Amid a buzz that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may emerge as the opposition's prime ministerial candidate, his party Janata Dal-United said on Friday if other parties want so, then this is an option.
The original suggestion was to call it 'Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance', but the word 'democratic' was replaced with 'developmental' after Kumar and Yechury raised some objections saying it sounded too similar to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), sources said.
In this COVID-19 phase, the BJP leveraged its pre-eminence again to tip the power scales in its favour and relegate its allies in the National Democratic Alliance to a lesser position. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
The upcoming Opposition meet in Patna scheduled for next week will not discuss a possible prime ministerial candidate and will focus on deciding the common agenda for the parties to work on in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
All political parties were asked at the dinner meeting on Monday night to suggest names for the alliance and the same would be discussed and consensus would be arrived at during the deliberations.
Arjun Munda was on Saturday sworn in as the Jharkhand chief minister, heading a coalition government of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The ceremony was skipped by top BJP leaders, including L K Advani, amidst reports of differences within the party over forming a government again with its erstwhile partner.All Jharkhand Students Union chief Sudesh Mahto and JMM leader Hemant Soren, son of former chief minister Shibu Soren.
'The power sector accounts for much of the financial burden of state governments in India.'
A day after the National Democratic Alliance finalised the seat-sharing arrangement for the Bihar assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the 'big-brother' and the largest party in the state to contest the number of seats.
Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi had on Saturday paid a visit to the violence-hit areas of Asansol and Raniganj.
Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attended the swearing in ceremony, while former AICC President Sonia Gandhi was absent. Chief Ministers of Congress ruled states Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and Sukhvinder Singh Sukku (Himachal Pradesh) and several top party leaders were also in attendance.
Former Chief Minister Arjun Munda, Deputy Chief Minister Raghubar Das and former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha are the front-runners for the post of Jharkhand chief minister, a decision on which is likely to be taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary board on Monday.
The Act deals with automatic disqualification of MPs and state legislators upon being convicted and sentenced for two years or more in a criminal case.
Despite heavy snowfall in Srinagar, the rally to mark the culmination of Bharat Jodo Yatra went ahead, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other prominent leaders of opposition parties addressing the march.
His margin was just a shade lower than the 6.96 lakh record set by Pritam Munde in October 2014 when she won the by-election to Beed seat in Maharashtra after the untimely death of her father and former Union minister Gopinath Munde.
During the Rath Yatra, Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Balabhadra and younger sister Subhadra are carried from their home temple to another temple, located in what is believed to be their aunt's home.
Bribery can never be a subject matter of immunity and parliamentary privilege is not meant to place a lawmaker above the law, the Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court which reserved its verdict on reconsideration of its judgment of 1998 when it held that MPs and MLAs enjoy immunity from prosecution for taking bribe to make a speech or cast a vote in legislature.
Sources later said differences between the two parties have been resolved.
The opposition leaders also accused the government of violating Constitutional norms by not inviting President Droupadi Murmu to the event.
'Whatever tricks the BJP may play, it will not be able to stop JD-U from becoming a national party by 2023'
Jharkhand BJP MLAs are likely to meet on Tuesday to discuss the issue of possible government formation, senior state BJP leader and former minister Baijnath Ram said late Monday night.
While it took the Congress nearly a half century to earn the hatred of other political outfits, the BJP appears set to reach there in around six years, says Arun Bhatnagar, former secretary to the GoI.
Anshuman Mishra, the Independent candidate for Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand who is in the thick of a controversy for getting the support from Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs, has left the saffron party in a spot of bother.
Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday returned a hung verdict with the Peoples Democratic Party as the dominant one that can tie up either with the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand the BJP and its allies headed for capturing power.
'COVID-19 is just an excuse to pass anti-labour laws.'
The party is likely to look back at 2019 with more than a touch of satisfaction as the year saw nullification of Article 370, criminalisation of triple talaq, enactment of CAA and a Supreme Court order paving the way for Ram temple construction in Ayodhya, issues which have agitated Hindutva cadres for decades.
BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday revamped the party's national executive. Of the 178 members, only eight are women.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government marking its first anniversary on Saturday, the first year is likely to be remembered for the fulfilment of decades-old Hindutva demands as Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the huge majority his party won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to push through its core agenda.
Why weren't the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra and Telangana -- all of which have borders with Karnataka -- not invited to Saturday's swearing-in ceremony, asks Shyam G Menon.
The State Election Commission on Friday informed the Calcutta high court that it has requisitioned 822 companies of central forces for the July 8 panchayat polls in West Bengal.
As the Opposition on Wednesday held its first meeting on the presidential election, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice for the top constitutional post with senior party leader Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Naveen Patnaik, sources said.
JD-U sources conceded that the BJP's "Bihari martyrdom" line will give the coalition an edge or "at least help us combat anti-incumbency if the Opposition makes an issue of Nitish's governance".
The saffron party also pledged to provide financial assistance to high school students hailing from backward and poor families.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, was conspicuous by her absence at the event, which was attended by tens of thousands of people as the Congress sought to promote opposition unity.
The Congress on Monday said a first information report (FIR) has been registered against Bharatiya Janata Party MPs Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Subrat Pathak on its complaint related to a fake video of Rahul Gandhi, allegedly aimed at disturbing communal harmony.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said the Congress has insulted Murmu.
From issuing whips to arranging ambulances for their ailing leaders, opposition parties from the newly-formed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc are making all-out efforts to ensure that they get 100 per cent attendance of their MPs in the Rajya Sabha to give the Bharatiya Janata Party a tough fight on the Delhi services bill next week.
With the Biju Janata Dal backing the National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, the vote share of the ruling dispensation has now crossed 50 percent, virtually paving the way for her election as the first tribal President and the youngest too.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi, who were present at the meeting, asked party leaders to remain united and connected with the people, sources said.
"Terms like 'unity in diversity' are used for our country. The country belongs to all. No remarks should me made that harm the country," Singh, a confidant of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, told reporters when asked for his reaction to the BJP leader's comments.
