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19 districts of Gujarat go to polls amid Rahul-Modi war of words

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19 districts of Gujarat go to polls amid Rahul-Modi war of words

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As polling for first phase of Gujarat Assembly polls began, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wooed voters for remaining seats

While polling for 89 assembly constituencies began on Saturday under Phase I of the Gujarat Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi stepped up efforts to woo voters to their respective political parties in the remaining 93 seats of the 182-member Gujarat Vidhan Sabha.

Under Phase II of the Gujarat polls, 93 seats will witness polling on December 14. Results for the state election along with the already concluded polls for Himachal Pradesh assembly will be declared on December 18.

The ongoing election campaign for the Gujarat assembly has turned into a direct clash between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi with the two leaders leading the charge of their respective parties while relegating the state leadership to the background.

It thus comes as no surprise that while one half of Gujarat began casting its vote on Saturday morning, the other half was bombarded by poll promises and political rhetoric by Rahul and Modi, neither of them willing to give the other any quarter.

If the campaign so far had seen the BJP and Modi being uncharacteristically defensive while Rahul and his Congress set the agenda for the campaign, the past week has seen a reversal of sorts. Armed with suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s ‘neech aadmi’ remark made against him, Modi has sought to play the one card that no one else can beat him at – that of projecting himself as the poor, humble man who struggled his way to the top while the “elite” first family of the Congress and its followers mocked him.

This put the Congress on the backfoot, albeit momentarily. With Rahul promptly shunning Aiyar’s comment and orchestrating his suspension from the party’s primary membership, the Nehru-Gandhi scion has now steered his campaign back to the original plan – asking BJP and Modi to 22 questions – symbolically one for each of the 22 consecutive years that the saffron party has ruled Gujarat.

On Saturday, amid polling in 89 of the state’s 182 constituencies, the slanging match between Rahul and Modi continued. Rahul, who took a fleeting break from the campaign to wish his mother, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on her 72nd birthday, was back in campaign mode, addressing rallies from Patan to Mehsana through the day.

Modi, possibly nervous over reports of the Congress’ revival in his home state following the party’s 22-year spell of political wilderness, too is in Gujarat, campaigning with more rigour than during those 12 years when he was the state’s chief minister, including in 2002 when the state went to polls months after Narendra Modi quietly presided over the worst communal pogrom that the state had witnessed since independence.

The Prime Minister, usually brilliant at masking his emotions, seems to be dropping ample hints of nervousness – unless of course they are, and could well be, part of his carefully engineered poll strategy. While in the run up to the 2014 General Elections that propelled the then Gujarat chief minister to the Prime Minister’s throne, Modi couldn’t stop raving about replicating his much-publicised Gujarat model of development on the rest of India, his speeches through this year’s state assembly poll campaign have largely been about how he couldn’t develop Gujarat due to the step-motherly treatment of the Congress-led UPA government. The Gujarat model has suddenly gone missing while Modi is back to criticising the Congress on the same old issues – that the Grand Old Party believes in dynasty, its leaders mock his humble beginnings, that the Congress has never done anything for Gujarat, et al – while raking up nationalist and Hindutva sentiments.

Here are some snapshots from what Modi said at his poll rallies in Gujarat on Saturday:

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Meanwhile, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi sought to put behind the setback caused to his party by Mani Shankar Aiyar and continued to pose pointed questions at the BJP and Modi as part of his Gujarat Mange Jawaab campaign. The Congress vice president wondered why Modi was not replying to his questions on the development of Gujarat and why talk of the Gujarat model of development had suddenly vanished from the Prime Minister’s speeches.

Here’s a glimpse of what Rahul said at his rallies in Gujarat on Saturday:

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India News

Case registered against Mamata Banerjee over controversial 2025 religion remark

A formal police case has been registered against Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee in Siliguri, West Bengal. The complaint alleges that her 2025 “Ganda Dharm” remark targeted Hinduism and hurt the religious sentiments of the community.

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Mamata Banerjee

A formal police complaint has been lodged against Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal’s Siliguri. The legal action stems from an alleged derogatory remark regarding Hinduism made during an Eid congregation in Kolkata in 2025.

The case was registered following a complaint filed by a local lawyer, Rinki Chatterjee, who alleged that the former Chief Minister’s comments deeply hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus globally.

Legal charges and complaint details

The police have invoked multiple sections under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against Banerjee, including Section 351(1) for criminal intimidation, Section 352 for intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and Section 353 for promoting feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill will between different communities.

According to the complaint, the controversy traces back to an Eid event organized on Kolkata’s iconic Red Road in 2025. While delivering a speech targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Banerjee purportedly referred to the version of Hinduism championed by the political rival as “Ganda Dharm” (filthy religion).

