News18 Afternoon Digest: Mallikarjun Kharge, Hardeep Singh Puri, To Retire Next Year, BJP Official Shot Dead In Patna & Other Stories
A significant reshuffle is on the cards for the Rajya Sabha in 2026, with several high-profile leaders set to complete their terms.
Elections to 75 of the 245 seats in the Upper House are scheduled for April, June, and November next year. While 233 of these seats are filled through elections by state legislatures, the remaining 12 are nominated by the President. Read More
The Election Commission of India's (ECI) Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have found a significant number of individuals from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar possessing Indian documents such as Aadhaar, domicile certificates, and ration cards during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, sources said. Read More
Less than 14 days after prominent businessman Gopal Khemka was killed outside his Patna residence, another BJP official was shot dead on Saturday night in the Sheikhpura village in the city, the police said.
Three days after the death of Tennis star Radhika Yadav, a video from an Instagram account with the name Himaanshika is making the rounds on the internet. The clip features a girl named Himaanshika, claiming to be Radhika's best friend. Read More
The internet was in splits as well as in debate as sparks flew between the Indian and the English players during the final over of Day 3 at Lord's, as some words were exchanged with India blaming the hosts of deliberately wasting time and ensuring that a second over isn't bowled in their second innings. Read More
Music composer Amaal Mallik has made it clear that he shares no personal bond with his uncle, Anu Malik, especially in light of the sexual harassment allegations made against him during the MeToo movement. In a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan, Amaal revealed his thoughts on the controversy and why he chose to stay silent at the time. Read More
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Indian Express
16 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Calm down please: From Maharashtra to Bihar, a politics of apocalypse
Dear Express reader, In the last few days, the news from two states, otherwise positioned at opposite ends of the spectrum — Maharashtra ranks among India's most industrialised states, while Bihar remains one of the least developed — has sounded similarly dire. In Maharashtra, amid incidents of violence on the language issue, after a government circular on Hindi in schools appears to have created space for the estranged Sena cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray to re-unite to be 'saviours' of the supposedly re-endangered 'Marathi Manoos', the Devendra Fadnavis dispensation has passed a law that paints an alarmist picture of a state overrun by 'urban Naxals'. The Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill uses cloudy language and extra-large definitions as it purports to, as CM Fadnavis said in the Assembly, rescue the state's youth from those 'provoking people for armed revolt to demolish democracy, Parliament and institutions'. It is in line, arguably, with Fadnavis's earlier remarks on the election in Maharashtra: It was a contest, he said, not between parties but between the 'forces of nationalism' and 'forces of anarchy'. In Bihar, the Election Commission's exercise for updating and cleaning up electoral rolls, the Special Intensive Revision, which in a dramatic departure from the past, casts the onus on large swathes of undocumented voters to prove their citizenship, has sparked widespread fears of disenfranchisement. At the same time, a spate of incidents of murder in the state have revived 'law and order' concerns, at least among the politicians, including one prominent BJP ally. Whether or not Bihar sees a revival of the nasty and brutish motif of 'jungle raj' — this time with a role reversal, with the RJD using it to hit back at the ruling BJP-JD(U) — ahead of a crucial election, the ground is fertile for an apocalyptic clamour to rule the airwaves. This can only be bad news for a state that desperately needs a sober search for answers for the way forward. For all its several accomplishments, Bihar's turnaround story, scripted and steered by Nitish Kumar, has hit a long plateau, and Nitish himself is a waning presence. What is common to Maharashtra and Bihar is an apocalyptic politics that makes fear its currency, and in which complex challenges are presented with simple solutions. These feature zero-games and us-versus-them scenarios which demonise the opponent and create conditions that are ripe for 'saviours', draconian laws and the strong-armed state. The rhetoric of apocalypse is a conversation cul-de-sac, a dead-end for debate. In Maharashtra, therefore, the Thackerays raising the pitch on the language issue and the Fadnavis government arming itself with wider powers to blur crucial distinctions between terrorists, Naxalites and 'urban Naxals', threatens civil liberties, even as it narrows the possibilities of a policy and politics that aims at re-energising growth momentum in the state. In Bihar, the costs of apocalyptic politics are even more dispiriting. The return of 'law and order' as an issue combined with anxieties of disenfranchisement could make the upcoming election more about pessimism, and less about hope, in a state that lags a long distance behind Maharashtra on development parameters. But it's not just the politics of Maharashtra and Bihar. A politics that trades on spectres and scenarios of the end of the world as we know it, and fantasies of rebuilding on a blank slate, no matter what it takes, is in fashion. The Narendra Modi-led BJP at the Centre, as much as it taps into the aspirations of a changing electorate, has also excelled at telling stories of a fall and rise. Read between the lines, and in its telling, any attempt to change requires the destruction of the old order. The old order, the Congress-Left 'eco-system', must be felled and flattened, and New India will rise from the ashes of the old. It will be a country that is radically rearranged and reconstituted, with a grand temple in Ayodhya, without Article 370, with One Election, One Language, One Civil Code (and One Party and One