPI general secretary Sudhakar Reddy said. Slamming Akbar for the delay in tendering his resignation, he said, "It is too late". CPI Secretary D Raja said, "The resignation can be called a moral victory for all those women who have suffered such sexual harassment". He said the social atmosphere in the country was such that women can get the confidence to speak up against the sexual harassment faced by them. The AAP Wednesday hailed the women who accused Akbar of "sexual harassment" and said his resignation "completely exposed" the 'Chaal, Charitra and Chehra' of the ruling BJP at the Centre. Reacting to Akbar's resignation, AAP spokesperson Dilip Pandey said the action was "not sufficient" and demanded criminal proceedings against him. Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said she saluted those women who stood on their charges against the minister bravely despite the "brazen" stance taken by the government. "This resignation is a vindication of the power of truth. More strength to India's women," she said. "The resignation of MoS External Affairs MJ Akbar after serious charges were levelled against him by senior women journalists who worked with him is a vindication of the power of truth even if it began with one brave person speaking up," she said. Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev termed Akbar's stepping down as a "moral victory" for everyone and sought support for the #MeToo movement across party lines. "M J Akbar's resignation is a moral victory for everyone. The defamation case can't change that. The #MeToo movement needs support across party lines," she tweeted. "I admire the courage of @priyaramani & all the victims who spoke out against sexual harassment & abuse. @mjakbar s resignation is a moral victory for everyone. The defamation case can't change that. The #MeToo movement needs support across party lines. " Naik said the Congress believes that the belated resignation of Akbar is a result of the persistent pressure put by women who have shared their horrific and uncomfortable stories. It is also a vindication of the Congress party's unequivocal stand on the #MeToo movement, she said. "We also think that it is a time for a fair trial so that justice prevails. This country has a rule of law and the Congress Party believes that any allegation levelled against anybody must pass this test of justice. We hope and wish that all the women fighting this tough battle would be heard and finally justice would be imparted," she said.

Left says Akbar resignation has come 'too late', Congress dares PM to speak up

<p>Counting of votes began in&nbsp;10 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala, Meghalaya, Punjab and Uttarakhand.</p>

<p>In a new twist, Congress' Miani D Shira won from&nbsp;Meghalaya's Ampati Assembly constituency as the grand old party emerged as the single largest party in the state.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Congress candidate Miani D Shira wins Ampati seat in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Meghalaya?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Meghalaya</a>. She is the daughter of Former CM and Congress leader Mukul Sangma <a href="https://t.co/fLkwk9SVrp">pic.twitter.com/fLkwk9SVrp</a></p>
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<p>Congress candidate Vishwajeet Patangrao Kadam was "elected unopposed" from Maharashtra's Palus Kadegaon Assembly constituency.</p>

<p>In the high profile Rajarajeshwari(RR) Nagar Assembly constituency in Karnataka, Congress candidate Muniratna beat his JD(S) and BJP rivals handsomely even as newly-elected Karnataka chief minister Kumaraswamy conceded defeat.</p>

<p>Muniratna won by 41,162 votes to upset the JD(S) and the BJP.</p>

<p>Lalu Prasad's party the Rashtriya Janta Dal(RJD) won the Jokihat Assembly constituency in Bihar even after&nbsp;JD(U) candidate Murshid Alam led in previous rounds.</p>

<p>Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party(SP) clinched the Noorpur Assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh with Naim-ul-Hasan emerging victorious.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The number of votes JDU got, is less than our victory margin. People of Bihar are continuing to avenge the uturn taken by Nitish Kumar: Tejashwi Yadav on RJD won Jokihat assembly bypoll <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bihar?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bihar</a> <a href="https://t.co/ljVXanHJ06">pic.twitter.com/ljVXanHJ06</a></p>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1002091207068127232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Karnataka?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Karnataka</a>: Congress workers celebrate in Bengaluru as Party leads from Rajarajeshwari Nagar assembly constituency <a href="https://t.co/vmlBSkeToq">pic.twitter.com/vmlBSkeToq</a></p>
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<p>In other constituencies, CPM won the Chengannur Assembly constituency in Kerala. The&nbsp;Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) surprised the ruling BJP in the state to clinch the Jharkhand seat.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Congress candidate Laddi Sherowalia won from the Shahkot Assembly seat in Punjab.</p>

<p>TMC's Dulal Chandra Das is leading by over 20,000 votes from Maheshtala assembly constituency in West Bengal after the sixth round of counting with CPM second and BJP trailing in third spot.</p>


Congress' Miani D Shira won the Meghalaya's Ampati Assembly constituency early

Counting of votes began in 10 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala, Meghalaya, Punjab and Uttarakhand. In a new twist, Congress' Miani D Shira won from Meghalaya's Ampati Assembly constituency as the grand old party emerged as the single largest party in the state. Congress candidate Miani D Shira wins Ampati seat in #Meghalaya. She is the daughter of Former CM and Congress leader Mukul Sangma pic.twitter.com/fLkwk9SVrp — ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2018 × Congress candidate Vishwajeet Patangrao Kadam was "elected unopposed" from Maharashtra's Palus Kadegaon Assembly constituency. In the high profile Rajarajeshwari(RR) Nagar Assembly constituency in Karnataka, Congress candidate Muniratna beat his JD(S) and BJP rivals handsomely even as newly-elected Karnataka chief minister Kumaraswamy conceded defeat. Muniratna won by 41,162 votes to upset the JD(S) and the BJP. Lalu Prasad's party the Rashtriya Janta Dal(RJD) won the Jokihat Assembly constituency in Bihar even after JD(U) candidate Murshid Alam led in previous rounds. Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party(SP) clinched the Noorpur Assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh with Naim-ul-Hasan emerging victorious. The number of votes JDU got, is less than our victory margin. People of Bihar are continuing to avenge the uturn taken by Nitish Kumar: Tejashwi Yadav on RJD won Jokihat assembly bypoll #Bihar pic.twitter.com/ljVXanHJ06 — ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2018 × #Karnataka: Congress workers celebrate in Bengaluru as Party leads from Rajarajeshwari Nagar assembly constituency pic.twitter.com/vmlBSkeToq — ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2018 × In other constituencies, CPM won the Chengannur Assembly constituency in Kerala. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) surprised the ruling BJP in the state to clinch the Jharkhand seat. Congress candidate Laddi Sherowalia won from the Shahkot Assembly seat in Punjab. TMC's Dulal Chandra Das is leading by over 20,000 votes from Maheshtala assembly constituency in West Bengal after the sixth round of counting with CPM second and BJP trailing in third spot.

