Thousands of angry protesters took to the streets to tell India's leader he was unwelcome in Kolkata on Saturday, in the latest rally against a citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims.

Thousands protested in rival demonstrations in India Friday as tensions deepen over a citizenship law seen as anti-Muslim

Huge protests in India against a citizenship law seen by many as anti-Muslim have wrong-footed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sent his Hindu nationalist party scrambling to douse the anger.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party lost control of another state on Monday, adding to a string of electoral losses since last December amid protests that mark the biggest challenge to the Hindu-nationalist leader.

Following days of violent, sometimes deadly protests across India against a new citizenship law critics say discriminates against Muslims, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a rally

A controversial citizenship list in northeast India that has left almost two million people facing statelessness has been slammed by its political backers as those excluded from it face an uncertain future.

India announced Sunday a general election to be held over nearly six weeks starting on April 11, when hundreds of millions voters will cast ballots in the world's biggest democracy.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani held telephone conversations Saturday with the prime ministers of Pakistan and India, Imran Khan and Narendra Modi, respectively.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party is likely to lose two heartland states while a third is too close to call, exit polls showed on Friday in the final test of popularity before a national election due by May next year.

The Supreme Court outlawed the practice last year, but Modi's government wants to make it a non-bailable offence carrying a jail term of up to three years.

Narendra Modi told The Times of India in an interview published on Sunday that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government is committed to improving the lives of all citizens regardless of faith.

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi created a flutter in parliament on Friday, giving Prime Minister Narendra Modi a surprise hug during a heated debate and said he had nothing but love for his bitter political foe.