Given the dismal show of the Congress in the recently concluded assembly polls and the JMM eating into its vote bank, the possibility of Congress MLAs switching sides is not bleak, reports R Krishna Das.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday expanded his council of ministers, inducting 11 ministers, including 10 new faces, in the exercise which left Shiv Sena unhappy as it was denied a Cabinet berth.
A panel of Union ministers held a fourth round of talks with farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Sunday over their demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP, as thousands of protesting farmers camped at the Punjab-Haryana border.
He further said that he is now looking forward to fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision in the Earth Sciences Ministry.
They said according to the Hague Convention, the service upon a foreign entity had to be served through the prescribed rules.
The central probe agency re-registered the first information report (FIR) of Goa Police on a reference from the Ministry of Home Affairs which was routed to it through the Department of Personnel and Training, officials said.
Rane's tour is being seen a major show of strength by the BJP ahead of the crucial BMC polls, due early next year.
All India NR Congress leader N Rangasamy was sworn in as the chief minister of Puducherry at a brief ceremony held at the Raj Nivas here on Friday and will lead a coalition government of Bharatiya Janata Party members in his cabinet.
Sharma said Jai Ram Thakur's sarcastic comments forced him to resign from the ministry, saying it indicated that the chief minister had lost faith in him.
Congress seeks to corner govt over NPR, claims MHA report calls it 'first step to NRC'
'The state government, state forces, commandos, police, they are all with the Meiteis in attacking Kuki tribals.'
A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul sought response from the West Bengal government on five separate pleas filed by BJP leaders alleging foisting of criminal cases to deter them from political activities and said interim protection from coercive action will continue till the next date of hearing.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea from the BJP seeking a direction to the West Bengal government, state election panel and other functionaries to prepare a comprehensive action plan and deploy sufficient central police forces to ensure free and fair municipal polls in Kolkata.
Stressing that the Apna Dal-S stands for social justice, Union minister Anupriya Patel on Monday dissociated her party from "Hindutva and all those issues" and said it is ideologically different from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Gandhi's meeting with the wrestlers comes against the backdrop of a controversy surrounding the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).
Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narvekar will likely disqualify the 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, including Eknath Shinde, who will then be asked to resign as chief minister. 'Once this is done, Ajit dada will be sworn in chief minister.'
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday took a critical view of some of the key decisions made by the Jawaharlal Nehru government, and said one needs to get out of this "cult worship" that the period from 1946 onwards was "great years" and the country did "splendidly".
Four Cabinet ministers and 8 ministers of state are to be dropped and the same number of ministers likely to be inducted in Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's council of ministers.
In an apparent comment on the current political situation in Maharashtra, Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said those who were aspiring to become ministers are now sad as the field has got "crowded", and they do not know what to do with their "stitched suits".
'A large number of people from Sindh province will now opt to migrate to India as they would be granted citizenship through an easy process.'
'Scindia did not just come to a new party, it was an ideological shift for him. In the past one and a half years, Scindia never lost communication with RSS leaders in the state. He left no stone unturned to ensure his acceptability in the party'
All efforts should be on relief, restoration and rehabilitation, Nadda told reporters in Shimla after visiting the rain-affected areas of Poanta in Sirmaur and Shimla town.
Rajya Sabha witnessed heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches after Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge made remarks on the manner in which political parties select women candidates from weaker sections and raised the issue of 'delayed' GST payments to non-Bharatiya Janata Party ruled states.
Kishor, who earlier worked with the BJP but turned into its strident critic of late, reacted with indignation, saying he would retire from public life if the allegations were proven true. He also asserted that those levelling the allegation against him should apologise.
Despite a clean sweep for the BJP in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had to put up a fight to get at least one MP from her state into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Council of Ministers.
Sawant told reporters in Panaji that the Goa Police have done a "tremendously good investigation" into the case and have also got some clues.
The Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions of the NCP will hold their meetings in Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in south Mumbai and Bhujbal Knowledge City in suburban Bandra, respectively.
Known for delivering time-bound results, Sharma earned Modi's confidence as his secretary during his tenure as the Gujarat chief minister by successfully handling the Vibrant Gujarat campaign to get investments to the state.
The BJP, which has traditionally been considered as the party of upper castes and Vaishyas/Baniyas, seems to be consolidating its base especially among Vaishyas and EBCs.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
In a major security breach on the anniversary of the deadly 2001 Parliament terror attack, two persons on Wednesday jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery, shouted slogans and released yellow smoke from canisters that triggered panic and chaos in the House.
The meeting was held at the newly built convention centre at Pragati Maidan, which will host the G20 summit in September.
'We may be weak now, but the importance of the Congress cannot be denied.'
Ex-WFI chief Singh not exonerated by oversight panel in sexual harassment case: Police tell court
The Union home ministry has recommended the special CAG audit taking note of a May 24 letter by Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena which pointed out 'gross and prima facie financial irregularities' in the 'reconstruction' of the chief minister's official residence, they claimed.
Eknath Khadse, who had been sulking ever since he had to resign from the Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry in 2016 over corruption allegations, on Wednesday quit the saffron party and is set to join the Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Friday.
'Its people are either victims of corruption or witnesses to it.'
The Congress on Thursday said it firmly believes that India's democratic processes themselves have to deal with the threats posed to its democracy, remarks that came after the Bharatiya Janata Party attacked the opposition party for its leader Digvijaya Singh thanking Germany for "taking note" of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha.
Former Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday, weeks after he announced quitting his Rajya Sabha membership on the floor of the House deploring 'violence' in poll-bound West Bengal.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her sixth straight Budget ahead of the Parliamentary elections, matching the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman in her pre-election Budget, which technically is a vote on account and popularly termed an interim Budget, will seek Parliament's nod for a grant in advance to meet the central government's essential expenditure for the first four months of the new fiscal year that starts in April. A new government elected after the April/May general elections will present the full Budget, likely in July.
