Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Thursday paid tributes to Bharat Ratna late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, describing him as a visionary statesman, and announced to name at least one public place in each of 87 Urban Local Bodies after the late leader, as his life symbolised integrity, democratic values, and people-centric governance.

The Chief Minister, while remembering former Prime Minister Vajpayee, said he was not only steadfast in his thoughts but also unwavering in his values and principles.

He emphasised that though governments may come and go, "Atal-ji always remained firm in his ideals".

The Election Commission of India has initiated action against nearly 10 lakh voters in Tamil Nadu for failing to provide accurate or complete information during the recently concluded Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Notices have been issued seeking explanations and additional documents to ensure that eligible voters are not excluded from the final voter list. The SIR process in Tamil Nadu commenced on November 4 and concluded on December 14.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday inaugurated 45 out of the proposed 100 ‘Atal Canteens’ in the national capital on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The initiative aims to provide affordable and nutritious meals to people at highly subsidised rates.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, BJP leaders Ashish Sood and Tarvinder Singh Marwah, who were seen having food at the Atal Canteen to mark the occasion.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed a two-level verification to confirm the authenticity of the supporting identity documents of voters during the hearing session on claims and objections on the draft voters’ list starting from December 27.

The “unmapped” voters, who are the ones not having any link with the 2002 voters’ list either through “self mapping” or through “progeny mapping”, will be summoned for hearing sessions. They will have to furnish any one of the 13 identity documents as specified by the ECI to retain their names in the final voters’ list.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy, Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, and other dignitaries have expressed shock and condoled the deaths of nine people in the bus tragedy in Karnataka's Chitradurga.

CM Siddaramaiah has stated that a thorough investigation will be conducted regarding the incident.

Siddaramaiah said on Thursday, "Hearing the horrifying news of the accident between a lorry and a bus near Chitradurga, in which several passengers were burned alive, was deeply distressing. Tragically, the journey of people travelling to their hometowns during the Christmas holidays ended in such a disaster."

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has advised the micro-observers appointed to supervise the hearing sessions to be especially vigilant about the mismatches in dates of birth (DOBs) in its records and supporting documents furnished by the voters concerned.

Clear instructions were given to the micro-observers during a training programme on Wednesday about their roles in the hearing sessions.

Explaining the matter in detail, sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, said that during the hearing sessions, instances might surface where there might be mismatches between the dates of birth that are in the records of the Commission, with those mentioned in the supporting identity documents provided by the voters during the hearing sessions.

In a move aimed at ensuring a transparent and grievance-free voter list revision, the Election Commission has appointed four Electoral Roll Observers to oversee the Intensive Electoral Roll Revision (IER) - 2026 across Kerala’s 14 districts, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Dr Rathan U. Kelkar said on Wednesday.

The initiative seeks to ensure that no eligible voter is excluded and that all deficiencies are addressed before the final publication of the electoral rolls.

The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on Tuesday announced the list of 40 star campaigners for the polling to the 29 municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The list, submitted to the State Election Commission, features a blend of national heavyweights and prominent state leaders to spearhead the party's campaign.

The Congress party's move comes when it has decided to go solo in Mumbai, strongly opposing the "inclusion" of Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab’s Chief Spokesperson and MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stating that BJP’s hatred towards Punjab, Punjabi culture and its great heritage has once again come out to the front.

Aam Aadmi Party MP Malvinder Singh Kang on Tuesday strongly condemned the Bharatiya Janata Party for gravely hurting Sikh religious sentiments by circulating a social media post portraying Sri Guru Sahib and the Sahibzadas in the form of cartoons, calling it a shameful, insensitive and deliberate act.

Each Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will daily handle 150 cases of hearings on claims and objections to the draft voters' list in West Bengal from Saturday, as per the target set by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The daily target had been fixed keeping in mind the schedule of the second and third stages of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal so that the hearing session could be concluded within a reasonable period facilitating the process of the meeting the deadline for publishing the final voters' list on February 14 next year, sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal said.

Three India-Bangladesh bordering districts of West Bengal, namely Murshidabad, South 24 Parganas, and North 24 Parganas, have recorded the maximum number of doubtful voters whose weird family tree data have been detected in 'progeny mapping' during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Insiders from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, stated that of the 1.36 crore doubtful cases detected in progeny mapping, the highest number -- at around 4.08 lakh -- has been recorded in the minority-dominated and India-Bangladesh bordering Murshidabad district.

