By naming a sworn swayamsevak for vice president, the Modi-Shah duo have sent out a clear and positive message to Nagpur, where the RSS headquarters is located, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The senior Paswan sought an appointment and waited for more than three months but Rahul Gandhi did not relent, said Chirag Paswan, who at that time too was keen to leave the UPA and join the National Democratic Alliance.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President M Karunanidhi on Tuesday chose to keep the cards close to his chest on the issue of which political outfit his party would strike an alliance to fight next year's Lok Sabha polls.
Union Minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Monday ruled out quitting the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre over the hanging of Afzal Guru, an issue on which Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had made some strong statements. "Why should we leave the government? We have got a job to do. You don't leave, I have no such idea," Abdullah said.
At least 30 MLAs of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition in Jharkhand camping in a resort near the Chhattisgarh capital since August 30 flew back to Ranchi in a chartered aircraft on Sunday afternoon to attend the special session of the assembly scheduled for Monday, sources said.
The BJP has sought the disqualification of Soren as an MLA accusing him of allocating a mining lease to himself while he held the state Mining portfolio in 2021.
The EC is believed to have told the Governor that Soren should be 'disqualified' as a legislator for violating electoral norms, they said.
The BJP, the petitioner in the case, has sought Soren's disqualification under Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 -- which deals with disqualification for government contracts -- for allegedly extending a mining lease to himself.
Against the backdrop of dramatic twists and turns in the Presidential race, key National Democratic Alliance ally Janata Dal-United on Thursday refrained from making its stand clear on the issue saying the United Progressive Alliance should first settle it within itself.
Close on the heels of a 70 paise per litre hike in petrol prices, the Oil Ministry is pushing for an increase in diesel and domestic cooking gas LPG prices, even though it is unsure of political support for the unpopular move with the ruling UPA alliance.
Indian elections are won and lost on 'negative' imageries and campaigns - but not certainly on 'negativity' as a political trait and electoral creed, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
It is now an imperative need to find a third alternative at the Centre after the failure of the Congress-led UPA alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led combine's potential of being a threat to the country's secular fabric, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said. The issue would be vigorously deated at the CPI-M Congress beginning in Coimbatore on March 29, Bhattacharya, a party politbureau member, told a Left Front rally in Kolkata.
The meeting of the group of ministers on fuel prices scheduled for Saturday has been put off, even as the core group of UPA alliance is likely to meet on Monday morning and may discuss the issue. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who heads the GoM on fuel prices, had on January 17 indicated a meeting at 1700 hours today for re-convening the inconclusive GoM meet of that day.
The Congress leader is one of the most powerful functionaries in the party, having the reputation of being a trouble-shooter and strategist.
Putting up a brave face after its alliance in Maharashtra fell apart, the Congress on Friday targeted the Nationalist Congress Party alleging that it was trying to "get close" to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was quick to rule out any truck with Sharad Pawar's party.
The 71-year-old MP may have time to pursue her other interests, but many believe that she will continue to play the role of a mentor.
The Congress-led UPA government was a sinking ship and would not return to power while the Left would face further rejection by the people, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday.
Three days after Rahul Gandhi's blunt attack against the ordinance on convicted lawmakers, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday declared that the "whole party" stands behind Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Coming full circle, Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party, which left the National Democratic Alliance in 2002, is all set to align with in Bihar for Lok Sabha polls, giving a jolt to Congress' plans to have a "secular" alliance with LJP and Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Banerjee along with other regional leaders are likely to play an important role in any future government in New Delhi, so it is in India's interest that regional leaders like herself realise the importance of progressive economics and good governance, says Tridivesh Singh Maini.