Feb 2 LIVE | Every jawan knows what you are hiding from people: Rahul in Lok Sabha

The opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday (February 2) claimed the BJP leadership was the "mastermind" behind NCP leader Sunetra Pawar taking oath as Maharashtra's deputy chief minister, just days after her husband Ajit Pawar's demise.

An editorial in the Sena (UBT) mouthpiece “Saamana” also alleged that the BJP leadership and Nationalist Congress Party leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel do not want the unification of the two NCP factions.

Sunetra Pawar took oath as the state's first woman deputy CM on Saturday (January 31), barely three days after NCP leader Ajit Pawar and four others died in an air crash at Baramati in Pune district, inviting criticism from some quarters over the pace at which the development took place.

Rival NCP (SP) chief and Ajit Pawar's uncle Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed that he had “no idea” about her swearing-in.

The “Saamana” editorial said the question before Maharashtra is on whose wish did Sunetra Pawar take oath as deputy CM because neither NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar nor its working president Supriya Sule, nor members of the Pawar family were aware of this. Sunetra Pawar did not even give the slightest hint that she was leaving for Mumbai from Baramati to take oath as deputy CM, it said.

Actor-politician Vijay on Monday claimed that the political atmosphere in Tamil Nadu is charged up due to TVK’s entry and urged his party cadres to strive for a victory in the upcoming Assembly election to Tamil Nadu and gain political recognition.

He said with the overwhelming support of the people, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam members should fight the electoral battle with determination and unity to "achieve the democratic goal of seizing the reins of governance." Vijay launched the TVK on February 2, 2024.

In a post on 'X', Vijay said, "The joyful third year of TVK begins today. Having completed two years naturally and beyond the norm, our political journey continues." He claimed the TVK was an "immeasurable deep sea" which ignored distractions and never lost its balance in its political journey. The party was the "victorious battle cry of power politics for the common people," Vijay claimed.

The 2026 Assembly election, he said, carried a new environment that had never seen before.

"Everyone says that the only reason for this is our political beginning. Therefore, in this situation, let us make the field our own, and with clear and skillful strategy, move towards political recognition through electoral victory," the actor said.

"With the overwhelming support of all the people, let us fight with determination and unity, and firmly achieve the democratic goal of seizing the throne," Vijay further said.

Bombs were hurled and bullets fired during a clash between two groups in Kolkata, leaving two persons injured, police said on Monday (February 2).

At least 10 people were arrested in the clash that broke out in south Kolkata's Golpark area under the Rabindra Sarobar Police Station limits on Sunday night, a senior officer said.

"The situation is now under control. Ten people were arrested early on Monday, and raids are underway to arrest others involved in the clash," he said.

The violence broke out on Kankulia Road around 8.30 pm on Sunday when a group of youths from another area entered the locality and were confronted by locals, he said, adding that "two persons were injured in the incident".

Stones were hurled from both sides, creating panic in the area, the policeman said.

"Crude bombs were thrown, and at least one round of bullets was fired during the clash. Empty cartridges and splinters have been recovered from the area," the officer said.

A mob later vandalised several motorcycles and made attempts to attack a police vehicle when security personnel arrived at the spot to disperse the crowd, he said.

Violence broke out between members of two communities at a village in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district after three accused in a case, released on bail, allegedly assaulted some locals, police said on Monday (February 2).

As many as six police personnel were injured in stone pelting by villagers during the clashes which occurred on Sunday (February 1) evening in Dudhkaiyya village under the Fingeshwar police station limits, they said.

According to the police, three persons, one of them identified as Arif, were arrested about a year back in connection with the alleged vandalism of an idol at a temple in the village. After being released on bail, they were allegedly intimidating villagers and harassing witnesses linked to the temple case.

On Sunday morning, Arif and two others allegedly attacked four to six youth with rods, accusing them of complaining against them to the police, triggering the subsequent violence between members of two communities, they said.

