New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election speech in Rajasthan's Banswara has stirred controversy over his references to Muslims, with leaders of the Opposition bloc INDIA calling the speech an attempt to divert attention from "real issues".

 The Congress on Monday alleged the BJP was frightened by the anger of MSME owners and the business community and attempted "match-fixing" even in the Surat Lok Sabha seat which the ruling party has been winning since 1984.

Muslim men and women on Monday came out in large numbers and staged a demonstration, denouncing the accused from their own community, Fayaz Khondunaik, in the murder of college student Neha Hiremath and publicly stood by the Hindu victim's family.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday that no civilised nation in the world has made religion the basis of citizenship, and the BJP-led union government's contentious Citizenship Amendment Law is against the secular values of the country.

The Karnataka unit of BJP on Monday staged statewide protests against the alleged brutal murder of a young woman in Hubbali.

The head of Israel's military intelligence directorate resigned on Monday over the failures surrounding Hamas' unprecedented October 7 attack, the military said, becoming the first senior figure to step down over his role in the deadliest assault in Israel's history.

An accidental fire broke out in an ATM in Chikkamagaluru late on Sunday night, resulting in a loss of Rs 5 lakh. The incident occurred at the Karnataka Bank ATM on Nagar IG Road.