Assembly bypolls: Congress wins in Karnataka's RR Nagar; RJD wins Jokihat in Bihar

<p>The no-confidence motion against the government was again not taken up after both houses of Parliament were adjourned Monday morning.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">No confidence motion not introduced, Lok Sabha adjourned till tomorrow after continuous uproar. <a href="https://t.co/bdT3dbBWA8">pic.twitter.com/bdT3dbBWA8</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/975622822293893120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>The Lok Sabha had earlier been adjourned till 12 pm. But a little after the house sat down,&nbsp;it was adjourned after a continuous uproar.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The TDP&#39;s MPs would not allow Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to run the house.&nbsp; Each time the Lok Sabha would convene, they would run into the well of the house.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Rajya Sabha had earlier already been adjourned till Tuesday.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The YSR Congress and the TDP have asked for a trust vote against the government over the issue of special status to Andhra Pradesh. The central government had refused to give the state the special status it was asking for, but had said it would give Andhra the monetary equivalent of special status.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had recently asked the two TDP ministers in the union cabinet &mdash; Ashok Gajapathi Raju and YS Chowdary &mdash; to put in their papers. He had then later he would take his next steps accordingly.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The YSR Congress and the TDP had asked for the trust vote &mdash; a minimum of 50 members have to accept the motion for the vote to be held &mdash; last week. The Left, the AIADMK, the Aam Aadmi Party, and the AIMIM will support the vote.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Should the motion be accepted, this will be the first no-trust vote against the central government.&nbsp;</p>

<p>That said, the Narendra-led Modi NDA government is at the moment in no danger of falling. It has a simple majority on its own, and enough independent MPs in the house it could approach, should the need ever arise, to sail through a no-trust vote.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The parties asking for the vote seem to <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/want-no-trust-vote-debate-but-not-trying-to-make-government-fall-tdp-mp-36314" target="_blank">understand</a> that. The TDP MP RM Naidu said Monday morning:&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">We are going to go move no-confidence motion,gather support of all respective parties in Parliament. It&#39;s responsibility of all parties in Parliament to support us. Trying to gather as much support as possible so debate happens, not trying to make the govt fall: RM Naidu, TDP MP <a href="https://t.co/LbdfpLAQAd">pic.twitter.com/LbdfpLAQAd</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/975587133309313024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>The TDP however, commentators says, wishes to attack the government on the issue before assembly elections in Andhra next year &mdash; which is exactly what opposition parties in the state are doing to it. Taking on the central government also allows the TDP to ward off the YSR Congress&#39;s Jagan Mohan Reddy, who has been pushing for special status for Andhra for some four years now.&nbsp;</p>

<p>More fireworks can be expected on Tuesday when Parliament reconvenes; the YSR Congress&#39;s YV Subba Reddy has asked for the motion to be taken up tomorrow again.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">YSRCP MP YV Subba Reddy again writes to Secretary General Lok Sabha to include in list of business for tomorrow &#39;no confidence motion in the council of ministers&#39;. <a href="https://t.co/6fsIhkk10H">pic.twitter.com/6fsIhkk10H</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/975639641847140352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>


The YSR Congress and the TDP have been trying to push the motion over the 'special status' issue for Andhra Pradesh

The no-confidence motion against the government was again not taken up after both houses of Parliament were adjourned Monday morning. No confidence motion not introduced, Lok Sabha adjourned till tomorrow after continuous uproar. pic.twitter.com/bdT3dbBWA8 — ANI (@ANI) March 19, 2018 × The Lok Sabha had earlier been adjourned till 12 pm. But a little after the house sat down, it was adjourned after a continuous uproar. The TDP's MPs would not allow Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to run the house. Each time the Lok Sabha would convene, they would run into the well of the house. The Rajya Sabha had earlier already been adjourned till Tuesday. The YSR Congress and the TDP have asked for a trust vote against the government over the issue of special status to Andhra Pradesh. The central government had refused to give the state the special status it was asking for, but had said it would give Andhra the monetary equivalent of special status. Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had recently asked the two TDP ministers in the union cabinet — Ashok Gajapathi Raju and YS Chowdary — to put in their papers. He had then later he would take his next steps accordingly. The YSR Congress and the TDP had asked for the trust vote — a minimum of 50 members have to accept the motion for the vote to be held — last week. The Left, the AIADMK, the Aam Aadmi Party, and the AIMIM will support the vote. Should the motion be accepted, this will be the first no-trust vote against the central government. That said, the Narendra-led Modi NDA government is at the moment in no danger of falling. It has a simple majority on its own, and enough independent MPs in the house it could approach, should the need ever arise, to sail through a no-trust vote. The parties asking for the vote seem to understand that. The TDP MP RM Naidu said Monday morning: We are going to go move no-confidence motion,gather support of all respective parties in Parliament. It's responsibility of all parties in Parliament to support us. Trying to gather as much support as possible so debate happens, not trying to make the govt fall: RM Naidu, TDP MP pic.twitter.com/LbdfpLAQAd — ANI (@ANI) March 19, 2018 × The TDP however, commentators says, wishes to attack the government on the issue before assembly elections in Andhra next year — which is exactly what opposition parties in the state are doing to it. Taking on the central government also allows the TDP to ward off the YSR Congress's Jagan Mohan Reddy, who has been pushing for special status for Andhra for some four years now. More fireworks can be expected on Tuesday when Parliament reconvenes; the YSR Congress's YV Subba Reddy has asked for the motion to be taken up tomorrow again. YSRCP MP YV Subba Reddy again writes to Secretary General Lok Sabha to include in list of business for tomorrow 'no confidence motion in the council of ministers'. pic.twitter.com/6fsIhkk10H — ANI (@ANI) March 19, 2018 ×

