Mumbai, Jan 9: The Shiv Sena(UBT) on Thursday raised questions about the neutrality of the Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) during the election season, alleging that he was favouring the BJP. It has also attacked the Congress party for attacking AAP instead of BJP.

Uddhav Thackerary’s party though its mouthpiece Saamana has alleged that the L-G’s actions favour a particular political narrative.

The hard-hitting editorial titled ‘Haryana, Maharashtra and now Delhi’, said: “Delhi is a union territory where L-G is supreme. But he is now working as the Union Home Ministry’s agent. After the Model Code of Conduct for the upcoming Delhi Assembly election came into force, the L-G withdrew the powers of the chief minister and all ministers. He is working for the BJP which is quite dangerous. Even though the Election Commission is singing a tune of transparency in conducting the election, behind the curtains, a lot of things in favour of the BJP are happening. The BJP will stoop to any low to win the Delhi Assembly election. People should remain alert and careful.”

The Saamana editorial attacks the Prime Minister, Home Minister and BJP’s central ministers, saying that they have swung into action for the party’s victory. It says that the BJP has set the goal of defeating Arvind Kejriwal and capturing the Delhi Assembly and can go to any extent to defeat the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi which is not appropriate.

It added, “On moral grounds, PM and HM should keep themselves away from the Delhi Assembly election which is in the larger interest of the democracy.”

“We will win everywhere and assume power is BJP’s policy. A new democracy has dawned in the country, wherein, not a single political opponent should exist. The country has witnessed it in Maharashtra and Haryana and now the time for Delhi. There have been irregularities in Delhi’s voters list as a lot of names have been excluded terming them Rohingyas and Bangladeshi residents. AAP had complained against it but the Chief Election Commissioner is not ready to accept the former’s argument. The CEC has claimed that EVMs cannot be hacked, it is not possible in India,” says the editorial.

The editorial has targeted its INDIA bloc ally, the Congress party for stepping up attacks against AAP instead of BJP.

“The contest in the Delhi Assembly election is between BJP and Aam Aadmi Party only. Congress party is in the fray and it is attacking Arvind Kejriwal and AAP instead of Bharatiya Janata Party. The people of Delhi must be surprised at this…,” claims the editorial. The editorial alleges that the BJP can go to any extent to hijack the Delhi Assembly election while appealing to the people to be careful and alert.

New Delhi, Jan 4: The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) is conducting a re-exam on Saturday for candidates of the Bapu Pariksha Parisar centre, where irregularities were reported during the 70th Preliminary Examination. However, students and political parties have vowed to disrupt the exam today.

Over 10,000 candidates are expected to appear for the re-exam, which will take place at 22 separate centres.

However, protests have escalated as students demand the cancellation of the entire examination and a retest across Bihar. BPSC Secretary Satyaprakash Sharma stated there is no justification for a statewide re-exam, reiterating that the commission has no plans for further retesting.

Earlier on Friday, in Patna, the agitation led by former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav disrupted railway services at Sachiwalay Halt station and halted vehicular movement. Left-leaning student organisations joined the protests, some of which were held without prior administrative permission.

Despite heavy police deployment, Rajesh Ranjan and his supporters entered the railway premises, sitting on tracks in solidarity with candidates on a 17-day hunger strike.

The protests stem from allegations of widespread irregularities in the BPSC Preliminary Examination. The demonstrators argue that limiting the re-exam to one centre is inadequate and unfair to other candidates.

The district administration has registered cases against Rajesh Ranjan and others for obstructing public services.

However Rajesh Ranjan has vowed to continue the agitation until justice is delivered, including taking the matter to the Supreme Court.

He reaffirmed his commitment to the cause, stating: “We will go to the Supreme Court on this issue. BPSC has done wrong and it has to cancel the entire examination. We will continue to protest on this matter. Our protest will continue in the future until the paper leak in Bihar and the country is stopped.”

With tensions rising and the administration on alert, the situation remains volatile. Further disruptions are anticipated as candidates and their supporters continue to demand statewide action.

Mumbai, Jan 2: After a muted beginning, the Indian stock market welcomed 2025 with a bang on Thursday, surging more than 1,400 points, or 1.83 per cent, as auto stocks saw a bumper rally on the back of strong car sales data for December.

The Nifty auto index gained 3.79 per cent.

Sensex ended at 79,943.71, up by 1,436.30 points, or 1.83 per cent, and Nifty settled at 24,188.65, up by 445.75 points, or 1.88 per cent.

Sensex logged an intra-day high at 80,032.87, while Nifty surged to the day’s high at 24,226.70.

Nifty Bank ended at 51,605.55, up by 544.95 points, or 1.07 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 58,108.20 after rising 657.30 points, or 1.14 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 19,080.35 after rising 120.55 points, or 0.64 per cent.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 2,400 shares ended in green and 1,571 shares in red, whereas there was no change in 115 shares.

On the sectoral front, heavy buying was seen in the Auto, IT, Consumption, Financial Service, FMCG and Realty sectors on the NSE.

According to market experts, increased momentum was observed in the domestic market, driven by optimism about the upcoming earnings season starting next week. The rally was broad-based, with most sectoral indices posting gains, they said.

“The auto sector led the way, showing the strongest momentum due to robust December sales that defied the usual subdued demand. Banking and IT stocks also performed well, as the economy bottomed in Q2,” an expert said.

In the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, Titan, M&M, Infosys, HCLTech, Zomato, UltraTech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and IndusInd Bank were among the top gainers. Only Sun Pharma was among the top losers. FIIs sold equities worth Rs 1,782.71 crore on January 1, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,690.37 crore on the same day.