The BJP has applied its muscular brand of Hindu politics to Karnataka as it attempts to make further inroads in the south of the country of 1.4 billion people, where other parties have long held sway.

Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

The Congress hopes to revive its flagging fortunes with a new leader after losing two general elections and control of some state assemblies to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.

Its majority was reduced but it was the first party to be re-elected in the state of more than 200 million people for 37 years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is accused of using the spyware to monitor political opponents, journalists and activists.

Indian police visited Twitter headquarters to serve a notice to its country head of an official probe into its tagging of a tweet by a ruling party spokesman as 'manipulated media'.

Some analysts saw the results as showing the limits of the BJP in states with sizeable Muslim populations.

The entire system will sink deeper into the communal cauldron if political parties and politicians play the same game of exploiting religious or communal sentiments to gain electoral support.

The ruling BJP party has set its eyes on capturing Tamil Nadu by raising religious issues close to Hindus.

The attackers fired at a car the three were using in the southern Kashmir Valley.