New Delhi, Jan 16: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah addressed the International Kite Festival 2026 in New Delhi today. On this occasion, several dignitaries were present, including Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, while extending greetings to all the people across the country—especially farmers—on the occasions of Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri, Magh Bihu and Uttarayan, said that the festival of Uttarayan is celebrated across the country under different names. He said this festival is a celebration of joy because our seasonal cycle and our lives depend on the infinite source of energy, Lord Sun God. He said that the great poet Kalidas ji had described the people of India as — ‘Utsavapriyāḥ khalu manuṣyāḥ’, meaning the people of India are fond of festivals. He said that celebrations are organized in different parts of the country in every season. Through festivals, we seek to unite the entire society and move forward together, and Uttarayan is a part of that spirit.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that there is a need to make the kite festival more popular through sustained efforts. He said that the kite festival will connect the people of the country with Delhi and, in the future, it can become a festival of the entire nation. He suggested that a committee should be constituted to expand the kite festival in Delhi and across the country, and to make the Delhi kite festival its focal point, working on aspects such as popularizing the event and increasing public participation. He said that the next kite festival should be organized in such a way that it secures a leading position among the major kite festivals of the country and the world.

Amit Shah said that in Delhi, the beautiful natural site Baansera, adorned with various types of bamboos from different parts of the country, is emerging as a centre of attraction for tourists. He said that the park is a testament to how remarkable results can be achieved when a person is firmly determined to translate their resolve into action on the ground. He said that to increase the use of Baansera Park and to attract the people of Delhi to it, the Delhi Government needs to organize good events here. He said that there are three pavilions here, which display the history of kites as well as their wartime use. He said that when the Simon Commission came to the country, it faced strong opposition nationwide. The slogan “Simon Go Back” became a resounding echo of the freedom movement. However, the largest protest against the Simon Commission across the country was carried out on the day of Uttarayan by flying kites bearing the slogan “Simon Go Back.” Indians filled the entire sky with kites and demonstrated their strength to the British.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the festival of Makar Sankranti has become a living example of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’. He said that Lord Surya is changing his direction, and this change is welcomed across the entire world. In Punjab and Haryana, we celebrate it as Lohri; in Tamil Nadu as Pongal; in Assam as Magh Bihu; in West Bengal as Paush Sankranti; in Gujarat and Maharashtra as Uttarayan; and in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, it is traditionally celebrated in the name of Khichdi or Sankranti Khichdi. He said that this kite festival is an effort to connect all these states with Delhi. Shri Shah said that in the coming days, the kite festival will establish a special place for itself in Delhi and will provide an opportunity for kite flyers from across the country, as well as international kite flyers, to come here and showcase their art.

Amit Shah said that recently, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the ‘Somnath Swabhiman Parv’ held in Gujarat from 8 January to 11 January. The ‘Somnath Swabhiman Parv’ was celebrated to mark the completion of 1000 years since the first attack on the Somnath Temple. He said that the Government of India, along with several other governments, has announced the celebration of ‘Somnath Swabhiman Varsh’ across the country. He said that the Somnath Jyotirlinga is the foremost among the Jyotirlingas. This sacred place of Lord Shiva, situated on the shores of the ‘Som Samudra’ (Arabian Sea), was targeted for destruction 16 times. Although the invaders succeeded in demolishing it, every time it was destroyed, it was rebuilt with equal determination.

Home Minister Amit Shah said that after independence, the country’s Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Maharaja of Jamnagar Jam Saheb, Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, and Dr. Rajendra Prasad resolved that a grand and magnificent Shri Somnath Temple would be rebuilt here. Today, a splendid and magnificent Somnath Temple stands at that very place, with its flag touching the skies. He stated that this is a clear indication that the power of those who construct is far greater than the power of those who destroy. Those who demolished it—Mahmud of Ghazni, Mahmud Begada, Alauddin Khilji—are nowhere to be seen on the world map today, while the Somnath Temple stands proudly and with dignity at the same location before the entire world. This is a symbol of the eternal and immortal nature of Sanatan Dharma and the immortality of the core elements of Indian culture. He said that the ‘Somnath Swabhiman Parv’ and ‘Somnath Swabhiman Varsh’ provide an opportunity for all Indians to once again reaffirm their resolve to make their culture unshakeable, steadfast, and immortal.

Mumbai, Jan 16: Breaking the nearly three-decade-old dominance of the undivided Shiv Sena, the BJP on Friday emerged as the single largest party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and also triumphed in Pune, where it made mincemeat of the alliance of NCP factions.

The BJP-led alliance was set to bag around 125 of 227 seats in BMC, which is India’s richest civic body, whose budget for 2025-26 is a whopping Rs 74,427 crore.

Counting of votes for elections to Mumbai and 28 other municipal corporations, including Pune, was held on Friday, a day after the polling saw a 54.77 per cent turnout.

