'One of our MLA's homes has already been attacked by the mob. This legislator was beaten. This MLA belongs to the Meitei community.' 'There is a complete collapse of law and order in Manipur.'
The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for January 21 on pleas challenging the Election Commission's decision to allot the 'bow and arrow' symbol to the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena. The court will also hear arguments on a similar dispute concerning the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on January 22.
'Knowing that a no-confidence motion would succeed, the BJP central leadership forced N Biren Singh to resign.' 'If he had lost on the floor of the House, it would have been a major setback for the BJP.'
Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra on Thursday challenged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to disclose the source of his allegation that Rs 50 crore bribe each was offered to 50 Congress MLAs to topple the government. He said the Chief Minister has lost faith in his own MLAs and, hence, was levelling false allegations.
While Chief Justice Kehar Singh ruled that the Speaker was right in passing the order disqualifying the MLAs, Justice N Kumar held that the Speaker had not followed procedure 102A of the Constitution (which deals with disqualification).
Nitish thought that his stakes as chief minister were far greater than his stakes in protecting one of his party MLAs. He could not allow his rule-of-law train to be derailed by a small rock on the track. On the contrary, if he removed it to keep the train moving at a steady speed he would gain strong public admiration and sympathy that would help him take the masses along in carrying out other tasks. A fascinating excerpt from Arun Sinha's Nitish Kumar And The Rise Of Bihar.
The Congress party has announced its intention to contest all 11 seats in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections, signaling a solo approach. The party aims to represent the voices of youth and teachers and has begun voter registration efforts.
'This will be a close election. At least now, it appears that the NDA has an edge.'
Gupta sought to draw the top city bureaucrat's attention to the procedure and protocol to be adhered to by the government officers while dealing with the members of the assembly.
An ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
'If the RJD loses it would be out of power for nearly 25 years. Meanwhile, the JD-U will have survival issues if it gets less number of seats.'
A seasoned politician and two-term Member of Parliament, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, who has served as a Union minister and senior Congress leader, resigned from the Congress party, marking the end of his decades-long association with an organisation that his family has been part of for three generations. In an interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff he speaks why he quit the party.
Manipur has been under President's Rule since February after BJP leader N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister, amid criticisms about his government's handling of the ethnic clashes between Meiteis and Kuki-Zos, which broke out in May 2023.
Soren also claimed that his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma indulged in "purchase" of Jharkhand MLAs.
The BJP's MoSha leadership are past masters in encouraging defections from their allies if it helped their party capture the chief minister's chair. In Bihar, they are not sure if JD-U MPs and MLAs would be willing to cross over to the BJP if the Nitish leadership came on top -- and the NDA crossed the halfway mark together, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
The opposition INDIA bloc has declared RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
'All MLAs have the same demand -- to form the next BJP government in Manipur as early as possible.'
Filing of nomination papers ended on Monday for the second and final phase of Bihar assembly polls, with the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) appearing fractured, as constituents would end up fighting each other in a number of seats.
The BJP is 'alert and careful' as the chief minister is trying to lure our MLAs using 'power and money', he said.
BJP president Amit Shah will not attend the meeting of the newly-elected BJP MLAs to pick the legislature party leader.
Ashok Gehlot convinced the RJD leadership that the Congress had no issue about declaring Tejashwi as the Mahagathbandan's chief minister face.
Though the party has made no announcement, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister in the outgoing government, is being seen as the frontrunner for the key position.
'Around 15,000 people will be gathering.'
The BJP will hold a legislature party meeting on Wednesday evening to decide the new chief minister of Delhi. The party won the February 5 assembly elections, ending the Aam Aadmi Party's five-year rule. The meeting will be held at the party's Delhi unit office and is expected to begin around 7 pm. The 48 BJP MLAs will choose the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly, who will become the chief minister. The meeting will be held in the presence of BJP's central observers, whose names are yet to be declared. The new chief minister, after being chosen by the party MLAs, will meet Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at the Raj Niwas to stake claim to power. A grand swearing-in ceremony of the new government is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at Ramleela Ground. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries are expected to attend the ceremony. The names doing the rounds for the new chief minister include Parvesh Verma, Vijender Gupta, Satish Upadhyay, Pawan Sharma, Ashish Sood, Rekha Gupta, Shikha Rai, Ravinder Indraj Singh, and Kailash Gangwal. Many within the party believe that the BJP leadership could choose a "dark horse" as Delhi's next chief minister.
During his address in the Delhi assembly, Kejriwal also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the movie for political gains.
Sleuths of the Income Tax department on Monday conducted raids on the residences and offices of two Member of Legislative Assembly of the Bharatiya Janata Party, according to sources. Raids were conducted at the residences and offices of Suresh Babu and Nagendra. According to sources, raids were conducted in 60 different places including their offices at Bellary and Bengaluru. Their residences were also searched by I-T department officials. I-T sleuths have seized black money
Bihar recorded its highest-ever voter turnout of 67.14 per cent in the second and final phase of the assembly elections. The election is seen as a referendum on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kishanganj recorded the highest polling percentage at 76.26.
Marshals had to forcefully evict the BJP MLAs who had surrounded the Speaker's chair.
Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa has claimed that 32 AAP MLAs are in touch with him to switch sides, a claim that has been denied by the ruling AAP. Bajwa also alleged that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is in touch with the BJP and will join them if Arvind Kejriwal removes him. The leader of the opposition in the state assembly asserted that he has never made any wrong statement and that the Congress has no intention to topple the AAP government. The AAP's state unit president Aman Arora slammed Bajwa's claims, alleging that it was the Congress leader who was set to join the BJP and that he had already made an advance booking with the BJP. Arora also asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to clarify what Bajwa was doing in Bengaluru a few days ago and which senior BJP leaders he met.
The BJP is considering having two deputy chief ministers in the new Delhi government to represent the city as a "mini" India, party leaders said. The move is aimed at accommodating MLAs from different castes, communities, and regional backgrounds. The proposal is under consideration by the national leadership, which will also decide on the chief minister and other ministers. The process of government formation is expected to gain momentum after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from his foreign visit over the weekend.
'Three Congress leaders have sold party tickets for crores of rupees.'
He said that ruling party MLAs Manda Mhatre (BJP) and Sanjay Gaikwad (Shiv Sena) have also spoken about the duplication of voters and irregularities in the electoral rolls.
Later on while speaking to the reporters, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the BJP legislators were forced to stage protest as there was no mention of post-poll violence in the speech copy circulated among the MLAs.
'It is high time to recognise that this is the greatest issue India is confronting.' 'Even the BJP should be raising concerns because polluted air suffocates everybody's child.'
Upset over the possible appointment of Ramchander Rao as Bharatiya Janata Party's Telangana President, the party's firebrand MLA Raja Singh on Monday wrote to Union Minister G Kishan Reddy saying that he is resigning from the primary membership of the saffron party.
Kejriwal claimed that the BJP has ruined Gujarat in its 30-year rule. The Congress has failed as an opposition because it helps the BJP retain power, he said.
Atishi alleged that the BJP had disrespected BR Ambedkar by removing his portrait from the chief minister's office.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari objected to Roy's elevation, arguing that the MLA, who had crossed over to the ruling Trinamool Congress last month after winning the polls on a BJP ticket, cannot be considered a legislator of the saffron camp.
According to political observers, the AIMIM sees a catchment area in Bihar, where Muslims are more than 17 per cent of the total population but have never got a proportionate representation in the state legislature.