Extending its winning run in the south, the Congress on Sunday won 64 assembly seats to form government in the Bharat Rashtra Samiti-dominated Telangana, with the southern solace coming in the midst of a saffron sweep of the Hindi heartland where the Bharatiya Janata Party wrested two states from the grand old party and retained one.
24x7 power supply to farmers emerges as a political lightning rod in the state.
After Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram would go for polls this year.
Among the free symbols are walking stick, baby walker, air conditioner, balloon, bangles, wheel barrow, whistle, window, wool and needle, water melon, walnut, wallet, violin, vacuum cleaner and trumpet.
The first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee under Mallikarjun Kharge's presidency will be held in Hyderabad on Saturday during which the party's top brass will deliberate on evolving a strategy for upcoming assembly polls in five states and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In its complaint against Shah, the Congress told the EC that the home minister claimed in a speech in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon on October 16 that "...Bhupesh Baghel's government, for appeasement politics and vote bank politics, lynched Chhattisgarh's son Bhuneshwar Sahoo and got him killed..."
This will pave the way for emergence of 24,000 new panchayat-level leaders in Telangana, he said.
'Every Indian who is concerned about the unity, integrity and the map of India should be worried about this growing divide.'
'Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bengal can be the game changers of 2024.'
He said the people are looking for an alternative and the Congress' victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka elections are clear proof of this.
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Religion matters. Aspirational India is still poor. India admires strong leaders. India values decency. Shreekant Sambrani highlights the reasons why the BJP pulled off improbable victories in the Hindi heartland.
Given the politics behind it all, one possibility is for binding the governor to act according to the decisions of the state government and clarifying his position vis a vis bills and resolutions passed by the state assembly -- or, re-enacted if returned, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Key states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana would go for polls this year, besides states from the North-East.
Though the wily TRS supremo, credited with achieving the separate state of Telangana, stopped short of saying he was about to declare dissolution of the assembly, none doubted its imminence.
Although the BRS is projecting supreme confidence, who will be able to tap anti-incumbency -- the BJP or Sharmila plus the Congress -- remains to be seen.
Both the BJP and Congress understand that coalitions and alliances are not just about numbers, but have symbolic value.
It should announce its candidates 45 days before the elections; trust rooted leaders; start its campaign focused on five guarantees six months before elections.
'I declined the generous offer of Congress to join the party as part of the EAG and take responsibility for the elections. In my humble opinion, more than me the party needs leadership and collective will to fix the deep rooted structural problems through transformational reforms,' Kishor said in a tweet.
Kavitha attacked the BJP government at the Centre, alleging it of using the investigation agencies to target political parties and leaders who do not subscribe to its ideology.
The Aam Aadmi Party has decided to launch a massive membership drive in the southern states to build on the momentum of its stupendous victory in the Punjab assembly polls.
Mamata Banerjee's sights are not on the next month's Presidential election. She is focusing on another election that will take place in 2024.
The 34-year-old Hyderabadi has not been able to cast her vote in the Telangana Assembly elections on Friday after her name was not on voters' list.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLA Ramesh Chennamaneni, who was re-elected to the Telangana assembly from the Vemulawada constituency last year, received a notice from the home ministry cancelling the Indian citizenship for concealing facts pertaining to his visits to India during the 12-month period immediately preceding his application seeking citizenship.
The TRS emerged victorious in the Telangana assembly elections on Tuesday, bagging 88 seats out of the 119-member assembly.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has sparked a controversy after he threatened to "bury TV channels alive that have dared to insult Telangana, its MLAs, and Telangana's self-respect."
The decision assumes importance as the Telangana assembly was dissolved recently before its term came to an end.
According to the Election Commission's website at 5.45 pm on Tuesday, the NOTA votes ranged as high as 2.1 per cent in Chhattisgarh to 0.5 per cent in Mizoram.
Chennamaneni, who was re-elected to Telangana Assembly from the Vemulawada constituency last year, said he would approach the high court for relief.
'If the TRS, with 75% seats in the Telangana assembly, can be coerced into a sense of resignation by a tiny party that has just 10% of seats, then questions have to be asked about KCR's mettle as leader,' says Sudhir Bisht.
K Laxman, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader raised a storm after he dubbed tennis ace Sania Mirza "Pakistan's daughter-in-law" after it was announced that Mirza would be the brand ambassador of Telangana.
Jagan maintains a cordial working relationship with the BJP leadership. This may help him get additional financial support from the Centre.
'As a seasoned politician I know how to talk and understand the opinion and sentiments (of other political leaders).'
The AIMIM chief also said Adityanath was speaking the language of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that of the Bharatiya Janata Party and he was ignorant about history.
He charged KCR with using 'abusive language' in campaigning and claimed that it showed signs of his nervousness and insecurity.
Two leading journalists' bodies on Thursday expressed shock and concern over Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's remarks threatening to "bury the media 10-km under the earth if it insults" his state.
Rama Rao's appointment was necessitated as Chandrasekhar Rao will have to concentrate on national politics and also focus on various developmental activities in the state, a release from the chief minister's office said.
'His past as a cricketer makes it difficult for the BJP to question his nationalism.' 'He gets away by ridiculing Modi while something similar from most Congress leaders does not resonate as much.'
TDP Telangana unit president Ramana said they favoured a 'grand alliance' for the elections in the interest of Telangana people.
On the proposed Grand Alliance of the Congress and other parties in the state, Shah said the Telugu people had not forgotten how the Congress had treated their leaders like former (undivided) Andhra Pradesh chief minister Anjaiah and former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao.
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