SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday urged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to withdraw his party's support to the NDA, saying the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh has stopped 'Samajwadis' from paying tributes to socialist ideologue Jayaprakash Narain.

Expressing concern over the deteriorating health conditions of the agitating junior doctors, who are on fast unto death, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and sought her immediate intervention.

In a move potentially aimed at appeasing the Muslim minority and backward communities ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, the Maharashtra BJP-led Mahayuti government announced several key initiatives in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday garlanded a bust of Jayaprakash Narayan mounted atop a vehicle outside his residence where hundreds of party workers had gathered since morning after the authorities advised him not to visit the JP International Centre due to security concerns.

Bahadur Singh Koli, the BJP MLA from the Weir Assembly constituency in Bharatpur district in Rajasthan, has once again sparked controversy with his remarks. While attending the inauguration of the Khedli Mod police station, which was upgraded from a police outpost on the Agra-Jaipur National Highway 21, Koli made contentious statements in the presence of Bharatpur Superintendent of Police Mridul Kachawa.

Junior doctors agitating over the rape and murder of their colleague at the RG Kar hospital continued their fast unto death for the sixth day on Friday, even as the condition of one of the medics on hunger strike, who was hospitalised, remained "critical", health officials said.

Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Suresh Gopi, has claimed that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan once invited him to join the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)].

Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh has announced his plan to undertake a 'Hindu Swabhiman Yatra' from October 18 to 22, aimed at urging the Hindu community to remain united and resist divisions along caste lines.