A shrewd politician and an experienced administrator, Yediyurappa seized the opportunity to demonstrate his capabilities in the face of a grave crisis.

The West Bengal BJP’s legal cell convenor said the Mamata Banerjee-led government has failed to tackle the coronavirus crisis in the state.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also demanded that in these difficult times of the pandemic, the Centre must give the state governments their dues.

Congress said while other governments were putting money in people's hand during the crisis caused by coronavirus, the BJP-JJP dispensation was 'taking anti-people decisions' in Haryana.

The Congress also highlighted the plight of the migrants who are stuck in different part of the country and wants to go home. The party urged the government to start plying trains immediately.

In a tweet, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut thanked the central government and the ECI for allowing the elections, which were earlier postponed to due to coronavirus outbreak

A Govt of "Misplaced Priorities" & "ill-conceived Goals," tweeted Randeep Surjewala, chief spokesperson of the party.

A couple of stinging tweets appeared during the day on the official Twitter handle of the ailing septuagenarian, who is serving sentences in fodder scam cases in Ranchi.

TMC leader and MP Saugato Roy said he was wondering whether the Centre was serious to revive the economy and provide financial package to states to combat adversity due to the pandemic.

Asking when the lockdown will finally end, Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the prime minister must also lay out the exit strategy from it and spell out the goalpost in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and economy.

The rebuttal came after the governor shot off two letters to the chief minister last week amid the clash between the Raj Bhavan and Nabanna, the state secretariat, in the wake of West Bengal's response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

In his letter to Thackeray, the Karnataka Chief Minister said there is severe drinking water problem in Belagavi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Raichur districts since the onset of summer in March.

Senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad rejected Gandhi's charge that the app has been outsourced to a private operator and asserted that it has a robust data security architecture.

I expect the Prime Ministers Office to take a rational and judicious decision, keeping aside the state politics, said NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

In a damage control exercise, state chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Saturday directed the KSRTC to charge only single fare for ferrying the migrant labourers.

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

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”.

Singhvi said India needed both the extreme left and right views on economic issues. However, it may create a controversy as the Congress is opposed to both the extreme ideologies.

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 CM said Students' fares were being paid directly by his government to the railways, while migrant workers will be reimbursed the entire expenses they incurred on the journey once they have completed their 21-day quarantine after reaching Bihar.

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.

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.

Rahul Gandhi has started a series of talk shows to speak about COVID-19 and how the country can come back on track economically. In the conversations he has stressed that India needs more testing

A controversy had erupted on Monday after several opposition parties demanded that migrant workers should not be charged for the train tickets.

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.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP's remarks come a day after the Home Ministry said plans to bring back Indians stranded abroad due the coronavirus pandemic have been chalked out by the government and the process will begin from May 7 in a phased manner. The Home Ministry also said it will be a paid service.

An Army Colonel and a Major were among five security personnel killed in an encounter with terrorists at a village in north Kashmir's Handwara area two days back.

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.

The MLA from Nautanwa in Maharajganj district and 12 of his associates were arrested in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, on Sunday night and subsequently let off on bail, officials had said.

While tackling the virus, think in terms of zones. While reopening the economy, think in terms of supply chains, Rahul said on Twitter.

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.

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.

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.

The Congress said the decision to go back or stay in the state should be with the labourers and not the government, with the former being free to choose health or work.

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.

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.

In a letter to Gandhi, the Railways' largest union of workers said travelling during the coronavirus pandemic is dangerous but railway staffers are making it possible through their hard work.

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.

Sachin Pilot has been making onfield presence in his home constituency, Tonk, where he was seen meeting with officials and religious leaders to make people aware of COVID-19.

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.

Indore is among the cities worst-affected by the coronavirus outbreak and as on Friday, the city has reported 1727 cases, including 86 deaths