'All our senior leaders including Devendra Fadnavis have already told that Eknath Shinde will remain as CM. He is doing a good job for the state. Opposition parties are creating confusion'
The exit polls further pointed out that the northeastern state would have a hung house, with Sangma's National People's Party (NPP) emerging as the single-largest party.
State BJP chief Temjen Imna Along, widely popular on social media across the country for his sense of humour, and Salhoutuonuo Kruse, one of the two women elected to Nagaland assembly for the first time, were among those who were sworn-in as members of the council of ministers.
Chaudhary alleged that the BJP "hates Bihar" after having lost power in the state, which is "back in the centre-stage of national politics" since the opposition meeting hosted in Patna by Nitish Kumar.
In a surprise development on July 2, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP split as his nephew Ajit Pawar and almost three dozen MLAs joined the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP leaders were sworn in as ministers.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday questioned Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party chief K Annamalai's intention to criticise the party despite being in the alliance, and said it will be forced to rethink its ties with the saffron party if Annamalai is not restrained.
Raut also refuted the speculation of NCP leader Ajit Pawar joining the BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met the top priests of various churches in Kerala, giving a push to the Bharatiya Janata Party's efforts to reach out to the influential minority community in the southern state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, sources said.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel has claimed 51 out of the 53 party MLAs had told NCP chief Sharad Pawar that a possibility of joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party should be explored after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra collapsed last year.
According to insiders, "talks are on" between the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena at "an exploratory level".
There are signs of trouble between the film actor Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party and the Nava Telangana Party over the issue of an alliance or understanding with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Even as the NTP president T Devender Goud is scheduled to meet BJP's the prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and the party president Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Thursday, Chiranjeevi has ruled out the possibility of a tie up with the saffron party.
Addressing party workers, Thackeray claimed Mufti told him that the BJP's alliance with the PDP was on the condition that Article 370, which provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir, won't be abolished.
When he was chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was able to blunt inter-regional and inter-communal tensions which Farooq and Omar Abdullah could not do. Whether he can repeat it with the BJP by his side would have to be seen, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
This is the first time that Nagaland is witnessing the victory of so many political parties in the state assembly elections. LJP (Ram Vilas) and RPI (Athawale) are newbies in the state politics.
Tipra Motha, a regional party floated by Pradoyt Kishore Manikya Debbarma, scion of the erstwhile royal family, is set to play a key role in the formation of the next government in Tripura.
Top leaders of Opposition parties will brainstorm at a meeting in Patna on Friday to chalk out a roadmap for the formation of an anti-Bharatiya Janata Party front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, with sources saying that they would look to avoid the prickly leadership question and emphasise on common ground.
In a major blow to the National Democratic Alliance, the Biju Janata Dal announced on Saturday that it had split from the Bharatiya Janata Dal, over failure to reach a seat sharing deal for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls."The BJP-BJD will contest separately," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters, adding that 'winnability' was the reason behind the break up in the decade-old alliance.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday travelled in a helicopter together for an event in Palghar as they reaffirmed their commitment to take forward their alliance and spoke about their strong bond after a controversial advertisement.
Shinde said Patil told him that he did not mean to disrespect the late Sena supremo.
It was not that differences did not crop up over other issues between the two erstwhile allies, but Parkash Singh Badal always ensured that these were amicably resolved and the ties remained intact.
'People tell us openly that in 2024 we will vote for Modi.'
The Sena and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray labelled each other gaddar (traitor) after Shinde's rebellion split their original party last year, while Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis publicly asserted he had exacted revenge on Thackeray for his betrayal.
Shiv Sena said it will soon take a decision on its continuance in the BJP-led government in Maharashtra.
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.
From the voter-level, traditionally anti-BJP, anti-Hindutva minorities and other secular voters would have an option, especially in the face of the mounting anti-incumbency against the ruling party -- as it happened in the 2001 assembly polls, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
There were many people who wanted to seek favours from her by offering lakhs and crores of rupees even through her family members when she was Odisha's transport minister. She never allowed any kind of corrupt practices to touch her department officials, family members or the supporters who have stood by her.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided it would not adopt the path of appeasement and vote bank politics.
Making clear her willingness for an alliance of non-Bharatiya Janata Party parties, Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her party will join such a front for the 'greater interest' of the country.
'Shinde and Fadnavis have different working styles and certainly there is a crack that has come between them.'
Panthic politics came easily to Parkash Singh Badal. But he was quick to abandon it when it became a problem, points out Aditi Phadnis.
After prolonged bickering over seat-sharing in Maharashtra for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party are veering towards an alliance, with some in the BJP even claiming that the seat-sharing formula is ready.
Sources said the opposition parties would look to avoid the prickly leadership question as of now and emphasise on building a common ground.
The Opposition is also expected to target the Eknath Shinde-led government on shifting of mega projects like Foxconn to Gujarat, according to political observers.
After stating openly that the Telugu Desam Party would fight the elections without the Bharatiya Janata Party in Seemandhra, TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu has now agreed to keep the alliance alive.
The BJP has nothing to lose after a point. For the DMK it is a difficult choice, as it would not want to give too much of space to a 'national party' lest the 'Dravidian duel' of the past decades should be lost forever, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
"If Gadkari decides to build the bridge between the BJP and the Shiv Sena, he can approach Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and request him," Sattar said.
The Congress, which won assembly elections with a thumping majority to retain power in Assam, would not have even got a simple majority had the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bharatiya Janata Party cobbled up a pre-poll alliance. As per the election statistics, the Congress would have been defeated in at least 20 seats had the AGP and the BJP joined hands in fighting the polls in the north-eastern state.
The Janata Dal (United) has clarified that its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party would remain intact despite recent bickerings, saying it was a "necessity" for the two parties to remain together.
'When I felt that the party is drifting away from Hindutva, I tried to speak to Uddhavji. But nobody was ready to listen.'
'They should not forget that had we decided not to rebel, they would still be chanting slogans from the footsteps of the Vidhan Sabha.'