Voting will be held on Thursday for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections in 89 seats spread across 19 districts in Saurashtra-Kutch and southern parts of the state where 788 candidates are in the fray.
We used to hear of the Modi-Shah pair as the hyphenated top of the BJP leadership. Lately, the hyphen has disappeared and it is only Modi at the top. Yogi Adityanath gets honourable mentions, but he is still a good distance away from being anointed a worthy successor, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
Having twice betrayed the BJP -- and Arvind Kejriwal determined not to admit in AAP anyone who could question his authority -- Sidhu seems to have reached a dead-end in his political career, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
If we get a chance to form the next government at the Centre, all backward states will get special category status, Kumar said.
'They have been pursuing their agenda of bulldozing everything and everybody on their way.' 'They suddenly see Rahul Gandhi standing in front of them without fear and fighting against them aggressively.' 'He doesn't show any compromise in his attitude towards fascism.'
The exit poll results for the recently concluded assembly elections have projected that that BJP arty could emerge as the single-largest party in four of five states except Punjab.
Shah said he is confident that BJP will return to power in four states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur -- and make impressive gains in Punjab.
In front of a 50,000 odd strong audience, which also had Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as Uttar Pradesh chief minister on Sunday. Here's a glimpse of the big names that attended the big-ticket event.
President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the appointment of a few Governors and changes in portfolios of some others.
'The BJP was looking at one or two disgruntled guys to see whether it can destabilise the government.' 'When the BJP does not win a state, it uses these back hand methods.'
The third edition of the Lusofonia Games in Goa, scheduled to begin in November 2, is in danger of being called off due to the state government's failure to complete projects related to the event on time.
These expulsions are in addition to the 18 expelled immediately after they refused to withdraw from the fray for the assembly polls.
'Already, the BJP treats the Constitution like the unpopular old uncle at the party, whom everyone pays lip service to and then proceeds to ignore,' says Mitali Saran.
'The implication of being adamant is to be arrogant. So yes, he is arrogant.'
'After the Parliament election results many people are confused and that is why this crisis has erupted
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan felicitates Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi.
It was not a one-way ride up though for the man who now could potentially become the BJP's national president over time.
The Congress on Friday took potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party over absence of some of its leaders from the party meeting in Goa, saying senior leaders are falling sick "due to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi" and the the BJP should think what will happen to the country because of him.
'There are no jobs, the economy is slowing down, but the BJP is more concerned with issues like triple talaq, anti-Romeo squads and the beef ban.'
Exuding confidence, Kejriwal said, "Our government will be formed in Gujarat in 2027."
bureaucrat-turned-politician Alphons Kannanthanam said that beef would continue to be consumed in Kerala.
The counting of votes for the high-stakes assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will begin at 8 am.
An analysis of seats across the five states shows that the race was won on tighter margins than five years ago, except for Punjab and Uttarakhand.
'We have a situation where the BJP, with less than 2 per cent vote share, has 10 MLAs.'
'There are certain issues and mistakes from which we all have to learn and I am sure that our party too will do so. These problems are short-lived,' says former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did remarkable and energetic campaigning for the party, and "from my point of view, I don't think that the Congress per se can be faulted because on the grounds of one person's campaigning", Tharoor said.
Asserting that there is a silent wave in his favour, Utpal Parrikar, elder son of late Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who is contesting the February 14 Assembly election as an independent candidate from the Panaji seat, has said he was a favoured choice after his father's death in 2019, but was denied poll ticket by the Bharatiya Janata Party due to local politics.
Glimpses from all the action from the campaign trail.
Yogi Adityanath's aura is no longer limited to Uttar Pradesh. At the age of 49, his journey to the higher echelons in the BJP has well and truly begun, predicts Sudhir Bisht.
There's an entire gurdwara dedicated to immigration. People present tiny airliner models here in the hope that Waheguru will soon give them a ticket, passport and visa to leave, reveals Shekhar Gupta.
'From 10 am on Tuesday to 3 am this morning, we must have made not less than a thousand phone calls.' 'We kept fighting till the end and we did not leave the room till we got 113 certificates.' 'Two-three losses would have changed the game and the BJP wanted to become the largest party which they did not become.'
Even as the BJP makes inroads into previously unfamiliar territories in eastern India, the party will have to be wary of losing out elsewhere, says Amulya Ganguli.
AAP to campaign against the ruling party at the Centre to apprise the people of the real face of the BJP.
Could the defeat of Vasundhara Raje, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Raman Singh in last year's polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, respectively, augur a transition in the command structure of these states, where they reigned supreme?
"BJP leaders are playing the game at the behest of central leaders. MLAs were offered money... Rs 10 crore in advance and Rs 15 crore after the government is toppled," the chief minister alleged and added that the BJP wants to convert the state's politics into a goat market, 'bakra mandi'.
Aditi Phadnis picks five key seats in the three states where assembly elections are being held today.
"Over ambition' of some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders has resulted in the resignation of party patriarch L K Advani and it would be difficult for many of them to work with the same ambition without its 'architect', actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha on Monday said in Patna.
The presidential election is due in July and the poll to the post of the vice president is scheduled for August.
Pawar made the announcement at the 25th anniversary of the party, founded by him and P A Sangma in 1999.
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