Odisha's and Telangana's principal opposition parties, the Biju Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi, on Monday announced that their MPs will abstain from voting in the vice presidential elections.
Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi has stirred controversy by suggesting that members of the "upper castes" should handle the tribal affairs portfolio. Gopi, an actor-turned-politician, argued that true progress in tribal welfare would only be achieved under the leadership of individuals from "upper castes." His comments have been met with widespread criticism, including from CPI state secretary Benoy Viswam and prominent tribal leader C K Janu.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday took potshots at the rival Shiv Sena over its minister not finding a place in the reconstituted NITI Aayog.
On Monday, June 10, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi held the first meeting of his Cabinet at his residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar appear to have got the maximum representation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new council of ministers, while assembly poll-bound Maharashtra also found a significant presence.
While BJD leaders held a marathon meeting at Naveen Niwas, the residence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, the BJP leaders had a similar meeting in the national capital, discussing election matters, including a potential alliance.
The members of the cabinet committees included Union ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party and its National Democratic Alliance partners like Janata Dal-United, Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal-Secular, Shiv Sena and Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas.
Senior BJP leader and Patnagarh MLA KV Singh Deo and debutant from Nimapara assembly segment Pravati Parida took oath as deputy chief ministers.
There is also speculation within the BJP that its national president J P Nadda, whose extended tenure will end by this month and who was among the leaders meeting Modi, may also be brought back in the government.
While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president JP Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers.
Among the new entrants to the Union cabinet, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been given the agriculture and rural development portfolios, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda the health portfolio and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar the power portfolio.
WC star Azad beats state BJP heavyweight Ghosh from Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency
Talks on pre-poll alliance were being held between the ruling Biju Janata Dal and the opposition BJP for the past few days.
While Dilip Tirkey is the ruling Biju Janata Dal candidate for the Sundergarh (ST) Lok Sabha constituency, his junior and former India hockey captain, Prabodh Tirkey is the Congress candidate from the Talsara (ST) assembly segment also in Sundergarh district.
Samal also claimed that the Odisha BJP was confident of winning both the polls.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, all ministers in Modi 2.0 Cabinet, took oath as cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In all, 71 ministers were sworn-in along with Modi, taking the strength of the Union council to 72.
Here is the complete list of ministers in Modi 3.0 and their portfolios:
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
'The Odisha government has changed the image of the state by making it a sporting hub of the country with high performance centres, state-of-the-art training facilities and hosting big tournaments. The sports loving people of Sundergarh and Odisha will not forget this while voting.'
They said members of Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party urged committee chairman Jual Oram to allow a discussion on the Agnipath scheme, arguing it has huge implications and required parliamentary scrutiny, but were denied from doing so.
BJP on Friday announced candidates for 46 more Lok Sabha seats from the states of Kerala, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab and Sikkim. After the breakup of its alliance with the Biju Janata Dal in Orissa, BJP announced the names of seven Lok Sabha candidates from the state. It also announced 43 names for the assembly election scheduled along with the Lok Sabha polls. Five candidates from Kerala were also announced today by the party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday stated that the situation in riot-affected districts of Darrang and Udalguri in north Assam was still tense and warranted imposition of President's Rule in view of the 'failure' of the state government to tackle the station in the right way to instill confidence among the affected populace.
A day after the Supreme Court ruled that it was up to the prime minister to not induct those with criminal record into his Cabinet, Rediff.com examines how serious are the charges against some of Narendra Modi's ministers.
Top military officers, including Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, had been summoned to make presentations on military uniforms.
"The adulation and admiration for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and total belief in the philosophy of the BJP prompted me to join the party," the former BCCI president told PTI.
Panda met BJP chief Amit Shah and joined the party at its office in the national capital.
Rahul alleged that the panel's time was being wasted in discussing armed forces' uniform instead of the crucial issue of national security, sources said.
The disengagement process between India and China in eastern Ladakh is in final stages and on the brink of completion, top officials of the country's defence establishment on Thursday told a parliamentary panel during a meeting, which sources said turned 'stormy' amid several questions asked by opposition members including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The party also rejigged its Central Election Committee and included former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Om Mathur and its women wing chief Vanathi Srinivasan.
This is probably the first time Rahul Gandhi is attending this committee's meeting since being nominated to the panel last year after Lok Sabha elections.
A section of BJP leaders is of the view that the leadership may spring a surprise with its choice for the post by appointing someone from southern India.
Narendra Modi is expected to have a 45-member council of ministers who will take oath along with him on Monday evening. The council of ministers is expected to have 23 Cabinet ministers, 10 ministers of state with independent charge and 11 ministers of state, according to sources.
The 30-member committee, chaired by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Jual Oram and of which Rahul Gandhi is also a member,wishes to visit the eastern Ladakh region in the last week of May or in June.
It was also the shortest speech by Sitharaman, who had delivered the longest speech last year. Her first Budget speech in July 2019 went on for around 137 minutes and in 2020, it went on for more than 160 minutes and was cut short after she felt unwell.
Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah and other ministers will listen to PM's radio talk 'Mann ki Baat' while having tea with people across poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the deputy leader.
Taking tough, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday declared that strong action will be taken against NDFB(S), which massacred over 70 people in Assam on Tuesday, asserting that the Centre has "zero tolerance" policy for such "crafted terror".
The BJP hopes to highlight the "insulting" Congress meme on social media that had described the PM as a 'chaiwala', reports Archis Mohan.
An Arunachal Pradesh minister on Tuesday warned of a 'Kargil-like' situation in the border state as he spoke of a lack of development forcing locals to migrate away from far-flung areas and giving China an opportunity to venture deeper inside Indian territory.
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