'Unlike the Congress, the BJP is not a party that merely goes by family connections.' 'Scindia's future will depend on what he brings to the BJP table.' 'The BJP is also a party where vertical growth is mostly factored by RSS preferences.' 'To secure confidence of the saffron brotherhood, Scindia will have to be his grandmother's grandson and not his father's son,' notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Congress on Saturday demanded the dismissal of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka following leak of an audio clipping in which Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa purportedly can be heard mentioning the disqualification of rebel Congress-Janata Dal-Secular MLAs and alleged involvement of the saffron party's central leadership. "How the BJP misused power and money was exposed yesterday. Now people have to judge them," he said. Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah also attacked the BJP, saying what the party had done was "a conspiracy to murder democracy and a violation of the Constitution".
There seems to be no "closure" for B S Yediyurappa, the Bharatiya Janata Party's "comeback man" in Karnataka, as he could never complete a full term in office, despite becoming the chief minister four times, surmounting odds. It's also too early to write a political obituary of the 78-year old Lingayat strongman and the 24X7 politician, the face of the party in the state for decades.
The swearing-in ceremony, attended by Chouhan, was kept low-key in view of the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Social distancing norms were followed at the ceremony.
In a stern warning to rebels, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that from now on doors won't remain open for those who left the party and contested elections against official nominees as he would do away with the past practice of re-inducting such members.
The biggest electoral upset in the state was witnessed in Anantnag with National Conference candidate and former high court judge Hasnain Masoodi defeating former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
'Blanket protection to MLAs, who are driven not by ideology but by far baser concerns, is unheard-of'
Facing a truncated strength caused by the en masse resignation of 16 ruling coalition MLAs, Kumaraswamy moved a one-line motion, saying the House expressed confidence in the 14-month old ministry headed by him.
The coalition government is on a shaky wicket with 16 MLAs -- 13 of the Congress and three of the Janata Dal-Secular -- resigning their assembly membership. Besides, two independent legislators, who were made ministers recently to provide stability, have quit the ministry and withdrawn support.
The Congress government in Uttarakhand on Monday cleared a major hurdle with the election of its candidate Govind Songh Kunjwal as the Speaker of the Assembly by a good margin of eight votes over Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Harbans Kapoor ahead of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna's trust vote.
Jitu Patwari, was briefly detained along with a few Congress supporters as he sought to enter the resort in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Karnataka.
Patel had challenged the high court order which had dismissed his plea questioning the maintainability of Rajput's election petition.
Twelve rebel Congress members of Legislative Assembly on Monday told Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar that he can go ahead with their disqualification for voting against the Andhra Pradesh government on a no-confidence motion, and later said that they were ready to face by-polls.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat was on Tuesday examined by the Central Bureau of Investigation for nearly five hours
Baig, the MLA from Shivajinagar, was suspended from the Congress for his alleged anti-party activities as he had rebelled against the party leaders.
With the two latest resignations, 16 MLAs -- 13 from the Congress and 3 from the JD-S -- have quit while two Independent MLAs -- H Nagesh and R Shanker -- have already withdrawn support.
Rebel Congress leader and former Member of Parliament from Kadapa, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy will formally launch his much awaited regional political party at his family estate Idupulapaya on Saturday.
No vehicles will be allowed to enter the assembly premises and all MLAs, including the Speaker, will have to walk down to the House from the main gate.
Attacking rebel Congress Member of Parliament Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, Union Minister and senior party leader from the state S Jaipal Reddy on Saturday said he was violating party discipline and termed his actions as "very undesirable".
Imarati Devi, Tulsi Silawat, Govind Singh Rajput, Mahendra Singh Sisodiya, Pradyumn Singh Tomar and Prabhuram Chaudhari were removed from the cabinet with immediate effect on Friday, said a Public Relations Department official.
The dramatic development came a day after they "impeached" Speaker Nabam Rebia in a make-shift "assembly" premises in a community hall.
Rebel Congress leader and former Lok Sabha member from Kadapa YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday declared that the Andhra Pradesh government's days were numbered. Jagan's 48-hour hunger strike in Vijaywada for the calamity-stricken has received support from over a lakh people and 20 Congress legislators. He told his supporters that they should be ready for a longer battle to ensure justice to the farmers, weavers and other weaker sections of the state.
The resignation of rebel Congress Member of Parliament from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has been accepted, Speaker Meira Kumar announced in the Lok Sabha on Friday. Kumar said Reddy's resignation has been accepted with effect from November 29. "I have to inform the House that I have received a letter dated November 29 from Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, an elected member from Kadapa parliamentary constituency of Andhra Pradesh.
After two and a half months of taking oath, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has many challenges before him. The first is to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected more than 10,000 people in the state. But The political challenges are even more daunting, reports Sandeep Kumar.
Top Congress sources said the meeting took place a little after noon at Rahul Gandhi's residence and a 'positive outcome' was expected.
Rebel Congress leader Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday met Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan in Delhi and discussed the state's political issues, including his controversial Odarpu Yatra.According to sources, Jagan is also looking for a way out of the present crisis that is threatening to split the state unit of the Congress. Neither the Centre nor the state government wants an election in the state right now.
The apex court, in a plethora of verdicts, has given varying judicial opinions on Speakers' powers ranging from refusing to intervene in the matter to assuming the role of the Speaker itself and going to the extent of disqualifying lawmakers under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.
The CBI has found the sting CD genuine, the sources said.
Trying to control the damage caused by his tiff with uncle YS Vivekanand Reddy, the rebel Congress leader from Kadapa YS Jaganmohan Reddy said that he will continue to like his uncle wherever he was. "Wherever he might be, I will be proud of him. I will always love him", Jagan said reacting to Vivekanand Reddy joining the state cabinet.
Giving yet another twist to the continuing political drama in Uttarakhand, the division bench has stayed the Thursday's floor test in the state assembly till April 7.
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.
The outcome of the bypoll, which recorded 67.91 per cent polling, is crucial for BJP, which needs to win at least six seats to remain in majority.
The COVID-19 pandemic, weak economic conditions, and a few political considerations are some of the challenges he faces.
In a last-ditch effort to patch up, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Monday, held closed-door meeting with rebel Congress leader Narayan Rane who is set to announce his future plans on Tuesday.
20 lawmakers did not turn up on Thursday, including 17 from the ruling coalition, 12 of whom are corralled in a hotel in Mumbai, as the House debated in a surcharged atmosphere.
The BJP won 12 of 15 seats on which bypolls were held. Congress could win only two.
The 61-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party leader was sworn in by Governor Lalji Tandon at Raj Bhawan here at 9 pm.
Among the three Deputy Chief Ministers are Govind Karjol, who has also been given the charge of PWD and Social welfare; Ashwath Narayan the portfolio of Higher Education, IT & BT, Science and Technology; and Laxman Savadi with Transport department.
The BJP needs to win at least six of the seats to remain in majority in the 225-member assembly (including the Speaker, who has a casting vote), which would still have two vacant seats -- Maski and R R Nagar.
The governor also directed that the trust vote be held by division of votes and the process be recorded on video by the Vidhan Sabha through independent persons.
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