Devendra Fadnavis is the frontrunner to become the next chief minister of Maharashtra, according to a senior BJP leader.
"The situation has become irretrievable", Azad, 73, said in his parting shot to Sonia Gandhi, whose trusted confidante he remained right from the time of Sitaram Kesri's unceremonious exit as the party's chief in 2000.
In the question paper, issued in an exercise book of a Bengali-medium school for Madhyamik aspirants, the paper setter has asked them to identify several places on the map (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (referred to as 'Azad Kashmir' in Pakistan), the place where Gandhiji had first undertaken the Satyagraha movement, and the Chittagong battleground.
Jairam Ramesh said the Congress has to be the "fulcrum" of any Opposition alliance to take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections as it is the only political force with a pan-India presence.
Azad said it was a good meeting with the Congress president with the discussion centred on how to prepare and fight unitedly the forthcoming assembly polls to take on rival parties.
The assembly polls were fought under Eknath Shinde's leadership and it is now up to the Bharatiya Janata Party's central leadership to decide on how to maintain his stature, the caretaker Maharashtra chief minister's aide and former state minister Deepak Kesarkar said on Monday.
Maharashtra's caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who took ill at his native village in Satara district, is recovering and will return to Mumbai on Sunday evening, an associate said.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the meetings of the committee as a special invitee, while legal affairs secretary Niten Chandra will be secretary to the panel.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, in his first public meeting in Jammu after quitting Congress, announced to launch his own political outfit that will focus on the restoration of full statehood.
Devendra Fadnavis, BJP legislature party leader, will be sworn-in as the new chief minister of Maharashtra on Thursday evening at a grand ceremony in Mumbai. NCP head Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde are also expected to take oath as deputy chief ministers. This is for the third time that Fadnavis will be sworn-in as the CM of Maharashtra. The swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, where elaborate security arrangements have been made. The formation of the government under Fadnavis comes after two weeks of intense negotiations following the November 20 state assembly polls. Fadnavis, joined by Shinde and Pawar, met with state Governor CP Radhakrishnan to formally stake claim to form the government. Following this meeting, the governor extended an invitation for Fadnavis to lead the new government. The swearing-in ceremony will be a grand affair with nearly 42,000 attendees, including PM Modi, several Union ministers, and chief ministers and deputy CMs of various states.
Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in as new chief minister of Maharashtra while allies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy CMs at a grand ceremony in Mumbai on Thursday evening.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi became emotional in Parliament on Tuesday while talking about Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad during farewell to retiring members of the Rajya Sabha.
On Bhagat Singh's 117th birth anniversary, Utkarsh Mishra recounts fascinating incidents from the legend's life.
A broad consensus has emerged among top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and other Mahayuti allies to drop ministers facing serious allegations of corruption in the new government, a Shiv Sena leader said on Tuesday.
Sources said they will discuss the party's poor performance at the hustings and will evolve their future strategy.
Bhagwat highlighted the vital role of families and warned that according to population science, if a society's total fertility rate dips below 2.1, it could face extinction.
The para-athletes outnumbered the able-bodied ones in the list this time due to the magnificent Paris Paralympics performance in which they returned with 29 medals, including seven gold and nine silver.
Film folk attended the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at Nita and Mukesh Ambani's residence, Antilia, in Mumbai.
Simultaneous polls will help save resources, spur development and social cohesion, deepen "foundations of democratic rubric" and help realise the aspirations of "India, that is Bharat", the panel had said.
BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said the Mahayuti partners will meet Governor C P Radhakrishnan to stake a claim to form a government in the state.
With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls scheduled for 2027, political experts are observing an increasing trend of temple-mosque disputes in the state, leading to heightened polarization. Recent bypolls saw the use of divisive slogans, and analysts believe this trend will intensify as the 2027 elections approach. The recent surge in claims about the existence of Hindu temples at the sites of mosques in various cities has fueled this polarization. The BJP-led government has been accused of promoting communal polarization, while opposition parties like the SP have criticized the ruling party's actions. The RSS chief has called for restraint in raising new temple-related disputes. Experts predict that communal polarization is likely to escalate in the coming days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
Azad, who is now politically affiliated to the Congress party, was earlier with the BJP. He has had his share of differences with the late Arun Jaitley when he was the DDCA president.
After spending nearly 50 years in a colonial bungalow at 24, Akbar Road, the Congress moved into a new office on January 15. Rasheed Kidwai, who knows the history of the Congress better than the Congress, looks back at the people who breathed life into this address.
Shrikant Shinde on Monday said the swearing-in ceremony of the Mahayuti coalition government has been a bit delayed, and currently there are lot of discussions and rumours.
The Union government has ordered the complete withdrawal of the counter-terrorist commando force NSG from VIP security duties and handing over its nine "high-risk" VIPs to the CRPF by next month, official sources said Wednesday.
Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation from the Congress on Friday marked the most high-profile exit of one of the "Group of 23" (G-23) leaders, who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi two years ago for a "collective and inclusive leadership" in the organisation, exposing the faultlines in the grand old party.
Azad, who is a prominent member of the group of 23 leaders who had demanded organisational overhaul in the Congress, said that for the next two months the party is the top priority.
The two leaders had a complex relationship yet formed a partnership and even after their parting of ways, the two admired each other in their efforts for India's freedom.
'Omar Abdullah presented Delhi as a villain in front of the people of Jammu Kashmir before elections and now is shaking hands with them.'
Brought up in penury, the sensational Yashasvi Jaiswal says he now uses the experience gained from those difficult days as ammunition to conquer the battles on and off the field.
A special website has also been created to mark the year-long celebrations, Union Culture Secretary Arunish Chawla told reporters during a briefing at the National Media Centre in New Delhi.
'He was really the legend of our times.' 'I couldn't have imagined that one day I'd be sharing a stage with him.'
The ambit of the G-23 grouping increased this time as some more leaders -- Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, former Gujarat chief minister Shankar Singh Vaghela, former union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and former Haryana speaker Kuldeep Sharma -- joined them.
The Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, will decide whether only the chief minister and deputy CMs will take the oath of office on December 5, or whether ministers will also be sworn in. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for the evening at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending. While BJP sources have indicated that Devendra Fadnavis is the frontrunner for the chief minister's post, the BJP legislature party leader is yet to be appointed. NCP chief Ajit Pawar has stated that the chief minister will be from the BJP, with deputy CMs from the Shiv Sena and NCP. The Mahayuti alliance secured a landslide victory in the assembly elections, winning 230 seats out of 288. The government formation has been delayed due to disagreements on the chief minister's position.
Azad, who was part of the group of 23 which has been critical of the party leadership and has sought an organisational overhaul, has also been awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to public affairs.
'Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and the Indian team are just sidekicks.'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took charge of their new official responsibilities at the state secretariat 'Mantralaya' here after taking oath of office on Thursday evening.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti drew comparisons between the treatment of Hindus in Bangladesh and minorities in India, sparking criticism from the BJP. Mufti expressed concerns about the alleged oppression of Hindus in Bangladesh and criticized recent surveys of mosques in India. She called for a united front against forces dividing people on religious lines and warned of a potential repeat of 1947-like riots.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances