Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav questioned the significance of showering flowers from aeroplanes when there are reports of mismanagement in various quarantine centres.

Earlier this week that the state government opened a website and by now 3.98 lakh Keralites in 201 countries, and 1.38 lakh Keralaites within the country have registered from various states, wanting to return.

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said the government was not willing to handle this humanitarian issue and was ignoring Indian tourists and students stranded abroad.

Kamal Nath said several of BJP leaders are still in talks with him and the present cabinet, led by BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan, "would have to face it all soon”.

In the SOP, the railways said the responsibility for food, security, health scanning, providing tickets to the stranded will be with the state from which the train is originating.

Sonia Gandhi said that the Congress party had asked for provision of free rail travel for migrant workers to their home-towns, but their demands had been ignored by the Centre.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said Congress are working out the modalities to ensure that every worker and migrant stranded reaches home safely.

Sources also say that senior Congress leaders like Bhupinder Hooda, Kumari Selja, Ashok Gehlot among other have been asked to mobilise funds for the mission.

The Congress insisted that mismanagement of the migrant workers and treatment meted out to them, shows and reflects the approach of this government to the poorest segments that too during the pandemic.

The ruling party also accused the Congress of promoting indiscriminate movement of people which would lead to "faster spread" of coronavirus infection.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, slammed the Delhi government's decision to open liquor shops, claiming it can increase coronavirus positive cases by up to 10 per cent.

In many of the shops, people who gathered outside the outlets did not follow social distancing norms, forcing the police to use mild force to disperse the unruly crowd.

The state can provide free treatment to the underprivileged without burdening its exchequer if it signs up for the Centre's Ayushman Bharat Yojana, Ghosh noted.

The Congress on Monday had said its state units will bear the cost of rail travel of needy migrant workers stranded at their workplaces due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

As per figures released by the state excise department, on the very first day of the opening of shops, people bought liquor worth about 225 crore, setting a new record.

Venugopal said it was due to protests by a large number of expatriates and their relatives as well as the general public over the past few days that the central government took the decision to bring back Indian citizens from abroad.

Son of Congress legend and four times Kerala Chief Minister K.Karunakaran -- Muraleedharan told the media that the state has to bear with Vijayan for a year only.

New or higher taxes are justified only when the economy is booming, the former finance minister said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks come after the central government hiked excise duty and cess on petrol by Rs 10 per litre and on diesel by Rs 13 a litre.

The RSS may want to be incorporate the broader policy adjustments -- both domestic and international – in the working and objectives of the government in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Former J&K CM Omar Abdullah said Hizbul Mujahideen commander Reyaz Naikoo's destiny was decided the moment he picked up the gun and adopted the path of violence and terror.

It is clear that Sonia now wants to make COVID-19 the launching plank of sorts of for the Congress. And, in many ways it is the return of Manmohan Singh as the trump card.

Chief ministers of Congress-ruled states said they would urge the PM to provide an assistance package to cope with the pandemic as well as the economic situation.

In a letter to the prime minister, Tharoor expressed appreciation for the central government for 'finally deciding to address the plight' of stranded 'pravasis' by commencing the process of repatriation from May 7 onwards.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked the government to clarify on the security and privacy concerns raised over the application, especially after an ethical hacker has pointed out its alleged flaws.

In a series of tweets, he also said that there is a steady rise in the number of calls regarding COVID-19 on the police helpline number 100.

Former prime minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda expressed shock over the incident and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend all required assistance to Andhra Pradesh.

The prime minister also chaired a meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to assess the situation.

BJP-nominated Rajya Sabha member Sambhaji Raje had earlier asked Fadnavis to apologise for "hurting the sentiments" of the followers of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj through his tweet.

While Singhvi has never have been a grassroots leader, he enjoys complete trust of the Gandhis, in all critical cases has stood by the party like a rock, and in court ensured a fighting chance for the Congress.

The Election Commission is yet to take a call on the polls, presumably in view of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

Special Shramik train arrived at the Amethi Railway station on Thursday with 1,212 Uttar Pradesh migrant workers on board, out of which 282 belonged to Amethi.

Studies show that the fear of contagion leads individuals to become more conservative and less accepting of experimentation. They prefer quietly falling in line, however long, rather than taking on eccentricity.

However, Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat also alleged that along with Gujarat, states of Odisha, Karnataka and West Bengal have, too, denied migrant workers from their states to return.

Gandhi also called upon the government to immediately put money into the hands of the poor and provide a financial package to the industry to help revive the economy.

Gopichand Padalkar, who joined the party on the eve of last year's Lok Sabha polls, also figures in the list.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday passed an ordinance to suspend most of the labour laws in the state, in order to attract new companies to invest in the state amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

A freewheeling interview, some banter thrown in, and careful attention to the fact that no personal attacks on PM Narendra Modi are made while questioning the government over the coronavirus pandemic crisis was the template of Gandhi's press conference.

The decision was an unfortunate one, withdrawing the protection given to workers and labourers, BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay said.

Workers are being treated as slaves, said the letter signed by CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja, CPI (ML)'s Dipankar Bhattarcharya and RJD MP Manoj Jha among others.

A 52-year-old doctor had allegedly committed suicide in Durga Vihar in south Delhi on April 18, holding Jarwal responsible in his suicide note, following which police had registered a case against the legislator on charges of extortion and abetment to suicide.

Union home minister Amit Shah said not allowing trains to reach West Bengal is 'injustice' to the migrant workers from the state.

The BJP leaders waged a social media war against the Bengal government by accusing the state of hiding Covid-19 figures and also complaining the Centre that TMC-led government in Bengal has completely failed in handling the coronavirus crisis.

Echoing similar sentiments put forth by several eminent economists, the senior Congress leader appealed to the central government to shed its reservations and borrow more in 2020-21.

The Union Home Minister took to Twitter to clarify that these are just rumours and that he has been working as the country deals with the coronavirus pandemic.

The state government had allowed the home delivery of liquor during the third phase of the coronavirus lockdown from Thursday.

The newspaper, Saamana, however, did not make it clear whether it blamed the BJP-led Centre or the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government for the tragedy.

Pawar spoke over phone to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on the issue of repatriation of migrant workers to their home states during the lokdown period.

The JDU, headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, accused the AAP of resorting to "cheap politics to gain popularity" as the Arvind Kejriwal government has sought reimbursement of the payment.

Though the channel has launched nothing but just the logo of the third season of Bigg Boss Telugu, the promo video is all about the show going on floors soon.