Gariaband Superintendent of Police Vedvrat Sirmour said tension escalated after Arif and two others allegedly attacked some people in Dudhkaiyya and two nearby villages

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought a judicial inquiry into the death of real estate tycoon C J Roy during an Income Tax search in Bengaluru on January 30.

In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Vijayan said the incident was "a blot on the tax administration of the country" and pointed to serious lapses in search procedures.

Citing the victim’s brother, he noted allegations of harassment, quoting, "My brother cooperated fully and submitted all documents. Yet the officials kept returning. He told several times that the I-T trouble was unbearable..." Vijayan said while being in complete agreement that tax evasion is a serious problem and every effort has to be taken to curb it, no action leading to loss of a precious human life as it has happened in the case of Roy can be justified in a civilised democratic society.

He said it is quite surprising that the person in whose premises, the Income Tax department was conducting a search and seizure operation, could proceed to lay hands on a loaded gun and shoot himself, when the tax department personnel were going ahead with search operations.

When such operations are proceeding, the premises are to be under the control of the tax officials and the safe conduct of search is the minimum responsibility of the officials, Vijayan said in the letter dated February 1.

A memorial of late Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will be set up on the premises of Vidya Pratishthan, the Baramati-based educational institution founded by the Pawar family, a close associate has said.

Ajit Pawar (66) and four others were killed in a plane crash near the airstrip at Baramati airport in Pune district on January 28.

Kiran Gujar, a close aide of Ajit Pawar and confidant of the Pawar family, on Sunday said the memorial has been planned on the Vidya Pratishthan premises where his last rites were performed.

"Today, Sharad Pawar saheb, before heading to Mumbai, visited the venue of the last rites along with Pratibha Pawar and instructed me, and the trustees of Vidya Pratishthan, to chalk out a plan for Ajit Dada's memorial," Gujar told PTI.

Discussions will be held with the trustees to finalise the design and structure of the memorial in the coming days, he added.

Ajit Pawar was a prominent political figure in Maharashtra and had played a key role in the development of Baramati, which has long been considered the Pawar family's political stronghold.

Forecasters said hazardous cold would linger into Monday morning (February 2) across a vast stretch of the United States, from the Gulf Coast to New England, as regions continued to recover from a weekend bomb cyclone that dumped heavy snow, triggered flight cancellations in North Carolina, and caused flurries—and even falling iguanas—in Florida.

Temperatures will begin inching up throughout the day, but more misery was expected for thousands who were still without power from the ice storm last month in the South.

About 150 million people were under cold weather advisories and extreme cold warnings on Sunday in the eastern portion of the US, with single-digit temperatures in southern states and the coldest air mass in South Florida since December 1989, said Peter Mullinax, a National Weather Service meteorologist in College Park, Maryland.

The National Weather Service office for Raleigh, North Carolina, warned that wind chills will drop early Monday to near zero Fahrenheit (-17°Celsius).

The bomb cyclone, known to meteorologists as an intense, rapidly strengthening weather system, contributed to nearly a foot (30 centimetres) of snow in and around Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city. The snowfall represented a top-five snow event all time there.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren alleged that those in power at the Centre and in Assam were "traders and not politicians", and that they "marginalised" the tribal community and were focused only on "extracting resources".

In Assam, where elections are due in March-April, Soren claimed that tea tribes were "marginalised" despite their significant contribution to the northeastern state's economy.

"Those in power in the country and in Assam - these people are not politicians, they are traders. They only know how to take, not to give anything. It is essential that we (tribals) stay united. We are the soldiers of such ancestors, such guides, on a path that leads to the destination, to stability, and to security," Soren posted on X after addressing a tribal gathering at Assam's Tinsukia on Sunday (February 1).

"We are people who live with self-respect, people who walk with eye-to-eye contact. These people had even thrown me in jail. I had told them that if I come to the forefront, I will become a bone in their throats. Today, your son and brother led the tribal society on the world's largest global platform - the World Economic Forum," he added.

Addressing the gathering organised by the All Adivasi Students' Association of Assam (AASAA), Soren said Adivasis across the country were being deliberately kept weak through "policies of division and neglect".