The saffron party, which had witnessed unprecedented growth in terms of vote share and mass base over the last few years, had opened its doors wide for leaders from other parties as part of its poll strategy, but that did not go down well with many senior leaders, who had once locked horns with the newbies from rival camps, sources in the BJP said.
The accent on 'making the south feel wanted' was the reason why P Muralidhar Rao, who was dropped as general secretary, was partially reinstated in the central apparatus as prabhari in charge of Madhya Pradesh. 'Pressure from the RSS was brought to bear on Rao's return,' a source said. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Political observers have said that the TMC, now desperate to shed the 'anti-Hindu' tag and embrace 'soft Hindutva', is carefully planning its moves, with help from poll strategist Prashant Kishor and team, as is evident from its decisions to organise Brahmin Sammelan, provide sops to Sanatan Brahmins, and financial aid to Durga puja committees.
BJP chief Amit Shah said the ruling TMC has 'surpassed the violent legacy of the communist rule' in West Bengal.
The development came against the backdrop of the ruling party accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to poach its MLAs to topple the Kamal Nath-led government, which enjoys a wafer thin majority in the House, and imminent expansion of the state Cabinet.
Nine Congress MLAs, most of them Bahuguna loyalists, rebelled against Harish Rawat and supported BJP's claim to form a government.
Parts of the city plunged into a welter of violence as his convoy was attacked with stones by alleged TMC supporters from inside the hostel of Vidyasagar College, triggering a clash between supporters of the two parties, officials said.
'You don't win elections on the basis of borrowed players.' 'There is a great crisis of leadership for the BJP in Bengal'
Just as the superstars of Indian cricket only play IPL and international fixtures and ignore the Ranji and Mushtaq Ali trophies in domestic cricket, Narendra Modi should play a very limited role in state assembly elections, argues Sudhir Bisht.
Congress has said that it will never instigate violence for political benefits.
Banerjee also alleged that the BJP is manipulating electronic voting machines to increase its vote share.
'Mamata will beat the living daylights out of BJP workers with the result that people who are not totally committed, they will promptly leave the party and go back to Trinamool.' 'Or when they find they cannot get what they came to the BJP for they will go back to Trinamool.'
The Mamata Banerjee-led party, which has often been mocked by opponents for not having a well-defined ideological plank, seems to have finally found its calling in Bengali sub-nationalism, as a section of top party leaders feel only an 'inclusive message of regionalism, which the Bengalis can identify with, will counter the aggressive nationalism and Hindutva practised by the saffron camp'.
With the Uttarakhand assembly set to witness a crucial floor test on May 10, a new crisis has risen for former chief minister Harish Rawat in the form of a fresh sting video, which allegedly shows Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Madan Singh admitting to horse-trading.
He was asked to furnish a personal bail bond of Rs 50,000 in the case of assault and of Rs 20,000 in the other case.
Some BJP and Congress leaders believe the assembly building is filled with 'negative energy'.
'Mamata is campaigning hard and not giving the BJP a walkover.'
The BJP firebrand also suggested that the actor should go to Pakistan.
Overcoming anti-incumbency factor, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday secured a two-thirds majority in the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh winning 165 seats in the 230-member House.
'The Shaheen Bagh model of bullets and biryani won't work. The RSS looked at a template that would play to Bengali pride and harp on the state's development. Mamata's slogan to defeat the Left Front was 'Bengal awake and arise'. She promised to check the flight of capital from Bengal to far-flung states and usher in a renaissance. The RSS wants the BJP to pitch this line because it feels Mamata hasn't delivered on her promises.'
Roy said he would give an explanation on why he was leaving the party and why he was 'forced to do so' after Durga Puja.
Here's list of a few controversial remarks made by our politicians this year.
Clashes were reported from Kharagpur in West Midnapore district, Narayanpur in North 24 Parganas, and Alipurduar town in north Bengal, among others.
Kamal Nath said that the Bharatiya Janata Party was perturbed as its "corruption over its 15-year rule is going to be exposed"
Putting up a brave front, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday asserted the Harish Rawat government remains in a minority and it will be proved on April 29 when it takes the floor test, after the Uttrakhand high court restored the Congress government, revoking the President's rule.
Addressing a press conference in Dehradun, Harish Rawat accused the BJP-led central government of 'killing democracy' by using its brute majority to cause 'political instability' in a small state.
According to him, the temple issue did 'more harm than good' to the BJP as the matter was being used by the opposition 'to terrorise minorities and polarise votes'.
The searches are linked to suspected movement of hawala money during the ongoing polls season and tax evasion, they said.
Priyanka is one of the star campaigners of Congress for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and has also played an important role in forging an alliance between Congress and the Samajwadi Party.
Government sources had claimed on Tuesday that four persons have committed suicide in fear of NRC so far, while four others had died while waiting in queues to procure the requisite papers.
Earlier, the BJP leader had to take back his tweets saying Shah Rukh's soul is in Pakistan.
'For the time being, the party to put on hold induction of TMC leaders and focus on strengthening its grassroot level organisation.'
BJP chief Amit Shah had set a target of winning 22 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 seats in West Bengal.
The East Delhi MP was on protest demanding proof from Kejriwal about his allegations that he was involved in Khan's murder and demanded an apology in case the chief minister was unable to do so.
Rajeev Kumar, the Kolkata police commissioner, is known for his impeccable investigating and electronic surveillance skills.
State party leaders admit that Hindu consolidation by itself was not good enough to unseat Didi.
'Should the Congress take Jyotiraditya's departure as good riddance?', asks Mohammad Sajjad.
Not only the BJP but key bureaucrats are also known to have hinted to the top leadership of the need to expand the Cabinet.
Apprehending that some of its MLAs may not toe the party line, especially as BJP-backed Chandra had claimed support of at least two INLD MLAs, a dozen-odd legislators of the party were on Monday sent off to the hill station in Uttarakhand.
BJP leaders rejected the charge, insisting Jay has been 'wronged'.
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