While official confirmation is awaited, Narendra Modi's oath taking ceremony is likely to be held on Saturday - June 8. The outgoing PM was unanimously seleted as the NDA leader as the PM face of the alliance. With this, Modi is all set to begin his third term as India's leader.

Following their unexpected gains in the Lok Sabha Elections, the INDIA bloc announced that their doors will be open for all "like minded parties" to come and join the opposition bloc.

JD(U)'s national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan put an end to all rumours of Nitish Kumar joining the INDIA Bloc. Following the NDA"s key meet in Delhi, the spokesperson stated that the opposition bloc has "lost their mental balance" after losing the elections for a third consecutive term.

"The false propaganda about Nitish Kumar is a result of their frustration. They should know that the unity of the NDA is as strong as a rock," stated Ranjan in a press statement issued by the party.

Opposition alliance - INDIA - has stated on Wednesday that they will be taking "Appropriate steps at the appropriate times" as the Modi 3,0 government begins to take shape.

"We will take appropriate steps at the appropriate time to realise the people's desire not to be ruled by the BJP's government," stated Congress president Mallikarjun, who chaired the key meet in Delhi.

The leaders of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Mauritius are likely to be among the foreign leaders to be invited for Modi's oath-taking ceremony.

The media division of Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said Modi invited him to the swearing-in ceremony. It said Wickremesinghe accepted the invite. A final list is expected within the next few days.

Odisha's outgoing chief minister and BJD Chief Naveen Patnaik has reacted to the party's loss in the recent assembly elections. Reacting to BJP's sweep, the Biju leader stated that the party "should not be ashamed of its 24-year rule in the state" and has "achieved many milestones" in Odisha.

"We have put up good work in all the programmes like education, eahtk, argiculture, etc. We are not ashamed of the 24-year rule of our government," stated Patnaik while addressing party workers.

As per the latest reports, TDP Chief and Andhra Pradesh CM-Elect Chandrababu Naidu's oath taking ceremony has been postponed. The swearing in ceremony was initially scheduled for June 9. However, reports have stated that this has now been pushed to June 12.

Amid the tensions between India and Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Narendra Modi on his third time. However, the Canadian leader's well wishes was accompanied by a remark reflecting the tensions between the two commonwealth countries.

"Congratulations to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his electoral victory. Canada stands ready to work with his government to advance the relationship between our nations’ peoples—anchored to human rights, diversity, and the rule of law," read the statement issued from the Canadian PMO.

As per a statement released by the White House: "President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India to congratulate him and the National Democratic Alliance on their historic victory in India’s general election...The two leaders emphasized their commitment to deepening the U.S.-India Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership and to advancing their shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. The two leaders also discussed National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s upcoming travel to New Delhi to engage the new government on shared U.S.-India priorities, including the trusted, strategic technology partnership".

With Narendra Modi all set to take oath as the prime minister for third consecutive term on June 8, the guest list prepared for the high-priority event features names of several prominent political personalities including Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Read the full guest list here

On June 4, a total of 73 women were elected to the 18th Lok Sabha, with West Bengal sending the highest number - 11 female members. However, in 2019, 78 women MPs were elected to the lower house of Parliament.

The Hindi heartland of Uttar Pradesh has delivered a shock result to the Bharatiya Janata Party as the Akhilesh Yadav-led INDIA Bloc in UP reduced the saffron party to almost half its size. The Samajwadi Party has scripted history by winning its most ever seats, 37, the previous best being 36 in 2004. The Congress party, which was in alliance with SP secured six seats, while BJP went from 62 in 2019 to 33 this time.

Read the full story here -

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is set to form a committee to examine the cause of its defeat in the elections in Odisha, a party leader has said. BJD's Kendrapara MLA Ganeswar Behera said the decision was taken at a meeting chaired by party president Naveen Patnaik with the newly-elected legislators.

"The party has decided to form a committee, which will submit its report to the president.We will have to wait for the report of the committee on the cause of the defeat",he said on Wednesday.