No-confidence motion not taken up, both houses of Parliament adjourned till Tuesday

<p>The recent assembly elections in the North East have seen a huge change in the political landscape of the region. The election results marked the entry of the right-wing power in the state, replacing the long-established hold of Left.</p>

<p>But what exactly do we mean by &#39;Left&#39; and &#39;Right&#39; while discussing politics? The terms originated in France during the French Revolution in 1789 when the members of the National Assembly were divided into two groups.</p>

<p>One supported the king while the other opposed the order of the day. The supporters of the contemporary political system used to sit on the right side of the President while the opposition sat to his left and sought revolution by disrupting the existing system.</p>

<p>The seating arrangement of the two groups was not accepted by the loyalists of the kings, whereas the left appreciated the different seating seeing it as a move of change.</p>

<p>With the beginning of the twentieth century, the terms were widely associated with different political ideology. Republicans who practiced liberal political ideas came to be known as the &ldquo;left&rdquo; group; the &ldquo;right-wing&rdquo; politics was associated with the Conservatives.</p>

<p>&nbsp;By 1914, the terms were widely used to describe political positions and parties.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In his book, The Web of Government (1947), Scottish sociologist Robert M Maclver has mentioned Right ideological politics as always associated with the interests of the upper or dominant classes, while the Left sector caters to the lower economic and social classes.</p>

<p>The &#39;left&#39; is generally called the &#39;party of the movement&#39; while the &#39;right&#39; often stands as the &#39;party of the order&#39;.</p>

<p>&nbsp;The major front of the Left politics in India is occupied by the Communist Party of India (CPI). The party was founded on December 26, 1925, at the first Party Conference in Kanpur.</p>

<p>However, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), which is now separated from the party (CPI), believes its foundation year as 1920 in Tashkent, Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.</p>

<p>&nbsp;In the recent years, the CPI has witnessed a massive defeat. It secured a single seat out of 545 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Following this, the Election Commission had issued a letter asking the party &ldquo;why its status as the national party should not be revoked&rdquo;.</p>

<p>&nbsp;The party which was the major opposition in 1952, after the very first general elections in Independent India, has now reduced to a single state presence in Kerala.</p>

<p>It ceded its control over West Bengal in 2011 after ruling the state for nearly 30 years including its current loss in the Left bastion of North East.</p>

<p>In 2008, it drew support from the United Progressive Alliance after UPAs decision to join US-Indian peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act. It also opposed the setting up of private industries in Kolkata</p>

<p>The Bhartiya Janata Party, founded in the 1980s, gained prominence in the country with its support to the building of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.&nbsp; The ideological inclination of the party clearly demarcates it as a &#39;right-wing&#39; political party. Until the advent of the BJP, the parties ruling the county had either &#39;Centrist&#39;, &#39;Left to Centre&#39; or a complete &#39;Leftist&#39; stance.</p>

<p>Over the years, BJP has shown an aggressive stand on religion, nationalism, support for traditional society and culture. It has never tried to gather minority votes by following appeasement policy of religious minorities. The BJP has always demanded equality for all, including the majority community.</p>

<p>In the recent assembly elections in the North East, the BJP swept to power evicting the Left front in Tripura which ruled the state for 25 years. Tripura was one of the few Left-led havens in India. However, the massive mandate with which the right-wing tore apart the strong presence of the Left government questions the future of Left politics in India.</p>

<p>Will the Left make a strong comeback or soon become history in Indian politics is a question only they can answer.&nbsp;</p>


In the recent assembly elections in the North East, the BJP swept to power evicting the Left front in Tripura which ruled the state for 25 years. The massive mandate with which the right-wing tore apart the strong presence of the Left government questions the future of Left politics in India

