Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Friday formally broached the idea of a grand alliance including former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Bihar, a move that may rock attempts at a merger between 'Janata Parivar' parties.
The Tamil Nadu unit of Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday barred its OBC wing leader from party events after an audio clip in which he is purportedly heard using abusive language against a woman colleague went viral, and removed an actor from her posts for alleged anti-party activities.
From June 6 to 8, the party will reach out to minorities under the programme-- 'Interacting with Minorities'.
Radha Mohan Singh appointed in-charge of politically crucial UP. Kailash Vijayvargiya will continue to be the in-charge of West Bengal and he will be assisted by BJP national secretary Arvind Menon and party national IT cell head Amit Malviya.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Muslim outreach programme, which will kick off on Friday, has received mixed response from the people in Muslim-majority Kashmir, but there is a consensus that there is a need to bridge the gap between the Valley and the rest of the country.
HAM's Bihar president Brishen Patel told reporters on Wednesday that his party can snap the alliance from the BJP after discussions on this matter.
"The party will try to connect with these voters by organising 'Sneh Milan: Ek Desh, Ek DNA Sammelan' in various West Uttar Pradesh districts," he said, adding these conferences would start after Eid next month and the first convention will be held in Muzaffarnagar.
A day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar formed the government in Bihar in alliance with the National Democratic Alliance, hectic lobbying started for the post of assembly speaker, and other legislators to be included in the council of ministers.
The police on Friday claimed to have arrested 'a local Bharatiya Janata Party leader' along with 10 others on charges of running a sex racket in a hotel in West Bengal's Howrah district, while the state's main opposition party denied any association with the accused individuals.
The two people arrested in Udaipur were alleged by the Congress to have links with the Saffron party.
Out of a total of 17 aspirants who had sought party tickets to contest in five different assembly seats, so far only one -- Md Anwar Hussain -- has been given the green signal to be the candidate from Lilong -- a constituency with the largest Muslim population in the state.
Over 65 Union ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
The BJP will enter this election, as it does every election, as if it is fighting to prevent a 2004-style defeat. This is a party that wins big because it always behaves as if its back is to the wall, predicts Mihir S Sharma.
Akhilesh Yadav's stock rose dramatically on Tuesday with his Samajwadi Party cutting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party down to size in Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP got the benefit of a split in Muslim votes in some seats of western UP, and its candidates registered wins from Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Baghpat and Aligarh Lok Sabha seats.
The police had arrested four persons for brutally thrashing the BJP worker.
Jharkhand's ruling coalition partner Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Monday decided to withdraw support to the Arjun Munda-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, pushing it to a minority, in a new twist to the tussle for power between the two allies.
Gandhi claimed that Dalits, tribals, and Other Backward Classes were made bonded labourers and their participation was lacking in big companies, hospitals, schools, colleges and courts.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) terrorist Talib Hussain Shah was briefly associated with a political party and also posed himself as a media-person, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said on Monday.
A day after its debacle in the Kolkata civic poll, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday announced the formation of its new office bearers committee in West Bengal, axed several members of its old guard and inducted new leaders to strengthen the party in the state.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said his party would oppose the Centre's move to bring a bill in Parliament to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf boards, and accused the BJP of trying to snatch the rights of Muslims.
The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday approved the proclamation of President's Rule in Jharkhand where former Chief Minister Arjun Munda had resigned after his government was reduced to a minority last month.
The legislators of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, led by senior leader Shibu Soren, on Tuesday met Governor Syed Ahmad to formally withdraw support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state. Shibu Soren handed the letter of withdrawal of support to the governor after he withdrew support to the BJP-led Arjun Munda government on Monday evening, reducing it to minority, after talks between the two sides fail to reach an agreement.
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was directed by Governor M C Bhandare on Sunday to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly on March 11 after his coalition government was reduced to a minority following Bharatiya Janata Party's withdrawal of support ending their 11-year-old alliance.
The Jharkhand unit of Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday night decided to consult its national leadership for the next course of action following the decision of by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to withdraw support to Arjun Munda-led govenment in the state pushing it to a minority.
The party also rejigged its Central Election Committee and included former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Om Mathur and its women wing chief Vanathi Srinivasan.
In a last-ditch effort to salvage its government in Jharkhand, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Wednesday extended an olive branch to Bharatiya Janata Party, which withdrew support reducing it to a minority, saying chief minister Shibu Soren was ready to resign and a new leader could be installed.
Modi has proven to be a past master in the art of political survival. This means that learning to navigate the choppy waters of coalition government will be an art he will not take long to master, argues Shyam Parekh.
The election was necessitated as the term of office of seven members expires on June 14.
'When Fadnavis takes our help, it was sabka saath.' 'But when we support his rival, the latter is branded as appeasing Muslims.'
Police arrested four people for the assault on Wednesday.
Not only the BJP but key bureaucrats are also known to have hinted to the top leadership of the need to expand the Cabinet.
This unprecedented entry of Muslim candidates as BJP nominees has been a shot in the arm for the party cadres in the Muslim-predominant Malappuram district, a citadel of Indian Union Muslim League.
The BJP cannot afford to alienate the OBCs, who have explicitly voiced their opposition to the Maratha quota.
The party has also expanded its list of spokesperson to 23, with MP Anil Baluni being elevated as the chief spokesperson and remaining its media head.
The incident took place at Kurumahat in Hansdiha police station area, around 300 km from the state capital Ranchi, on Friday night when a tourist couple from Spain was spending the night at a makeshift tent.
Hitting out at the ruling Congress in Karnataka, he said the party failed to confer the Bharat Ratna on Ambedkar when it was in power.
Narendra Modi's Jaipur rally on Tuesday courted controversy over a purported direction by the Bharatiya Janata Party -- asking Muslims to come dressed in skull caps and burqas -- as critics questioned the motive behind the "dress code".
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
'Somehow, Rahul Gandhi is not able to connect with the youth of the country.' 'While Modiji is 72, Rahul is only 52.' 'But the popularity of the prime minister among the young population is a lot more than Rahul's.'
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