'Bommai is everybody's man and nobody's man'
Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said on Saturday that the responsibility for the Bharatiya Janata Party's debacle in the general elections has to be fixed from the top.Raje refused to step down as Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan assembly on the directive of the party high command and made it clear that she alone couldn't be blamed for the party's poor performance in the state.The BJP central leadership holds Raje responsible.
Modi's inability to make peace with a renewed Opposition will only embolden his coalition partners and it is just a matter of time before they begin asking probing questions besides politely disagreeing with his tactics, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorist Shahzad has reportedly named at least three politicians, including a former member of the Legislative Assembly from Azamgarh, claiming they helped him flee from Delhi after the Batla House shootout two years ago, police sources said in New Delhi on Frday.
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Saturday sought to defend the joint opposition by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party to introduction of Janlokpal Bill in Delhi Assembly and accused Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal of violating his oath of the chief minister's office.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yedyurappa got into the damage control mode on Saturday as he sent an emissary to New Delhi to pacify the 11 rebel Bharatiya Janata Party members of Legislative Assembly. The 11 rebel MLAs who got relief from the Supreme Court on Friday have demanded a change in the leadership, but have assured to stay loyal to the party.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday conducted a lie-detection test on Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Legislative Assembly from Bhopal Dhruv Narayan Singh in connection with the murder of RTI activist Shehla Masood. Singh underwent the test for several hours on Saturday at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi as the previous attempt of the CBI to carry out a polygraph test on him remained inconclusive on March 19, sources in the probe agency said.
This is not the first time that the BJP legislator has been embroiled in a controversy.
The probe in the Shehla Masood murder case intensified on Wednesday with Dhruv Narayan Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party member of Legislative Assembly from Madhya Pradesh, being subjected to a lie-detection test after which he refuted allegations of his involvement in the killing.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday directed Telangana Congress members of legislative assembly and Parliament to withdraw their resignations, paving way for United Progressive Alliance to come out with a package for Telangana.
If the Congress is contesting fewer seats than ever before, the BJP is set to contest its highest-ever number of Lok Sabha seats.
"If Congress fails to fulfill the promise made to the Jammu constituency on change of power and install a Jammu chief minister, we will face rout in next assembly elections," the MLAs said.
All 27 MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party will meet President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday with a request to dissolve the Delhi assembly, AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal said.
The list, which was released by Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, also included former AAP MLA Kapil Mishra and has 11 SC and four woman candidates.
In a dramatic turn of events, Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj on Sunday recommended the imposition of President's rule in the state. Bhardwaj, who returned to Bangalore on Sunday afternoon after a three-day visit to Delhi, despatched a 'special report' on the unfolding political situation in the state in the aftermath of the Supreme Court setting aside the disqualification.
For the BJP, Telangana is a sunrise state in the South, while Karnataka is a southern success despite the ups and downs.
Controversial Samajwadi Party member of Legislative Assembly Vijay Mishra, arrested in connection with bomb attack on Uttar Pradesh minister Nand Gopal Nandi, has alleged that two ministers in Mayawati government were plotting to get him murdered.
The pro-Telangana agitation should be continued with full steam to make the Centre accept the separate statehood demand in a few months from now, Telangana Rashtra Samithi President K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Thursday. "Unity is our strength. We will definitely achieve Telangana. Delhi must climb down and give Telangana in a month or two," he asserted.
There appears to be no solution to the ongoing crisis in Karnataka. BS Yeddyurappa, who has parked 55 members of Legislative Assembly at a five-start resort in the outskirts of Bengaluru, has flatly rejected an invitation by Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari to hold talks.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday released its first list of 22 candidates fielding former ministers Somnath Bharti, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Satyendra Jain and Girish Soni in the Delhi Assembly elections, the dates of which are yet to be announced.
Neerja Chowdhury spoke to former prime minister and JD-S H D Deve Gowda about the ongoing political crisis in Karnataka.
After a revolt in the Shiv Sena, party president Uddhav Thackeray was ready to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra if the dissidents dumped rebel leader Eknath Shinde, a proposal that was unacceptable to rebel MLAs and the national saffron outfit, legislator Deepak Kesarkar claimed on Friday.
Ramesh Pokhariyal will be the the new chief minister of Uttarakhand, the Bharatiya Janata Party announced on Wednesday.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Maharashtra Legislature Secretary to hold a floor test of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government at 11 am on Thursday.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday night his government plans to introduce Jan Lokpal bill in the assembly on Friday and renewed his threat of resigning if the proposed legislation was defeated by Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.
A Trinamool Congress legislator on Sunday threatened to not support any bill tabled by the government in the West Bengal Assembly in the future and abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in the state if 'atrocities' on his loyalists allegedly by a rival faction continued, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party said the collapse of the Mamata Banerjee government was just a matter of time.
"In all, 22 of us (including 18 MLAs) met party chief and presented our view that we have majority in the state assembly," Pratapsinh Rane said.
'Not even a single rupee from the electoral bonds should be allowed to be used in the election.' 'If it is used in the election, it will taint India's electoral process itself.'
Mudigere's Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, M P Kumaraswamy, on Thursday announced his resignation from the party, after he was denied ticket to contest the Karnataka assembly polls, and blamed national General Secretary C T Ravi for not getting nominated.
Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Monday passed a unanimous resolution asking the Centre to conduct a thorough and time-bound probe into the charges levelled by former Army Chief V K Singh about political payoffs to mainstream politicians of the state.
Soon after the suspension of 33 opposition Lok Sabha MPs, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said all democratic norms have been thrown into the dustbin by this "autocratic" government and it has shown zero accountability towards Parliament.
Manik Saha was named as the next chief minister of the northeastern state of Tripura at a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislative party held in Agartala on Monday.
Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi asked CM Manjhi to prove his majority on the floor of the House.
Ashok Chavan, the Congress' choice of Maharashtra chief minister for the second time, on Sunday said the state cabinet would be formed after the meeting of Nationalist Congress Party Member of Legislative Assembly on Monday and added that Raj Thackeray's support would not be taken to form the government.
Stalin said one cannot and should not decide the mood of the entire country based on the results of one state elections.
The electoral fortunes of top leaders-- Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP, Congress heavyweights Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar and JD-S' H D Kumaraswamy, among many others will be known on Saturday.
The development comes less than a month after another AAP MLA Jitender Singh Tomar was arrested and had to resign as law minister over charge of having fake degrees.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said he aspired to become the CM of the state and also took a jibe at his 83-year-old uncle asking when will the Maratha strongman retire from active politics, as he appeared to be ahead in the numbers game for control of the Nationalist Congress Party after its vertical split.
Incumbents Pushkar Singh Dhami and Pramod Sawant are the clear favourites but face some opposition
Although the BJP has never been ballistic about the BJD and Narendra Modi has avoided being critical of Naveen Patnaik, the BJP is optimistic that the party can improve its electoral fortunes in Odisha on its own, notes Rup Narayan Das.
