A Pauri climbs a steep, narrow, slippery track for 100 meters before reaching a remote outpost in Jakhanikhal tehsil of Garhwal district. The outpost is a dilapidated two-storey structure, its central hall serving as a common office for several patwaris-revenue sub-inspectors, who are tasked with policing the dozens of villages between them. The rusted lockup now holds old documents and body bags; The toilet has become a record room. Some broken chairs next to a bench; Faded maps hang on the walls. It has been just a few months since 27 year old Roshni Sharma posted here. “We handle both land records and police work,” says the young patwari, who has seven villages under her jurisdiction. “It makes it harder to do anything right.”

AAs West Bengal gears up for the 2026 assembly elections, the ruling Trinamool Congress has launched an emotionally charged campaign focused on identity politics. At the heart of this campaign lies a powerful narrative: protecting Bengali linguistic and cultural pride amid allegations the party is a concerted effort to harass, criminalize and deport Bengali-speaking migrant workers from BJP-ruled states. TMC leaders claim that these incidents are part of a broader effort to delegitimize Bengali identity across India. The effort is also linked to the BJP’s efforts to shed a past filled with contradictory overtones that bordered on protest, on Bengalism – with a distinctly North Indian accent. The latest reactionary gesture came with the nomination of Samik Bhattacharya as state BJP chief. Despite the colorful output of the Sangh, his relatively calm personality matches better with the old Bhadralok prototype. His coronation ceremony was also saturated with Bengali religious iconography, especially the iconography of the goddess Kali.

New Delhi: Ruler NDA On Wednesday, MPs strongly criticized Rahul Gandhi As a “campaign leader” who is addicted to dynastic privilege and cannot accept equal treatment with others, he has targeted the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha over the opposition’s motion to remove the Speaker. Om Birla.“Rahul Gandhi thinks the rules are not for him, but he is the rules. A family thinks it is above the rules and procedures of the House and above the Constitution.” BJPAnurag Thakur made allegations. He compared Birla to a school principal who wants to enforce discipline, Anurag said, adding that those who do not like the principal are free to leave the school if they do not like the principal because the principal is not going anywhere.He said that in the past the comments of many MPs from the ruling party, including his, had been deleted by the Speaker. Rahul suffers from “FOMO” (fear of missing out) and makes all sorts of allegations to remain in the news, he said, condemning him as a “leader of publicity”.BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad said that this proposal has been brought to satisfy someone’s ego, targeted Rahul and said that PM Modi can never be compromised. The LoP should measure its words carefully, especially on national security issues, he said.“I blame the opposition, especially the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, for having chauvinistic views and turning this Parliament into anarchy,” he said.TDP MP Krishna Prasad Teneti praised Birla for his conduct as president and said attempts to “damage” the institution’s reputation in the name of political dissent were dangerous. He said, “I am not defending any individual; I am defending the integrity of this House. The authority of the Speaker is not an individual prerogative. It is an institutional necessity.”BJP’s Tejasvi Surya alleged that the Gandhi family is unable to accept equal treatment before the law. “People accustomed to dynastic privilege often mistake even equal treatment for injustice,” he said, claiming that its members consider themselves kings who can do no wrong.AIMIM member Asaduddin Owaisi, who is not affiliated with any faction, accused the government of trying to dominate the legislature, but also criticized the opposition parties for ignoring representatives of smaller parties like him. Owaisi said, he is accused of being the ‘B team’ of BJP.

FOr among the old residents of Rehra Mafi village on the outskirts of Utraula town in Balrampur district, the old images of Jamaluddin – now known as Chhangur Baba – are still vivid. A thin, dark man from the Pankhiya Muslim community, with six fingers on his right hand (hence his nickname Chhangur), cycles between villages, selling goods and rings. Once elected Pradhan, he is remembered for bridging the Yadav-Muslim divide. However, on July 5, after a search operation, when the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested the 70-year-old man along with an associate, Neetu alias Nasreen, in Lucknow, they described him as the head of a wide and organized illegal conversion racket with wide reach across the state. In fact, Chhangur had long ago traded his bicycle for a Toyota Fortuner, lived with armed guards and owned several properties. According to the ATS, his operations allegedly included fake identities, foreign funding, document forgery and multiple aliases. Several serious charges have been leveled against him and his associates – including conspiracy to wage war against the state, promoting religious enmity, cheating and violating sections of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. Police said earlier arrests (on April 8) included Mumbai native Naveen Rohra (Neetu’s husband), known as Jamaluddin after converting to Islam, and Chhangur’s son Mehboob.

heyn On July 26, Union Minister Chirag Paswan was in Gaya to address a public meeting when he attacked the Nitish Kumar-led NDA regime in Bihar. “I regret that I have to support this government,” she told the media when asked about the ambulance rape incident that rocked the city and made national headlines two days ago. “Murders, kidnappings, rapes… yet the state machinery bows before the criminals.” Although he avoided taking the name of the Chief Minister, there was no mistake as to who his attack was targeted at – the Home Department works under Nitish.

JJust when it seemed the BJP was finally getting ready to elect a President, the needle moved backward again, with the imperative of first finding a new Vice President for the country coming to the fore. Never mind that it has been more than a year since the tenure of current Chairman Jagat Prakash Nadda ended – this is after an extension of one and a half years from the original retirement date of January 20, 2023. The election of the Vice President is to be held on September 9, after which there will probably be a cabinet reshuffle and of course, the Bihar elections.