The Congress' massive defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls was a "collective responsibility" and not that of party chief Rahul Gandhi alone, Maharashtra state unit chief Ashok Chavan said Saturday.

The full Election Commission on Saturday called on President Ram Nath Kovind and handed over the list of 542 newly-elected members of the Lok Sabha that will enable him to initiate the formal process of new government formation.

President Ram Nath Kovind Saturday dissolved the 16th Lok Sabha with immediate effect on recommendation of the Union cabinet, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.

Y S Jaganmohan Reddy was Saturday unanimously elected as the leader of the YSRC legislature party, sources said. The meeting of the newly elected MLAs at the YSR Congress office here lasted for 45 minutes before the decision was made, the party sources said.

Top Congress leaders from across the country Saturday got together to review the party's drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, as the Congress Working Committee meeting got underway here.

Police have arrested the owner of the Surat coaching centre in which a massive fire had erupted Friday claiming lives of 20 persons, mostly teenage students.

In a shocking incident, two Muslim men and a woman were allegedly thrashed by self-proclaimed gau rakshaks in Madhya’s Seoni. They were thrashed by the group over rumours of carrying beef. The victims alleged that they were forced to say 'Jai Shree Ram' slogans by the accused.

It was a mixed outing for superrich candidates as five of them emerged victorious and an equal number suffered defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.