Leader). The fantasy of total destruction and erasure of the old is intrinsic to the BJP's version of apocalyptic politics, and its vision of the new. The politics of Modi's main challenger, Rahul Gandhi, is also apocalyptic, but a coherent vision of the new utopia seems to be missing from it. That is one reason why his war cries of 'Constitution in danger' and 'Democracy under siege' and his exhortations for rooting out the existing system, which he paints as irredeemably authoritarian and corrupt, don't get much voter buy-in. Gandhi paints himself as a crusader, raises the pitch, but falls short in offering a persuasive or even clear vision of an alternative. Despite their differences, however, the politics of both Modi and Gandhi does the same disservice: Their painting of the apocalypse narrows the space for a conversation with the political opponent, leave alone for treating them with respect and reciprocity. If the opponent is the enemy — and in CM Fadnavis's language, a 'force of anarchy' — anything goes, arguably, in terms of how they can be treated. Apocalyptic politics is an abdication of democratic humility, of the responsibility to negotiate and explore the middle ground in a country of great diversities. It sets the stage for conduct that is unconstrained by the rules of the game, that does not abide by even its small and basic conventions and courtesies, and leads to a polarised polity. When deployed by the powerful, an apocalyptic politics also hides the fact that there are multiple pathways to reach goals, and many possibilities to tweak and change the system from within, not just the all-or-nothing options that are being propagated. Till next week, Vandita
The Hindu
33 minutes ago
- The Hindu
CM writes to PM to save Nimisha Priya from death row
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene with Yemeni authorities and save Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who has been sentenced to be executed in Yemen. In a letter to Mr. Modi on Sunday, Mr. Vijayan appealed to him to take up the matter and intervene with the authorities concerned to save the life of Nimisha Priya, 'considering the fact that this is a case deserving sympathy'. In the letter, he also attached a letter he had written to the Union Minister for External Affairs on March 24, 2025. In the March letter, Mr. Vijayan had written that the aged mother of Nimisha Priya had been making fervent appeals to save the life of her daughter. In an earlier letter dated February 6, 2025, he had requested intervention from Union Government for saving the life of the young woman, who has been found guilty for a crime committed by her as a teenager. Nimisha Priya, who hails from Kollengode in Palakkad district of Kerala, was convicted in 2020 for the murder of her Yemeni business partner in July 2017. She was allegedly subjected to severe abuse, and in an attempt to defend herself, the man had died. Nimisha Priya now faces the death penalty. As per Yemeni law, clemency is possible only through blood money. Her execution has been reportedly fixed for July 16.
India Gazette
38 minutes ago
- India Gazette
"Why did this exercise not happen then?": Bihar Congress Chief raises concern over electoral roll revision
Patna (Bihar) [India], July 13 (ANI): Bihar Congress President Rajesh Kumar on Sunday expressed strong concerns over the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. Speaking on the recent Supreme Court decision allowing the Election Commission to conduct a special investigation, Kumar questioned the necessity of the SIR, given that the electoral roll was updated in January 2025. Rajesh Kumar said that the move has exposed flaws in the electoral process and raised serious concerns about the credibility of the 2025 election results. He implied that the 2025 elections, which the central government won, might also be flawed if the current electoral roll revision is necessary. While speaking to ANI, Kumar said, 'In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, they had the figures with them. What was the problem with the electoral roll of 6 January 2025, which was finally printed? Within 25 days, they had to redo the process. This means the 2025 elections that the central government has won are also wrong, so why did this exercise not happen then?' Earlier in the day, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat accused the Opposition of politicising the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and sought to know who all experienced 'stomach aches' when the Election Commission reviews the voter list. 'It is the Election Commission's right and responsibility to conduct the elections in accordance with the system provided by the Constitution, to conduct them fairly, without any controversy. If the Election Commission reviews the voter list regarding the fairness of the elections, then that is a matter of their jurisdiction,' Shekhawat told reporters. 'There is no need for anyone to have any doubt or suspicion in this. However, some tried to politicise this issue. The Supreme Court verdict was also issued on the same lines. My second question is: Which people are experiencing stomachaches if the Election Commission reviews the voter list after the Supreme Court's order?' he later added. Earlier, the Election Commission of India said 80.11 per cent electors in Bihar submitted their forms, adding that the commission is moving ahead to complete the collection of Enumeration Forms (EFs) before the stipulated time, July 25. These efforts of ECI are being supplemented 1.5 Lakh BLAs appointed by all political parties who are also visiting door to door and leaving no stone unturned to ensure inclusion of each and every existing elector whose names are in the Electoral Roll in Bihar as on 24 June 2025. Special efforts are also being made to assist senior citizens, PwD electors, and other vulnerable groups by over 4 lakh volunteers. In order to get their names included in the draft electoral rolls to be published on 1st Aug, electors have to submit their EFS, preferably, along with eligibility documents. In case any elector needs more time to submit the eligibility documents, he can submit them separately till 30 Aug, i.e. the last date of filing claims and objections and take the help of volunteers as well. (ANI)
