The Maharashtra Congress has convened a meeting of its legislators on Tuesday in view of the developments in the state that saw a split in the Nationalist Congress Party and Ajit Pawar being inducted as deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde government.
The Ashok Gehlot camp has been saying that they enjoyed the support of 109 MLAs, a claim contested by the Pilot loyalists. In the run-up to the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Jaipur on Tuesday, Pilot loyalist Ramesh Meena said, "A floor test should be conducted in the assembly. This will expose the claim that the Ashok Gehlot government has the support of 109 MLAs."
Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde, camping in Guwahati, has claimed that he has the support of 34 MLAs of his party and passed a resolution on Wednesday evening reinstating himself as the leader of the Shiv Sena legislative party, a day after he was removed from the post by the Sena leadership.
Janata Dal-Secular chief HD Kumaraswamy alleged "horse-trading" in the Karnataka Rajya Sabha elections claiming that Congress leader Siddaramaiah was pressurising JD-S MLAs to not vote for their own party but that of the candidate of the grand old party.
Thorat, 66, has been a farmers' leader and has been involved in the cooperative movement in Maharashtra. He is also a former revenue minister
The Mahagathbandhan, or grand alliance, on Saturday reached a consensus on seat distribution with the JD-U and the RJD to contest 101 seats each while Congress will put up candidates in 41 seats for the October-November Bihar assembly poll.
Parliament's approval of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, a contentious piece of legislation aimed at reforming Waqf bodies, has sparked strong reactions from the opposition, who allege that the bill was "bulldozed" through Parliament. The bill, considered the government's most consequential legislation in its third term, was passed with comfortable majorities in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha despite opposition claims of a lack of consultation and an intrusion into religious affairs. Other notable bills approved during the session included the Finance Bill, Appropriation Bill, Immigration and Foreigners Bill, and Tribhuvan Sahkari University Bill. The session, which saw high productivity, also witnessed debates on issues such as economic distress, delimitation, and the three-language policy. While the government touted its achievements, the opposition criticized the government's approach and vowed to challenge the Waqf bill in court.
Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal has criticised Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar for questioning the judiciary over the timeline for the president to take decisions, calling it "unconstitutional " and a lowering of the dignity of the chair. Sibal asserted that Dhankhar's remarks are not neutral and amount to an attack on the judiciary by the executive. He also pointed out that the president acts on the aid and advice of the council of ministers, and therefore, the president's power cannot be curtailed. Sibal urged Dhankhar to seek a review of the judiciary's decision or an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court if he has problems with it. He also questioned why Dhankhar only focuses on actions taken during Congress governments and not after 2014.
This comes after 10 Kuki MLAs, cutting across party affiliations, had expressed their inability to attend the assembly session as violence in the northeastern state continued.
One hundred years ago, a group of 10 revolutionaries carried out an operation that shook the British Empire. Utkarsh Mishra revisits the 'Kakori Conspiracy Case', a turning point in the armed struggle for independence.
The BJP MLAs, who had staged a demonstration outside the assembly during the first half and marched to the Raj Bhavan during the lunch hour, were summoned by the speaker when the House reassembled at 2 pm.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Thursday expressed happiness that the Congress party has taken cognisance of the issues raised by him about welfare of youth and corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan, and asserted the party will contest the assembly polls unitedly to secure a massive victory.
"Hemant Soren repeatedly ignored my advice and eventually landed in jail... he has always been surrounded by wrong advisors," Hembrom, a lawmaker from Borio seat in Sahibganj district, told reporters.
He said the people are looking for an alternative and the Congress' victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka elections are clear proof of this.
Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi's remarks praising Mughal emperor Aurangzeb sparked outrage in the Maharashtra legislature, leading to calls for his suspension and accusations of treason. The issue, which was politicized by both the ruling coalition and opposition parties, led to the adjournment of both Houses of the state legislature. Azmi later retracted his statements, saying they were twisted and that he had not made any derogatory remarks against Shivaji Maharaj or Sambhaji Maharaj. The BJP, however, seized the opportunity to slam the Congress and other opposition parties, accusing them of trying to "eradicate" Sanatan Dharma. The Mumbai police have initiated a probe into the matter, registering a case against Azmi for his remarks.
Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar arrived in New Delhi on Friday to discuss with the party's high command the names of ministers to be inducted into the new cabinet and the allocation of portfolios.
The Congress on Thursday renamed the Rahul Gandhi-led Manipur-Mumbai yatra starting on January 14 as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will travel through 100 Lok Sabha segments in 15 states including Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted it will prove to be as 'transformative' as his earlier cross-country march.
The sources told PTI that Shettar flew from Hubballi to Bengaluru on Sunday in a special helicopter and held discussions with Congress general secretary (Karnataka in-charge) Randeep Singh Surjewala, Congress state chief D K Shivakumar, former minister M B Patil and veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
BIf you know this BJP, it will now go forward to Jharkhand and Maharashtra as if June 2024 never happened, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Rahul Gandhi has set out to revamp the Congress party after the recent drubbing it received in the assembly elections. Renu Mittal reports
'We would continue with the Congress government's schemes with a review to enable it reaches the beneficiaries.'
'I assured them I will not back away. I will not betray those who have supported me till now. Their confidence in me is what gives me the strength to move forward'
By getting Jagdeep Dhankhar to resign at short notice, Narendra Modi has sent a message to his own ideological clan that he brooks no one trying to get too big for their boots, observes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
On the other hand, another minister, Rajendra Singh Gudha, once again endorsed senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot's name for the chief minister's post.
The meetings come days after an open rebellion by Gehlot loyalists over a possible leadership change in the state, clouding Gehlot's chances of running for the presidency.
The veteran leader is also expected to use his good offices in unifying the faction-ridden party in the state, ahead of assembly elections just six months away.
With the deepening political crisis in Rajasthan over the appointment of Ashok Gehlot's successor, Congress Working Committee members have demanded from Sonia Gandhi to pull the state chief minister out of the race for the party chief and select another candidate for the top post, sources said on Monday.
'The continuous and mysterious praise of the BJP and the chief minister by AIUDF leadership and senior members have affected the public perception of the Congress party'
The Congress party's first list of 194 Lok Sabha candidates released on Saturday night has no major surprises. Anita Katyal reports
"All legislators will remain united and stay together till August 14," Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi said after the CLP meeting chaired by Gehlot.
'These are lies that Priyanka Gandhi rung up Sachin Pilot.'
Dhami, who is a two-time MLA from Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar district, replaces Tirath Singh Rawat who resigned on Friday night.
The Congress fielded former Governor Margaret Alva's son Nivedit Alva from the Kumta assembly seat.
'Do you want Tipu or Savarkar? Where should we send Tipu Sultan? What did Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda do? In the same way he should be knocked out and sent off'
n fast-changing developments, Khaliko Pul, rebel-turned chief minister, who was unseated by the Supreme Court, returned to the party fold with 30 dissident MLAs.
Despite a warning issued to him by the Congress, former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot sat on a daylong fast at the Shaheed Smarak in Jaipur on Tuesday, demanding action in cases of alleged corruption related to the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state led by Vasundhara Raje.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the Mahayuti allies have agreed to conduct a 'performance audit' of ministers during their tenure.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's speech in Dholpur reflects that his leader is Vasundhara Raje and not Sonia Gandhi, Sachin Pilot said in a no holds barred attack against his party colleague on Tuesday.
In the coming assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.
The Maharashtra government is set to expand its cabinet on December 15 with 30-32 ministers taking the oath of office at a ceremony in Nagpur. The week-long winter session of the state legislature is scheduled to begin in Nagpur on December 16. The BJP-led government, which came to power after the November 20 assembly polls, has seen its fair share of twists and turns in the cabinet formation process. The BJP is likely to get 20-21 ministerial berths, followed by 11-12 for the Sena and 9-10 for the NCP.
