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.

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”.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

On May 4, the Congress party tweeted a 1.44-minute clip from their conversation and the full interview was released on Wednesday.

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.

Mufti was initially detained on August 5 last year when the Centre abrogated the special status of the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into two union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.

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.

Omar Abdullah was reacting to the Jammu and Kashmir authorities' decision to extend the detention of the former chief minister by another three months.

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.

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.

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.

N Chandrababu Naidu urged the Centre to immediately send medical experts to the district as it may not have the required expertise to treat people affected with styrene gas.

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.

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.

This comes in view of demands from various members of Parliament (MP) for holding such meetings through video conference amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown.

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.

The intervention came after reports in a section of local media claimed about prospects of Mandavia taking over the reins from Chief Minister Vijay Rupani amid the state battling the coronavirus crisis.

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.