Humayun Kabir, recently suspended from the TMC, has launched a new political party, Janata Unnayan Party, and announced candidates for the 2026 assembly elections.
Rahul alleged that 25 lakh votes were stolen in Haryana through 5.21 lakh duplicate voters, 93,174 invalid voters, and 19.26 lakh bulk voters.
Amit Shah seemingly encouraging AIADMK dissident Sengottaiyan after party boss Edappadi K Palaniswami had removed his one-time mentor from all party posts has not gone down well with party cadres. They are now ready to buy Team EPS' theory that the BJP and Amit Shah are out to liquidate the AIADMK, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Call it political opportunism or sagacity, his moves, in effect, have not allowed the Bharatiya Janata Party to appoint its own chief minister to date, despite enjoying a near hegemonic status nationally and the best performance in recently held assembly polls where the saffron party bagged 89 seats, followed by the Janata Dal-United with 85.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday challenged Home Minister Amit Shah to debate with him on his three press conferences in which the Congress leader alleged 'vote chori' by the Bharatiya Janata Party in collusion with the Election Commission.
The DMK may consider a two-tier campaign, where they keep the focus on Chief Minister Stalin, as a senior statesman with 50-plus years of political experience, and let EPS and the BJP shout in the wilderness. In such a case, the second-tier may project Udhayanidhi as the contender and chosen obstructionist in Vijay's path. The attempt, if any, would be to reduce Vijay to Udhayanidhi's level when the former is aiming at Stalin and Stalin alone in the state's political horizon, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'This daylight robbery of elections is happening in the commercial capital of India, Mumbai city, so you can imagine what they will do to win elections in the interiors of India.'
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The central government has provided armed security to West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer following potential threats related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The sweeping victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the Bihar Assembly elections has caused ripples across the country, but perhaps more pronounced in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly elections are due in 2027.
'This election was won because of Nitish Kumar's face and his policies.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accuses the BJP-led government of stealing votes with the help of the Election Commission during a rally in Siwan, Bihar.
'In times of adversity, families unite, but the reverse is happening in the Lalu family.'
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J P Nadda and several other top leaders of the NDA.
The breakfast meet was convened by the CM at the behest of the Congress high command to end the logjam over the issue bothering the 2.5 year old Congress government, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party warning of moving a no confidence motion should the power tussle between the CM and his deputy continue.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday hailed the party's performance in the Gujarat and Punjab bypolls, calling them a 'semi-final to 2027' and a clear sign that voters would reject both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
Democracy in India is too important to be left to a leader with a limited appeal. If Rahul Gandhi cares for India, he should step aside for a new crop of leaders, suggests Harishchandra.
'The EPS camp feels assertiveness will help the AIADMK keep the BJP's seat-share ambitions to the minimum,' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Humayun Kabir, a former TMC minister, has been suspended from the party after announcing plans to lay the foundation of a "Babri Masjid-style" mosque on December 6. This move has sparked controversy and raised concerns about communal tensions in West Bengal.
Ghosh's elder son, Biswajit, claimed that this was a planned attempt to murder his father, and alleged that Shahjahan pulled strings sitting in jail to carry out the crime.
Former poll strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj expressed disappointment over its poll debacle in the Bihar assembly elections, attributing the NDA's victory to cash transfers to women.
'When the BJP wanted the election to focus on 'ghuspathiya' and promises that look like pies in the sky, we forced them to talk about jobs, giving free 125 units of power, and addressing women's indebtedness.'
'Definitely BJP is creating trouble in the water. That's all. It's fishing in troubled waters.'
'Every issue that Muslims are facing today affects Muslim women. But how come women's issues don't affect the community?' 'How does the community benefit by the practice of halala or polygamy?'
While the results of the bypolls will not directly impact the composition of the 403-member state Assembly, the contest is being seen as a prestige fight between the BJP and opposition parties.
The BJP, which romped to power in 2019 on the back of an unequivocal mandate from UP, winning 62 of its 80 seats, was cut to size this time and had to be content with only 33 seats.
By naming a sworn swayamsevak for vice president, the Modi-Shah duo have sent out a clear and positive message to Nagpur, where the RSS headquarters is located, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP won a resounding victory in the Delhi Assembly elections, securing 48 seats out of 70. The party made significant inroads in constituencies dominated by various regional and socio-economic groups, including Purvanchalis, Sikhs, Jats, and slum dwellers. The BJP's strong performance can be attributed to its focus on these communities and its effective campaign strategies.
Electoral fortunes of 1,302 candidates, including over half a dozen ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, will be sealed on Tuesday with 3.70 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise across 122 assembly segments in the second and final phase of the Bihar polls.
Former Rajya Sabha MP Sabir Ali, who was expelled from the JD-U 11 years ago for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was on Saturday named the party's candidate from Amour assembly seat in Bihar.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance appeared to register a landslide victory in Bihar, opening up impressive leads in more than 180 of the state's 243 assembly seats, with early trends also indicating that the saffron party was on track to post its biggest tally.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Congress party following the NDA's victory in the Bihar assembly elections, accusing them of divisive politics and highlighting the rejection of casteism and communalism by the people of Bihar.
'The people of Gujarat are more religious than people of other states, this gives the BJP an advantage.'
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.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
Successive elections since 2019 have proved that the Modi charisma and Shah's strategy does not work in Tamil Nadu. Now, they have to see next year if the DMK is capable of losing, whether to an existing NDA alliance or an expanded version, if one becomes necessary and possible!, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
He claimed that people from all walks of life across the state were angry against this BJP government.
With nominations for the first phase of Bihar elections closing soon, the INDIA bloc is struggling to finalize seat sharing, while the NDA has announced its candidates. Key political figures are actively campaigning.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Bharatiya Janata Party and all the alliance parties will contest the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu together under the National Democratic Alliance. The significant political development comes ahead of the TN Assembly election to be held in 2026,
If the TVK joins the NDA, there is every likelihood of the AIADMK winning an absolute majority in the 234 seat assembly and wanting to form a stand-alone government. In turn, it could mean that the BJP especially and the TVK equally so, will want to restrict the AIADMK's seat share closer to the cut-off figure, if only to ensure that EPS won't get the absolute majority that he desires (if the NDA won, that is) and will have to settle for a coalition government, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances