Thiruvananthapuram : The contours of the poll battle in Kerala became clear on Tuesday as the Congress released a list of 55 candidates and ally Indian Union Muslim League another 25 for the upcoming assembly polls next month.. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has been fielded from Haripad constituency.. With this, the ruling Left Democratic Front has announced 130candidates, its main challenger the United Democratic Front 95, and the National Democratic Alliance 75. All 140 assembly seats in Kerala go to the polls on April 9.. Key battleground seats include Nemom, Vattiyoorkavu, Peravoor and Palakkad. The LDF is hoping for a third consecutive term.. In its first list, the Congress dropped one sitting lawmaker Palakkad legislator Rahul Mamkootathil, who is embroiled in multiple sexual assault charges.. It fielded 19 sitting lawmakers including state unit chief Sunny Joseph (Peravoor), Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan (Paravur), senior leader Ramesh Chennithala (Haripad), former minister AP Anilkumar (Wandoor), former youth unit chief Roji M John (Angamaly) and AICC secretary PC Vishnunadh (Kundara).. Instead of Mamkootathil, who was accused by three women of rape and sexual assault, the Congress picked popular actor-director Ramesh Pisharody in Palakkad where a fierce three-way fight will ensue. Pisharody will take on the BJP’s Sobha Surendran. The Left is yet to finalise its candidate.. Former Vadakara MP K Muraleedharan, who lost to the BJP’s Suresh Gopi in Thrissur in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, was accommodated in Vattiyoorkavu and former Communist Party of India (Marxist) legislator P Aisha Potty was fielded in Kottarakkara where she will take on CPI(M) leader and finance minister KN Balagopal.. Former Alathur MP Ramya Haridas was fielded in the SC-reserved Chirayankeezhu constituency, where a section of party leaders have publicly opposed her candidature.. The Congress picked Abdul Rasheed VP Abdul Rasheed (who was the party candidate in 2021 in Thaliparambu constituency) to take on chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Dharmadam, a Left stronghold, and state unit vice-president VT Balram will once again fight sitting minister MB Rajesh in Thrithala.. The Congress list did not name candidates for Perumbavoor and Thripunithura, both of which it holds. In Perumbavoor, the leadership appears unsure about sitting MLA Eldhose Kunnappally, who faces sexual assault allegations. In Thripunithura, the party is yet to find a replacement for MLA K Babu who announced his retirement from electoral politics.. Another question of whether incumbent Lok Sabha MPs will be allowed to contest the assembly elections is also unclear. Kannur MP K Sudhakaran and Attingal MP Adoor Prakash, both of whom have shown interest in contesting the polls, are in Delhi to make their case with the central leadership. Sudhakaran, the former state unit president, has hinted that he may turn rebel if denied a ticket.. He had said on Tuesday, “No one has held any discussi 

 Top US defence official Elbridge Colby is expected to visit India at the head of a US delegation towards the end of March to inject momentum into India-US defence relations after months of diplomatic tensions.. Elbridge Colby, under secretary of defense for policy. (Bloomberg). New Delhi and Washington will discuss speeding up pending defence acquisitions and consider reviving forums such as INDUS-X, which boosted ties between American and Indian defence companies, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named.. Colby, who serves as Undersecretary of War for Policy, is widely seen as one of the key figures behind the making of US defence policy in Trump’s second term. This will be his first visit to India and follows closely on the heels of visits by senior US military officials including Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo and US Space Command chief General Stephen Whiting. The visit is also significant as it is being planned at a time when the war in West Asia is raging, choking supply lines of key products such as crude oil, gas, and fertiliser for India and other Asian countries.. The visit comes as New Delhi and Washington continue efforts to restore bilateral ties after a prolonged period of tension caused by trade disagreements, the India-Pakistan conflict in May and India’s purchases of Russian energy. The conclusion of a framework agreement on trade in February has opened up room for a broader improvement in ties, although the agreement itself now needs to be renegotiated and finalised after the US Supreme Court ruled that the Trump tariffs were illegal.. But defence will the main focus of the visit. According to the people cited above, both sides will be looking for a political direction to emerge from the meetings that will set the course for the bilateral defence partnership. While the US delegation is expected to push for greater military sales, India will bat for more co-production and local manufacturing of defence equipment. The India-US defence partnership has continued to progress despite broader tensions that built up in the relationship over the course of 2025. In October, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a 10-year defence framework in an effort to further deepen bilateral security ties in the Indo-Pacific region. In November 2025, the US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of the Javelin anti-tank missile system and related equipment for an estimated cost of $45.7 million. It also approved a possible sale of Excalibur projectiles for an estimated cost of $47.1 million.. According to news reports, India will also consider procuring six additional P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft manufactured by US defence giant Boeing. The two sides will likely push forward efforts by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and America’s General Electric for the co-production of GE F414 jet engines in India.. Exploring collaborations in mutually 