After more than one-and-a-half month of door-to-door Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Madhya Pradesh, the Election Commission of India (ECI) will release the draft electoral roll of voters for the state on Tuesday, election officials said on Monday.

The official sources in the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) here in Madhya Pradesh told that, preliminary assessment suggesting that the names of nearly 41.8 lakh voters, that is, about 7.2 per cent of the electorate, are likely to be deleted from the SIR.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has made it clear that academic qualification certificates issued by individual educational institutions, including schools and colleges, will not be recognised as valid identity documents or age proof during the hearing sessions on the claims and objections to the draft voters’ list in West Bengal, which will start this week.

The ECI has made it clear that academic qualification certificates issued by registered education boards or education councils, or universities, will be honoured as valid identity documents or age proofs in the hearing sessions, insiders from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) have said.

Declaring that the era of aviation being a playground only for the wealthy is over, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann on Saturday outlined an ambitious roadmap to position Punjab as a major hub of the aviation industry in the coming years. Interacting with aircraft engineers and trainees at the Patiala Flying Club, the Chief Minister said the Punjab Government is building a robust aviation ecosystem by providing quality, affordable and world-class training aligned with industry needs, enabling children of farmers, shopkeepers and teachers to dream of careers once considered out of reach. 

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday mounted a sharp attack on the PM Narendra Modi-led government, accusing it of systematically running a "bulldozer" over the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and undermining the rights of rural poor, farmers and landless workers, terming it an “assault on rural livelihoods”.

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal has sought the permission of the Election Commission of India (ECO) to allow assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) to assist the electoral registration officers (EROs) during the hearing sessions on the claims and objections on the draft voters’ list which was published on December 16.

Initially, it was decided that 10 EROs would handle the hearing session for each of the 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal. However, insiders from the CEO’s office pointed out that, considering the huge number of voters in each constituency who would be summoned for hearings, there is consideration to allow AEROs to assist the EROs in those sessions.

The Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab on Friday said it would convene a special session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha next month against the Centre’s “attempt to hit the livelihoods of the poor by replacing the MGNREGA scheme”.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said, “The BJP government at the Centre is trying to hit the livelihoods of the poor by replacing the MGNREGA scheme. A special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha will be called in the second week of January to raise the voice of Punjabis against this oppression.”

In the draft voters’ list, published on December 16, the number of applications for new enrolment is negligible compared to the number of voters excluded from the previous list as of October 2025.

Sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, have said that the number of applications for new voters’ enrolment during the first stage of their enrolment has been 3,24,800 compared to the massive figure of 58,20,899 excluded voters from the earlier list.

In a tumultuous session marked by loud protests and sloganeering from Opposition benches, the Lok Sabha passed the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-G RAM-G Bill) via voice vote on Thursday.

The winter session of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly is unlikely to take place within the current calendar year due to the pressure from the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the upcoming festive season, sources said on Thursday.

The second phase of the SIR exercise began on Tuesday with the publication of the draft voters’ list.

The Election Commission of India (ECI), from Thursday, will start sending notices for hearing on the claims and objections on the draft voters’ list in West Bengal, thus marking the end of the first stage of the three-part Special Intensive Exercise (SIR), which started from November 4.

The draft list was published on Tuesday. Sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that to begin with, the ECI will send notices to the “unmapped” voters, which means those voters who have no connection with the voters' list for 2002, either through “self-mapping” or through ”progeny mapping".

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday met Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Delhi and presented her the Telangana Rising 2047 Vision Document.

The Chief Minister briefed Sonia Gandhi on the details of the Telangana Rising Global Summit-2025, which was held on December 8 and 9 at the upcoming Bharat Future City.

He also told her about the welfare schemes being implemented by the Congress government for the past two years, the measures being taken for the state's development, and future plans, according to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

The Lok Sabha witnessed sharp protests on Tuesday as the government introduced the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, aimed at replacing the iconic Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor led the opposition charge, terming the bill a "deeply regrettable and retrograde step" that undermines the welfare of India's most vulnerable rural citizens.

