Congress leader K C Venugopal and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's T R Baalu walked out of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's office, refusing to endorse NDA candidate Birla without being offered the Deputy Speaker's position.
At least five Congress MLAs did not attend a meeting of the party's lawmakers in Maharashtra on Thursday, called in the aftermath of the high-profile exit of former chief minister Ashok Chavan that has triggered speculation about more such defections.
The home minister further said it has been the tradition of this country for brothers to think about and speak on women's welfare.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
The BJP is far more prepared than the Congress as their pool of prospective candidates is much bigger, reports Prakash Bhandari.
Chowdhury said the schedule of the yatra was submitted to the state administration long ago.
On Tuesday, 49 opposition MPs were suspended for the remaining part of the session for disrupting proceedings, taking the total tally of suspended MPs in Lok Sabha to 95.
The resolution noted that the Ram temple is a symbol of India's vision, philosophy and path. "Shri Ram temple has truly become a temple of national consciousness," it said and added that every Indian was happy to see the divine consecration of Lord Shri Ram.
'Arithmetic could decide the Haryana election given the presence of multi-cornered contests.'
Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
The move is seen as a prelude to Chavda's joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The last minute decision of the Congress to withdraw Rahul Gandhi's name as the lead speaker on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha led to heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches on Tuesday.
This time Modi has no emotive message to take to the stump. Muscular nationalism doesn't work against the backdrop of China's successive inroads into Indian territory. Rising prices is a sore point that cuts across class and caste barriers; unprecedented levels of unemployment has the youth in a ferment. This has reduced the BJP campaign to a laundry list of recycled grievances and thinly veiled communal appeals, neither of which are working as well as they have in the past, argues Prem Panicker.
As the Congress marched ahead to win power in Karnataka, ousting the BJP from its only southern perch, celebrations broke out at its offices in Bengaluru, Delhi and several other places.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
Though electoral verdicts have historically been accepted, even though grudgingly, by all parties, there has been a sharper edge to the questions being raised by Opposition parties this time over the polling process, including the Election Commission.
Addressing a gathering at Varsha, the official residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai, Deora said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have a vision for developing the country.
Seeking a third straight term, Modi is not just looking to stamp his electoral dominance on India but also chasing history with another consecutive victory equalling first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's record.
Modhwadia emphasised that he was not joining the BJP due to any coercion or allurement as claimed by the Congress.
In total, 17 people, including Telangana Chief Minister and Congress leader Revanth Reddy, have been issued notices to appear before the Delhi police's investigation officer (in connection with the case. Sources, however, said Reddy is "unlikely" to join the probe and may send his representative.
Deriving from Narendra Modi's continuing charisma, the proposed scheme, if and when implemented, can cut both ways. That is to say, if Modi can win, he can lose. Or, someone else in his place, later on, could lose as much as he could win in his time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Banerjee said her microphone was stopped after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.
Reacting to the development, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said in a tweet, "Rahul Gandhi may have survived this one but for how long?"
The Congress will begin the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from the violence-hit Manipur on Sunday, in what is being seen as the party's bid to set the narrative in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and put the spotlight on issues such as unemployment, price rise and social justice.
"Why was the home minister not visible (during the violence)? The country got a strong home minister but he was not visible and this is shocking. During the assembly elections in Delhi, Amit Shah, despite being the home minister took out ample time for his campaigning. But he was not visible when the whole of Delhi was burning, said the party in its mouthpiece Saamana.
'In a democracy, how can you be scared of Amit Shah?'
Crucial reforms in Muslim personal law, especially laws related to inheritance and adoption, need to be initiated forthwith; historically speaking, without the State's backing, hardly has any reform taken place or allowed to prevail, asserts Mohammad Sajjad.
The best-case scenario is that the BJP will top out at around 50 seats in UP -- a drop of 12 from the 62 it had won in 2019. Taken in tandem with Maharashtra and Karnataka, this is what is likely to put paid to the BJP's ambitions of a third term for Modi, argues Prem Panicker.
The Bharatiya Janata Party president accused his Congress counterpart Rahul Gandhi of "inciting hatred" in society with his "lie" that the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been revoked.
Voting was underway on Friday in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world's largest electoral exercise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
24 hours was all it took for the Congress to overturn its decision to boycott the TV debates on the exit poll results. Sudhir Bisht offers an explanation.
Over 65 Union ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
This election will be remembered for being the first election where the Election Commission failed to take action on gross violations involving the ruling party that repeatedly used religion, communal slurs, lies and undocumented allegations, observes Ramesh Menon.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP president, said, "Amit Shah has set a target of 35 seats. We will achieve that".
'These frequent visits show the BJP fears that the Congress will retain power.'
In a blistering attack against the BJP over the violence in Manipur, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that its politics had "murdered Bharat Mata" in the northeastern state and termed members of the ruling party "traitors".
Not known to share the best of equations with his former deputy, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday came out in support of Sachin Pilot amid allegations by the Bharatiya Janata Party that his father, former Union minister Rajesh Pilot, was involved in the bombings over Mizoram in 1966.
An interim report on the action has also been sent by the field investigation wing of the income tax department to the Central Board of Direct Taxes in Delhi, the administrative body for the department.
Here are some of the reactions to Pragya Singh Thakur's remarks that Godse was a deshbhakt.
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