The BJP stormed to power in Odisha on Tuesday, securing 78 of the 147 assembly seats and bringing an end to the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government that ruled the state for 24 years. The BJD managed to win 51 seats, while the Congress bagged 14 constituencies. The CPI (M) got one seat, and three Independent candidates also emerged victorious.

(Via PTI)

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is reportedly expected to land in New Delhi on Friday, June 7. Hasina is also one of the leaders invited for Narendra Modi's swearing in ceremony which is scheduled for Saturday - June 8.

As per the Election Commission of India, the incumbent Bharatiya Janta Party recieved a total of 240 votes. Despite not crossing the majority mark single handedly, the BJP is still the party with the most votes. Along with its NDA partners, the BJP-led alliance crossed the majority mark and will form the next government.

For the INDIA Bloc, the Congress party secured 99 votes, followed by the Samajwadi Party with 37 votes and All India Trinamool Congress with 29 votes.

Ramayan Actor Sunil Lahiri, who played the role of Lakshman in the series, expressed his disappointment in UP residents after the BJP failed to secure a majority in the Lok Sabha Elections in the state. In a video message to his followed on Instagram, the actor stated - "I am very disappointed to see the election results. Firstly, the voting was very low and then this result. I constantly urged people to vote but no one paid heed. Now, a coalition government will be formed.  But will this government be able to run smoothly for five years? That is something to think about"

The BJP lost its majority in UP as Samajwadi Party swept the key state. Akhilesh Yadav-led SP secured 37 seats and the INC secured six seats. Meanwhile, the BJP secured a total of 33 seats.

The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday said it will hold a meeting of all its MLAs in the evening. 

"The meeting will be held at the Chief Minister's residence in Civil Lines," the party said.

This is the first such party meet since the rout of the AAP-Congress combine in the national capital. During the Lok Sabha elections, Delhi's AAP lost all seven seats in the national territory to BJP.

(with PTI inputs)

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday met senior leaders of his Nationalist Congress Party to take stock of the Lok Sabha election results and the party's performance.

The meeting took place at his official residence Deogiri in south Mumbai. Pawar's NCP contested four Lok Sabha seats in the state and bagged only one - Raigad.

(via PTI)

The 18th Lok Sabha will see about 280 MPs who have been elected for the first time, an increase from the 2019 elections when 267 members were first-time MPs.

Of this, a total of 263 newly elected MPs have previously served as members of Lok Sabha. Additionally, 16 MPs have been members of Rajya Sabha, and one MP has served seven terms in Lok Sabha.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu will be handing over the final list of winners in the Lok Sabha Election 2024 to President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday evening.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday hit out at senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, calling him the "villain" in Maharashtra politics, and accused him of destroying many families and resorting to political vendetta.

Talking to reporters in Delhi, the Rajya Sabha member said, "If there is any villain in Maharashtra politics, then it is Devendra Fadnavis. The BJP's drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls is due to Devendra Fadnavis."

As per reports, TDP has been negotiating for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker keeping the Speaker’s crucial role in view of the anti-defection law. It has also been speculated that Chandrababu Naidu may ask for more than two Cabinet berths from BJP. Naidu is yet to confirm any of the demands being reported but has vowed to stick with the NDA.

KC Tyagi, chief spokesperson of BJP ally JDU and among the closest aides of its Nitish Kumar has cited the resentment against the scheme in several states.

"There is resentment, so we will seek a review of Agniveer. We are not opposing it," he said. Based on this, Nitish Kumar is expected to ask Narendra Modi and the BJP to review the Agniveer Scheme before forming the government.

A Congress Working Committee meeting presided by party president Mallikarjun Kharge will be held on June 8 at AICC headquarters in Delhi.

Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony may take place on at 6 pm on June 9 instead of June 8. Official confirmation on the final date is awaited, news agency ANI cited sources as saying.

The BJP's Tamil Nadu unit on Thursday responded strongly and demanded action after a video went viral in which some men are seen slaying a goat, around whose neck a photo of the party's state president K Annamalai is tied.

It was immediately not known where the purported incident happened or who had posted it. The veracity of the clip could not be ascertained immediately.

