Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday greeted 'good friend' and her Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi on his elevation as Bharatiya Janata Party's election campaign committee chief, but declined to comment on the development, insisting it was that party's internal matter.
It was a protest which held a mirror to the government of a state taking pride in its commitment to democracy, gender equality and social indices.One person, who in his employed days had known governments and political parties at close quarters, told me that public perception of how the Kerala government handled the ASHA workers' strike had been terrible, reports Shyam G Menon.
The Congress is now gearing up to take on the BJP over alleged corruption, jobs and issues tied to tribals, farmers and women.
A divided house until recently, Congress is putting up a spirited campaign to checkmate BJP in its erstwhile stronghold of Naxal-dominated Bastar region of Chhattisgarh where the ruling party hopes to cash on its developmental agenda coupled with Chief Minister Raman Singh's clean image in the Assembly elections.
It also cautioned that if the legislation is passed, the "two crutches" on which the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government is running at the Centre would not be able to escape responsibility.
Amit Shah wants to increase the party's nationwide vote share by at least 10 per cent from the 37.7 per cent it secured five years ago and ensure above 50 per cent vote share in the states where it came close to that benchmark, but couldn't cross it.
The meeting of the 14-member all-important panel of the opposition will take place at the residence of Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar in New Delhi on September 13 evening.
The delegation demanded that those responsible for the act should be brought to book as the issue was serious.
The decision is being seen as a balancing act in the faction-ridden party in the state.
Opposed to Narendra Modi's elevation in the party, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Saturday stayed away from the national executive which looks set to make the Gujarat chief minister the chief of campaign committee.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to replace its Telangana president Bandi Sanjay Kumar with Union minister G Kishan Reddy, a "softer" leader who can take everyone along, and elevate Etela Rajender, who has switched from the BRS, as its election management committee chairperson hints at a change in the party's strategy in the state.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, whose elevation as BJP's campaign committee chief prompted L K Advani's resignation from all key party fora, on Monday said he has urged the veteran leader to change his decision.
The police which are probing the matter on Bommai's instruction had arrested B R Naidu, the former chief of Congress' Karnataka unit social media team, on Wednesday night from his residence.
It will be clear whether the voters preferred the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led regime for a third term or the "six guarantees" by the Congress worked any miracles or the BJP's BC chief minister 'mantra' wooed the electors or if there will be a fractured verdict, by tomorrow evening.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday sought public views on the 'charge sheet' it intends to prepare in seeking to corner the UPA government over its "failure" on several fronts and to highlight the scams unearthed during the present regime.
The party's decision to announce the first list of candidates so early underlines the significance it has attached to five state elections, the last round of assembly contest before the all-important Lok Sabha polls.
'The people of Tamil Nadu in particular Chennai know about the double standards of the BJP. Nothing will work for them here.'
To make 'Mission 272+' for Lok Sabha polls a success, BJP's top leadership has asked its state units to strengthen the organisation from the booth-level, and reach out to prospective voters from all segments and age-groups.
Seventeen of the 25 ministers in the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan, including Govind Ram Meghwal, who also led the party's campaign committee, lost in the assembly elections.
The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon.
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from its lone southern citadel with a comfortable majority in a morale booster win that will be key for reviving its electoral fortunes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Local residents have stressed that land acquisition for rehabilitation must be completed promptly, as it has been delayed after estate owners challenged it in the Kerala high court.
Factors such as anti-incumbency, voter fatigue, and dissatisfaction among the youth contributed mainly to the poor showing of Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the Telangana legislative assembly election on Sunday.
The withdrawal of the candidature by DPAP leaders on the last day on August 30 is seen as a boost to the NC-Congress alliance.
'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'
Through gestures and decisions, the BJP high command has signalled that Raje may not be the lead actor but rather play a supporting role in a high-stakes election in its stamping ground.
To mollify the protesters, Jyotiraditya Scindia drove to the palace gate and asserted that he stood by them and Goyal.
Stunned by party patriarch L K Advani's decision to quit key posts, BJP's top decision-making body Parliamentary Board tonight rejected his resignation, insisting that the party needs his "guidance more than ever before".
Calling CBI 'Congress Bureau of Investigation', Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Monday accused the agency of "conspiring" against officers and ministers of his state at the behest of their political masters.
Calling the Bharatiya Janata Party communal, activist Anna Hazare on Friday said he never described Narendra Modi as secular.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party might conduct the Lok Sabha polls in December itself, claiming that all choppers have been booked by the saffron party for campaigning.
'All the hoardings showed only Rahulji. No pictures of Indiraji and Rajivji. What is the Congress's worth without its history? It is unthinkable that none of our hoardings shows Indira and Rajiv. It was a total fiasco to see that many advertisements were in black and white. In such competitive politics, how can you experiment?' fumes a Congress leader.
Senior AICC member and former Union minister K V Thomas, who has been at loggerheads with the party's state leadership, on Wednesday said he would campaign for the ruling Left Democratic Front candidate Jo Joseph in the upcoming by-poll in the Thrikkakara Assembly constituency, but reiterated that he would not quit the Congress.
'The BJP is using administrative machinery to fight elections'
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said he will back any candidate announced by the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar as Maha Vikas Aghadi's chief ministerial face.
Nitish Kumar wants to assure the BJP leadership that he will continue to be a part of the NDA. But he also wants to secure a larger number of seats for his party in the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar.
Modi can abandon the path of Hindutva only at risk to his position within his own fraternity. But if he pursues a hard line, he faces the risk of being hauled up by his coalition-partners. For the first time in a decade, Modi is not in enviable situation, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'This is the victory of the people of Gujarat who want real development, not the hype of development.'
With most exit polls predicting a tight contest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls in Karnataka, leaders of the two parties seem 'jittery' over the outcome, while the Janata Dal-Secular appears to be expecting a hung verdict, which would enable it to play a role in government formation.
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