VK Pandian, Odisha's influential bureaucrat turned politician, has argued that the expenditure ceiling for candidates in Lok Sabha elections imposed by the EC is unrealistic and impractical.
Prashant Kishor, however, refused to call the assembly election a semi-final. He said that if that was the case, the BJP would have lost the final in 2019 as it had lost all five of the five states in 2018.
Iran, which backs Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, has warned Israel of 'grave consequences' if it does not stop military operations - a demand that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has flatly rejected until the job is done.