'They know everyone and have everyone's horoscope. If they feel Himanta Biswa Sarma is the right man for Assam, they will give it to me, if they feel Sarbananda Sonowal is the right man, they will give it to him, or if they feel both of them are not good, let's bring another person'
While Himanta Biswa Sarma scotched rumours that he would be the king this time, political sources in Guwahati maintained that he, and not Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, had a bigger say in choosing candidates, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
The accident occurred when the private boat 'Ma Kamala' was headed to Majuli from Nimati Ghat and the government-owned ferry 'Tripkai' was coming from the riverine island.
Gandhi came along with Mukherjee and while the former president left after sometime, the Congress chief offered to drop him back but Mukherjee politely refused.
Those who have studied Assam elections say the high turnout has the Congress worried.
The BJP has the maximum number of such politicians.
These parties also asked the Centre to present a revised comprehensive economic package that will be a 'true stimulus' and sought reversal of all unilateral policy decisions, especially pertaining to labour laws, as they put forth a 11-point demand charter before the government during a virtual meeting, called by the Congress to discuss the situation arising out of the pandemic as well as the lockdown.
The constituencies spread across lower and central Assam will have 12,699 polling stations where 1,04,35,271 voters will be able exercise their franchise.
Facing the opposition's attack over the conversion issue, the government on Monday said in Lok Sabha that neither it nor the Bharatiya Janata Party was involved in such acts and the state governments should take action if anyone violates the law.
As counting is on in the five states - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal -- here's a look at where the heavyweights stand.
'The message has gone loud and clear (among the people of Assam) that the BJP is only interested in polarising (the country) and they are basically interested in (capturing votes in) the Hindi heartland and they don't bother much about rest of India.'
'Everything was sacrosanct when the BJP was led by Vajpayee and Advani.' 'That was a different culture. But with Modi and Amit Shah nothing is sacrosanct.'
The AGP, which has ruled the state on its own twice, will play the junior partner and contest 24 seats while the rest 126 will be divided among BJP and three smaller outfits, with the saffron party leading the alliance.
Maybe one of the reasons for the party to prefer Gogoi is that he combines administrative and financial acumen that is rare.
Speaking to around 60 journalists in three different sittings, the Congress vice-president, who is known to be media shy when it comes to his personal life, has opened up on a range of topics.
Chiefs of Army Staff in India have not been tactful about politicians. But they have stayed clear of politics, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Army chief says Assam's AIUDF has grown at a faster pace than the BJP.
Even as the electioneering heats up for the third and the last phase polling in Assam, main opponents the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have drawn up electioneering strategies to outsmart each other.
The Congress's share has almost halved, down from 12 in 2014 to six now.
'Today, there is pervasive fear in society; an uncertainty of what might happen.' 'This has forced Muslims to shrink further into mental ghettos, with many considering extreme measures like pretending to change their identity.'
In the third phase of the Lok Sabha election on April 23, 116 seats spread across 13 states and two Union Territories, will go to the polls.
'Mamata wanted the Congress in alliance with the BJP in Bengal against the Left Front government.' 'Pranab Mukherjee opposed it, stating it would amount to compromising on secularism.' 'In 2021, Mamata defeats the BJP and becomes a champion of secularism.'
The rejig may take place before the assembly election results for Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Assam may throw up a hung assembly with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the ruling Congress there engaged in a neck and neck fight while Left Democratic Front could oust the Congress-led alliance in Kerala, an opinion poll has projected.
Assembly elections are due in the summer of 2016 in five places: Assam, West Bengal in the east and Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry in the south
Arch-rivals Left and Trinamool, SP and BSP come together for Sonia's lunch
The BJP, on the other hand, learnt from past mistakes to clinch power.
Even before the trends started coming, eager party workers were seen glued to their smart phones viewing the counting progress online.
'If the Citizenship Bill passes, then the very principle of Indian citizenship, which is called jus soli (right of birthplace) will convert to principle of jus sanguinis (right of blood) on the basis of religion.' 'Citizenship is being given on the basis of religion and it is against the Constitution.'
This is the first meeting chaired by Gandhi after relinquishing the post of Congress president last year.
'When it comes to national politics, the Modi-Shah BJP has successfully redefined secularism.' 'If a party like the Congress has to have a future, it has to move closer to the secular centre from the far Left where its Left infatuation during the UPA years dragged it,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
'UP, Maharashtra, AP (including Telangana), Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, MP, Bihar, Karnataka and Kerala.' 'We chose these nine not only as being among the biggest, but also because in these states radical change is possible,' explains Shekhar Gupta.
The BJP, which has two MLAs in the MDA government, backed the Cabinet decision.
The Bharatiya Janata Party appeared to cede ground in Uttar Pradesh where Samajwadi Party was leading on six of the 11 Assembly seats where bypolls were held while it was neck and neck with Congress in Gujarat and behind in Rajasthan, exactly four months after it swept the three states in Lok Sabha elections.
Sonowal, who steered the BJP to victory in the elections, has put the issue of infiltration and attempts to check them as his government's priority.
The exit poll results were released at the end of the polling in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, marking the closure of voting in four states and Puducherry.
Complaints of electronic voting machine malfunctioning poured in from several booths on Tuesday during the third and largest phase of Lok Sabha polls which saw voters turning out in large numbers to cast their vote in 116 seats, including all constituencies of Gujarat and Kerala.
'An army general is not supposed to speak on political issues.' 'He should be keeping away from politics.'
'The central and Assamese governments want to get 35 lakh to 40 lakh Bangladeshis (Hindus) to come to Assam and make the Assamese people a minority.' 'They want to make Assam a Bengali state.' 'Bengalis by nature are BJP supporters whereas Assamese people don't support the BJP.'
'The Congress will never change its ideology, but to fight this new kind of propaganda politics, we have to prepare ourselves.'
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