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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her first address after the assembly election results in five states launched a fiery attack on BJP and said that she is willing to make a grand alliance against the saffron party for the 2024 general elections.

The leader invited Congress to join hands with Trinamool for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"If Congress wants we all can fight (2024 general elections) together. Don't be aggressive for now, be positive. This winning (Assembly polls in 4 states) will be a big loss for BJP. This (2022 election results will decide the fate of 2024 polls) is impractical," a news agency quoted Banerjee as saying.

Back in 2014, Arvind Kejriwal had a huge ambition. He resigned as the CM of Delhi after failing to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill and made his party contest over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. AAP won four seats - all in Punjab. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal was more pragmatic, and decided to focus on a few states. AAP won only one seat, again in Punjab.

AAP's desire to become a national party has never been a secret, and today's victory in Punjab state elections is the biggest stride they have made in achieving that goal. This infographic lists AAP's journey so far in its pursuit of becoming a national party, and Kejriwal as a national leader.

Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, which originated in 2012 on the back of an anti-corruption movement, is on track to become a national party with a win in Punjab April-December, 2011

After an agonising wait that lasted days, India was finally able to evacuate close to 700 Indian students from Sumy in northeastern Ukraine. The students were driven in 12-14 buses to Poltava in central Ukraine following a communication by the Ukrainian foreign ministry that a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians, including foreign students, from Sumy to Poltava had been agreed on Tuesday.

The government said that the students will be taken to western Ukraine in a special train and that Operation Ganga flights were being arranged to bring them back to India.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "Happy to inform that we have been able to move out all Indian students from Sumy. They are currently en route to Poltava, from where they will board trains to western Ukraine. Flights under Operation Ganga are being prepared to bring them home."

In a stunning upset, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is projected to oust the Congress in Punjab in Assembly elections 2022 to win its second state within 10 years of being formed. The party, which is currently in power in Delhi, has been projected to win 75-plus seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly, as per exit polls 2022.

The Axis My India survey has projected 76-90 seats for the AAP in Punjab, taking it beyond the majority mark of 59 seats. The Jan Ki Baat poll has predicted 60-84 seats for the Aam Aadmi Party, while the P-Marq survey said the party is tipped to land between 62 and 70 seats. As per the ETG Research, AAP could win 70-75 seats, and the Polstrat pegged the party beyond the magic number but lower at 56-61 seats. Today’s Chanakya gave 100 seats to AAP and 10 to Congress, with SAD+ at six and BJP at one.

Attempts to evacuate civilians from the besieged port city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine fell through as Moscow and Kyiv traded blame for ceasefire breaches. The war, now in its 12th day, has caused 1.5 million people to flee Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Russian military has warned Ukraine’s neighboring countries from hosting its warplanes, saying Moscow may consider them a part of the conflict if Ukrainian aircraft fly combat missions from their territory. European Union leader Charles Michel has expressed reservations over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appeals to impose a no-fly zone over Ukrainian airspace, saying that doing so could spark a world war. Stay tuned to Indiatoday.in for latest updates on the Russia-Ukraine war.

Fighting stopped about 200,000 people from evacuating the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol for a second day in a row on Sunday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to press ahead with his invasion unless Kyiv surrendered.