Aggressive campaigning and the existing 'Modi wave' and a lack of will on part of the Congress has put the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan far ahead of others. The party is comfortably placed in 21 out of the 25 seats, and they have been able to do this because of maintaining the same tempo that enabled them to defeat the Congress badly in December's assembly elections. P B Chandra reports
UDF, LDF raise voice against cow slaughter ban backed by BJP leadership.
The law officer said let an impression be not created that the FIR has not been registered despite the court asking for it.
The former IAS officer was sworn-in as Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Tourism; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Yadav is all set to approach the Election Commission of India to claim the election symbol of the party -- 'arrow'.
"Nobody other than Modi can give a strong government," Shah said.
Nirmala Sitharaman's messaging was clear when she presented a well-balanced Budget with an eye on state elections in nine states followed by a general election next year, observes Ramesh Menon.
It is for the first time that the 82-year-old BJP veteran will be skipping the meet.
Gowda has hinted that there might be polls held soon in the state.
'Everything was sacrosanct when the BJP was led by Vajpayee and Advani.' 'That was a different culture. But with Modi and Amit Shah nothing is sacrosanct.'
Sources claimed that Singhal was "evasive" in her replies and hence was arrested.
Singh, however, had received support for his moves from former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who has expressed satisfaction with the BJP chief's new team.
Backing the agitating students of the Hyderabad university, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday called the suicide of a Dalit research scholar at the premier institute a "national shame" and accused the Centre of trying to indulge in "casteist politics".
Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Thursday staged an unprecedented walkout from the state assembly following a face-off with Chief Minister M K Stalin over the former's customary address to members of the house in its first session of the year.
'This is a negative campaign, of slurs and fears.' 'The BJP has no desire to fight a positive campaign as it did in 2014, on the issue of governance and achche din.' 'Where the BJP can use these tactics, it will,' says Aakar Patel.
'The disquiet in the Sangh is, of course, over demonetisation.' 'But more than that, it is about the growing centralisation in the running of the government and party,'
The new 'Mission 350+' is to focus on 150 seats where the BJP was number two or three in 2014.
The Aam Aadmi Party's spectacular electoral debut in New Delhi is now creating ripples down south.
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday night tweeted that her party was opposed to the ordinance approved by the union cabinet and "we request the President not to sign this ordinance".
A major revamp of Uttar Pradesh unit of BJP is likely in the coming month. And nobody in the party hierarchy has an idea about what's going on in party president Amit Shah's mind.
Formal talks over a seat-sharing formula among the National Democratic Alliance constituents are yet to begin and JD-U leaders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the BJP should take the lead to ensure that it was done quickly to avoid any serious differences near the polls.
On party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi's remarks in Rampur on Saturday that the second-generation leadership would lead the party in the next elections, he said there was nothing unusual about his statement.
Palanivel Thiaga Rajan was on the hit-list, not because the chief minister was unhappy with his performance, but because there were constant complaints from other ministers that he was sitting on their files far too long, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bhutia's nomination was proposed and seconded by Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan state associations. He did not get support from his state association.
The Samajwadi Party national executive is also of the view that elections should be held through ballot papers and not through electronic voting machines,
Bharatiya Janata Party MPs from Uttar Pradesh on Monday staged a day-long dharna in Lucknow as part of a state-wide agitation against alleged power crisis and poor law and order situation in the state.
If 'development' and jobs and such things are less important to many than identity, then the BJP can dominate the discourse by stressing the largest marker of identity, which is religious nationalism, observes Aakar Patel.
Even as Congress has announced plans to hold year-long celebrations to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to lay the foundation stone for the 'Ambedkar International Centre' in New Delhi, the legacy of the Dalit icon becoming the focus of a contest between the rival parties
Bundelkhand is thought to be an area where Mayawati has some influence. Both Amit Shah and Shivraj Chouhan believe every weapon in the arsenal must be used to ensure victory.
Sisodia said the growing enthusiasm among the people of Gujarat in supporting the AAP in Gujarat was the reason behind the CBI action against him.
The vision of a 'New India' would talk about constructing a nation where the so-called appeasement of religious minorities would stop, Hinduism would be accorded "due status" and there will be one law for all citizens, including for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, reports Archis Mohan.
Sushma Swaraj has fought battles fearlessly, lost a few, and won many. By rights, according to many, she is the one who should have been declared the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate for this year's general elections. But that didn't happen. Is that why she is so quiet these days?
Amid efforts to convince L K Advani on declaring Narendra Modi as Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Bihar's BJP chief Sushil Kumar Modi said the veteran leader had failed to gauge the public mood in this regard.
'If the JD-U wants to join hands with LJP, then it will have to break its alliance with BJP and in case Congress and Left Front want to have alliance with LJP, they are warmly welcome,' Paswan said.
The Indian authorities have to reconfirm that Prabhakaran is dead. It may require seeking assistance from Interpol and also involve the re-opening of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, and more so, the investigations, formally or otherwise, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Addressing Bharatiya Janata Party MPs at an event to mark the 53rd death anniversary of Deendayal Upadhyay, a party ideologue who had founded its progenitor Jana Sangh, Modi said the saffron party always puts "rashtraneeti" above "rajneeti" and gives respect to even its political rivals.
Several eminent officials and experts from both India and the United States have told American lawmakers that a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre would be detrimental to the basic rights of the religious minorities in India.
'The BJP's solo aim in Mumbai and Maharashtra is to finish off the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar's NCP.'
Shah also said that the parties in power in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka were answerable for the incidents cited by protesting writers.
