The Trinamool Congress on Monday lost five more sitting MLAs and the control of the Malda Zilla Parishad to the Bharatiya Janata Party as defections continued to rock West Bengal's ruling party ahead of the assembly polls.
Bharat Adivasi Party MLA Jaikrishn Patel was arrested by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Rajasthan on Sunday for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 20 lakh to drop three questions in the state Assembly. The ACB claims to have audio and video evidence to prove that the MLA had demanded and taken the bribe. The party has said it will take action against the MLA if his involvement is found.
Veteran party leader Anil Vij will seek re-election from his Ambala Cantt stronghold.
Two Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Legislative Assembly, accused of watching obscene pictures on an iPAD in the Gujarat assembly, have been given a clean chit by the Forensic Science Laboratory in Gandhinagar.
The BJP has emerged the second largest party by winning 29 constituencies in the maiden assembly polls post abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, improving its all-time high tally of 25 seats recorded in 2014 elections.
The Congress hit back at Nadda, saying his letter to Mallikarjun Kharge is a "4D exercise - denial, distortion, distraction, and defamation".
Facing opposition flak for not summarily disqualifying three former disgraced ministers over the porn row, Karnataka Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah on Friday said a showcause notice was issued to the trio to ensure principles of natural justice and fair-play.
Gujarat assembly Speaker Nimaben Acharya, who won from Bhuj seat of Kutch district in 2012 and 2017, has also been denied ticket this time by the party.
Re-elected MLAs from the ruling party added more wealth in the last five years than re-elected candidates from other political parties, shows an analysis of ADR electoral data.
High drama was witnessed on the first day of the budget session of the West Bengal assembly on Monday as Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was forced to table his inaugural address with Bharatiya Janata Party legislators staging a protest in the House over alleged violence in the recently concluded civic elections in the state.
Ten Manipur tribal MLAs Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to withdraw Assam Rifles from security duties in the violence-hit state, saying its personnel have been putting their lives at risks to create buffer zones between the two warring communities.
He also urged all the ministers, MLAs, and public representatives to respect party workers.
The National People's Party (NPP) has withdrawn support from the BJP-led government in Manipur, citing the government's failure to resolve the ongoing crisis and restore normalcy in the state. The NPP, which has 7 MLAs in the Manipur Assembly, made the decision after recent incidents of violence and protests in the state. The BJP continues to hold a majority in the Assembly, with 32 legislators, and the withdrawal of support is not expected to affect the government's stability.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Monday said it has put the ball in Bharatiya Janata Party's court by demanding early elections in Delhi in November, and now it is up to the opposition party to decide whether it was prepared to face CM Arvind Kejriwal.
Goa assembly speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Friday dismissed the disqualification petition filed by the Congress against eight of its MLAs who defected to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in 2022.
The NCP chief has not concealed his ambition to occupy the top post in the state in the past.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan called up MLAs considered close to Vasundhara Raje to ensure their presence at Monday's assembly proceedings, party sources said amid concerns that they could instead opt for events connected with the former chief minister's 'temple yatra'.
As per an NCP statement, Patel assured Odio he would support him in his efforts to strengthen the 24-year-old party.
The unrest in the Sandeshkhali region of West Bengal ballooned into a major political row on Thursday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the saffron camp of fomenting trouble in the area, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Commission for Women (NCW) accused her party Trinamool Congress and the state government of being complicit in crimes against women in the area.
Ruling out any "operation" by the ruling alliance to poach the BJP MLAs, the chief minister said there was no necessity for it and that he was "relaxed."
Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel has claimed 51 out of the 53 party MLAs had told NCP chief Sharad Pawar that a possibility of joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party should be explored after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra collapsed last year.
JD-U chief whip Shravan Kumar said those defying the whip "will lose their membership" even as he maintained that it was a "routine exercise that takes place ahead of every assembly session".
The four MLAs, accompanied by Sangma and BJP's trouble-shooter and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, visited the Raj Bhavan in the afternoon to submit letter of support to the BJP-led government.
The five Independent legislators -- Dharampal Gondan, Nayanpal Rawat, Sombir Sangwan, Rakesh Daulatabad and Randheer Golan -- met Nadda and extended their support to the saffron party, BJP leader Jawahar Yadav said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its first list of 189 candidates for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, fielding Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from his traditional Shiggaon constituency.
'They sent a message that I will not be given the ticket and ordered me to issue a statement -- Gujarat style -- that with immediate effect I was retiring from politics.' 'They were treating me like a political novice who would be pushed around on the order of vested interests.' 'This rude behaviour hurt a lot. It was then I spontaneously decided that I will challenge this dictatorial order and expose all those who want to hurt Lingayat pride in Karnataka.'
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder Dr S Ramadoss has announced taking up the complete reins of the party, relegating his president son Anbumani to the role of working president. The move, announced ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to Chennai, comes in anticipation of the 2026 Assembly election.
The high court also quashed the SIT and the investigation carried out so far by the police.
The sources said that Priyanka Gandhi remained in constant touch with the party president, the chief minister, ministers and all important leaders, and did not allow any laxity.
He claimed that people from all walks of life across the state were angry against this BJP government.
Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta and her Council of Ministers will take oath at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday afternoon in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking a return of the BJP in Delhi after 26 years.
The NCP's chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said Walse Patil was appointed as pro-tem Speaker with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's consent. The session too was convened after Koshyari's approval, he said. "They wanted some excuse to run away, that's why all this (ruckus). Devendra ji (BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis) should take lessons from (senior BJP leader Eknath) Khadse on how an opposition leader should work," Malik said.
It was a sigh of relief for the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka on Friday, with the Karnataka high court upholding the order of Speaker K G Bopaiah which had disqualified the 11 rebel BJP MLAs.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's tally in Rajya Sabha has dipped below 90 for the first time in several years but the party and its allies are expected to not only recoup the their losses but also make some gains when by-elections to fill the existing vacancies are held in the coming weeks.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Rahul Narwekar was on Monday elected unopposed as the speaker of the 15th Maharashtra legislative assembly.
The government resolution does not spell out what action would be taken, if any, against those writing and publishing 'negative' news. Nor does it define 'negative news and "misinformation', explains Jyoti Punwani.
'Ajit Pawar is trying to sideline us; he is trying to be in the BJP's good books at our cost.'
At least five Congress MLAs did not attend a meeting of the party's lawmakers in Maharashtra on Thursday, called in the aftermath of the high-profile exit of former chief minister Ashok Chavan that has triggered speculation about more such defections.