 Lok Sabha lawmakers on Tuesday committed to maintaining dignified conduct to uphold decorum in the House as Speaker Om Birla revoked the suspension of eight Opposition MPs. Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, meanwhile, suggested drawing a “Lakshman Rekha” (clear boundary) between the Treasury and Opposition benches, while Congress Chief Whip K Suresh expressed regret for the “inadvertent indiscretion” by some of the members on February 3.. Opposition MPs protest in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delh earlier this year. (File photo) (Sansad TV). Following submissions by several opposition members, Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju moved a motion to revoke the suspension of seven Congress MPs and one CPI(M) member, which the House adopted by a voice vote.. “The House belongs to everyone. No one would want members to be suspended and remain outside… Everyone has been chosen by the public to put forward their concerns, not for tearing and throwing papers, standing on tables, and fighting,” Rijiju said.. He added: “No one here would wish to see any member of this House suspended and excluded. We are all colleagues. This is the temple of democracy. The public has elected and sent us all here to voice their concerns. We have not been sent here to tear up and throw papers, to climb onto tables, or to engage in physical altercations. We understand our responsibilities very well. Accordingly, if a ‘Lakshman Rekha’—a clear boundary—were to be drawn, it would greatly assist the Honorable Speaker in conducting the proceedings of the House in the future. Therefore, I would like to begin by noting that Mr. Suresh, in his initial remarks, used the word ‘regret.’ If someone expresses regret for their mistake, then we, too, are in agreement with that sentiment.”. Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, C Kiran Kumar Reddy, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Prashant Padole and Dean Kuriakose (all Congress) and S Ventakesan of the CPI(M) were suspended on February 3.. Addressing the House, Speaker Birla reminded that all leaders had agreed to cooperate in upholding the “dignity, prestige and glorious tradition” of the House. He cautioned that “fake and AI-generated photos, placards and banners could not be presented inside the Lok Sabha and at the Parliament complex, as written in an instruction given to all MPs.”. Rijiju announced that the suspension of the eight MPs, which was effective until the end of the ongoing Budget sessions, had now been revoked.. Earlier, during the discussion, Congress MP K. Suresh said, “For the last few weeks, eight Hon’ble members belonging to INC and CPI(M) have been suspended. Whatever indiscretion may have inadvertently happened is regretted. I request the government, through the Hon’ble Speaker, to kindly revoke their suspension.”. Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav said that it was the responsibility of all members of the Parliam 

 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal has opted to rely less on turncoats and outsiders for the upcoming assembly elections, giving preference to the party loyalists and ensuring that intra-party differences do not end up hurting its electoral chances, said people aware of the details on Tuesday.. BJP bets on loyalists to avoid infighting in West Bengal polls. On Monday, the party released its first list of 144 candidates for the upcoming two-phase polls.. “This time we did not have people joining from other parties in large numbers. Ahead of the 2021 elections as many as 15-20 former TMC legislators led by [leader of the Opposition and former TMC leader] Suvendu Adhikari had switched loyalties to the BJP. There are many who have joined this time and many more who have shown interest, but the party focussed mainly on identifying candidates based on their profile and winnability,” said a senior party leader.. On Tuesday, BJP workers staged a demonstration in Bankura district’s Chhatna, alleging that their sitting MLA Satyanarayan Mukherjee, who is running again, should be replaced because he rarely visits the constituency.. Gobinda Mukherjee, a local BJP worker, said, “Satyanarayan Mukherjee was rarely seen in the constituency in the last five years.”. At the Alipursduar seat in north Bengal, BJP workers protested the party’s decision to field Paritosh Das, a local TMC leader who joined BJP, three years ago. He was fielded in place of BJP’s sitting MLA Suman Kanjilal, who returned to TMC in 2023 but did not resign from the Assembly. Kanjilal left the TMC and joined the BJP in 2021.. “The party workers will calm down once they realise that the candidate list was prepared by BJP central leaders,” Das told the local media.. In 2021, the BJP won 77 of the 294 seats, which was the highest tally for the party in the state. Differences between the old and the new guard were palpable as several senior leaders relayed concerns to the party high command of being overlooked.. “This time there has been a concerted effort to ensure that the state unit and all the leaders are on the same page. Leaders such as Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul and Rahul Sinha, who were perceived to be miffed and even sidelined, are among the key campaigners now,” the functionary cited above said.. A quick chat between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ghosh during the former’s recent rally at the Brigade Parade Ground was perceived as an indication of the return of the old guard.. To bolster its bid to dethrone three-term chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the BJP’s candidate selection was meticulously carried out. “Suggestions on candidates were sought from the Mandal level…and attention paid to winnability that is the main factor for giving candidacy,” said the functionary cited above.. The party ensured representation to diverse castes. Of the 144 candidates, 62 were from the general category; 20 from Other Backward Classes (OBC); 48 from Sched 

 Three persons died allegedly due to inhalation of toxic gases while cleaning a septic tank at a private hospital in Raipur late Tuesday evening, officials said.. Police teams faced difficulty in retrieving the bodies from the tank. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo). The incident occurred at Ramkrishna Care Hospital in the Pachpedi Naka area.. According to officials, the victims had entered the septic tank for cleaning when they were overcome by suspected poisonous gases.. Police teams faced difficulty in retrieving the bodies from the tank, an official said.. “Prima facie, it appears that they died after inhaling toxic gas inside the tank,” the official said, adding that further investigation is underway.. A reporter present at the spot saw hospital staff shifting the bodies after they were brought out of the tank.. Police and district administration officials had not responded to queries till the time of filing this report.