The Asom Gana Parishad's fears relating to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill are not misplaced. But does the party still matter in Assam's politics?
Attacking the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the country has suffered due to 'backseat driving' and 'remote control' and warned people of Assam against an unstable government in the state.
The Indian police is governed by the archaic, colonial-era Police Act of 1861, which has no place in a democracy. It was created to make the police subservient to its masters and, consequently, antagonistic to the masses, states Veenu Sandhu.
Criticising BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for advocating the Gujarat model of development, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi dismissed it, saying the same formula could not be applied to all states in the country.
Alleging that the NGO allows its name to be used "at the behest of some selected political interest", the Union of India told the top court that it is guilty of collecting huge funds by exploiting the agonies of riot-affected people.
The EC on Wednesday reminded political parties about the bad effects of plastic and asked them to avoid using it for making banners and posters for electioneering.
Assam University, Silchar, invites applications for its various academic programmes for the 2006-07 session.
While the Congress demanded immediate sacking of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, the Samajwadi Party and a few others sought imposition of President's rule in the state that has witnessed sporadic violence in since May 3.
Normal life was paralysed in Assam during a 12-hour-long state-wide bandh led by the Bajrang Dal and supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and several other organisations demanding action against the All India United Democratic Front and its leader Badaruddin Ajmal for alleged links with 'jihadi forces in Bangladesh'.
The Congress party's traditional bastion among the tea workers in Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Tezpur Lok Sabha constituencies holds the key to the party's fortunes in the first phase polling on April 7 in Assam. The BJP has been trying hard to make inroads here.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will hear on December 6 the plea of a Congress leader challenging a recent notification by which the sale of electoral bonds has been extended by 15 more days in the year of general elections to legislative assemblies of states and Union territories (UTs) with a legislature.
Ripun Bora in a letter wrote, "It is very surprising that you (Mukherjee) are going to attend the meeting of such an organisation which is totally opposed to the Congress's ideology of secularism, which is not only the basic foundation of the Constitution but also the social fabric of our nation."
Reaching a consensus might also get tougher, as already seen with issues like inclusion of natural gas in GST and imposition of a sugar cess, both central proposals being resisted.
On Easter, April 9, 10,000 BJP workers are being assigned to visit the houses of 100,000 Christian families. Plans are afoot to visit the homes of Muslims on Eid.
"Dialogue is the only solution to the ongoing crisis in Manipur," Shah said.
In the Congress, Sushmita Dev enjoyed the indulgence of the Gandhi family. She has been true to them and has been graceful in her gratitude to the party that gave her unparalleled political opportunities.
"The first thing is he is not fit for politics. Probably, the work he should not do, he is doing," Sarma said.
Fadnavis on Monday said his oath-taking ceremony with Ajit Pawar in 2019 had Sharad Pawar's backing.
Over 83 per cent of the more than 13 lakh electorate cast their vote on Monday in the single-day Nagaland state election which passed off by and large peacefully, Chief Electoral Officer V Shashank Shekhar said.
The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom, preparing for unconditional dialogue with the Government of India, has said that its leaders and cadres involved in the current peace process with the government will have 'zero involvement' in the forthcoming assembly elections in Assam.
'Himanta Biswa Sarma has put a lot of effort in demonising Muslims this time.'
The BJP has changed five chief ministers since 2019, including in Gujarat and Karnataka.
The decision comes at a time when Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is holding the executive meeting of Shiv Sena.
High-pitched identity politics, which is the norm in the northeast, has continued to compound the boundary problem.
The 'Angh' of Oting, Tahwang, is contesting the February 27 assembly polls on a Naga People's Front (NPF) ticket against the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party MLA P Paiwang Konyak, who is a cabinet minister in the outgoing government.
The top guns of all the major political parties were on a campaign blitz across the state in the past few days, even as the ruling BJP has been striving to break the 38-year-old pattern of alternating governments and retain its southern citadel.
A G20 dinner invitation from President Droupadi Murmu describing her position as 'President of Bharat' triggered massive debate on Tuesday, with the opposition alleging that the government is planning to drop India and stay with just Bharat as the country's name.
'The dialogues and language used in this movie are indecent. In Tulasidas' Ramayana, Lord Ram was portrayed as 'Maryada Purushottam' and decent language was used. In Adipurush, dialogues of characters are of very low level'
For the chief minister and Assam alike, the road ahead is full of challenges, notes Aditi Phadnis.
'Mamata did not stand up for those who suffered owing to the chit fund scam, but only stood up for Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar because he has all the knowledge about the chit fund case.'
Overall, the record of the second term reveals a contradiction between the image and the reality. The image, especially on media and social media, is one of the man at the height of his power, and unstoppable. The reality on governance is someone who has found it difficult to get things implemented and unsure of what to do next, points out Aakar Patel.
The Union home ministry has recommended the special CAG audit taking note of a May 24 letter by Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena which pointed out 'gross and prima facie financial irregularities' in the 'reconstruction' of the chief minister's official residence, they claimed.
'We wanted the PM to speak, and he just refused to -- now we have the opportunity, not just in the Lok Sabha, but also in the Rajya Sabha, to lay the government on the mat.'
Sonowal, a law graduate, is considered to be a rarity -- an honest politician who also worked to unite different communities with his oft-repeated lines 'Barak-Brahmaputra-plains-hills'.
Amid the deepening political turmoil in Maharashtra, state Congress president Nana Patole accused Deputy CM and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar of harassing Congress legislators and ministers by stalling their development funds.
The elections in two eastern Indian states were keenly observed in Bangladesh for two major contentious issues, writes Prakash Bhandari from Dhaka.
A "slip of tongue" by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at a public rally where he interchanged the official designations of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah has kicked off a political controversy in the state.
The Meghalaya government has decided to seek a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the firing incident at Langpih, when two people from the state were killed during clashes with the Assam police last Friday.The police resorted to firing following clashes between Khasi villagers and Nepali settlers in a local market. Meanwhile, the Meghalaya police is setting up a border outpost at Langpih, which is a disputed area between Meghalaya and Assam.
What the Congress will have to understand is that it is not enough to have a 40-something vice-president in New Delhi, but young faces with fresh ideas in the states,' says Amulya Ganguli.
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.
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