The recent assembly elections in the North East have seen a huge change in the political landscape of the region. The election results marked the entry of the right-wing power in the state, replacing the long-established hold of Left. But what exactly do we mean by 'Left' and 'Right' while discussing politics? The terms originated in France during the French Revolution in 1789 when the members of the National Assembly were divided into two groups. One supported the king while the other opposed the order of the day. The supporters of the contemporary political system used to sit on the right side of the President while the opposition sat to his left and sought revolution by disrupting the existing system. The seating arrangement of the two groups was not accepted by the loyalists of the kings, whereas the left appreciated the different seating seeing it as a move of change. With the beginning of the twentieth century, the terms were widely associated with different political ideology. Republicans who practiced liberal political ideas came to be known as the “left” group; the “right-wing” politics was associated with the Conservatives. By 1914, the terms were widely used to describe political positions and parties. In his book, The Web of Government (1947), Scottish sociologist Robert M Maclver has mentioned Right ideological politics as always associated with the interests of the upper or dominant classes, while the Left sector caters to the lower economic and social classes. The 'left' is generally called the 'party of the movement' while the 'right' often stands as the 'party of the order'. The major front of the Left politics in India is occupied by the Communist Party of India (CPI). The party was founded on December 26, 1925, at the first Party Conference in Kanpur. However, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), which is now separated from the party (CPI), believes its foundation year as 1920 in Tashkent, Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In the recent years, the CPI has witnessed a massive defeat. It secured a single seat out of 545 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Following this, the Election Commission had issued a letter asking the party “why its status as the national party should not be revoked”. The party which was the major opposition in 1952, after the very first general elections in Independent India, has now reduced to a single state presence in Kerala. It ceded its control over West Bengal in 2011 after ruling the state for nearly 30 years including its current loss in the Left bastion of North East. In 2008, it drew support from the United Progressive Alliance after UPAs decision to join US-Indian peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act. It also opposed the setting up of private industries in Kolkata The Bhartiya Janata Party, founded in the 1980s, gained prominence in the country with its support to the building of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The ideological inclination of the party clearly demarcates it as a 'right-wing' political party. Until the advent of the BJP, the parties ruling the county had either 'Centrist', 'Left to Centre' or a complete 'Leftist' stance. Over the years, BJP has shown an aggressive stand on religion, nationalism, support for traditional society and culture. It has never tried to gather minority votes by following appeasement policy of religious minorities. The BJP has always demanded equality for all, including the majority community. In the recent assembly elections in the North East, the BJP swept to power evicting the Left front in Tripura which ruled the state for 25 years. Tripura was one of the few Left-led havens in India. However, the massive mandate with which the right-wing tore apart the strong presence of the Left government questions the future of Left politics in India. Will the Left make a strong comeback or soon become history in Indian politics is a question only they can answer.

The 'Left' and 'Right' of politics: What's left in 'Left' after North-East drubbing

<p>The Bhartiya Janata Party will celebrate its <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/bjp-demolishes-left-citadel-in-tripura-certain-to-be-part-of-government-in-nagaland-34576" target="_blank">remarkable victory</a> in the Left bastion Tripura as Vijay Diwas on Sunday.</p>

<p>The celebrations are scheduled from 11 am to 1 pm.</p>

<p>BJP made a historic win in Tripura as they won twenty-eight seats in the 60-member Tripura Assembly.</p>

<p>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/congress-never-so-diminished-as-it-is-now-narendra-modi-34570" target="_blank">Congress never so diminished as it is now: Narendra Modi</a></p>

<p>BJP and its ally IPFT demolished the 25 years of&nbsp;left government from the state.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the last elections, BJP got one per cent votes in Tripura.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The party&nbsp;and its alliance also <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/tripura-nagaland-victories-endorsement-of-modis-leadership-says-amit-shah-34557" target="_blank">emerged victorious in Nagaland</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The celebrations are scheduled from 11 am to 1 pm

The Bhartiya Janata Party will celebrate its remarkable victory in the Left bastion Tripura as Vijay Diwas on Sunday. The celebrations are scheduled from 11 am to 1 pm. BJP made a historic win in Tripura as they won twenty-eight seats in the 60-member Tripura Assembly. Also read: Congress never so diminished as it is now: Narendra Modi BJP and its ally IPFT demolished the 25 years of left government from the state. In the last elections, BJP got one per cent votes in Tripura. The party and its alliance also emerged victorious in Nagaland.

BJP to celebrate Vijay Diwas to mark its victory in North East

<p>Disruptions followed as soon as the triple talaq Bill was tabled in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The Speaker adjourned&nbsp;the Upper House&nbsp;till 11 am Thursday within a few hours as the Opposition pressed to the government&nbsp;to send the bill to the Select&nbsp;Committee.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11 am, tomorrow after continued pandemonium over <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TripleTalaqBill?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TripleTalaqBill</a> <a href="https://t.co/U5nKC0BSG9">pic.twitter.com/U5nKC0BSG9</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/948500923709456384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>As Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tabled the bill in Rajya Sabha, Congress immediately moved a resolution to send the bill to the standing committee.</p>

<p>Finance minister Arun Jaitley said it was an &quot;invalid resolution&quot;.</p>

<p>Jaitley asserted that the motion should have been submitted a day earlier, adding that a motion has to be given at least 24 hours in advance.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The house is taken by surprise that a motion is suddenly moved, it has not been submitted a day before. The motion has to be give at least 24 hours in advance: Arun Jaitley on Anand Sharma&#39;s notice <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TripleTalaqBill?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TripleTalaqBill</a> <a href="https://t.co/GbQZw3Nskk">pic.twitter.com/GbQZw3Nskk</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/948494898117754881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The whole country is watching that in the other house you supported the bill and in this house you are trying to derail the bill: Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TripleTalaqBill?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TripleTalaqBill</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/948495761234251778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>Jaitley said that the motion should not be referred to Select Committee. Citing urgency, he said that the legislature must act with a sense of responsibility.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Reason why it should not be referred (to select committee) is that when the practice was declared unconstitutional, 2 of the judges held it as unfair &amp; used their extraordinary power to suspend it for 6 months, which expire on 22 Feb: Arun Jaitley in RS <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TripleTalaqBill?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TripleTalaqBill</a> 1/2</p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/948497931883048960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Judges said, &#39;we are now suspending it for 6 months &amp; we beseech all parties, therefore within this period come out with apt legislation.&#39; So, there is an urgency that country expects from Parl. Legislature must act with sense of responsibility: Jaitley in RS <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TripleTalaqBill?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TripleTalaqBill</a> 2/2</p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/948498346775162880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>The bill was earlier presented by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="hi"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TripleTalaqBill?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TripleTalaqBill</a> tabled in Rajya Sabha by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad</p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/948491264869019648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>While addressing the Rajya Sabha, Ravi Shankar Prasad cited a case of the latest victim of triple talaq in Moradabad.</p>

<p>He said,&quot;Even after passage of Triple Talaq in Lok Sabha the practice is continuing, a woman in Moradabad was given triple talaq over dowry.&quot;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Even after passage of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TripleTalaqBill?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TripleTalaqBill</a> in Lok Sabha the practice is continuing, a woman in Moradabad was given <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TripleTalaq?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TripleTalaq</a> over dowry: Law Minister RS Prasad in Rajya Sabha <a href="https://t.co/otec2iq6GE">pic.twitter.com/otec2iq6GE</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/948491918429716480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pandemonium in Rajya Sabha after tabling of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TripleTalaqBill?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TripleTalaqBill</a> <a href="https://t.co/5bp7GZgPy4">pic.twitter.com/5bp7GZgPy4</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/948492825452138497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017, seeks to criminalise triple talaq.</p>

<p>The Congress, Left, and the AIADMK and DMK have supported the bill but have called for the modifications of certain provisions, claiming the bill could upset the sentiments of Muslim women.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Left parties, which have had consultations with the Congress in the past week, have asked that the bill &quot;be referred to a select committee&quot;.</p>


While addressing the Rajya Sabha, Ravi Shankar Prasad cited a case of a woman in Moradabad who is the latest victim of Triple Talaq

Disruptions followed as soon as the triple talaq Bill was tabled in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The Speaker adjourned the Upper House till 11 am Thursday within a few hours as the Opposition pressed to the government to send the bill to the Select Committee. Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11 am, tomorrow after continued pandemonium over #TripleTalaqBill pic.twitter.com/U5nKC0BSG9 — ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2018 × As Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tabled the bill in Rajya Sabha, Congress immediately moved a resolution to send the bill to the standing committee. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said it was an "invalid resolution". Jaitley asserted that the motion should have been submitted a day earlier, adding that a motion has to be given at least 24 hours in advance. The house is taken by surprise that a motion is suddenly moved, it has not been submitted a day before. The motion has to be give at least 24 hours in advance: Arun Jaitley on Anand Sharma's notice #TripleTalaqBill pic.twitter.com/GbQZw3Nskk — ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2018 × The whole country is watching that in the other house you supported the bill and in this house you are trying to derail the bill: Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha #TripleTalaqBill — ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2018 × Jaitley said that the motion should not be referred to Select Committee. Citing urgency, he said that the legislature must act with a sense of responsibility. Reason why it should not be referred (to select committee) is that when the practice was declared unconstitutional, 2 of the judges held it as unfair & used their extraordinary power to suspend it for 6 months, which expire on 22 Feb: Arun Jaitley in RS #TripleTalaqBill 1/2 — ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2018 × Judges said, 'we are now suspending it for 6 months & we beseech all parties, therefore within this period come out with apt legislation.' So, there is an urgency that country expects from Parl. Legislature must act with sense of responsibility: Jaitley in RS #TripleTalaqBill 2/2 — ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2018 × The bill was earlier presented by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. #TripleTalaqBill tabled in Rajya Sabha by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad — ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2018 × While addressing the Rajya Sabha, Ravi Shankar Prasad cited a case of the latest victim of triple talaq in Moradabad. He said,"Even after passage of Triple Talaq in Lok Sabha the practice is continuing, a woman in Moradabad was given triple talaq over dowry." Even after passage of #TripleTalaqBill in Lok Sabha the practice is continuing, a woman in Moradabad was given #TripleTalaq over dowry: Law Minister RS Prasad in Rajya Sabha pic.twitter.com/otec2iq6GE — ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2018 × Pandemonium in Rajya Sabha after tabling of #TripleTalaqBill pic.twitter.com/5bp7GZgPy4 — ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2018 × The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017, seeks to criminalise triple talaq. The Congress, Left, and the AIADMK and DMK have supported the bill but have called for the modifications of certain provisions, claiming the bill could upset the sentiments of Muslim women. The Left parties, which have had consultations with the Congress in the past week, have asked that the bill "be referred to a select committee".

NDA tables triple talaq bill, Opposition disrupts Rajya Sabha

<p>The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017, which criminalises <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/triple-talaq-all-you-need-to-know-19324">triple talaq</a> among Muslims, will be presented in the Lok Sabha on Thursday amid several Muslim organisations as well as opposition parties&nbsp;such as Congress, Left and BJD voicing their concerns.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Moreover, the BJP is believed to have issued a three-line whip to its MPs asking them to be present&nbsp;to ensure that the introduction is smooth.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The BJP is understood to have issued the whip so that any stiff opposition from members on the other side at the introduction stage could be blocked.</p>

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<h5>Opposition parties have voiced reservations over the jail term -- which may extend to three years -- and fine included in the bill</h5>
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<p>The opposition parties have expressed their reservations over the given jail term for violators of the instant divorce, which may extend to three years and a fine for the accused and further envisages entitling Muslim women for maintenance.</p>

<p>It also has a provision for the divorced Muslim women to have the custody of their minor children. The offences under the purview of this bill will be cognisable and non-bailable.</p>

<p>The draft bill says, &quot;any pronouncement of talaq by a person upon his wife, by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form or in any other manner whatsoever, shall be void and illegal&quot;.</p>

<p>The government is sure to press ahead with the bill in Lok Sabha considering its strong majority even though the oppositions parties voice their apprehensions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The bill will be introduced by law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The government is all set for questions and comments and is ready to discuss the justification for proposing the law.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Also read:<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/triple-talaq-destroying-lives-of-muslim-women-says-indian-pm-narendra-modi-7849">&nbsp;Triple talaq destroying lives of Muslim women, says Indian PM Narendra Modi</a></p>

<p>The opposition parties have said that the jail term may be excessive and some Muslim organisations like <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/aimplb-says-will-request-pm-to-withhold-withdraw-triple-talaq-bill-27594">All India Muslim Personal Law Board</a> (AIMPLB) have held that the Supreme Court ruling striking down triple talaq as unconstitutional is against Sharia law.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;The AIMPLB urges the Central Government to not table the Bill in the Parliament,&quot; said AIMPLB&#39;s Sajjad Nomani after attending an emergency meeting organised by the Board in Lucknow.</p>