Tamil Nadu BJP Vice-President and Party Spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy uploaded the video on his social media platform X, condemning it.

Rape accused and suspended JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna to appear before People Representative Court as his custody gets over today. Revanna lost the general elections 2024 from the Hassan seat.

Rajya Sabha MP and Infosys co-founder Sudha Murthy extended best wishes on the formation of the new government, saying "let us all work for the betterment of the country and see that the poor people get the benefits..."

When asked if he has been approached by the INDIA bloc, LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan said, "Opposition can certainly make a failed attempt to fulfill their ambitions. Perhaps they are making such attempts. For them, policy and ideology do not matter."

LJP is an part of the BJP-led NDA, which managed to win a slim majority this general election.

"They don't shy away from insulting the mandate when it comes to fulfilling their ambitions. The mandate is completely for the NDA...This mandate is to make my PM, a third-time PM. So, no ally will insult this mandate. We are strongly with the Prime Minister. A government will be formed soon and it will go on strongly for 5 years," Chirag Paswan told news agency ANI.

The People Representative Court sent Prajwal Revanna to SIT custody (police custody) till June 10 on Thursday. The suspended Hassan JD(S) MP is facing charges of sexually abusing several women. He lost the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections to Shreyas M Patel of the Congress by 42,549 votes on Tuesday.

Patel secured 6,72,988 votes and Revanna 6,30,339.

The 33-year-old Revanna, who is the grandson of former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, was the only one from JD(S) to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections on April 26, a huge cache of explicit videos went viral showing women being sexually assaulted, allegedly by Prajwal.

The NEET-UG 2024 results, announced on Tuesday, have sparked controversy over an unprecedented numbers of students, 67, bagging the perfect score - 720 out of 720.

Of the total students bagging full marks, six have seat numbers from the same sequence and are from Haryana, suggesting that there are chances of them being from a same centre.

Congress said on its official X account that, "It is clear that this government cannot get any paper done without leaking it. Sir claims to stop wars in foreign countries but he is unable to even stop paper leaks in the country."

"After the NEET exam, now the NEET result is also in controversy. After the NEET results were declared, questions are being raised on 6 students from the same centre getting 720 out of 720 marks. Apart from this, many other irregularities related to NEET exam have also come to light," Congress said.

"First due to paper leak and now due to result error, the future of lakhs of youth of the country is getting ruined. It is clear that this government cannot get any paper done without leaking it. Sir claims to stop wars in foreign countries but he is unable to even stop paper leaks in the country," Congress said, taking a vieled jibe at Narendra Modi.

Nearly 50 per cent of the winners of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 have criminal cases registered against them, including two newly elected MPs who are facing charges of rape under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Lok Sabha elections 2024 concluded on Tuesday, June 4, with the counting of votes and results, in which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 293 seats, a lower than expected tally, and the Congress-led Oppositon bloc won 233 seats, defying expectations and exit polls. READ FULL STORY

Statues of Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji, among others, have been relocated within the Parliament premises as part of a landscaping exercise, a move that drew sharp criticism from the Congress on Thursday.

The statues of tribal leader Birsa Munda and Maharana Pratap have also been shifted to a lawn between old Parliament building and the Parliament library.

All statues are now in the same place.

Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X, "Statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Gandhi, and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar have just been removed from their places of prominence in front of the Parliament House. This is atrocious."

Newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut reportedly got "slapped" at Chandigarh airport on Thursday, June 6.

Unconfirmed reports said that Kangana Ranaut was slapped by a CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) officer over a comment she made on farmers. READ FULL STORY

Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed Narendra Modi and Amit Shah over stock market, which saw a massive hit after general election result outcome turned out to be different than that projected by the exit polls.

"For first time we noted that during polls, PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, finance minister commented on stock market," Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday.

Why did PM, home minister give investment advice to investors, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked.

