'Amit Shah's trajectory seems unstoppable; no wonder some say the day is not far off when he could be pitching for the top job, and that this is only the first step,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Union minister and the BJP's election in-charge for Rajasthan Pralhad Joshi, co-in-charge Nitin Patel, the party's in-charge for Rajasthan Arun Singh, state president C P Joshi, Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Kailash Chaudhary, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Rajendra Rathore, Deputy Leader of Opposition and former state president Satish Poonia and other leaders were present at the meeting, which is likely to continue till late, the sources said.
'He just said that those who cannot control the violence should go. He did not name the BJP.'
In more than one way, it's a setback for the DMK and Chief Minister Stalin in political terms. The electoral fall-out, if any, will have to wait until the next summer, only when assembly elections are due in the state, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
'After Vajpayee-Advani, Modi-Shah is the second best in India.'
Having reclaimed power in Uttar Pradesh after 15 years, the Bharatiya Janata Party will now turn its focus to the states where it has been traditionally weak but which are critical to determine its fortune in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as its national executive meet begins in Odisha on Saturday.
'When the time comes, we will take a decision following a discussion with the alliance partners.'
Mr Pradhan's understanding of realpolitik and organisational dynamics makes him the ultimate party man, notes Aditi Phadnis.
The collegium system has shut the doors of judgeship in the higher judiciary on Dalits, OBCs and even the poor among the upper castes
The BJP has released a video of Arvind Kejriwal's previous residence, calling it a "Sheeshmahal" and accusing him of corruption. The AAP has countered, accusing the BJP of running a "smear campaign" to distract from Delhi's worsening law and order situation. The controversy comes ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections.
The upcoming Delhi Assembly polls have taken an interesting turn with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) engaging in a poster war inspired by the popular film 'Pushpa 2.' The AAP has released a poster featuring Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while the BJP has countered with a poster featuring state president Virendra Sachdeva, both using imagery and slogans from the film.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president DK Shivakumar faced criticism from within the party for his participation in Mahashivaratri celebrations in Tamil Nadu, which was also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Shivakumar defended his attendance, asserting his Hindu faith while emphasizing his respect for all religions. He also clarified that he had not met Amit Shah and refuted claims of aligning himself with the BJP.
After joining the Congress, Rahul Kaswan said he felt his "voice was not being heard" in the party.
The controversy surrounding Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's visit to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's Isha yoga centre in Tamil Nadu for Mahashivaratri celebrations continues to simmer, with leaders within the state Congress unit expressing differing views on the issue. Cooperative Minister K N Rajanna questioned the appropriateness of Shivakumar sharing the stage with those who have been critical of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while former MP D K Suresh defended his brother, emphasizing that Shivakumar has always kept the party informed about his engagements. The incident has sparked a debate within the Congress party, with leaders like Satish Jarkiholi and M B Patil defending Shivakumar's attendance.
While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president JP Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers.
Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Arun Jaitley, J P Nadda and Prakash Javadekar were among the key leaders from the BJP at the meeting.
Kharge termed the high-level committee constituted by the Centre to examine the feasibility of 'One Nation, One Election' a 'gimmick' and alleged the Modi government wants to slowly replace democracy in India with dictatorship.
The RSS which catapulted Jagdeep Dhankar to national prominence after 21 years of hibernation could not come to his rescue when BJP higher ups decided to seek his resignation, points out Prakash Bhandari.
'You may be an MP or an MLA; when we go to Bengal, we go as cadre.'
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
This will be the first physical meeting of BJP's key decision-making body outside he national capital after a gap of five years.
The meeting in New Delhi etc is just the BJP being nice to the man who helped it realise its dream by stabbing Uddhav in the back, notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Manik Saha was named as the next chief minister of the northeastern state of Tripura at a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislative party held in Agartala on Monday.
Though the 91-year-old leader is no longer politically much active, his joining the saffron party is being seen as a boost to it ahead of the Uttarakhand assembly polls.
Shah said the people of Gujarat would seek an answer from Congress in December, when the state goes to polls.
The apex court bench, also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, will assemble at 10.30 am to hear the two petitions.
The speculation about the likely cabinet reshuffle in Maharashtra strengthened on Saturday, with senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule stressing that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' discretion is supreme among allies.
The second part of BJP president Amit Shah's interview to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
The BJP requested Rahul Gandhi to admit Hariprasad to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bengaluru for treatment.
The Indian Parliament will introduce a constitutional amendment bill on Tuesday that seeks to hold Lok Sabha and state assembly elections simultaneously. The bill, popularly known as "one nation, one election", will be introduced by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and is likely to be referred to a joint committee of both houses for wider consultations. The bill also aims to align elections in the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry, and the NCT of Delhi. The move has been met with mixed reactions, with some supporting the idea of reducing election-related expenses and others expressing concerns about its impact on democratic processes.
Kumaraswamy reiterated his desire to be the Agriculture Minister.
Opposition parties on Wednesday opposed the 'one nation, one election' proposal by calling it impractical and a 'cheap stunt' by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
As night fell over Chositi village, rescuers worked frantically and pulled out 167 people from under mounds of rubble. Of these, 38 are in a serious condition, officials said. The death toll went up steadily as the day progressed and there were fears it could rise further.
'CM face ko lekar NDA mein koi confusion nahi hai, Nitish Kumar hi NDA ke CM face hai'.
'I left the party with heavy heart. If a party is working against national interest, there there is no other option but to leave it'
After the BJP lost the recent assembly polls, one of Shah's first acts was to appoint new prabharis before the Lok Sabha election. Radhika Ramaseshan reports on the significance of this post that doesn't exist in the BJP's constitution.
First-time MLA Rekha Gupta will be the new chief minister of Delhi, capping 11 days of suspense over who will get the top post after the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power after over 26 years ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party.
Shah, who was accompanied by BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy, national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargya, was greeted with slogans of 'Amit Shah zindabad', 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' by party workers at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata.
'I don't know whether the top Gujarati leaders of Indian politics (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah) in Delhi realise that the narrative of HindiHinduHindustan will eventually destroy their own language too.'
Jagat Prakash Nadda was elected unopposed as the Bharatiya Janata Party national president on Monday after he emerged as the only leader in the fray following the nomination process in which his candidature was endorsed by top party leaders.