Chatterjee stated in her complaint that labeling Sanatan Dharma in such a manner at a religious gathering was “absolutely unacceptable”. The complainant also pointed to other instances where senior TMC leaders allegedly targeted Hinduism, adding that Banerjee made indirect threats to the Hindu community during the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election campaign to influence voters through intimidation.

Political responses to the FIR

The reported statements had previously drawn sharp criticism from the state BJP leadership last year, including strong objections from current Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. However, this FIR represents the first formal legal action taken regarding the speech.

When approached for a response, Atri Sharma, a lawyer and general secretary of the TMC’s Darjeeling unit, declined to comment officially as a party spokesperson. However, he noted that many within the party internal circles found the remarks inappropriate at the time they were spoken. Sharma acknowledged that holding a high public office required restraint and affirmed that every individual holds the moral right to pursue legal remedies.

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Congress Dismisses Karnataka Leadership Transition Rumors After Six-Hour Delhi Meet

The Congress party has rejected ongoing rumors regarding a leadership change or a rotating Chief Minister formula in Karnataka, stating that a recent six-hour meeting in Delhi focused strictly on the upcoming Rajya Sabha and MLC elections.

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The Congress party has strongly downplayed the intense political buzz surrounding a potential leadership transition or a change in the Chief Minister’s post in Karnataka. Following a marathon six-hour meeting with the state’s top leadership in New Delhi, the party explicitly rejected the ongoing speculation, labeling it as having “no reality.”

A brief statement issued to the media after the high-level meeting advised against spreading rumors, clarifying that the discussions were entirely centered on upcoming electoral strategies rather than structural changes within the state government. The party stated that the deliberations solely revolved around the state’s three vacant Rajya Sabha seats and the upcoming Member of Legislative Council (MLC) elections.

Rajya Sabha and MLC Polls Take Center Stage

The high-stakes meeting was attended by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leader Rahul Gandhi, and party General Secretary KC Venugopal, alongside Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

Briefing the media post-meeting, KC Venugopal stated that conversations were strictly confined to the Rajya Sabha and MLC elections, emphasizing that there is no truth to any other political speculation. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also confirmed that the agenda of a potential cabinet expansion or a leadership shift did not come up during the six-hour-long discussion.

Background of the Power Struggle

The question of leadership in Karnataka has remained a recurring theme for over a year. Supporters of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar have consistently maintained that the central leadership promised a rotating Chief Ministership arrangement when the government was formed after the 2023 assembly elections.

Speculation had intensified recently as the ruling government faced local anti-incumbency pressures alongside renewed political activity from the opposition bench. Some internal reports had even indicated a push from within certain sections of the high command, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, for a leadership revamp.

Balancing Caste Equations and Party Structure

The central leadership has navigated the situation cautiously to maintain political stability. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, 80, commands a powerful “Ahinda” support base—a coalition comprising minority communities, backward classes, and Dalits. This social alliance was crucial in helping the party navigate the traditional Vokkaliga and Lingayat caste dynamics during the 2023 elections.

Although the rotation issue had previously gained significant momentum when the government completed two years in office, the party high command had chosen to maintain the status quo to avoid any adverse electoral impact in neighboring assembly elections, such as in Tamil Nadu. With those elections concluded, supporters of the 64-year-old Deputy Chief Minister had expressed optimism for a transition. Shivakumar currently holds the dual responsibility of being the Deputy Chief Minister as well as the state Congress chief, signaling his critical organizational value to the party. However, for the time being, the party high command has firmly signaled that the current leadership structure will remain unchanged.

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Congress high command steps in to resolve Karnataka leadership impasse with crucial Delhi meeting

The Congress leadership, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, is holding a vital meeting in Delhi with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to find a definitive solution to the state’s prolonged leadership impasse.

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The top leadership of the Congress party is scheduled to hold a high-level meeting at its headquarters in the national capital today morning to address the long-standing leadership dispute in Karnataka. Senior leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and MP Rahul Gandhi, will lead the discussions aimed at resolving the continuous friction between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

The ongoing power struggle over the state’s top position has persisted since the party’s electoral victory in 2023. For the current session, only Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been called to join the discussions in Delhi. When questioned about the agenda by reporters, the Chief Minister stated that he was unaware of the specific subjects to be discussed, noting that political speculation is inevitable.

Background of the internal division

The internal friction intensified significantly in November 2025 when the state government completed its two-and-a-half-year mark in office. Supporters of the Deputy Chief Minister pointed to a purported unacknowledged internal arrangement suggesting a rotational chief ministership split equally across the five-year term. Despite multiple prior interventions by central party leadership to manage the internal friction, a permanent resolution has remained elusive.

While Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has not been invited to this morning’s initial session, indications suggest that separate individual discussions and a potential joint meeting involving both leaders are planned as part of the broader resolution process. Observers note that several state ministers and legislators have also traveled to the national capital as the party leadership aims to settle the administrative roadmap and finalise leadership plans before the next assembly elections.

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