India

Patna, Nov 8: Notwithstanding a string of losses that began with the defeat in the 2005 assembly polls when his party was ousted from power after 15 years and a court ruling, which will keep him out of electoral fray for six years, RJD boss Lalu Prasad has made a resounding comeback on Bihar's political stage. The man, who once lorded over Bihar, was pushed to the margins after the 2010 assembly

New Delhi, Nov 8: With trends putting the grand alliance ahead of the BJP-led NDA, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav described it as a "victory of principles over moneybags", asserting that the Nitish Kumar-led grouping will win close to 150 seats. "It was a very difficult fight. On the one hand were moneybags and on the other were principles. It is a victory of principles over moneybags. We will win over

Patna, Nov 8: The JD(U) led Grand Alliance and the BJP-led NDA appeared to be involved in a close fight in the Bihar Assembly elections after more trends were available in the counting of votes that began this morning. The Grand Alliance of JD(U)-RJD and Congress, which appeared trailing in the first one hour of trends, now seemed to be in the fight. A few channels showed the Grand Alliance in the

Patna, Nov 8: The BJP-led alliance on Sunday morning took initial early but crucial leads as officials began counting the millions of votes polled in the assembly elections. Election Commission officials said the BJP and its allies were ahead in seven of the 243 constituencies and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) combine was ahead in two seats where early trends were available. The BJP was leading in

Patna, Nov 8: Counting of votes begins in the high-stakes close-to-call Bihar assembly elections, billed as a hot battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The counting for the 243 seats of the assembly began at 8 A M and the verdict for a majority of seats is expected by the early afternoon. Votes are locked in 62,780 EVMs with 14,580 officials on duty for the

New Delhi, Nov 7: A combative Rahul Gandhi today signalled an aggressive campaign against the RSS soon and declared that a reinvigorated Congress alone can "smash" BJP and its ideological mentor. "Secularism is in the blood of Congress and it simply cannot be removed... This is the DNA of our organisation and we just have to reinvigorate that and you will see Congress... defeat, and not just

New Delhi, Nov 7: In a scathing attack on RSS and the ruling BJP, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused them of viciously wounding India's peace and freedom and said that the people of the country doesn't need mediocre thinking of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. “We don't want the mediocre thinking of Mohan Bhagwat in this country. Peace & freedom have been viciously wounded in our

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 7: The Left opposition on Saturday surged ahead in the Kerala civic polls, while the ruling Congress-led UDF was on the back foot, initial trends showed. The BJP too made inroads. After two hours of counting, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) was leading in 413 gram panchayats. The United Democratic Front was ahead in 328 while the BJP was leading in 33 gram panchayats.At the

New Delhi, Nov 7: Prime Minister Modi announced a special package of Rs 80,000 crore to Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar on Saturday. He was speaking at a public rally at Sher-e- Kashmir Cricket Stadium. Details of the speech which is in progress is awaited. The Prime Minister, after addressing the rally, is scheduled to inaugurate 450 megawatt Baglihar Phase II power project in Ramban district on

New Delhi, Nov 7: The government hiked excise duty on petrol by Rs 1.60 per litre and the same on diesel by 40 paisa a litre to mop up additional revenue to meet budgetary targets. The basic excise duty on unbranded or normal petrol was increased from Rs 5.46 per litre to Rs 7.06 a litre, according to a CBEC notification. After including additional and special excise duty, the total levy on petrol