<p>The AIMPLB spokesperson further accused the Centre of not following the laid procedure in drafting the bill.</p>

<p>&quot;No procedure was followed in drafting this bill; neither was any stakeholder consulted,&quot; said Nomani.</p>

<p>AIMPLB even claimed that the Bill was against women and children, and if implemented, it would destroy many families.</p>

<p>Earlier in August, in a historic judgement, the Supreme Court had ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is &quot;void&quot;, &quot;illegal&quot; and &quot;unconstitutional&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from ANI)</em></p>


The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 will be introduced by law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017, which criminalises triple talaq among Muslims, will be presented in the Lok Sabha on Thursday amid several Muslim organisations as well as opposition parties such as Congress, Left and BJD voicing their concerns. Moreover, the BJP is believed to have issued a three-line whip to its MPs asking them to be present to ensure that the introduction is smooth. The BJP is understood to have issued the whip so that any stiff opposition from members on the other side at the introduction stage could be blocked. Opposition parties have voiced reservations over the jail term -- which may extend to three years -- and fine included in the bill × The opposition parties have expressed their reservations over the given jail term for violators of the instant divorce, which may extend to three years and a fine for the accused and further envisages entitling Muslim women for maintenance. It also has a provision for the divorced Muslim women to have the custody of their minor children. The offences under the purview of this bill will be cognisable and non-bailable. The draft bill says, "any pronouncement of talaq by a person upon his wife, by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form or in any other manner whatsoever, shall be void and illegal". The government is sure to press ahead with the bill in Lok Sabha considering its strong majority even though the oppositions parties voice their apprehensions. The bill will be introduced by law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The government is all set for questions and comments and is ready to discuss the justification for proposing the law. Also read: Triple talaq destroying lives of Muslim women, says Indian PM Narendra Modi The opposition parties have said that the jail term may be excessive and some Muslim organisations like All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have held that the Supreme Court ruling striking down triple talaq as unconstitutional is against Sharia law. "The AIMPLB urges the Central Government to not table the Bill in the Parliament," said AIMPLB's Sajjad Nomani after attending an emergency meeting organised by the Board in Lucknow. The AIMPLB spokesperson further accused the Centre of not following the laid procedure in drafting the bill. "No procedure was followed in drafting this bill; neither was any stakeholder consulted," said Nomani. AIMPLB even claimed that the Bill was against women and children, and if implemented, it would destroy many families. Earlier in August, in a historic judgement, the Supreme Court had ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional". (With inputs from ANI)

Government to table triple talaq bill in Lok Sabha today, BJP reportedly issues whip to MPs

<p>I had been worried about the pathos I would find in the piece and so had put off reading it for a few days.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I was familiar with Chidanand Rajghatta&#39;s work, having worked with the Times of India. Chidanand is the Times&#39; Washington DC correspondent, and his work is always competent.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sure enough, when I finally sat down to reading the piece one quiet evening over dinner, it left me watery-eyed.&nbsp;</p>

<p>How could it not have?&nbsp;</p>

<p>A woman had been shot at the doorstep of her home in cold blood by people who can only be described as cowardly (terrorists?), and her ex-husband was writing about her.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But it also left me appalled, and not because of anything that Chidanand had written.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Gauri and Chidanand had met in school, had courted for five years, and then been married for another five before going their separate ways.&nbsp;</p>

<p>They remained friends, with each other and their in-laws.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Chidanand says they reached out to hold hands before the judge hearing their divorce petition and their lawyers hissed that they should disengage should they wish to disengage.&nbsp;</p>

<p>After their divorce, they went to lunch.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In his piece, I thought Chidanand hit a high &ndash; which reminded me of Naipaul &ndash; and a low.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In his first book on India, An Area of Darkness, Naipaul describes his friendship with a Sardarji he meets in south India.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Like the average north Indian, the Sardarji salivates over his &ldquo;Aryan&rdquo; heritage, looks down upon what he sees as the darker south Indians &ndash; &ldquo;monkeys&rdquo; he calls them &ndash; thinks they stare at him, and finally commits an act of violence against what he thinks is a south Indian man gawking at him.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Lying on his back, the &ldquo;south Indian&rdquo; man tells the Sardarji that he is just like him &ndash; a north Indian.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I had had to double back to the passage &ndash; the incident is recounted with such a deft touch &ndash; asking myself: &ldquo;Did the Sardarji really slap that man?&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>There is a similar exchange over cigarette smoking in Chidanand&#39;s piece.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Gauri is visiting him in Washington and wishes to smoke.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Chidanand insists that she go outside to do so, that she not smoke inside the house.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Gauri tells him it&#39;s cold outside, and that she started smoking because of him.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tough luck, he says.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You&#39;re becoming too American, she says.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It&#39;s got nothing to do with being American, he says. It&#39;s about being healthy.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&ldquo;Bollocks,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I&#39;ll outlive you.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>&ldquo;Liar&rdquo;, Chidanand writes in his piece.&nbsp;</p>

<p>And leaves it at that.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He hits his low when he refers to the maid that Gauri had sent his way as her &ldquo;gift to us&rdquo;, writing that she is still with him. (It is incorrect to refer to a human being as a gift, even in India where we often treat our domestic help as if they might be.)&nbsp;</p>