 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab strongly condemned the Union government’s move to dismantle the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and replace it with the so-called Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G), calling it a “well-planned deception” aimed at weakening the rights, dignity, and livelihood security of rural labourers across the country.

Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot has welcomed the decision of Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court in the National Herald case, calling it a clear victory of truth over 'misuse' of power.

He said that by rejecting the Enforcement Directorate’s complaint against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the court has made it unequivocally clear that no case of money laundering under the PMLA is made out.

“We have maintained from the very beginning that this was a false and fabricated case, deliberately created by the Modi government with the sole intention of tarnishing the image of the Gandhi family,” Gehlot said.

The draft voters’ list in West Bengal, marking the end of the first stage of the three-stage Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive in the state, was published on Tuesday.

At the same time, the Election Commission has also published a separate list of the excluded voters from the previous list as of October 2005. This includes deceased voters, shifted voters, untraceable voters, duplicate voters, and voters found suitable for exclusion for other reasons.

Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, on Monday, directed the police administration to strengthen surveillance through state-of-the-art technologies, including drones and AI-based tools.

A Lok Bhavan official said that the Governor chaired a state-level conference of the Home and Police Departments at Lok Bhavan in Imphal.

Governor Bhalla, a former Union Home Secretary, during the discussion in the meeting also emphasised hands-on training and capacity building of police personnel.

The Haryana government will confer Good Governance Awards to employees who have done commendable or innovative work related to Good Governance in 2024 and 2025 on the eve of Good Governance Day on December 25.

The last date for submission of applications and nominations for the Haryana Good Governance Award Scheme, 2025 (Haryana Sushaasan Puraskaar Yojana, 2025), has been extended up to December 17, after which the online portal will be closed.

A letter in this regard has been issued by Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi. This extension provides an additional opportunity for eligible employees to submit their entries showcasing exemplary and innovative work in governance.

In a money laundering probe related to an environmental crime, the Enforcement Directorate attached properties, including land, building and plant and machinery, worth Rs 79.93 crore belonging to a Punjab-based company involved in water pollution, an official said on Monday.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Jalandhar Zonal Office, provisionally attached the immovable properties of Malbros International Pvt Ltd on Saturday in the money laundering investigation related to environmental crime, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday stressed that political interference in institutions should not be tolerated.

Political interference in institutions should not be tolerated and needs to be dealt with seriously, he told reporters at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) here in response to reports about the interference in the working and staff engagement in a power project allegedly by a BJP MLA.

"Political meddling in the functioning of corporations and departments is unfortunate and worrisome. Political interference should not happen. Such matters must be viewed with seriousness. Earlier, these institutions were accountable to an elected government, but now decisions are being taken without that system in place," Omar Abdullah alleged.

The Election Commission of India (ECI)’s decision for re-verification of data provided in the duly-filled enumeration forms collected by the booth-level officers (BLOs) during the first stage of the three-level ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal has led to the detection of around eight lakh additional excludable voters within just seven days from December 3 to December 11.

The re-verification of data in the enumeration forms began on December 3 and continued until December 11, which was also the last day for submitting and digitising the enumeration forms.

A day after announcing a revised schedule for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in six States and Union Territories, following requests from their respective Chief Electoral Officers, the ECI on Friday said that it has appointed Special Roll Observers (SROs) for observing the SIR of the Electoral Rolls in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

According to the ECI, the SROs have already begun their work and are expected to be present two days a week in these States until the final Electoral Rolls are published in February 2026.

Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday paid tribute to the legendary Dogra warrior Late General Zorawar Singh for his courage, purpose and commitment to bigger ideals on his 184th death anniversary.

“His vision inspired generations by igniting passion, guiding people toward a shared vision, courage, purpose & commitment to bigger ideals. We must follow his message for moral clarity, unwavering conviction to shape the better future & empower the marginalised. Let's dedicate yourself to changing lives, guiding and supporting youth and build a more just and peaceful society,” L-G Sinha wrote on his X handle.

Kerala's political formations are bracing for a decisive day as counting of votes in the local body elections begins at 8 am on Saturday across 244 centres statewide.

With turnout dipping in both phases of polling, the political fronts are closely crunching numbers to gauge which way the public mood has shifted ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.