A seasoned politician and two-term Member of Parliament, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, who has served as a Union minister and senior Congress leader, resigned from the Congress party, marking the end of his decades-long association with an organisation that his family has been part of for three generations. In an interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff he speaks why he quit the party.
Senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and J P Nadda, met with party leaders and allies to discuss the upcoming Bihar polls. Seat-sharing arrangements with NDA partners are expected to be announced soon.
"I am going to Raghopur to get feedback from the people of the constituency, which wants an end to the supremacy of one family. Before Tejashwi Yadav, a second-term MLA, his father Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi had represented that seat. Yet, it is crying for basic amenities," alleged Kishor.
'Every party want to contest more seats, nothing wrong in it. We have to compromise to take all together as the NDA.'
The BJP's MoSha leadership are past masters in encouraging defections from their allies if it helped their party capture the chief minister's chair. In Bihar, they are not sure if JD-U MPs and MLAs would be willing to cross over to the BJP if the Nitish leadership came on top -- and the NDA crossed the halfway mark together, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Earlier, AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh welcomed reports claiming Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has shown interest in the possibility of an alliance with Arvind Kejriwal-led party in poll-bound Haryana.
In the Congress's Central Election Committee (CEC) held to discuss ticket allocation for the forthcoming Haryana assembly elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi discussed about the possibilities of contesting elections as INDIA bloc, said sources.
Wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday amid speculation that the two star grapplers could be fielded in the Haryana assembly polls by the party.
The party has fielded sitting MLA Rajendra Singh Joon from the Bahadurgarh seat.
Since it was formed 58 years ago, Haryana has had Jat chief ministers for 33 of those.
Besides Hooda, Bhan and Phogat, the Congress has fielded Mewa Singh from Ladwa to take on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
The Congress has proposed AAP should contest five seats while the Samajwadi Party and Left parties could contest one seat each.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Jammu and Srinagar on August 21 and 22 for key meetings in preparation for the upcoming assembly elections.
"There is a need for a name change. What did Ravenshaw, after whom the university is named, do during the famine," the minister had asked,
The Congress on Friday hit out at the Election Commission after it rejected allegations over irregularities in the Haryana assembly polls, saying if the poll panel's goal is to 'strip itself of the last vestiges of neutrality', then it is doing a 'remarkable job' at creating that impression.
'Has the BJP not announced its candidates in Raebareli?'
The BJP's Central Election Committee had met on Sunday evening to finalise the party's candidates for the polls.
Rahul Gandhi may also contest from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Rae Bareli, a seat which was previously held by Sonia Gandhi.
The meeting, which began around 10:30 pm on Thursday, lasted for more than four hours and was held at the party's headquarters in New Delhi.
Amid intense speculation over whether he would contest the Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he would abide by his party's decision on it.
Sources said Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from Rae Bareli, but a final call is yet to be taken by the first family of the Congress.
Phogat and Punia joined the party in the presence of Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, spokesperson Pawan Khera and Haryana Congress chief Uday Bhan.
When it comes to the Congress and Wayanad, the only way the scepticism in the minds of some in Kerala may be addressed is by the Gandhi family proving that they are more than a passing caravan in town, reports Shyam G Menon.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the "champion of corruption".
Three Lok Sabha MPs, including its former Telangana president Bandi Sanjay Kumar, figured on Sunday in the BJP's first list of 52 candidates.
The Congress is yet to declare candidates on a majority seats as its Central Election Committee will meet on Sunday to finalise names for more seats.
Sowmiya Anbumani is the president of Pasumai Thayagam, an NGO involved in conservation of nature.
With the party fielding three Union ministers, besides four other MPs, as candidates in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, it may continue with the strategy in Rajasthan.
The Congress on Tuesday announced its second list of 43 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding Kamal Nath's son Nakul Nath once again from Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara and Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot from Rajasthan's Jalore.
The party's decision to announce the first list of candidates so early underlines the significance it has attached to five state elections, the last round of assembly contest before the all-important Lok Sabha polls.
However, he claimed that this was a fight to save the party and its ideology and to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister once again.
The 'war room' has been running since 2008, and all the important party meetings were held there.
The BJP has often highlighted the global recognition of his leadership and India's enhanced stature at the international level in its political discourse, an issue which is likely to rise in salience following the G20 meeting.
The Bharatiya Janata Party replaced at least 25 sitting MPs with new faces as the party released its second list of 72 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Wednesday.
Rana, who currently represents the Amravati Lok Sabha seat, joined the ruling BJP at the party's state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule's residence in Nagpur along with her supporters late Wednesday night.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday dubbed the electoral bonds as the 'world's biggest extortion scheme' and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 'champion of corruption'.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari and Jaipur Rural MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore are among the seven BJP parliamentarians who will contest the Rajasthan Assembly polls, according to the first list of 41 candidates issued by the party on Monday.
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