Should the anti-defection law in India exist only to prevent democratically elected governments from being toppled?
The journalist's daughter, a post-graduate law student, had returned from London to Bhopal on March 18. She had been asked to observe home quarantine. But two days after her arrival, the journalist attended Kamal Nath's last press conference as the CM on March 20, official sources said.
Governor Lalji Tandon had on Saturday night directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the House immediately after he delivers his customary address on the first day of the Budget session beginning Monday. Interestingly, holding of a floor test found no mention in the List of Business (LoB) issued by the state assembly secretariat on Sunday night.
The Bharatiya Janata Party swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday inflicting a resounding defeat on the Congress to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland, in a big boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
With Scindia quitting the party, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh appeared headed for a collapse.
Sources said while the Congress units of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will hold separate discussions on May 26 on their preparations and actions to be taken, the party will also hold strategy meets on Chhattisgarh on May 27.
Even as the race for the Congress president's post is hotting up, its veteran leader and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh on Friday said he is not interested in becoming the party chief.
With this, the Congress's strength in the house has come down to 89 now.
Bhagwat was returning from a programme in Tijara area when the incident happened and there were eight to ten cars in the cavalcade, police said.
A democracy is one, only if it has a robust Opposition. And as its actions show, the Modi-BJP combine gives two hoots for that. So, the Opposition must learn to convince people why the BJP must go. Else, it can count down to 2029, points out Shyam G Menon.
The politically crucial Malwa-Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh played a key role in propelling the Congress to power in 2018 after a gap of 15 years and the party is utilising the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra to strengthen its position in the belt a year ahead of the assembly polls.
Just after the brief address of the Governor, MLAs of the BJP raised the demand for a floor test, triggering an uproar. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Govind Singh raised the issue of coronavirus threat in the country and also mentioned the Central government's advisory.
Congress had won won in the assembly polls barely five months ago in the same three states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
Most of the leaders who attended the meeting agreed that Kishor joining the Congress would be beneficial for the party, they added.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Wednesday said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has made it clear that there was no proposal to recommend dissolution of the state assembly.
Sources said that Congress leaders, including Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, Mukul Wasnik, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, AK Antony, Ambika Soni and Randeep Surjewala, are also taking part in the meeting at Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence.
In its first list for the upcoming assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, the ruling BJP has focused on seats it lost in 2018 and some of them even in 2013, and has reposed faith in 14 candidates, including three former ministers, who lost last time.
Singh said nobody anticipated that Scindia would quit the party.
Opposition Congress on Wednesday claimed a total of 14 children died at the Madhya Pradesh government-run Kamla Nehru children's hospital in Bhopal in the last 48 hours, contrary to the state government's claim that only four infants lost their lives in the November 8 blaze, and demanded a probe by a sitting judge of the high court.
Populism gains momentum during election periods, and this trend is evident in at least four states: Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Earlier this week, the Congress claimed that the BJP had "abducted" some MLAs of the ruling party as well as its allies BSP and the SP to bring down the Madhya Pradesh government.
The debate, which saw several heated exchanges, will continue on Thursday.
Jyotiraditya lost out on the chance to be among the youngest chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, as Kamal Nath, 72, was picked for the top job in the state.
The minister also hit out at Khurshid over the book on the Ayodhya verdict, titled Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times, which was released on Wednesday.
'Revanth Reddy mounted a spirited campaign in Telangana which turned around the fortunes of the Congress in six months.'
The attack by the Opposition party came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the logo, theme and website for India's upcoming presidency of the grouping.
In another tweet, the chief minister said that if detected and treated on time, COVID-19 infection can be cured.
The new chief minister, if from the Congress, will have little or no time for political administration, to ensure that he does not lose the voter's goodwill even before the Lok Sabha polls. He can count only on one thing. That the BJP may not want to upset him too early lest an early failure should become an added problem for the party in all the polls to follow, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'I will present them before you (media) when Kamal Nath asks me to do so'
Speaking to reporters for the first time after arriving in Bengaluru and sending in their resignations, the 22 MLAs said they were ready to face any consequences.
Chouhan paid tributes to former Union minister and Congress leader late Madhavrao Scindia on his birth anniversary. Madhavrao was father of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is said to be at the centre at the current political drama in Madhya Pradesh.
Madhavrao Scindia briefly left the Congress in 1996 and was later pacified to rejoin ranks
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has tested positive for Covid-19.
AAP organisational general secretary Sandeep Pathak cited the performance of the party in recent local bodies polls in MP and said it will form the next government.
Scindia had left the Congress a few months back and joined the BJP as he believed that he was being marginalised by senior party leaders in Madhya Pradesh.
The discussions are mostly one-on-one, party insiders said on Thursday, a day of many meetings.
Gehlot's meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi led to the buzz that the two may have discussed the possibility of him being the next party president.
His son and party chief Akhilesh Yadav lit the funeral pyre. The former Uttar Pradesh CM had died aged 82 at a private hospital in Haryana's Gurugram on Monday.
'The IB and authorities knew I had given away all my property and had nothing in my name.' 'Even among police officers, they all respected me for this sacrifice which is rare these days.' 'They respected me from this point of view -- in this day and age few individuals live by ideals for the poor.'
The meeting with Antony comes days after an open rebellion by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot loyalists on a possible leadership change in the state
