The necessary guidelines will need to be ensured for safety against Covid-19 during the elections, the panel headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora stated.

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.

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

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.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain accused the Congress of raising "irrelevant questions" over the issue of the pandemic.

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.

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.

Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee said taxpayers' money was being used to renovate "Lutyens' Delhi", adding for the same amount at Rs 30 per meal, they could have fed two meals a day to 1.85 crore Indians for the next six months..

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.

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.

Abdullah was released in March after the J&K government revoked his detention orders under Public Safety Act (PSA), more than seven months after he was detained.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

The former UP chief minister had gone to the Hospital for routine checkup, but the doctors admitted him for monitoring his health over some stomach and urine-related issues.

Sixteen migrant workers sleeping on rail tracks while returning to Madhya Pradesh were crushed to death by a goods train in Aurangabad district on Friday.

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

As most of the states are yet to respond on the matter of bearing the travel costs of the stranded workers, the Delhi government has decided to bear the cost to avoid any further inconvenience to these people, a statement said.

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

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.

Government should tell the people clearly about the exact state of the pandemic to enable them to prepare accordingly, said Congress senior spokesperson Ajay Maken.

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.

Vinayakan, who was accused by a woman of abusing her in a phone conversation, was granted bail on Thursday.

Thalapathy 63, which is Vijay's upcoming film, has been named Bigil, and will show the Tamil star in a double role.

There is really not much of a story in Sindhubaadh and if there are twists and turns, these form a bizarre, unbelievable script.

Vanitha Vijaykumar and Meera Mithun, contestants on the current season of Bigg Boss Tamil, have been accused in two separate cases, and the police might enter the Bigg Boss house to arrest them.

Going by the trailer, which is just over three minutes long, the actor returned to the familiar angry young man avatar with this film.

Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda and Kannada star Yash recently had a rendezvous in Bengaluru and fans are going ga-ga over their twinning in black photo on Instagram.

Mammootty, one of the biggest stars of South Indian cinema, feels that one doesn't have to be a part of politics in order to serve people.

The song features Vijay, and it’s the first time he has lent his voice for an AR Rahman composition.

The first song from Thalapathy Vijay's upcoming movie Bigil is out. The women anthem has been sung by music maestro AR Rahman.

Murali, on his part has an Indian connection with his wife being from Chennai. He was also a key player in IPL during the early seasons of the league.

Dhanush, who is recognised in Bollywood for his roles in the films Raanjhanaa and Shamitabh, turns a year older today.