<p>But all of this seemed to elude most of Chidanand&#39;s readers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>After having read his piece, I looked at the comments.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The &ldquo;top comment&rdquo; said, &ldquo;Press ti tutes and award wapsi brigades are big time bstds.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>A second said, &ldquo;Gouri khan was a chain smoker and a drunkard woman.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>A third said &ldquo;The writer is a bad journalist at worst.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>A fourth educated Chidanand on how one could smoke inside a house in the US &ndash; &ldquo;smoke at the chimney... smoke into the exhaust fan in the kitchen... smoke in the bathroom&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A fifth said, &ldquo;whosoever has eliminated the ultra leftist has done a splendid job. you live and prosper on this land.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>And it went on and on and on... (Perhaps I am being too unfair. There were also a few sensible, sensitive comments but they were far outnumbered by the other kind).&nbsp;</p>

<p>How did we become a people like this &ndash; full of sound and fury signifying nothing?&nbsp;</p>

<p>There are stray answers here and there.&nbsp;</p>

<p>That the anonymity afforded by the internet reins in the better angels of our nature. That now that everybody is able to broadcast his or her opinion via social media, nobody is interested in anybody else&#39;s. That our younger generations are not familiar with the idea of reading a book, and therefore struggle with complex ideas.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Whatever the reason(s) might be, the state of affairs worries me.&nbsp;</p>

<p>They say the biggest problem facing India today is the lack of jobs. But even if we were able to create them &ndash; what jobs would we give these people?&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>Follow Parakram on Twitter @parakramrautela</em></p>


I knew I would find pathos in the piece but it also left me appalled ? and not because of anything that Chidanand Rajghatta had written

I had been worried about the pathos I would find in the piece and so had put off reading it for a few days. I was familiar with Chidanand Rajghatta's work, having worked with the Times of India. Chidanand is the Times' Washington DC correspondent, and his work is always competent. Sure enough, when I finally sat down to reading the piece one quiet evening over dinner, it left me watery-eyed. How could it not have? A woman had been shot at the doorstep of her home in cold blood by people who can only be described as cowardly (terrorists?), and her ex-husband was writing about her. But it also left me appalled, and not because of anything that Chidanand had written. Gauri and Chidanand had met in school, had courted for five years, and then been married for another five before going their separate ways. They remained friends, with each other and their in-laws. Chidanand says they reached out to hold hands before the judge hearing their divorce petition and their lawyers hissed that they should disengage should they wish to disengage. After their divorce, they went to lunch. In his piece, I thought Chidanand hit a high – which reminded me of Naipaul – and a low. In his first book on India, An Area of Darkness, Naipaul describes his friendship with a Sardarji he meets in south India. Like the average north Indian, the Sardarji salivates over his “Aryan” heritage, looks down upon what he sees as the darker south Indians – “monkeys” he calls them – thinks they stare at him, and finally commits an act of violence against what he thinks is a south Indian man gawking at him. Lying on his back, the “south Indian” man tells the Sardarji that he is just like him – a north Indian. I had had to double back to the passage – the incident is recounted with such a deft touch – asking myself: “Did the Sardarji really slap that man?” There is a similar exchange over cigarette smoking in Chidanand's piece. Gauri is visiting him in Washington and wishes to smoke. Chidanand insists that she go outside to do so, that she not smoke inside the house. Gauri tells him it's cold outside, and that she started smoking because of him. Tough luck, he says. You're becoming too American, she says. It's got nothing to do with being American, he says. It's about being healthy. “Bollocks,” she says. “I'll outlive you.” “Liar”, Chidanand writes in his piece. And leaves it at that. He hits his low when he refers to the maid that Gauri had sent his way as her “gift to us”, writing that she is still with him. (It is incorrect to refer to a human being as a gift, even in India where we often treat our domestic help as if they might be.) But all of this seemed to elude most of Chidanand's readers. After having read his piece, I looked at the comments. The “top comment” said, “Press ti tutes and award wapsi brigades are big time bstds.” A second said, “Gouri khan was a chain smoker and a drunkard woman.” A third said “The writer is a bad journalist at worst.” A fourth educated Chidanand on how one could smoke inside a house in the US – “smoke at the chimney... smoke into the exhaust fan in the kitchen... smoke in the bathroom”. A fifth said, “whosoever has eliminated the ultra leftist has done a splendid job. you live and prosper on this land.” And it went on and on and on... (Perhaps I am being too unfair. There were also a few sensible, sensitive comments but they were far outnumbered by the other kind). How did we become a people like this – full of sound and fury signifying nothing? There are stray answers here and there. That the anonymity afforded by the internet reins in the better angels of our nature. That now that everybody is able to broadcast his or her opinion via social media, nobody is interested in anybody else's. That our younger generations are not familiar with the idea of reading a book, and therefore struggle with complex ideas. Whatever the reason(s) might be, the state of affairs worries me. They say the biggest problem facing India today is the lack of jobs. But even if we were able to create them – what jobs would we give these people? Follow Parakram on Twitter @parakramrautela

Gauri Lankesh, and that piece by her ex-husband

<p>BJP&#39;s member of parliament Roopa Ganguly along with other leaders were today detained by the West Bengal Police while on their way to Basirhat which has been on the boil because of communal tensions.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">West Bengal: BJP MP Rupa Ganguly detained by Police while on her way to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Basirhat?src=hash">#Basirhat</a> <a href="https://t.co/3RGR0o4fGM">pic.twitter.com/3RGR0o4fGM</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/883224115535949824">July 7, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>The police also prevented teams from the Left and the Congress party from visiting the violence-hit area.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">West Bengal: Congress delegation led by Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary stopped from entering <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Basirhat?src=hash">#Basirhat</a> <a href="https://t.co/Z21ezc8uHG">pic.twitter.com/Z21ezc8uHG</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/883227129449598977">July 7, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Tension&nbsp;in the violence-hit area of&nbsp;West Bengal&#39;s North 24 Parganas district flared up again on Thursday. Police had to lathicharge protesters who were blocking a road.&nbsp;</p>

