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.
It will try to exploit the infighting in the state's ruling Congress while it manages factionalism within its own ranks
Some newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs met former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje at her Civil Lines residence on Sunday, amid suspense over whom the party will pick for the chief ministerial post in the state.
Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has already 'accepted defeat' by requesting him not to stop schemes initiated by the Congress in Rajasthan, and gave a guarantee that the Bharatiya Janata Party will not stop any scheme but only try to improve it.
Of the 34 SC reserved seats that went to the polls, the BJP won 22 and the Congress 11.
The BJP is hopeful of improving its performance in Dalit-dominated constituencies in Delhi ahead of the February 5 assembly polls, following a sustained outreach campaign. The party failed to win any of the 12 SC reserved constituencies in the 2015 and 2020 elections. The party has been out of power in the city since 1998.
On the eve of the counting of votes in Rajasthan, both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have started reaching out to independent candidates, including rebels, and smaller parties.
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.
Four of seven Bharatiya Janata Party MPs who fought the Rajasthan assembly elections won their respective seats while three others lost the polls.
The controversy followed after another Madhya Pradesh minister, Vijay Shah, came under fire for remarks about Col Sofiya Qureshi who conducted media briefings on Operation Sindoor along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
With the party fielding three Union ministers, besides four other MPs, as candidates in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, it may continue with the strategy in Rajasthan.
While two bodies were recovered on Wednesday, the death toll climbed to four on Thursday after the recovery of two more bodies from the Indira Priyadarshini Hydroelectric project site in Kangra district.
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.
Independent MLA candidate Naresh Meena was arrested on Thursday following high drama and escalating violence in which a mob assaulted a PTI reporter and video cameraperson and burnt their camera.
'The good governance which the Congress government claims has resulted in a regime where women in Rajasthan are afraid to go out of their homes.'
Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Snehasish Ganguly, after holding two rounds of discussions with the city police on Tuesday, confirmed that authorities "have not given the go-ahead" for the match.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday picked first-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma as Rajasthan's new chief minister, ending days of speculation that followed its victory in the assembly polls.
Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari and Jaipur Rural MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore are among the seven BJP parliamentarians who will contest the Rajasthan Assembly polls, according to the first list of 41 candidates issued by the party on Monday.
Several opposition MPs have made a similar demand to the government in the wake of the dastardly attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed last week, leaving the nation grief-stricken and outraged.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is inquiring into the absence of its nearly 20 MPs from the Lok Sabha during the voting on Tuesday on the introduction of the bill for simultaneous elections.
Mohammad Javed, one of the accused in the tailor Kanhaiya Lal murder case in Rajasthan's Udaipur in 2022, was on Thursday granted bail by the Rajasthan high court. Reacting to the development, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party used the case to gain electoral advantage, whereas BJP leader Rajendra Rathore said his party's government was committed to punishing the culprits behind the murder.
Several BJP-backed state governments have unveiled schemes targeting the poor, women, farmers and students, following the party's setback in the Lok Sabha polls.
A drunk SUV driver, identified as Usman Khan, a Congress leader, allegedly hit multiple pedestrians and vehicles in Jaipur, killing three people and leaving six others seriously injured. The incident occurred on a narrow city road in the Nahargarh area. Khan, who is the Congress' Jaipur district vice president, was driving recklessly and under the influence of alcohol, according to police. Following the incident, locals gathered at the Nahargarh police station and blocked roads to protest and demand compensation for the victims. The Congress has expelled Khan and expressed condolences to the families of the victims. The BJP criticized the Congress, alleging that the party is full of people with criminal tendencies.
'There may be some planted stories here or there, people trying to create manufactured controversies but the party is fully united. We will make sure the yatra is even more successful than it has been in other states'
Maheshwari, a three-time MLA from Rajsamand and also a former MP, was undergoing treatment at Medanta hospital for the past few days.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL home game against Lucknow Super Giants on April 6 at Eden Gardens is set to be shifted to Guwahati.
Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament Tejasvi Surya on Wednesday called the Congress the "modern-day Muslim League" and accused it of committing atrocities against Hindus after he and his party leaders were stopped from visiting violence-hit Karauli in Rajasthan.
The RSS-affiliated ABVP has won the post of joint secretary in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) election, ending a nine-year period out of office. The ABVP's victory marks a significant shift in the political landscape of JNU, breaking the Left's long-standing dominance. Left candidates won the remaining three central panel posts, but the ABVP's victory is seen as a major gain for the right-wing group.
'We bow to the Janta Janardan. The results in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan indicate that the people of India are firmly with politics of good governance and development'
The only occasion when the BJP had 100 seats in the Upper House was in 2022.
The newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs in Rajasthan will meet in Jaipur on Tuesday to formally pick the next chief minister of the state, ending days of suspense after the party won the assembly elections.
The election management committee and the election manifesto committee were formed by the party's national president J P Nadda.
Embroiled in a battle for survival, Left parties marginally improved their performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, leading in eight to 10 seats according to vote counting trends.
The list also includes the names of Mumbai BJP president Ashish Selar, fielded from the Vandre West seat, and senior party leader and Lok Sabha MP Narayan Rane's son Nitesh Rane, fielded from Kankavli, a seat he currently represents in the assembly.
Amid high political drama over leadership change in Rajasthan, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday hinted at imposition of President's rule in the state.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Rajasthan is reeling under a huge financial burden with the state's debt having gone beyond Rs 5.59 lakh crores. Rajasthan has increased expenditure on education by 203.4 percent, by 105.4 percent on health, by 227.14 percent on housing. Its expenditure on social welfare schemes has increased by almost 2,475 per cent.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accused the BJP of rigging the Maharashtra assembly elections and called for a return to ballot paper voting. He also criticized the Modi government for selling off public assets, undermining democratic institutions, and promoting communal polarization. Kharge's remarks come as the Congress prepares for its AICC session in Ahmedabad, where it will present its political and economic views.
The BJP has played the social engineering card in Rajasthan with an eye on the Lok Sabha election where the party will try and retain all the 25 seats that it had won in the 2014 and 2019 elections.
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