What Rahul Gandhi Said | Top Quotes

• "After 'fake' exit polls, stock markets rose, and then crashed on June 4"

• "Retail investors lost Rs 30 lakh crore, this is biggest stock market scam"

• "Why did PM Modi, Home Minister Shah give investment advice; BJP leaders had info that exit polls were wrong"

• "We want JPC probe into biggest stock market scam"

Model Code of Conduct, which came into force on March 16 with the announcement of Lok Sabha polls, has been lifted, the Election Commission said on Thursdau.

Congress slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday over the removal of statues of Mahatma Gandhi, B R Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji among others from their original place within the Parliament premises.

The statues are said to have been relocated to a lawn near the old building as part of a landscaping exercise. READ FULL STORY

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave Dhaka for Delhi at 11 am on Saturday, June 8, and will return home at noon on June 10 after attending swearing-in ceremony of PM Narendra Modi, due to the change in oath-taking ceremony date.

Newly elected MPs of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are expected to meet on Friday to elect Narendra Modi as their leader, paving the way for him to take oath as prime minister for a third term. The swearing-in is likely to be held on Sunday.

After Narendra Modi's election as the leader of NDA MPs, senior members of the alliance like TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar will join the prime minister for a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu to present her the list of parliamentarians supporting him, some alliance members said.

Newly-elected BJP MP Kangana Ranaut on Thursday was slapped by a woman constable of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the Chandigarh airport when she was on her way to Delhi. Kangana Ranaut was allegedly slapped for "Khalistani' comments.

Videos of Kangana Ranaut in an altercation after the slapping incident at the Chandigarh airport went viral on social media on Thursday.

Another video of the outburst of the constable in question after she slapped Kangana Ranaut also went viral. READ FULL STORY

National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma on Thursday said strict action should be taken against the woman CISF constable who alleged slapped newly elected BJP MP Kangana Ranaut at the Chandigarh airport.

The constable has been suspended and an FIR registered against her, officials said. Ranaut was allegedly slapped when she was on her way to Delhi.

NCW chairperson Sharma said it is a serious matter as the people who are responsible for security at the airport are breaching it.

After Rahul Gandhi balmed Narendra Modi and Amit Shah for being behind what he called the "biggest stock market scam", BJP leader Piyush Goyal said the Congress leader "does not understand that it is valuation."

"In April and May, when the market was rising, foreigners sold in the market and Indian investors took advantage of it and bought it. The benefit of this rise in the last 2 months has been received by Indian investors. The day the exit poll came, foreigners bought at high prices and Indian investors sold at high prices and took profit. Foreigners bought Rs 6,850 crores in retail at high prices and Indian investors took advantage of it," Piyush Goyal said.

"The next day, when the results came on the 4th, when the market fell, foreign investors sold at a low price and Indian investors bought it with the belief that Modi government is coming and we will take advantage of it. So foreigners bought at a high price and sold at a low price. Indian investors sold at a high price and bought at a low price. So in a way, Indian investors earned even in this period," he added.

"No one suffered a loss. Rahul Gandhi talks about Rs 30 lakh crores. I understood why the people country have no faith in Rahul Gandhi because he does not even understand that it is valuation. Valuation does not mean anything. The purchase and sale is what matters. And foreigners incurred losses in that. Indian investors have benefited. So retail investors of India also benefited during this period," he said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before a special court in Karnataka's Bengaluru on Friday in connection with a defamation case filed by the Karnataka BJP for issuing allegedly defamatory advertisements in mainstream newspapers.

The advertisement ahead of the assembly polls last year had accused the then BJP government in the state of indulging in large-scale corruption during its 2019-2023 rule

Amid rumours of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray planning to leave the INDIA bloc, Maharashtra NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) president Jayant Patil on Thursday emphasised former's commitment to the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, saying that "there is no chance that he will switch sides."

The rumours started after Uddhav Thackeray skipped a key INDIA bloc meeting held in New Delhi on Wednesday, a day after Lok Sabha election results.

TMC national general secretary and winning candidate from Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat Abhishek Banerjee met former Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshree, in Mumbai.

The meeting comes amid rumours that Uddhav Thackeray was planning to leave the INDIA bloc and join NDA.