Whether AAP bounces back or fades into political oblivion will depend on its strategy in the coming months.
Holi was celebrated with pomp and splendor across India on Friday, with people soaking in the festivities by smearing 'gulaal' on each other and exchanging greetings and sweets. Homes and streets wore a colourful look as the revellers splashed colours and feasted on traditional delicacies. Public transport did not ply in the morning in most major cities while metro services started functioning from noon. As Holi coincided with the second Friday prayers during the holy Islamic month of Ramzan, security -- including increased patrolling and picketing -- was beefed up in several states. In Delhi, more than 25,000 security personnel were deployed. Police closely monitored about 300 sensitive areas with CCTV cameras and drones.
"The central leaders of BJP are in touch with Utpal and have offered two seats to contest elections in Goa. I am sure that this issue will be resolved and he will consider the offer," the Goa CM said.
'A daily dose of diversion & disinformation is handed out to undermine the Yatra. We remain undeterred. We will overcome these dirty tricks of the BJP'
With the entry of the Aam Aadmi Party and the Trinamool Congress in the poll arena, the election is expected to be a multi-cornered one this time.
The United States will deport 119 Indian nationals who were living in the country illegally. The individuals will arrive in Amritsar, India, on Saturday, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted the need to combat human trafficking. This deportation follows the arrival of a US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants earlier this month. Prime Minister Modi and President Donald Trump discussed the issue of illegal immigration during their joint press conference, emphasizing the need to dismantle the "ecosystem" of human trafficking. Modi emphasized India's willingness to take back its citizens residing illegally in the US, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed that the issue of illegal immigration was raised during the discussions, stressing the need to address the root causes of the problem. India seeks cooperation from the US to dismantle the rackets and ecosystems that facilitate illegal immigration, potentially involving collaboration between law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
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.
Senior BJP leader and Patnagarh MLA KV Singh Deo and debutant from Nimapara assembly segment Pravati Parida took oath as deputy chief ministers.
Attacking the BJP, he said that the saffron party has remained a complete failure in the areas of COVID-19 management, livelihood, tourism.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to contain dissent in most areas in the run-up to the Goa assembly polls scheduled for February 14, but four seats, including the prestigious Panaji constituency, continue to be a cause for worry.
Results of the Delhi assembly election are not a vindication of Prime Minister's Narendra Modi's policies but a referendum on Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress said on Saturday as it vowed to bounce back from another whitewash.
BJP leader from Haryana and actor Sonali Phogat died of a heart attack in Goa, police said on Tuesday.
Deviya Rane said it is historic that no legislator (in Goa) has won consecutively so many times from the same seat.
Hitting out at Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar for indulging in a blame game over the MVA's defeat in the state assembly, Raut said those who don't believe in consensus and compromise have no right to be in an alliance.
The Election Commission on Wednesday slapped show-cause notices on Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dilip Ghosh and Congress leader Supriya Shrinate for their offensive remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Kangana Ranaut respectively.
The intrinsic inclusivity of Goa is the key to its great attraction, observes Rahul Singh.
The death of the former defence minister, who represented the Panaji assembly seat, will also necessitate a fourth bypoll in Goa.
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra in a grand ceremony at Azad Maidan in Mumbai.
Utpal Parrikar, son of former Goa chief minister the late Manohar Parrikar, on Friday quit the Bharatiya Janata Party.
With the BJP's strength in the 40-member Goa assembly increasing to 27 with two-thirds of Congress legislators joining it, the Sawant government does not need allies' support any longer.
'The BJP has proved that it is a threat to all its allies'
We want to make a non-BJP political front in this country, Raut said.
The AAP suffered a humiliating defeat in Haryana with most of its candidates set to lose their security deposit.
Several BJP leaders recalled Kejriwal's claim of probity and past allegations of corruption against politicians, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar among others, while seeking their arrest, as they claimed that he has been exposed now.
A BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, said all party MLAs have been asked not to leave the state.
The stakes are significant for the BJP in this round as the party had in 2019 won an overwhelming majority of these seats, including all in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, that will go to polls on May 7.
The meeting, which began around 10:30 pm on Thursday, lasted for more than four hours and was held at the party's headquarters in New Delhi.
Shinde had retained most of the sitting MLAs, who chose to be with him when he led the rebellion two years ago. They delivered for him on Saturday when votes for the state polls were counted.
With the date for the Goa assembly poll results nearing, the Congress has said it is open to a post-poll alliance with parties other than the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the next government, if it does not get a majority on its own.
'Across the political spectrum, especially from the side of the NDA itself, there is complete disillusionment (with the way the BJP is treating its allies).' 'This leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.'
"We are confident that the people of Goa have given us a clear, simple majority. I am more confident today than I was, say last week, because I have spoken to every candidate," Chidambaram told NDTV.
After he failed to appear before the Enforcement Directorate, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned for the fourth time in less than three months by the agency for questioning on January 18 in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, official sources said on Saturday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday appointed election in-charges and co-in-charges for 23 states and Union territories in view of the Lok Sabha polls this year.
The government is functioning 'very well' and all the alliance partners are firmly supporting Parrikar, who is undergoing treatment at Delhi's AIIMS, the BJP leader asserted.
'That was my mistake.' 'Gautam Adani was not involved in forming the Maharashtra government.' 'Adani was not there in the meeting.' 'The meeting was at his guest house and we were sitting in his guest house.'
The discussions on the new Goa CM came to a halt after Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar wanted to be the chief minister.
'For the longest time, people even denied the Holocaust and called Schindler's List a propaganda, just like some are doing to Kashmir Files. Truth eventually triumphs, no matter what'
While the Aam Aadmi Party is contesting on four seats, the Congress has fielded candidates for the remaining three seats.
He was a leader who enjoyed acceptance from all sections of the BJP and beyond.
Sawant told reporters in Panaji that the Goa Police have done a "tremendously good investigation" into the case and have also got some clues.
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