<p>One person, who had been injured and admitted to the hospital, died after three days.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Reports said he had died in a Kolkata hospital, where he had been brought from Basirhat on Tuesday in critical condition.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Basirhat has been tense since Monday over a facebook post by a boy which led to clashes between two communities.&nbsp;</p>


The police also prevented teams from the Left and the Congress party from visiting the violence-hit area

BJP's member of parliament Roopa Ganguly along with other leaders were today detained by the West Bengal Police while on their way to Basirhat which has been on the boil because of communal tensions. West Bengal: BJP MP Rupa Ganguly detained by Police while on her way to #Basirhat pic.twitter.com/3RGR0o4fGM — ANI (@ANI_news) July 7, 2017 × The police also prevented teams from the Left and the Congress party from visiting the violence-hit area. West Bengal: Congress delegation led by Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary stopped from entering #Basirhat pic.twitter.com/Z21ezc8uHG — ANI (@ANI_news) July 7, 2017 × Tension in the violence-hit area of West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district flared up again on Thursday. Police had to lathicharge protesters who were blocking a road. One person, who had been injured and admitted to the hospital, died after three days. Reports said he had died in a Kolkata hospital, where he had been brought from Basirhat on Tuesday in critical condition. Basirhat has been tense since Monday over a facebook post by a boy which led to clashes between two communities.

BJP MP Roopa Ganguly detained while on her way to violence-hit Basirhat

Appointing a new Dior creative director is a &quot;work in progress&quot;, the French fashion house`s chief executive said on Tuesday, with the luxury label still to name a head designer some six months after Raf Simons left to set up his own brand.<br />
<br />
Dior, one of the world`s most famous designer houses, announced Simons` surprise departure in October after some three years at the helm. An in-house creative team has been working on collections since.<br />
<br />
&quot;(It is a) work in progress, work in progress and we`re giving it a little bit of time,&quot; Chief Executive Sidney Toledano told Reuters. &quot;It`s an important position.&quot;<br />
<br />
Toledano was speaking at a preview for Dior`s new London boutique opening this week, a four-floor store selling clothes, accessories, children`s wear as well as a home collection.<br />
<br />
&quot;The UK market in London business for us is doing very well, we still have double digit growth,&quot; he said, adding however that last year`s Islamist militant attacks in Paris had hurt tourism and sales in France.<br />
<br />
&quot;...What happened in November had a real impact on the first quarter but still we will continue developing our presence in Paris. We have a five-year plan and in September we`ll open a new fine jewellery boutique.&quot;<br />
<br />
Dior also presented its cruise collection on Tuesday at Blenheim Palace near Oxford, Winston Churchill`s birthplace and where the label hosted fashion shows in 1954 and 1958.<br />
<br />
Cruise collections, originally designed for wealthy fashionistas holidaying on yachts or cruises during the winter months, are outfits produced by stylists on top of seasonal lines.<br />
<br />
Lucie Meier and Serge Ruffieux, who are leading Dior`s creative team, took inspiration from &quot;not only the post-war high society`s wardrobes but also the restlessness and wanderlust (that) characterized the period&quot;, according to show notes.<br />
<br />
Models, such as new Dior makeup ambassador Bella Hadid, strutted down the catwalk in tops, dresses and skirts adorned in floral as well as Asian and African prints and embroidery.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
Sleeves were voluminous and up to the elbow, worn with trousers flared and cut above the ankle or slim skirts.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
Dior`s signature Bar jacket, usually cinched at the waist, was slightly longer and covering hips, while its well-known bows were loosened to resemble scarves. Several outfits were layered, such as skirts over trousers.&nbsp;

Appointing a new Dior creative director is a "work in progress", the French fashion house`s chief executive said on Tuesday, with the luxury label still to name a head designer some six months after Raf Simons left to set up his own brand. Dior, one of the world`s most famous designer houses, announced Simons` surprise departure in October after some three years at the helm

Appointing a new Dior creative director is a "work in progress", the French fashion house`s chief executive said on Tuesday, with the luxury label still to name a head designer some six months after Raf Simons left to set up his own brand. Dior, one of the world`s most famous designer houses, announced Simons` surprise departure in October after some three years at the helm. An in-house creative team has been working on collections since. "(It is a) work in progress, work in progress and we`re giving it a little bit of time," Chief Executive Sidney Toledano told Reuters. "It`s an important position." Toledano was speaking at a preview for Dior`s new London boutique opening this week, a four-floor store selling clothes, accessories, children`s wear as well as a home collection. "The UK market in London business for us is doing very well, we still have double digit growth," he said, adding however that last year`s Islamist militant attacks in Paris had hurt tourism and sales in France. "...What happened in November had a real impact on the first quarter but still we will continue developing our presence in Paris. We have a five-year plan and in September we`ll open a new fine jewellery boutique." Dior also presented its cruise collection on Tuesday at Blenheim Palace near Oxford, Winston Churchill`s birthplace and where the label hosted fashion shows in 1954 and 1958. Cruise collections, originally designed for wealthy fashionistas holidaying on yachts or cruises during the winter months, are outfits produced by stylists on top of seasonal lines. Lucie Meier and Serge Ruffieux, who are leading Dior`s creative team, took inspiration from "not only the post-war high society`s wardrobes but also the restlessness and wanderlust (that) characterized the period", according to show notes. Models, such as new Dior makeup ambassador Bella Hadid, strutted down the catwalk in tops, dresses and skirts adorned in floral as well as Asian and African prints and embroidery. Sleeves were voluminous and up to the elbow, worn with trousers flared and cut above the ankle or slim skirts. Dior`s signature Bar jacket, usually cinched at the waist, was slightly longer and covering hips, while its well-known bows were loosened to resemble scarves. Several outfits were layered, such as skirts over trousers.

Dior says new designer ''work in progress''

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