Accepting its defeat in Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that the Congress had benefited from the division of votes of the opposition parties. "The Congress has benefited from the division of votes of the opposition parties. In Maharashtra, it is clear that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a factor. Similarly, in Haryana, the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Janhit Congress divided the opposition votes.
Besides the four Left parties, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Telugu Desam Party, Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal, Janata Dal-Secular and Indian National Lok Dal "have decided to call for a country-wide hartal on July five", a joint statement by top leaders of CPI-M, CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc said in New Delhi.
With Haryana facing the prospect of a hung assembly, Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Prakash Chautala on Thursday said that the governor should invite the opposition parties first and give them an opportunity to form the government. "We appeal to the governor to invite the opposition parties first, which have emerged as the largest group. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda should immediately step down on moral grounds."
Predicting a hung assembly in Haryana after the October 13 polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday did not rule out a post-poll alliance in the state to keep Congress out of power.
Opposition parties in Haryana on Monday asked Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to drop Home Minister Gopal Kanda from his cabinet.On Sunday, Kanda allegedly ordered his security men to open fire on agitating Indian National Lok Dal activists, who had stopped his convoy at Sirsa. Kunda was caught on camera by a private news channel while issuing the order.The INLD had called for a shutdown and its activists had organised a sit-down demonstration.
Film star-turned politician Yograj Singh is hopeful that his son, cricketer Yuvraj Singh will campaign from him for the October 13 assembly polls in Haryana.
Showing signs of differences within the United National Progressive Alliance on the issue of leadership of Mayawati, the Indian National Lok Dal has ruled out the Bahujan Samaja Party chief as its prime ministerial candidate."No to the proposal of her as PM," INLD general secretary Ajay Chautala told reporters in Jaipur on Wednesday when queried if the INLD could join hands with the BSP and project Mayawati as the future prime minister.
In Haryana, the split between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal worries the Congress.In Maharashtra the main problem of the Congress is the anti-incumbency against its alliance partner the Nationalist Congress Party.
Without staking claim to form the government, the Indian National Lok Dal on Friday requested the governor to provide an opportunity to other political parties or groups to form the government in Haryana, saying people have not given a clear verdict to the Congress."As an alternative to the Congress, which has failed to get the mandate, the other parties/groups should be given a chance to form a non-Congress government," INLD president Om Parkash Chautala said.
Opposition Indian National Lok Dal was ahead in nine seats while ruling Congress was leading in eight assembly constituencies, according to the trends available for 25 of the total 90 seats in Haryana .
Polling for 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states will be held on Friday amid allegations of attempts at horse-trading by rival parties which have corralled their MLAs in hotels and scenic resorts, prompting the Election Commission to appoint special observers and order videography of the entire exercise.
Adequate security and Covid safety measures have been put in place for the electoral exercise.
The ruling Congress consolidated its position in Haryana bagging 40 of the 90 assembly seats even though the state appeared headed for a fractured verdict.
Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala today said his party is the "only alternative" to the Congress in Haryana and claimed that success of a recent rally is an indication of wave in favour of INLD.
Indian National Lok Dal on Saturdayclaimed that it will form the government on its own in Haryana and said Bharatiya Janata Party, which parted ways with it, will bite the dust in the upcoming assembly polls in the state.
'The BJP uses its partners as a stepping stone to grab political space. They are in the habit of betraying their partners. That is how they treated Naveen Patnaik, Chandrababu Naidu, the Asom Gana Parishad and Farooq Abdullah.'
Jailed Indian National Lok Dal leader Ajay Chautala's elder son Dushyant figured in the list of candidates declared by the party for all the ten Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.
"We have come out of NDA and are no longer part of it," Chautala told mediapersons and charged the BJP with ditching them "again and again" and vowed to not to be part of the alliance again. He said that keeping the Congress party at bay has been his main aim so he had "compromised" by being part of the BJP many times in the past.
In a development that could help the ruling Congress ahead of the Haryana assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to part ways with Indian National Lok Dal led by former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala.
Around 10 people were injured Saturday as police allegedly lathi-charged a group of farmers disrupting traffic movement on a highway while heading towards Karnal to protest against a BJP meeting.
A firebrand youth leader, a seasoned politician who became a legislator for the first time, and a veteran physician are among the 12 new faces elected to the fourth Assembly of Delhi. The Congress leads the debutants pack with six MLAs, the Bharatiya Janata Party has five and the Indian National Lok Dal one.
The Indian National Lok Dal on Sunday rejoined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and announced that it will contest the coming Lok Sabha elections in Haryana in alliance with the BJP.
It may be recalled that at the time of the last Presidential elections in 2002, Naidu had worked for evolving a consensus on the candidature of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam while the Left parties had fielded Mrs Lakshmi Sahgal.
The exit polls have predicted the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance getting elected in Maharashtra but have differed in their projection of a number of seats.
Seeking the abolition of the SEZ policy, the INLD suggested framing of Manufacturing Investment Region policy to boost investment and production.
Sandeep Singh said he will now serve the country in politics after doing so as a sportsperson.
"It is very unfortunate that a party which was formed on a promise of alternative politics, on the promise of practising transparency, accountability, internal democracy and not resorting to power politics broke all promises. It became like an ordinary conventional political party," said Bhushan.
A contest between Jai Parkash Gupta (Independent), Shashi Pal Mehta (Bharatiya Janata Party), Dharampal Gupta (Indian National Lok Dal) and Sumita Singh (Congress) is on the cards.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday stormed into the state assembly with a huge margin as his party, Congress, made a clean sweep of all the three byelections in Haryana held on June 2.
At the time of ticket distribution, the top BJP leadership preferred the turncoats over its loyal workers.
The Haryana CM faces state Congress president Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Chautala is seeking re-election from Narwana and he is pitted against his old rival and state Congress president, Randeep Singh Surjewala. Chautala had defeated Surjewala by just 2,194 votes in the last election.
Chautala said that the loss/gain of the break-up with the BJP would also be known only after the polls.
Deepinder Singh Hooda, son of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, won the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat defeating his nearest rival Abhimanyu of the Bhartiya Janata Party by a margin of 2,32,098 votes.
In the wake of forthcoming assembly polls in Haryana, retired bureaucrats and police officers are in the fray to test political waters in the 'jat' heartland which goes to polls on October 15.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday asked the Centre to explain to farmers why it does not want to repeal the three farm laws, while promising it that they 'will not let the government bow its head' before the world.
Farmer outfits on Friday started mobilising more batches of peasants from Haryana and Punjab to head towards Delhi's borders to join the ongoing agitation against agri laws, even as political parties such as the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Indian National Lok Dal threw their weight behind them.
Abhay Chautala mentioned that he has resigned as farmers' demands have not been met, Gupta told reporters in Chandigarh. The 57-year-old INLD leader was the party's lone MLA in the 90-member assembly and represented the Ellenabad seat.