Coupled with a decent performance by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, the BJP is now in the driver’s seat to govern the cash-rich civic body.

The high-stakes battle for BMC saw the Thackeray cousins reunite after two decades, only to see their hopes dashed as the results announced so far indicated.

In Pune and neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation polls, the BJP is heading towards a massive victory, way ahead of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and NCP (SP) alliance.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has emerged as the man of the moment, with the BJP under his leadership surpassing its previous high of 82 seats in the 2017 BMC elections.

The success of BJP’s ‘Mission Mumbai’ has now firmly established it as the key political force in the financial capital.

The result marks a significant shift in Mumbai’s power structure. For years, the BMC was considered the invincible fortress of the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.

With the BJP’s victory, the narrative of Mumbai politics has moved from the traditional identity-based ‘Marathi asmita’ to a mandate for the BJP’s plank of ‘vikas’ (development) and urban infrastructure.

Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Nitesh Rane said the BJP and Shiv Sena’s strong showing in the Mumbai civic polls amounted to a clear mandate for its Hindutva pitch during the campaign, as the alliance surged ahead in the race.

“Jo Hindu ki baat karega wo Maharashra pe raj karenga (Those who speak for Hindu interests will rule Maharashtra.),” Rane posted on X.

Shrikant Pangarkar, an accused in the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, was elected a corporator in the Jalna Municipal Corporation, winning the elections as an independent candidate.

In Nagpur, home turf of CM Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari, counting trends and results for the Nagpur Municipal Corporation suggest a near-repeat of the 2017 results, leaving the Congress struggling to make significant inroads despite an aggressive campaign.

The BJP is on course to surpass the 2017 tally of 108 seats in the 151-member Nagpur civic body.

The Congress won elections to the Latur Municipal Corporation, bagging a clear majority with over 40 seats in the 70-member body, leaving the BJP a distant second.

In a significant political turn of events ahead of the elections, Uddhav and Raj Thackeray reunited last month even as rival NCP factions forged a local alliance in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Elections to the 29 municipal corporations were held on January 15 after a gap of several years, with terms of most of them having ended between 2020 and 2023. Of these, nine fall in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the most urbanised belt in India.

Voting took place on January 15 in these municipal corporations: Mumbai, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Solapur, Amravati, Akola, Nashik, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, Ulhasnagar, Thane, Chandrapur, Parbhani, Mira-Bhayandar, Nanded-Waghala, Panvel, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Latur, Malegaon, Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad, Jalgaon, Ahilyanagar, Dhule, Jalna and Ichalkaranji.

New Delhi, Jan 16: India’s youth and entrepreneurs are focused on solving real problems, and the Startup India mission has become a revolution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

Speaking at a mega event marking a decade of the flagship programme ‘Startup India’, Modi said the ecosystem that started with four startups in 2014 has grown to over 125 active unicorns.

India is the third largest startup ecosystem in the world, with the startup tally now surpassing 2 lakh.

The Startup India momentum is accelerating, with unicorns launching IPOs and creating jobs, he said.

Indian youth is focused on solving real problems, and the Startup India mission has become a revolution, according to the PM.

Youth in tier-2 and 3 cities, even those in rural areas, are setting up their own ventures, Modi said.

Today, 45 per cent of startups have either one woman director or partner, he added.

Risk-taking, which was discouraged, has become mainstream, he observed, lauding India’s startup founders for their “impressive” confidence and ambitions.

“Those risk-taking ideas that were earlier considered fringe, have now become fashion,” he said, adding that the country’s youth does not want to work in comfort zones.

New Delhi, Jan 16: The BJP on Friday released the schedule to elect its national president, saying the nominations for the post will be filed on January 19 and the name of the new chief will be announced the next day.

According to party sources, BJP national working president Nitin Nabin is likely to be elected as the national president unopposed, as there is least possibility of any other leader joining the fray.
The organisational poll schedule released by BJP national returning officer K Laxman showed that the nomination for the election of the party chief can be filed between 2 pm and 4 pm on January 19, and the nominations can be withdrawn between 5 pm and 6 pm on the same day.

Scrutiny of the nomination papers will be carried out between 4 pm and 5 pm on January 19. “Polling will be held if needed on January 20, and an official announcement of the name of the new BJP national president will be made the same day,” Laxman said.

Nabin is likely to replace JP Nadda as BJP national president with party leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, backing his candidature for the post, sources said.

Incidentally, Nadda was also first appointed as the BJP’s national working president in June 2019 and eventually was elected unopposed to the post of party national president on January 20, 2020, succeeding Amit Shah.

Nabin, 45, the son of late BJP veteran and former MLA Nabin Kishore Prasad Sinha, is seen within the party as a dynamic leader who is ideologically rooted and deeply committed to the organisation. He comes from the RSS background.

Nabin represents Bankipur assembly constituency in Bihar and has served as a minister in the Bihar government twice.