Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday sought to dismiss Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assertion that Kerala was as dear to him as Varanasi, alleging that the PM was meting out step motherly treatment to non-BJP-ruled states and he did not expect any cooperation from him.

The body of an eight-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped, was found near a drain here in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, a police official said.

Kalaburagi: Social Welfare Department Minister Priyank Kharge on Sunday warned against the officials of district administration adding that they should pay special attention to the water scarcity issue in the district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited a church - one of the sites of the horrific Easter Sunday attacks - soon after his arrival here and paid tributes to the victims of the terror strikes, expressing India's affirmation of solidarity with Sri Lanka in the wake of the attacks.

 Nearly 70 hours after two-year-old Fatehvir Singh fell into a 150-foot-deep borewell in Punjab's Sangrur district, officials Sunday said the operation to rescue him is in its "final stage".

Buoyed by its stupendous victory in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP is preparing a blueprint, which includes putting in place a check and balance mechanism to induct TMC leaders and strengthening its grassroot level organisation, to win "at least 250 seats" in the state assembly elections.

It was a special moment for 72-year-old Rajamma Vavathil, a retired nurse, when Congress president Rahul Gandhi hugged and held her hand here on Sunday, 49 years after she took him in her hands as a newborn at a Delhi hospital.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Sri Lanka Sunday on the second leg of his first foreign visit after re-election last month, reflecting the importance India attaches to its 'Neighbourhood First' policy.