According to a senior Congress leader, the constituents of the opposition alliance intend to move forward with the theme "Main Nahin, Hum (We, Not Me)" at the meeting.
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
Counting of votes for the high stakes assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry began on Thursday morning with trends expected to be available by 11am.
Ram Sethu, also known as Adam's bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.
As proof of the potential outcome, AIADMK sources pointed to the election of TDP's C M Ramesh to the prestigious PAC, which was enabled by the Opposition voting for him.
Polling is underway to elect 119 members of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, with voters queuing up to exercise their franchise amid tight security on Thursday.
Join Pakistan's Cabinet, BJP targets Sidhu over his comment.
Even as the grand old party seeks to promote opposition unity ahead of the hustings next year, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, however, would be conspicuous by her absence at the event at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
The cross-country foot march stayed in the news almost right through, mostly for the barbs between the BJP and the Congress and occasionally for other reasons, including infighting in the opposition party.
Leaders of several opposition parties on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court verdict striking down the electoral bonds scheme and termed it an important step in ensuring transparency in electoral funding.
One of the high-profile contests in the high-stakes Bengal polls is likely to be a direct fight between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her former confidant and now BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram seat.
ndependent of the political fallout, which Stalin has sought to arrest through the withdrawal of the measures as fast as they were introduced, there are concerns about the way those decisions came to be taken, without adequate application of mind, not in official terms but in political and electoral contexts, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The central election committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party will meet on Thursday to finalise its first list of candidates for five assembly polls, with top party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expected to attend the meeting.
The Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday announced that it would contest alone in the urban civic polls slated to be held on February 19, even while asserting that its alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the state remained intact.
With the assembly polls only two years away, in 2026, any demoralising defeat in 2024, would challenge not only the party's continued relevance but also EPS's leadership, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The prime minister said the opposition's hatred against him was reaching new levels daily and they have a competition over who abused him the most.
AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala also lashed out at the Congress, her party's arch rival Dravida Munnnetra Kazhagam, and the Bharatiya Janata Party over failure to conduct the sport.
Thackeray, whose Maha Vikas Aghadi government fell after a rebellion in June last year by his cabinet colleague Eknath Shinde, who went on to become CM, also warned he would extract revenge for his ouster.
'They plan to purchase votes.' 'We will not purchase people, but win the elections.' 'In our manifesto there are no free gifts. It says what we will do for the people.'
Counting of votes in all elections will be held on May 2.
The political stability that Tamil Nadu saw under Chief Minister Jayalalithaa may be a thing of the past, as the new administration struggles to find its feel, says R Rajagopalan.
He also launched 70-lakh tree sapling planting drive to commemorate the 70th birth anniversary celebrations of late Jayalalithaa.
The incident occurred when BJP members, all set to release the balloons, burst firecrackers while garlanding a farmers wing state level office-bearer, Muthuraman at Padi on Friday.
Taking potshots at Congress, rival Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday claimed that the decision of Finance Minister P Chidambaram to opt out of the Lok Sabha poll race indicated the state of affairs in the party as it was "running away from the contest".
The alliance would announce a coordination committee, which could be of 11 members from principal opposition parties.
"The central paramilitary forces have arrived in the city. One is from Bengaluru, another being grouped from Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Mysuru," Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner of Police (West division) Sanjeev M Patil said.
How many seats would the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance have got had they fought the 2014 elections with their current alliance partners? Our RediffLabs team has devised an Election Sentimeter to how the swing in votes affects the election outcome.
The Congress party should project its prime ministerial candidate for the general elections next year, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Monday.
Many changes are likely in the BJP and government in coming weeks.
'Rajinikanth has fans in every political party. They will not change their mind because the BJP prints posters of him with Modi.'
In a rare sharp attack on the BJP-led Centre, Rajinikanth also asked those in power to 'resign and go' if the violence could not be crushed with an iron fist.
If only the Congress could rebuild on its strengths and develop a modern enough ideology, we could again be moving towards a clearer two-party political landscape, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The Cauvery Supervisory Committee had on September 19 asked Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs per day but the Apex Court had on September 20 doubled the quantum.
However, speculation remained rife that the meeting was part of Banerjee's plan to form an opposition front with regional players minus the Congress.
Having altered the political landscape of Tamil Nadu by firming up a pre-poll alliance with five parties of the state for the first time, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday welcomed the tacit support of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi's son M K Alagiri, saying it will help in formation of NDA government at the Centre.
Left high and dry, the BJP has had no option but to go for the overkill with 800 rallies, including 20 by the prime minister. In the process, it may be overplaying its card, observes Amulya Ganguli.
The chief minister may have Prime Minister Modi's backing.
In his Marathi autobiography Lok Maze Saangati published in 2015, Pawar has lavished praise on Adani describing him as 'hard-working, simple, down to earth' and with ambition to make big in the infrastructure sector.
With both the factions pledging their support, the BJP believes that the natural corollary is for them to now merge and retain the two-leaves election symbol, a view shared by the prime minister as well.
'India needs many more job creators, both in manufacturing and services, to make it big.' 'For that, the red carpet must be rolled out fully and for all investors without holding back,' suggests Nivedita Mookerji.
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